17th May 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

Mladic taunts survivors at start of genocide trial

www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADI ALTHANI 26, 1433 AH

Pacers cool Heat in Miami semis

to amend constitution

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7Amir18 rejects proposal Islamist bid thwarted • MP to grill social affairs minister

Max 40º Min 26º High Tide 09:11 & 21:59 Low Tide 02:22 & 15:55

By B Izzak

‘Royal’ Real regally regale

KUWAIT: (Left) Real Madrid executive Otero Lastres (left) presents a personalized Real Madrid jersey to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah yesterday as Spanish Ambassador to Kuwait Angel Losada (second left), Head of the Kuwait Football Association Sheikh Talal Al-Fahd Al-Sabah (second right) and Chief of Protocol at the Foreign Ministry Sheikh Khaled Al-Sabah (right) look on at Bayan Palace yesterday. (Right) Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo (left) vies for the ball against Kuwait player Fahd Ebrahim Al-Ansari during a friendly match against Kuwait’s national football team at AlKuwait SC stadium in Kaifan yesterday. Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria scored to lead the Spanish champions to a 2-0 win. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and KUNA (See Pages 19 & 20)

in the

news

Kuwait rejects reports of HIV positive Kuwaitis

Iran rails against Saudi-Bahrain union Rajab slams ‘vindictive’ Twitter charge

KUWAIT: The Communicable Diseases Hospital denied yesterday local reports that a number of nationals were affected with HIV, stressing that the country was free of the virus and that not one case has been reported amongst locals. Hospital director Dr Jamal Al-Duaij told KUNA that all HIV positive cases are being treated, monitored and are under full control. If any causes for concerns were to be aroused, responsible authorities would be immediately informed with guidance on precautionary measures to follow, he noted. Hospital staff deal with many infectious diseases, including HIV, and take the highest levels of caution to prevent these diseases from spreading within the hospital’s confines or out of its bounds, Duaij underlined. The director urged local media to rebuff such rumors, which he said cause panic among nationals and residents alike, and instead take heed official sources.

31 firms suspended for not posting results KUWAIT: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) yesterday suspended trading in the shares of 31 listed firms, a majority of them investment companies, for failing to report financial results on time. A statement posted on the KSE website said the companies violated a rule that requires them to announce financial results for the first quarter within 45 days. Many of the firms had already been suspended for not declaring results for previous periods. Twenty of the firms suspended are investment companies that were badly hit by the global financial crisis and have so far failed to recover from its impact. KSE, the third largest Arab bourse in market value after Saudi Arabia and Qatar, lists around 220 Kuwaiti and Gulf companies and has a capitalisation of $105 billion.

KUWAIT: HH the Amir has rejected a plan by Islamist MPs to amend an article in the constitution that would have made it mandatory that all laws must comply with Islamic sharia, Islamist MP Abdullatif Al-Ameeri said yesterday. Ameeri said they received a written response from the Amiri Diwan rejecting the amendment proposal in which it detailed the reasons for the rejection. A number of Islamist MPs had submitted the proposal to amend article 79 of the constitution to state that no law can be issued without complying with Islamic sharia.

The prior approval of the Amir is essential for amending or deleting any article of the Kuwaiti constitution. Under the constitution, at least one-third of the Assembly members and the Amir can propose to amend the constitution.

The Assembly must then approve the principle of debating the amendment by a simple majority. But the amendment must be passed by a two-thirds majority of the Assembly and then signed by the Amir. Since it was issued in 1962, the Kuwaiti constitution has not been amended or changed in any way.

Islamist MPs have repeatedly tried in the past to amend article two of the constitution to make Islamic Sharia as ‘the’ only source of legislation instead of being a ‘major’ source of legislation, as it is currently. But with Sunni Islamists considerably increasing their numbers this year, they decided to Islamize the laws by just amending article 79 which they thought would be easier. The rejection of the Amir to the proposed amendments means that it cannot go through and cannot be resubmitted during the current year.

In another development, newly-elected MP Riyadh Al-Adasani said he has decided to grill Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Ahmad Al-Rujaib over a variety Continued on Page 13

DAIH, Bahrain: Bahraini human rights activist Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafadh holds a picture of jailed fellow rights activist Nabeel Rajab during a pro-democracy protest yesterday on the edge of the capital Manama. — AP

Maradona could be next coach of UAE

UAE aerospace dream blooms in the desert

ABU DHABI: Diego Maradona could return to international soccer as the Argentine is being considered for the vacant United Arab Emirates head coaching job. The new President of the UAE Football Association, Yousuf Al-Serkal, said yesterday the 51year-old was among the leading candidates for the position.

Maradona, who won the World Maradona Cup as a player in 1986 and coached his national side to the quarter-finals of the 2010 edition in South Africa, is currently working at the Al Wasl club in Dubai. “As Maradona is within the family of UAE football, we can’t neglect or overlook such a name,” Al Serkal said. “We will have to consider him. Whether we like it or not, his name will always be a great influence (but) we have a few names including Mahdi Ali, our local coach of the Olympic squad.”

AL AIN, United Arab Emirates: Ross Bradley welcomes a delegation of aerospace suppliers in from the blistering heat of the Arabian desert and cools them down with some refreshingly candid advice.

“You are too expensive. Please take this message back. We will not put up with prices we are paying today. Unaffordable.” The welcome speech may not always be soothing to the ear but industry visitors keep flocking to the remote oasis town of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates to see one of the world’s newest and best-equipped aerospace factories.

They are drawn by the dramatic rise of an ambitious and increasingly powerful player in the fastgrowing aerospace industry, which is investing to make jets cheaper to fly.

Flanked by dunes on an ancient Frankincense route from Yemen to Mesopotamia, the factory is designed to help make lightweight carbon jets that will open up the trade lanes of the future. It sprang Continued on Page 13

TEHRAN: Iran hardened its tone against a plan to unite Bahrain with Saudi Arabia, calling on its people to protest tomorrow against what it described as a US plot to annex the tiny Gulf archipelago. The Islamic Propagation Coordination Council, which organises state-backed protests, urged Iranians “to protest against the American plan to annex Bahrain to Saudi Arabia and express their anger against the lackey regimes”. Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) discussed on Monday plans to turn the bloc into a union, starting with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

“This dangerous plot is the result of the AmericanZionist-Britain evil triangle to prevent popular uprisings spreading into other countries of the region and to control the internal crisis in Bahrain which has been caused by the inability of the Al-Khalifa regime to control the situation,” the council said on its website. “Al-Saud and Al-Khalifa should be aware that with this kind of plot they will not stop the popular movement in Bahrain and the movement of Islamic awakening in the region,” it added. The announcement comes after Tehran warned Riyadh’s plans to form a union with Manama would deepen the crisis in Bahrain, where dozens of people have been killed in violence since Feb 2011. Saudi Arabia had earlier told Iran to keep out of its relations with Bahrain, a Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled kingdom. “Any kind of foreign intervention or non-normative plans without respecting people’s vote will only deepen the already existing wounds,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

Continued on Page 13

Google search to get smarter SAN FRANCISCO: Google yesterday began making its search engine smarter, in what the Internet giant called a major upgrade that looks beyond query words to figure out what people are actually seeking online. “Knowledge Graph” technology built to recognize people, places or things signified by keywords took its fledgling steps in the United States with the hope of eventually extending it to Google searches worldwide. “The Knowledge Graph is built to understand real things in the world,” said Google fellow Ben Gomes, who has worked on search at the California-based company for more than a decade.

“It is the beginning of a long journey we will be on to cover more topics and more complex queries.”

Gomes envisions Google search being able to eventually answer tricky questions such as where to attend an outdoor Lady Gaga concert in warm weather or the location of an amusement park near a vegetarian restaurant. For now, people using US Google search in English will start seeing on search pages boxes suggesting what they are interested in finding. A demonstration showed that searching on the word “Kings” in California, for example, prompted the search engine to point out that one is likely Continued on Page 13

Indian rupee hits record low MUMBAI: India’s rupee hit a record low against the dollar yesterday and stocks fell nearly two percent as uncertainty over the eurozone debt crisis and weak domestic indicators hit Asia’s third-largest economy. The Indian unit fell to 54.52 rupees to the dollar, breaching its previous intraday lifetime low of 54.30 on Dec 15, and bringing its losses for the past 12 months against the US currency to over 20 percent. The rupee clawed back marginally from there, but still ended the day at a new closing low of 54.34, against its previous record closing low of 53.92 on Monday.

Traders said they expected the rupee to fall further in coming days with risk aversion hitting global markets and sentiment souring over India because of its gaping fiscal deficit, slowing economy and political logjam.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the deteriorating international climate was the main reason for the falls and he sought to allay investors’ wor-

ries about the domestic economic outlook. “The Indian growth story has not ended,” he told parliament. “I have confidence in India’s workers, farmers in its political system.” The Indian cen-

tral bank has sought to stem the rupee’s fall and is thought to have intervened more than a dozen times by buying dollars this year. Last week, Continued on Page 13

ALLAHABAD, India: An employee counts Indian rupee notes at a bank yesterday. — AP

LOCAL

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

Co-ops plan Ramadan ‘price reductions’ Promotions to attract people

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Union of Cooperative Societies (UCS) aims to relieve people from extra spending and expenses during the Holy Month of Ramadan by decreasing the prices of some food items. The UCS Committee for controlling prices will subsidize the prices of about 100 food items which are usual-

sumed in Ramadan such as creme caramel, jelly, flour, rice, juice syrups, Tang juice powder and many others.

Such promotions are held by all of the co-ops around Kuwait. They usually start about 7 to 10 days before Ramadan,” Ahmad from Hadiya Co-op told the Kuwait Times.

Abu Ibraheem from Farwaniya Coop explained that the items usually

KUWAIT: One of the cooperative stores in Kuwait which is planning to subsidize the prices of about 100 food items which are usually consumed during Ramadan. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat ly consumed during Ramadan. The co-ops did not receive the UCS decree yet, but they know that co-ops will hold discount festivals and promotions that month.

“Every year during Ramadan, and even before the month starts, our coop decreases the price of some food stuff with or without a decree from the UCS. The discount reaches about 50 percent and includes items con-

included in the promotion are local products. “All local products are discounted during the festival, and also some other imported items that are fast moving during Ramadan, such as Vimto, rice, tea, sugar, pasta, and others. The discount is real as the Vimto, for instance, costs 720 fils but during the festival it costs around 400 fils,” he explained. “This Ramadan promotion only lasts for two days or so, so people

quickly buy up the stocks. The cheap prices attract people to buy more than they need. So, for instance, the family that consumes a bottle of Vimto per month buys two cartons during the Ramadan promotion,” he added.

Yousef, a 58-year-old expatriate father, thinks that all the offers promoted by the co-ops whether they are in Ramadan or during other seasons are tricky. “Most of these promotions are false, and only aim to attract the consumer to come and buy. For instance, they promoted a 50 percent sale on oil. But when I took it, I discovered at the cashier that the price was the same as the regular price. When I asked the cashier, he replied that the stock on sale was already sold. That meant that the stock included in the sale was about to expire, so this was the reason for the sale. The traders are smart, and they won’t just make discounts randomly,” he pointed out.

The promotions and price drop of some items does not affect Yousef’s purchase of goods. “When I see a promotion and discount it’s not necessary to buy a bigger quantity than I really need. I usually buy my stuff for a few days up to one week. The only exception when I buy more, is for the goods with a long expiration date, especially Vimto during Ramadan,” he added.

Abu Khaled from Nuzha Co-op gave different information about the discounted items. “Usually the Union subsidizes the food items in Ramadan that hold the logo of the Union. These items are bought by the Union for discounted prices of the companies so they offer it for a cheap price. Other goods are not included in the promotion,” he stated.

Hacker gets into KSE data base KUWAIT: The hang-up of the new stock market site in its first day of operation, by a hacker who was able to get into its data base due to security loopholes, have revealed the weak protection for the site.

Sources revealed that the hacker was able to copy information on

the site and then wiped out the contents, prompting the site management to seek the help of a technical team from outside Kuwait to close the security loopholes. They added that the new site page reveals a technical mistake that carries highly confidential information, including the

internal address of the site administrator in addition to the database name and password which allows for hacking in the future. Falah AlRuquba, KSE Director, learnt about the hacking and kept it under the lid, sources said, although it meant that the shareholders, secrets and their dealings were revealed.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

local

NEW DELHI: The Kuwaiti journalists with the Deputy Chairman of the Indian Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan (right).

Kuwait, India plan better media ties Journalists discuss cooperation NEW DELHI: The visiting Kuwaiti media delegation comprising of noted journalists engaged in the firstever interaction between journalists from the two nations, arranged by the External Publicity Division of India’s External Affairs Ministry.

Ministry Spokesman Syed Akbaruddin formally welcomed the delegation, consisting of ten journalists on a five-day visit, and hosted a lunch in their honor.

Both the Indian and Kuwaiti journalists expressed concern over the negligible presence of regular correspondents in either direction. Delegation coordinator Adnan Khalifa Al-Rashid posed a question to Indian journalists as to “why is it that there is no Indian media correspondent in Kuwait, while, on the other hand, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) and the Kuwait TV, each, has a regular correspondent here.”

The Foreign Editor of India’s English daily “Hindustan Times” Pramitpal Chaudhuri said in reply that the appointment of a correspondent in a particular country or region depends on a wide range of feasibility factors.

These factors include interests of readers/viewers in that country or region. He further stated, “Interests of readers depend on the prevailing circumstances (like violence or political upheavals) in that particular country/ region. Interest among the Indian readers about Kuwait had risen during the Iraqi occupation, but then it was for a short span of time.” Supplementing the same, senior Indian journalist Saeed Naqvi said, “because of the lack of interest among Indian readers for Kuwait, hardly anyone knows about the occurrence of parliamentary elections in this Gulf country in February, and none in India would know the poll results.”

Journalist K.V. Prasad said that because of certain “feasibility factors”, the Indian English daily “The Hindu”

has posted a regular correspondent in Dubai only to cover the whole of West Asia from there.

The Kuwaiti journalists were shown a short TV documentary on the Indian media. “There are more than 80,000 publications in various Indian languages being published across the country, with nearly 7000 published from New Delhi alone,” the documentary informed the Kuwaiti journalists.

There was also discussion of state of affairs in other sectors which make further expansion of exchange

NEW DELHI: Members of the Kuwaiti media delegation pictured with the Kuwaiti ambassador.

NEW DELHI: The visiting Kuwaiti journalists with their Indian counterparts.

Kuwaiti artistes enthrall audience in New Delhi NEW DELHI: Kuwaiti artistes mesmerized Indian audience in New Delhi at the “Kuwaiti Cultural Week”, that kicked off here late Tuesday.

It was jointly organized by the Kuwaiti embassy and the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) to celebrate the strong ties between the two nations.

The event was attended by diplomats from various Gulf countries, journalists from both Kuwait and India, academicians, scholars and other dignitaries. A splendid performance by the world famous “Kuwaiti T V Band” enthralled the audience when they brought out a perfect mix of Kuwaiti lyrics with an old Hindi film song “Bol Radha Bol Sangam Hoga k i Nahin” (tell me beloved whether we will fall in love or not) of the superhit film “Sangam” of mid1960s. ICCR Director-General Suresh Kumar Goel hailed that Kuwaiti artistes and said it was a great occasion when the Indian audience got a chance to come face-toface with Kuwait’s traditional dance and music.

ICCR formulates and implements policies and programs relating to India’s external cultural relations in a bid to strengthen ties and mutual understanding with other

between the two nations highly feasible, most importantly investment, with Kuwait a major investor and India a rising economy lush with opportunity.

There is a huge scope of foreign direct investment (FDI) in India in the fields of infrastructure, particularly hotels, and Kuwait could set up an “Infrastructure Debt Fund” to tap this opportunity, India’s Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia told the Kuwaiti group. To a query, Ahluwalia said, “We welcome FDI in all fields, particularly in manufacturing

countries. A sponsor of intellectual exchanges with partner countries, the Council also engages in cultural diplomacy.

Earlier, as a part of “Kuwait Cultural Week”, India’s Junior External Affairs Minister E. Ahmed inaugurated an exhibition of paintings, textile and art by Kuwaiti artists at the New Delhi-based “Lalit Kala Academy”, a centre of Indian art and culture. On the occasion, the minister expressed happiness about organizing such an event and exuded confidence that the “Kuwaiti Cultural Week” would help in further strengthening the historical ties between the two nations.

“Such high-level cultural interactions and exchange programs should be a regular feature for enhancing people-topeople contact,” he added.

Highlighting the fact that a large number of Indians work in Kuwait, he said “there are nearly half-a-million Indians presently working in Kuwait, and they are being treated well by their employers.”

The “Kuwaiti Cultural Week” coincides with the first visit of ten well-known Kuwaiti journalists.—KUNA

NEW DELHI: Performance of the Kuwaiti artistes in progress yesterday.

sector, pharmaceuticals, petro-chemicals, etc. India is desperately short of hotels, and, being a huge country, it is also in the need of quality infrastructure, which is still in the developing stage.” He pointed out that the Gulf ’s money is presently being invested in India through Western countries. “Now, the Gulf countries should establish direct contact with India to make FDIs,” he advised.

Delving on the routes of making FDI in India, the Deputy Chairman said that foreign investors can enter India either through the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), or by registering with the country’s central bank - Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Still on the process of making FDI in India, he said that the initial permission is granted by the Centre Government, and thereafter the logistical support, like granting power connection or licenses, are looked after by the concerned State Government (where the FDI is proposed to be made). “Once the Centre Government grants the permission, the rest of the process of making investment is the same for both domestic and foreign investors.”

Commenting on growth of the Indian economy, Ahluwalia said that on an average, it has grown at eight percent during the past five years, and at seven percent during the past year. He said that the country’s economy is witnessing a slowdown as a spillover-effect of the slowdown in the world economy. “Certain domestic problems are also adding up to the economic slowdown, but we are making serious efforts to tackle those problems and are sure to overcome them in near future. Decisions are getting delayed due to these problems,” he added. On a down note, the official admitted that corruption is one of the major problems India faces today, and said there is immense public outcry against the widespread menace. — KUNA

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other dignitaries attending the “Thank You, Teacher” Festival yesterday.

Amir graces ‘Thank You, Teacher’ Festival KUWAIT: The inauguration of the 8th “Thank You, Teacher” Festival to mark Teacher’s Day was held yesterday under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah. High ranking figures attending the event expressed their gratitude to His Highness for placing education at the top of all other priorities in the state.

The Amir, who arrived in a formal motorcade at the venue, the College of Basic Education in district of Shamiya. He was welcomed by the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, the Chairman of the Kuwaiti Teachers Association, Meteb Al-Otaibi, and members of the organizing committee.

The festival was attended by His Highness the Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Speaker of the National Assembly, Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Former Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, senior sheikhs, Deputy Chief of the National Guard, Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah,

First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud AlJaber Al-Sabah, Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs, Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, and other senior state officials.

The festival got underway with a statement by the Minister of Education, who expressed gratitude on behalf of the elite teachers, chosen for their excellence

Saudi celebrates 7th anniversary of ‘Baiah’ Statement of the Ambassador of the custodian of the two Holy Mosques to the State of Kuwait Dr Abdul Aziz bin Ibrahim Al-Fayez on the seventh anniversary of the blessed “BAIAH” for the custodian of the two Holy Mosques.

S

audi Arabia is celebrating the 7th anniversary of the assumption of the custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of power, as this occasion comes while the kingdom is going through a comprehensive renaissance in all fields. The custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has strong leadership attributes and was Dr Abdul Aziz bin able to get the Kingdom into a Ibrahim Al-Fayez new stage of its political, economic, cultural and social development.

The Kingdom occupies a leading spot in the region in terms of political stability, high rates of economic growth and the distinguished standards of the public services it provides for its citizens. The kingdom, with the grace of Allah, and the efforts of its citizens, as headed by the custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and his Crown Prince H.R.H. Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, has become a strong society. The country has continued to enjoy strong economic growth despite the economic crises, which many countries worldwide suffered under.

The Kingdom invests in education, and the number of universities currently stands at 32 government universities, in addition to many private ones. The number students sent abroad on scholarships has reached 150,000. In the health sector, the number of available hospitable beds has multiplied. Regarding social services, the social security and allocations for additional services have increased in order to ensure a good quality of life for Saudi citizens. Monthly allocations were also distributed to youths in the process of seeking employment.

In foreign policy, the custodian of the two Holy Mosques plays a significant role in Gulf, Regional, Islamic and International levels. The Kingdom is working on boosting security and stability in the gulf region, as well as assisting the Middle East to avoid the dangers of instability and foreign interference in its affairs. It is also working within various international organizations and establishments to support all efforts to maintain international peace and security, as political stability is an essential condition for development.

His reign, may Allah protect him, is witnessing a historic expansion of the two Holy Mosques in Makka and Madina, as Allah Almighty blessed the Kingdom by having these two holy spots. Since the establishment of the Saudi State, efforts have been exerted to serve them and care for their pilgrims and visitors.

Finally, it is not possible cover every detail that the Kingdom is witnessing in terms of development since the custodian of the two Holy Mosques took over power in the Kingdom. I pray to Almighty Allah to give him good health and help him to continue the march of construction and development, with the help of the Crown Prince HRH Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz and his wise government, who spare no effort to advance this dear country. May Allah protect the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and H.H. The Crown Prince and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

and devotion, to His Highness in particular for his advocacy of real development based on national manpower, guided by education and knowledge.

Speaking on behalf of the teaching staff, the minister pledged to His Highness to spare no effort for sincere service of the homeland, for the sake of bringing up new generations that mas-

termind the latest innovations, “so that we may prove to be true patriots, privileged with the honor of belonging to this good land.”

Al-Otaibi addressed His Highness the Amir saying, “This festival, Your Highness, is a great and precious opportunity where ...teachers renew their pledge of devotion and affirm solidarity with the entire community behind your sagacious leadership. Their responsibility has doubled in view of the current great challenge and the great need for boosting reform and development.”

He expressed gratitude to His Highness the Amir for recently approving the pay raise for teachers, voicing hope that the executive and legislative authorities will make the vocation of teaching a top priority, endorse special laws to ensure the safety of teachers, establish a special accreditation authority and fund a university teaching teachers. Leila AlAwadhi, Chairperson of the higher preparatory committee of the festival, expressed gratitude to His Highness the Amir and other attending leaders for participating in the crucial event. —KUNA

Curricula needs improvements: Al-Hajraf KUWAIT: Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf, said he is keen to listen to the views of those in the field of education at Kuwait Teachers Society, which has a special role as a partner to the Ministry of Education in developing the educational process.

He said any development for education will be incomplete unless it depends on field teachers when it is

prepared. He said the education process is a daily challenge for the student and the teacher, and the work of teachers is not limited to reading curricula and preparing lessons.

Al-Hajraf said student society is a changing one and contains different abilities, and the role of a teacher and his first challenge is to transform a class into an active environment whereby he can plant knowledge and science into

the hearts of the students. “ We basically need to know the teachers’ opinion, and list the main components of the educational process such as curricula, teachers, students and family,” he said. “Due to technology, students these days are different from students in the old days to the extent that sometimes students are ahead of us as parents, and the administration, and officials. In addition to the great

Egyptians complain of irregularities outside embassy

KUWAIT: Kuwait Dive Team members installed five new buoy markers around coral reefs south of Khairan in cooperation with the Coastguards General Department and the management of Khairan Resort. The operation is part of a project by the team to carry out maintenance to all buoy markers at coral reef sites in Kuwaiti territorial waters.

KUWAIT: A group of Egyptian residents in Kuwait complained about the voting mechanism in place for the presidential elections run at their embassy, noting cases of manipulation, illegal advertising and vote buying.

According to an Al-Qabas report published yesterday, a number of Egyptian residents told the daily’s reporter: “Individuals affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood are buying votes for their candidate, Dr Mohammad Mursi, for KD 5 per vote.”

A supporter of Dr Mursi who requested anonymity to speak, however, denied the allegations which he described as “attempts to damage the Muslim Brotherhood’s reputation through baseless accusations.”

Many opponents of Dr Mursi insisted, however, that illegal advertising and vote buying take place during crowded times, such as early in the morning and at night. Meanwhile, an official from the embassy told Al-Qabas that no vote buying incidents have been recorded, but confirmed that the embassy staff are not authorized to prevent people from practicing any activity outside the embassy building. The voting process started last Saturday and officially concludes today. — Al-Qabas

Kuwait could become tourist destination for skateboarding KUWAIT: Seth Levy, a US skateboard instructor, firmly believed that Kuwait could have a lot of potential to become a tourist destination that would attract international and professional skaters.

Levy described his first visit to Kuwait as “an exploratory mission.”

He came to the Gulf country with little expectations but discovered a small active skateboarding community between the ages of (13 to 20 years old) who skated several times a week.

Those kids “have a natural talent to become professional skateboarders. They only need guidance and places to ride,” said Levy in a cozy sit down with KUNA yesterday. “If they were given the right circumstances, those kids could become world-class professionals,” Levy emphasized. He went on saying that in order to achieve that proper concrete skateparks should be set up in the country to provide venues where skaters

could progress and grow to much higher levels in the sport.

The enthusiastic 24-year-old Levy, also a skate-park designer and a former professional skateboarder, has been in an endeavor to develop the skateboarding culture in countries that lack the landscape for such extreme sport; hence his focus on the Middle East region.

Levy did not only visit Kuwait in 2011 but he also made other trips to Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to spread the word about skateboarding.

As part of his long-term vision for skateboarding here, Levy said that he would like to bring competition to Kuwait by having a world cup for skateboarding.

Skaters from around the world would come to compete not only with professionals but also with the local kids. A competition of such caliber would definitely encourage the kids here to perform better, said

Levy. He explained that through his endeavor to spread the culture of skateboarding, he created his “Step Up” program to develop this sport within the country.

He noted that the program involved three steps: the first step to set a good distribution strategy where local retailers are encouraged to sell skateboarding parts at lower prices to make them affordable for everyone.

The second step would be to work with private entities or with the government to provide good places for skateboarders to ride. Thirdly, holding public demonstration to show people what skateboarding is like. This time around, Levy did not come alone. He brought two of his fellow skateboarders, Lizzie Armanto, currently the number one ranked female skater in the United States and Ben Hatchell, one of skateboarding’s most popular young skaters. — KUNA

ability of a student to obtain information and knowledge, it is our role as teachers to correct that information if it is wrong,” he said. He explained that knowledge is not limited to the classroom only. “Our curricula needs review and we need to know if what we teach the students is suitable for them in the future,” he said “Our curricula should have vision and should not be an experiment.”

News

in brief

New road projects KUWAIT: Engineer Saud Al-Naqi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Road Engineering sector in the Ministry of Public Works (MPW), said the ministry is about to start the Fourth Ring Road agreement.

There were some differences between the Ministry of Public Works, the Municipality and the Ministry of Interior over the traffic intersections. Al-Naqi said the MPW will start with the agreement after adding a new basis to it. He said there will be a new design for the Fourth Ring Road and it will be in two stages.

CBK funds Omra trip for cancer patients KUWAIT: Within its strategy and keenness to participate in various social and communal activities, the Commercial Bank of Kuwait (CBK) recently funded an Omra trip organized by the Kuwait Society for Smoking and Cancer Prevention(KSSCP) for cancer patients who are members of the society. Amani AlWera, CBK assistant director for advertisement and PR, said the CBK is keen on communicating with various NGOs and social societies taking care of the sick and for people with special needs to help them endure their hardships and suffering. She added that CBK has always contributed to such humane activities and supported various social and charity activities.

Amendments to the sport laws KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Ahmad Al-Rujaib, said he will attend the meeting of the social health affairs committee to discuss government amendments to the sport laws. ‘We work together, the Government and the National Assembly, and hope that our efforts end the international embargo and that the Kuwaiti flag flies high at the Olympic games. We hope that this can be achieved and that we will participate in the London Olympics, which opens up in July,’ he said. “We attend the meeting with the hope that legislation by National Assembly is compatible with amendments provided by the Government and that it leads to a decision from the international Olympics Committee to fly the Kuwaiti flag at the Olympics championships,” he added.

Arab MPs meet in Cairo KHARTOUM: The Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU) financial and economic committee carried on its meetings for the second day here yesterday.

During the meeting, Kuwait presented a working paper on unemployment, including its causes and solutions, and ways and means of diversifying the AIPUís income sources. In the document, the Kuwaiti National Assembly delegation called for applying the basic pillars of developed countriesí development polices, notably democracy, economic liberalization and social justice.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

LOCAL

Bid to reopen negotiation for two Gitmo detainees Kuwaiti team to visit Washington

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: A delegation from Kuwait is expected in the coming months to reopen negotiations with regard to the fate of the two remaining Kuwaiti prisoners held at the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. This information was relayed to Kuwait Times by Khalid Al-Odah, the father of Fawzi Al-Odah, one of the two remaining Kuwaiti prisoners being held there.

Speaking with the Kuwait Times, Khalid Al-Odah noted the visit was allowed right after the family of Fawzi Al-Odah and Fayez Al-Kandari staged a protest in front of the US Embassy in Kuwait in early May. “We are continuing our efforts to pressure both the Kuwaiti and the US Government about our sons, to bring them back to Kuwait as soon as possible. We are specifically pressing our Government here to improve or increase their efforts and do their best to reopen new negotiations for their immediate release,” he said. “We are happy that as a result of our pressure, specifically after staging protest sit-ins in front of the US

Kuwaiti Parliament is also now allowed to visit Washington DC and Guantanamo Prison. Initially, Parliament asked to allow it to visit the families of the two remaining prisoners; but the request was denied. Nonetheless, a member of Parliament can visit earlier than the planned visit by the delegation from Kuwait’s Justice, Interior and Foreign Affairs department,” he revealed. “The reply letter to Kuwaiti Parliament from the US administration was very clear. They are not going to allow any family members to visit their loved ones at Guantanamo.”

On a personal note about the recent status of their loved ones at the US-controlled prison, Al-Odah asserted that the two prisoners from Kuwait who are being held in a prison cell are in good shape. “They can sit and talk with other detainees.

They are allowed to go out of their prison cells for about five to six hours daily to meet with the other prisoners. They pray together, but still there are some restrictions on food and letters. We are permitted to see and talk to them through a video phone, at least quarterly or every two and a half months. In fact, by Monday we have the scheduled privilege to talk to

KUWAIT: This sit-in protest was held in front of the US Embassy on May 2.—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Embassy last May 2, that we got information allowing our Government to visit Washington and press for new negotiations,” he added.

According to Al-Odah, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here received a letter from the Department of Defense in the US welcoming the Kuwaiti delegation to visit Washington and reestablish talks concerning the remaining two prisoners, including his son Fawzi. The delegation from Kuwait will comprise officers from the Ministry of Justice, Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The names and designations of the team that will be part of the delegation are temporarily withheld, but Al-Odah mentioned the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Washington will accompany the delegation.

Asked if the elder Al-Odah will accompany the team, he said: “No, I cannot answer that question at this time.”

Al-Odah also revealed parallel efforts being made by Kuwaiti Parliament to visit Washington and Guantanamo. “The

Fawzi and Fayez. But subjects are restricted, like the merits of their case. We are allowed to talk about their social life, their family life and news about their families. We are monitored and any talk outside of the agreed subjects will be disrupted. They will cut the call, any suspicious subjects during the conversation will be cut. Anyway, the situation is far better now. But still the period of talking, which is around one hour, is very little and short for us. But again, it’s better than nothing. We cannot reveal any details of their case, because inside the prison cell they know exactly what is happening (with regard to their case). Their lawyers are visiting them from time to time, so they are aware of what’s going on with their case,” he added.

Meanwhile, the pending appeal which they forwarded to the US Supreme Court for the fifth time, will be heard and the ruling is expected at the end of June.

“We are trying our best to bring the matter to the US Supreme Court, and we are still hoping that the US Supreme

Court will come out with something new and beneficial for us,” he added. Asked if material released by Wikileaks recently has somehow helped them to build their case up, he said: “I have no information about that yet but if there is any way you know, any information or sources that can help the release of my son and Fayez, they are most welcome. We need such kinds of information, just like pictures and videos taken from inside Guantanamo; we continue to encourage such information to come forward, like medical records/files, all information that can help our case/causes are highly appreciated.”

Many of the prisoners at Guantanamo were not charged, according to Al-Odah, but are still being held and ‘some’ were subjected to torture. “We are outraged and upset about the situation. You know, the letter requesting reopening negotiations about our son’s case was sent to the US government last January. It was never answered, but ignored. So what did we do? We applied some pressure on the Kuwaiti authorities and the US government, and we believe that allowing visits from Kuwait is just one of the positive results since our sit-in protest.

We want the Kuwaiti Government to act and be fair with our demands to get our loved ones back to Kuwait. I think the Kuwaiti Government has somehow been pressured and got the attention of the US government to reopen the negotiation once again to help our family cope with this long-overdue justice,” Asked about his wishes for his son, he said: “I want to see him released soon. We have been optimistic for 10 long years now, and we still remain optimistic. Optimism was the result of our faith in God that one day Fawzi and Fayez will come back home to us and to their families. We are never discouraged about our faith, for without this faith we cannot continue our struggle to get them back,” he concluded.

Background (Information from closeguantanamo.org) Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al-Odah, a 34-year-old citizen of Kuwait, will complete 10 years as a prisoner in the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay on February 28, 2012. In all those years, the United States Government has never charged Fawzi with wrongdoing in any court or referred him to a military commission for trial. He is being held indefinitely. Fawzi is the oldest of the five children of Khalid Al-Odah and his wife, Soad Abdul Jaleel. Khalid first visited the United States in 1975, when he was a pilot in the Kuwaiti Air Force and assigned to learn to fly the F-5 Freedom Fighter jet in Wichita Falls, Texas.

During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Khalid went underground and joined the Kuwaiti resistance. He provided valuable intelligence to US military officials. In February 1991, when the United States freed Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, young Fawzi, then 13, joined his father in cheering the marching liberators from a road overpass. Fawzi jumped down to join the parade and grabbed and proudly waved an American flag. After graduating from the University of Kuwait in 2000, Fawzi became a teacher. Along with other religious Kuwaitis, Fawzi spent his summer vacations in 2000 and 2001 in Pakistan, teaching and helping to distribute charitable donations he had collected at home to villagers near the Afghan border. Just after 9/11, Fawzi called his family to say that he planned to spend a few weeks working with Afghani refugees. However, when US planes began bombing in Afghanistan and war broke out, Fawzi, along with thousands of other Arab volunteers, fled Afghanistan for the Pakistani border. Fawzi made his way to the Afghan-Pakistani border and placed himself in the custody of the Pakistani army with the request that they transfer him to

the Kuwait Embassy. Instead, he was transferred by bounty hunters to US custody and summarily transferred to Guantanamo in late February 2002. He has been there even since. Fayez Al-Kandari, a 36-year-old citizen of Kuwait, has been in US custody for over ten years, and marked the 10th anniversary of his arrival at Guantanamo last May 1, 2002. As in the case of Fawzi Al-Odah, the United States Government has never charged Fayez in any court with wrongdoing. Under President Bush, he was referred to a military commission for trial, but charges have not been filed anew under President Obama. Fayez visited Afghanistan as a humanitarian aid worker in August 2001, but was then caught up in the chaos following the 9/11 attacks and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, and was seized by Afghan forces in December 2001 and handed over to US forces soon after as he tried to cross the mountains to Pakistan. As a teenager, Fayez lived through the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, which taught him more about generosity, and also about cooperation. He recalls working with other teenagers in his neighborhood to deliver food to his fellow citizens, who were afraid to leave their houses because, during the occupation, rape, robbery, kidnapping and murder were experienced on a daily basis. Every morning before sunrise, Fayez and his friends would take a truck to a warehouse in the desert and, for a small sum paid to a local official, receive flour, rice, tomato sauce and baby milk to be delivered to those in need.

Presently 171 people remain in Guantanamo Bay prison.

Eighty-nine have been cleared for release, but the US administration has decided it will detain dozens of men forever. Two of these men are Fawzi Al-Odah and Fayez Al-Kandari, both Kuwaitis who said they went to Afghanistan for charitable reasons. The US has said they are members of Al-Qaeda. Neither man was captured on a battlefield and both said they were sold to the Americans for bounty money.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

LOCAL

Military officer held for ‘disgracing uniform’ Former boyfriend charged with adultery KUWAIT: A Ministry of Defense officer was arrested at Kuwait International Airport by a fellow military man who caught him sharing an intimate moment with a female passenger. The arrested officer was inside a coffee shop, where he was caught sharing hugs and kisses with his Ethiopian girlfriend. The scene caught the attention of all people present including an off-duty military police force captain, who arrested him after identifying himself. The suspect was reportedly handcuffed and held at the airport security office, after initially attempting to escape. He explained during investigations that he drove his girlfriend to the airport to say goodbye before she flew home. The man was referred to the proper authorities to face charges, which include disgracing his military uniform in public.

Adultery charge Rumaithiya police released a young man on bail recently following investigations into a case in which he was accused of adultery. The man was summoned after a 31year-old Kuwaiti woman reported that he ended their five-year relationship, which involved sexual contact, after she tried to persuade him to get married. The man did not deny being romantically involved with the woman, but rejected the sexual relationship allegations. Eventually, the woman gave detailed descriptions about the man’s body to confirm her accusations. The man argued that she had the key to his apartment and used to come to wake him up in

the morning. He was released on a KD 200 bond as investigators wait for forensic examination results.

Rapists caught Two men were arrested at Saad AlAbdullah for raping a teenager inside a mosque in the area. The crime reportedly took place inside a room in the mosque, where the two Indian cleaning workers are employed. The 15-year-old victim was escorted by his father to the police station as soon as he told him about the incident. Officers headed directly to the scene and put the suspects under arrest. They remain in custody pending investigations, as well as the forensic examination results.

Woman blackmailed A warrant was issued to summon a woman to the Maidan Hawally police station for investigations into blackmail charges pressed by the new wife against the former wife of her husband. The case was filed recently after an Egyptian woman approached officers and accused the former wife of her husband of assaulting her verbally on the phone, and demanding KD 250 to prevent her from posting private photographs of her online.

Officers are investigating the allegations.

Indian saved An Indian man owes his life to his roommate, who saved him inside their residence in Kabad where he planned to commit suicide.

The roommate reportedly rushed to save his

Egyptian-American country musician in Kuwait K U WA I T: K n ow i n g t h e p re cious value of other human beings is really important, and to see and recognize that value would go a long way in resolving issues of conflict amongst p e o p l e, said EgyptianAmerican countr y musician Kareem Salama here yesterday.

Salama touched on the importance of music in getting b e yo n d t h e d i f fe re n c e s amongst people, stressing that his work was primarily focused on being civil and providing various points of views.

“I recognize ever yone will always have differences but it does not mean that those differences should pull us apart or make us angry ... if two people hate each other there is no w ay t o s t a r t a c o nve r s a t i o n from that point. There has to be some kind of connection in the soul and the heart,” stated the singer who added that through his music he wanted t o re m i n d p e o p l e o f t h e i r goodness prior to the reasons that caused the distress which hopefully in turn solve the problems.

Kareem Salama along with fe l l o w musicians Ari M i h a l o p o u l o s, and J. J. Wor then, are in Kuwait from May 15-20. They will be performing in music concerts on May 16, 17, 19 at the Qibliya School, Sherton Hotel, and the A m e r i c a n i Cu l t u r a l Ce n t e r respectively.

When asked about his experience with local Kuwaiti music, Salama said that he had h e a rd o f s o m e m u s i c f r o m friends and it was a hybrid of pop and traditional music but indicated that he was eager to listen to folklore songs. “ T h e c ro w d s we r e v e r y respective of the music,” said Salama about his previous experience in Kuwait which he visited in 2010 during his Middle East tour that also included Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, and Bahrain. The State D e p a r t m e n t ’s B u r e a u o f E d u c a t i o n a l a n d Cu l t u r a l Affairs organized the tour as part of a wave of cultural outreach to the Arab world.

Salama touched on the importance of persistence in music, saying that one will not necessarily see a result, and he or she may put a lot into their music without witnessing achievements, which all boils down to having a greater drive and passion for the art, or the ultimate end would be “quitting.”

“Things don’t change all of a s u d d e n ,” s a i d S a l a m a w h o encouraged musicians in Kuwait to take a step by step p ro c e s s t o l e t t h e i r m u s i c heard and spread around.

Salama has released three albums since 2006 — Generous Peace, This Life of Mine, and City of Lights, with several other singles. — KUNA

suicidal friend, after arriving just in time to prevent him from hanging himself. Following the incident, the roommate called the man’s sponsor, who reportedly soon arrived at the scene. The man explained that financial reasons, and inability to make enough money to return home, motivated his suicide attempt.

Fugitive arrested A fugitive was arrested in Maidan Hawally recently after he attempted to pass through a checkpoint with a fake ID. Security officers became wary after the SUV driver produced a suspicious looking ID card. A fingerprint scanner enabled officers to discover that the ID was fake.

He was taken for investigations, during which he admitted that the ID belonged to his friend but he attached his own photo. It was revealed that he used this trick as he is wanted to serve a three-year jail sentence over a previous case.

Forgery charges were pressed against the suspect who was sent to jail to serve his sentence.

Reckless driver A search is currently ongoing for a reckless driver, who managed to escape after being caught breaking the speed limit on King Fahad Highway. Police also believe that the male suspect, who was driving a car carrying the license plates of a Gulf state, was drunk as he threw a liquor bottle out of his window during the pursuit. The suspect was caught driving at 200km/h by the speed radar before he was pulled over. He reportedly verbally abused the traffic officers before driving away.

—Al-Rai, Al-Watan, Al-Anbaa

KUWAIT: Ahmadi Governor, Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Duaij, said the health of the mouth and teeth is the main indicator of general human health. He described the efforts of both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and all in charge of the “My Health” information campaign as constructive and successful for their tangible participation in the service to society. He inaugurated the final evening of the campaign, held at the Ben Hijr Al-Asqalani elementary school in Riqqe, and organized in cooperation with Ahmadi Health and Educational area.

Kuwaiti minister underlines GCC industrial meeting RIYADH: Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry Anas AlSaleh stressed here yesterday the significance of GCC trade and industry committee meetings, which kick-started here yesterday.

Speaking following participation in three meetings at the GCC headquarters, the Kuwaiti minister said the outcome of such gatherings would surely prop up inter-GCC trade and industrial cooperation.

He said the meetings had thrashed out an array of key issues pertinent to trade and industrial sectors in the GCC member states.

During the gathering, Kuwait presented a working paper on

Gulf strategic food stock, the minister pointed out.

The GCC ministers of industry also discussed recommendations produced by senior GCC industry officials in Riyadh in October 2011 and April 2012, Al-Saleh said.

Also considered were the findings of a Gulf industrial roadmap and amended GCC industrial regulations, the minister added.

The 45th meeting of trade cooperation committee at the level of trade ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, began its deliberations here today under the chairmanship of Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq bin Fawzan AlRabiah. — KUNA

KD 17 million loan for natural gas network in Egypt CAIRO: Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and Egypt’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation have signed a KD 17 million loan to finance “Phase Two” of a project to expand the natural gas distribution network in many Egyptian governorates. Nawaf Al-Muhmil, Head of KFAED mission and its legal advisor, and Mohammad Hamman, Undersecretary of the Egyptian planning ministry, signed the loan agreement yesterday.

Al-Muhmil said the project will provide all the necessary equipment and preparations to set up a network to deliver natural gas to more than 500,000 consumers.

Phase One of the project target-

ed 300,000 consumers, the Kuwaiti official said. He added that Phase Two will encompass around 200,000 consumers, mainly in Cairo and Giza. This project takes top priority for Egypt, as it will greatly contribute in lowering dependency on liquefied petroleum gas, which is a main source of pollution in the country. Al-Muhmil said the loan accumulates an annual interest of 2.5 percent. Additionally, 0.5 percent will be added every year to cover the costs of official paperwork and the expenses of other services. The loan should be paid off in 21 years. The Kuwait Fund for Arab and Development gave KD 20 million to finance Phase One of the project. —KUNA

GCC radio, TV festival ‘reflection of tradition’ MANAMA: The GCC radio and television festival was a “reflection of tradition” of the people in the region, said a Kuwaiti media official here yesterday.

Yousef Mustafa, Assistant Undersecretary for radio affairs at the Ministry of Information, said the 12th GCC radio and television festival was aimed at bolstering media and artistic cooperation among the GCC nations, which are all linked on a cultural and historical basis.

He affirmed that the GCC states are eager to further develop their media outlets to achieve the aspirations and goals of the people in the region, noting that the festival will honor a number of GCC media personnel and artists as a token of gratitude towards the people involved in this field.

Mustafa thanked the Bahraini authorities for hosting the event, affirming that Bahrain is a major contributor to GCC media development. —KUNA

Gulfmart opens a second outlet in Fahaheel KUWAIT: Gulfmart’s 13th outlet, and its second branch in Fahaheel, was inaugurated yesterday by Satish C. Mehta, the Indian ambassador to Kuwait, along with leading local realtor and businessman Khalid Jassim Al-Daboos and in the presence of a large crowd of eager shoppers, well-wishers and company officials.

The latest outlet of Gulfmart, the fastest growing supermarket chain in Kuwait with the largest number of branches in the countr y, opened in the center of Fahaheel’s shopping area at the Jassem & Nader Al Dabous Building, opposite to Centrepoint. The location of the supermarket provides customers easy access, convenient car parking facilities and, within the premises, a comfortable shopping environment.

Arif Sheik h, managing direc tor of

Gulfmart Group, speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration, said: “Ever since we opened the first Gulfmart outlet in Kuwait in 1999, we have benefited from the patronage of our loyal customers. The opening of a 13th branch in the country is clear evidence of the continued recognition and popularity of Gulfmart brand, and attests to the wide suppor t we enjoy among customers in Kuwait. We are very grateful for this trust in our brand and we will continue to meet and exceed the aspirations of shoppers looking for quality products at affordable prices.”

Over 11,000 square feet of floor space within the spacious new supermarket offers shoppers convenient shopping in a welcoming ambience. A large selection of produc ts, from around the world, arranged intuitively along fully stocked

shelves separated by ample aisle space, offers shoppers enormous value through convenient access, extensive selection, competitive prices and great service.

Gulfmart’s Operations Manager, Nikil Ajagaonk ar, and top officials of the Centralized Merchandizing Department of the Group, including Nicolas Panse, Raju Sawlani, Fakhruddin Kabir, Imran Sheikh, Zujer Saifee and Sameer Sheikh, affirmed that the second branch of the supermarket in Fahaheel presents customers enormous value through easier access to their favorite supermarket while giving them extensive selection, competitive prices and excellent service, along with great offers and superb promotions.

The tried and tested business model of opening new stores in different formats in suburbs underserved by full-service retail

supermarkets is proving to be immensely successful for Gulfmar t and is highly appreciated by residents in areas serviced by the supermarket. Gulfmart, which is renowned for carrying a wide variety of products that cater to the shopping needs of the diverse population in Kuwait, is especially popular for offering products that meet the specific ethnic requirements of customers in the locality.

“By opening a second branch in Fahaheel, we make it even more convenient for shoppers to access Gulfmart,” said T.A. Remesh, Country Head for Gulfmart in Kuwait. Detailing the synergies of opening a second branch in Fahaheel, he added, “At Gulfmart, we are all about convenience and providing quality products at best prices. Across Kuwait, from Fahaheel in the south to Jahra in the north, we are now in

the unique position of being able to offer shopping outlets that are within easily commutable distance of shoppers, wherever they are in the country.” “ The opening of a second branch in Fahaheel was the result of both, an increased demand from customers in the area, and because it falls in line with Gulfmart’s overall expansion strategy,” said the Country Manager. “The opening of our 13th branch in the country and our second store in Fahaheel is part of the second phase of our aggressive expansion strategy in Kuwait. With the launch last month of a branch in Farwaniya, now here in Fahaheel, and our scheduled openings in Salwa and Abu Halifa, we are well on our way to realizing our ambitious goal of having 25 stores in Kuwait by the end of 2013,” he added.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

Greece heading for new election next month Page 9

Syrian army launches new raids in south, northwest Page 8

SARAJEVO: In this Monday, June 22, 1992 file photo a wounded Sarajevo resident sits in shock next to two other seriously wounded civilians moments after one of several mortar shells landed in central Sarajevo. The indictment against Ratko Mladic, who went on trial yesterday at the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands, holds the former Bosnian Serb army commander “individually criminally responsible for planning, instigating, ordering and/or aiding and abetting the crimes charged in this indictment.” — AP

Mladic taunts survivors at trial Last major case arising from Yugoslav wars THE HAGUE: Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic made a throat-slitting gesture to a woman who lost her son, husband and brothers in the Srebenica massacre at the start of his trial yesterday for some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War Two. Mladic, now 70, flashed a defiant thumbs-up as he entered the courtroom - the last of the main protagonists in the Balkan wars of the 1990s to go on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

A hero to Serb nationalists, the “Butcher of Bosnia” to his Muslim and Croat victims, the pugnacious general eluded justice for 16 years until his capture in a cousin’s farmhouse in Serbia last May. The list of 11 charges stemming from his actions as the Serb military commander in the Bosnian war of 1992-95 ranges from genocide to murder, acts of terror and crimes against humanity.

He is accused of orchestrating not only the week-long massacre of 8,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica but also the 43-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, in which more than 10,000 people were killed by snipers, machine guns and heavy artillery.

Mladic, who refused to enter a plea, cuts a much frailer figure now

than his bullish, strutting wartime persona - his defence lawyer said he had suffered three strokes and a heart attack. But he appears to have lost none of his defiance.

In the public gallery, Munira Subasic, whose 18-year-old son, husband and brothers were killed in Srebrenica, stared at him from behind a glass barrier, crossing her wrists to imitate handcuffs. Mladic stared back and drew a hand across his throat. Presiding judge Alphons Orie promptly called a brief recess and ordered an end to “inappropriate interactions.”

“I thought I would see at least some remorse in his eyes when I came here,” Subasic said. “But instead I saw his bloodthirstiness. I don’t know how he can live with what he did, with killing so many people.”

The proceedings were broadcast live on big screens in Sarajevo, where thousands were killed by snipers or artillery while queuing for water or bread, or crossing the street.

Hasna Hadzic, a pensioner who survived the siege, stopped off on her way from the market, visibly shaken. “I feel like crying when I think of what he has done to us: killed 8,000 in Srebrenica alone, killed people in Foca, Visegrad, our children in Sarajevo,” she said, wiping away tears.

“They shouldn’t have put him on

trial. They should have liquidated him immediately.”

But in Pale, the mountain stronghold from which Serb forces orchestrated the siege and bombardment of the capital 16 km away, applause broke out in cafes every time Mladic appeared on the television screens.

“Crimes were committed by all sides,” said Serb student Mladen Mancic. “This is just an honourable man who defended the Serb people.

If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be here today.”

Mladic was in command of the Bosnian Serb army when, over several days in July 1995, Serb fighters attacked the Srebrenica enclave in eastern Bosnia, theoretically under the protection of Dutch UN peacekeepers.

Video footage shot at the time showed Mladic mingling with Muslim prisoners. Shortly afterwards, the men and boys were separated from the women, stripped of identification, and shot.

Prosecutor Dermot Groome, beginning a two-day opening statement, said Mladic and other Bosnian Serbs had been implementing a grand plan to eliminate non-Serbs from large areas of Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia.

“The prosecution will present evidence that will show beyond a rea-

sonable doubt the hand of Mr Mladic in each of these crimes,” he said.

Bosnian Muslim leader Bakir Izetbegovic said he hoped the trial could at least start closing a gulf between Bosnia’s Serb and CroatMuslim halves that shows little sign of closing, 17 years after the war ended.

“Half of Bosnia was cleansed of non-Serbs ... They wanted to erase all traces and evidence of the existence of others from this part of the territory, and under the command of Ratko Mladic they succeeded,” he said.

“Many people in Bosnia are still not ready, 16 years after the war ended, to face the truth ... This is the first step in the process of reconciliation.”

In court, prosecutors screened footage of bodies piled up on the streets of Sarajevo and people running in terror from the Serb onslaught. “There can be no doubt that Mladic controlled the shelling of Sarajevo,” Groome said.

“Mladic participated in a campaign of sniping and shelling against the besieged city of Sarajevo in order to spread terror among its civilian population.” Mladic is also held responsible for the imprisonment of non-Serbs in a system of camps, including Omarska, Prijedor and Keraterm, where they were raped, abused and murdered.—Reuters

France’s new premier readies fresh cabinet PARIS: President Francois Hollande’s new Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault got straight to work hiring a cabinet on his first day on the job yesterday, vowing to get France back on its feet. Ayrault, a 62-year-old former German teacher, lawmaker and longtime Hollande ally bade farewell to former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s premier Francois Fillon and said his first cabinet would meet on Thursday, a public holiday.

“The government will be ready and set up by the end of this afternoon,” Ayrault told journalists before heading off to the presidential Elysee Palace to put his cabinet

suggestions to Hollande. “What’s essential, and that’s why the cabinet will meet already on Thursday, is to get quickly to work to allow France to get back on its feet in a just way.” Despite some fears of what a Socialist president would do to the economy, France on Wednesday raised almost eight billion euros ($10 billion) in bond sales at lower rates than in its last comparable operation.

Like Hollande, who on Tuesday became France’s first Socialist president since 1995, Ayrault has never previously held a ministerial post, but he is mayor of Nantes, a veteran parliamentarian and seen as a con-

sensus builder. Hollande has been criticised for naming Ayrault, who has a conviction for favouritism in awarding a local government contract, with opponents noting that as candidate he promised not to work with anyone with a criminal record. He was named to the job of prime minister over other potential candidates, including Socialist Party leader and former labour minister Martine Aubr y, who reportedly refused to join the cabinet if she did not get the top job.

One of her aides told the Le Monde newspaper that Aubry, who is mayor of the northern city of Lille, saw “no sense” in being a

member of Hollande’s cabinet if she were not to be the prime minister.

French media have been rife with speculation about other appointments, with Spanish-born Manuel Valls, 49, mooted as interior minister and Hollande’s campaign chief Pierre Moscovici mentioned as foreign or finance minister. Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister in the government of France’s last Socialist president Francois Mitterrand, could get either the defence portfolio or the foreign ministry, observers said. Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe could become justice minister, as could Christiane Taubira or Michel Sapin. —AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

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

Greece heading for new election in June ‘The country is on a knife’s edge’ THE HAGUE: Former Liberian President Charles Taylor sits in the courtroom during his trial yesterday at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, based in Leidschendam outside The Hague, the Netherlands. — AFP

West manipulating crimes courts: Taylor THE HAGUE: Former Liberian President Charles Taylor said yesterday witnesses had been threatened and paid to testify against him in a trial that found him guilty of crimes against humanity, and described the international court system as a tool of the West.

Taylor - the first head of state to be found guilty by an international tribunal since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg told the war crimes court in The Hague that Washington had used the case to achieve regime change rather than justice.

“Witnesses were paid, coerced, and in many cases threatened with prosecution if they did not co-operate,” Taylor said at a sentencing hearing where his defence team hopes to minimise a possible 80-year jail term.

Taylor’s trial made international headlines, partly because of the grisly accounts of murders and mutilations, many committed by child soldiers, and partly because of Taylor’s alleged gift of ‘blood diamonds’ - gems plundered from Sierra Leone to fund the war - to supermodel Naomi Campbell who was called as a witness for the prosecution.

The first African leader to stand trial for war crimes, Taylor was convicted of aiding and abetting on 11 counts of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in which more than 50,000 people were killed. But he was acquitted of ordering and planning the atrocities.

Wearing a pin-striped suit and a diamond wedding band that glittered under the courtroom lights, the warlordturned-president lay his gold watch beside the lectern to keep to his assigned 30-minute time limit at the stand.

Taylor said the United States and other powers involved in military actions in Africa and the Middle East were using the court to pursue colonial aims against smaller countries. “Regime change in Liberia became a policy of the US government,” he said. “I never stood a chance.” “Only time will tell how many other African leaders of states will be destroyed,” he added and questioned the way his trial had been funded.

“The prosecution received millions of dollars from the United States government outside of the official funding process to the court administration. The prosecution has never fully accounted for how those monies were spent ... who received how much and for what purpose or purposes,” he said.

The prosecution has called for Taylor to serve jail terms amounting to 80 years, arguing that his position as president, his level of education and the duration of the conflict are aggravating circumstances. Taylor’s defence asked the court to consider a more lenient sentence, saying 80 years amounted to life for the 64-year-old. At yesterday’s hearing, chief prosecutor Brenda Hollis described Taylor as a “Janus” - after the Roman god with two faces turned in opposite directions. —Reuters

Moscow police break up anti-Putin sit-in MOSCOW: Moscow authorities broke up a week-long Occupy protest yesterday that sprung up in response to President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration, warning they would prevent similar actions during his third term. The dawn-hours raid on dozens of sleeping protesters brought an abrupt end to younger Russians’ first attempt to emulate the tent city tactic that is increasing popular in the West.

Sweepers had already cleared the scenic square by the time commuters were rushing to the nearby metro station while activists were debating where next to stage the first sit-in since former spy Putin’s domination began in 1999.

“They put up no resistance. Everything passed off fairly peacefully,” deputy district police chief Yury Zdorenko said in televised comments. “Everything happened in accordance with the spirit of the law.” The small but daring protest became the talking point of Russian politics while testing the ruling elite’s desire to put up with a form of dissent that still falls narrowly within the confines of increasingly strict legislation.

The rallies swelled to a few thousand as people finished work but shrank to just a few dozen activists overnight. The sit-in referred to itself as “Occupy Abay”a reference to the looming bronze statue of 19th century Kazakh poet Abay Kunanbayuli around which the protesters gathered in a leafy boulevard in the upscale Chistye Prudy district.

And they got around rules requiring the city to mandate any form of protest by calling their action a mass public “stroll”. A local Moscow court on Tuesday ordered the authorities to break up the rally because of noise and other complaints from three local residents.

The police had a noon yesterday deadline but moved in at 5:30 am (0130 GMT) despite at least one appeal having been filed against the judge’s orders. “The morning dispersal was illegal and here is the proof,” liberal Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin wrote in a blog on the Moscow Echo radio station website next to a copy of his own letter to the court.

Prominent activist Ilya Yashin said some of the activists had moved to a square that sits under a famous Stalin-era skyscraper near the Moscow zoo. “Come and join us. Things are fun here,” Yashin tweeted to his supporters. Activists unhappy with Putin’s presidential return after a four-year stint as prime minister have been increasingly resorting to creative forms of protest that slip through legal loopholes and do not require formal city sanction. More than 10,000 Russians of all ages joined a peaceful stroll through a neighbourhood near Chistye Prudy on Saturday in a clear bid to test the limits of the law. Moscow painters have voiced plans to conduct a similar stroll over the weekend. “If they push us out again, then we will simply walk around the city from square to square,” said opposition lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov. “Nobody can stop citizens from sitting on park benches.” — AFP

ATHENS: Debt-laden Greece is headed for new elections next month following an indecisive vote and yesterday named a judge as caretaker premier amid growing fears over the country’s eurozone future. Panagiotis Pikrammenos, the head of Greece’s top administrative court, was tasked with organising the next general election, which the semistate Athens News Agency said would be held on June 17.

“This is clearly a caretaker administration whose sole purpose is to lead the country to elections,” Pikrammenos said after accepting the mandate from President Carolos Papoulias. “It is clear to all that our homeland is going through difficult times. We must safeguard its prestige and assure a smooth transition,” said Pikrammenos, who was to be sworn in at 1700 GMT yesterday.

Tough austerity measures included in a 240-billion euro ($300 billion) EU-IMF deal for Greece saw voters on May 6 desert the main Pasok and New Democracy parties which had supported the bailout. Since the poll, Greece’s parties have been unable to form a government.

Reports said that Pikramenos, the 67year-old French-educated Council of

State president, would bring a number of veteran technocrats and retired politicians into cabinet posts of his temporary administration.

Greece and the world’s financial markets had been anxiously awaiting the date for new polls amid growing fears

the cash-strapped nation could be forced out of the 17-member eurozone. “The country is on a knife’s edge,” said the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises, one of Greece’s main business lobby groups.

There is no guarantee that the new vote will produce a viable government

ATHENS: Newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikramenos, left, listens Greece President Karolos Papoulias during their meeting at the Presidential palace in Athens, yesterday. The head of Greece’s Council of State will take the reins of the country until it holds new elections on June 17, a meeting of party leaders decided yesterday, a day after power-sharing talks collapsed. — AP

and left-wing Syriza, which has threatened to tear up the EU-IMF deal, is tipped to win after surging into second place in the May 6 election.

News that about 700 million euros ($890 million) had been withdrawn from Greek banks on Monday has meanwhile stoked the tensions, with investors fearful that a Greek euro exit would be chaotic for everyone. The European Central Bank would like Greece to stay in the eurozone, its president Mario Draghi said yesterday.

Christian Schulz of Berenberg Bank said the withdrawals suggested Greeks were “getting increasingly worried about the country’s future in the euro”. He said they “do not indicate panic quite yet.

However, this could change soon, so that the central bank would have to step in to save the banks.”

Commerzbank analysts said the risk of a “Grexit”-an uncontrolled Greek default and eurozone exit-had increased with the news of fresh polls. Press reaction was subdued, reflecting the feeling that while most Greeks want to stay in the eurozone, they cannot live with more spending cuts which have already triggered strikes and sometimes violent demonstrations. — AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

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

New effort filed to free OJ from Nevada prison LAS VEGAS: A new lawyer for OJ Simpson filed a new attempt to gain his release from Nevada state prison, alleging the former football star was so badly represented by lawyers in his trial and previous appeals that he deserves a new trial.

A 94-page document filed in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas faults the trial strategy and performance of attorneys Yale Galanter of Miami and Gabriel Grasso of Las Vegas, but maintains Simpson’s same basic defense. It says the NFL Hall of Famer wanted to recover from sports memorabilia dealers family photos and personal mementoes stolen from him after his 1995 acquittal in the Los Angeles slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole

Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Simpson was convicted in 2008 in Las Vegas of charges including kidnapping and armed robbery in a caper in a casino hotel room crammed with two memorabilia dealers and a middle man, Simpson and five other later convicted of felonies.

Simpson, 64, was sentenced in December 2008 to nine to 33 years behind bars. He is the only one in the case still in prison. Tuesday’s filing, called a writ of habeas corpus, is a common next-step appeals strategy to blame trial and initial appeals attorneys for a defendant’s conviction. If state courts deny it, it can be appealed to federal courts.

Almost all of the 22 grounds that attorney Patricia Palm of Las Vegas cited in the document fault Galanter and Grasso. Palm is due to argue the case July 3 in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas.

The first claim is that Galanter had a conflict of interest so severe he should have removed himself from the case. It does not raise a similar contention against Grasso. Galanter declined comment Tuesday, saying he wanted to read the complete document and supporting appendices.

Grasso said he hadn’t read the document, but “I’m behind O.J. and I hope this petition helps him get out of prison.” Simpson’s current private lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, declined

comment Tuesday. Galanter was Simpson’s lawyer before the Las Vegas incident, and the document alleges he knew ahead of time and helped plan Simpson’s effort to retrieve his possessions. The two men even had dinner together at a casino restaurant the night before, the document states.

Galanter told a trial judge he “wasn’t there” and “had nothing to do with” the confrontation. Galantar advised Simpson the plan was “legally permissible so long as there would be no trespass and no physical force used,” the new court filing said.

Simpson, meanwhile, had been drinking alcohol in the hours prior to the confrontation and had no idea anyone brought guns to the cramped

room at the Palace Station casinohotel, the document said. “ To this day, Simpson does not know whether there were actually guns pulled or displayed in the room,” the document said. “Even after Simpson was arrested, Galanter repeatedly advised Simpson that the state could not prove its case, given the evidence that he intended to reclaim his own property.”

Galanter and Grasso parted in 2009.

Galanter lost an appeal for Simpson’s freedom to the Nevada Supreme Court that included oral arguments in June 2010. Galanter wasn’t part of a failed attempt by LaVergne to get a hearing before the entire seven-member court. — AP

Two dead, 39 hurt in Bogota bombing Ex-interior minister suffers minor wounds

RUTHERFORD: A southwest suburban Burbank apartment building at 7858 Rutherford is seen in a Tuesday, May 15, 2012 photo. Newly-married Estrella Carrera, 25, was found stabbed to death in her wedding dress on Sunday.

Burbank police released a statement Monday calling the slaying “a domestic situation.” The statement does not mention the name or whereabouts of the woman’s husband. — AP

Newlywed husband wanted in bride slaying CHICAGO: The groom is being sought in the stabbing death of his young bride hours after their marriage - his new wife’s body found in a bathtub in the silver sequin cocktail dress she wore at her wedding reception and possibly at the wedding itself, police said Tuesday.

The manhunt continued for 30-yearold Arnoldo Jimenez, who is wanted on a first-degree murder warrant in the slaying of Estrella Carrera, 26, shortly after they celebrated their marriage with friends, said police in the Chicago suburb of Burbank.

“It was a very brutal killing,” Capt.

Joseph Ford of the Burbank Police Department told The Associated Press later Tuesday. “We do our jobs every day, of course. But something like this really motivates you to work even harder.” It is possible that Carrera was also married in the short, shimmering dress in which she was killed, Ford said. After they were married Friday afternoon at Chicago’s City Hall, the couple had dinner with friends at a restaurant, then headed to a nightclub in a party limousine. They were last seen at 4 a.m. Saturday, and Carrera’s body was found in her Burbank apartment Sunday.

The 6-foot, 220-pouind Jimenez was last known to be driving a 2006 black Maserati. Since the killing likely took place just hours after the couple went to the her Burbank apartment, the suspect had a day to leave the metropolitan area or even the state, Ford said.

Carrera, the mother of a 2-year-old boy and a 9-year-old daughter, told nearly no one about her plans to get married, inviting a few friends out Friday without telling them what she was celebrating, her relatives said. Her body was found after family members became worried they had not heard from her and called police.

Some of those familiar with the couple said there had been incidents of violence during their two years dating, Ford said. But he added that authorities haven’t yet found any records indicating

Carrera ever filed a complaint against Jimenez.

“And we have no indications the two were arguing at any time during the (Friday and early Saturday) celebration,” Ford said. Carrera’s family and acquaintances were struggling to comprehend how such a tragedy could happen during what should have been among the happiest days of the couple’s lives.

“You see this sort of thing in the movies. You never expect it to happen next door,” one of her neighbors, David Raska, said before police named Jimenez as a suspect. Carrera’s cousins also were shocked. “We never thought this would happen,” said 27-year-old Jaime Lopez.

“Reality still hasn’t hit me.”

Carerra called another cousin, Sandy Lopez, inviting her to the party but saying nothing about a wedding. “She didn’t want to tell me she had gotten married,” she said. “She didn’t tell anybody besides her father the day before.” She told NBC 5 Chicago news that Carrera and her new husband had an on-again, off-again relationship.

The cousins, neither of whom could make it to the Friday party, said Carrera worked as a Spanish-language translator, and they described her as a fiercely independent woman who adored her kids.

“She was a beautiful mother, person, sister,” Sandy Lopez said. Relatives became concerned when Carrera didn’t pick up her children on Saturday at her father’s, who had been watching his grandchildren while his daughter was celebrating. Police found her body Sunday afternoon during a well-being check.

Another neighbor in Burbank, Jason Tokarczyk, said Carrera had lived in her apartment for the past several months and that she would greet him coming and going, but otherwise said little. “She was quiet as a mouse,” he said.

Neighbor Jim Olinger said he had seen Jimenez at his wife-to-be’s apartment last week and that he “seemed like a really nice guy.” — AP

BOGOTA: A bomb targeting a hardline former interior minister killed two of his bodyguards and injured at least 39 people in Bogota’s uptown commercial district Tuesday in the type of brazen attack not seen in Colombia’s capital in years.

The former minister and morning radio host, Fernando Londono, suffered minor wounds and was out of danger after being operated on to remove glass shards from his chest, authorities said. Video footage showed a stunned Londono, his face bruised, being led from the wreckage in a dark suit and red tie.

Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro said a pedestrian attached an explosive to a door of Londono’s armored SUV and set it off remotely. He said authorities had video of the attack.

The attacker “walked away disguised” and a wig of long black hair and a hat were found in the area, Petro told reporters.

It was the first fatal bombing in the capital in nearly a decade of an apparently political nature and it traumatized a capital that two decades before had been ravaged by car bombs set by drug traffickers fighting extradition to the United States.

Bogota’s police chief, Gen. Luis Eduardo Martinez, blamed the country’s main leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, though without offering any evidence. But President Juan Manuel Santos said immediately afterward that it was too early to assign blame, and he announced a $277,000 reward for information leading to those responsible.

“We don’t know who is behind this attack,” he said after meeting with police and military brass, Bogota’s mayor and the chief prosecutor. He said, however, that the FARC was behind a car bomb that was detected and deactivated elsewhere in the capital earlier Tuesday.

Santos, who as defense minister in 20062009 dealt major setbacks to the rebels, vowed in response to the attack to “eliminate terrorism from the face of the earth.” Santos said Londono, 68, had in the past received death threats and had a sophisticated protection scheme involving about 19 bodyguards.

An archconservative and a stringent critic of the FARC, Londono was interior and justice minister in 2002-2003 under former President Alvaro Uribe. He hosts a daily radio show called “The Hour of Truth” and firmly opposes peace talks with the FARC, calling the rebels “terrorists” and “murderers.” He has also been critical of Santos for allegedly being soft on the rebels, who have stepped up attacks in recent months.

Under Uribe, Colombia’s US-backed military succeeded in diminishing the FARC’s numbers by roughly half to about 9,000 currently, with increasingly effective bombings that prompted record desertions. Colombia’s capital became progressively safer, the conflict increasingly limited to less populated hinterlands.The last major bombing in Bogota was in 2003, when the FARC devastated the exclusive El Nogal social club, killing 36 people. The cocaine trade-funded FARC was also

blamed for a pre-dawn bombing outside a building housing Caracol radio in August 2010 that injured nine people.

Londono’s driver and a police bodyguard were killed in the attack shortly before midday on Calle 74 a half block from Caracas Avenue. It was not immediately clear where in the SUV the bodyguard was sitting. The affected district is packed with offices, stores, restaurants and banks and video of the scene after the blast showed people screaming as police and firefighters assisted the wounded, some with bloodied faces. Catalina

BOGOTA: Firefighters remove wreckage from the site where a bomb targeting a former interior minister exploded killing two of his bodyguards and injuring dozens in Bogota, Colombia, yesterday. — AP Ballesteros, a 24-year-old student, was in a show itself to the world as an organization bus that was badly damaged by the blast. She sufficiently strong militarily and no only a said she was surprised at the concentrated weak organization that is only looking to force. “After the explosion it was chaos,” said negotiate with the government.”

The FARC has been seeking peace talks and Ballesteros, who suffered only cuts. She said she saw one man on the street who had faint- last month released what it said were its last “political prisoners,” 10 police and soldiers ed.

Santos said 39 people were injured. held for as many as 14 years. In newspaper Londono was operated on at the Clinica del columns and on the radio, Londono hasn’t Country hospital to close skin wounds and just attacked the FARC as the standard-bearer remove glass shards from his chest, said the of Colombia’s left wing.

He also firmly defends Uribe against allegahospital’s director, Jorge Ospina. Ospina said the only person seriously injured in the blast tions that the former president was too cozy was a 38-year-old passer-by who needed sur- with backers of illegal far-right militias. gery and was in danger of losing his right arm. Dozens of political allies of both men have Earlier Tuesday, police said they had deacti- been imprisoned on criminal conspiracy convated a car bomb, a Renault 9 whose trunk victions for colluding with the militias.

The militia leaders made peace with Uribe’s contained the explosive indugel, in the center of the city. Santos said its target was appar- government but most of their top leaders ently a police station in a neighborhood were extradited to the United States, where named for his great uncle, former President they are serving prison terms on drug trafficking convictions. The FARC, meanwhile, sufEduardo Santos.

The driver, who was arrested, “made a fered serious setbacks under Uribe, who left series of confessions,” he said, indicating the office in 2010, but continue to inflict casualFARC was to blame. Santos considers himself ties on security forces in ambushes and hita progressive and, in addition to a military and-run attacks.

It currently holds a French journalist who hard line against the FARC, has sought to return stolen land to peasants and pay repara- was accompanying security forces on a drug tions to victims of Colombia’s long-running lab-destroying mission when rebels detained civil conflict. The FARC was blamed by author- him two weeks ago. The FARC said on Sunday ities for two bombings in February in provin- that it intends to free him soon. — AP

Honduras reporter found dead after gang abduction TEGUCIGALPA: The body of a Honduran radio journalist was found late Tuesday on the outskirts of the capital a week after he was kidnapped on his way to work. Angel Alfredo Villatorowas, a journalist with top HRN radio station, was found dead wearing a police officer’s uniform on a residential street, Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla told local media.

The news prompted shocked reports from radio and television after a week of frantic appeals for his safe return. He was abducted before dawn in eastern Tegucigalpa last Wednesday by “young gang members,” as he left his home for work, according to witnesses, The International Press Institute (IPI) had called on Honduras authorities to quickly probe the kidnapping, calling on them to do more to guarantee the media’s safety.

“IPI urges Honduras police to carry out swift investigations and do everything in their power to ensure that Villatoro is freed immediately,” the press freedom watchdog said after the kidnapping. In the almost three years since a coup overthrew the government of leftist president Manuel Zelaya, 20 journalists have been killed in Honduras and all of the cases remain unsolved.

Journalist groups and news organizations have expressed alarm at the wave of kidnappings and executions targeting their profession. Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate — 86 per 100,000 inhabitants a year, according to UN statistics. — AFP

cial Colombia that killed at least 16 people, and military analyst Alfredo Rangel said he suspected it in Tuesday’s bombing because of Londono’s hard line against the rebels.

Leftist congressman and human rights activist Ivan Cepeda said he feared the attack could trigger other acts of violence, including targeting the left. “I see a clear intent to destabilize,” Cepeda said, blaming “sectors who don’t want peace.”

Political scientist Vicente Torrijos of the Universidad del Rosario supported the theory that the FARC was to blame as it “seeks to

TEGUCIGALPA: Colleagues weep after learning of the death of journalist Alfredo Villatoro, coordinator of the HRN La Voz de Honduras radio broadcasting station, in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday. Villatoro was kidnapped May 9 while on his way to work. In the almost three years since a coup overthrew the government of leftist president Manuel Zelaya, 19 journalists have been killed in Honduras and all of the cases remain unsolved. — AFP

US restricts flights of F-22 jets over safety worries WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force to restrict flights of its most advanced fighter jet, the F-22, after some pilots complained of dizzy spells and blackouts, officials said Tuesday.

Since 2008, officials say at least a dozen F-22 pilots have reported suffering a lack of oxygen but engineers have yet to figure out how to fix the problem.

Under Panetta’s decision, the F-22 Raptor will no longer be conducting longerrange flights and would instead stay within reach of runways to ensure a pilot could land in an emergency, Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

The move followed a report on CBS’s “60 Minutes” program on May 6 in which two F-22 pilots said they had refused to keep flying the warplane because of safety fears. The two pilots have sought “whistleblower” legal status through a Republican lawmaker.

Little denied the television interviews triggered Panetta’s announcement but said pilots’ concerns “figured into his

decision to direct these actions today.”

“He is very concerned about pilot safety.

And he wants safety concerns to be addressed at all levels of command through proper channels.”

The announcement suggested the Pentagon chief was impatient with the Air Force, but Little insisted there was no disagreement. “The secretary wants to add his muscle to this,” he said. He said that “effective immediately, all F-22 flights will remain within the proximity of potential landing locations, to enable quick recovery and landing should a pilot encounter unanticipated physiological conditions during flight.” The move meant that “long-duration airspace control flights” out of Alaska would be carried out by other aircraft, Little said, without offering further details. Panetta also called on the Air Force to “expedite” the installation of a back-up oxygen system in the F-22 planes and to provide a monthly progress report on efforts to resolve the undiagnosed technical problem. — AFP

12

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

international

Russian plane crash probe focuses on voice recorder CIJERUK: Indonesian investigators yesterday expressed hope that the newly found cockpit voice recorder from a Russian airliner would help answer why

the plane crashed into a mountain. The new Sukhoi Superjet 100 slammed into Mount Salak, a dormant volcano south of the capital Jakarta, last week with the

JAKARTA: Mardjono Siswosuwarno (centre), head of the Indonesian investigating panel holds the recovered partly charred cockpit voice recorder of the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 at Halim Perdanakusuma airport in Jakarta yesterday. —AFP

officials could not say yet whether it had suffered any damage. The voice recorder has been handed over to Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT), which is leading the investigation with the help of more than 70 Russian experts.

“In general, black boxes are tough and can withstand impact,” KNKT chief Tatang Kurniadi told AFP. “We hope the CVR will shed light on what led to the crash. We hope we can get crucial information, mainly communications by the pilot and other people during the last moments,” he said. “We will need up to three weeks to process the data, if the condition is good.”

The head of the investigation said the box was in fair condition and would be analysed in Indonesia, not Russia. “Its condition is not bad, I’ve seen worse,” said Mardjono Siswosuwarno. “The analysis will be done entirely in Indonesia,” he said, adding that the CVR was US-manufactured.

Some of the Russian Superjet’s electronics are US- and European-made, according to Sukhoi’s website. The twinengine jet is Russia’s first post-Soviet civilian aircraft and was to be the new mascot for the nation’s aviation industry.

loss of all 45 people aboard. Indonesian special forces and Russian experts had combed the densely forested mountain for days looking for its “black boxes” as questions mounted about whether technical failure or human error caused the Sukhoi to crash. The cockpit voice recorder tapes pilots’ conversations between themselves and with air traffic control. Another black box, which records vital aircraft functions, remains missing.

“The flight data recorder has not been found. What was found was the CVR,” said Daryatmo, head of the national search and rescue agency, who goes by one name. “We are asking rescuers to continue the search.” Ketut Parwa, head of Jakarta’s search agency, said near the crash site that the voice recorder was found late on Tuesday around 100 metres (330 feet) from the Sukhoi’s severed tail.

The plane, helmed by a veteran Russian pilot, disappeared from radar screens on May 9 shortly after taking off from Jakarta. It was supposed to be on a brief exhibition flight to showcase the new plane to prospective buyers.

The newly located black box appeared charred from the crash but

A joint venture with Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica, it made its first commercial flight last year.

A Russian fact-finding committee has said there are indications that safety standards were violated in the demonstration flight. Russian officials said that a full investigation could take up to a year.

Key to the mystery is why the pilot requested permission to descend from 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) to 6,000 feet before the plane crashed into Mount Salak, which rises to 7,200 feet.

Indonesia’s transport ministry has confirmed that a control tower in Jakarta gave the pilot permission to descend as the plane approached a military base, where mountains reach up to around 3,000 feet.

Online photos of an earlier demonstration flight on the same day show relaxed passengers smiling on board, being treated to champagne, as well as cheerful Russian and Indonesian crew members posing outside the jet.

The victims included eight Russians as well as a Frenchman and a US national. The rest were Indonesian. Some of the bodies have been recovered from the crash site and are undergoing DNA identification tests in Jakarta. —AFP

US-Pakistan near deal on reopening supply lines Pakistan president to attend NATO summit WASHINGTON: Pakistan and the United States appeared on the verge of clinching an agreement to reopen ground supply lines into Afghanistan, a US official said, as Islamabad confirmed its president

fuelled speculation Pakistan might be excluded from NATO talks on Afghanistan’s future. Pakistan closed down the supply lines for the Afghan war effort following the NATO air strike in November that

Nadeem Hotiana, an embassy spokesman, confirmed that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will attend the May 20-21 summit.

“This meeting will underline the strong commitment of the interna-

KARACHI: Pakistani men walk past fuel tankers, used to transport fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan, parked near oil terminals in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi yesterday. Pakistan’s cabinet is expected to endorse the country’s attendance at key talks on Afghanistan in Chicago and edge towards lifting a blockade on overland NATO supplies to its war-torn neighbour. —AFP will attend a summit of NATO leaders this weekend in Chicago.

Reopening the supply route would be a major breakthrough in ties between Washington and Islamabad. Strained relations have

killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. That strike fanned national anger over everything from covert CIA drone strikes to the US incursion into Pakistani territory last year to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

tional community to the people of Afghanistan and to its future.

Pakistan has an important role to play in that future,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement yesterday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also expected to attend the meeting, where NATO nations will hone their plans to withdraw most of their troops by the end of 2014.

As the Western presence ebbs, Pakistan, whose tribal areas are home to Taliban and other militants, will be key in shaping Afghanistan’s future.

But the supply routes have been a major sticking point. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deal now appeared almost certain, even while stressing that nothing had been finalized and surprises were always possible.

The official added that the US military might see some higher costs to receive goods in Afghanistan than it did before Pakistan cut off the supply lines, but did not elaborate. The United States and Pakistan, which now says it expects the routes to reopen, have long been expected to strike a deal that would include tariffs on NATO supplies going into Afghanistan.

After weeks of talks between U.S. and Pakistani officials in Islamabad, a Pentagon spokesman on Tuesday said he hoped that would occur in the “very near future.” In a statement, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s office said ministers had backed a proposal to allow NATO to send only non-lethal equipment into Afghanistan on Pakistani roads.

“It was also decided that the military authorities should negotiate fresh border ground rules with NATO ... to ensure that (such border) incidents do not reoccur,” the statement said. —Reuters

Cambodia girl killed in violent eviction PHNOM PENH: Security forces fatally shot a teenage girl yesterday during a clash with villagers armed with axes and crossbows in eastern Cambodia, in the latest of several violent evictions aimed at clearing land for development. Cambodia’s system of commercial land concessions, decried by activists as opaque and corrupt, has become a volatile issue nationwide and prompted a UN inquiry. Last month, a high-profile activist was slain after investigating illegal logging in a forest concession.

Yesterday, about 400 police and soldiers raided a settlement in Kratie province after community leaders rejected demands to vacate their farmland for several months, provincial Gov. Sar Chamrong said. The securi-

ty forces clashed with about 200 villagers armed with axes, crossbows and sticks.

He said a 15-year-old girl was critically wounded in the confrontation and later died at a hospital.

Government forces secured the area and were hunting for five accused ringleaders who escaped into the jungle, Sar Chamrong said. He alleged that the protesters were trying to set up a self -governing zone outside of the law. Authorities say the land is owned by the government, but the activists say the previously stateowned land already has been awarded to a Russian company to be developed as a plantation. Accused protest ringleader Bun Ratha said about 500 villagers have been farming the land for years and have

Philippines may buy fighter jets MANILA: The Philippines is looking at arming itself for the first time with dedicated fighter jets made outside of the United States, President Benigno Aquino said yesterday amid a territorial dispute with China.

The Philippines last month requested aircraft, patrol boats and radar systems from its US military ally to help it achieve what the government said would be a “minimum credible defence”. Aquino said that his government had asked to buy second-hand F16s from the United States, but their maintenance costs could end up being too high because of their age.

“We might end up spending $400 million or $800 million per squadron, and we were thinking of getting two squadrons,” he said in an interview with Manila’s Bombo Radio.

“We do have an alternative, and-this is a surprise-it seems we have the capacity to buy brand-new, but not from America,” Aquino

said, without mentioning the aircraft model.

“These are manufactured by another progressive country that I won’t name at this point.” Aquino noted that Manila had retired its last fighter jet, a Korean War-vintage F-5, in 2005. It does continue to fly S211 trainer jets made by the Italian firm Marchetti, which are sometimes used as ground attack aircraft against various insurgencies.

But along with the F-5, the Philippines had previously relied on obsolete US handme-downs including the T-33 and the P-51 Mustang as dedicated attack fighters, and the country now has no effective air defences.

It is engaged in a tense maritime standoff with China over the disputed Scarborough Shoal and surrounding waters in the South China Sea. Both nations have stationed vessels there for over a month to assert their sovereignty. —AFP

nowhere else to go. Speaking to The Associated Press by phone just before fleeing the scene, Bun Ratha said he had been briefly detained last month on charges of destroying private property during a protest. The incident is the latest fallout from widespread evictions and land grabs that have sparked unrest nationwide, with deadly force sometimes employed by both public and private security forces. Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive a week ago suspending new land concessions to private companies and ordering a review of existing ones. The move was announced during a visit by a UN human rights envoy who warned that land disputes in Cambodia must be resolved fairly so that they do not provoke violence. —AP

DHAKA: A police officer sits on a motorcycle near a bus which was set on fire by suspected activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, yesterday. Police used batons to disperse stonethrowing opposition supporters outside a court in Bangladesh’s capital yesterday after a judge denied bail to 33 senior opposition members charged with involvement in an arson attack during an anti-government strike last month, witnesses said. —AP

Bangladesh denies bail to 33 opposition leaders DHAKA: Demonstrators torched vehicles and fought police in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka after a court yesterday denied bail to 33 opposition figures over charges stemming from an anti-government protest last month.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called a nationwide general strike for today, saying the court decision was “politically motivated” aimed at crushing “legitimate protests” over the disappearance of a BNP leader.

“It’s totally unbelievable and a fabricated case. We are awestruck at the court’s decision not to grant bail to our top leaders,” BNP spokesman Nazrul Islam Khan told AFP, adding the charges against the men were bailable offences.

Protesters set ablaze vehicles and clashed with police outside the court.

“We have arrested eight people over the torching of four buses and a taxicab,” city police spokesman Masud Ahmed said.

Dozens were hurt when police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of demonstrators in the northwestern town of Thakurgaon after they went on a rampage to protest against the court decision, police superintendent Belayet Hossain told AFP. State prosecutor Abdullah Abu told AFP the judge rejected the bail petition after the senior BNP officials surrendered to the court in the morning.

“In all, 33 people, including BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir, were denied bail. The court ordered them into custody in jail instead,” he said. Alamgir, whose constituency is in Thakurgaon, is not a member of parlia-

ment but is the BNP’s second-highestranking official. Also among those held were lawmakers and nearly a dozen former ministers.

A total of 40 opposition activists from the BNP and its allies are now in custody awaiting trial on charges of torching a bus in front of the prime minister ’s office during protests at the end of last month.

During those protests, two small bombs exploded in the Secretariat, home to most ministries, and the cabinet office, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina holds weekly meetings. No one was hurt in the attacks.

Bangladesh’s often turbulent politics have returned to near boiling point over the disappearance of the BNP’s regional head, Ilias Ali, on April 17. The BNP fears Ali has been killed and accuses the elite Rapid Action Battalion security force of abducting him on government orders, an allegation that has been strongly denied.

Police found Ali’s car abandoned in an upmarket district of Dhaka. His driver is also missing. Protests over the disappearance have regularly paralysed the country in recent weeks. Ali is the highest-profile opposition politician to have “disappeared” since Hasina took power in January 2009.

Quoting two Dhaka-based rights groups-Ain-O-Sailash Kendra and Odhikar the New York-based Human Rights Watch has said the disappearance of least 22 people has been documented in 2012 alone and more than 50 people since 2010. —AFP

S Lanka may free jailed ex-army chief COLOMBO: Sarath Fonseka could be free “within days” after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse held talks yesterday with the jailed former army chief’s political party, officials said. Fonseka fell out with the government over who should take credit for winning the separatist war against the Tamil Tiger rebels and he lost the 2010 presidential election to Rajapakse after quitting the army.

Two weeks after his election defeat, Fonseka was detained on a charge of corruption relating to military procurements. He was given a 30-month jail sentence in September 2010. Rajapakse met members of Fonseka’s Democratic National Alliance (DNA) par ty to discuss the terms of his release, DNA legislator Tiran Alles told reporters. “ There are a few issues which are still being discussed,” he said. “We are hopeful we

can secure a release very soon.” An official from Rajapakse’s office declined to discuss details, but said Fonseka could be released “within days”.

Former Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka —AFP

The moves come ahead of talks later this week between Sri Lanka’s foreign minister G. L. Peiris and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington. The US has been critical of Sri Lanka’s human rights record during the final stages of the civil war, which ended with victory for government forces in May 2009. Washington has repeatedly urged Colombo to release Fonseka.

In November, Fonseka was sentenced to three more years in jail for saying that Tiger rebels who surrendered had been killed on the orders of the president ’s brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is defence secretary. Fonseka has also angered the government by saying he would testify before any international tribunal probing possible war crimes charges after the United Nations said thousands of civilians were killed in the last months of fighting. —AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

NEWS Amir rejects proposal to amend...

Continued from Page 1 of issues including high prices of consumer goods at cooperative societies which were established to sell goods at low prices. Adasani said other issues in the planned grilling include violations in the residency law and expatriate labourers, failure to apply the law for the handicapped and the minister’s role in the sports crisis.

The lawmaker insisted that he does not aim at ousting the minister but to expose a large deal of violations and to push the minister to carry out the necessary reforms.

MPs from the so-called majority and minority blocs yesterday traded strong accusations, each blaming the other side of working against the interests of Kuwait. The duel began late Tuesday night when several supporters of the previous government described the current National Assembly as the worst in the history of Kuwait.

MP Ali Al-Rashed, a staunch supporter of former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, told a rally that the majority bloc is led by five MPs and the rest are followers, accusing them of serving their interests. Rashed predicted that the Assembly will not survive. But opposition Islamist MP Jamaan Al-Harbash charged that “leaders of corruption” in Kuwait will continue to work toward forcing the dissolution of the Assembly, “which has deprived them of their influence”.

Harbash said that the new Assembly has eliminated their influence and control but not their desire to restore their position based on corruption and creating divisions in the society to achieve their goals. The lawmaker insisted that the success of the new Assembly in forging with key legislative reforms and in completing the investigation into corruption scandals will signal a new birth for Kuwait.

Indian rupee hits record low Continued from Page 1 it announced new measures to support the local unit, ordering exporters and other foreign-exchange earners to convert half of their total foreign-exchange earnings kept in banks into rupees. But India’s domestic woes are also hurting the currency, say analysts, who point to stubbornly high inflation, strained public finances and widening trade and current account deficits.

Foreign investors have also been turned off the country of 1.2 billion people due to recent regulatory moves by the government, which has stalled on a pro-growth reform agenda aimed at opening up the economy. “The Indian government needs to stop the blame-game and take some measures to tackle the situation,” said Abhishek Goenka, chief executive of India Forex, a consultancy firm. Investors across Asia have been dumping risk-sensitive assets on worries about the worsening political upheaval in Greece and buying up dollar holdings, perceived as safe havens in times of financial stress. Amid the turmoil, the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index or Sensex ended the day

down 1.83 percent at 16,030 points. “Global uncertainty is in the driver’s seat,” said Priyanka Kishore, forex strategist at Standard Chartered Bank. “There is a tangible risk of the rupee moving towards 55 rupee to the dollar levels,” she told AFP. Yes Bank chief economist Shubhada Rao said the Indian currency was in “uncharted territory”. The falling rupee is bad news for India’s economy, pushing up import prices and aggravating inflation that is running at over seven percent, limiting the central bank’s scope to roll back interest rate hikes and spur the economy.

It will also further strain the government’s budget because oil imports - which are priced in dollars - will become more expensive. Mukherjee already sees a fiscal deficit this financial year of 5.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) according to his latest budget. The government projects growth for this financial year at 7.6 percent, but many private economists see this as optimistic. “There will be obstructions, growth will move up, it will go down,” Mukherjee said. “We will have to watch the (growth) compass for the next four or five year years - not just one, two or three quarters. — AFP

Google search to get smarter Continued from Page 1 interested in a hockey team, basketball team, or film.

Using the keyword “Andromeda” prompted Knowledge Graph to note one might be interested in a galaxy, a television series, or a Swedish rock band. Clicking on a suggested topic instantly refined search results.

Google painstakingly adjusted its algorithm to comb information from databases such as Freebase and Wikipedia to give context to words and then use general search patterns when it comes to what people tend to want, Gomes said. Searches on specific subjects such as an architect’s name triggered Knowledge Graph results offering to dive into categories such as biographical information or projects designed.

Google added a serendipity factor by surfacing potentially surprising facts. For example, a search on “Simpsons” cartoon creator Matt Groening resulted in a Knowledge Graph box that noted his parents and sister have the same first names as his well-known fictional characters -Homer, Margaret and Lisa. “Text strings are ambiguous; we have to make a lot of changes to understand real world entities,” Gomes said. “This has been an exciting problem for us and we have been attacking it for two years.”

Google’s Knowledge Graph has been programmed to recognize more than 500 million people, places, or things using a combined total of about 3.5 billion attributes and associations between bits of information.

“People ask about anything you can think about and lots of things you never thought about,” Gomes said.

Google included links searchers can click to point out when the Knowledge Graph gets something wrong.

“Not everything is going to be correct,” Gomes said. “We put a tremendous amount of work into it but even if it was perfect facts change every day.”

The change was expected to affect a large number of queries, and was tailored with mobile gadgets in mind since it lets people dive deeper into searches with taps of touchscreens. “It is very useful on a mobile phone, and really cool on a tablet,” Gomes said. Google constantly refines its service to defend its place as the

world’s favorite search engine, and the wealth of online advertising revenue that comes with that dominance.

Google’s share of the US search market inched up to 66.5 percent in April, with Microsoft’s Bing service a distant second with 15.4 percent, according to industry tracker comScore. Microsoft has been striving to unseat Google from the search throne and has cultivated ties with leading social network Facebook, which has the potential to shake up the market with an online query service at the online community. “This used to be the stuff of dreams because we didn’t really know how to accomplish it,” said Amit Singhal, a Google fellow who has been studying search for 22 years. “The dream has always been to understand things like you and I do, so this really feels like a sea change.”

The Knowledge Graph also will help address another problem vexing Google. As websites seeking traffic have learned to manipulate commonly requested search terms, their links have been appearing more frequently on the first page of Google’s results, even though they might not have the most relevant information. Google periodically tries to remove the rubbish by tweaking its ranking system, only to have websites figure out new ways to outfox the search formula.

If the Knowledge Graph works like it’s supposed to, it will give visitors less reason to leave Google’s website.

Although Google says that isn’t its main objective, anything that gives people a reason to hang around for longer periods, and perhaps enter more search requests, promises to help the company make more money. Google distributes ads all over the Web, but it reaps its highest profit margins from commercial links that are clicked on its own website.

Anything that keeps people on Google longer is likely to amplify complaints that the company is more interested in promoting its own services than pointing visitors to other helpful Internet destinations. Singhal doesn’t see it that way. “As we answer more of our users’ questions, we save them time,” he said. “Time is the only quantity that we can’t make more of. When people save time, people search more. The Web gets more traffic and all boats rise.” — Agencies

Iran rails against Saudi-Bahrain union Continued from Page 1 GCC chief Abdullatif Al-Zayani condemned Iran for making “provocative” comments, saying they revealed “hostile” and “bad intentions” while arousing “anxiety and tension across the region. “Relations between Gulf Cooperation Council states is a Gulf and Arab matter in which Iran has no right to interfere,” Zayani said in a statement. Iranian MPs had on Monday condemned the planned union between the two Gulf countries.

“Bahraini and Saudi rulers must understand that this unwise decision will only strengthen the Bahraini people’s resolve against the forces of occupation,” they said in a letter, referring to the Saudi-led forces.

Bahrain yesterday hit out at Iran for interfering in its affairs. “These statements represent a flagrant interference in the internal affairs of the kingdom and an attack on its sovereignty,” the foreign ministry said in a letter of protest handed to the Islamic republic’s charge d’affairs, according to BNA state news agency. Saudi-led Gulf forces rolled into Sunni-ruled Bahrain in March 2011 to boost the kingdom’s security forces which a day later crushed month-old, Shiite-dominated protests.

Shiite-dominated Iran has repeatedly voiced support for the protests in Bahrain and strongly condemned the deployment of Saudi-led forces. The GCC was formed in 1981 as the Sunni-dominated monarchies of the Gulf aimed to bolster security after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran that was followed by an eight-year war between Baghdad and Tehran. The Bahrain issue is sensitive one to Iran, where a nationalist-conservative movement within the Islamic regime still considers the island, controlled by Persia before being colonised by Britain and then to gain independence in 1971, as an Iranian province.

“The right is reserved for the Islamic republic, as patron and heir to the territorial integrity of Iran, to want the return of a separated province to the Islamic homeland,” said Hossein Shariatmadari, the director of the hardline Kayhan newspaper. “The Bahrainis essentially consider themselves to be Iranians and according to some reports they are eager to return to Iran,” he added without specifying on which reports.

Meanwhile, prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel

Rajab told a court yesterday that a charge that he tweeted insults against the government was “vindictive”, as dozens of lawyers turned up to defend him. “The charge against me is vindictive and is due to my rights activism,” Rajab told a judge at Manama’s Minor Criminal Court, insisting the decision to arrest and try him was political, according to witnesses. “I only practiced my right to free expression. I did not commit a crime. The decision to arrest me and put me on trial was a political decision,” he said.

More than 50 lawyers, both men and women, gathered at the court to defend Rajab, who has been leading protests in the state. The judge adjourned the trial to Sunday, and ordered Rajab to stay behind bars. Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), was detained on May 5 for “insulting a statutory body via Twitter”. He also faces a trial for taking part in a Manama demonstration three months ago. The activist has insisted on demonstrating inside Manama, unlike the main Shiite opposition which now stages its protests in Shiite villages, after last year’s clampdown on protesters who occupied the capital’s Pearl Square for a month.

Despite being a veteran critic of authorities in the Gulf kingdom, Rajab has been spared imprisonment in the wide wave of arrests that targeted activists after security forces quelled the Arab Spring-inspired uprising, possibly for his international exposure and links with rights groups. Another activist, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is the former head of the BCHR, has been on a hunger strike in prison since Feb 8. He faces a life sentence among other leading opposition activists. Police fired teargas to disperse several dozen protesters who gathered in the district of Daih on the edge of the Manama yesterday, demanding the release of Rajab and women protesters including Zainab Al-Khawaja, daughter of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. Bahrain also issued arrest warrants yesterday for 20 people accused of injuring policemen and civilians with homemade bombs during months of pro-democracy unrest in the island kingdom.

The interior ministry said it had issued the names and photographs of 20 men, aged 18 to 38, wanted for preparing and detonating “terrorist explosions”. Police say 15 officers have been wounded by three blasts, the first in early April. — Agencies

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos is silhouetted prior to the start of their friendly match against Kuwait’s national football team at Al-Kuwait SC stadium in Kaifan yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

UAE aerospace dream blooms in the desert Continued from Page 1 from the desert in record time to spearhead Abu Dhabi’s ambitions to diversify its oil-dependent economy and produce high-tech jobs for the company’s mainly female local workforce. “We put the first spade into the sand in September 2009 and when we started you couldn’t get here in a vehicle; you had to drive by 4x4 and then walk,” says Bradley, chief executive of Strata, the aerostructures business funded by Abu Dhabi.

The project is part of efforts by the UAE’s main exporting emirate to boost the non-oil economy to 56 percent of GDP by 2020 and 64 percent in 2030, up from 41 percent in 2005-07. It is trying to do what many have long considered impossible - to challenge the biggest parts industry players from Asia to the United States in a short time and at even lower cost, while developing a previously unproven workforce. The steady pilgrimage of industry visitors and a rapid buildup in contracts from the world’s largest planemakers suggest the $250 million factory project is starting to pay off.

Eighteen months after the first parts were produced, the Strata factory has a backlog of $3 billion in orders. In an open-plan “clean room,” young white-coated women in headscarves work at large tables laying out carbon material. The resinous black material will be moulded into aircraft parts and baked in a high-pressure autoclave oven. The resulting structure is lighter and stronger than traditional aluminium, allowing airlines to save weight and burn less fuel. Each piece is tested with giant ultrasound scanners for invisible flaws.

The result of their work is a row of gleaming white “flap track fairings” - canoe-shaped pods that stick out from under a jetliner’s wings to house the mechanism for deploying the flaps. They will end up on Airbus A330s and soon on A380s. Last month Strata signed a $1 billion deal to make composites for Boeing, with an aim to be sole supplier of vertical tailfins for the 787 Dreamliner by the end of the decade. Strata and others are now chasing a possible future contract for flaps on the Airbus A320 that could net another $1 billion.

Carbon is the black gold for aerospace. Its potential for creating jobs and technnology has been grabbed by many, but few with more impatience and upfront investment than the UAE, whose airlines have already redrawn the map for air travel. Fuel-sipping aircraft like the recently introduced Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the future Airbus A350 make it possible to fly further for less cost than metal aircraft of the same size, opening up new direct routes and saving time on connections.

The use of carbon composites in aerospace is expected to double in the next decade, marking the biggest single technological upheaval since the arrival of the jet engine. Competition from South Korea, Japan, Europe and North America is intense but Strata’s parent group Mubadala Aerospace, owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment fund, is determined to leapfrog rivals and claim a top-three spot in the industry by 2020. “Our objective is within a decade to be a global leader in composite airframes and a leader in wings and empennage (tail sections),” said Mubadala Aerospace executive director Homaid Al Shemmari, a former senior military officer who leads the expansion drive.

Ten years is not long in an industry with long lead times and heavy capital costs. It is how long most suppliers believe they need to prepare for the next instalment of innovations. Even as Airbus and Boeing notch up record sales by prolonging the life of their smallest and best-selling models, Strata is plotting the moves

needed to grab contracts to build part of the next generation which is expected next decade. Among the challenges it faces are recruiting enough local workers to meet the country’s development targets, and keeping its costs down by driving efficiency down to its suppliers through constant pep talks like Bradley’s supplier speech.

They are likely to listen because Mubadala’s financial staying power is likely to generate plenty of contracts for companies further down the food chain. Strata says it has promised to start earning a return for its shareholder Mubadala by 2014, which is why Bradley is so insistent his suppliers must pull their weight in keeping costs down. “They have simply got to look at driving efficiencies into their own facilities,” says Bradley, the former head of the Eurofigher Typhoon fighter program, who worked his way up from an apprentice in British Aerospace.

A bigger unknown is whether Strata can tap the workforce it needs while meeting targets to boost national employment. Two hours east of Abu Dhabi, conservative Al Ain is home to the UAE university and a fledgling aerospace community. As the town where the UAE’s founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was raised, its development is seen as symbolically important and creating local skilled jobs is a priority. Fifty years after the first oil shipments led to staggering wealth and a high level of voluntary unemployment, Abu Dhabi wants to motivate more local people to join the active economy. It aims to cut unemployment among citizens to 5 percent in 2020 from 12 percent in 2005-07, while raising the economically active proportion of its citizens to 41 percent from 25 percent.

Strata has 500 employees, about 30 percent of whom are UAE nationals, mainly women. It aims to lift this figure to 50 percent by 2014. But it may also double its total workforce over time, suggesting local recruitment must go at a faster rate. “When I first came here I thought that would be a risk,” Bradley says, asked about the risk of staff shortages. “We are recruiting and training Emiratis and at the last intake we needed 40 people and got 200 applications. I get CVs, telephone calls, people walking off the street. People are not the issue for us; the supply chain is.”

Strata’s sweeping ambitions leave little margin for error. To leap into the industry’s top league alongside rivals led by US-based Spirit Aero Systems it needs to develop its own design shops and have a global portfolio by end-decade. Planemakers now prefer to outsource complex sections to a top tier of suppliers complete with the systems they contain. “In order to become one the five major actors in aerostructures, Strata must develop the expertise to support several new programs and manage the production ramp-up,” said Thierry Duvette, a supply expert at consultants Alix Partners.

If all goes to plan it could be a “risk-sharing partner” on the next generation of narrowbody programs, which means putting up money in return for a slice of profits from a jet market whose catalogue value is estimated at $1 trillion per decade - a tidy jackpot even by the standards of Gulf oil exporters. If the gamble comes off, Bradley claims Al Ain could be mentioned in the same breath as the world’s aerospace capitals Seattle and Toulouse. If it fails, the vision of a futuristic aerospace city in the desert could be little more than a mirage. At the pace at which Strata is determined to grow, it will not take long to find out. “Korea entered the market and took 30 years to develop. We don’t have that time,” Bradley said. — Reuters

14

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

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Issues

China wrests control after Chen debacle

By Pascale Trouillaud ore than 10 days after Beijing and Washington reached a tentative agreement on his departure, Chen Guangcheng remains confined to a hospital bed as China seeks to show it controls the blind activist’s fate. Analysts say Beijing will not now go back on its commitment to allow the 40-year-old legal campaigner to go to the United States with his wife and children, after telling US officials it would expedite his travel documents. But two weeks after he left the US embassy, where he had sought protection after fleeing from house arrest, the self-taught lawyer has still not been given a passport, or any indication of when he and his family can leave China.

He is a virtual prisoner at the central Beijing hospital where he is being treated for a broken foot sustained during his escape, unable to leave, and with friends, US diplomats and the media refused access to him.

Government officials who visited him last week said they would help him get a passport, but since then, he has heard nothing. “The government officials have not come (for a week),” Chen told AFP this week by telephone from his hospital room. “I don’t know why they are stalling, it is probably a face-saving tactic.”

China expert Jean-Philippe Beja said Beijing was “allowing things to drag, showing that it is in control” of the situation, while also adopting a “fairly classic bureaucratic attitude”. Chen, who won plaudits for exposing rights abuses including forced sterilisations and lateterm abortions, triggered a diplomatic crisis when he was smuggled into the US embassy last month in a highstakes manoeuvre after clambering over several walls under cover of darkness to flee his guards. His dramatic flight came just days before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Beijing for pre-arranged talks, and made headlines around the world, causing major embarrassment for the Chinese government.

By the time Clinton left on May 5, the affair appeared to have been settled. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Beijing had agreed to process Chen’s travel documents “expeditiously,” to allow him to take up an offer of a fellowship at New York University.

“Not allowing Chen to leave immediately is China’s way of showing that it is in charge, and of regaining some of the lost face,” said Alice Ekman, a China researcher at the Paris-based French Institute for International Relations.

“It’s not in China’s interest for Chen to remain on its territory,” she added, pointing out that Chinese dissidents who go into exile generally find they have less of a voice.

For now, Chen’s voice is still being heard. In a live telephone call to a hearing of the US Congress on Tuesday his second this month - Chen accused Chinese authorities of a pattern of abuse against his extended family. He said a charge of intentional homicide levelled against his nephew, after he attacked a local official who broke into his family’s home after discovering Chen’s escape, was motivated by revenge. The official survived the attack.

Lawmakers at the Congress hearing called for persistent pressure on China to allow the family to leave, as Nuland said US visas were ready for Chen, his wife and their two children. “They (China) have publicly given their word. It would be very serious to go back on that,” said Beja, of the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Senior Human Rights Watch researcher Nicholas Bequelin said the delay might be because China’s public security ministry, which handles the issuing of passports, opposed the deal between the Chinese and US foreign ministries on Chen’s departure. He said it was also possible that “no one is willing to take responsibility for giving passports to Chen and his family without clear, written instructions,” meaning the green light would have to come from top leaders.

Analysts said the case was further complicated by a bitter battle for control between those who favour a hardline approach to dissent in China and those pushing for more openness, ahead of a 10-yearly leadership handover. But Chen’s departure “may be hastened by a calculation in Beijing that his continued presence in China is more damaging politically than his departure under US pressure,” said Bequelin. The other key question, analysts say, is whether Beijing will allow Chen to return to China after a period of study in the US, as he has said he would like to do. No Chinese dissident who has gone into exile has yet been allowed back into China, and Ekman said the government would “probably not allow the return of a man whose very image could become the unifying symbol of a (protest) movement”. — AFP

M

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China’s ‘small stick’ approach to S China Sea

By David Lague n a month-long standoff between China and the Philippines over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, Beijing has so far refrained from sending warships from its increasingly powerful and modern navy to enforce its territorial claims. Instead, China has deployed patrol vessels from its expanding fleet of paramilitary ships to Scarborough Shoal, known in Chinese as Huangyan Island.

Naval experts say the intent is to minimize the risk of conflict and contain any regional backlash. After alarming some of its neighbours in recent years with assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, China has turned to “small stick” diplomacy, using unarmed or lightly armed patrol boats from fisheries, marine surveillance and other civilian agencies rather than warships.

Shen Dingli, a security expert at Shanghai’s Fudan University, said the role of these vessels was to demonstrate “soft power” and avoid the impression that China was engaged in gunboat diplomacy. “Therefore, it is more peaceful and moral,” he said. Beijing, however, has shown no sign of compromise in a standoff that began when Chinese civilian patrol vessels last month intervened to stop the Philippines from arresting Chinese fisherman working in the disputed area. More such incidents are likely unless the Philippines can provide a counterweight to the challenge, either on its own or with allies, security analysts say.

China’s tough stance comes at a time of spectacular political scandal and swirling rumours of high-level infighting over the sacking of the once high-flying Chongqing Party boss, Bo Xilai. Political analysts say the ruling Communist Party will be anxious to show that it is has the unity and strength to defend any challenge to the country’s territo-

I

ry ahead of the once-in-a-decade leadership later this year. Senior leaders vying for top positions will also be keen to shore up their nationalist credentials with the politically powerful military.

Both nations claim sovereignty over the group of rocks, reefs and small islands about 220 km from the Philippines with patrol vessels and fishing boats from each side deployed to the area in an increasingly acrimonious confrontation. China’s defense ministry last week took the unusual step of denying reports it was preparing for war, but the People’s Liberation Army Daily, the military’s mouthpiece, warned the Philippines was making “serious mistakes” in maintaining its claim. “We want to say that anyone’s attempt to take away China’s sovereignty over Huangyan Island will not be allowed by the Chinese government, people and armed forces,” it said.

Manila has called for the United Nation’s International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to rule on the dispute in the strategically important and resource-rich sea. Half the world’s merchant fleet tonnage sails across the sea and around these islets each year, carrying $5 trillion worth of trade. While Beijing has thus far kept its navy at a distance, the Philippines, like most regional nations, is well aware it would be overwhelmingly outgunned by China’s powerful military if it came to a fight.

After more than two decades of double digit increases in defense spending, China has an expanding fleet of advanced warships, submarines - now the largest in Asia - and long-range strike aircraft. However, if Beijing resorts to force, it would almost certainly drive other claimants to territory in the South China Sea - including Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia - closer together. Those three countries, along with the Philippines, are members

of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is creating an EU style-community that also envisions joint security.

Regional nations also have begun to cement closer military ties with the United States. Starting with a trip late last year, US President Barack Obama has touted a “pivot” toward the economically dynamic Asia-Pacific region in an effort to reassure nervous allies of the US commitment as China flexes its economic and military muscle. That means China will likely continue to send a strong message with its civilian patrol boats while keeping its real firepower in reserve, according to security experts. “It is much easier for paramilitary vessels to assert sovereignty claims with less probability of escalation to armed violence,” said Christian Le Miere, a maritime security researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. “It allows for more containable events and incidents.”

Other Asian nations have also been expanding their paramilitary fleets in recent years, particularly Japan which has a powerful coastguard. China’s use of these vessels, however, is drawing the most attention. An early indication of the effectiveness of this strategy was China’s sustained harassment in early 2009 of the US spy ship Impeccable in the South China Sea off Hainan Island. Chinese patrol boats and surveillance ships buzzed and tormented the Impeccable for days, at one point even attempting to grapple its underwater sonar array used to identify and track submarines.

“If China had deployed naval ships, the response of the US might have been more aggressive,” says Le Miere who has studied the use of paramilitary ships in Asia. For China, devoting more resources to these forces fills an important gap in its maritime power between its massive merchant fleet and its expanding, blue water navy. Chinese

maritime specialists have called on Beijing to devote more attention to the civilian agencies responsible for enforcing domestic law and maintaining order in its territorial waters.

The main Chinese government agencies that deploy patrol vessels in the South China Sea and other coastal waters are the Maritime Safety Administration, the Maritime Police of the Border Control Department, the Fisheries Law Enforcement Command, the General Administration of Customs and the State Oceanographic Administration Other, smaller agencies including provincial governments and local police and customs also send patrol boats and surveillance vessels to sea. The paramilitaries that China has sent to Scarborough Shoals include the 1,300-tonne Haijian 75 and 1,740-tonne Haijian 84, advanced surveillance vessels from the State Oceanographic Administration. Beijing also stationed the 2,580-tonne Yuzheng-310, it’s most advanced fisheries law enforcement vessel, off the disputed shoal. Some Chinese and foreign experts have criticized the disjointed coordination of these forces.

Outspoken People’s Liberation Army Strategist, Major General Luo Yuan, in March called for China to establish a unified coast guard, similar to those of Japan, the United States and Russia. In interviews with statecontrolled media, Luo said up to nine agencies were now responsible for enforcing maritime law which sometimes led to waste and inefficiency. “If China integrated these forces, it could act more flexibly when maritime incidents occur,” he said. As tension mounted at Scarborough Shoal, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned in a report late last month that China’s poorly coordinated and sometimes competing civilian agencies were inflaming frictions over disputed territory. —Reuters

Zuckerberg’s Facebook story study in contrasts

By Adam Geller hen Hollywood set out to tell the story of how Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, it enjoyed the flexibility of portraying a man who, despite his social network’s worldwide reach, was all but unknown to the public. A year and half later, the movie “The Social Network” and the attention that followed have dispelled much of the mystery surrounding Zuckerberg, sketching out the essentials of his story line. But as Facebook promotes the vision of its 28-year-old CEO as part of this week’s first-ever sale of stock to the public, one of the most striking features of his persona is the contradiction between the public and private that remains at its center.

Zuckerberg avoids questions about himself and once sued a magazine for publishing documents revealing details from his past. Yet he is the architect of a revolutionary platform built on people freely disclosing information about themselves, offering up the stuff of everyday life as worthy of the biggest stage.

“Facebook was not originally created to be a company,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter, included with a regulatory filing needed for the initial public offering. “It was built to accomplish a social mission - to make the world more open and connected.”

Zuckerberg has built Facebook, which could be valued at up to $104 billion by the stock offering, into an international phenomenon by stretching the lines of social convention and embracing a new and far more permeable definition of community. Along the way, he’s proven deft at recognizing the way people use social networks, reshaping and expanding Facebook’s capabilities to draw in more users. On Friday, Facebook will begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol “FB.” Zuckerberg will remain the company’s largest shareholder. His personal stake in Facebook will be worth around $19 billion.

Living in a rental home even after he was a

W

billionaire on paper, Zuckerberg isn’t known for an extravagant lifestyle. He famously wears jeans, T-shirts and plain hoodies. He bought his Palo Alto, California, home for a reported $7 million - fancy but not outlandish for the pricey suburb near Stanford University and San Francisco. He lives there with his girlfriend, Priscilla Chen, and their Hungarian Puli dog, “Beast” (which incidentally has its own Facebook page).

Now, even as investors take a stake in Facebook, its future remains contingent on a leader who is reluctant to reveal himself. “It’s all in one guy’s hands, that’s what makes it so interesting,” said David Kirkpatrick, author of “The Facebook Effect,” a book chronicling Zuckerberg’s story that was written with the cooperation of the man and his company. “It is a one-man show.”

Zuckerberg, who grew up in the New York suburb of Dobbs Ferry, New York, began writing computer code when he was 10 on an Atari computer, devising games and enlisting friends to do the graphics. As a senior at Phillips Exeter Academy, he and a friend created a Web tool called Synapse that built personalized music playlists by automatically determining listener’s preferences. Microsoft reportedly offered the pair nearly $1 million, but they turned it down.

Soon after arriving at Harvard in 2003, Zuckerberg created a site called Coursematch that allowed students to choose classes by showing what their classmates were doing. Then, in the fall of his sophomore year, he hacked into the online “face-

books” of Harvard’s residential halls to create Facemash, a site that encouraged students to rank their classmates’ looks. The university’s Administrative Board called him in for a hearing, but let him remain at the school. In early 2004, former classmates said, the normally sociable Zuckerberg all but vanished for a week, emerging from his room to urge his friends to join a new creation called The Facebook.

Stephanie Camaglia Reznick, then a freshman at Harvard who was the 92nd to sign up, said Zuckerberg quickly gained notoriety. She recalled when, arriving for the first day of a discussion group for an introductory psychology class, eyebrows went up when Zuckerberg’s turn came to introduce himself.

“Someone said, ‘Great, you’re the Facebook guy!’

And he was so embarrassed,” says Reznick, now a medical student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. “He really played it down.”

Classmate James Oliver recalls a conversation in the dorm soon after, when Zuckerberg - he and others still refer to him as “Zuck” explained that he had worked to launch Facebook quickly to show up a Harvard administrator who had said a university-wide online directory would take two years to create. By the end of the semester, Facebook had nearly 160,000 users. But three fellow Harvard students quickly took issue with Zuckerberg’s creation.

Identical twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and

friend Divya Narendra said they had hired Zuckerberg to write computer code for their own social networking site in November 2003, and that he had stolen their idea.

The dispute over Facebook’s beginnings which the company settled by paying the trio $65 million - is far from unique. “Being first is heavily overrated in the technology space because all really good ideas end up being collaborative. ... It’s the execution that matters,” said Paul Saffo, of the San Francisco analysis firm Discern. In the summer after his sophomore year, Zuckerberg left Harvard for a rented house in Silicon Valley to build Facebook, expanding it to other campuses and then across the globe with venture funding from Peter Thiel, one of the founders of PayPal. Each time it seemed to plateau, Zuckerberg revamped it to create new utility and sources of entertainment. He turned down an offer from Yahoo! to buy the company for $1 billion.

As it has grown into a phenomenon, Facebook has repeatedly sparked privacy concerns from critics concerned about its push to get users to reveal more personal information.

But Zuckerberg, the face of Facebook, has offered up relatively little about himself. The bubble was breached in 2007 when 02138, a now defunct magazine for Harvard alumni, published a lengthy story about the dispute over Facebook’s beginnings. The magazine obtained court files that were supposed to be sealed and posted documents on its website, including Zuckerberg’s application to Harvard and long-ago postings from his online journal.

Richard Bradley, the executive editor of the magazine, said the documents revealed details including Zuckerberg’s social security number and financial data from Facebook’s first year. Facebook sued, seeking a court order to have the documents removed.

“They shed some insight into Zuckerberg which he clearly did not want people to see,” Bradley said. — AP

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

sp orts

LISBON: Portugal full back Miguel Lopes, a surprise pick for Euro 2012, said it was the happiest day of his life when coach Paulo Bento called him up even though it forced him to scrap his wedding plans. “I had to talk to a lot of people, but they understood why I had to cancel the wedding and gave me a lot of support, another day will come,” Lopes, 25, told reporters yesterday.

He did not specify if his wife-to-be was one of the people who understood his decision, but admitted the first thing he did after hearing about the call-up was to kiss his fiancee Monica Pina.

“This is the happiest day of my life,” the Braga player said.

Lopes’s wedding had been scheduled for the same day as Portugal’s pre-tournament friendly against Macedonia on May 26. The versatile defender, who can play at right and left back, showed up with a smile wearing his Portugal kit, proudly answering reporters’ questions after his first training session with the national team.

He said his playing style resembled that of Barcelona’s Dani Alves and Inter Milan’s Maicon. “I really like how Dani Alves and Maicon play, I feel that my game is a bit like theirs. —Reuters

Clarke tests driving ambition

Beckham to help bring Olympic flame to Britain

Lopes scraps wedding plans

LONDON: David Beckham will help bring the Olympic flame to Britain on Friday after he takes part in a formal handover ceremony in Athens, London 2012 organisers said.

The former England soccer captain, a London 2012 ‘ambassador’ who was on the bid team in 2005, will be part of an official delegation led by Britain’s Princess Anne and LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe. London Mayor Boris Johnson and Hugh Robertson, minister for Sport and the Olympics, will also be present at the Panathenaic Stadium.

The flame will then be flown to Culdrose naval base in Cornwall on the south-west tip of England

before triple Olympic gold medal winning sailor Ben Ainslie starts the relay in Britain from Land’s End on Saturday.

Beckham, now 37 and playing for the LA Galaxy in the United States, will be joined in Athens by five young Britons invited by organisers LOCOG and the British Council in recognition of their commitment to sport and promoting Olympic values.

They will also play a role in the handover ceremony. “We wanted to involve young people from across the UK in bringing home the Olympic Flame,” said Coe in a statement. —Reuters

SYDNEY: Australia cricket captain Michael Clarke will get the chance to put his driving skills to the test when he gets behind the wheel at the International Rally of Queensland later this month, organisers said yesterday.

The 31-year-old will join the BP Ultimate team and drive in two stages of the rally on the Sunshine Coast from May 25-27.

“It’s pretty well known that I have a passion for driving, but a part of me has always wondered what it would be like to go up against the best in the business,” Clarke said in a statement.

“There’s no doubt that rally driving is one of the most exhilarating sports around and, as someone who puts my heart into everything I do, this is a great opportunity to mix it with some of the world’s best drivers!”

The right-handed batsman will drive alongside the experienced Mark Stacey, who has competed at international level for two decades.

The rally, in its 44th year, is the longest-running round in the Australian Rally Championship, and will attract more than 100 cars from Australia and around the world, organisers said. — Reuters

Braves beat Reds, top NL East ATLANTA: The Atlanta Braves moved to the top of the National League East division standings with a 6-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, setting up the victory with a four-run third inning. Brian McCann homered, Michael Bourn had three hits and scored two runs and Martin Prado also had three hits for the Braves. Reds starter Johnny Cueto (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season. He had led the major leagues with his 1.12 ERA before giving up six runs in four innings. He had allowed only one earned run over 23 innings in his previous three starts. Atlanta starter Tim Hudson (2-1) gave up two runs in seven innings.

MINNEAPOLIS: Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (right) tags an opponent in this file photo.

— AP

Rays roll over Blue Jays TORONTO: Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie slammed his batting helmet to the ground and it ricocheted into plate umpire Bill Miller as the ninth inning turned nasty Tuesday in Toronto’s 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lawrie was ejected for arguing after he struck out looking. Lawrie took several steps toward Miller, wound up with his right arm and threw down his helmet. It bounced up and struck Miller around the right hip - a suspension from Major League Baseball is all but certain.

Toronto manager John Farrell came out to restrain the 22-year-old Lawrie, who is in his first full season in the majors. After Lawrie returned to the dugout, Farrell was ejected for arguing the call.

Miller was then hit by a drink thrown by a fan as he headed off the field after the game. Police and stadium security were seen pointing into the crowd after an exchange between fans and umpires as the crew headed off the field through the visitors’ dugout.

David Price (6-2) won for the fifth time in six starts, Sean Rodriguez homered and the Rays rallied from a 3-0 deficit. Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Blue Jays.

Red Sox 5, Mariners 0 At Boston, Josh Beckett redeemed himself less than a week after being booed off the mound, striking out a season-high nine batters as Boston shut out Seattle to extended its winning streak to five.

Beckett (3-4) scattered four hits over seven innings before being pulled as a steady rain started to fall late in the afternoon.

Beckett was celebrating his 32nd birthday and could not have atoned better for his previous start, when he was pulled after allowing seven runs in 2 1-3 innings. Boston fans already were seething that day over news Beckett had played golf the week before after being scratched from a start because of back stiffness. David Ortiz hit his eighth homer and scored a run after putting down a surprise bunt to lead off the fifth inning. Mike Aviles hit a pair of doubles and drove in two runs as Boston completed a 5-1 homestand.

Orioles 5, Yankees 2 At Baltimore, Chen Wei-yin pitched seven innings of four-hit ball and Adam Jones homered as Baltimore beat CC Sabathia and New York.

JJ Hardy drove in two runs for Baltimore, which earned a split of the two-game series and improved to 1-4 at home against New York.

Chen (4-0) allowed two runs, struck out four and walked two in a masterful performance. Making his seventh major league start, the 26-year-old Taiwan native took a shutout into the seventh inning.

Pedro Strop worked the eighth and Jim Johnson got three outs for his 12th save in 12 tries. Curtis Granderson hit his 13th homer for New York.

Angels 4, Athletics 0 At Anaheim, California, Ervin Santana struck out nine during 7 2-3 innings of four-hit ball and Albert Pujols drove in two runs with infield singles as the Los Angeles Angels bounced back from yet another shutout loss.

Mike Trout went 3 for 4 with a homer and three runs scored for the Angels, who finally produced enough offense to back a strong performance by Santana (2-6). The Dominican right-hander retired 16 in a row early, winning his second straight start after a rocky beginning to the season.

Bartolo Colon (3-4) allowed 12 hits while pitching into the seventh inning for the A’s, who were off to an AL-best 8-4 start in May. Royals 7, Rangers 4 At Arlington, Texas, Mike Moustakas homered, and Billy Butler and Brayan Pena each drove in a pair of runs as Kansas City kept Texas’ potent offense in check for a second straight game.

The Royals took advantage of two throwing errors by Rangers starter Colby Lewis (3-3) to score five unearned runs in the first two innings.

Moustakas reached base for a 22nd consecutive game to help make a winner of Vin Mazzaro, who made his first start this season. Mazzaro (1-0) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings.

Rangers star Josh Hamilton extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single and added a sacrifice fly.

Indians 5, Twins 0 At Minneapolis, Derek Lowe pitched his first shutout in nearly seven years, throwing a six-hitter to lead Cleveland over Minnesota.

Choo Shin-soo, the Indians’ new leadoff man, scored after a leadoff double in the third inning and then hit the first of three Cleveland home runs in the fifth against Jason Marquis (2-3). Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana also homered.

The 38-year-old Lowe (6-1) was at his sinkerballing best, walking four without a strikeout. He induced four double-play grounders in winning his fourth straight decision.

Tigers 10, White Sox 8 At Chicago, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Raburn and Austin Jackson homered during an eight-run rally in the sixth inning as Detroit defeated Chicago.

The Tigers hung on in the ninth despite closer Jose Valverde leaving with tightness in his lower back. Paul Konerko singled and AJ Pierzynski doubled with two outs for his fifth hit.

Valverde went to a 3-1 count on Alex Rios and left. Octavio Dotel issued a fourth ball and Alexei Ramirez’s two-run double made it 10-8. But Dotel got Dayan Viciedo to fly out to the right-field fence for his first save in two chances.

Chicago starter Jake Peavy sailed into the sixth with a 6-0 lead before Cabrera hit a two-run homer.

Raburn hit a three-run drive off Peavy and Jackson connected against Will Ohman (0-2). — AP

MLB results/standings

Phillies 4, Astros 3 In Philadelphia, Hunter Pence atoned for a ninth-inning error by hitting his second home run of the game, a solo shot in the 10th that lifted Philadelphia over Houston.

Pence connected against former Philadelphia closer Brett Myers (0-1) to give the Phillies their first three-game winning streak of the season - the longest they’ve had to wait to do so since 1971.

With two outs in the top of the ninth, Pence’s bobble in right field while trying to make a throw to home allowed Houston to tie the game. Phillies reliever Jake Diekman tossed 1 1-3 scoreless innings to win his major league debut.

D’backs 5, Dodgers 1 In Los Angeles, Wade Miley wiggled out of a couple jams while pitching into the seventh inning, steering Arizona to a victory that ended Los Angeles’ five-game winning streak.

Miley (4-1) gave up only one run and one walk. He is 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA in five starts since being inserted into the rotation to replace the injured Daniel Hudson. It was the Dodgers’ first game since star center fielder Matt Kemp suffered a hamstring strain and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Los Angeles starter Chad Billingsley (2-3) gave up four runs in four innings.

Cardinals 7, Cubs 6 In St. Louis, Yadier Molina hit an RBI single off the second baseman’s glove with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting St. Louis over Chicago and avoiding a series sweep.

The Cubs had tied it 6-6 in the top half of the ninth through Alfonso Soriano’s overdue first homer of the season.

In the bottom of the inning, Matt Holliday singled off Rafael Dolis (2-3) and advanced on a groundout. Molina’s grounder deflected off Darwin Barney’s glove and rolled into shallow right field, and Holliday scored without a play at the plate.

Holliday and Matt Carpenter homered for St. Louis. Allen Craig had three hits and two RBIs and Tyler Greene snapped an 0-for-17 skid with three hits. Jason Motte (2-1) got the win.

Brewers 8, Mets 0 In New York, Zack Greinke ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings, pitching Milwaukee past New York. Greinke (4-1) was dominant for seven innings. Travis Ishikawa homered twice for the Brewers: leading off the fifth, and a three-run shot in the sixth, both drives coming on the first pitch of the at-bat against Dillon Gee (2-3). He also had a run-scoring groundout in the second inning.

Marlins 6, Pirates 2 In Miami, Josh Johnson notched his first victory in more than a year, pitching Miami to victory over Pittsburgh. Johnson (1-3) gave up two runs over seven innings. He had gone winless in 12 starts since his most recent victory. He missed the final 4-1/2 months of last season because of right shoulder inflammation.

Hanley Ramirez had three hits and two RBIs for the Marlins.

Omar Infante tied a career high with four hits, including a two-run single, and John Buck singled home the other two runs.

Pittsburgh starter Kevin Correia (1-4) lasted only 3 2-3 innings, his shortest outing this year, and gave up a season-worst six runs.

Padres 6, Nationals 1 In Washington, Will Venable had four hits to power San Diego past Washington. John Baker collected three hits and three RBIs for the Padres, while James Darnell hit his first homer of the season.

Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg (3-1) gave up four runs and left after only four innings, matching the second-shortest appearance of his career. His ERA rose from 1.64 to 2.25.

San Diego’s Anthony Bass (2-4) - making his 10th start in the majors - tied his longest outing by going eight innings. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth and gave up only one run in all.

ATLANTA: Braves’ Michael Bourn (24) follows through with a triple in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds. — AP Rockies 5, Giants 4 In San Francisco, Marco Scutaro hit a homer leading off the ninth inning, giving Colorado victory over error-prone San Francisco. Scutaro smacked a fastball from Santiago Casilla (0-2) just over the left-field wall for his first home run of the season to rescue the game for the Rockies, who had given up a three-run lead in the eighth. Troy Tulowitzki, Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gonzalez each drove in a run as the Rockies took advantage of three Giants errors to snap a four-game losing streak.

Colorado’s Rex Brothers (2-2) struck out two batters with the bases loaded in the eighth and took the win. Rafael Betancourt ended the game by striking out Nate Schierholtz looking with two men on base in the ninth. — AP

San Diego 6, Washington 1; Philadelphia 4, Houston 3 (10 innings); Cleveland 5, Minnesota 0; St. Louis 7, Chicago Cubs 6; Detroit 10, Chicago White Sox 8; Boston 5, Seattle 0; LA Angels 4, Oakland 0; Baltimore 5, NY Yankees 2; Tampa Bay 4, Toronto 3; Atlanta 6, Cincinnati 2; Miami 6, Pittsburgh 2; Milwaukee 8, NY Mets 0; Kansas City 7, Texas 4; Arizona 5, LA Dodgers 1; Colorado 5, San Francisco 4.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Tampa Bay 23 14 .622 Baltimore 23 14 .622 NY Yankees 20 16 .556 Toronto 19 18 .514 Boston 17 19 .472 Central Division Cleveland 20 16 .556 Detroit 18 18 .500 Chicago White Sox 17 20 .459 Kansas City 15 20 .429 Minnesota 10 26 .278 Western Division Texas 23 14 .622 Oakland 19 18 .514 LA Angels 16 21 .432 Seattle 16 22 .421 National League Eastern Division Atlanta 23 14 .622 Washington 22 14 .611 NY Mets 20 16 .556 Miami 19 17 .528 Philadelphia 18 19 .486 Central Division St. Louis 21 15 .583 Cincinnati 18 17 .514 Pittsburgh 17 19 .472 Milwaukee 16 20 .444 Chicago Cubs 15 21 .417 Houston 15 21 .417 Western Division LA Dodgers 24 12 .667 San Francisco 18 18 .500 Arizona 16 21 .432 Colorado 14 21 .400 San Diego 13 24 .351

France fall short, Slovaks progress

GB 2.5 4 5.5 2 3.5 4.5 10 4 7 7.5 0.5 2.5 3.5 5 2.5 4 5 6 6 6 8.5 9.5 11.5

GLENDALE: Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) stops a shot by Phoenix Coyotes center Daymond Langkow (22) as Kings’ Rob Scuderi (7) and Drew Doughty (8) defend during the third period of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Western Conference finals. — AP

Kings top Coyotes 4-0 in series GLENDALE: Jeff Carter scored three goals and Jonathan Quick stopped 24 shots as the Los Angeles Kings matched an NHL record with their seventh straight road playoff victory, beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 Tuesday to take control of Western Conference finals.

Los Angeles dominated the opener and was even better in Game 2, withstanding Phoenix’s initial push and string of penalties for a 2-0 series lead.

Dwight King scored his third goal in two games and Quick tied a team record with his third career playoff shutout to give the Kings a dominating lead heading into Game 3 Thursday night in Los Angeles.

The Kings have won nine straight road playoff games in two seasons, matching the NHL record set by the New York Islanders from 1982-83. The Islanders won

the Stanley Cup both of those years.

Quick matched Felix Potvin’s team record for playoff shutouts and Carter finished off his first career playoff hat trick in the third period, securing the Kings’ seventh straight win overall.

The Coyotes played better early and fell apart late, becoming frustrated after being unable to contain the more-skilled Kings.

Phoenix was hit with a string of penalties starting late in the second period, including a game misconduct to captain Shane Doan for boarding Kings center Trevor Lewis. Martin Hanzal also received one for boarding Dustin Brown in the third period and the Coyotes had 13 penalties for 56 minutes - most coming after the final 5 minutes of the second period. The Kings won the opener 4-2 by outplaying and outhustling Phoenix. — AP

HELSINKI: Slovakia’s Branko Radivojevic scored twice to break French hearts and claim the final quarter-final berth at the ice hockey world championships on Tuesday. France, needing to win in regulation time to steal fourth spot from the Slovaks, lost 5-4 in a see-saw game. They got off to a bad start, conceding two goals in the opening seven minutes of the first period, but they fought hard to level the game 2-2.In the remaining two periods, the Slovaks edged ahead 3-2 and 4-3, with the French coming back each time to level the scores.

With French forward Nicolas Besch in the sin bin for interference, Radivojevic netted the game-winning goal on the power play with 10 minutes to go in the third period and there was no way back for France. The win gave Slovakia third place in Group H and a quarter-final meeting with Canada who beat Belarus 5-1 to top the group, with Ryan O’Reilly scoring twice. The United States defeated Switzerland 5-2 to finish fourth and set up a quarter-final meeting with group runners-up Finland.

In Stockholm, Henrik Zetterberg scored one goal and made another as co-hosts Sweden beat Latvia 4-0 in Group S. They will now face the Czech Republic in the first knockout round.

Group winners Russia, who won all seven of their games at the preliminary stage, will face fourth-placed Norway, who beat Denmark 6-4 in their final group game.—Reuters

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

S P ORT S

US women’s soccer team eyeing revenge in London DALLAS: After an agonising loss to Japan in last year’s World Cup final, the US women’s soccer team is determined to rebound by winning a third consecutive Olympic title in London this year.

“We want nothing more than a gold medal and we’re going to do anything we possibly can to get on that podium at the end and receive that gold medal around our necks,” US midfielder Carli Lloyd said at the US Olympic Media Summit on Tuesday.

The US women led 1-0 with nine minutes left in regulation and held a 2-1 lead with three minutes left in overtime but both times Japan equalised to send the World Cup final in Frankfurt to penalty kicks, with Japan prevailing 3-1.

Midfielder Heather O’Reilly, who won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, reiterated the soccer team’s mission statement.

“Anything less than a gold probably will be a disappointment for us,” O’Reilly said. “That’s just the standards that have been made for the women’s national team and we think that’s a privilege to play under those standards, so one game at a time and we think that we’ll get there.”

As wrenching a defeat as the World Cup loss was, Lauren Cheney saw the positives that came from the result when the US team went to Japan for a friendly against the team that became a shining beacon for the island nation ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami.

“Going to Japan and seeing the just awful tragedy that happened there and seeing the girls that were young coming out to our practices and seeing how much joy they had, I think that really lifted our spirits,” the 24year-old forward said.

“Losing to Japan in the World Cup was devastating, but they really brought so much hope to a nation that was in need at that time.” Lloyd

Carli Lloyd said she admired Japan’s style of play.

“There’s really no superstars on the team. They play simple, don’t do anything super-fancy,” Lloyd said. “It’s whoever’s open, they play to that person. They play five-yard balls, they play balls down the line, they’re always moving for each other.

“It’s all about finding the space on the field and they do a really good job of that, and they are physical and they ’re fit. They ’re a great team.”

Striker Alex Morgan said the US team was eager for a rematch against Japan in the Olympics. “We definitely hope to see Japan again,” said Morgan.

“They are the champions of the World Cup. We’re looking for them, whether it’s the semi-finals or finals, they’re definitely someone we’re looking forward to.” —Reuters

US set for battle to top London medal table DALLAS: The United States Olympic Committee’s media summit wrapped up on Tuesday with no bold predictions but plenty of expectations as American athletes again look to top the medal table in London. The United States has led the Summer Games medal count since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and while the USOC was reluctant to put a number on their goal for the 2012 Games the target remains the same - top spot.

China and Russia pose a serious threat to US domination of the medal table but American athletes made it clear throughout the three-day summit in Dallas that they will not be conceding first place without a fight.

“The U.S. will always be favourites,” US women’s soccer player Lauren Cheney said. “I look at the USA, not just soccer, I look at Team USA from track, gymnastics from anything. You see the American flag I feel like you get labeled a favourite.

“A target is always going to be on our backs. We do embrace it.” The USOC used the summit to introduce over 500 members of the media to many of the athletes they expect to carry US medal hopes at the July 27-Aug. 12 Games.

Some of the faces were familiar but most were anonymous names competing in obscure sports who will try to seize their moment in the London Olympic spotlight.

Swimmer Michael Phelps, the winner of a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was one of the athletes who needed no introduction.

Phelps is poised to once again take centre stage in London as he looks to add to his haul of 16 medals, needing just three more to move past Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina as the most successful Olympian of all-time.

A secretive Phelps and longtime coach Bob Bowman were summit headliners in Dallas but refused to offer even the slightest insight into their London

game plan.

“Bob and I have plans and he is the only person that has really helped achieve my goals,” explained Phelps. “My mom doesn’t even know my goals. She isn’t jumping in the pool and training with me. “We’ve been working together as a team for so long, we’ve never shared our goals.”

Despite being one of the most successful Olympians, Phelps must earn his ticket to London like every other athlete and will be part of the US swim trials in Nebraska from June 25-July 2.

Athletics and gymnastics team trials will also be taking place over the same period as the U.S. team, estimated at 525 athletes, takes shape.

The summit offered glimpses into some of the compelling storylines these athletes will write as they chase Olympic glory. Judo’s Kayla Harrison, a victim of sexual abuse by a coach, Vietnam-born badminton player Howard Bach and wrestler Jordan Burroughs, who has not lost a match since 2009, are all world champions in their respective sports with inspiring narratives.

Michelle Obama, who will lead the US delegation to the opening ceremony for the London Olympics, also made a brief appearance at the summit to offer athletes a pep talk and to launch a program aimed at getting children active.

“One of my happiest memories center around watching the Olympic Games on TV when I was a little girl,” the US first lady said. “Like so many others I was awed and inspired by those athletes ... I would dream that maybe one day, if I worked hard enough, I too could achieve something great.

“So when I’m sitting in that stadium in London cheering on Team USA ... I’ll be thinking of the power of the Games to truly inspire a generation and how our Olympic and Paralympic athletes can serve as role models.” —Reuters

Pistorius: A race away from Olympic history JOHANNESBURG: Oscar Pistorius is running into unfamiliar terrain now that he’s so close to making Olympic history. After a lifetime of defying presumptions about the limits of his athletic capabilities, the double amputee needs to run the 400 meters in 45.30 seconds or quicker just once more before June 30 to be eligible for selection in the South Africa squad for the London Olympics. All of a sudden, he’s having to deal with expectations that he’ll make it.

Asked if he can picture himself in London, Pistorius admits: “I’m flirting a little bit with the idea.” “But,” he adds quickly, “it’s not a done deal.”

If he does gain selection, the ‘Blade Runner’ - as he’s become widely known - could be as big a draw as Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps at the London Games. He has posted two Olympic ‘A’ qualifying times, setting his personal best of 45.07 last July.

Now the South African athletics federation wants him to run the qualifying time once more before considering him eligible for the team. He has identified four races to do it: two meets in Europe and Diamond League events in Eugene, Oregon and New York.

“I’m feeling confident. I’m in better shape than I was last year,” Pistorius told the Associated Press at last month’s South African championships. “I’m lighter, I’m a little bit more experienced and hopefully that pays off and the time comes when I’m in Europe and I need to prove that I can do it again.”

It’s almost inconceivable that somebody who had both legs amputated below the knees at 11 months of age, and who only turned to track and field after injuring his knee playing rugby in 2003, could be on the verge of running the 400 at the Olympics.

He’s been running on the same carbonfiber blades since 2004, and has gradually forged a reputation for being a very fast finisher. He needs another late kick to become the first amputee track and field runner in Olympic history.

There’s been plenty of barriers along the way, not least an IAAF-imposed exclusion from able-bodied events for a while. He’s overcome them all to date. Yet despite his dominance at the Paralympics, not even his longtime coach believed Pistorius could ever qualify for the Olympics.

True to his motto - “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have” - the 25-year-old Pistorius isn’t intending to settle on just qualifying. He’s targeting a spot in the Olympic final.

Pistorius’ battle to be allowed to compete against able-bodied runners went to sport’s highest court in 2008 when some considered that his high-tech blades gave him an unfair advantage in competition.

He won the Court of Arbitration for Sport case - although the public debate continues became a regular at able-bodied meets and even claimed a silver medal at last year’s

place in London when the referee stopped the contest in the fourth round.

“Get in Tash! Get in!” her father Terry shouted from the gallery above the ring, dispelling any doubt the 22nd ranked Jonas might have had about her qualification for the debut of women’s boxing at the Games.

The Liverpudlian beamed with delight and, shrouded in a Union flag with the sweat gathering on her corn-rowed hair, was clearly already contemplating fighting on home soil in late July and August.

“To know that I’m going to be going out in front of 10,000 people and they’re all going to be cheering for me for a change is just unreal,” she said. “I just can’t wait to get onto that stage and show everybody what women’s boxing is all about.”

That Jonas went into her bout unaware that victory would win a her a place in London was not an isolated case of confusion at the Olympic indoor stadium in the industrial coastal city three hours northeast of Beijing. —Reuters

DAEGU: This Aug. 28, 2011 file photo shows South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius competing in a heat of the men’s 400-meter at the World Athletics Championships. —AP advantage over able-bodied athletes by arguing that while he’s still using the same blades, his times have lowered considerably - a sign that the improvement is due to nothing more than training.

The ‘can do’ attitude he credits to his freespirited mother, Sheila, who told him he was no different to anyone else despite being born without fibula bones due to a congenital defect and having his lower legs amputated and needing prosthetics for most of his life.

He recalls her telling him: “Your brother puts his shoes on in the morning and you put your legs on. That’s it.” It epitomizes Pistorius as an athlete, too.

“I struggle when people ask, ‘What are you trying to prove? What message are you trying to give?’” Pistorius said in an interview last year with The AP. “It’s not about sending a message, I’m just doing something I enjoy.

“My goals are just to be able to look back at my career and know that I didn’t let my talent go to waste. I’m not trying to prove a point, I’m just trying to prove to myself that I can be

the best that I want to be.” His mother didn’t live to see it. She died in 2002 and Pistorius has a tattoo on his arm dedicated to her memory. But other close supporters who weren’t initially convinced Pistorius could reach the very highest level have started to believe he’ll do it.

The Olympics “is one thought that I never, ever had. That is Oscar,” Ampie Louw, who has coached Pistorius since he was in high school, told The AP. “That’s what makes him different, maybe, to any other sportsman. His attitude is phenomenal.”

Pistorius started dreaming about the Olympics as far back as 2004 when he won gold and broke the Paralympic 200-meter record in Athens. He was 18 and it was his first major event.

A year earlier, he was at Pretoria Boys High - a rugby-mad school in South Africa’s capital and “not keen” on athletics. Louw recalls “a naughty schoolboy” who had plenty of detentions.

“But when I saw his leg speed I thought, ‘Man, this is it!’ I thought, with this guy I can work. The rest is history.” At the recent South African championships, he was swamped by a large group of rowdy youngsters and took about 30 minutes to sign autographs. He smiled constantly, acknowledging it was part of “by far” the biggest year of his career.

Pistorius made the 400 final at the nationals but didn’t go flat out, preferring to save himself for the international season.

Only four years ago his quest to step out at the Olympic Stadium was considered a nice but unlikely dream when he couldn’t make the time to qualify for Beijing.

Since then, he’s given up his power boat and motorbike and just about everything that could cause him injury and derail his Olympic ambition, and has shed weight.

Last July, he ran a 45.07 in Italy, which qualified him for the worlds and put him on track for the Olympics. Pistorius again went inside the Olympic qualifying mark in his first race this season, running a 45.20 at Pretoria and forcing national selectors to consider him seriously.

And force them is what Pistorius wants to do, hinting there still may be some resistance.

He wants there to be no doubts over his inclusion.

Selectors “want us to do another time overseas, which is fine by me,” Pistorius said. “I run better when I’m in Europe in bigger races anyway. I’m not too fussed.

“Until the politics (is over) and the administration put the team together, my job is just to work hard and prove I’m in the right condition to be quite a strong 400-meter athlete if I get called up.”

For Louw, the key to Pistorius’ success is to keep doing what he does best. “He’s very headstrong,” Louw said. “He’s used to the guys running away from him. He will play catchup.” —AP

Australian woman boxer banned for doping

Ireland’s Taylor books London boxing berth QINHUANGDAO: Ireland’s boxing queen Katie Taylor booked her place at the London Olympics without throwing a punch at the women’s world championships yesterday.

The three-times world and five-times European lightweight champion went through to the last four when her Romanian opponent Mihaela Lacatus withdrew with a neck injury.

Due to regional quotas limiting Europeans to three of the eight places to be won in each of the three Olympic classes this week, it was not until Tajikistan’s Mavzuna Chorieva won the next bout that Taylor’s place in London was secure.

“It’s a dream come true, I just can’t believe it really,” she told reporters. “It’s just years and years of hard work really to get here, now I’m going to be an Olympian.”

As the world number one was talking, Natasha Jonas was fighting Norway’s Ingrid Egner in her lightweight quarterfinal bout and the Briton also booked her

world championships as a member of South Africa’s 4x400-meter relay team.

As the first amputee to run at the world championships, he has changed attitudes toward athletes with disabilities. He featured in TIME’s 100 most influential people this year and has endorsements with brands including Nike, Oakley and French fashion house Thierry Mugler. Way before the fame, though, came years of hard work and pain.

It took Pistorius three months just to be able to balance properly on his blades as he pushed out of the starting blocks. He rejects any claims that technology gives him an

Bianca Elmir

MELBOURNE: Australian boxer Bianca Elmir’s hopes of competing at the London Olympics are in jeopardy after she was slapped with a provisional ban for failing a doping test at national championships in February.

Elmir, Australia’s flyweight champion, had tested positive for a banned diuretic at the championships in Hobart.

Furosemide and Amiloride - prohibited in-competition and out-of-competition substances - were present in her sample, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) said in a statement yesterday.

She was notified of her suspension shortly after arriving in China last week to compete at the women’s world championships in Qinhuangdao, her manager Alex Belperio told Reuters. “It’s a provisional ban, that’s all we know,” Belperio said by telephone. “We appealed to have the ban lifted so she could compete in China, but the appeal was unsuccessful. “It’s been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster for her as you can imagine.

“We need to find out more information to determine what actions we can take in relation to this ban.” The 30-year-old Elmir was due to compete in the women’s flyweight (48-51kg) category at the world championships, where a first-place finish among the Oceania boxers would have booked her ticket to London, where women’s boxing will debut.

She was regarded as one of Australia’s strongest medal hopes in the sport. Boxing

Australia had consulted ASADA before suspending Elmir on May 7, the anti-doping watchdog said.

“The athlete appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the provisional suspension; CAS heard the appeal on 9 May 2012,” it said.

“The decision to uphold the provisional suspension was handed down on 10 May 2012.” The full CAS hearing was yet to take place, the ASADA added. Boxing Australia declined to comment, but officials were distressed by the timing of the decision.

“You have to wonder whether tortoises could have handed it down any quicker,” said Tony Whelan from Boxing ACT in Canberra.

“We would have hoped to have replaced her with the silver medallist, but of course there was no time to fly her over,” Whelan said, referring to Kelly McGrath who was defeated

by Elmir for the Australian title in Hobart.

Kristy Harris, who was hastily slotted into the draw to replace Elmir at the world championships, was beaten in the first round on Saturday.

Elmir’s coach Garry Hamilton said the boxer had taken a tablet before the national titles to treat “swollen ankles” on a longhaul flight. “She’s taken the substance, that’s not denied, but she wasn’t aware it was going to do what it did, it wasn’t done to help her with her boxing,” Hamilton told local media. “I really believe she’s taken it for this medical reason, and only for this medical reason.” —Reuters

Canon invites football fans to share passion for football ahead of UEFA Euro 2012 Photo/Video Competition KUWAIT: Canon Middle East, a leader in imaging solutions, yesterday launched a Middle East, North and East Africa wide photo/video competition across 45 countries, inviting families and friends to share their passion for football ahead of UEFA Euro 2012.

The initiative is in line with Canon Europe’s sponsorship of UEFA Euro 2012(tm). In addition, it is part of Canon Middle East’s 10th anniversary celebrations in the MENA region, with the month of May dedicated to the Power of Family and Friendship.

The competition, which is themed ‘Celebrate your passion for football’, offers football fans the opportunity to win a travel package for two to a city of their choice, including flights and accommodation.

Mai Youssef, Corporate Communications Manager, Canon Middle East, said, “We are pleased to launch this Middle East, North and East Africa - wide competition which will serve as a platform for us to share our passion for image, engaging with the Middle East market

around the most anticipated football event of the year.

Without a doubt, football is one of the most loved sports across the Middle East, North and East Africa and through this competition we want to inspire people’s creativity and innovation by using the medium of photography and videography.”

The competition will be hosted on Canon’s facebook page and entries could include photos or videos depicting, for example, friends singing fan songs for their favorite football teams or family members dressed in their favourite team’s jerseys.

Canon fans will select the best submissions by ‘liking’ their favorite uploads and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd winners will walk away with exciting travel packages. The competition will close on 31st May. To find out more about the competition please visit http://www.facebook.com/CanonME Canon Europe has been a partner of the UEFA Euro competition since the 1980 edition (with the exception of UEFA Euro 2000).

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

S P ORT S

Pacers cool Heat in Miami

MUNICH: Former soccer players Paul Breitner (right) and Giovane Elber place the Champions League trophy, at the Olympic park in Munich.

Bayern Munich will face Chelsea in the final on Saturday.—AP

Chelsea gets boost as Luiz and Cahill start training COBHAM: Chelsea central defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill are hopeful they will be fit for Saturday’s Champions League final against Bayern Munich after completing their first training session following hamstring injuries.

“I’m so happy that I come back to training today,” Luiz told reporters after playing a full part on Tuesday. “I did 100 percent at the session and I’m so happy for this.” Cahill added: “There’s some work to be done in two or three days now leading up to the game for me to get back into it.

“If I need to do a little bit of other training, I’ll do that. But, touch wood, there’s no reaction from today. I felt fine out there,” he was quoted as saying by the BBC. Luiz has not played for a month while England international Cahill has missed the last five games with a similar injury. Chelsea’s caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo is hoping to avoid what he described on Tuesday as the “worst-case scenario” with reserves and youngsters on the bench for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Di Matteo, whose future at Chelsea is far from certain, said he faced one of the biggest challenges of his career especially as his team travel to Bayern’s Allianz Arena have four players suspended and three senior men battling through injuries.

Captain John Terry, defender Branislav Ivanovic and midfielders Raul Meireles and Ramires are all banned from the final while Di Matteo said Florent Malouda was “touch and go”.

Like Luiz and Cahill, the french international is struggling after pulling a hamstring during the first half of Sunday’s final Premier League home win over Blackburn Rovers.

Di Matteo told a packed marquee at

Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham, south of London: “Flo (Malouda), we’ll still assess and it’s going to be touch and go for him to be available for Saturday.”

Di Matteo would be forced to complete his bench with reserves and youngsters if Luiz and Cahill were also out. “That’s the worsecase scenario,” he said.

“We will take some reserve-team players onto the bench, into the squad, and just figure out what to do. I’ve been trying different options in training and different solutions just in case.”

While Saturday’s game could be Di Matteo’s last in charge of Chelsea, he said all he was thinking about after the final was having a holiday.

He refused to be drawn on a possible move back to one of his former clubs, West Bromwich Albion, after being sacked from there as manager last year.

“In my life, I’ve gone back to an ex-girlfriend and it didn’t work out. I’m not sure whether it’s the right move,” he said. Di Matteo did not think Chelsea had gained any advantage after Bayern lost the German Cup final 5-2 to Borussia Dortmund in Berlin on Saturday.

“I don’t think that will have any effect on the Bayern team,” he told reporters. “They are extremely professional and they will move on from it very quickly as they know they have a big game on Saturday. I don’t think it gives us any advantage.”

He also played down the idea that Bayern would benefit from playing the game in their own stadium. “It might give them a bit of an advantage because they know the environment and the pitch, but because they are playing at home there might be more pressure on them so I am not sure it gives them a real advantage at all.”—Reuters

Liverpool sack Dalglish LONDON: Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish was sacked as manager of the club yesterday in a dramatic move by the club’s owners following a disappointing Premier League campaign.

The 61-year-old Scot, who had returned for a second stint as manager at Anfield in January last year, paid the price for a dismal season which saw Liverpool finish 37 points behind champions Manchester City. The Merseyside club’s American owners the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) had given Dalglish more than £100 million (159 million dollars) to spend in the transfer market since he took over from the sacked Roy Hodgson in 2011.

But expensive signings such as Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam have largely flopped, with Liverpool’s eighth place finish their worst season-ending position for nearly two decades.

“Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool

Kenny Dalglish Football Club announce that Kenny Dalglish is to leave his post today as manager after having his contract terminated,” a joint statement said.

“After a careful and deliberative review of the season the club came to the decision that a change was appropriate. “It is not a decision that was reached lightly or hastily.

“The search for a new manager will begin immediately.” Dalglish said in a statement he was “honoured and privileged” to have been given the opportunity to manage the club for a second time.

“I greatly appreciate the work that Steve (Clarke), Kevin (Keen), the players and all of the staff put in during my time and feel proud that we delivered the club’s first trophy in six years, winning the (League) Cup, and came close to a second trophy in the FA Cup final,” he said.

“Of course I am disappointed with results in the league but I would not have swapped the League Cup win for anything as I know how much it meant to our fans and the club to be back winning trophies.

“I said when first approached about coming back as manager that I would always be

of help if I can at any time and that offer remains the same.

“Finally, I want to put on record my heartfelt gratitude to Liverpool’s fans, who have always given me and the club their unwavering support.

“Without them neither the club nor I would have achieved anything.” Dalglish remains an iconic figure amongst Liverpool’s supporters following an association with the club that straddles five decades.

He was a key figure in the club’s 1970s and 1980s glory years, a spell that saw him win eight league titles as player and manager between 1979 and 1990, as well as three European Cups in 1978, 1981 and 1984.

Dalglish is also revered for leading Liverpool through the dark days following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, attending many of the funerals of the 96 fans who perished in the tragedy, including four in one day.

But his second spell at Anfield was less harmonious, and he suffered a critical mauling for his handling of the Luis Suarez racism affair this season.

Dalglish’s steadfast support of the Uruguayan striker, who had been found guilty by an independent FA tribunal of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, was widely perceived as a public relations disaster.

Although Dalglish ended Liverpool’s sixyear trophy drought this season with victory in the League Cup, the club were comfortably beaten by Chelsea in the FA Cup final earlier this month.

Liverpool lifted the gloom with a 4-1 win over Chelsea in their final home game of the season, but a 14th loss against Swansea in their last game of the campaign on Sunday was the last straw.

The defeat against the newly promoted Swans, whose squad cost a fraction of Liverpool’s to assemble, left Liverpool in eighth-their worst finish for 18 years, with their lowest points tally since 1953/54.

Dalglish had flown to the United States on Sunday to present his end-of-season review to principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner, who had only last month given the Liverpool legend his backing.

Indeed, Dalglish’s position seemed to have been strengthened when French director of football Damien Comolli abruptly left the club on April 12, having apparently taken the blame for Liverpool’s poor results.

However the failure of the FSG to issue a swift statement in support of Dalglish prompted speculation his days may be numbered.

British media reports have already linked several younger up-and-coming managers to the vacancy at Anfield, with Wigan’s Roberto Martinez, Swansea’s Brendan Rodgers and Norwich’s Paul Lambert all mentioned as possible candidates to succeed Dalglish.—AFP

MIAMI: David West scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and George H ill added 15 as the Indiana Pacers took homecourt advantage away from Miami by beating the Heat 78-75 in Game 2 of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday.

LeBron James scored 28 points for Miami and Dwyane Wade finished with 24, but both missed big chances for the Heat late.

James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and Miami down one, and Wade was short on a layup that would have tied the game with 16 seconds remaining.

Mario Chalmers’ 3-pointer to tie bounced away on the final play, and the series was tied 1-1. Danny Granger scored 11 points and Paul George added 10 for Indiana, which took advantage of Heat forward Chris Bosh’s absence and outrebounded Miami 50-40. Game 3 is today in Indianapolis.

James had a chance to give Miami the lead with 1:22 left, but his shot was blocked from behind by George, who was fouled two seconds later. He missed both free throws, keeping the Indiana lead at 76-75. And after Wade missed a jumper, James was fouled by Granger - his sixth - battling for the rebound with 54.3 seconds remaining. James couldn’t connect on either, and the Heat didn’t score again. Bosh is expected to miss the rest of the series with a strained abdominal muscle.

Without him, James and Wade combined for 52 points - and no other M iami player scored more than five.

Spurs 108, Clippers 92 At San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 26 points and 10 rebounds as San Antonio, recharged after a weeklong layoff, wore down the busy Los Angeles Clippers to win Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series.

Playing for the sixth time in 11 days, the Clippers gave San Antonio its toughest first

half of the playoffs before fading fast. And unlike their stunning Game 1 comeback at Memphis in the first round, they didn’t have the wind this time.

Manu Ginobili added 22 points for the

Spurs, who’ve won 15 in a row. I t ’s the longest winning streak sustained in the NBA playoffs since the 2004 Spurs won 17 straight. Eric Bledsoe led the Clippers with 23 points. Game 2 is tonight.—AP

SAN ANTONIO: Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (left) and Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (right) scramble for a loose ball during the first quarter of Game 1 of an NBA basketball Western Conference semifinal playoff series. —AP

Wishing for an end to Hibernian’s 110-year wait

By Andrew Downie

EDINBURGH: The Scottish Cup gets under way in January and my birthday is in February and so every year I make the same wish when I blow out the candles on my cake.

I never told my dad what that wish was, but he’s a supporter of Scottish Premier League soccer club Hibernian too and he’s not daft.

One year, not long into my teens, I puffed loudly and he couldn’t stop himself. “You can keep wishing, son,” he said, “Hibs (Hibernian) are not going to win the cup.” It was a fairly safe predic tion given that H ibernian hadn’t lif ted the Scottish Cup since 1902.

This week, though, I am in Edinburgh, having flown 6,000 miles from my home in Brazil in the hope of seeing my dad’s prediction proved wrong. For just the ninth time in more than a century, Hibs are in the final against Heart of Midlothian F.C. They face their local rivals at Hampden Park in a match described by Hearts coach Gary Locke as the biggest Edinburgh derby of all time. It is the first time the t wo clubs from the capital have met in the Scottish Cup final since 1896.

I know most people think I am mad and I have to admit, as Saturday’s big match gets closer I do sometimes question the sanity of my decision. Because as losing streaks go, ours is a belter. Forget Manchester City and their 44-year quest to win the English league title. Forget even the Chicago Cubs and their 103-year pursuit of baseball’s World Series. The last time Hibs won the cup, the Boer War was still raging and the Titanic hadn’t even been thought of.

The maddest thing is that I broke the bank to come home and we’re not even favourites.

We made it to the final despite having our worst team in 30 years. We’ve only won 14 of 47 games this season, narrowly avoiding relegation. And we’ve not beaten our cup final opponents for three years.

But I can’t help it. I can’t bear the thought of Hibs finally winning the Scottish Cup and me not being there to see it.

I f I suppor ted Celtic or R angers, or Chelsea or Manchester United, or any one of the other ‘big’ teams who buy success with huge salaries, then this wouldn’t be such a gamble.

The chances of us winning would be pretty high. But this is

Hibs, a club whose rich and storied history is matched only by its inability to honor that with silverware.

Sure, we’ve made our mark since being formed by I rish immigrants way back in 1875.

When football was a sport and not a business and people turned out to support their local clubs, H ibs were one of the most exciting teams not just in Scotland but the entire world.

In the 1950s we boasted the Famous Five, one of the greatest forward lines the game has ever seen. Since then we’ve beaten Barcelona and Real M adrid, spanked Sporting Lisbon, and destroyed M an. United and Arsenal. We can proudly say we were once champions of the world - albeit in 1887 before the rest of the world had discovered the game.

But then Hibs were always ahead of the curve. We were the first British team to play in Europe, taking part in the inaugural European Cup - later to be the Champions League - in 1955. We were the first team in Scotland to wear a sponsor on our shirt, the first to get undersoil heating, the first to have an electronic scoreboard.

We just never won ver y

much. Since the heady days of the Famous Five — a team so good Sir Alex Ferguson said it was forever “etched in his mind” - we’ve never come close to winning the league. We’ve been to the Scottish Cup final three times in my life but we lost each time. And while we’ve lifted the relatively unimportant League Cup on three occasions, I contrived to miss each one; the first took place when I was only five, the second and third came after I had moved abroad.

I was in Mexico in 1991 when my mother called to give me the bitter-sweet news of our victory.

“They finally go and win something and you’re not here,” she said over a crackly phone line, her sobs lurching between sadness and joy. “After you followed them through thick and thin.”

Thin and thin was more like it. My mum isn’t around anymore but my dad will be there with me at Hampden this Saturday when we take on Heart of Midlothian in the most hotly anticipated final in decades.

He doesn’t remember telling his young son we’d never win the cup. But I do know he’d love to be proved wrong. We’re all wishing...—Reuters

Federer eases past Berlocq ROME: Roger Federer’s last minute decision to compete at the Rome Masters was rewarded immediately as he coasted to a 6-3, 6-4 second-round win over Argentinian journeyman Carlos Berlocq here yesterday.

The Swiss was back on court just three days after winning the Madrid title on the controversial blue clay surface, an event where rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal fell by the wayside - both of them fiercely critical of the slick surface.

But with a ferocious series of tests over the next four months including the French Open, Wimbledon, the London Olympics and the US Open, Federer was not about to overload his programme unnecessarily.

“I only decided today after practise this morning,” said Fereder, whose win in Madrid took him to 74 ATP titles. “I wanted to see how I felt and that nothing major was bothering me.

“I’m happy I felt good out there, but I’m going round-by-round. “We are ahead of a long summer, this is the start of many events in a row and potentially a lot of fivesetters. I needed to make sure that I took a good decision.”

The world number two with four titles this season-including two of the first three Masters events-will next play Spanish veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero, champion here 11 years ago.

Federer is on the hunt for his first Rome title after losing the 2003 and 2006 finals.

The Swiss great never allowed Berlocq a

look in as charged out by winning the first dozen points of the contest. He said that making the quick-change from the speed of a Madrid clay court to the slower one in Rome is always a test. “You have to make adjustments. Guys can stand way behind the service line here and you have to watch your returns. It changes the whole playing style from the baseline and how points are constructed. “I had two days off, had there only been one I don’t think I would have played here, “he confessed.

Other seeds advanced, with Madrid finalist and seventh seed Tomas Berdych leading the way with a defeat of Lukas Kubot 6-4, 6-1.

Number 10 seed Juan Martin Del Potro stopped Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-2 while French 11th seed Gilles Simon advanced past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

In the women’s tournament, Czech Petra Cetkovska upset third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 with the Pole losing her eighth match of the year, with six of those defeats coming at the hands of Victoria Azarenka. Australian fifth seed Samantha Stosur defeated Italian Sara Errani 6-3, 7-5 while Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues advanced 6-4, 5-0 as former number one Caroline Wozniacki had to quit with breathing problems. China’s Li Na beat Iveta Benesova 6-1, 7-5 while German Angelique Kerber ousted Vania King 6-3, 6-2. Madrid champion Serena Williams needed three sets to overcome Russian Nadia Petrova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.—AFP

ROME: Switzerland’s Roger Federer waves to fans after winning his match against Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq at the Italian Open tennis tournament.—AP

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HH Amir meets Real Madrid players and club officials KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace yesterday, in the presence of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the players and officials of the Spanish Football giants Real Madrid.

His Highness welcomed the visitors to Kuwait, hoping that they would have a pleasant stay in the country. He also affirmed that football was a great sport that promoted peace and cooperation amongst people.

Spanish Ambassador to Kuwait Angel Losada, on his part, thanked His Highness the Amir for sponsoring the friendly match between Kuwait national team and Real Madrid, hoping that such events would further boost relations between Spain and Kuwait. The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of the Amiri Diwan Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah and senior officials of the state. —KUNA

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

Pistorius: A race away from Olympic history

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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

Liverpool sack Dalglish

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Chelsea gets boost as Luiz, Cahill start training Page 18

Real mesmerize Kuwait Spanish giants blank Kuwait 2-0

By Chidi Emmanuel KUWAIT: Activities in Kuwait were brought to a halt yesterday evening as the Spanish La Liga champions played with the Kuwait national team at the AlKuwait Sports Club stadium in Kaifan. The stadium was filled to capacity as Kuwaiti youths, fans and families struggled to catch a glimpse of the Madrid team. The match, which Real won 2-0, started with lots of pomp and peasantries. There were colorful fireworks displays as fans blew their vuvuzelas reminiscent of the South African 2010 World Cup. Real Madrid’s most valuable player Cristiano Ronaldo made the first goal attempt with a header from the centre of the penalty box after Mesut Ozil made a cross following a corner. Angel Di Maria scored the first goal in the 27th minute with a left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner of the goal. The second goal came from Ronaldo in the 31st minute with a header from very close range. There were more attempts by Ronaldo who received hearty cheers from Kuwaiti fans for every move he made.

Kuwait national team players who were the underdogs made few attempts to score after a free kick won by Mesaed Nada Al-Enezi. Kuwait’s Fahd Al-Ansari

also missed an opportunity after a shot from more than 35 yards was blocked by Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema in the 12th minute of the game. Another attempt by Kuwait’s Al Maatouq Al-Maatouq was called off with Hamad Al-Enezi caught offside.

The second half brought a lot of changes from both sides. Real Madrid made several changes as Kaka replaced Ozil; Alvaro Arbeloa replaced Di Maria; Raul Albiol replaced Ricardo Carvalho while captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas was substituted with Antonio Adan. Also, Lass Diarra replaced Nuri Sahin as Marcelo replaced Fabio Coentrao and Pepe replaced Raphael Varane. Gonzalo Higuain replaced Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos substituted Esteban Granero. On the Kuwait side, Mohammad Rashed, Jarah Al-Atiqi, Hussain Fadel, Saleh AlSheikh, Khaled Al-Rashidi, Ali Al-Maqseed and Hussain Al Moussawi replaced Fahad Al-Enezi, Hamad Al-Enezi, Al-Maatouq, Fahad Awadh Shaheen, Nawaf Al-Khaldi, Yousef Naser Al-Sulaiman, Waleed Ali respectively.

The Kuwait team played with lots of courage during the second half although they were overpowered by their Spanish counterparts. “This is just for fun. We know they (Real Madrid) are not our match in any way,” Abdulla Naser, a

Ronaldo fan said as he posed with his Ronaldo T-shirt. The Spanish giants mesmerized the fans as they casually played with ease and with Kuwaiti supporters singing their praises. “This is just a package of fun and excitement. We know that we can’t beat them (Real Madrid). The game is only aimed at boosting and encouraging our national team. Playing with one of the biggest and strongest team in the world is a plus to the Kuwait national team,” Ali, a Kuwaiti football official, said.

In a press statement prior to the game yesterday, Real Madrid Coach Jose Mourinho promised to play the Kuwait national team in the best way and in the best form they can. He added that by “playing the best way they can is a way to respect their host - the Kuwait national team”. The match, which was played under the patronage of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, attracted lots of dignitaries including the First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other top government officials.

Kuwait ‘Real’ winners

By Xavier Moraes eal Madrid took to the pitch at Kaifan yesterday to kick-off Kuwait’s biggest-ever football showcase, which was once-in-a-lifetime event for the diehard fans of Real Madrid. Real - who have a huge fan base in Kuwait - gave Kuwaitis an opportunity to fulfill their dream of meeting the world’s top stars. This opportunity for the Kuwait national team to rub shoulders with an elite team should enhance their determination to mount a credible challenge to their future opponents.

The strength of the Kuwait team was reflected by their ability to restrict the Spanish giants rather

R

than being thrashed by a huge margin. Ronaldo’s trickery, pace and ferocious shots were the highlight of the match. Kuwaiti players such as Amer AlFadhel and Al Maatouq Al-Maatouq, to mention a few, are the creative hub of the Kuwaiti side with a plethora of choice with the coaching skills of veteran Goran Tufegdzic who can tap new talent.

Memorable games have been in short supply in Kuwait, but soccer lovers would relish the prospect of more friendly matches.

Gold hits 4-1/2 month low on Greece turmoil Page 22

HK shares hit major loss in six months Page 23

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

Egypt economy on the edge ahead of presidential vote Page 22

Rajoy warns Spain faces lock-out from markets Page 25

SANAA: Yemeni Rizq Hawsali, who shares a bedroom with his daughter and two granddaughters, speaks about the difficult living conditions and lack of income during an interview. —AFP

In Yemen, millions can’t afford to eat 55% of Yemenis live on less than $2 a day SANAA: For almost half of Yemen’s 22 million people, eating has become a luxury they can’t always afford. On a bad day, Umm Ahmad and her family of five, who live in Sanaa’s shanty-town district of AlSunaina, go without any food at all. On a better day, Umm Ahmad’s husband, who works as a vendor, selling baby clothes in the market, comes home with “500 Yemeni riyals (about $2.30/1.79 euros) and we eat.”

“Have pity on us,” she says, breaking into tears as she clutches her sick and hungry daughter Amira and describes her family’s daily struggle to survive. She fears for Amira’s life. Lifting the five-year-old’s dress and pulling up her sleeves, she reveals skinny and slightly bruised limbs, a consequence she says, of a blood disorder for which they cannot afford treatment.

In the past year alone, according to the latest UN report, the cost of basic foodstuffs has surged by between 40 and 60 percent and the price of always scarce drinking water has risen by 200 percent, contributing to skyrocketing inflation.

Unemployment rates have also soared, and 10 million Yemenis, out of a total population of about 22 million, struggle to put food on the table, the UN says. The popular uprising that ousted veteran leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and the months of political unrest that followed has crippled the gov-

ernment’s already weak and corrupt institutions. The result, says the chief UN representative in Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is “a much more profound and much more deep humanitarian crisis than what we have been describing.” Evidence of the crisis is clear, not just in the country’s distant provinces where government services are weakest and international aid is hindered by ongoing conflicts, but also in the capital Sanaa. Sharing a single room with her two daughters and father, Fatima Hawsali says life in the past year has gone from “bad to worse.”

No one in this Yemeni household has an income. They rely on government handouts, which they say have become increasingly unreliable. “We fight death” every day says Fatima’s father, Rizq. Neighbour and local store-owner Haidar Saleh lends people bags of rice, sugar and flour on credit, but he too is struggling. Two notebooks sit on his shop counter: one detailing debts owed to him by residents of the neighbourhood, the other, debts he owes to his suppliers. “I can’t pay them because my customers don’t pay me,” said Saleh. These are the humanitarian facts: About 55 percent of Yemenis live below the poverty line on less than $2 dollars a day. Ten million are “food insecure,” and five million of them are “severely food insecure.”

Almost one million children, an estimated 967,000 under the age of five, are suffering from “acute malnutrition,” and more than a quarter of them “are at risk of dying” unless immediate action is taken, the report says. The health sector, which was barely functioning before the 2011 Arab Spring-inspired uprising against Saleh, has suffered major setbacks.

Measles has made a comeback, killing a total of 170 children, most of them since January. Other communicable diseases have re-emerged, including cholera and dengue fever. Unemployment among the country’s youth, considered a major destabilising factor, has risen to 53 percent.

Investors have pulled out and businesses have shut down, creating, according to the latest UN estimates, an $8 billion loss in private sector revenues. That has dealt a severe blow to the economy of what was already the poorest country in the Arab world. The even bigger problem, says Cheikh Ahmed, is that “there’s very little (international) interest in this.” “Everybody speaks only about the politics, about the security issue, but that’s only half the story ... this is a disaster,” he said. If the humanitarian crisis is not resolved, he warns, it will threaten stability and derail the already delicate political transition process that gave rise to Yemen’s first new president in

Virgin Atlantic allows calls NEW YORK: The phrase “Can you hear me now” has entered the jet age. Passengers on certain Virgin Atlantic flights are now able to use their cell phones to make and receive phone calls at 35,000 feet, the airline announced Tuesday. The British airline’s new service could be a blessing for business travellers who want to stay connected during eight-hour flights across the ocean. It could also be a nightmare for the passenger sitting next to them.

“I suspect most passengers, like myself, would prefer not to listen to somebody on the phone for what might be hours,” said airline analyst Robert Mann. Only six passengers at a time will be able to use the system, which the airline says is intended “for use in exceptional situations.” Passengers will be able to send text messages, make a call or access email on mobile devices. The airline won’t charge extra for the service but cell phone users will be charged their carrier’s international roaming rates. Initially, the service - which utilizes a satellite connection - will only be available for customers of European cell phone providers O2 and Vodafone and US carrier T-Mobile. The service debuted Tuesday on the airline’s new Airbus A330-300 planes flying between New York and London. It will expand to nearly 20 planes by year-end, from a handful now.

Dubai-based Emirates became the first carrier to allow passengers to use their personal

cell phones back in 2008. A handful of other airlines in the Middle East including Oman Air and Royal Jordanian now have similar services.

Passengers today already wrestle for control of the armrest and the few precious inches of personal space they have. It isn’t clear how the flying public will react to phone calls mid-flight.

George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog, says Virgin will have to restrict times of day when passengers can make calls in order to not wake up fellow passengers on overnight flights. “But you know what will happen, no one will listen. There will be screaming matches, glares, and probably fisticuffs,” he said in a statement. “I for one would gladly choose an airline that bans inflight yakking over one that allows it.”

The New York-London route is very lucrative and competitive. British Airways and American Airlines have teamed up to offer up to 16 daily flights between the two cities. Virgin only offers five a day, with plans to soon expand to six. Asked how his airline can compete, CEO Steve Ridgway told The Associated Press last week: “By offering better service.” This new phone service is part of a larger $160 million dollar upgrade of the airline’s Upper Class cabin, although it will be also available to passengers in coach. Calls are not permitted during take-off or landing or within 250 miles of US airspace. —AP

33-years. The grim humanitarian reality has been in the making for years, but the current crisis has “aggravated” already severe underdevelopment, says Cheikh Ahmed adding that even if the latest unrest is resolved, “we will still have major needs in this country.” In a coffee shop in one of Sanaa’s few middle-class neighbourhoods, prominent economist and university professor Mohammed al-Maitami cautioned that Yemen is “totally incapable of resolving ... the mine-field of challenges” that lie ahead. “We need major and sustained international support,” said Maitami. On the humanitarian front, that support has been slow in coming. The UN in partnership with international NGOs has launched an emergency appeal for $455 million for 2012. To date, it is only 42 percent funded.

Education has received no funding at all and the water, sanitation and hygiene cluster is only 12 percent funded. Protection, a key sector that works to prevent the abuse, neglect and exploitation of Yemen’s most vulnerable groups, including women and children, is only 8 percent funded. “This is certainly a worrying development for us” said Cheikh Ahmed. Even worse, he says, the aid community now believes they will likely need more than what they have already asked for, most of which still has not been received. —AFP

Syria raises fuel price AMMAN: Syria has raised the price of subsidised fuel by a quarter, after doubling electricity prices, as a shortage due to reduced imports threatened industry and the coming wheat har vest and as military use has increased. International trading sources have said that Syria was facing a halt in imports of diesel, needed to power heavy vehicles including army tanks, as a stream of shipments from Russia and elsewhere has dried up in recent weeks. Syrians have been grappling with fuel supply shortages for months as Western sanctions prompted most European oil firms to cut trade.

The government increased the cost of a litre of gasoil, a main fuel used as a substitute for diesel and heating oil, to 20 pounds (31 cents) from 15 pounds, the first price change since May last year when the authorities cut it by the same amount. Yesterday’s announcement was published on the Syrian state news website SANA. The price hike follows last week’s doubling of electricity prices for industry which industrialists have

warned would deal a blow to a lot of struggling plants already hit by the unrest. “ This will hurt industry already facing losses and could lead to closures,” Faris Shahabi, head of Aleppo’s chamber of industry was quoted as saying in local media. The authorities have justified the moves as a step to curb smuggling and increase government revenues, saying the annual cost of subsidies topped 250 billion pounds. Syria says it subsidies almost two thirds of the cost of gasoil.

Shortages of gasoil are already hurting local industries. Officials say annual consumption is around 7.5 billion litres. The timing of the increase at the start of the wheat harvest season would also raise costs on farmers already unable to secure enough fuel for tractors, pumps and other agricultural machinery, commodity traders said. Thousands of people have been killed in Syria during a year-long popular revolt against President Bashar Al-Assad’s rule, a conflict in which the military’s use of heavy vehicles has been prominent.— Reuters

Second Greek poll stokes euro-zone crisis further ATHENS: The prospect of a second Greek election in six weeks stoked the euro-zone crisis yesterday despite a Franco-German pledge of support as the president readied a caretaker administration. Political leaders went into a meeting with President Carolos Papoulias at 1000 GMT, with the country and financial markets waiting to hear the date of the new polls, expected to be June 17. News that about 700 million euros ($894 million) had been withdrawn from Greek banks on Monday added to the tensions on European markets, with investors fearful that a Greek euro exit would be chaotic for everyone.

In a statement late Tuesday, Papoulias said the central bank governor had told him that the banks’ “situation was very difficult ... there was nothing to panic about but that there were a lot of fears that could turn into panic.”

Christian Schulz of Berenberg Bank said the withdrawals suggested that Greeks were “getting increasingly worried about the country’s future in the euro.” On their own they “do not indicate panic quite yet. However, this could change soon, so that the central bank would have to step in to save the banks.”

The new election follows an inconclusive poll on May 6 when a majority of Greeks voted for parties opposing the austerity measures which Athens agreed to in return for a massive EU-IMF bailout late last year. However, there is no guarantee that the new vote will produce a viable government-Syriza, the main opponent of the EU-IMF deal is tipped to win-which means more uncertainty over Greece’s future in the single currency club.

Press reaction yesterday was subdued, reflecting the feeling that while most Greeks want to stay in the eurozone, they cannot live with more austerity. The centre-left daily Ethnos wrote that Greece was heading for “elections in a minefield. The result will determine the country’s future in the euro-zone.” Ta Nea, which supports the socialist Pasok party, said Greece was going into the polls “surrounded by uncertainty and fear over the economic collapse of the country.” The election “will test the patience of Greece’s partners on whether the country will stay in the euro-zone,” financial daily Naftemoporiki said.

The financial markets found little comfort in a “we want Greece to stay in the euro” pledge by German Chancellor Angela Merkel made alongside new French President Francois Hollande late Tuesday. Merkel said the two European powerhouses were also prepared “to study the possibility of additional growth measures in Greece” if Athens sought them. But yesterday German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble insisted once again that it was not possible to re-negotiate the EU-IMF deal. “This is an aid programme that was prepared down to the last detail, we cannot re-negotiate it,” Schaeuble told Deutschlandfunk radio. “Greece must be ready to accept the (EU-IMF) aid ... Those who win the elections will have to decide if they accept the conditions or not,” he added. The euro tumbled yesterday- to a four-month low of $1.2681 but later recovered to $1.2707, still down from $1.2728 in New York late Tuesday. “There is a pervading sense of unease in financial markets, a disquieting feeling of having been in something like this position before and wondering if it might turn out the same,” National Australia Bank said in a note.—AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

BUSINESS

Egypt economy on the edge ahead of polls CAIRO: Wasfy Amin’s jewellery shops in the heart of Islamic Cairo ran into trouble when a street revolt scared away tourists last year. Part of his business is growing again, but not a part that inspires optimism in Egypt’s flailing economy. His factory on the capital’s desert outskirts now melts bangles, rings and necklaces - heirlooms sold by impoverished families - into rough ingots of gold and silver that are sold to banks for refining in Switzerland. “There are many people with no work now in Egypt, or with work but no salaries. This helps them out, for a while,” said Amin, the head of the gold division at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce.

The exports bring him a razor-thin 1 percent profit margin, the difference between local and international prices minus costs, hardly enough to pay the wages of roughly 200 employees, and he thinks he will run out of cash in a year. Egypt’s economy lunged into crisis when the uprising ousted leader Hosni Mubarak in February last year as banks shut down for more than a month, a breakdown in security tarnished the investment climate and workers went on strike for better pay.

Worse, say business owners, is a litany of avoidable failures since then by an army-backed interim government that has failed to secure emergency aid from overseas donors, contain street violence or launch big new investments to spur growth. The policy hiatus has raised the burden of expectation on the new president Egypt will elect from May 23 as the army generals now ruling the country prepare to hand power to civilians.

Candidates are competing for votes with promises to tackle corruption, boost job creation and improve living standards in a country blighted by poverty. But with the government borrowing at perilously high interest rates and vital foreign loans conditional on curbing the deficit, the next head of state will not be able to buy his way to popularity by creating more state jobs or raising subsidies on essential goods.

Business leaders say the answer lies in the paradox of Egypt’s vast economic potential yet massive underinvestment, and the new head of state will have little option but to heed demands for a fairer, more efficient economy. That means breaking with Mubarak’s legacy - a pervasive state that threw up obstacles to business that only large corporations with close ties to the country’s political elite could

fully overcome. “It’s tough to change after years, decades of corruption,” said Menatalla Sadek, Corporate Finance and Investments Director at automotive retailer GB Auto. “Mubarak is gone but did anyone change the whole organisation? The government workers? It’s the same business environment that we are still operating in.” The policies of the main candidates range from a solidly freemarket system espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi to an old-fashioned interventionist model championed by leftist Hamdeem Sabahy. H e would have the state lead the way in “strategic industries” such as steel, cement, textiles and fertilisers and a series of megaprojects.

Two other leading candidates, Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister under Mubarak, and Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, would also look to the private sector to play a leading role. The policies of Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s last prime minister and now a presidential candidate, remain unclear. His campaign officials did not respond to a request for details. Under Mubarak a partial liberalisation of trade and investment spurred growth to over 7 percent in the 2007/8 fiscal year, slowing to 5 percent after the global financial crisis.

All the top candidates are promising to kick-start the economy with big investments in strategic industries such as energy and agriculture and push through industrial projects along the Suez Canal, in the isolated Sinai and the south. Mursi promises to increase economic growth to 7 percent within five years and cut inflation, now running at 8.8 percent, by more than half. By most accounts the economy contracted in 2011, stricken by the country’s political turmoil. For now, Moussa and Abol Fotouh are polling ahead of the rest. They and Mursi would reduce energy subsidies to all but the poor. These subsidies now account for 20 percent of all government spending and reducing them may be the least painful way to narrow the budget deficit. The interim government’s budget already foresees a narrowed budget deficit of 140 billion Egyptian pounds ($23.2 billion) next year, down from 144 billion in the current year to June.

The election offers only a partial answer to Egypt’s future. Voters will go to the polls not knowing their new leader’s powers - the result of delays to a new constitution. The election of a new presi-

Saudi travel firm Al-Tayyar IPO seen pricing at top end DUBAI: Saudi Arabian group Al-Tayyar Travel is set to raise up to 1.37 billion riyals ($365 million) selling a 30 percent stake in a listing in the first week of June, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The family-owned business group is offering 24 million shares to investors at 45-57 riyals, two people familiar with the process said.

The IPO is open to retail investors and expected to close on May 20. The institutional part of the share sale has been oversubscribed nearly five times, arranging bank Samba Capital, the investment banking arm of Samba Financial Group, said earlier this week.

“Demand for the IPO has been strong from the institutional side. It has been priced attractively and most bids were at the top end of the range,” one person involved in the IPO process said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Al-Tayyar first looked to go public in February 2010, planning to raise 1.2 billion riyals selling 30 percent of its shares. Lacklustre market conditions forced the family group to pull the process at the end of the institutional stage, the first time a Saudi IPO had failed to complete after receiving listing approval from the country’s regulator.

Renewed investor interest in local markets and ample institutional liquidity was expected to see the firm launch its IPO at the top end of the range this time.

Saudi Arabian bourse Tadawul has risen 10.7 percent in 2012 on rising volumes.

Talks of a potential opening-up of the market to foreign investors has lured investor interest.

Cheap valuation Al-Tayyar’s first-quarter net income rose more than 20 percent, a second source said, adding the firm has paid a dividend of around 5 riyals in the past couple of years. IPO activity in the Gulf is showing signs of revival with bankers and analysts expecting Saudi Arabia to lead the region.

Health Water Bottling, a firm owned

by Saudi Arabian conglomerate Olayan Group, is planning to go public by issuing 30 percent of its shares in a flotation in the first quarter of 2013, sources told Reuters in April. Construction Products Holding Co (CPC), a manufacturer of building materials and a unit of Saudi Binladin Group, plans a 30 percent listing and has mandated the investment banking arms of Gulf International Bank and Samba for the sale. —Reuters

dent, however, could help end a rivalry between government and the Islamist-dominated parliament that has discouraged the International Monetary Fund from signing off on an emergency $3.2 billion loan that would support state finances and help restore investor confidence.

High borrowing rates Foreign investors who fled Egypt after the uprising may stay away for months, even years, after a new president takes power, waiting to see if he has the political capital - and the constitutional powers to put words into action. Foreign direct investment fell to $440 million in July-September last year, the latest available data, from $1.60 billion a year earlier, sending the balance of payments to a $2.36 billion

EL-ARISH: In this file photo, flames rise from a gas pipeline explosion in Al-Arish, Egypt. — AP

deficit from a year-earlier $14.7 million surplus.

Some local companies are already pressing ahead with investments they say are vital to meet future demand given the country’s fast-growing population. Food company Wadi Group, expanding its vegetable oil operations, is building a port on the Nile to discharge grain more cheaply. GB Auto, which says Egypt’s car sales were a quarter of Turkey’s at best despite a larger population, launched its biggest service centre in Egypt yet last week.

Companies that lost out when major land reclamation and irrigation projects were suspended after the uprising say they see some movement again.

“In the water sector there are new public tenders being issued. The decisions are not taken yet and it takes six to nine months to do the technical and financial evaluation,” said Hossam Farid, CEO of water pump maker Allweiler Farid Pumps. The military-backed government, anxious to maintain stability, has avoided taking measures that might be seen as unpopular during the transition period but could have stemmed the deterioration in the country’s finances.

Increased state borrowing has driven domestic borrowing rates to historic highs above 15 percent since last year’s uprising. This in turn has helped widen the budget deficit even further and crowded companies out of the credit market.

“Interest is too high and limits our ability to grow,” said Tony Freiji, Chief Executive Officer of Wadi Group. “We are competing with manufacturing companies Europe and Asia who can borrow at 3.5 percent or less.” The slump in foreign investment in 2011 and a 30 percent drop in tourism revenue two of Egypt’s main sources of foreign exchange have reduced demand for the Egyptian pound. The government has limited the currency’s fall since the uprising to around 4 percent by drawing down foreign currency reserves by more than $20 billion, leaving only about $15 billion, or less than three months of import coverage.

Some Egypt-based economists say there are signs that the government is now deliberately hampering imports of non-essential goods to slow transfers of foreign currency abroad. Amr Moussa has signalled a shift towards a freer exchange rate something economists have estimated would inevitably lead to a weaker currency given the current level of support. — Reuters

Gold hits 4-1/2 month low on Greece turmoil Wedding season underway in India

SINGAPORE: Gold extended losses yesterday to slip to its weakest level since late December after the collapse of efforts in Greece to form a new government, prompting investors to cut exposure to the precious metal. Bullion has this year been moving in tandem with assets that are perceived to be risky, shedding its status as a safe haven in times of economic instability.

Concerns about upheaval in the euro zone hit the euro and sent share prices lower across Asia as Greek political leaders met yesterday to form a caretaker government that will lead the country into its second election in just over a month.

US June gold futures, which often dictate spot gold, dropped more than 1 percent to a low of $1,529.2 an ounce, their lowest since Dec. 29.

Cash gold was also at a 4-1/2 month low.

“Everybody is rushing to buy the U.S. dollar. A strong dollar is negative for gold for the time being,” said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, adding that demand from jewellers was limited due to volatile prices.

“Jewellers don’t know what to do. Maybe when the price has stabilised at some level, they

at the presidential palace at 2 p.m. (1100 GMT), but said they had little hope President Karolos Papoulias’s offer would resolve a political crisis that has fuelled speculation Greece’s days in the euro zone are numbered.

In equity markets, the Nikkei lost 1.1 percent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended losses for the fourth consecutive day, sliding nearly 3 percent to a new 4-month low. In the physical market in Singapore, jewellery makers from Thailand snapped up gold on the lower prices, while buyers from top consumer India could also return after buying some gold overnight. “Definitely physical buying has gone up, although demand is not overwhelming. Indonesia has slowed down because there’s a public holiday tomorrow, while Thailand is buying,” said a dealer in Singapore. “India did buy gold last night. They are not really in the market yet today, but I am sure they will be buying.” The wedding season is underway in India and will taper off by the end of the month. Gold jewellery is an essential part of the dowry Indian parents give to their daughters at weddings. — Reuters

will start to re-enter the market. There’s a bit of scale-down buying.” Spot gold was down $13.34 at $1,530.76 an ounce by 0639 GMT, having hit an intraday low of $1,529.43. Gold rallied to a record of around $1,920 an ounce in 2011, when investors flocked to the metal as a safe haven during the debt crisis in Europe. But bullion is moving with riskier assets this year as investors turn to the safety of the dollar and the euro hits multi-month lows.

“It’s risk aversion caused by concerns about Greece. Tokyo stock exchange also fell today, so everybody requires the dollar,” said a bullion dealer in Tokyo, adding that investors cashed in gold to cover losses in other markets. Money managers in gold futures and options slashed their net long positions by 20 percent to the lowest level since December 2008, as investors aggressively unwound their bullish bets in the precious metal after a sharp price pullback.

The euro hit a four-month low yesterday, a day after Greece called a new election that may hand victory to leftists opposed to the terms of an EU bailout and raise the risk of the country exiting the euro zone. Party leaders will convene

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 .4430000 .3530000 .2930000 .2740000 .2740000 .0040000 .0020000 .0757150 .7376720 .3830000 .0710000 .7231550 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2789000 GB Pound/KD .4453060 Euro .3545930 Swiss francs .2952570 Canadian dollars .2761930 Danish Kroner .0477070 Swedish Kroner .0387060 Australian dlr .2763480 Hong Kong dlr .0358990 Singapore dlr .2200920 Japanese yen .0034700 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0759640 Bahraini dinars .7400820 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0743930 Omani riyals .7246980 Philippine Peso .0000000

.2815000 .4520000 .3610000 .3030000 .2830000 .2820000 .0070000 .0035000 .0764760 .7450860 .4000000 .0770000 .7304230 .0072000 .0500000 .2810000 .4486590 .3572630 .2974800 .2782730 .0480660 .0389980 .2784290 .0361690 .2217490 .0034960 .0052120 .0021880 .0031030 .0034490 .0765350 .7456550 .3974540 .0749530 .7301550 .0065930

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

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

280.100 3.079 5.180 2.175 3.424 6.560 76.365 74.850 744.600 46.360 453.200 3.090

Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

1.550 361.900 288.400 3.350

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

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal

280.000 359.000 449.000 279.600 3.500 5.193 46.360 2.170 3.424 6.535 3.082 744.900 76.200 74.700

SELL DRAFT SELL CASH

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar 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

281.61 281.34 301.42 389.60 279.70 449.97 3.56 3.422 5.149 2.174 3.242 3.084 76.21 745.05 46.35 398.49 727.96 77.24 74.79

292.50 283.00 311.00 364.00 280.50 453.50 3.65 3.550 5.525 2.550 4.000 3.250 76.35 741.50 47.65 394.50 726.00 77.50 74.90

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar

Selling Rate

280.050 281.470 449.480 358.265 296.820 741.415

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 Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound

SELL CASH 281.800 745.050 3.670 281.300 550.200 45.700 48.900 167.800 48.000 360.700 36.700 5.370 0.032 0.160 0.229 3.580 397.020 0.190 93.070 44.800 4.310 218.200 1.815 47.800 727.700 3.170 6.830 77.490 74.800 222.700 36.190 2.669 451.100 39.800 300.300 4.300

9.320 198.263 76.380 280.500 1.350

9.120 76.280 280.100

GOLD 1,617.570

10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 449.100 280.100

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Bahrain Exchange Company

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY

Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

76.225 76.870 74.640 394.210 46.380 2.170 5.165 3.087 3.425 6.534 686.955 4.480 9.975 5.895 3.325 88.850

SELL DRAFT 280.300 745.050 3.421 279.800

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Malaysian Ringgit

3.542 5.204 3.073 2.179 3.301 225.500 35.996 3.411 6.574 8.963 91.158 GCC COUNTRIES 74.536 76.800 726.000 742.390 76.110

222.700 46.427 359.200 36.630 5.165 0.032

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

396.970 0.189 93.070

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.000 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.231 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.304 Tunisian Dinar 179.33 Jordanian Dinar 394.720 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.875 Syrian Lier 4.876 Morocco Dirham 33.183

3.250 216.700 727.520 3.091 6.565 77.060 74.800 222.700 36.190 2.174 449.100 298.800 4.300

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 279.400 Euro 363.78 Sterling Pound 452.930 Canadian dollar 282.79 Turkish lire 156.700 Swiss Franc 305.16 US Dollar Buying 278.200 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

GOLD 285.000 143.000 71.000

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

BUSINESS

Franco-German axis looks safe under ‘Merkollande’ BERLIN: Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande sought to present a united front on the resurging threat to the euro-zone in a sign they will overcome their differences to form a powerful crisisfighting team, analysts said yesterday. After the trumpeted ‘Merkozy’ partnership between the German chancellor and Nicolas Sarkozy, all eyes were on Merkel’s first meeting with the new French president to gauge the fate of Europe’s traditional Franco-German motor. Both Merkel and Hollande vowed to work together to boost growth in Europe, saying ideas on how to achieve this would be presented before a European Union summit in June as well as stressing that Greece should remain in the euro.

Merkel, who had said she would welcome Hollande “with open arms” despite backing fellow conservative Sarkozy in the presidency race, appeared relaxed and smiling on welcoming Hollande to a rainy Berlin. This first high-stakes

encounter was delayed by more than an hour after a lightning strike forced the plane of the freshly sworn-in Hollande to turn back to Paris where he changed jets to return to Berlin. When he finally arrived at the chancellery, the new leader looked solemn and less at ease, walking alongside Merkel up a red carpet flanked by a military parade and had to be gently ushered in the right direction by the chancellor.

“They have no choice, they must get along.

They are being watched by the financial markets and their European partners,” said Claire Demesmay of the German Council on Foreign Relations. “They are aware of their responsibility, that the euro-zone’s development depends on their decisions.” Ahead of the meeting, their differences over remedies for the debt woes of the single currency zone had been clearly and repeatedly stated-while she champions austerity, he wants to shift the focus to growth-stimulating

measures. And with elections again looming in Greece where the crisis began, increasing the threat of a euro-zone breakup, the task at hand was ever more pressing, but did not stop the pair acknowledging divergences. Christian Schulz, an analyst from Berenberg bank, said however that despite their different political stripes and Hollande’s campaign rhetoric, the meeting suggested the “two leaders may get on quite well and resume the Franco-German crisis management soon.”

Merkel argues that governments must balance their budgets and cut debt and says growth should be fostered through structural reforms, especially of the labour market, as opposed to Hollande’s view of the need to invest in the future as an alternative to austerity. They also diverge on the role of the European Central Bank, eurobonds-pooling euro-zone members’ debtand the timetable for withdrawing troops from

Afghanistan. “Hollande will quickly notice that in the club of the powerful, the big problems of the continent demand big coalitions,” commented the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

But Rene Lasserre, head of the French-based Centre for Information and Research on Contemporary Germany, pointed out that the new Franco-German alliance was in a “preparatory phase”. “The stage is set for a quiet and careful examination of differences. It was a meeting about guidelines for settling the working methods and reaching compromises,” he said.

However Hollande’s room for manoeuvre may be limited by his Socialists’ bid to win a parliamentary majority in June’s legislative elections, said Henrik Uterwedde of the Ludwigsburg-based German-French Institute. “He cannot make compromises quickly. His electorate is expecting another voice on Europe from him” from that of his predecessor, he commented. — AFP

HK shares hit major loss in six months Chinese banks hit after flat loan growth

NEW YORK: People arrive at JPMorgan Chase headquarters. — AP

No sign of shareholder revolt against Dimon NEW YORK: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon owned up to stock analysts and went on TV to accept blame for a $2 billion trading mistake. Next he faces shareholders, who are considerably less wealthy since the blunder was disclosed.

While Dimon may be greeted by colorful protesters and tough questions at the JPMorgan annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, shareholders are unlikely to call for his head. For them, facing the crisis without Dimon might be a bigger nightmare than the trading loss itself.

“When a bank is dealing with this sort of a challenge, you want someone of his caliber to shepherd it through,” said longtime JPMorgan shareholder Michael Holland, chairman and founder of money manager Holland & Co. That has not been a universal opinion since Thursday, when Dimon disclosed to analysts that the bank had lost $2 billion by making a bad bet with so-called credit derivatives. Investors lopped almost 10 percent off JPMorgan’s stock price the next day, and 3 percent more on Monday. Since Dimon made the announcement, almost $20 billion in market value has evaporated.

Over the weekend, Elizabeth Warren, architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a Senate candidate from Massachusetts, called for Dimon to give up his board seat at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And on Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney, without singling out Dimon, said that Washington can’t prevent “bad decisions being made on Wall Street.” He pointed out that it was the bank and its shareholders, not bailout-weary taxpayers, who were suffering this time.

Dimon will be talking to shareholders from a position of weakness for the first time. He has built a reputation as a cost-cutting zealot and an expert at keeping risk under control. He led JPMorgan into a stronger position than almost any other bank after the 2008 financial crisis, which brought him more praise than at any other time in his career. Shareholders rarely lash out against Dimon. Vikram Pandit of Citigroup and Brian Moynihan of Bank of America are not so fortunate: Shareholders at those banks take the slightest opportunity to call for them to step down.

Dimon’s reputation has been severely damaged now. But shareholders still appear to believe he should be given the chance to prove himself again. “He’s earned enough market respect to have the opportunity to correct this,” said Benjamin Wallace of investment firm Grimes & Co., a longtime shareholder that sold its JPMorgan shares

six months ago.

“I don’t think anyone else can do a better job than him, and we would not be calling for his ouster,” Wallace said. Dimon said on Sunday that the bank had “made a terrible, egregious mistake” and that there was “almost no excuse for it.” Yet there have been no signs of a shareholder insurrection against Dimon, and no member of the board of directors has spoken out against him since he disclosed the loss. He still holds a reputation as the man who restored Bank One to a profit a decade ago when few thought it was possible and who kept JPMorgan Chase profitable through the financial crisis by managing its risk.

And while $2 billion was a stunning figure, as the investor reaction demonstrates, JPMorgan is more than big enough to absorb the loss.

The bank made $19 billion last year alone. “Banking is a people business, and people are going to make mistakes,” said Steve Shafer, chief investment officer of the hedge fund Covenant Global Investors in Oklahoma City, which bought JPMorgan shares on Friday.

“If anything, this just reveals how difficult it is, with some of the smartest hedgers on the face of the earth, to interpret what the markets are going to do,” he added. Dimon has said the bank lost the money in a strategy to hedge against financial risk, as banks often do, not because it was trading for its own profit.

Some lawmakers have cast doubt on that portrayal. JPMorgan’s disclosure has led lawmakers and critics of the banking industry to call for stricter regulation of Wall Street.

On Monday, President Barack Obama said JPMorgan’s loss in highrisk trading shows the need for the Wall Street rules that Congress passed two years ago. JPMorgan “is of the best managed banks,” Obama said during an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” a daytime talk show.

“You could have a bank that isn’t as strong, isn’t as profitable, making those same bets and we might have had to step in. Which his exactly why Wall Street reform is so important.” Many post-crisis rules governing risk-taking by banks are still being written. Among them is the so-called Volcker rule, which would block banks from trading for their own profit, a practice known as proprietary trading. Dimon has said the trading in question would not violate the rule.

On Monday, Sen. Tim Johnson, DS.D., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, announced additional hearings on financial regulation and said he expected the JPMorgan loss to be discussed. Four days after Dimon announced the trading blunder, the executive responsible for trading strategy at

JPMorgan, one of the highest-ranking women on Wall Street, became the first casualty. The bank said that Ina Drew, 55, the chief investment officer for the bank and a 30-year veteran of the company, would retire and be replaced by Matt Zames, an executive in JPMorgan’s investment bank.

Dimon said Drew’s “vast contributions to our company should not be overshadowed by these events.”

He stressed that the company remains “very strong.” “We maintain our fortress balance sheet and capital strength to withstand setbacks like this, and we will learn from our mistakes and remain diligently focused on our clients, who count on us ever y day,” Dimon said.

JPMorgan is holding the meeting in Tampa partly because the bank is expanding in Florida.

Dimon will address shareholders, who will get to ask questions. They will also vote their approval or disapproval of his $23 million pay package from last year. The vote is non-binding, and Dimon is unlikely to lose it. The overwhelming majority of votes were probably locked in before the meeting.

Not all shareholders are squarely behind him. An influential union, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, wants Dimon to be stripped of his chairman’s title, which he holds in addition to being CEO. “The stakes are too high to leave Jamie Dimon unsupervised,” said Gerald W. McEntee, trustee for AFSCME, which owns JPMorgan shares through its pension plan.

James Rickards, author of “Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis” and a partner in JAC Capital Advisors, a New York hedge fund, has called for him to resign as CEO. JPMorgan has access to funding from the Federal Reserve at an interest rate of almost zero and lends it out to people and businesses at a higher rate, he pointed out. “The money that his bank put at risk comes at the cost of everyday Americans who are getting zero income on their savings accounts, and Dimon should take the ultimate responsibility,” Rickards said.

Bank annual meetings have been intriguing affairs since the 2008 financial crisis, almost always attended by placard-wielding protesters. And consumer advocates usually show up to air grievances against the bank’s handling of its activities including foreclosures, credit card debt, and overdraft fees.

But an anti-Dimon revolt is unlikely Tuesday in Tampa. “Yes, it happened on his watch, and he is eating humble pie,” Holland said. “But I have seen lots of bank CEOs come and go, and even after a $2 billion fiasco, Dimon is one of the best.” — AP

HONG KONG: The Hang Seng index posted its biggest loss in six months yesterday after mainland media reported flat loan growth for the country’s “Big Four” state-owned banks in the first two weeks of May, fanning fears about the slowing Chinese economy.

Those concerns combined with Greece’s failure to form a government and a three-day losing streak on Wall Street kept investors wary and Asian markets firmly in “risk off ” mode.

Chinese shares also slipped, but did relatively better as investors remained convinced the signs of weakness in the economy may prompt further policy action, after a cut in reserve requirements over the weekend.

“I think there is an expectation in China for more drastic policy action

by Beijing, which is why markets in the mainland are holding out better than in Hong Kong,” said Hong Hao, chief strategist at Bank of Communications International. Hong Kong’s sell-off marked the highest bourse turnover in two weeks, but there was no panic. Investors were mostly adjusting positions after they were wrong-footed by Tuesday ’s short-covering rally on hopes that markets may have stabilised, traders said. The Hang Seng Index ended

down 3.2 percent at 19,259.83, the lowest close since Jan. 16 and its biggest drop in a day since Nov. 10, when it had slumped 5.2 percent.

The benchmark broke below its 200day moving average, currently at 19,831, which is likely to become a significant level for the benchmark with a possible break on either side setting the direction for the market. In the mainland Chinese markets, the CSI300 Index lost 1.6 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.2 percent.

Hopes of Hong Kong’s long streak of losses ending were dashed after Shanghai Securities News reported new lending by China’s four biggest state-owned banks was flat in the first two weeks of May. One trader at an Asian brokerage in Hong Kong said some European funds had covered short bets and even gone long overnight but exited quickly after the Hang Seng Index opened much weaker than other regional markets.

Chinese financials and other sectors tied to the economy were among the worst hit. Europe’s largest bank, HSBC Holdings, which has the biggest weighting in the Hang Seng Index, lost 2.4 percent.

Economy-sensitive, 2012 outperformers hit Shares of China’s lenders

suffered, with smaller names hit by heavier losses. China Minsheng Bank slumped 6.2 percent in Hong Kong and 1.8 percent in Shanghai. The country’s second-largest lender, China Construction Bank (CCB) fell 2.8 percent in Hong Kong and 1.7 percent in Shanghai. Growth-sensitive sectors were also hard hit. Chinese oil major PetroChina fell 3.8 percent in Hong Kong and 0.8 percent in Shanghai.

New China Life Insurance was hammered 8.2 percent in Hong Kong in almost five times its 30-day average volume after it failed to win inclusion as an MSCI China component, as many investors had expected. Several other deletions from the MSCI China benchmark also underperformed. China Dongxiang lost 3.1 percent, while China Molybdenum fell 4.8 percent.

2012 outperformers were among the top percentage losers.

Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings slid 4.5 percent ahead of its quarterly earnings later in the day. It is still up 40 percent this year, compared to 4.8 percent gain for the Hang Seng Index. Tencent is currently trading at 24.4 times forward 12-month earnings, a 12 percent discount from its historical median, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: A worker takes a break at his workshop yesterday. — AFP

SIA to suspend services to Athens, Abu Dhabi SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines (SIA) said yesterday it will suspend services to Athens and Abu Dhabi due to “sustained weak performance” on both routes. The last flights to the two cities will depart Singapore on October 26, the carrier said in a statement.

“Singapore Airlines will be suspending services to Abu Dhabi in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Athens in Greece as a result of the sustained weak performance of both routes,” it said.

“The decision to suspend services is a difficult one, as Athens has been served since 1972 and Abu Dhabi since 2006. The suspensions are in line with Singapore Airlines’ policy to match capacity to prevailing market demand.” Greece is again at the centre of the euro-zone debt crisis after an election on May 6 in which Greeks voted for parties opposing the austerity measures which Athens agreed to in return for a massive EU-IMF bailout late last year.

The head of the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised the possibility that Greece could leave the euro-zone in an orderly fashion. SIA said it will continue to serve Dubai, which is also in the UAE, while connections to and from Athens are possible on its partner carriers in the Star Alliance. SIA’s net profit for the financial year ended in March tumbled 69 percent to Sg$336 million ($268 million), weighed down by a rare loss in the fourth quarter.

Asia’s premium airlines such as SIA-which get a bulk of their revenues from first and business-class passengers-are among the hardest hit by persistent high oil prices and global economic uncertainty sparked by the euro-zone debt woes and patchy US economic recovery. In addition, they are also under pressure in the premium segment due to fiercer competition from Middle Eastern carriers which have vastly improved their services and at the lower end of the market by budget airlines. — AFP

Huge finds make E Africa the next big gas source LONDON: Western companies announced finds of huge additional quantities of gas off the coast of Mozambique and Tanzania, cementing the future of East Africa as a major new supplier exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to energy-hungry Asia. Italian oil group Eni said yesterday it had discovered a vast new field at its exploration block in Mozambique, while Britain’s BG Group and explorer Ophir Energy said they made a big find at their Mzia well in Tanzanian waters. The size of these discoveries, coming on top of earlier finds, will more than justify the billions of dollars it will cost to build at least two LNG projects to cool the gas into liquid form for shipment on tankers. Calling its gas find “important”, Eni said it estimated that, with the latest discovery made in Mozambique, its block could potentially hold up to 52 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas.

Around 10 trillion cubic feet would be enough to meet an entire year’s gas consumption by France, Germany, Britain and Italy. “The success at Mzia-1 is a major step towards a Tanzanian LNG hub development in Block 1,” said Chief Executive Nick Cooper of Ophir Energy, whose shares jumped 12 percent. Oil and gas companies have flocked to East Africa in recent years, spurred by advances in deep-water drilling and problems in securing access to reserves in areas historically seen as more promising, such as the Middle East. The resources discoveries have boosted prospects for the region’s development, paving the way for energy-intensive industries to emerge there if some of the gas is made available for domestic use.

Gas rush Analysts said oil majors without a presence in the region would rush to gain exposure to such huge new reserves, meaning more merger and acquisition activity could be possible after Royal Dutch Shell’s move to try to buy British explorer Cove Energy. “We believe that it can only be a matter of time before Ophir Energy comes to the attention of the oil majors in the same way that Cove Energy did with Shell,” Westhouse Securities analysts said. Cove is partnered with US explorer Anadarko Petroleum Corp in Mozambique, and the two said on Tuesday they also discovered a major new gas field off the country’s coast, in an area neighbouring ENI’s block. —AFP

24

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

business

Monti faces pressure to speed up reforms Economists say bold action ‘critical’

SYDNEY: Christophe de Margerie, CEO of French energy giant Total, speaks during his first visit to Australia. — AFP

Total eyes more projects in prospering Australia SYDNEY: The head of France’s Total says the energy giant wants to expand in Australia’s booming resources sector, but warns that a lack of manpower and lively competition could contain its ambitions.

On his first visit to Australia, Christophe de Margerie said the nation had enjoyed “unbelievable success” in developing its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry which the government hopes will soon rival that of Qatar. “If you take all the projects which are in the pipeline, of energy projects, it goes rapidly to something which is close to 80 million tonnes per year which means more than Qatar,” he told AFP in an interview.

But de Margerie, who heads the world’s fifth largest oil and gas company, said while there were predictions for a second wave of LNG projects Down Under beyond the Aus$180 billion (US$180 billion) already committed, this could be too ambitious. “I think that people are maybe a little bit optimistic,” he said. “It will happen, but maybe not at the same speed.”

Australia is enjoying an unprecedented resources boom, with surging demand from Asia for gas, coal and iron ore driving an economy which escaped recession during the global financial crisis.

De Margerie said this demand was only likely to strengthen in the wake of last year’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan which ruined a nuclear plant in Fukushima and raised concerns about nuclear energy. “That has increased the demand for gas, and it has increased the need for Australia to meet this additional demand,” he said. Australia’s identified gas resources could maintain current production rates for some 184 years, but they could potentially double if exploration for shale gas was successful, the government said this week.

The country is already the third largest exporter of LNG in the Asia-Pacific and the fourth biggest in the world with exports forecast to grow 19 percent in 2012-13. It hopes to become world’s largest producer of LNG by 2017 as projects now under construction come online. De Margerie said Australia’s reliability and proximity to Asian

markets made it attractive, though like all developed countries the costs of establishing a project here were higher than in developing nations.

“We are requesting more technology, more efficiency, more safety, more global acceptability-that has a cost,” he said. “The true thing in Australia, we are a little bit concerned about the capacity of the country because of its limited numbers of inhabitants to bring in sufficient skilled people. “And again, it’s a question of the number of projects that are coming on at the same time.”

While Australia’s resources sector is booming, local labour shortages have become a real headache with miners lobbying the government to loosen migration agreements that allow large projects to hire overseas workers more easily. A flurry of energy projects are now being built in Australia, including the US$34 billion Ichthys project, in which Total is a significant stakeholder, which will pump gas from offshore Western Australia to Darwin for processing. De Margerie confirmed Total would increase its stake in this project from 24 percent to about 30 percent but gave no timeline. Total is also a partner in the Santos-led project to process coal seam gas into LNG in Queensland state’s Gladstone region. De Margerie said the Australian government, which has warned against complacency in developing the nation’s rich mineral and gas deposits, had been welcoming of more investment.

“The message is clear,” said the chief executive, adding that his visit to Australia was in part to explore the possibility of new investments. “We would like to do more if possible; we are not going to invent things,” de Margerie said. “But I mean we have the technology, we have the financial capability. And this time, if possible, as an operator, not just as a partner.” While further investments would most likely be in LNG, he was not ruling out other options, but added his first priority was existing projects. “The idea was not to come to say, ‘OK, I’m coming to sign’,” he said of his visit. “No, it doesn’t work like this.” — AFP

BoE cuts growth forecasts LONDON: The Bank of England yesterday cut its forecast for British growth and warned that the eurozone debt crisis was the biggest threat to recovery, even if a credible solution is found. Gross domestic product (GDP) was predicted to grow by just under 1.0 percent this year, down from the central bank’s previous forecast of just over 1.0 percent, the Bank of England (BoE) said in a quarterly report. It also slashed the 2013 growth estimate to 2.0 percent, down from previous guidance for 3.0-percent expansion. Annual inflation was forecast to remain stubbornly above the central bank’s 2.0-percent target until mid-2013.

“The prospects for UK growth remain unusually uncertain,” the BoE said in the report. “The single biggest threat to the recovery stems from the challenges within the euro area, in particular the need to reduce the indebtedness and improve the competitiveness of some member countries.” It added: “Even if a credible and effective set of policies is successfully implemented, the scale of the necessary adjustments suggests that a prolonged period of sluggish growth and heightened uncertainty is likely.

“A failure to implement such policies could have severe implications for the UK economy.” The BoE said that its rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) could not predict a worse-case scenario for the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, which is Britain’s main trading partner. “As was the case in past reports, the MPC sees no meaningful way to quantify the size and likelihood of the most extreme possibilities associated with developments in the euro area.”

The central bank added that it was still working on contingency plans for the potential break-up of the eurozone.

“Contingency plans are being discussed and have been for some time,” King told reporters at a central London press conference. He did not elaborate but added that the plans were being discussed by the BoE, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority watchdog. The outlook remained highly uncertain as a result of storm clouds from the eurozone crisis, King added. “We

are navigating through turbulent waters, with the risk of a storm heading our way from the continent... We don’t know when the storm clouds will move away.”

The gloomy news from the Bank of England was only partly offset by upbeat official data suggesting that the labour market was improving. The number of Britons claiming jobless benefits sank unexpectedly in April and by the largest amount in nearly two years, data showed yesterday.

The so-called claimant count of people registered for unemployment benefits fell by 13,700 last month to reach 1.59 million, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

That was the biggest drop since July 2010 and confounded market expectations for a gain of 4,500 people, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. It was also the second monthly decline in a row. The number of unemployed people dropped by 45,000 in the three months to the end of March to reach 2.63 million.

Despite the positive data, analysts said the unemployment picture was set to darken after Britain returned to recession.

Recent data showed the British economy shrank 0.2 percent in the first quarter, after a 0.3-percent contraction in fourth quarter of 2011, hit by fallout from the eurozone crisis.

That placed Britain back in recession, which is defined as two successive quarters of contraction. Markets are focused on mounting speculation that debt-plagued Greece could exit the eurozone bloc, after an inconclusive poll left the member nation in political limbo and forced Athens to call another election. “UK unemployment figures have been largely overlooked as attention is all on the developments within Europe,” said analyst Phil McHugh at foreign exchange firm Currencies Direct. “In the current climate, small changes in UK employment data play second-fiddle to the unchartered prospect of Greece exiting the euro.” British Prime Minister David Cameron has meanwhile warned that eurozone leaders needed to sort out their debt problems soon or risk the collapse of the single currency as they grapple with the crisis in Greece. — AFP

MILAN: For the Italian entrepreneur whose business and marriage were falling apart, a tax bill was the last straw. Armed with a shotgun and two revolvers, Luigi Martinelli took 15 hostages at a government tax office last week, demanding only that his story be heard. Italy has largely been spared the mass protests that have gripped Greece and Spain, but economic agony is star ting to bite here as well. A spate of suicides by businessmen has called attention to the crisis.

Martinelli’s cry of despair struck a deep chord among Italians, many of whom felt sympathy as his lawyer spoke to cameras after the cleaning business owner released his hostages.

Mario Monti, hailed as a saviour in November when he was named premier to tackle Italy’s financial crisis, is feeling the sting himself as he comes under attack from all sides - variously described as a cold-hearted economist, a slave to the banks or a softie lacking the courage to push harder with reforms. “Monti is out of alibis,” the business daily il Sole-24 Ore wrote last week. “He needs to do just a few things, but immediately.”

The resounding anti-austerity votes in elections in France, Greece and Germany ’s most populous state have piled pressure on Monti, who needs to placate an increasingly restive population while persuading markets that it’s safe to lend to a nation whose public debt of nearly 2 trillion euros (about $2.6 trillion), the highest in Europe, amounts to a staggering 120 percent of GDP. Adding to the urgency, Italy announced this week that it sank deeper into recession, its economy shrinking for the third straight quarter in its biggest contraction since 2009.

Bold action is critical, economists say, as Italy is seen along with Spain as a next possible target for a bailout. Economic meltdown in Italy, the EU’s fourth largest economy, would endanger the entire European project - with potentially debilitating consequences for the

global economy. Monti, a former EU competition commissioner tapped to head a government of technocrats, is pushing structural reforms, such as liberalizing labour laws and busting business monopolies to stimulate growth and boost competitiveness. At the same time, in keeping with Europe’s austerity push, he has raised taxes and cut spending.

Both prongs of his economic strategy entail pain, and have won him many enemies. The normally unflappable premier is beginning to show signs of frustration. “The human consequences of the crisis should lead to reflection by those

resistance by homeowners, about 70 percent of Italians. Berlusconi, whose erratic leadership was widely blamed for deepening Italy’s crisis, is no doubt enjoying watching Monti squirm. Reflecting on the headaches involved in bringing order to his famously unruly nation, the former premier himself lamented a few years ago that “the man who governs Italy has no power.”

Unions, which by tradition set wages and contracts in agreement with the Confindustria industrial lobby, have fiercely opposed a measure that would make it easier to fire workers. The government

ROME: Italian Premier Mario Monti takes a drink during a press conference yesterday. — AP who brought the economy to this state,” he said recently, “and not be blamed on someone trying to find a way out.”

Monti’s effor ts have been bogged down by entrenched lobbies that have been targeted by his reforms and risk being weakened in Parliament by lawmakers worried about how they will be judged in national elections next year. And a key measure to reintroduce a property tax on primary residences abolished by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi is facing fierce popular

watered down the measure, now in Parliament. “I don’t think he has backed down,” said Giuseppe Ragusa, an economist at Rome’s LUISS University. “I think he has found a very strong political opposition on anything he wanted to implement. Lobbies are ver y strong in Italy.”

Monti received a vote of confidence yesterday from the International Monetar y Fund, which said Italy has made “notable progress” toward improving its financial outlook in the last six

months. But Ragusa argued that the government did not forcefully make the case that the measures on firing workers were part of a broader raft of reforms also aimed at establishing more long-term jobs and making it easier to create new jobs.

Among measures urged by il Sole is to unblock government payments to private businesses for services rendered, which routinely are delayed by months and even years, and have been cited as a factor in the recent suicides. It also urged the government expedite promised privatizations and explain the merits of the new property tax - which aims to collect 11 billion next year - to a sceptical public.

While the disenfranchised have taken to the streets in other crisisridden European nations, the downturn has hit Italy’s economy in a spotty way - a key reason why the nation has yet to see a mass protest movement. At the same time, the crisis is showing no signs of easing. Unemployment rose to 9.8 percent in March, the highest in 12 years. Business failures have been rising for the last four years, and show no sign of slowing. In the first three months of the year, official data shows 3,000 businesses closed, up 4 percent from the same period last year.

The deepening woes are putting pressure on the parties supporting Monti in Parliament- all of which suffered setbacks in the recent elections. Berlusconi’s party was hit par ticularly hard. The biggest gains went to a movement founded by comic Beppe Grillo, whose agenda is to expose the abuses of the political caste.

Mayoral candidates running under the Five Stars banner are headed to runoffs in the major cities of Genoa and Parma. In the wake of the local election results, Democratic Party leader Pierluigi Bersani urged speedy help for businesses.

“Frankly, I don’t understand the delays,” Bersani told reporters in Rome last week. — AP

US housing back on track WASHINGTON: Groundbreaking for US homes rebounded in April and factory activity gained steam, suggesting the economy remains on a steady, if unspectacular recovery course. The Commerce Department said yesterday housing starts increased 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units, while the Federal Reserve said production at the nation’s mines, factories and utilities rose 1.1 percent.

The jump in industrial output, which was the largest since December 2010, was driven by a 4.5 percent increase in utility output, a 1.6 percent gain in mining and a 0.6 percent rise in factory production.

“More positive US economic news pointing to continued moderate growth,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BOMB Capital Markets in Toronto. Major US stock indexes opened higher on the data and cautious hopes that debt-stricken Greece would remain in the euro zone. Prices for US Treasury debt fell, while the dollar rose marginally against a basket of currencies.

March’s housing starts were revised up to a 699,000-unit pace from a previously reported 654,000 unit rate.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts rising to 680,000-unit rate.

Compared to April last year, residential construction was up 29.9 percent. The housing market is showing some signs of life after collapsing six years ago, but remains hobbled by a glut of unsold homes. However, rising demand for rentals, causing builders to break more ground on apartment projects, is helping to stabilize the market. “Ideally supply is getting more in line with demand, and low rates may be finally helping the turnaround, said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York. “However, this housing story is much smaller than news out of Greece and might get easily forgotten.”

Although home building accounts for about 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, the housing market has an outsized reach on the US economy. A separate report yesterday showed applications for loans to buy homes fell last week. Housing starts last month rose across the board. Groundbreaking for single-family homes increased 2.3 percent. This segment accounts for most of the market. Starts for multi-family

homes advanced 3.2 percent. Despite last month’s overall jump in starts, they remain less than a third of their peak in January 2006.

Residential construction in the first quarter grew at the fastest pace in nearly two years and is expected to contribute to economic growth this year for the first time since 2005.

Last month, housing starts rose in two of the four regions, but fell 20.7 percent in the Northeast, suggesting a payback for the unusually warm weather that had boosted activity.

Sentiment among home builders touched a fiveyear high in May, a survey showed on Tuesday, amid growing optimism about current sales and buyer traffic over the next six months. That suggests the 7 percent drop in permits to a 715,00unit pace last month would be temporary.

March’s permits were revised to a 769,000-unit rate, the highest since September 2008.

Economists had expected permits to fall to a 730,000-unit pace from March’s previously reported 764,000-unit rate. Permits to build single-family homes rose 1.9 percent in April to a 475,000unit pace. Permits for multi-family homes fell 20.8 percent to a 240,000-unit rate. —Reuters

Buffett’s firm purchases 10m share stake in GM

KANSAS: Construction workers work on different floors while building an apartment complex yesterday. — AP

OMAHA: Warren Buffett’s company is apparently bullish on the US auto industry. His company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. took a new stake of 10 million in shares in General Motors Co. in the first quarter. The investment comes as the Detroit automaker continues to rebound from bankruptcy three years ago. It posted a first-quarter net income of $1 billion, fuelled by US vehicle sales.

Buffett drives a GM-made Cadillac DTS sedan, so the investment could a further sign of his preference among US automakers. Berkshire is not invested in Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler, which is majority owned by Fiat SpA. But the purchase of the GM stake, worth about $214 million as of Tuesday, could also have been made by one of Berkshire’s other investment managers.

Berkshire’s only other known auto investment is its roughly 10 percent stake in Chinese electric car maker BYD. Omaha-based Berkshire also revealed in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it boosted its stake in Wal-Mart by almost 8 million shares to 46.7 million shares. The first-quarter move to expand Berkshire’s stake in Wal-Mart came before The New York Times published a report detailing allegations that Wal-Mart executives used bribes to speed the retailer’s expansion in Mexico.

Buffett told Berkshire shareholders earlier this month, however, that the scandal didn’t change his view on Wal-Mart’s value or its earning power. Berkshire officials don’t typically comment on the quarterly investment reports, and they did not respond to a message on Tuesday about the latest update. The documents Berkshire filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission also don’t reveal everything Buffett and the

company’s two new investment managers were buying and selling in the first quarter. That’s because regulators allow them to omit some of the company’s holdings from the report.

Berkshire tweaked a number of positions in its $75.3 billion portfolio during the first three months of 2012. It also added a stake of 1.6 million Viacom shares, which was the only new holding reported besides GM. It also boosted its investments in DirecTV, Liberty Media, DaVita Inc. and the Bank of New York Mellon. Berkshire reduced its holdings in Intel Corp., Kraft Foods, Dollar General, Procter & Gamble and Verisk Analytics.

The IBM stake that Berkshire first reported last fall grew to 64.4 million shares by the end of March from 63.9 million in December. Initially, the IBM investment surprised many because Buffett had long refused to invest in technology companies because it’s too hard to predict which one will prosper in the long run. But Buffett said in November that IBM had become more of a service company with long-lasting customers who are reluctant to change. Buffett makes most of the investment decisions at Berkshire, but Tuesday’s filing didn’t differentiate between choices he made and ones made by the company’s other investment managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler.

Buffett has said he doesn’t typically make investments worth less than $300 million, so many of the moves reported Tuesday are likely the work of Combs or Weschler. Buffett has praised both Combs and Weschler and said the two men are managing $2.75 billion each, while Buffett oversees the remaining roughly $150 billion. — AP

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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

business

PetroChina, partners join in Canada LNG project SHANGHAI: Asian energy giant PetroChina plans to join with Shell Canada and major energy companies in Japan and South Korea in developing a liquefied natural gas export project in British Columbia. Shell will hold a 40 percent stake in the project, with Korea Gas Corp., Mitsubishi Corp. and PetroChina Co. each holding 20 percent shares, the Chinese state oil and gas company said yesterday. The plan calls for large tankers to transport LNG from the northwest coast port of Kitimat in British Columbia, the end point of a

proposed pipeline that will direct oil to energyhungry Asian markets.

Japanese demand for LNG has surged following the closure of Japan’s nuclear plants in the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami and subsequent disasters at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactors. Natural gas piped to Kitimat will be cooled into a liquid and loaded onto tankers for export.

Natural gas fetches a drastically higher price overseas than it does in the oversupplied North American market.

Jose-Alberto Lima, Shell’s vice president for LNG in the Americas, said the project would be “well-suited to deliver long-term value for British Columbia and new export markets for Canada.”

The plan to have tankers travelling to Kitimat is subject to an environmental review, though Canada’s transportation safety agency gave its approval in February. The port project faces strong local opposition due to fears of the risk of a spill. In a statement, PetroChina acknowledged that concern, saying the announcement “begins

an extensive consultation process with First Nations and local community residents regarding the project.” It said the LNG Canada project would initially have two processing units with a capacity of 6 million tons of LNG a year, which might be doubled later. The project may begin development in 2015 and finish by 2020, depending on regulatory approvals. Its backers say it will create thousands of jobs during construction and hundreds of permanent jobs once it is operating. — AP

Rajoy warns Spain faces lock-out from markets Spain sounds alarm on risk premium

TOKYO: Pedestrians who wait for a traffic signal are reflected on an electronic stock indicator yesterday. — AP

Tokyo stocks close at 1.12% Japanese family’s average savings: $207,000 TOKYO: Tokyo stocks lost 1.12 percent yesterday, closing at their lowest level since late January amid worries that political turmoil in debt-hit Greece will further fuel the eurozone’s fiscal woes. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange lost 99.57 points to 8,801.17, its worst finish since January 30, as the euro hit multi-month lows against the dollar and yen. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares dropped 1.14 percent, or 8.52 points, to 738.88. Shares fell in line with Asian markets as investors grow increasingly worried about how the Greek turmoil as well as China’s slowing economy, dealers said.

“The biggest driver is the lack of confidence in the outlook,” said Yutaka Shiraki, senior equity strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. “It’s not as serious as before, but participants can’t feel confident in the global economy,” he told Dow Jones Newswires. Debt-stricken Greece must hold fresh elections after talks on forming a new government broke up without agreement Tuesday, prolonging a tortuous crisis which could see Athens exit the troubled eurozone and even the European Union.

Also Tuesday, Francois Hollande was sworn in as French president and met German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with both leaders stressing their desire to keep the eurozone together. Japanese firms with significant European exposure fell, with Nikon off 3.29 percent at 2,322 yen and Canon down 1.02 percent at 3,375 yen. Japan’s three megabanks were mixed after posting solid net profits for the fiscal year ended in March and releasing higher-than-expected net profit forecasts for the next 12 months.

Mizuho Financial Group rose 1.75 percent to 116 yen, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group closed down 1.43 percent at 344 yen, giving up early gains, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group slipped 0.34 percent to 2,342 yen. Panasonic was off 2.5 percent at 546 yen, with Moody’s saying after markets

closed that it was putting the Japanese electronics giant’s credit rating on review for a possible downgrade following a record $9.7 billion annual loss.

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday with the blue-chip Dow off 0.50 percent, despite positive economic figures including data for April showing inflation was well under control. Energy prices also receded for the first time this year. In forex trading yesterday, the euro hit $1.2693, its lowest against the greenback since January 16, while it was buying 101.96 yen, down from 102.12 yen in New York on Tuesday and its lowest level since mid-February.

Meanwhile, the average Japanese family has 16.64 million yen ($207,000) in savings, according to official data, more than twice the average annual salary in the nation of 128 million. The number for 2011 was a 0.4 percent increase from a year earlier, with households of two or more people holding average debt of 4.62 million yen. The Japanese have long enjoyed a reputation as disciplined savers, as rates generally declined in the West in recent decades, including the United States where economists and politicians have bemoaned low savings rates.

However, the internal affairs ministry data also point to a widening savings rate gap, as the nation looks to kickstart its moribund economy and deal with a rapidly ageing population, which has put increasing stress on public coffers.

Two-thirds of households saved less than the average 16.64 million yen, the data said, with median savings standing at 9.91 million yen. Some 10.2 percent of the top-saving families had more than 40 million yen each, while the bottom 11.2 percent had a cushion of less than one million yen, the ministry said. Savings were held in various forms, including cash in bank accounts, life insurance policies, and stock and bond holdings. — Agencies

Long-running Frankfurt ‘Occupy’ camp cleared FRANKFURT: German authorities yesterday cleared out a group of protesters who have camped for months in front of the European Central Bank, ahead of huge anticapitalism protests expected at the weekend. Some of the demonstrators hurled paint at police who were moving them on, after they ignored a request to leave voluntarily, said an AFP reporter at the scene.

There were a dozen or so arrests, according to a police spokesman. However, the clearing of the “Occupy Frankfurt” camp was largely peaceful, with around 50 demonstrators sitting stubbornly on the ground in a show of passive resistance.

The ban on the about 100 “indignants”, who have held vigil outside the ECB since October-the longest continuous protest in Europe-runs until Sunday. Police expect 40,000 people from today for demonstrations that are expected to climax on

Saturday. They want to set up a security cordon around the ECB, meaning the camp has to be cleared. Authorities have already banned several protest actions, fearing “public disorder” after violence at similar events.

The city’s mayor, Claudia Roth, has expressed “serious concern” after police identified some 2,000 potentially violent protesters. Commerzbank, one of Germany’s top banks, which occupies one of the biggest skyscrapers in Frankfurt, has said it would close from today to Sunday. As today is a public holiday in Germany, the protest will only actually affect one working day. Many employees also take the Friday off but those who work can go to other locations, the bank said. Germany’s top bank, Deutsche Bank, declined to comment on its policy, saying only that the lender was “monitoring the situation”. — AFP

Lamprell slips on downgrade LONDON: Oil rig maker Lamprell said it would swing to a loss in the first half of the year due to equipment delivery delays and unexpected costs, in a surprise downgrade to its outlook which sent its shares plunging. Lamprell said yesterday that a tight global supply market had made it difficult to acquire specialised equipment, hitting its revenue. In addition, delivering two windfarm vessels for an order would cost more than expected, it said.

The two factors combined would lead it to report a small first half loss, Lamprell said. The downbeat outlook was in contrast to positive guidance outlined by the group six weeks ago in March, when it predicted continued growth. Shares in Lamprell plummeted 64 percent to 106 pence at 0741 GMT, making it

the top faller in Britain’s mid-cap index, and wiping around 500 million pounds ($800 million) off its market capitalisation.

Lamprell downgraded its profit margin expectation for 2012 to 3.5 percent, which it said was considerably behind its original view, but added that it expected a recovery in profit in the second half of the year as the supply issues ease. “Despite the recent contract awards adding to an already strong order book, today’s announcement creates a lot of uncertainty,” Oriel Securities analyst David Round said. He said Lamprell appeared to be downgrading 2012 expectations by around 60 percent and added that he was putting his “buy” recommendation under review. — Reuters

MADRID: Spain’s prime minister warned yesterday that the country faced the danger of being locked out of international markets as investors continued to fret about the future of the euro and Greece’s place in the 17-country euro-zone. “Right now there is a serious risk that (investors) will not lend us money or they will do so at an astronomical rate,” Mariano Rajoy told Spanish lawmakers.

Investors are getting increasingly concerned about the survival of the single currency and whether the Spanish government can push through its deficit-reduction plan at a time of recession and mass unemployment.

Interest rates, or yields on 10-year Spanish bonds traded on the secondary market hit 6.32 percent in afternoon trading - taking them closer to the unmanageable levels that prompted bailouts for Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

At one stage yesterday, the difference between the interest rates demanded by investors for Spanish and German 10-year bonds shot past the 500 basis point level to hit its highest point since the euro was introduced in 1999. “The spread has risen a great deal, which means it’s very difficult to finance oneself and to do so at a reasonable price,” Rajoy told Parliament.

Speaking to journalists, Rajoy also said the austerity measures Spain was taking were the correct ones but felt the European Union could do more. “ The euro needs to be strengthened. I don’t want Greece to leave the euro,” he said. “I think that would be a big mistake, very bad news, and I believe public debt sustainability must be guaranteed and all of us must fulfil our commitments,” Rajoy’s reforms covering the labour and financial sector have so far failed to calm investor nerves or improve Spain’s stricken economy, which is languishing under the weight of a 24.4 per-

BARCELONA: A protester shouts slogans during a demonstration against austerity cuts. — AP cent unemployment rate. The economy is pre- consultancy AFI, said the 500-point spread was a key psychological barrier, reflecting dicted to contract by 1.7 percent this year.

Two of the country’s main problems are uncertainty not just about Spanish public overspending by regional governments and finances but about the Spanish economy in banks burdened with billions of euros in bad general, he said. “Now, more than ever, it is loans following a real estate crash that started necessary for the European Central Bank in 2008. A major concern is that bank failures the only entity with enough firepower to stamight swamp public finances and that the bilize debt markets - to intervene consistentgovernment will be unable to carry through ly by buying bonds, not just Spanish ones its austerity measures and reforms. The meas- but probably also Italian ones, and from then ures are aimed chiefly at slashing the govern- on give clear signals that maintaining the ment’s deficit from 8.5 percent of economic euro-zone is a priority because otherwise output to below the maximum level set by Europe could fall apar t,” Ontiveros told the European Union of 3 percent by 2013. For Cadena SER radio. Spain has its next bond auction today when it sells bill maturing in this year, the goal is 5.3 percent.

Emilio Ontiveros, head of Madrid-based 2015 and 2016. — AP

Ireland hoping to return to bond markets in 2013 Faces big debt refinancing hurdle in early 2014 DUBLIN: The mood of uncertainty spreading across Europe could scupper Ireland’s plans to exit its international bailout with a return to bond markets next year, its finance minister said, raising the spectre of contagion from the deepening crisis in Athens. As Irish borrowing costs rose sharply for the second day running on fears Greece will quit the euro zone, Michael Noonan said yesterday that prospects of Ireland starting to tap longer-term market funding again on schedule now looked less certain. “We hope we’ll get back into the markets at the back end of 2013 but we might not because there is such uncertainty in Europe now,” Noonan said in a speech.

He also warned Ireland would be left with “less than full membership” of the euro zone if voters in the country rejected a European treaty on tighter fiscal discipline in a May 31 referendum. Ireland, whose economy along with those of Greece and Portugal is being kept afloat with the help of an aid programme, plans to return to bond markets before its 67.5 billion euros of international loans run out at the end of 2013. Any delay to that timetable would leave it potentially dependent on outside help to negotiate a major refinancing hurdle looming in early 2014.

But while deputy prime minister Eamon Gimore warned this week that a Greek exit would have serious knock-on effects for Ireland, Noonan said Dublin would not be in the frontline were the euro zone to lose a member state. “For big knock-on effects, you need very strong economic connections...

We wouldn’t be in the frontline of contagion.” Also in Dublin, the chief negotiator for the body representing private sector holders of Greek bonds said fallout from a Greek exit from the euro - which he did not view as likely - would be huge. “The pressures on Spain, Portugal, even Italy and conceivably Ireland would be immense,” Charles Dallara said in a speech.

Higher debt costs Until now, markets have responded positively to Ireland’s steady progress in meeting its bailout targets, and the county has secured a cut in the cost of its official funding and drawn private investment into one of its banks. Its borrowing costs more than halved since last July, with yields on its

benchmark 2020 bond hitting an 18-month low of 6.76 percent this month. But the political and economic turmoil in Greece has pushed those yields up by more than 60 basis points over the past two days to 7.62 percent.

Noonan urged Irish voters to ratify a European treaty on tighter fiscal discipline in a May 31 referendum in order to keep access to Europe’s new permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), open to Dublin. “We need to have access to the ESM or alternatively the ESM as a backstop to make sure we get back to the markets,” he said. While the main aim of the fiscal compact is to enforce more budget discipline across Europe by writing fiscal rules into law, debate in Dublin has focused mainly on a clause that allows access to the ESM only to states that ratify the treaty.

Noonan said a rejection would leave Ireland with less than full euro zone membership. “Europe moves on and we would have to get into some sort of new arrangement but it would be less than full membership and that’s always a precarious position to be in,” Noonan said. He added he was confident of a “yes” vote.

Greek euro referendum?

Noonan said it was not guaranteed that Greece would leave the euro zone and that it could be beneficial for Greeks to hold a referendum on whether they wanted to stay in the euro.

Markets believe a Greek exit from the euro may be manageable, but far more significant is the potential knock-on impact on unpopular restructuring agreed by other struggling euro zone economies. “The direct costs of a Greek euro exit would be ...manageable for the rest of the euro area. Our concern is contagion,” said Michala Marcussen at Societe Generale.

The main focus for possible knock-on effects is Spain, where Ireland is also carefully watching events to see whether the Mediterranean state’s troubled banks become the first in Europe to be directly bailed out by a European rescue fund.

With Ireland’s debt burden driven sharply higher by an expensive bank bailout and set to peak at 120 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year, Noonan said Dublin would look for similar retrospective treatment if Spain were able to keep its bank debts off their books. “If there’s a deal done that separates banking debt from sovereign debt, we’ll be looking for some sort of retrofit for Ireland,” he said. — Reuters

ILLINOIS: In a file photo, people examine John Deere farming equipment on display during the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill. Deere & Co. said yesterday that its fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 17 percent on continued growth in global demand for farm equipment. — AP

26

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

business MEC focuses on active digital engagement on 10th ’versary KUWAIT: MEC MENA, the leading engagement space before anyone media specialist firm, celebrated its dared to put their name to it and stole 10th anniversary yesterday, will build a march over their peers. Seven years on its culture of active engagement on, some major agencies are only now with clients, media and consumers, realising how important this central idea is in today’s digital through a renewed focus age. In 2007, MEC MENA on the digital landscape. A launched its digital speWPP company and part of cialist unit MEC Interaction the MENACOM Group, the in the region. In 2008 MEC region’s leading communilaunched the region’s only cations network, MEC specialised T V Planning MENA is a pioneering division and launched independent media MEC Access, a unit specialagency with an extensive ising in Sports, client portfolio that spans Sponsorship and Cause all business sectors. marketing services.

Joseph Ghossoub, In 2010, the agency led Chairman and CEO of the Mohan Nambiar the way again by integratMENACOM Group, said: “Over the past decade, MEC MENA has ing their specialist Analytics and set benchmarks in the industr y Insight groups. The move was critical through its sustained thought-leader- in being able to address the future ship. The success of MEC MENA is in its needs of their clients; giving them ability to understand the requirements even bigger and better cross-over of clients, media and consumers opportunities, by better understandproactively and engage with them ing the effects of digital and traditioneffectively. This will continue to be our al media in the purchase pathway. growth approach as we move into the That same year the game changing next decade, with a focus on adding ‘action leadership’ Are you in control more value to our clients and part- enough to let go? was published and shared with over 200 clients around ners.”

Mohan Nambiar, Chief Executive the world - providing a roadmap for Officer of MEC MENA, said: “The past their (and MEC’s) media future.

MEC is also an industry leader in 10 years have been extremely rewarding for MEC, as we focused on building exploring digital platforms. The pathlong-term partnerships with clients breaking MEC Interaction Academy, its and creating robust media platforms digital acceleration programme, is for customer engagement for their now being rolled out across the combrands, both on-line and off-line. In pany’s operations in Asia, North and our journey forward, we will continue South America.

MEC MENA, headquartered in The to strengthen our active engagement with clients, media and consumers. We Gateway Building in Dubai Media City, thank our valued clients for their sup- has over 220 employees covering 17 countries, and several specialist diviport and trust in our competencies.”

He added: “We see our next decade sions including MEC Interaction, MEC of growth as even more exciting, as we Access and Analytics and Insight. emphasise on the digital media land- Charles Courtier, Global CEO said: “In scape, which is today redefining the the past 10 years we have more than communications and marketing doubled in size and we were named industry. We are exploring all possible RECMA’s fastest growing network of avenues in the digital space through the decade. We constantly challenge innovative approaches, which will ourselves to accelerate change. generate more value for our clients, Keeping pace with today’s communiwhile strengthening their engage- cations landscape continues to occupy most of our waking hours. Our ability ment with consumers.”

MEC was created in 2002 from the to provide strategic leadership to our first ever merger in WPP’s history of clients in this environment is the key to two of the industry’s most innovative our future. “It’s been an exceptional 10 independent businesses: The Media years. The ‘challenger’ in us is alive and Edge and CIA. A founding partner of well. But at MEC, we’ve always had the GroupM in 2003, MEC pioneered the confidence and commitment to push concept of group trading and GroupM through change on a global scale remains a unique and ground-break- where it benefits out clients and our people. We look forward to the next 10 ing concept in the industry.

In 2005, MEC claimed the active years with relish and excitement.”

Markaz gains net profit of KD 2.82 million in Q1 International markets generally recover KUWAIT: Kuwait Financial Centre ‘Markaz’ announced a net profit of KD 2.82 million for the first quarter ending March 31, 2012, a net profit of 6 fils per share as compared with a KD 748,000 loss during the same period last year.

This positive result came on the back of positive performances in the markets. Markaz’s investments witnessed strong growth, especially in the MENA real estate sector, as a result of their well poised allocation to benefit from the favourable market conditions in the GCC and International markets.

Markaz liquidity remains healthy providing Markaz with the ability to access opportunities.

Our net debt stands at KD 32 million, or, 36 percent of our shareholders’ equity. Our total shareholders’ equity has reached KD 87.7 million at the end of the quarter a net increase of 4.2 percent from year end 2011, and our assets under management reached KD 888 million, a net increase of 6 percent from year end 2011.

Markaz Chairman and MD, Diraar Y. Alghanim, said “Markaz profit has grown because of its high quality assets and strong financial standing. Markaz positive results in the first quarter reflect its diverse base of assets and high solvency. In addition, available credit channels give Markaz the required flexibility to change its assets distribution, enabling the company to capitalize from the volatile investment environment.”

Alghanim added, “In the local arena, the investment sector remains the main source of finance for grand projects and institutions through its ability to develop and manage various financial tools such as equity, bonds, Sukuk and mezzanine. We hope the current dialogue between public and private institutions will improve the various sectors of the State’s economy.”

Manaf Alhajeri, Chief Executive Officer at Markaz said “Several investment opportunities arose during the first quarter in a number of markets, such as the real estate market, the debt market and distressed debt market despite the recurring economic turbulence in the region and the world. The main challenge for the Kuwaiti economy is to achieve sustainability and diversity of channels. This requires joint efforts by the government and the public sector to mobilize the concentration of liquidity from the weak channels to real productive projects that benefit all economic sectors.”

MENA equities For the first quarter of 2012, Markaz flagship Kuwait focused funds Mumtaz and MIDAF closed with a gain of 3.9 percent and 1.8 percent respectively against an increase of 2.8 percent on their KIC Index benchmark. Markaz Islamic fund, focused on the Kuwait market, closed the

quarter with a gain of 2.9 percent against an increase of 1.9 percent in its benchmark AlMadar Index while our another Kuwait focused Forsa Fund, the only derivatives fund in the region returned 2.6 percent for the quarter. Our MENA focused Markaz Arabian Fund NAV gained 10.6 percent YTD against a gain of 15.9 percent in the benchmark S&P Pan Arab Composite Index.

Consistent with the market environment, Markaz continues to build strong capabilities in distressed debt transactions, restructuring advisory services (either representing creditors or corporations), liquidating non-core assets for Markaz clients, and raising fresh capital (debt and/or equity) for local corporations. Markaz currently has five assignments in the various activities described above.

Fixed income Markaz Fixed Income Fund (MFIF), recorded a return of 1.34 percent duringQ1 2012 and an absolute return of 3.30 percent since the fund’s inception last year. As at the end of Q1 2012, the average credit rating of the MFIF’s holdings was “A” with an average maturity of three years, while the average yield to maturity was 7.59 percent and the average coupon rate was 5.92 percent. MFIF’s assets are allocated across the GCC and across various sectors.

Structured finance Markaz has been the sole options market maker in the Middle East since 2005. The company continues to develop and stimulate options market as it has many benefits to traders in the Kuwaiti market, especially the derivatives market.

Diraar Y. Alghanim, Chairman and MD, Kuwait Financial Centre, Markaz International investments In the first quarter of this year, Atlas Diversified Class, investing in a portfolio of global funds, had a robust performance of 10.14 percent outperforming its benchmark by 84 basis points. Atlas Emerging Market Thematic Class Fund, which invests in a portfolio of Emerging Markets equity funds focusing on selected themes, grew 7.19 percent in Q1. Atlas ETFs Program, which allocates its assets into various Exchange Traded Funds globally, increased 9.14 percent in the same period.

Private equity Following Q4 2011, the Private Equity market continued to show a slowdown globally.

Aggregate buyout deals fell by 17 percent in North America, 21 percent in Europe, and 27 percent in Asia and the rest of the world. As of Q1 2012, Markaz Private Equity Portfolio realized a year-to-date return of 3.28 percent.

Corporate finance advisory Markaz executed several trades in distressed debt of Kuwaiti issuers, allowing the company to become a market maker for such debt.

Markaz Real Estate Fund Markaz Real Estate Fund “MREF” reached its maximum capital allowed of KD 50 million (par value) in March 2012 at that point we were able to secure CMA approval to increase the maximum capital of the fund to KD 100m (renewed par value). “MREF” received additional subscriptions totalling KD 5.4 millions in Q1 2012 and deployed KD 9.5 millions in acquisition of new properties raising its portfolio of properties to 34. On the financial side, the fund continued to make steady monthly cash distributions to its investors.

Aradi Development investment We are focusing our efforts towards the exit of the second of the two investments (AlBandariah) in KSA Eastern province after completion and exit of the first investment (Al-Nimr) during 2010.

KSA residential investment Markaz is proceeding with the development of 54 residential villas in Al Khobar KSA. Markaz team initiated the marketing and sales campaign in time with the completion of the mockup and first four units in November 2011. Up to end of Q1 2012 we have sold five villas and expect to complete the sale of the developed villas by the end of 2012, and aims to generate 30 percent gross returns.

Behbehani Motors unveils Volkswagen Passat CC in Kuwait

KUWAIT: Behbehani Motors Company officials are pictured at the event.

KUWAIT: Behbehani Motors Company, the exclusive dealer of Volkswagen in Kuwait launched the technically updated and stylish line of sports car in its sedan category, the new 2012 Passat CC, in a press conference held at the Volkswagen showroom at Al-Rai. Having enchanted the world in 2009, the four-door coupe has yet again sped into the Kuwait market with a facelift and technical upgrade marking an exceptional impression upon local panel of design and motor experts.

Winning acclaim and international accolades for its sleek design fused with innovative technology, the revamped model is a continuation of the legacy of being the first of its kind in the automobile industry to have the rationality of a saloon and an emotional appeal of a sports coupe.

The exclusive launch took place in the presence of the senior management from both companies, the dealership and the Middle East head office, as well as the local media. Commenting on the occasion, Abdullah Ali, General Manager of Volkswagen, Kuwait said, “With the launch of the revamped Passat CC model, we can effort-

lessly conclude that the sedan has crossed over to the luxury class.

The stylish coupe is powered by a strong and efficient engine, exquisitely designed that shifts segment boundaries along with uncompromising comfort and safety and added key new features-all in all, a choice for drivers who seek the charm of a coupe with practicality”Abdullah fur-

ther added, “The design is reflected in the independent body design through advanced styling and new state-of the-art features such as the Parallel Park Assist inclusive of Park Distance Control, Fatigue Detec tion that detects waning driver concentration and Light Assist, a camera-based system that analyses light sources occurring in traffic with new alloy

wheels giving it more elegance and an overall dynamic image.”

With these specifications and features worthy of luxury class, the Volkswagen Passat CC proves to be beyond industry standard for a four-door coupe. Its modern design particularly attracts the style-conscious consumers in the region, who are known for their unique taste in cars.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Hackers booby-trap foreign policy group websites SAN FRANCISCO: Internet security researchers warned on Tuesday that foreign policy and human rights websites are being booby-trapped by hackers in what appears to be cyber espionage. As of Monday websites for Amnesty International Hong Kong, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Center for Defense Information (CDI) remained rigged to slip “hostile” code onto visitors’ computers, according to Shadowserver Foundation devoted to tracking and reporting Internet threats.

“These attackers are not spreading malware through strategically compromised websites to make friends,” Shadowserver researchers Steven Adair and Ned Moran warned in a blog post.

“They are aiming to expand their access and steal data.”

Data typically sought included messages, intellectual property, research, and business intelligence such as contracts and negotiations, according to security specialists. “The CDI website is currently serving up a malicious Flash exploit that ties back to attackers known to engage in cyber espionage,” the researchers said.

“This threat group appears to be interested in targets with a tie to foreign policy and defense activities.” In recent weeks, Shadowserver has seen an array of “strategic Web compromises” taking advantage of flaws in Oracle Java and Adobe Flash programs.

A new frontier for space travel

The tactic is referred to as a “drive-by” attack by computer security specialists because people’s computers are secretly infected simply by visiting a reputable website unaware that it has been booby-trapped by hackers. A website for the International Institute of Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, was listed among those compromised by hackers. Shadowserver said that it began looking into the hacks after researchers at Websense reported last week that the main page of Amnesty International United Kingdom had been rigged with drive-by malware.

There are indications that a website for the American Research Center in Egypt was briefly

compromised last week in a manner similar to the CDI page hack, according to Shadowserver.

Earlier this month the Centre for European Policy Studies website at ceps.eu was similarly compromised, according to the volunteer-based Internet security group. Shadowserver referred to the hacks as “advance persistent threats,” a term used in the industry to refer to cyber espionage by groups such as governments. “Many of these attackers are quite skilled at moving laterally within an organization and will take advantage of any entry point they have into a network,” the researchers said. “Cyber espionage attacks are not a fabricated issue and are not going away any time soon.” — AFP

China, Japan, US West to witness ‘ring’ solar eclipse Partial solar eclipse expected on May 20, 21

LOS ANGELES: For the last half-century, space flight has been the domain of the world’s superpowers. All that is set to change as soon as Saturday when SpaceX, the private rocket company in Hawthorne, Calif., will attempt to launch a spaceship with cargo into orbit and three days later dock it with the International Space Station.

If successful, the mission could mean a major shift in the way the US government handles space exploration. Instead of keeping space travel a closely guarded government function, NASA has already begun hiring privately funded start-up companies for spacecraft development and is moving toward eventually outsourcing NASA space missions.

The upcoming launch is “the first step in the handoff” to private industry, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “Everybody realizes the importance of this mission,” he said. “Nobody will be rooting against SpaceX.” But if the mission fails, it could trigger serious doubts about NASA’s decision to hand these responsibilities to a fledgling private space industry. Doubters have already begun to raise questions. Some former astronauts, members of Congress and space experts say the current plan to subcontract space missions is foolhardy. They say the plan is risky and that outer space is no place to roll the dice on unproven companies.

On launch day, it falls to SpaceX and its 40year-old billionaire founder, Elon Musk, to prove they’re prepared. With SpaceX engineers at the controls in Hawthorne, a towering rocket will blast off from a launch pad about 2,600 miles away in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and lift a gumdropshaped space capsule with a half-ton of food, water and other supplies up to the crew aboard the orbiting space station. But delivering cargo isn’t the key mission - the space station is wellprovisioned. The main purpose is to demonstrate that the space capsule can rendezvous with the $100 billion orbiting outpost and link up with the space station’s onboard computers. If all goes well, the crew aboard the space station will snag the spacecraft with a robotic arm and lead it in for docking. Weeks later it will be released and sent back to Earth. “We’re ready to take that next step,” Musk said. “It’s been a long road to this point.”

Musk is a straight-talking modern-day industrialist cut in the mold of a young Howard Hughes.

He’s led numerous start-up companies in a widerange of industries, dating Hollywood starlets along the way. The sandy-haired South African emigrant first made millions when he co-founded and sold online payment business PayPal Inc. to eBay Inc. in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Armed with his personal fortune and a Rolodex full of Silicon Valley venture capitalist contacts, Musk started SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and co-founded electric car company Tesla Motors Inc. in Palo Alto.

In starting SpaceX in 2002, his goal was to make money by developing and launching rockets that could carry satellites into space at a fraction of the cost of the current generation of spacecraft. The sales pitch as a low-cost alternative has resonated with NASA. With federal money in short supply and the space shuttle fleet retired, the space agency has experienced thousands of job cuts across the country at places

HAWTHORNE: CEO Elon Musk with the SpaceX Dragon capsule on display at the Hawthorne, California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. If successful, it will be the first time a private company will dock with the International Space Station. The launch is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, 2012. — MCT

such as Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Johnson Space Center in Houston and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, Calif. The US government now has no way to space other than doling out $63 million for a seat on a Russian Soyuz rocket. After years of study and approval from Congress, the space agency is moving to turn the job of carrying cargo and crews over to private industry at a lower cost.

Meanwhile, NASA will focus on deep space missions to land on asteroids and Mars.

Still, some in Congress aren’t sold on the privatization plan. “I believe NASA would better serve the American taxpayer by continuing to push the frontiers of human space travel in its own right,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. “There are no ‘private’ space companies; only taxpayer-funded ones that NASA has arbitrarily decided to call ‘commercial’ and hold to reduced standards of performance and accountability.” Eugene Cernan, who was the last astronaut to walk on the moon in 1972, and Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon in 1969, testified before Congress in September about NASA’s decision to outsource space missions to private business. Cernan described NASA’s future plans as a “slide to mediocrity,”“third-rate stature” and “devastating.”

Earlier this month, the pair, along with Jim Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 mission, wrote a letter to Congress saying they want safe spacecraft. “We all agree that our country has painted itself into a corner and does not now, nor will for many years, have a US government craft suitable for carrying cargo or crew to the International Space Station,” the astronauts wrote.

“The reputation of our country ... dictates that we do everything possible to ensure that any commercial crew service meets standards equal to those that we would enforce would the craft be government owned and operated.” NASA says it is working with SpaceX to ensure safe flights and also has signed development contracts with lesser-known names in aerospace such as Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nev., and Blue Origin of Kent, Wash.

Inside SpaceX’s Hawthorne complex, the company has a vast mission control center where engineers can keep real-time tabs on rocket launches at Cape Canaveral and on the mission itself. They monitor incoming data for anomalies, and if there are any, they can order the launch to be scrubbed or address the mission issues. Musk recently sat at a workstation and discussed the coming launch date. A boyish smile spread across his face as he talked about the beehive of activity that will fill the room, which resembles NASA’s mission control center in Houston.

Then he grew cautious. “There’s a real chance this mission doesn’t succeed - a lot can go wrong,” Musk said. “I mean, there’s a reason they call it rocket science.” Musk started the company after investing $100 million of his own fortune with limited knowledge of the rocket business. He came to find that the industry was difficult to enter and littered with failed projects. The company’s first rocket, the single-engine Falcon 1, failed three times before it successfully carried a satellite into space in 2008. That same year, NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract to transport cargo in 12 flights to the space station.

In addition to the NASA contract, SpaceX has commercial contracts worth more than $4 billion to launch satellites aboard its new, larger Falcon 9 rocket for various countries and telecommunications companies. The privately held company is not required to disclose its financial details, including the dollar amounts involving commercial deals. The company has a workforce of about 1,800, mostly in Hawthorne and Cape Canaveral.

And much like the early days of NASA, the company has a cadre of young engineers - the average age is in the early 30s - who have turned down jobs at larger aerospace companies. Many say they work for SpaceX because it’s new and operates more like a Silicon Valley start-up than an entrenched aerospace company.

SpaceX has been planning this mission for more than 17 months. In December 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to blast an unmanned spacecraft - a capsule called Dragon into outer space, have it circle Earth and return intact. The company initially hoped to visit the space station with the Dragon less than a year later, but has faced repeated delays. Now, if everything goes according to plan, success will come sometime in June, when the Dragon carries out the mission and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles west of Southern California. The craft will deploy parachutes to slow its descent after entering Earth’s atmosphere. “I’m starting to get nervous just thinking about it,” Musk said. “Last launch, I couldn’t even sit down.

It’s pretty nerve-racking.” — MCT

WASHINGTON: At sunrise in some parts of China and Japan and by sunset in the western United States, a partial solar eclipse is set to slink across a narrow swath of the Earth on May 20 and 21.

Depending on where people are in the eclipse’s path, some may be able to witness an annular eclipse in which the moon blocks out all but a ring of the Sun’s light. Others will see the Sun as a crescent, partially obscured by the moon, for a period of around four to five minutes.

The event will be the first time in 18 years that such an eclipse is visible from the continental United States, according to Fred Espenak, a longtime solar eclipse expert with NASA. “What is unusual about this particular annular eclipse is that it goes over the western US,” Espenak said. “People always think that eclipses are extremely rare but there are at least two solar eclipses every year.

Each of these annular eclipses covers a very small fraction of the Earth’s surface.” The path of the annular eclipse will span “a 240 to 300 kilometer-wide track that traverses eastern Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and the western United States,” according to the US space agency.

The eclipse begins at sunrise in southern China at 2206 GMT Sunday, which is early Monday local time, and swiftly travels eastward to the southern coast of Japan, NASA said. “Tokyo lies 10 kilometers north of the central line. For the over 10 million residents within the metropolitan area, the annular phase will last five minutes beginning at 2232 GMT,” said NASA. The shadow then embarks on a 7,000-kilometer-long Pacific ocean voyage that will endure for about two hours, skimming just south of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

The eclipse will reach the coastlines of southern Oregon and northern California Sunday evening local time, at 0123 GMT Monday, and it should be visible in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. The US East Coast will not see any of the eclipse because the Sun will have already set. “The desert areas of Nevada, southern Utah and northern Arizona may be the best (for viewing) if they have the greatest chance of clear skies and the eclipse takes place low in the sky over a dramatic landscape,” said Alan MacRobert, editor of Sky and Telescope magazine.

According to historical cloud data, China and Japan may be out of luck since a high likelihood of gray skies would block the view of the Sun. “Unfortunately this is monsoon season, and the weather prospects are supposed to be poor in southern China,” MacRobert said, but nevertheless urged residents to check local forecasts for updates. “China and Japan don’t look to be very lucky for this. It would take quite a stroke of luck to get a clear sky.” Of course, no one should look directly at the eclipse due to the risk of permanent eye damage. Even sunglasses are not enough to protect eyes from the glare.

Instead, experts say a safe solar filter, such as a #13 or #14 rectangular arc-welder’s glass or an astronomer’s filter made specifically for Sun viewing are the best options. Espenak suggested

STOCKHOLM: A file picture shows multiple reflections of a partial solar eclipse in Stockholm. — AFP another way to view it-by holding binoculars with the eye piece pointed toward a piece of white cardboard and the outer end pointed toward the Sun. “The important thing is not to look through the binoculars,” he cautioned. But by directing the eyepiece toward the white cardboard, “you get a magnified view of the Sun and the eclipse in progress.” The next time the Earth will witness a total eclipse of the Sun, a more dramatic event than a partial or annular eclipse, will be August 21, 2017. — AFP

FDA delays sunscreen label deadline WASHINGTON: The US Food and Drug Administration has delayed by six months rules on the marketing of sunscreen originally set to go into effect this summer, saying the extra time was needed to avoid supply shortages. The FDA last year ordered sunscreen manufacturers to make a host of changes by June to sunscreen labels that would better explain how consumers should use the products.

After complaints from major trade associations that companies were having trouble making the changes, the agency late last week extended the deadline to December. Smaller companies have until December 2013. “We’re thinking proactively here... we don’t want them to cease making sunscreens available this summer because they don’t think they’ll be able to meet the compliance date,” said Shelly Burgess, a spokeswoman for the agency.

The FDA had updated prior rules on sunscreen which dealt only with protection against ultraviolet B radiation but not ultraviolet A rays, which contribute to skin cancer and early skin aging. Sunburn is primarily caused by UVB radiation. Now sunscreen makers would be required to pass a test by the agency to prove the product protects against both types of rays before labeling sunscreens as providing “Broad Spectrum” protection. Of those that pass, only sunscreens with a “sun protection factor” or SPF, of 15 or higher can claim to reduce the risk of skin cancer and early skin aging.

Sunscreen products that don’t pass the test or have passed but have an SPF between 2 to 14 can only claim to help prevent sunburn. Under the new rules, manufacturers also cannot call their sunscreens “water proof” or “sweat proof,” but only say that they are water or sweat resistant.

Sunscreen makers also cannot claim to provide protection for more than two hours without reapplication or to provide “instant protection” without submitting data to prove that to the FDA. Burgess said that some sunscreens with revised labels were already in the market but that the agency did not know how many. — Reuters

ARIZONA: Disaster response team members Ben Olson (left) and Charles Benefield work inside a decontamination tent set up outside Banner Gateway Medical Center in Gilbert, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, during a state-wide drill for a nuclear disaster.

The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is about 50 miles west of the center of Phoenix. The US government is allowing communities within 50 miles of nuclear power plants to practice less often for major accidents and is recommending that far fewer people who live nearby be evacuated immediately. — AP

NEC unveils gesture controlling device TOKYO: Japanese technology titan NEC has unveiled a gadget that allows users to control their TV, mobile phone or tablet computer using a virtual input device. The company said a camera that recognizes three-dimensional shapes and their movements will combine with a projector that could show the image of an input device-such as a keyboard-on almost any surface. Users can then gesture at the projected image to move an electronic file or play a video, with the movement of their hand relayed back to the device they want to control.

“With the recent expansion of cloud-based services, information terminals have become increasingly diversified, ranging from PCs to

smartphones and tablet devices,” a company statement said Tuesday.

“However, the presentation of information is limited to the displays on such devices, and operation needs to be performed with the use of an input device such as a remote control, mouse or touchscreen. “Using this technology, multiple devices can be controlled based on a user’s movements, without the use of an input device, producing interfaces that boast more natural interaction.” NEC said it hoped to develop the technology so that it could be used with devices that do not have displays, including lights and air conditioners, raising the prospect of a home controlled largely by waving. — AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

High blood pressure affects 1 in 3: WHO WHO warns of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity

WASHINGTON: Country singer Glen Campbell, who has Alzheimer’s disease, stands with his wife Kim during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. — AP

Scientists hunt ways to stall Alzheimer’s earlier WASHINGTON: Look for a fundamental shift in how scientists hunt ways to ward off the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease - by testing possible therapies in people who don’t yet show many symptoms, before too much of the brain is destroyed. The most ambitious attempt: An international study announced Tuesday will track whether an experimental drug can stall the disease in people who appear healthy but are genetically destined to get a type of Alzheimer’s that runs in the family. If so, it would be exciting evidence that maybe regular Alzheimer’s is preventable too.

A second study will test whether a nasal spray that sends insulin to the brain helps people with very early memory problems, based on separate research linking diabetes to an increased risk of Alzheimer ’s. The new focus emerges as the Obama administration adopts the first national strategy to fight the worsening Alzheimer’s epidemic - a plan that sets the clock ticking toward finally having effective treatments by 2025. “We are at an exceptional moment,” with more important discoveries about Alzheimer’s in the last few months than in recent years, Dr Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, declared Tuesday.

But a meeting of the world’s top Alzheimer’s scientists this week made clear that meeting the 2025 deadline will require developing a mix of treatments to attack the different ways that Alzheimer’s damages the brain - much like it can take a cocktail of drugs to treat high blood pressure or the AIDS virus.

Perhaps more importantly, it will require testing possible drugs before full-blown Alzheimer’s sets in, when it may be too late to do much good. After all, Alzheimer’s starts ravaging the brain at least a decade before memory problems appear. And doctors don’t wait until the worst symptoms appear before treating heart disease, cancer or diabetes, noted Dr. Reisa Sperling of Harvard Medical School.

“Once the train leaves the station of degeneration, it might be too late to stop it,” Sperling said. “We need to define the critical window for intervention.”

Future therapy is far from the only goal of the first National Alzheimer’s Plan. It’s a two-pronged approach, promising to provide better and support for overwhelmed families along the way. “A lot more needs to be done and it needs to be done right now, because people with Alzheimer’s disease and their loved ones and caregivers need help right now,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in announcing the plan.

Among the first steps: A new website www.alzheimers.gov - that Sebelius called a one-stop shop for families offers easy-to-understand information about dementia and links to resources in their

own communities. The government will offer free training to doctors and other health providers on how to spot the early signs of Alzheimer’s and care for those patients. This summer, a campaign will begin to improve public awareness of Alzheimer’s, important in reducing the stigma that helps fuel late diagnosis and the isolation that so many affected families feel.

Patient advocates applauded the move, and country music legend Glen Campbell, who has Alzheimer ’s, appeared on Capitol Hill to urge more research. Alzheimer’s “has been in the shadows for far too long,” said Eric J. Hall of the Alzheimer ’s Foundation of America. The plan “provides solid stepping stones toward substantial change.”

Already, 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s or related dementias. Barring a research breakthrough, those numbers will jump by 2050, when up to 16 million Americans are projected to have Alzheimer’s. There is no cure, and the five medications available today only temporarily ease some symptoms. Finding better ones has been a disappointing slog: Over the last decade, 10 drugs that initially seemed promising failed in latestage testing, Sperling said.

Moreover scientists still don’t know exactly what causes Alzheimer’s. The chief suspects are a sticky gunk called beta-amalyoid, which makes up the disease’s hallmark brain plaques, and tangles of a protein named tau that clogs dying brain cells. One theory: Amyloid may kick off the disease while tau speeds up the brain destruction. Previous studies of anti-amyloid drugs have failed, but that new international study will test a different one, in a different way: About 300 people from a huge extended family in Colombia who share a gene mutation that triggers Alzheimer’s in their 40s will test an experimental drug, Genentech’s crenezumab, to see if it delays onset of symptoms. The study also will include some Americans who inherit Alzheimer’s causing gene mutations.

Meanwhile, there are brain-protective steps that anyone can take that just might help, Dr Carl Cotman of the University of California, Irvine, told Tuesday’s NIH meeting. “It’s just a well-kept secret,” he said.

The advice: Your brain is like a muscle so exercise it. Intellectual and social stimulation help build what’s called “cognitive reserve,” the ability to withstand declines from aging and dementia. Getting physical is crucial also. Clogged arteries slow blood flow to the brain, and people who are less active in middle age are at increased risk of Alzheimer’s when they’re older. “Any time your heart is healthier, your brain is healthier,” said Dr. Elizabeth Head of the University of Kentucky. Don’t forget diet, she added. The same foods that are heart-healthy are brain-healthy, such as the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish.— AP

GENEVA: One in three adults suffers from high blood pressure, a key cause of strokes and heart disease, according to World Health Organization figures released yesterday. Canada and the United States have the fewest patients, at less than 20 percent of adults, but in poorer countries like Niger the estimated figure is closer to 50 percent, the UN body said. While wealthier countries have seen their cases drop thanks to effective, low-cost treatment, in Africa many remain people undiagnosed and are not getting help, according to the WHO. Health data released provided the clearest evidence to date of the spread of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease from developed nations to poorer regions such as Africa, as lifestyles and diets there change.

The United Nations data showed one in three adults worldwide has raised blood pressure - the cause of around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease and the condition affects almost half the adult population in some countries in Africa. In its annual repor t on global health, the Geneva-based World Health

Organization ( WHO) also said one in 10 adults worldwide has diabetes, an illness that costs billions of dollars to treat and puts sufferers at risk of heart disease, kidney failure and blindness.

While the average global prevalence of diabetes is around 10 percent, the report said, up to a third of the population in some Pacific Island countries have the condition. Chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer are often thought of as illnesses which primarily affect people in wealthy nations, where high fat diets, alcohol consumption and smoking are major health risks. But the WHO says almost 80 percent of deaths from such diseases now occur in lowand middle-income countries.

In Africa, rising smoking rates, a shift towards Western-style diets and less exercise mean chronic or so-called non-communicable diseases are rising rapidly and are expected to surpass other diseases as the most common killers by 2020. “This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low- and middle-income coun-

Thailand, a hub of international smuggling, is one of just 13 countries which host tiger populations. Worldwide, tiger numbers are estimated to have fallen to only 3,200 from approximately 100,000 a century ago. In March Thai authorities seized more than 200 live animals, including tigers and lions among other rare species, in a raid on an illegal wildlife supplier. Police said that operation was part of a global network importing protected animals from countries in Africa and elsewhere and breeding them for illegal sale. Last month Thai police officers caught four men in the act of chopping up a tiger in a Bangkok house. Elephant, zebra, wildebeest and lion remains were also found at the suburban property.— AFP

pensive medicines - an intervention that would cut the risk of death and disability from heart disease and stroke. Obesity is another major issue, the WHO said, with data showing rates of obesity doubling in every region of the world between 1980 and 2008. “Today, half a billion people - or 12 percent of the world’s population - are considered obese,” said Ties Boerma, the WHO’s director of health Statistics and information systems.

The highest obesity levels are in the Americas, where 26 percent of adults are obese, and the lowest are in South East Asia, at 3 percent of adults. The repor t found that women in all parts of the world are more likely to be obese than men, and are therefore at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

The WHO’s World Health Statistics repor t is published annually and contains data from 194 countries on a range of health indicators including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from various diseases, health services, treatments, and risk factors or behaviors that affect health. — Agencies

FLORIDA: (Left) Phillip Leamon and his dog Mahoney swim in the water in Key Biscayne, Florida. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that indicated that although protective behaviors such as sunscreen use, shade use, and wearing long clothing to the ankles have increased in recent years, sunburn prevalence remains high, with 50.1% of all adults and 65.6% of whites aged 18-29 years reporting at least one sunburn in the past 12 months. (Right) Stefano Amabili walks under the sun on the beach in Miami Beach, Florida.— AFP photos

UK to fund prostate cancer pill in U-turn LONDON: Britain’s drug watchdog has reversed a controversial decision not to fund a new prostate cancer pill that was developed in the country after maker Johnson & Johnson agreed a new discount on supplies to the UK state healthcare service. Zytiga, which is known chemically as abiraterone, was approved last year in Europe and the United States to treat advanced prostate cancer in patients who previously received chemotherapy. The drug was developed by researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research and

London’s Royal Marsden Hospital.

British pharmaceutical firm BTG is entitled to receive royalty payments on the drug.

The rejection of the drug in February in draft guidance from Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on cost grounds drew unprecedented criticism from Cancer Research UK, a charity that supported research into the drug. NICE Chief Executive Andrew Dillon said on Wednesday that the about-turn came after Janssen, a J&J unit, provided more details on the

benefits of the drug and likely patient numbers, as well as the level of discount. “We are very pleased that Janssen’s submission to our consultation means we are able to produce draft guidance recommending abiraterone - it is an effective treatment, potentially extending life by more than three months, and it also allows patients to be treated at home as it can be taken orally,” he said.

Harpal Kumar, head of Cancer Research UK, said: “This is wonder ful news for patients with advanced prostate cancer and, in

part, this U-turn is down to the public’s disappointment at the initial refusal.” Alan Ashworth, chief executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, also applauded the decision. “ We are ver y pleased and proud that a drug we discovered will now be available to help many more people than before,” he said. “This success highlights the important role that not-for-profit organizations can make in drug discovery and development.” The drug has a list price of 2,930 pounds for a 30-day supply of 120 tablets, NICE said.—Reuters

Flesh-eating germ rare ATLANTA: Aimee Copeland, a Georgia grad student, is fighting for her life because of the flesheating bacteria that infected her after she gashed her leg in a river two weeks ago. One of her legs was amputated and her fingers will be too, her father says, because of the spreading infection. She has a rare condition, called necrotizing fasciitis, in which marauding bacteria run rampant through tissue.

Affected areas sometimes have to be surgically removed to save the patient’s life.

HOW OFTEN? The government estimates roughly 750 flesh-eating bacteria cases occur each year, usually caused by a type of strep germ.

However, Aimee Copeland’s infection was caused by another type of bacteria, Aeromonas hydrophila. Those cases are even rarer. One expert knew of only a few reported over the past few decades.

Frozen tiger parts among Thai police wildlife haul BANGKOK: Thai police yesterday discovered the frozen body parts of several tigers and other big cats thought to be destined for buyers in Vietnam and China in a raid on a suburban Bangkok house. Two men, one Thai and one Vietnamese, were arrested after police found a freezer containing the parts of at least three tigers, one panther and a wild cat. “From our initial interrogation, they said they planned to send the animal parts to a Vietnamese buyer waiting in Laos, but the final destinations are in Vietnam and China,” said Police Colonel Apichart Sirisith, Crime Suppression Deputy Commander.

The two suspects face 10 years in prison if convicted on charges relating to the illegal possession of wildlife.

tries,” the WHO’s director general Margaret Chan said in a statement with the report. “In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high blood pressure.”

This year ’s WHO statistical report was the first to include data from all 194 member countries on the percentage of men and women with high blood pressure, or hypertension, and with raised blood sugar levels, a symptom of diabetes. This report does not examine the causes behind the rising or falling numbers, but seeks to give a snapshot of major diseases and health risks affecting the global population. In wealthy countries, widespread diagnosis and treatment with low-cost drugs have significantly reduced average blood pressure readings across populations - and this has contributed to a reduction in deaths from heart disease, the WHO said.

But in Africa, more than 40 percent-and in some places up to 50 percent - of adults in many countries are estimated to have high blood pressure. Most of these people remain undiagnosed, the report said, and yet many could be treated with inex-

DO MOST PEOPLE SURVIVE? Yes, but about 1 in 5 people with the most common kind of flesh-eating strep bacteria die.

There are few statistics on Aeromonas-caused cases like Copeland’s.

BANGKOK: Officers from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation examine a dead tiger’s paws after the animal was seized during a raid yesterday. Thai police seized the carcasses of tigers and other big cats believed to have been destined for consumption in China in a raid yesterday. — AP

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? The germs that can cause flesh-eating disease are common in warm and brackish waters like ponds, lakes and streams. They are not a threat to most people.

An infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, Dr. William Schaffner, said: “I could dive in that same stream, in the same place, and if I don’t injure myself I’m going to be perfectly fine. It’s not going to get on the surface of my sk in and burrow in. I t doesn’t do that.” But a cut or gash - especially a deep one opens the door for flesh-eating bacteria.

AVOIDING SUCH AN INFECTION Prompt and thorough medical care should stop the infection before it spreads. A wound can look clean, but if it’s sutured or stapled up too soon it can create the kind of oxygen-deprived environment that helps these bacteria multiply and spread internally. Once established, these rare infections can be tricky to diagnose and treat.

Also, Aeromonas is resistant to some common antibiotics that work against strep and other infections, so it’s important that doctors use the best medicines.

ARE SOME PEOPLE MORE AT RISK? Yes, people with weakened immune systems are. Copeland’s family has not said whether she had some type of medical condition that could have made her more vulnerable and relatives could not be reached for comment Monday. Her doctors, meanwhile, have refused interviews.— AP

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

H E A LT H Fewer South Asian child brides looks positive for health NEW YORK: Fewer girls under 14 are getting married in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, with sizable declines seen in each nation, according to a study released on Tuesday that suggests positive health gains for young women in South Asia. In Bangladesh, for example, about 34 percent of women reported being married by age 14 in 1991 and 1994. By 2005 and 2007 that number had fallen to about 19 percent. At the same time, marriage rates for girls aged 16 to 17 stayed about the same, except for an increase of about 36 percent in Bangladesh - a country where marriage for girls under 18 is generally more common.

“The decrease for the youngest age group is dramatic, but for the oldest, we’ve got nothing,” said Anita Raj, the study’s lead author and a professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Raj and her colleagues reported the findings in a letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. For their study, the researchers analyzed surveys taken from 1991 to 2007 in the four countries. For marriage rates, they looked at whether 20- to 24-year-old women reported being married before their 18th birthday.

In India, the marriage rate for girls younger than 14 dropped from about 10 percent in 19911994 to about 6 percent in 2005-2007. Pakistan saw the rate for girls under 14 fall from about 6 percent to a little less than 3 percent over the same period. Raj said Health that the declines may be explained by more encouragement for girls to complete their education before marriage. Students in those countries typically graduate from high school at the age of 15 or 16.

Bangladesh, India and Nepal all ban marriage before the age of 18, while Pakistan’s minimum age is 16. But Raj said those laws are largely ignored, especially in rural areas.

HEALTH CONCERNS Marrying too young is an issue because it is associated with many health concerns, including complications from pregnancy and physical abuse. Teen mothers are at a higher risk for pregnancy-induced high blood pressure and delivering babies before 37 weeks and with low birth weights, said Monica Johnson, a women’s health nurse practitioner at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s teen pregnancy center in St Louis.

Teens are also at risk for postpartum depression, Johnson told Reuters Health. She added that “with adequate prenatal care and emotional support a lot of those teen moms do not experience the risks.”

In a previous article, however, Raj reported that the poorest and least-educated girls are at the greatest risk for an early marriage. That may limit access to healthcare. Raj and her colleagues focused on South Asia mostly because of the amount and quality of data available, but she said that early marriage should not be seen as a problem exclusive to that area.

A 2011 report from UNICEF reported that adolescent marriage is also common in subSaharan Africa. It said that the psychosocial effects girls experience are enormous, including not having friends, being powerless and doing an excessive amount of housework. Raj said Health that one way to reduce marriage among young girls may be to increase the number of choices they have, such as providing access to schools or jobs.— Reuters

Maternal deaths cut by half 47% fall in fatalities UNITED NATIONS: Better care has cut the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth by nearly half in the past two decades, but there is still a death every two minutes, according to UN figures released yesterday. India and Nigeria between them accounted for one third of the 287,000 deaths of pregnant women in 2010 and Africa accounts for 36 of the 40 countries with the highest maternal deaths. But health experts hailed the 47% fall in fatalities from 543,000 in 1990, and said the strategy for saving more lives was clear.

“We know exactly what to do to prevent maternal deaths: improve access to voluntary family planning, invest in health workers with midwifery skills, and ensure access to emergency obstetric care when complications arise,” said Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

“These interventions have proven to save lives,” he added at the launch of the “Trends in Maternal Mortality” report by the UNFPA, World Health Organization, UN Children’s Fund and the World Bank.

Countries in Eastern Asia have made most progress on improving the health of expectant and new mothers, said the report. Many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, will fail to reach the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal death by 75% from

1990 to 2015. “Every two minutes, a woman dies of pregnancy-related complications,” said the report.

The four most common causes are: severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy, and unsafe abortion. Almost 20% of deaths (56,000) were in India and 14% (40,000) in Nigeria in 2010.

Another eight countries-Democratic Republic of the Congo (15,000), Pakistan (12,000), Sudan (10,000), Indonesia (9,600), Ethiopia (9,000), Tanzania (8,500), Bangladesh (7,200) and Afghanistan (6,400) - account for the next 40%. “More than 215 million women lack access to modern contraceptives,” said Osotimehin, a former health minister in Nigeria. “Meeting the need for voluntary family planning for these women would not only fulfill a human right, it would also reduce the number of maternal deaths by a third. This is a highly cost-effective public health strategy,” he added. In 2010, the global maternal mortality ratio was 210 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest maternal mortality ratio at 500 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, said the report. In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman faces a 1 in 39 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. In South-eastern Asia the risk is 1 in 290 and in developed countries, it is 1 in 3,800.— AFP

Scientists lift lid on turtle evolution PARIS: The turtle is a closer relative of crocodiles and birds than of lizards and snakes, according to researchers who claim to have solved an age-old riddle in animal evolution.

The ancestry of the turtle, which evolved between 200 and 300 million years ago, has caused much scientific squabbling-its physiology suggesting a different branch of the family tree than its genes do. “The evolutionary origin of turtles has confounded the understanding of vertebrate evolution,” the scientists wrote in a paper published Wednesday in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

Until the latest study, that is-which claims to have been the biggest of its kind. “Our study conclusively shows that the genetic story is that turtles are more closely related to birds and crocodilians,” research team member Nicholas Crawford from Boston University said. Anatomy and fossil studies of turtles and their reptilian relatives generally place the shelled creatures in the family of

lepidosaurs-snakes, lizards and tuataras (rare lizard-like animals). Genetic studies, however, say they have more in common with crocodiles and birds-which fall into the archosaur group of animals that also included the extinct land-bound dinosaurs.

The latter finding has now been confirmed by the most exhaustive genetic study on the topic ever done, said Crawford-having gathered “ten times as much” information as previous research efforts. The team compared the DNA of the corn snake, the African helmeted turtle, the painted turtle, the American alligator, the saltwater crocodile, the tuatara, the chicken, the zebra finch and the Carolina anole lizard. Crawford said the historic confusion partly arose because turtles shared key physical characteristics with lizards, snakes and tuataras-including a three-chambered heart. They had little in common with crocs and serpents.

Lepidosaurs and archosaurs share a common reptilian ancestor.— AFP

ACAJUTLA: Photo shows a brown booby (Sula leucogaster) perching on an Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacae) near Los Cobanos beach, 84 Km west from San Salvador. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani woman carries her son as she walks on a street in Islamabad. — AFP

Dog, nappy, football found in Aussie croc SYDNEY: Rangers who shot a saltwater crocodile that was terrorizing pets in northern Australia found a dog, a pair of shorts, a football and a nappy in its stomach, a report said yesterday. Police notified authorities recently that a crocodile had eaten at least one dog and was lunging at others along a beach near the community of Galiwinku. The Northern Territory News said rangers who went to the area Tuesday saw the 3.5 meter croc grab a dog by the leg, and they shot it. As

well as finding the remains of a dog in its stomach, they discovered a variety of other items. “While it might make a comical headline, it is disturbing to see the volume of rubbish in a wild animal,” said the newspaper, which routinely runs crocodile stories on its front page.

Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to seven meters long and weigh more than a ton, are a common feature of Australia’s tropical north and kill an average of two people a year.— AFP

Rare elephant found dead BANDA ACEH: A critically-endangered Sumatran elephant has been found dead in Indonesia’s Aceh province, an official said Wednesday, the second death from suspected poisoning within a month. Villagers found the carcass, missing its tusks, in a river in Aceh Jaya district on Tuesday, local forestry official Armidi said. The elephants are usually either killed by villagers, who regard the beasts as pests that destroy their plantations, or by poachers for their tusks.

“We went to the site on Tuesday evening and found the male elephant in a river located a kilometer (half a mile) away from a village,” he said. It was thought to have been killed around four days earlier because it was beginning to decompose, he added.

“According to villagers, the elephant had entered a plantation and was lumbering unsteadily. We suspected it might have been poisoned,” Armidi said, adding that investiga-

tions to determine the cause of death were ongoing. “Villagers did not know who took its tusks,” he added. Environmental organization WWF earlier this month called on the government to investigate the death of an 18-yearold female Sumatran elephant allegedly poisoned at an Indonesian oil palm plantation in the same district. WWF changed the Sumatran elephant’s status from “endangered” to “critically endangered” in January, largely due to severe habitat loss driven by oil palm and paper plantations.

There are fewer than 3,000 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, marking a 50 percent drop in numbers since 1985. Conflicts between humans and animals are increasing as people encroach on wildlife habitats in Indonesia, an archipelago with some of the world’s largest remaining tropical forests.— AFP

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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

WHAT’S ON

Announcements ‘Leniency of Islam’ An unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al Turkait. The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait. Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to- 97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

ACK sends distinctive students to the UK to watch football match n line with its commitment to embracing and honoring its outstanding performers, the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) organized a special trip for three of its distinctive students with outstanding activities and student action to attend the Manchester United vs. Swansea match.

The trip reflects ACK’s interest in sports and student activities in general, focusing on the outstanding performers. ACK keenly supports and encourages those students to maintain their enthusiasm towards further distinction.

The group of selected students enjoyed an exciting experience and returned to Kuwait with a host of good memories of the match and the surroundings.

It was not the first trip to be organized by ACK for its outstanding students. ACK organized similar trips for a number of its students, who attended soccer matches for the CALESCO in Madrid during the super cup final held between Barcelona and Real

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Mother’s Day The American Women’s League will be celebrating Mother’s Day Breakfast at the Regency Hotel. On Saturday, May 19th.

From 9:00 am to 11:00 am. For more information email: awlkuwait@yahoo.com Come join us and become a member!

Free Arabic course IPC is opening an Intensive Basic Arabic Course for ladies commencing from June 3 to July 8, 2012. The class will be from 5-7 pm for three days a week. Registration is on! For information, call 22512257.

Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main After hosting memorable recent event for noble cause “Ambassadors of Comedy” with International artist Aron, Dean & Nitin, ICS now geared up with full package of cultural entertainment in “Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main”. ICS now hosts renowned playback singer from Bollywood Abhijeet & world fame theater cum comedy king Umar Sharif from Pakistan on 18th May Friday, at 7 pm sharp. The Chief Guest for the event will be Ambassador of India, Kuwait. So join @ Dr Kamil Al Rayes Auditorium, AIS opposite Police Station Maidan Hawally Kuwait.

For details call: 69632692 Yoga with the Golden Era Club The Golden Era Club presents ‘The Eight Fold Path to Yoga’ on 25th May; 5 to 7 pm. Yoga here! Yoga there! Yoga everywhere!

Yet, few comprehend Yoga’s true nature! Join Yoga Guru Aacharya Shashikala Pushkarna - on this unique journey to the true ‘union’ between the mind, body and spirit. All seniors (60+) are cordially invited. Venue- House #34, next to AbuTammam Intermediate School for Boys, Sate Alhusari St., Block 2, Rumaithiya.

Open House for Indian Citizens The Ambassador of India will be holding an Open House for Indian citizens to address their problems/grievances on Wednesdays of the second and the fourth week of every month between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs at the embassy. In case Wednesday is an Embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day. To ensure timely action/follow-up by the Embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents. It may be mentioned that Embassy of India’s Consular Wing is providing daily service of Open House to Indian citizen on all workings days from 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs and from 1430 hrs to 1530 hrs by the consular officer in the Meeting Room of the Consular Hall. For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) could be contacted. Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances. Similarly, a labor wing Help Desk functions from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs and 1400 hrs to 1630 hrs in the Labor Hall to address the labor related issue. There is also a 24X7 Help Line (Tel No. 25674163) to assist labors in distress. For any unaddressed issues, the concerned Attaches in the labor section and the head of the labor wing could be contacted.

Brethren Assembly Kuwait organizes Christian music show et another opportunity to hear Christian music in English, Malayalam and Hindi.

Singer: Bro. Renjith Varghese, Dallas will be performing in Kuwait today at the NECK diwaniya at 7:30 pm. And on Friday, also at the NECK diwaniya, at 7:30 pm. All are cordially invited. Organized by The Brethren Assembly Kuwait.

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Speech competition th Berchmans Extempore Speech Competition for the Indian School students is scheduled for tomorrow 18th May 2012 from 1 pm to 5 pm at United Indian School, Jaleeb Al Shuyoukh. Competition will be conducted in 3 categories separately - Sub-Juniors (7th & 8th Stds.)

Juniors (9th & 10th Stds.) and Seniors (11th & 12th Stds). Trophies and Certificates will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners of each category. Championship and Runner up Trophies will be awarded to the respective schools, based on points earned by its students calculated as 1st Prize : 10 points, 2nd Prize : 7 points and 3rd Prize : 4 points. Berchmans Eloquent Speaker

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Gold Medal has been instituted from 2009 onwards, to honor the best student speaker of Berchmans Extempore Speech Competition, with 15 grams (22ct) Gold Medal. Online registration facility is open and available now at our website www.berchmanskuwait.org. Rules & Regulations for the competition, selection criteria for Championship and Runner-up trophy for schools and selection for Eloquent Speaker Gold Medal are also available on the web site. For any further details or clarifications, please contact AASBCO at: aasbco.kuwait@gmail.com, visit our website or call: 99852331, 99621264, 97676277 or 97275902

Sinhala Tamil Aluth Aurudda 2012 abriya Sri Lanka Jatika Pasela in Kuwait held their 2ND Sinhala and Tamil aurudu festival on 13th April 2012 Ahmadi K.O.C. play ground. The event saw Sri Lanka’s and Kuwait’s flags hoisted followed by singing, games, competitions and races ranging from 150-200 meters.

The races were conducted by the sports

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committee. Special thanks to Mr Kusalana and Mrs Puspa Ranjani, who gave gifts to the students. Thanks also to the SJP school parents committee, who provided special dishes such as Sri Lankan Kavm Kokis, a milk rice dish, and many other foods.

GUST students land Summer Scholarships in the USA t was recently announced that five Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) students were awarded summer scholarships to study over the summer, one at the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL) and four at Florida International University (FIU), and will be traveling from June to August for the opportunity to explore a different educational experience and culture. GUST’s Academic Affairs Department/International Programs Office annually organizes summer scholarships for its students to the United States, and has proven to be a successful program with GUST students.

The student heading to UMSL is Hawraa Khalfan, an English Education major with a 3.39 cumulative CGPA. While the students going down south to FIU are: Adnan Ali, a Finance major with 3.92 CGPA, Annaira Al-Duwaisan, an English Literature major with 3.12 GPA and Madiha Najam, Accounting major with a 3.94 CGPA and Nada AlGharabally, an Accounting major with 3.62 GPA. Two GUST students who are not on a scholarship, Sindhuvasavi Srinivasan and Rafah Al Sabah, are also traveling for summer study at Florida International University, in order to gain academic experience and insight into a different academic environment during their two month study at FIU. Nada Gharaballi, heading to FIU, said: “Studying abroad in general will without doubt change my life from different angles; I will come back as a new person. It will increase my maturity, self-confidence and will change my view towards the world. There are various factors of what I’m looking forward in studying at FIU. First of all, personal growth, which from my own perspective is the most essential aspect. The second factor is intercultural development, by becoming more effective and respectful to other cultures and political and economic systems. Third, enhancing the study abroad experience, this is a new step for me because I never took the risk of standing on my own feet without the help of anyone. In addition, this experience will help me in building a new step due to my dreams of completing my studies in the U.S. Last, studying at FIU is a life time of benefits that a person shouldn’t miss.”

Adnan Tariq Mohammad Ali, also heading to FIU, noted: “I am really

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looking forward for this unique and new learning experience. I believe this opportunity to study abroad will enhance my studies and help me gain new skills. Also, it would develop self-confidence and would help to adapt and respond in effective ways.”

“I am really looking forward to enhance my experience in studies and exploring how student life is in the United States,” started Madiha Iqbal, who will be studying at FIU, “I wish all of my fellow students the best and we are going to have a great time!” The last student going to FIU, Annaira Al-Duwaisan, expressed her happiness at this opportunity: “I am so happy that I got an amazing opportunity to represent GUST at FIU. I hope this experience will challenge me and empower me both personally and academically.”

Scholarship student Hawraa Khalfan, the GUST student attending UMSL for summer study, said: “I’m looking forward to experiencing different; scenery, professors, classmates, social world, and of course a different lifestyle. Making new friends, and leading a different life for a short period of time. But mainly, I’m looking forward to the independence!”

GUST’s non-scholarship students are very eager to attend FIU summer and did so of their own initiative.

Sindhuvasavi Srinivasan said: “I look forward to having a different and challenging experience at FIU. I wish to complete the courses offered to me at FIU with good grades. I also hope that this study abroad program would provide me a good experience about studying in the US.” While Rafah Al-Sabah, touched on a different aspect: “I’m looking forward to meeting different students and professors and seeing how the university lifestyle is at the states. And take the responsibility of traveling with students. I also want to gain an experience and get an education at a different level and enhance my communication and writing skills as well.”

The students were chosen from many applicants who fulfilled certain criteria set by the GUST Summer Scholarship Committee including: completion of at least 60 credit hours, GPA of 3.0 and above and a TOEFL score of 550 (paper based); 213 (computer based) or 79-80 (internet based). GUST wishes its students the best of luck in their summer studies and hopes that they find the experience beneficial, and to take advantage of this opportunity that they have worked hard for.

Aware center holds ‘You and the environment: How can you make a difference?’ presentation he AWARE Center cordially invites interested Western expatriates to its diwaniya presentation entitled, “You and the environment: how can you make a difference?” by Dr Mohammed Al-Furgi.

Environmental issues are sometimes classified as academic or elite issues and we may feel that we as individuals do not have a role to play. We do have a role to play in improving our environment and an important one indeed. We (the individuals) are by far the majority and we are the ones that dictate what will happen to our environment. We are targeted as consumers and by making the right choice we could force the producers to change their products. Kuwait a country with a relatively small population but high consumption rate suffers from environmental problems, and we as citizens or residents could make a difference in alleviating these problems through simple practices. What can citizens and residents do to reduce littering and conserve water and energy? In his 25-minute presentation, Alforgi will discuss these questions and many more.

Dr. Alforgi graduated from the University of Tulsa, Tulsa Oklahoma with a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering and an M.S. in engineering management. He also holds a Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Wyoming, USA. Dr. Alforgi has taught petroleum engineering at the College of Technological Studies in

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Kuwait, as well as at universities in Libya, the United Arab Emirates and Wyoming. He was a chairman of the Department of Petroleum Engineering Technology, at the College of Technological Studies. He wrote several papers on petroleum economics and takes deep interest in socio-economic changes that occur due to this particular resource.

2-day music fest this weekend ay 18: 10 AM: Inauguration; 10.30 AM: Students, Program; 2PM: Laya Tharangam

by Perunna Harikumar and his disciples; 3.30PM: Music Quiz 5PM: Music Concert by Shenkotai SKS Harihara Subramania Iyer. May 19: 10 AM: Nadamadhuri by Rajesh Thiruvalla and disciples; 10.30 AM: Students, Program; 2PM: Swara Tharang by Karunagappally S Balamurali and disciples; 5PM: Bharatham, dance and musical fusion

by Kalamandalam Sreeja Sathyanarayanan; 6PM: Grand Finale ? Shruthilaya Sangamam. At Indian Community Senior School, Salmiya.

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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

WHAT’S ON

Garuda Indonesia appoints Caesars Int’l Travel as GSA for Kuwait aruda Indonesia, the National airline of Indonesia’s 2012 expansion program, is under way after the carrier launched double daily scheduled operations to Saudi Arabia and four flights a week between Dubai to Jakarta and Amsterdam. Kuwait being an emerging country, Garuda is planning to launch the operations soon and appointed Caesars Int’l Travel to take care of the operations as GSA (General Sales Agent) for Kuwait. “We assessed Kuwait as a destination with great potential that would create a new air corridor providing wide choices, both leisure and business for travelers by introducing Garuda’s presence in Kuwait. Moreover, Indonesia’s great business opportunities and landscape offers a good base for family and independent tourism to Kuwait,” said Fikdanel Thaufik, General Manager of Garuda Indonesia for Saudi Arabia and Middle East.

As one of the leading travel groups in Kuwait - part of Caesars Group of Companies, Caesars Travel Group is the most established local players. “Despite having build up a reliable reputation among the travel arena in Kuwait, we thought of a change in the fast moving world of travel by stretching our wings to all travel ancillaries under a travel umbrella and today, apart from the travel agency services, Caesars Travel Group has introduced various airline representations in Kuwait, Holiday division, Cargo and the recent launching of Cruise Center which is an exclusive platform for world’s leading cruise bookings, a novel idea pioneered by Caesars in the growing aviation market in Kuwait. By partnering with Garuda Indonesia as a GSA in Kuwait we are opening a new destination of travel to our valued clients.

Indonesia’s rich culture and the development in recent times have been remarkable. Garuda by entering into Kuwait market, we are going to introduce a new

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destination for our passengers in Kuwait for the inflow of tourists to Indonesia to enjoy and explore this beautiful country”, said P.N.J. Kumar, CEO, Caesars Travel Group.

The flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia is

dated logo has been replaced, refining the iconic bird symbol that had designed previously. The new image aims to ‘capture the spirit of Indonesian hospitality and professionalism’. Garuda Indonesia’s new concept of service,

Garuda’s direct operations to Saudi Arabia and Dubai with connections from Kuwait will facilitate tourism, specially for the beautiful islands in Indonesia which is still to be explored by the nationals and the expat population in

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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.

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. 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.

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Officials from Garuda Indonesia Bambang Eko Priyanto, the Finance Manger, Fikdanel Thaufik, the General Manager (Saudi Arabia and Middle East), Abdul Hakim-Senior, Sales Rep, and officials from Caesars Travel Group, P.N.J. Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Rajesh-Manager (Commercial and Marketing) and Sukhvinder Singh, Operation Manager, together at the GSA agreement signing ceremony. the first and largest carrier in Indonesia, flying more than 43 domestic and international destinations. With its serviceoriented approach, Garuda Indonesia aims at becoming the leading service provider for air travelers and air cargo shippers in the nation. It is named after the mystical, giant bird Garuda. A new branding initiatives, revolves around the idea of ‘Nature’s Wing’. The airline’s out-

called “Garuda Indonesia Experience” includes aspects of Indonesian culture, cuisine and hospitality. Caesars Int’l Travel Co. will be launching the GSA operations very soon from their office located at Al Jawhara Tower (Ground Floor). “It’s a great honour for Caesars Int’l Travel to represent Garuda Indonesia in Kuwait, the National Airline of Indonesia. I am confident that

Kuwait and the long term cultural relations and trade between these two countries which foster stronger relationships better than before,” commented Rajesh, Manager-Commercial & Marketing of Caesars Int’l Travel Co.

Enhancing family incomes through access to government social security and rural work schemes; Raising awareness in cotton-growing communities of children’s rights and the dangers to children from working in cot-

ton fields and factories.

“This is a natural step in our long collaboration with Save the Children to strengthen children’s rights in India,” said Per Heggenes, CEO of IKEA Foundation. “If we can create more opportunities for children in developing countries by improving education and

awareness of children’s rights, we can help these children break the cycle of poverty and build a brighter future for themselves, their families and society at large.”

The projects have been designed in partnership with Save the Children to ensure that communities are actively involved in preventing children from working on cotton and cotton-seed farms by setting up Child Protection Committees, providing quality education and building families’ capacity to access alternative sources of income.

The new work in Punjab and Haryana, two of India’s largest cotton producing states will build on this community involvement model. A study commissioned by IKEA Foundation in 2008 revealed that prosperous Punjab has one of the highest percentages of child labour of all of India’s states, with an estimated 25% of the cotton picking force.

Haryana is not far behind, with 16%

of cotton picking labour being children.

This study estimates about 500,000 child labourers in Punjab, 350,000 in Haryana and 440,000 Rajasthan.

In Rajasthan, one of the poorest states in India where more than 46% * of the children drop out of school, the work will also include a focus on child migration from the district of Banswada.

Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children India says, “Children’s groups have played an essential role in educating local officials and parents in the risks of sending children to work and the importance of education. We are delighted to be able to work with the IKEA Foundation in expanding this work further to reach even more children across India.” IKEA Foundation’s efforts to tackle child labour in India and Pakistan began in 2001.

Santhwanam Kataloor conducts family gathering “I

t is thousand times easier to rule a nation than mould a child” said P. Sameer Mohammed, HR coordinator & resource person of ‘Centre for Information and Guidance India’, popularly known as CIGI. He was delivering a presentation on the topic ‘child psychology and parenting’ conducted on the occasion of the family gathering of ‘Santhwanam’ at Abbasiya Pravasi Auditorium.

Explaining the quote by Alice Miller “Every absurd behavior roots in early childhood and not by accident” Sameer demonstrated to the audience that a child imitates and learns from his parents.

Hence parental behavior is of utmost importance in the life of a developing child. The child’s personality development begins from the womb of his mother and therefore the child is effected by every mental and mood variations of the mother which causes chemical imbalance which in turn effects the child. This is why gynecologist always stress that pregnant women should stay away from worry.

A child learns from his environment.

Behavior traits and personality development takes place in a child due to the effects of his environment in which the child is brought up. Hence providing for the same is the responsibility of every parent. The healthy life position is ‘I am okay, you are okay’ and this is what every parent should aim at.

Raising a child is not just the role of mothers. The father needs to understand and develop role sharing when it comes to parenting. Parents should strive to

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IKEA Foundation extends commitment to fight child labor 10 million grant will fund efforts to protect 3.55 million children in India Today, the IKEA Foundation and Save the Children announced that they will expand their efforts to fight child labour in the cotton industry, with new programmes in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajastan.

This expansion will build on already successful efforts in 1,866 villages in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra where more than 65,000 children (6-14 years) have been moved out of child labour and into classrooms. In addition, the projects have also helped 89,000 children (3-6 years) benefit from quality pre-school education (Anganwadi), and provided vocational skills to 16,000 15 18 year olds.

The three new projects will aim to replicate this success by: Improving the quality of education to make sure children complete school and reduce the drop-out rate;

Embassy

become the best friends of their children; available at all times, to stand by their side, providing unconditional love and acceptance, accepting their personality and not forcing into things they don’t like to do, for every child has their own likes and dislikes which is a part of their personality. Never compare your child to another couples child. They can never be like others for they are the result of your gene and not others.

Earlier, the family meet was inaugurated by Shabeer Mandoli, Central Executive Member of Santhwanam Katalur Cultural

Organization followed by the Presidential address by Ayadathil Abdulla, President of organization.

Various arts and cultural events including quiz competition, painting, light music etc followed the inaugural session.

Santhwanam members including men women and children added colors to the program with their whole heated participation and performance. Ismail Nandi, Nasreen Fathima, Naseer N.K., Ashraf, Shameem Mandoly, Jaseela Suhail, Shahul and Shible Basheer entertained the audience with their melodies songs.

Ali Puthukkudi, Najeeb K, Haneefa V.V, Rasheed Mandoly, Haneefa Star, Hameed Kurooli, Majeed Nadukkandy, Rafeeque Paloli and Sahad Kataloor distributed the prizes to the participants. Muneer Nandi and Azeez Thlkkodi lead the various events. The General Secretary of Santhwanam Shuaib Rasheed welcomed the Audience followed by vote of thanks

by Zakariya P.K.

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus requests Cypriot citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy has moved. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Cypriot citizens in cases of emergencies.

Registration information can be emailed to cyprusembassykwt@gmail.com or faxed to 22253227 or given by phone to 65906048 (Mrs Christine).

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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: Saturday 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 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF MEXICO The Embassy of Mexico is pleased to inform that it is located in CLIFFS Complex, Villa 6, Salmiya, block 9, Baghdad street, Jadda Lane 7. The working hours for consular issues are from 9:00 to 12:00 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 14:00 to 15:00 hours for lunch break. The Embassy of Mexico kindly requests all Mexicans citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the e-mail: embkuwait@sre.gob.mx in order to register or update contact information. Other consultations or/and appointments could be done by telephone or fax: (+965) 2573 1952 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location.

Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NEPAL The Embassy of Nepal will be moving from its current location to a new place in Jabriya, Block 8, St. 13, House No. 514, effective from 15th April, 2012. Till the new telephone connections are installed, the Embassy may be contacted by email: info@nepembku.org ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF THAILAND The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait, wishes to invite the Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 -25317531, Ext: 14.

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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.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 I’m Alive 02:35 Wildest Arctic 03:30 Wildest India 04:25 Safari Vet School 04:50 Safari Vet School 05:20 Wildlife SOS 05:45 Escape To Chimp Eden 06:10 Cell Dogs 07:00 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 07:25 Breed All About It 07:50 Breed All About It 08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Extraordinary Dogs 09:10 Project Puppy 09:35 Project Puppy 10:05 Safari Vet School 10:30 Safari Vet School 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Animal Cops South Africa 12:50 Last Chance Highway 13:45 Wild Africa Rescue 14:10 Wildlife SOS 14:40 Safari Vet School 15:05 Safari Vet School 15:30 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 Baby Planet 17:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 18:20 Safari Sisters 18:45 Safari Sisters 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Escape To Chimp Eden 20:10 Killer Whales 21:05 Wildest Africa 22:00 Wild Britain With Ray Mears 22:25 Wild Britain With Ray Mears 22:55 Snake Crusader With Bruce

00:00 Newsday 00:30 Asia Business Report 00:45 Sport Today 01:00 Newsday 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Sport Today 02:00 Newsday 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 Newsday 03:30 Hardtalk 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 World Business Report 04:45 BBC World News 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 World Business Report 05:45 BBC World News 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 World Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 Sport Today 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 Hardtalk 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 BBC World News 11:00 GMT With George Alagiah 11:30 GMT With George Alagiah 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 13:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 14:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 Hardtalk 16:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 16:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing 17:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 18:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 19:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 19:30 World Business Report

19:45 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 21:45 22:00 22:30 22:45 23:00 23:30 23:45

Sport Today BBC World News America Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:00 05:25 05:50 06:00 06:30 06:55 07:20 07:45 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:00 12:15 12:40 12:55 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 18:10 19:00 19:15 19:40 19:55 20:20 20:35 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:20 23:45

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 Dexters Laboratory Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Ha Ha Hairies Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers Tom & Jerry Kids Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! Dastardly And Muttley Looney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Moomins The Garfield Show Dexter’s Laboratory Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley New Yogi Bear Show

00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia 00:55 Bakugan: New Vestroia 01:20 Powerpuff Girls 02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Casper’s Scare School 06:25 Eliot Kid 06:50 The Amazing World Of Gumball 07:15 Adventure Time 07:40 Regular Show 08:05 Grim Adventures Of...

08:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:45 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:10 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

10:35 Powerpuff Girls 11:25 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 11:50 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 12:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy 13:05 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:30 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 13:55 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 14:20 Camp Lazlo 14:45 Powerpuff Girls 15:35 Angelo Rules 16:25 Grim Adventures Of...

17:00 Total Drama: Revenge Of The Island 17:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:40 Adventure Time 18:05 Regular Show 18:30 Ben 10 18:55 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 19:20 Hero 108 19:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 20:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 21:25 The Powerpuff Girls 21:50 Cow And Chicken 22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Ben 10 23:40 Chowder

00:15 One Man Army 01:10 Destroyed In Seconds 01:35 Unchained Reaction 02:30 James May’s Man Lab 03:25 Inventions That Shook The World 04:20 One Man Army 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 Factory Line 06:05 Flying Wild Alaska 07:00 Twist The Throttle 07:50 Mythbusters 08:45 Ultimate Survival 09:40 Border Security 10:05 Auction Hunters 10:30 How It’s Made 10:55 Factory Line 11:25 Sons Of Guns 12:20 Battle Machine Bros 13:15 Extreme Explosions 14:10 Border Security 14:35 Auction Hunters 15:05 Flying Wild Alaska 16:00 Chop Shop: London Garage 16:55 Wheeler Dealers 17:20 Ultimate Survival 18:15 Mythbusters 19:10 How It’s Made 19:40 Factory Line 20:05 Border Security 20:35 Auction Hunters 21:00 Carfellas 21:30 Sons Of Guns 22:25 First Week In 23:20 Kidnap And Rescue

00:35 01:25 01:50 02:40 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:35 10:25 10:50 11:20 12:15 13:05 13:55 14:20 14:50 15:15 15:40 16:05 17:00 17:25

Meteorite Men The Tech Show Weird Or What?

Invisible Worlds Weird Connections Weird Connections Stunt Junkies Stunt Junkies Mighty Ships Smash Lab Meteorite Men Weird Connections Weird Connections Weird Or What?

Invisible Worlds The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Smash Lab Mighty Ships Meteorite Men Weird Connections Weird Connections Stunt Junkies Stunt Junkies The Tech Show Smash Lab The Gadget Show The Gadget Show

THE WARRIORʼS WAY ON OSN ACTION HD

17:50 Meteorite Men 18:40 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 19:05 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 19:30 Sci-Trek 20:20 The Gadget Show 20:45 The Gadget Show 21:10 Smash Lab 22:00 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 22:25 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 22:50 Sci-Trek 23:40 Mighty Ships

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:26 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:25 09:35 09:45 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:26 11:40 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:55 23:45

Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Fish Hooks Recess Phineas And Ferb So Random Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mouk Recess So Random Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Fish Hooks Jake & Blake Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Recess Jessie A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Suite Life On Deck Jessie Jessie A.N.T. Farm Recess Wizards Of Waverly Place So Random Fish Hooks Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up Jonas So Random Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Kim Possible

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:21 American Dragon 06:45 Rekkit Rabbit 07:10 Rated A For Awesome 07:35 Rated A For Awesome 08:00 Rated A For Awesome 08:25 Rated A For Awesome 08:50 Kick Buttowski 09:15 Zeke & Luther 09:40 I’m In The Band 10:05 Phineas And Ferb 10:30 Kid vs Kat 10:55 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 11:20 Aaron Stone 11:45 Rekkit Rabbit 12:10 American Dragon 12:35 Kick Buttowski 13:00 Phineas And Ferb 13:25 I’m In The Band 13:45 Kid vs Kat 14:10 Pair Of Kings 14:35 Zeke & Luther 15:00 Rekkit Rabbit 15:25 Pokemon: Black And White 15:50 Timon And Pumbaa 16:15 Rated A For Awesome 16:40 Pair Of Kings 17:05 Zeke & Luther 17:30 Mr. Young 17:55 Phineas And Ferb 18:20 Phineas And Ferb 18:45 Fort Boyard - Ultimate Challenge 19:10 Kickin It 19:35 Kick Buttowski 20:00 Pair Of Kings 20:25 Zeke & Luther 20:50 Escape From Scorpion Island 21:20 Aaron Stone 21:45 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 22:10 Phineas And Ferb 22:35 Kid vs Kat 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 02:20 E!es 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kendra 09:45 Kendra 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Khloe And Lamar 13:35 Khloe And Lamar 14:05 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 14:35 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Ice Loves Coco 17:25 Ice Loves Coco 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Giuliana & Bill 20:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Fashion Police 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately

23:55 Keeping Kardashians

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Up With The

The Haunted Psychic Witness LA: City Of Demons Cops And Coyotes Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted Psychic Witness Disappeared Forensic Detectives FBI Case Files Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Mall Cops – Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol FBI Case Files Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Mall Cops – Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Forensic Detectives FBI Case Files Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Mall Cops – Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Nightmare Next Door Nightmare Next Door Dr G: Medical Examiner

01:05 Thieves Like Us-PG 03:05 Miami Blues-18 04:40 Evidence Of Blood-PG 06:30 Three Fifteen-18 07:55 Man Of LA Mancha-PG 10:05 How To Beat The High Cost Of Living-PG 11:50 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 12:05 Ice Blues-PG 13:30 Kings Of The Sun-PG 15:15 Love Or Money 16:45 Nobody’s Fool 18:30 Eight Men Out-PG 20:30 Ski School 22:00 Love Bites 23:34 Longtime Companion

00:00 Danger Men 01:00 By Any Means 02:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 02:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 03:00 Pressure Cook 03:30 Pressure Cook 04:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 05:00 Bondi Rescue: Bali 05:30 Bondi Rescue: Bali 06:00 Danger Men 07:00 By Any Means 08:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 08:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 09:00 Pressure Cook 09:30 Pressure Cook 10:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 11:00 Bondi Rescue: Bali 11:30 Bondi Rescue: Bali 12:00 Danger Men 13:00 By Any Means 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 15:00 Pressure Cook 15:30 Pressure Cook 16:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 17:00 Bondi Rescue: Bali 17:30 Bondi Rescue: Bali 18:00 Danger Men 19:00 A World Apart 20:00 Delinquent Gourmet 20:30 Delinquent Gourmet 21:00 One Man & His Campervan 21:30 One Man & His Campervan 22:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 22:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 23:00 Ultimate Traveller

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 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Megastructures Somewhere In China Taboo Megastructures Britain’s Greatest Machines Animal Autopsy The Border Inside Megastructures Somewhere In China Taboo Megastructures Britain’s Greatest Machines Animal Autopsy The Border Inside Megastructures Somewhere In China Taboo Megastructures Salvage Code Red Predator CSI Rescue Ink Inside

00:00 Wildlife Rescue Africa 01:00 The Pack 01:55 Hooked 02:50 Swamp Men 03:45 World’s Deadliest Animals 04:40 Swamp Men 05:35 The Living Edens 06:30 Hooked 07:25 Swamp Men 08:20 World’s Deadliest Animals 09:15 Cheetah Blood Brothers 10:10 Shark Island 11:05 Lion Battle Zone 12:00 Sharkville 13:00 Monster Fish 14:00 Swamp Men 15:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 16:00 The Great Serengeti (aka Serengeti) 17:00 Super Pride 18:00 Sixgill Shark: Into The Abyss 19:00 Hooked 20:00 Swamp Men

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES ON OSN CINEMA 21:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 22:00 Cheetah Blood Brothers 23:00 Shark Island

22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30

Family Guy The Cleveland Show Curb Your Enthusiasm Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

17:00 19:15 21:00 23:00

Glorious 39-PG15 Blind Mountain-PG15 The Chamber-18 Random Hearts-18

00:00 Wildlife Rescue Africa 01:00 The Pack 01:55 Hooked 02:50 Swamp Men 03:45 World’s Deadliest Animals 04:40 Swamp Men 05:35 The Living Edens 06:30 Hooked 07:25 Swamp Men 08:20 World’s Deadliest Animals 09:15 Cheetah Blood Brothers 10:10 Shark Island 11:05 Lion Battle Zone 12:00 Sharkville 13:00 Monster Fish 14:00 Swamp Men 15:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 16:00 The Great Serengeti (aka Serengeti) 17:00 Super Pride 18:00 Sixgill Shark: Into The Abyss 19:00 Hooked 20:00 Swamp Men 21:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 22:00 Cheetah Blood Brothers 23:00 Shark Island

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

Grimm The Glades Law & Order: Criminal Intent Once Upon A Time Damages Good Morning America The Invisible Man Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View The Glades Once Upon A Time Good Morning America The Invisible Man The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Scandal American Idol Downton Abbey Damages

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Priest-18 A Lot Like Love-PG15 Get Low-PG15 Shrek Forever After-FAM The Spy Next Door-PG Like Mike-PG The Last Airbender-PG Paper Man-PG15 The Spy Next Door-PG The King’s Speech-PG15 Bad Teacher-18 The Rite-18

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 22:00 23:00

Falling Skies Law & Order: Criminal Intent Grimm The Glades Once Upon A Time Friday Night Lights Falling Skies Emmerdale Coronation Street Surface Law & Order: Criminal Intent The Glades Once Upon A Time Emmerdale Hot In Cleveland The Ellen DeGeneres Show Surface Falling Skies Emmerdale Hot In Cleveland The Ellen DeGeneres Show Surface Scandal American Idol Downton Abbey Combat Hospital

02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Queen Of The Swallows-FAM True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG Flubber-PG Cher Ami-PG15 Bat Cat And Bitsy-FAM The Lucky Dragon-PG True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG Ramses Of Egypt-PG Bat Cat And Bitsy-FAM Cats & Dogs-PG The Lucky Dragon-PG

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 PG15 11:00 13:00 15:00 PG15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

2:22-18 Full Metal Jacket-18 Jake’s Closet-PG15 Triassic Attack-PG15 Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost-

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Brotherhood-PG15 Child’s Play 3-18 Tupac: Resurrection-18 The Warrior’s Way-PG15 Riddles Of The Sphinx-PG15 Largo Winch 2-PG15 Fighting-PG15 Riddles Of The Sphinx-PG15 Cross-18 Fighting-PG15 Men In Black-PG15 Men In Black II-PG

01:01 The Heavy-18 03:00 The Cry Of The Owl-PG15 05:00 The Tender Hook-PG15 07:00 Waiting For Superman-PG15 09:00 The Cry Of The Owl-PG15 10:45 Tron: Legacy-PG15 13:00 The Conspirator-PG15 15:00 According To Greta-PG15 16:45 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 19:00 Takers-PG15 21:00 Bad Teacher-18 23:00 Death Race 2-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 02:00 Hung 02:30 Curb Your Enthusiasm 03:00 Perfect Couples 03:30 Wilfred 04:00 Weird Science 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Mr. Sunshine 06:30 Melissa And Joey 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Weird Science 08:30 Perfect Couples 09:00 Seinfeld 10:30 Melissa And Joey 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Mr. Sunshine 12:30 Weird Science 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Melissa And Joey 14:00 Wilfred 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Mr. Sunshine 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Perfect Couples 18:30 Wilfred 19:00 Cougar Town 19:30 How I Met Your Mother 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report

Inside Out-PG Blank Slate-PG15 Jesse Stone: Innocents LostLargo Winch 2-PG15 Men In Black-PG15 Men In Black II-PG Bats-18

00:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 02:00 Death At A Funeral-PG15 04:00 Babe: Pig In The City-FAM 06:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 08:00 How To Go Out On A Date In Queens-PG15 10:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian-PG15 12:00 A Pyromaniac’s Love StoryPG15 14:00 Happy Ever Afters-PG15 16:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian-PG15 18:00 Snow Dogs-PG 20:00 A Guy Thing-PG15 22:00 Crazy On The Outside-PG15

01:15 03:00 05:15 07:15 09:00 11:15 13:00 14:45

Body Of Evidence-R Legends Of The Fall-18 Black Lightning-PG15 Freestyle (2010)-PG15 Mammoth-PG15 The Fantastic Water Babes-PG Shipwrecked-PG Mammoth-PG15

01:00 Trans World Sport 02:00 Super Rugby 04:00 NRL Premiership 06:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 07:00 Trans World Sport 08:00 Super Rugby Highlights 09:00 Premier League Darts 12:30 Futbol Mundial 13:00 Live Test Cricket 21:00 Live Premier League Darts 23:30 Futbol Mundial

00:30 01:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:00 07:00 10:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 14:30 16:30 18:30 19:30 20:00 23:30

European Tour Weekly Premier League Darts Futbol Mundial European PGA Tour Highlights Top 14 Highlights Super Rugby Highlights HSBC Sevens World Series City Center Races Top 14 Highlights Trans World Sport Total Rugby Rugby League Challenge Scottish Premier League AFL Highlights SPL Highlights Live Premier League Darts Super Rugby Highlights

00:00 Ironman 03:00 Snooker World Championship 06:00 World Cup Of Pool 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 09:00 European Tour Weekly 09:30 Total Rugby 10:00 Trans World Sport 11:00 Super Rugby 13:00 Futbol Mundial 13:30 Golfing World 14:00 European Tour Weekly 15:00 Live European PGA Tour 19:00 Golfing World 20:00 Trans World Sport 21:00 Total Rugby 21:30 European PGA Tour

00:00 01:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 12:30 15:30 16:30 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 21:00 22:00

WWE NXT PrizeFighter UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection PrizeFighter V8 Supercars Extra Live AFL Premiership WWE Experience V8 Supercars Extra UFC The Ultimate Fighter Mobil 1 The Grid UAE National Race Day WWE SmackDown WWE Bottomline UFC

Classifieds THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines

Arrival Flights on Thursday 17/5/2012 Flt Route

Time

JZR QTR JZR JZR ETH GFA UAE ETD DHX FDB MSR QTR THY KAC DHX FAH KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY IRA QTR IRA FDB ETD BAB GFA MEA JZR MSR KNE MSC JZR MSR GFA KAC FDB OMA KNE QTR SVA RJA KAC JZR KAC QTR KAC JZR KAC JZR ETD UAE SVA GFA UAL JZR TAR JZR ABY KAC KNE KAC KAC JZR BAB KAC FDB KAC MSR MSC KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK UAE JZR ETD BBC ABY QTR DHX JZR AIC RBG GFA UAL JZR DLH THY KLM

185 148 539 267 620 211 853 305 370 67 612 138 770 154 170 201 412 157 529 206 382 53 302 332 352 284 362 855 125 605 132 617 55 301 436 213 404 165 618 470 9621 201 610 219 672 57 645 472 140 500 640 788 257 546 134 118 535 118 357 303 857 510 215 982 177 328 777 127 176 474 502 542 125 438 786 63 104 624 9623 618 674 614 572 774 562 389 61 647 402 146 221 229 859 135 307 43 129 136 372 513 981 3553 217 981 239 636 772 411

0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:55 3:10 3:20 3:25 4:35 4:55 5:00 5:30 6:15 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:35 9:00 9:15 9:20 9:30 9:35 10:00 10:55 11:05 11:25 11:35 11:45 12:30 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:00 14:15 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:20 16:35 16:55 17:20 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:45 17:55 18:00 18:15 18:30 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:40 23:40

DUBAI DOHA CAIRO BEIRUT ADDIS ABABA BAHRAIN DUBAI ABU DHABI BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO DOHA ISTANBUL ISTANBUL BAHRAIN DUBAI MANILA LONDON ASSIUT ISLAMABAD DELHI DUBAI MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI SHARJAH ISFAHAN DOHA AHWAZ DUBAI ABU DHABI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH ASSIUT DAMASCUS CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI DUBAI MUSCAT JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH AMMAN JEDDAH BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA DOHA NEW YORK CAIRO NEW YORK MASHAD ABU DHABI DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN WASHINGTON DC DULLES DUBAI TUNIS JEDDAH SHARJAH GENEVA JEDDAH BEIRUT CAIRO BAHRAIN BAHRAIN JEDDAH DUBAI LONDON SOHAG SOHAG DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN MUMBAI RIYADH AMMAN KOZHIKODE DUBAI MUSCAT BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN COLOMBO DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DHAKA SHARJAH DOHA BAHRAIN SHARM EL SHEIKH CHENNAI ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMMAN FRANKFURT ISTANBUL AMSTERDAM

Airlines AIC UAL DLH THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR JZR GFA THY KAC BAW FDB JZR ABY JZR KAC KAC IRA UAE QTR KAC FDB ETD IRA BAB JZR GFA KAC KAC MEA KAC JZR MSR KNE MSC KAC JZR GFA FDB MSR KAC OMA KAC KNE JZR KAC RJA JZR SVA QTR KAC KAC ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR TAR ABY SVA UAL KNE JZR FDB BAB KAC MSR MSC JZR JAI FDB KAC KAC KAC OMA MEA GFA DHX ALK ABY ETD UAE FAH QTR KAC KAC DHX JZR BBC QTR AXB RBG GFA KAC KAC JZR

Departure Flights on Thursday17/5/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 200 DAMASCUS 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 606 MASHHAD 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 616 AHWAZ 437 BAHRAIN 356 MASHHAD 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 501 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 623 SOHAG 471 JEDDAH 9622 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 646 MUSCAT 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 124 BAHRAIN 617 DOHA 641 AMMAN 512 SHARM EL SHEIKH 505 JEDDAH 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 613 BAHRAIN 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 538 CAIRO 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 328 TUNIS 128 SHARJAH 511 RIYADH 982 BAHRAIN 475 JEDDAH 266 BEIRUT 64 DUBAI 439 BAHRAIN 283 DHAKA 607 LUXOR 9624 ASSIUT 184 DUBAI 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 343 CHENNAI 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 222 BAHRAIN 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 860 DUBAI 102 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 373 BAHRAIN 554 ALEXANDRIA 44 DHAKA 147 DOHA 390 MANGALORE 3554 ALEXANDRIA 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 415 KUALA LUMPUR 528 ASSIUT

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 2:15 2:45 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:55 7:00 7:05 7:10 8:10 8:25 8:25 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:20 9:35 9:35 9:40 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:15 10:25 10:30 10:45 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:15 12:25 12:25 12:45 13:10 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:40 15:00 15:05 15:15 15:30 15:45 15:50 15:55 16:00 16:15 16:25 16:30 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:35 20:40 20:50 20:55 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:35 21:50 21:55 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:50 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw) Prayer timings

112 Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:26 11:44 15:20 18:34 20:01

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for Indian only near Kuwait Finance House, Khaitan. Contact: 66141908.

(C 4007) Semi furnished spacious room with attached bath in a C-A/C flat in Hawally near Dar Al-Shifa Hospital, suitable for an executive bachelor or spinster. Contact: 97706970. (C 4008)

Room available in New Riggae in a central AC flat without kitchen facility for single, non-smoker, south Indian executive bachelor.

Contact. 99515956.

14-5-2012 Sharing accommodation available for decent Keralite bachelor in Abbasiya near German Clinic. Contact: 99651292/ 66471315.

(C 4000) 12-5-2012 CHANGE OF NAME FOR SALE

Sharing accommodation available in Mahboula for non-smoking Keralite.

Contact: 66725394. (C 4009) Single room in flat, separate bathroom, 1st floor, flat-1, near HighWay Center (Time Out), Abbasiya, rent KD 90/-.Contact: 55108310/ 66494240. (C 3998) 16-5-2012 One bedroom available for Keralite couples in Abbasiya near Maliaekal Jewellers with a Christian family.

Window A/C, single bathroom. Contact: 99494671.

(C 4004) Sharing accommodation available for an executive Indian bachelor in a C-A/C building with a Keralite family, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom in Abbassiya, opp.

Spencer Bakery. Contact: 97647908/ 24759069.

(C 4006) 15-5-2012

Laptop Dell, Model D510, Ram 1GB, HD 60 GB, DVD + CD Writer Combo, Wi-Fi + Bluetooth, display 15”, excellent condition, price KD 50/-.

Contact: 99322585. (C 4012)

15-5-2012 Nissan Sunny 2007, Golden color, 114,000 km, 1.6L, KD 600 cash + KD 46 (for 23 Months) or KD 1,600/- cash, negotiable.

Contact: 66925390/ 66604286.

(C 4003) 14-5-2012 MATRIMONIAL 32 year, Orthodox boy (5’9”) working as sales manager in a MNC logistic company invites proposals from God fearing and well educated girls.

Email: maibu007@gmail.com (C 3993) 10-5-2012

Hospitals Sabah Hospital Amiri Hospital Maternity Hospital Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital Chest Hospital Farwaniya Hospital Adan Hospital Ibn Sina Hospital Al-Razi Hospital Physiotherapy Hospital

24812000 22450005 24843100 25312700 24849400 24892010 23940620 24840300 24846000 24874330/9

Clinics Rabiya Rawdha Adailiya Khaldiya Khaifan Shamiya Shuwaikh Abdullah Salim Al-Nuzha Industrial Shuwaikh Al-Qadisiya Dasmah Bneid Al-Ghar Al-Shaab Al-Kibla Ayoun Al-Kibla Mirqab Sharq Salmiya Jabriya Maidan Hawally Bayan Mishref W.Hawally Sabah Jahra New Jahra West Jahra South Jahra North Jahra North Jleeb Ardiya Firdous Al-Omariya N.Khaitan Fintas

24732263 22517733 22517144 24848075 24849807 24848913 24814507 22549134 22526804 24814764 22515088 22532265 22531908 22518752 22459381 22451082 22456536 22465401 25746401 25316254 25623444 25388462 25381200 22630786 24810221 24770319 24575755 24772608 24775066 24775992 24311795 24884079 24892674 24719048 24710044 3900322

SITUATION VACANT

I, Saldana Rita, holder of Indian passport No. G1350852 converted to Islam do hereby change my name to Sameera. (C 4005) 15-5-2012

Required a live-in house

I, Subramaniyan Saravanan, s/o Subramaniyan, holder of Indian passport No. G9950267 converted to Islam do hereby change my name to S. Sameer Mohamed. (C 4002) 13-5-2012

66473343. (C 4001)

I, Bhasha Venkatesh holder of Indian passport No. E5976797 hereby change my name to Bhasha Chalapathi.

10-5-2012

maid Sri Lankan or Filipino for an Indian family in Farwaniya, salary KD 120/(for one month). Contact: 12-5-2012

SITUATION VACANT Required a live-in house maid Sri Lankan or Filipino for an Indian family in Farwaniya, salary KD 120/(for one month). Contact: 66473343. (C 4001) 12-5-2012

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345 00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594

French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258

34

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 677

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) This is one of your overall best days. Although you are predominantly interested in personal harmony and emotional security, there is more ambition in you these days. You may find yourself plotting a path to better your career. Perhaps you have spotted the fly in the ointment, so to speak.

Improvements in business matters can be enjoyed, written about and brought to the attention of higher-ups. A request for a promotion can be a point to ponder at this time. Perhaps you can make a proposal that will help improve the speed with which a product is produced. You have suggestions that will help increase business or improve customer relations. Good results come from your efforts. This evening is a good time to enjoy laughter with friends or family.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You could feel inadequate this morning—perhaps you are learning a new technique or new work equipment. Lighten up— look around—others could be learning as well! You are in a planning mood and are very clearheaded and able to view all of your options. Go ahead and make those decisions now. You can see the road ahead and will make the right choices. This is a time when you can expect a little boost, some extra support or recognition from those around you. A co-worker may need your encouragement this afternoon. Romance is in the picture later, particularly through some social activity or pursuits such as volunteer work. There is inner harmony present and relationships begun now have longlasting possibilities.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. How long something has existed.

4. The part of a garment that is attached at armhole and provides a cloth covering for the arm.

10. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

13. Duplicator that transmits the copy by wire or radio.

14. A game played with rackets by two or four players who hit a ball back and forth over a net that divides the court.

15. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

16. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

17. Used by southerners for an inhabitant of a northern state in the United States (especially a Union soldier).

18. A master's degree in business.

19. Tall perennial herb of tropical Asia with dark green leaves.

21. Take in solid food.

24. A Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria.

27. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

28. A island in the Netherlands Antilles that is the top of an extinct volcano.

31. Surveying instrument consisting of the upper movable part of a theodolite including the telescope and its attachments.

33. A master's degree in fine arts.

35. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

36. One of the most common of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.

37. Step on it.

38. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

39. A high-crowned black cap (usually made of felt or sheepskin) worn by men in Turkey and Iran and the Caucasus.

42. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

44. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

45. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

46. Either of two large African antelopes of the genus Taurotragus having short spirally twisted horns in both sexes.

49. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

52. The syllable naming the fourth (subdominant) note of the diatonic scale in solmization.

53. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

56. A clique that seeks power usually through intrigue.

60. Someone who is morally reprehensible.

61. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

62. Wear away.

64. An accountant certified by the state.

65. A doctor's degree in education.

66. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

67. A unit of pressure.

DOWN 1. (old-fashioned) At or from or to a great distance.

2. Offering fun and gaiety.

3. A set of questions or exercises evaluating skill or knowledge.

4. An infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid.

5. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

6. The cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one.

7. Antiarrhythmic drug (trade name Enkaid) used to treat life-threatening arrhythmias but increases the risk of sudden death in heart attack patients.

8. A communist state in Indochina on the South China Sea. 9. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

10. A large fleet.

11. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

12. The sixth month of the civil year.

20. Made agreeably cold (especially by ice).

22. Flat tableland with steep edges.

23. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

25. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

26. The face of a timepiece.

29. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

30. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

32. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

34. A tax on employees and employers that is used to fund the Social Security system.

40. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

41. An oral cephalosporin (trade names Keflex and Keflin and Keftab) commonly prescribe for mild to moderately severe infections of the skin or ears or throat or lungs or urinary tract.

43. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

47. The sacred city of Lamaism.

48. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

49. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

50. (of a young animal) Abandoned by its mother and raised by hand.

51. In bed.

54. Deeply moved.

55. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

57. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

58. In favor of (an action or proposal etc.).

59. A young woman making her debut into society.

63. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You and your work could come under scrutiny by someone in authority. You have a need to be respected, which may become an emotionally charged issue in your life just now. Remember, you also have a knack of charming anyone to your way of thinking. Think things through before trying to convince a higher-up of your techniques or a different way of working. Work, achievement and ambition means a lot to you now and you have a real appreciation for ideas and thoughts. This is a good time to complete any unfinished business—the longer you wait, the faster things can go wrong. Your confidence is high and much can be accomplished now. During this time, when your confidence and energies are high—a creative project could be completed.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your mind is stimulated and there is great wit at hand today.

Your inclination and ability to solve complex problems and puzzles surprise others. If you are able to channel this mental energy productively, you will accomplish much. You display an urge to be recognized by co-workers. You may want to feel more secure in your professional realm of life just now. There could be some difficulties at work due to the struggle of some project.

Perseverance is crucial during this short period; you will do whatever is needed to succeed. Your disposition is open and welcoming. Because you accept loved ones for who they truly are, you greatly enjoy their company. Interactions with the opposite sex are stimulating and delightful this evening.

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) You have much confidence today but your moods may fluctuate as much as the weather. You may find yourself abandoning a particular job for some other interest at this time. This is not the best time to make lasting decisions regarding personal matters. Make a point of reviewing the facts before speaking your mind. There is an urge to strike out on your own, particularly with new challenges no matter what the risks. You can be bold, perhaps impatient. Get outside for a while during the noon hour—perhaps to visit a bookstore. Read something funny, merge your sense of humor into the day and life will not seem so black and white.

You will also find life easier to maneuver through when your left-brain and right-brain work together. Have fun tonight.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You are full of enthusiasm and creative energy today. You never seem intimidated and you are determined to rise above any problems you may find. You tend to have a quick wit—and you are able to accomplish matters on sheer willpower. Your creative energy is expressed through your business and private affairs, giving you an edge over others. Be aware of your need to dominate and tread carefully within a love relationship. There is a chance to understand those around you and to have a special time with a loved one. General good feelings and a sense of support and harmony make this a happy time. Your sensibility may cause you to shy away from someone for fear of getting hurt. However, your sensitive nature is the very thing that helps you succeed.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This day being a low cycle day may find you daydreaming or fantasizing about your future. An irritating co-worker may try your patience temporarily. Do not take irrational behavior personally—higher-ups are watching. A good rule to go by is to think-before-you-act. You will be proud of yourself as you work to be understanding of a difficult person. It takes character and self-control to follow through with this but . . . you can do it. Your creative thinking gains a boost after the noon meal and you come up with new ideas regarding your professional and personal life. You may be introduced to some people this evening that will be important to your future. Take the opportunity to network this evening during a social event.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) This is a very lucky day for making plans or decisions and finding your way through most any problem you may discover. You feel successful and able to contend with difficulties. If you need it, good advice from a respected senior is available. A social contact proves helpful in business. There are optimism, faith and a tendency to take chances emotionally. This is a good time to consolidate and organize your affairs. You could be seen by others as the right person to be the advisor or organizer over some project. You are cautious and thorough wherever you are in command—at work or for the family. You attract favorable communication through your own self-confidence. This may be a good evening to enjoy bicycling or walking with someone.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

While others could get on your nerves today, patience and a willingness to accomplish your assigned work will get you through the day unscathed. This afternoon, after work would be the perfect time to read, go to a movie, pull weeds or perhaps bicycle ride through the park with a friend. Most people want to have a feeling of importance—identify your feeling of importance. This achievement of self-importance may be the topic of discussion this evening. Create an opportunity for everyone to contribute some thought along this line and you will help yourself and others to move forward in positive ways. Learn and teach others to evaluate what is important and what is unnecessary—find the humor. Relax to beautiful music later this evening.

High motivation this morning could find you burning yourself out toward the afternoon. There may be some power struggles at work but you will know just what to do. If possible, pace your work activities. Perhaps this is not the time to joke around or have a big lunch break with your friends. A light lunch and a brisk walk will have you feeling ready to return to your very busy workday.

You can accomplish just about anything you set your mind to accomplish—stay focused. You could find that you are appreciated for your ability to accomplish projects quickly. You may be able to enjoy a bit of exercise or group sports with friends this afternoon. This evening seems to have agreeable energies surrounding your choice of activities.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This is one of your challenging days. However, others will give you encouragement and are willing to lend a helping hand if things get stressful. You will gain an understanding of how things can be delayed or canceled with business plans. Some sort of temporary obstacle could appear—making everyone feel a bit frustrated. Some project could be put on hold and this could have everyone jumping through hoops to move another project off the ground. It may be difficult to satisfy the customers just now—but with patience, it is not impossible. You have a tendency to be extremely hard working. Do not let others distract you from getting things done. Ease up this evening and strike a balance. Find fun things to do that will create relaxation.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Things are looking up in the workplace. Everything points to you having the power today—you could feel great support from those around you. You feel healthy and natural and have a feeling that anything is possible. There are optimism, faith and a tendency to take chances at the deepest emotional level. In-depth discussions and appealing conversations find you at your mental best. Your analytical abilities are good and you appear, perhaps, more charming and refined than usual. Now could be the time to arrange for that special date, apply for a raise or otherwise make yourself known. This may be a time for relaxation with friends or an opportunity to communicate with a loved one. You will learn lovely new things from a loved one today.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n

112

Al-Madena

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

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Sabah Hospital

Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

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

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

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

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

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Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

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Diamond at heart of royal Europe goes for $9.5 million

diamond coveted by kings, queens and princes for centuries, used to reinforce alliances between nations and pawned to pay off royal debts sold for 9 million Swiss francs

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($9.57 million) at Sotheby’s in Geneva on Tuesday night. The auction house called the “Beau Sancy” diamond “one of the most important historic diamonds ever to come to auction”, reflecting its

A picture taken on May 10, 2012 shows a model posing with the Beau Sancy diamond during a Sotheby’s auction press preview in Geneva.—AFP

Race, age questions fuel Miss World Fiji fiasco irst came complaints that the winner of the Miss World Fiji pageant looked too Western to represent her country. Then her age came under scrutiny. And now, with the 16-year-old’s crown lost, one of the judges says the contest was rigged from the start. The pageant has turned into a fiasco in this South Pacific nation of about 900,000. The pageant’s director is avoiding questions as fans of the fallen beauty queen, Torika Watters, flock online to support her. Watters was crowned Miss World Fiji last month by an international panel of judges led by New Zealand supermodel Rachel Hunter, winning the opportunity to represent the country at the world competition in China in August.

Soon after, however, dozens of people posted messages on the Miss World Fiji Facebook page questioning whether Watters, who is of mixed racial heritage, represented Fijian beauty or was simply a mirror of Western ideals. Two weeks after she won, Watters wrote on her Facebook page, pageant director Andhy Blake told her she couldn’t compete for Miss World because she is too young.

The international competition requires contestants be at least 17 years old, but Watters said Blake previously assured her “it was fine” because he had received prior approval for her entry from international organizers.

Organizers of the Fijian event over the weekend announced a new winner: Koini Vakaloloma, 24. A message on the Miss World Fiji Facebook page Tuesday said that Watters had voluntarily stepped down and that reports connecting the decision with racism or her age were “untrue.” “Despite all the negative hype surrounding our event, we continue to defend against all allegations and accusations,” the message said. The Facebook page appeared to have been removed by yesterday. Blake could not be reached Wednesday. A message on his phone said “Sorry, I’ve taken a short break after a very successful show.” Neither Hunter nor the Miss World organizers returned messages yesterday. Another of the six judges, Fijian fashion designer Hupfeld Hoerder, told The Associated Press yesterday that the judging was a sham. He said there was no note-taking or judging criteria during the competition and that from early on, Blake had pressured the judges to name Watters the winner. Hoerder said that he tried to argue with Blake to no avail and, in protest, refused to attend the final night’s crowning ceremony. Hoerder said the contest has painted Fiji in a bad light and that the country shouldn’t send any representative to China. “Everyone is playing the race card, saying it’s racism,” Hoerder said. “But this is about ethics, and an event that was unethical.”

Watters, who couldn’t be reached for an interview this week, said on her Facebook page that she left Fiji’s capital to be with her mother in the town of Nadi and wants “to get on with my life.”“I left Suva and the entire pageant fiasco ... because I was becoming very uncomfortable with the situation,” she wrote. “I was worried about the lies, the deception, the lack of transparency and the lack of professionalism.”—AP

role in the fluctuating fortunes of Europe’s royal families for more than 400 years.

“The legendary Beau Sancy is a truly magical stone that has entranced generations of royal owners and continues to exert a powerful influence over all who see it,” said David Bennett, Sotheby’s chairman of jewelry in Europe and the Middle East, in a statement. “Its supreme historical importance was reflected tonight in the strength of the bidding and the remarkable result realized.”

No fewer than five bidders competed for the stone, driving the price to nearly five times above its pre-sale low estimate of 1.85 million Swiss francs in an eight minute battle before it was bought by an anonymous bidder, Sotheby’s said. The stone, a 35carat modified “pear double rose cut” diamond belonging to Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia and head of the former ruling dynasty of the German empire, had been expected to fetch $2

million to $4 million.

“It’s a stone that appeals to me greatly as a survivor of all those tumultuous events,” Bennett told Reuters in a telephone interview in February.

“Stones from royal collections hardly ever appear at auction. In my career this is an absolute oneoff.” Bennett, who sold a pink diamond for $46.2 million in 2010 in what was a record for any jewel at auction, said estimating the value of a stone like the Beau Sancy was difficult given its rarity.

The diamond originated from the mines in India near Golconda and was acquired by Nicolas de Harlay, Lord of Sancy, in Constantinople in the 1500s. In 1604 it was bought for 75,000 livres by French king Henry IV as a gift for his wife, Marie de Medici.

Jealous queen?

According to Sotheby’s, the queen had long coveted the stone, especially after learning that de Harlay had sold a larger

diamond called the Sancy, and now part of the Louvre Collection, to King James I of England. Henry IV was assassinated in 1610, and after years of rivalry between Marie and her son King Louis XIII, she was eventually exiled in disgrace.

She escaped to the Netherlands, and to settle her debts her possessions were sold.

This included the Beau Sancy, which was acquired by Prince Frederick Henry of OrangeNassau for 80,000 florins, the largest expenditure in the state budget of 1641. In the same year, the diamond was used as a sweetener to help seal the wedding of Frederick’s son William to Mary Stuart, daughter of King Charles I of England.

Following Mary’s death in 1660, the Beau Sancy was pawned to settle her debts. But in 1677 the stone reentered the Treasure of the House of OrangeNassau following the wedding of William III to Mary II Stuart.

The couple ascended the

throne of England in 1689, meaning the Beau Sancy entered the collection of the Queen of England. But since the couple had no children, the diamond returned to the Netherlands.

From there it moved to the Prussian monarchy in 1702, becoming the principal ornament of the new royal crown of Prussia.

The diamond remained in Berlin after the last King of Prussia fled to exile on the end of World War One in November, 1918. At the end of World War Two, it was transferred to a bricked-up crypt for safe-keeping. British troops found the stone and returned it to the estate of the House of Prussia, where it remained ever since.—Reuters

Chanel Metiers d’Art Collection

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Models present outfits by German-born fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Chanel Metiers d’Art collection show entitled “Croisiere” at the Palace of Versailles (Chateau de Versailles), outside Paris. Since 2003, every year, Chanel launches a parallel collection to their Pret-a-porter and Haute Coutute collections: the annual Metiers d’Art collection which is this year inspired to cruise theme. —AFP photos

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

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US pop star Lady Gaga poses for journalists after arriving at the Sungshan Airport in Taipei yesterday.

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ady Gaga’s Indonesian promoters yesterday vowed to fight to save her show, despite police denying it a permit and Islamic hardliners threatening “chaos” if she comes to the mostly Muslim nation.

Production Company Big Daddy reached out on Twitter to Lady Gaga fans, known as “little monsters”, saying it still hoped to find a way to hold the June 3 event after already selling more than 50,000 tickets to a concert in Jakarta.

“Little monsters, be patient please. We will keep you updated. We are still fighting,” the firm tweeted, in a country that ranks among the world’s biggest Twitter users. But the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) said it would create havoc if Lady Gaga were allowed to perform in Indonesia, calling her the “devil’s messenger” who wears only a “bra and panties” on stage. “If Lady Gaga still wants to perform here, go ahead. But please be prepared for chaos in Jakarta. We are ready to be thrown to jail and be killed-we will do anything to stop it,” FPI Jakarta chairman Habib Salim Alatas told AFP. Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 240 million people identify themselves as Muslim, giving it the world’s largest Islamic population, but the vast majority practice a moderate form of the religion.

In the past, pop stars including Beyonce and the Pussycat Dolls have been allowed to perform in the country on condition they wore more conservative dress than usual. The police announcement spurred a flurry of criticism that Islamic hardliners have too much power over public matters. “The biggest threats to this country are not Western artists but the corrupt government, including the police and FPI,” a reader of the Jakarta Globe daily posted under the name Thur on its

attleship” is big, dumb fun that knows it’s big, dumb fun and enthusiastically embraces its big, dumb, fun nature. Director Peter Berg has crafted an almost fetishistic homage to Michael Bay - like Bay’s “Transformers” series, this is yet another action extravaganza inspired by a Hasbro product - with its epic set pieces, swaggering bravado, panoramic skies and cheesy romance. It doesn’t lean all the way into parody, but rather feels more like a faithful and knowing approximation of a very specific, muscular genre: one of those the-world-is-ending-we’re-all-gonnadie movies. And because it’s a little cheeky and doesn’t seem to take itself totally seriously, it’s more enjoyable than one might expect from a movie based on a board game created in the 1960s.

Yes, it can be deafeningly noisy between the crunch and shriek of giant metal objects fighting each other and the blaring rock anthems meant to pump up the crowd even further. (The soundtrack includes AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” at one significant moment, a song that’s seemingly been played during the final two minutes of every NBA playoff game since the dawn of time.

But it is effective.) No, it’s not subtle between the annihilation caused by alien invaders and the rousing sense of patriotism that’s the real weapon in this battle.

Then again, would you really expect (or want) subtlety from this type of big-budget summer escape? At least screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber showed enough restraint to avoid including the famous line from game’s TV commercials: “You sank my battleship!” Speaking of blockbusters, Taylor Kitsch gets more to work with here than he did earlier this year in another behemoth, “John Carter,” as our hero, Alex Hopper. A slacker and troublemaker at the film’s start, he joins the Navy at the insistence of his straight-laced older brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgard). A certain gorgeous blonde named Sam (Brooklyn Decker) also provides some inspiration.

Flash forward and Alex is a lieutenant on one Naval destroyer while Stone is the commanding officer of another. Both answer to Admiral Shane (a withering, well-cast Liam Neeson) who happens to be Sam’s father. They’re all taking part in some international war games off the Hawaiian coast when - oops! - a friendly satellite

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website. Another reader identifying as Bilbo Baggins wrote: “Does Indonesia want to be part of the global community or a religious backwater of ignorance?”

Both comments were in English. Big Daddy spokesman Arif Ramadhoni said they were discussing the concert with several parties, declining to go into specifics. “We are still in the process of finding a way to do it, and we ask for everyone’s patience and forgiveness for the trouble,” Ramadhoni told AFP. The national police showed no signs of budging yesterday, saying they could not grant the star authorisation without a recommendation from Jakarta police.

“We still deny the organisers the permit. The Jakarta police have said they do not recommend the Lady Gaga performance here, and they are the ones responsible for security, so there’s no way around it,” national police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution told AFP. The Jakarta police announced this week they would not recommend a permit after hearing opposition from “several community leaders”, including the country’s top Islamic body, the National Ulema Council.

Indonesia is seen as normally more moderate on such issues as neighboring Malaysia, where Beyonce was forced to cancel a 2007 event after conservative Muslim groups threatened protests. Lady Gaga has already faced opposition elsewhere on the Asia leg of her tour. The Korean Association of Church Communication vowed in March to take action to stop young people from being “infected with homosexuality and pornography” during the star’s concert in Seoul.

Even so she has not toned down her performances. In Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo, she rode on to the stage on a mechanical horse, wearing a black bodysuit and

signal sent to a newly discovered planet that looks a lot like ours in a neighboring galaxy provokes some angry extra-terrestrials. What could these beings possibly want, besides the usual world domination? It’s never really clear and theoretically it doesn’t really matter; gawking at the ensuing spectacle is the reason we’re all here.

A cluster of spaceships hurtles toward Earth, shredding sections of Hong Kong before plunging into the Pacific Ocean. Alex and a couple other crew members - one of whom is a weapons expert played by a smart-alecky Rihanna in her film debut - hop in a smaller boat to have a little look-see at the strange, giant objects protruding from the water and trigger a massive, dome-like force field. From there, “Battleship” consists of an increasingly intense but ultimately repetitive back-and-forth between our military might and the aliens’ more sophisticated ships. The action sequences are impressively glossy and detailed and not inscrutable like some of the protracted “ Transformers” showdowns; the bad guys’ mean, circular doo-dads that resemble giant tires with vicious metal teeth are especially cool.

What we lack comparatively in weaponry we make up for in heart and moxie, by golly. The aliens, meanwhile, are personality-free predators whose one weakness seems illogical given that they come from a planet whose atmosphere and climate are just like Earth’s, but whatever. At the same time, Sam, a physical therapist, finds herself trapped while hiking on Oahu with one of her patients, an Army lieutenant who lost his legs in combat. (He’s played by Gregory D Gadson, a decorated Iraq war veteran who had both legs amputated after suffering injuries from an improvised explosive device; it’s an inspiring film debut).

Of all the mountains on all the islands in all the world, they just happen to be right near the remote satellite center that the aliens want to take over to ... phone home, maybe? Again, the motives are a tad blurry. Suffice it to say, the script needed to put Alex’s girlfriend in danger.

This also allows them to team up with the skittish Cal (Hamish Linklater), the scientist who ran the place that originated the transmissions, for a little nerdy comic relief. And if nothing within this multitude of elements works for you, don’t worry. There’s surely a movie based on Connect Four in the works somewhere. “Battleship,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, action and destruction, and for language. Running time: 131 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions: G - General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG - Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 - Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.

R - Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

NC-17 - No one under 17 admitted.

— AP

an enormous black metal headpiece. Lady Gaga will perform in Taipei on Thursday and Friday, and will then head to Manila, Bangkok and Singapore. She was due to play in Jakarta after that, before flying south to New Zealand and Australia. — AFP

An Indonesian woman walks near a billboard promoting Lady Gaga’s upcoming concert displayed along a road in Jakarta yesterday. — AFP

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veryone remembers the most galvanizing moment of this year’s Grammys - when the telecast cut to commercial and, over a Chipotle ad, we heard a studio recording of Willie Nelson singing Coldplay’s “The Scientist.” You can relive that very special Grammy moment (minus the environmentally themed animation and Chipotle logo) at the climax of Nelson’s new album, “Heroes,” a mostly satisfying grab-bag of celebrity duets, nepotism, odes to wacky weed and interpretations of everyone from Bob Wills to Pearl Jam. The most attention-getting new number, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” was purportedly slated to be the title track before someone thought better of outrightly alienating Willie’s seven remaining socially conservative fans. It marks the first and, we can confidently say, last time Snoop Dogg and Kris Kristofferson will ever join in song as duet partners.

Both guests are just strained enough in their singing that it kind of works. Speaking of duets, that’s about the only through-line on this kitchen-sink-styled collection. Sheryl Crow, Jamey Johnson, Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Billy Joe Shaver also make vocal appearances, although rarely for longer than a few bars or a single verse. The bulk of “Heroes” consists of the 79-year-old legend sharing lead vocals with his 22-year-old son, Lukas Nelson, a gamble that’s hard to get used to if you’re thinking you signed up for a Willie Nelson solo album.

Once you do become accustomed to the idea of “Heroes” as a (mostly) father/son album, that has its value, since Lukas is a near-sound-alike for his dad, and it’s weirdly fascinating to hear someone more than five decades younger sing with that same reedy vibrato, albeit usually at a higher pitch. When they blend voices on the chorus of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe,” it’s spooky - and not just because the song itself is concerned with mortality in a way that surely has special meaning to harmonizing members of successive generations.

Lukas Nelson is a recording artist in his own right, but on his own he’s leading a rock ‘n’ roll band, so it’s fun to finally hear him croon amid his father’s acoustically based instrumental beds - and hear him writing in that style, as well, since three cuts come from Lukas’ own pen, and they’re at least as good as the four tracks Willie wrote or co-wrote for the project.

But Nelson the paterfamilias does stretch our patience for all-in-the-family stuff to the breaking point. Lukas adds his vocals to nine of the 14 tracks, to where his guest appearances seem both arbitrary and predictable. He even duets with Dad on the old country standard “This Cold War With You,” which really calls out for a female duet partner. Fans can be annoyed that Nelson keeps roping his son into the proceedings or touched that he clearly wants to get the torch-passing under way. If you can accommodate the latter position, you’ll be able to enjoy “Heroes” as Willie’s most consistent collection in quite a few years (which is actually saying something, given his never-ending output). It doesn’t take a “Scientist” to realize that anybody who can interpret the fast-stepping Western swing of “Home in San Antone” and a Chris Martin emo ballad and make ‘em sound like they belong on the same album still merits his national-treasure status. —Reuters

Willie Nelson

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merican Idol” viewers could be in for a serious case of deja vu if Phillip Phillips wins on the Fox talent contest’s 11th season finale next week. While the soulful strummer from Leesburg, Ga., has certainly proved he can be a risk-taking showman by transforming songs like Usher’s “U Got It Bad” into searing acoustic covers, a victory for the 21-year-old would prove something that everyone has suspected for a while: “Idol” voters prefer humble Caucasian heartthrobs over, well, anyone else.

File photo shows provided by Fox, contestant Phillip Phillips performing on the singing competition series ‘American Idol,’ in Los Angeles. — AP

Since he first caught the judges’ - and America’s - attention with growly renditions of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson hits at his audition, Phillips has seamlessly moved up the ranks, never appearing as one of the show’s lowvote getters. That can’t be said of his two final challengers - sassy 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez and booming 20-year-old Joshua Ledet. And folks just seem to like Phillips, who has comfortably filled this season’s reluctant heartthrob role. He’s been silly, constantly flashing funny faces at the camera. He’s been rebellious: When Tommy Hilfiger advised him not to wear grey on stage, he donned two shades of it. He’s been sexy, even melting Ryan Seacrest’s girlfriend.

Then there’s the humility: Asked if he’s confident of claiming “Idol” glory, Phillips said backstage last week, “Oh, gosh, no, I’m never confident. ... I’m so nervous when I get up there on stage. Josh and Jessica ... they’re so much better at singing than I am.” It’s also impossible to ignore the fact that the bluesy Phillips bears a striking resemblance to the past four champions. —AP

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(From left) Actors Jason Schwartzman, Bruce Willis, director Wes Anderson, and actors Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, and Bill Murray pose during a photo call for ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ at the 65th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, yesterday.—AP

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ooky comedy and buffoonery were on the agenda yesterday as the 65th Cannes Film Festival, with its trademark mix of high cinematic art and Hollywood glitz kicks off on a light note. US director Wes Anderson brings his whimsical touch with the opening film “Moonrise Kingdom”, a pre-teen elopement fantasy whose star-packed cast includes Bruce Willis as a small-town cop and Bill Murray as a morose parent. But before the celebs grace the red carpet for the gala premiere, Sacha Baron Cohen’s zany alter ego General Aladeen, star of “The Dictator”, will try to hijack media attention with a stunt on the beach in front of the Martinez hotel.

The “Ali G”, “Borat” and “Bruno” star, who turned up in military regalia at the Oscars and pretended to pour late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s ashes onto an interviewer, has already premiered his movie and is in Cannes simply to cause a stir. Baron Cohen struted his stuff on the beach here in a “mankini” in 2006 to promote “Borat”.

Workers were rolling out the red carpet on the steps of the waterfront festival palace yesterday morning as Cannes braced for the annual onslaught that sees its population triple to 200,000. Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt and Robert Pattinson are among the Hollywood royalty who will join

(From left) Director Wes Anderson, Kara Hayward, Jared Gilman and Screenwriter Roman Coppola pose during a photo call .

high-brow film-makers at the Riviera resort for the next 12 days at the world’s top film showcase.

This year’s bash features druggy roadtrips, soul-searching drama and stylish gangland flicks and sees the return of such Cannes grandees as David Cronenberg, Ken Loach and Michael Haneke. Star-wise, the 2012 line-up promises to dazzle with Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Jessica Chastain, Kylie Minogue, Kristen Stewart, Pattinson and Pitt just a few of the A-listers expected in town. The festival will also feature its usual dose of champagne-fuelled parties, highstakes movie deal-making, and publicity stunts such as Baron Cohen’s beachfront intervention.Twenty-two filmsnone of which was directed by a woman-are vying for the coveted Palme d’Or award at the festival’s glitzy gala finale on May 27.

Palme d’Or-winner Nanni Moretti of Italy heads up a nine-strong jury-which includes actor Ewan McGregor and fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier-that will pick the winner. Moretti held a press conference ahead of the evening opening ceremony. Two US mavericks are running for Cannes gold: Lee Daniels’s keenly awaited “The Paperboy” stars Kidman opposite John Cusack and Zac Efron in the tale of a reporter investigating a death row case. The sec-

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ond is Jeff Nichols, whose “Mud”, about two teenage boys who form a pact with a fugitive, was a surprise entry.

Canada’s Cronenberg brings Manhattan thriller “Cosmopolis”, adapted from Don DeLillo’s novel and starring Pattinson as a billionaire asset manager journeying through the city in a stretch limo.

Brazil’s Walter Salles has adapted Jack Kerouac’s cult novel “On the Road”, while Australians John Hillcoat and Andrew Dominik bring two US-set works: bootlegging drama “Lawless” and the mobster flick “Killing Them Softly”.

Among the European giants, Austria’s Haneke will show “Amour” (Love), starring Isabelle Huppert as the daughter of a woman hit by a stroke. Britain’s Loach returns for the 17th time with the comedy “The Angel’s Share”, about exoffenders who turn to whisky-making. — AFP

lamboyant British comic Sacha Baron Cohen sparked minor chaos on Cannes’ fabled Croisette beachfront yesterday as his zany alter ego General Aladeen took a morning stroll on his camel Osama. The star of “The Dictator” ordered his mini-skirted amazonian bodyguards to point their assault rifles at the press pack outside the ritzy Carlton Hotel before he straddled his humped beast and headed for a nearby cafe. The media scrum that followed Cohen clogged traffic on the chic promenade as the fictional Middle Eastern dictator shared his thoughts on France’s new President Francois Hollande and the unrest in Syria.

“Hollandaise? Yes, I supported his campaign. I gave him 500,000 euros,” he quipped. But when asked by AFP if he had sent the lightning bolt that struck Hollande’s plane as it flew to Berlin on Tuesday, he denied any involvement.

“There was a lightning? It was not me,” stated the general, who was dressed for the

occasion in a multi-coloured jockey’s outfit and brandished a riding crop. Then he sat at a cafe terrace where he ordered two coffees-one for the camel who refused to drink it-before moving on to a Ralph Lauren store from which he emerged with an orange scarf that he wrapped around his mount’s neck.

The “Ali G”, “Borat” and “Bruno” star, who turned up in military regalia at the Oscars and pretended to pour late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s ashes onto an interviewer, has already premiered his movie.

He was in Cannes simply to cause a stir and try to hog the media limelight as the Riviera resort prepared to launch its 65th annual film festival. Baron Cohen made a previous appearance in Cannes in 2006 when he turned up on the beach to strut his stuff in a “mankini” to publicize “Borat”.—AFP

razilian cinema, a special guest at this year’s prestigious Cannes festival, is experiencing an impressive boom with around 100 films produced every year and a higher international profile.

“Brazilian cinema is going through a fertile period with a great deal of diversity,” said filmmaker Carlos Diegues, who will chair the Camera d’Or Jury at Cannes festival, which opens yesterday in the French Riviera city. Launched in 1978, the Camera d’Or (“Golden Camera”) is awarded to the best first movie of a director. The 65th edition of the Cannes extravaganza, which runs through May 27, will not feature any Brazilian feature films in its official selection.

But in addition to Diegues, the South American powerhouse will be represented through an adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” directed by Walter Salles and Brazilian-Colombian co-production “La Playa DC” (“The Beach”), which will compete in the sidebar program “Un certain regard.” Brazil will also be present through “Music According to Tom Jobim,” a documentary by Nelson Pereira dos Santos, and the screening of three Brazilian classics, including “Xica da Silva” (1975), in parallel sections of the festival. In the past decade, domestic production jumped from an average of 30 films in 2002 to a record 99 in 2011, according to the national film agency ANCINE. Joao Guilherme Barone, an academic and film expert, said the national film industry has managed over the past decade to boost production, diversify and nationalize a major part of distribution outlets previously in the hands of foreign firms. “Between 2004 and 2009, the number of distributors jumped more than 200 percent and most came under domestic control. Today, 73 percent of Brazilian films are launched by Brazilian distributors,” added Barone, who teaches at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre.

Box office receipts from Brazilian films also rose, closing 2011 with 164 million real ($82 million) following a record 222 million real ($111 million) in 2010 with such hits as “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within” and “Astral City: A Spiritual Journey.” “I love Brazilian cinema for many reasons, particularly because it is diverse, unlike during the ‘new cinema’ era, when there was a thematic polarization due to the need to combat the dictatorship and show a Brazilian reality that censors wanted to hide,” Pereira dos Santos told AFP. “New cinema” refers to the social realism that infused Brazilian cinema during the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship, largely influenced by the iconoclasm of Italian neorealism and France’s post-war New Wave filmmakers.

Diegues said Brazil “deserved” to have more films in the festival’s official selection. “But Salles’s presence in the competition and that of short films in the official section, in addition to the tribute by Nelson and the three Brazilian classics, all this is a very special gesture toward our film industry,” he added. lIda Santiago, director of the Rio film festival and the representative of the Cannes festival in Brazil, sees the tribute as recognition of the importance of the Brazilian film industry. “There are various levels of presence by the cinema of a country in a festival, not just the official selection. We are also looking at the number of producers, projects received, including the level of co-production,” she said in an interview, noting that Brazil is well represented in a wider sense.

“I am happy and I believe that it is very good for Brazil to be chosen as special guest. This gives visibility to all the projects, opens doors for the future.”

Santiago said there was no question that the Brazilian and Latin American film industries have grown stronger in recent years and now provide films for “all tastes.” “The whole of Latin America, not just Brazil, began to gain more visibility in all the festivals in recent years,” she noted. “A new cinema is dawning.”—AFP

British actor Sacha Baron Cohen dressed as Admiral General Aladeen poses during a photocall to promote the film “The Dictator”.

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ennifer Lopez and Elizabeth Banks - stars of this Friday’s baby comedy movie “What to ExpectWhen You’re Expecting” are two Hollywood moms who could not be more different. Lopez is a newly divorced, singer and actress with twin toddlers, Max and Emme, whose busy schedule includes being a judge on TV’s “American Idol” and releasing top 40 pop singles. Banks, on the other hand, has had steady career on TV and in films such as recent blockbuster “The Hunger Games.” Fourteen months ago, she and her husband Max Handelman welcomed their first child, Felix.

While Banks and Lopez did not share any scenes in the film, they came together to talk with Reuters about the fictional tale based on the bestselling pregnancy book of the same name. It follows several different couples as they navigate the bumpy road to parenthood. Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Anna Kendrick, Chace Crawford and Matthew Morrison are among the all star cast. Over cappuccinos and sparkling water, Lopez and Banks traded stories

about motherhood and how much they’ve changed since having little ones come in to their lives.

Q: Jennifer, in the film, your character Holly adopts a baby because she and her husband can’t have kids. In real life, you were pregnant with twins. How did you relate to her?

Lopez: “Because of how much she wanted a baby. I had wanted a baby when I got married so badly. I already felt like I had waited too long. It took me three years to get pregnant (with ex-husband Marc Anthony) and during those three years, I was like, ‘Gosh, maybe this is not going to happen.

Maybe this is not meant for me. Maybe my life is about something else...’ So I related to that wanting.”

Q: Really? You have always projected an image of having everything - success in career, beauty and love.

Lopez: “When you’ve paved this path of being an actress or a singer, people see you and go, ‘Oh your life is great and whole and complete - and you have money. That’s all you

need!’ The truth is, that’s all amazing but you really need that core. You need life, you need family, you need love. And even though Holly had a great life and a great relationship, there was still something missing - that want, that need to have a baby, to have a family, to have roots. I know what it feels like to want that so badly and finally get it.”

Q: Elizabeth, you had baby via a surrogate. In the film, your character Wendy is pregnant, but it’s not a glamorous pregnancy by any means. How did you connect with her issues?

Banks: “I was drawn to the authenticity of Wendy’s experience. One of the things I liked about this movie is that it’s not all happy, sugar coating. It’s about the run-up to parenthood, which is scary and emotional and messy. It’s a complicating factor in a relationship, no matter what. I loved that I had the opportunity, as Wendy, to say it like it is. And be messy and out of control.”

Lopez: “I think everybody wants to have that perfect

pregnancy where you look like Audrey Hepburn in your flats.

I certainly tried. I had my leggings and my black turtleneck.

Then someone took a picture of me from the back I was like, “IS THAT HOW WIDE I LOOK?!?!?!” On that same topic, I always feel like everybody loses their weight so fast, but that is not true! My ribs - I feel like they’re just starting to get back to normal, yet my babies are four.”—Reuters

Indonesian organizers fight for Lady Gaga gig

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THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

A woman walks next to a large carpet assembled of digital watches created by Belgium artist Heidi Voet at the Art HK 12 art fair in Hong Kong yesterday. ART HK 12 is a fair showcasing artwork for sale from 266 galleries representing 39 international territories. —AP

Historic Amman street abuzz after facelift

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ainbow Street in Amman’s heart is abuzz again after posh 1920s-era homes were turned into restaurants, galleries and libraries, drawing hipsters, bohemians, intellectuals and hordes of tourists. After decades of oblivion, the street in the historic area of Jabal Amman has undergone a facelift, rejuvenating the once sleepy neighborhood. Tucked away along a kilometerlong (less than a mile) cobblestone street flanked by the former homes of Jordan’s old aristocratic families,

Diners eat in a restaurant in Rainbow Street.

Rainbow Street is now one of Amman’s trendiest nightspots. It sits atop one of Amman’s seven hills and boasts majestic views from the shisha bars and cafes of terraced houses overlooking the Old City below and the ancient Citadel on Jabal al-Qala’a across.

Renovation work was completed two years ago by city planners keen on bolstering tourism and Rainbow Street has

financial crisis depends largely on tourist revenues and foreign aid. Tourist receipts contribute 14 percent to gross domestic product in the cashedstrapped country of around 6.5 million people.

since found its way into tourist guide books and travel websites. With more and more new eateries and art galleries opening up, it has attracted the likes of Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who once treated themselves and their children to ice cream from a local shop. Even King Abdullah II and his wife Queen Rania once took time off to dine at the trendy Sufra restaurant, which boasts “home-made” Jordanian cuisine served in traditional pottery ware.”Rainbow Street has

become an attractive destination, particularly for tourists, thanks mainly to its historic buildings,” said Haitham Goussous, whose family owns and runs Sufra among other restaurants.

“Some people come for the food, while others come to enjoy the overall atmosphere or for shopping.” Like most buildings in the area, Sufra was once a family home made of white stones, with

Steeped in history “Rainbow Street was established in the 1920s and it represents an important part of Amman’s history,” said Musa Shubaki, head of GAM’s media department. “Many Jordanian leaders and

A general view of Rainbow Street at night in Amman on May 6, 2012. —AFP large windows framed in wood and pat- other work here. We opened the place terned tiles that give the effect of a rug three years ago and we did not expect it that has been unfurled on the floor. Two to become popular. A lot of tourists visit years ago the Goussous family renovat- us to enjoy the atmosphere as well as ed the house built by an Armenian fami- the art work.”

At the nearby Duinde Gallery, visitors ly in 1930, but kept the old architecture as a tribute to the past. “We established can sit and enjoy coffee or tea as they this restaurant to attract those who are admire artworks and listen to the music in a way nostalgic for heritage and like of New Age composers and performers Jordanian atmosphere,” said Goussous, such as Jean-Michel Jarre and Yanni. “I who returned home to help with the used to receive 10 to 15 visitors a day business after eight years in Canada and when I first opened the gallery in the mid-1990s,” recalls Salam Canaan, a Ireland.

Casually dressed youths mingle painter. “Now after I turned it into some alongside more conservative couples kind of cafe gallery, around 100 people and young veiled women to explore the come every day to sit and enjoy the dozens of shops, shisha bars and the paintings,” he said. Named after an old weekly arts and crafts market. “We hold cinema theatre, Rainbow Street was the concerts, art exhibitions and play silent pet project of the Greater Amman black-and-white movies and offer Municipality which spent $7 million to Internet services,” said Mustafa Abdel inject new life here.

With little or no resources of its own Fattah, the manager of Cafe des Artistes, which, decades ago, used to be a music to develop its economy, the desert kingshop. “We try to encourage young dom of Jordan which like many regional artists by displaying their paintings and countries has been caught in the global

Finding comfort in

lots. People can enjoy panoramic views of Amman from there,” said GAM project manager Wael Momoni. One of the main differences between Rainbow Street and other Amman night spots is that here, city planners insisted on preserving the old architecture. There are no flashy high-rise buildings or giant neon signs, and the stone facades of the houses, some with porticoes and wrought-iron gates, have been preserved. “We did all of this in a way that does not affect the spirit and authentici-

Jordanian youths play their guitars at Rainbow Street in Amman. politicians have lived in that area. GAM sought to preserve the street because it is significant to Jordanians,” he said. King Talal, grandfather of King Abdullah II, spent his childhood in a house on Rainbow Street during the 1930s.

Renovations were launched in 2008 and took nearly two years to complete.

“We paved the street in cobblestones, fixed sidewalks and built parking

ty of the street, which has become an outlet for Jordanians,” Momoni said.

One of the most popular hangouts lies in a side street and has been around even before the renovation project got underway: Books@Cafe, a two-storey house with a vast terrace and back garden boasting a bookshop and a cafe where quick meals are also served. —AFP

candy

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an a piece of chocolate bring a moment of bliss? Or how about just a bit of comfort after a bad day?

A riot of colors, flavors and familiar characters filled the floor of the Sweet and Snack Expo in Chicago as manufacturers competed for crowded shelf space in an ever-growing market. Angry Birds, the Avengers and even Andy Warhol graced the packaging of those who could afford the licensing fees.

Others relied on clever or unique marketing to stand out. One veggie sticks snack maker cleverly called itself “Hi I’m Skinny” and splashed the name across its cheerful bag. Specialty chocolate maker Wild Ophelia offered funky flavors like beef jerky and peanut butter and banana. Then there were the hunks of hand-crafted jaw-breakers called ChocoBoulder that look like delectable rocks.

Sales of chocolate, candy, and gum topped $32 billion (24 billion euros) in the United States last year, up from $27.4 billion in 2007, according to the National Confectioners Association. The snack market-cookies, chips, popcorn, beef jerky, nuts, cereal bars— is even bigger, estimated to be nearly $50 bil-

A giant bean with the Chicago skyline made completely of different colored Jelly Belly beans, is displayed at the Sweet and Snack Expo. — AFP photos

Scripture Candy founder Brian Adkins poses at his booth. lion a year. Competition is fierce: there was referring to a brand of candy called were nearly 5,000 new products intro- Toxic Waste which is incredibly sour and duced last year and plenty more coming a huge hit among children. Mixing out soon. “You have a lot of stuff that my sweet and savory-like chocolate covered eight-year-old nephew would like pretzels or cinnamon popcorn-remains because it has toxic on it and bright col- a popular trend and there also been a ors and sour balls and all those types of real focus on developing more healthy things,” said Kate Shaw, a spokeswoman snacks, Shaw said. A big trend has been for the confectioners association. Shaw the expansion of the gourmet market,

she said. “People are trying to save money these days, but indulging in some expensive chocolate is something people are willing to do-it’s a way to treat yourself and kind of get a taste of luxury without spending for the big trip,” she explained.

“We’re seeing our members really take advantage of that in the sense that they’re coming up with these really indulgent almost seductive flavors.” For snack giant Mars-which counts M&Ms, Snickers and Wrigley gum among its brands-success is a careful balance of reinforcing good memories and coming

up with new twists on a familiar theme.

“In this economy people are looking for simple pleasures in life and these very favored brands-the M&M milk chocolate candies, the Dove milk chocolate and the dark chocolate resonate well with consumers,” said Tim Quinn, vice president for trade development. “It takes them back to a place where there is comfort and familiarity.” —AFP