18 Apr 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

Norwegian killer says he would do it all again

Assange interviews Nasrallah in TV premiere

40 PAGES

NO: 15422

150 FILS

7

www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADI ALAWAAL 27, 1433 AH

13

Hillary Clinton parties in Colombia nightclub

13

Late Gomez strike gives Bayern victory over Real

20

Fears for environment after massive tyre fire MPs, environmentalists slam govt for negligence

By A Saleh, B Izzak, Hanan Al-Saadoun, Nawara Fattahova and Barrak Al-Hindi

Govt ready to face grillings MPs urge reforms

By B Izzak KUWAIT: Information Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah said yesterday the government will deal with any new grilling in accordance with the constitution and the law and stressed the ministry will apply the law on the media. Sheikh Mohammad said that he will deal with any new grilling by MP Hussein Al-Qallaf within the framework of the constitution and the law. Qallaf grilled the minister last week but without a no-confidence motion.

Continued on Page 13

Foreign ministers of the six Gulf states attend a ministerial meeting yesterday in Doha. (Inset) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech during the Army Day parade in Tehran yesterday. — AP/AFP

Gulf united over Iran island row Iran vows to defend territory DOHA: The six Gulf monarchies meeting in Doha yesterday condemned as “provocative” a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an island claimed by both Abu Dhabi and Tehran.

The members of the Gulf Cooperation Council “strongly condemn the Iranian president’s visit to Abu Musa which is a provocative act and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over its three islands,” they said in a joint statement. The visit, last week, “contradicts good neighbourly policies,” they added.

The GCC also demanded Iran “end its occupation of these islands and respond to calls by the UAE to find a peaceful and just solution through negotiations or by resorting to the international court”. The group further pledged

their “full support to the UAE in all actions it takes to regain its rights and sovereignty over its islands”.

Foreign ministers of the GCC grouping the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman met at a special meeting in Doha yesterday at the request of the UAE. The UAE has summoned Iran’s ambassador to Abu Dhabi to denounce Ahmadinejad’s visit to Abu Musa, one of the three disputed islands that include Lesser Tunb and Greater Tunb. Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahayan warned on Monday that if left unresolved, the issue “could jeopardise international security and peace”.

This was followed by a warning from Ahmadinejad who said yesterday that Iran will respond with Continued on Page 13

NAJAF: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq Ali Al-Momen (second right) and the Iraqi Ambassador to Kuwait Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Ulum (second left) are greeted by Faid Al-Shimari, the head of Najaf Governorate, at the international airport in this Iraqi holy city yesterday. Iraqi officials and 159 passengers were on board along with the two ambassadors on Jazeera Airways’ Airbus A-320, the first commercial flight from Kuwait to neighboring Iraq in 22 years since flights were stopped in the wake of the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s troops in the summer of 1990. — AFP

Max 32º Min 17º High Tide 10:29 & 22:11 Low Tide 03:25 & 16:18

KUWAIT: A sea of tyres burns in a wall of flames in Rehaiya in Jahra yesterday.

KUWAIT: Hundreds of firemen yesterday fought to contain a massive fire in a dump for used tyres in Rehaiya in Jahra, with some MPs calling the blaze an environmental catastrophe. Firemen from the national guard, the army and the oil sector joined efforts to extinguish the fire that was still raging hours after it broke out in the dump of more than five million tyres, the fire department said. The dump is 4 km from the Amghara scrap yard and 15 km from Saad Al-Abdullah city. Eighteen fire station centers were fighting the blaze and 200,000 gallons of water had been used so far.

Environment authorities advised residents in the area to stay away and to use masks, but the education ministry rejected calls by MPs to suspend classes at local schools. A number of MPs described the fire as an “environmental catastrophe” and vowed to demand a debate on the issue in a special parliamentary session next week. Some said they will demand an official probe.

Continued on Page 2

2

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: A massive fire erupted in a dump of more than five million used tyres yesterday. Environment authorities advised residents in the area to stay away and to use masks, but the education ministry rejected calls by MPs to suspend classes at local schools. Medics said that one man was treated for minor burns. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and Agencies

Fears for environment after massive tyre fire Continued from Page 1 Medics said that six people were treated for minor burns.

Visiting the scene, Information Minister Sheikh Mohammed AlAbdullah Al-Sabah stressed that the government will form a special committee to investigate the blaze as well as ask the municipality for an alternative site to be used as a landfill for used tyres away from residential areas. He said that the only merit about the disaster was the response of firemen, the municipality, the national guards, the ministry of interior, the ministry of health, Kuwait Oil Co (KOC) and the Environment Public Authority (EPA) that reported to the scene in record time to contain the fire and limit its damage. Jahra Governor Sheikh Mubarak Al-Humoud AlJaber vowed to control the fire before nightfall, adding that firefighters have built a barrier of sand to prevent the fire from spreading.

MPs demanded an investigation into the incident without excluding

the possibility that it might be intentional nor exempting the government from responsibility because it failed to respond to repeated warnings. MP Faisal AlMislem vowed to demand a full investigation, since the fire resulted in toxic fumes. MP Mubarak AlWaalan said that the fire was a real disaster that reflected the incapability of the government to manage crises and protect the environment.

MP Hamad Al-Mattar, who was present at the site when the first fire engines arrived, urged the minister of education to temporarily close area schools. He also urged the prime minister to visit the site in person.

Education Minister Nayef AlHajraf said any decision to close schools today would be subject to a technical report on the areas affected by the toxic fumes. “If any, suspension will be limited to schools in Rehaiya,” he said at a press conference held at the Jahra educational zone directorate, emphasizing that reports have indicated that gas lev-

els were so far within normal limits and that there was no need to shut schools. The acting undersecretary and assistant undersecretary for public education Mohammed AlKandari reassured parents that exams for students who were absent yesterday would be postponed. He also urged students with special health conditions to stay at home. Khalid Al-Hajeri, Chairman of Green Line Environment Group Kuwait blamed Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak for the environmental disaster. “Sheikh Jaber was the Chairman of the High Council for Environment since the 2004 till he became the prime minister, and he didn’t pay attention to the danger of collecting millions of damaged tyres without any environmental safety measures. His responsibility covers the disaster as he is the one to give orders to activate emergency plans,” he said a statement.

Hajeri also demanded that MPs should act seriously towards this

environmental disaster, which put the lives of people in Jahra in danger. “Green Line will support the head of the environment committee in the parliament MP Matar if he decides to grill the ministers responsible for this disaster,” he said. He said Green Line is in contact with the residents of Jahra to counter the negligence of the government and parliament towards finding real solutions for disasters in Kuwait.

Hajeri also blamed the EPA as the first body in charge of inspecting and observing waste buried in the country. “EPA is responsible to set the necessary rules and conditions that enforces public authorities to execute them. EPA didn’t do this,” he charged. “Burnt tyres produce extremely dangerous and poisonous gases including carbon monoxide, which causes blood poisoning and carbon dioxide that can cause suffocation and death. The smoke also causes different kinds of diseases as it contains cancerous

and toxic substances,” he explained. Hajeri claimed Green Line was the only body in Kuwait that sent warning messages via social media to Jahra residents from the first minutes of the fire informing them of the best ways of facing this disaster, while other authorities including EPA were

Muslim Brotherhood plans to take over Kuwait by 2013: Khalfan KUWAIT: General Dhahi Ben Khalfan, Dubai Police Director General, warned of the dangers against ruling systems in the Gulf by the Muslim Brotherhood, after their successes in a number of Arab countries.

His information to the media extended to saying that the Muslim

Brotherhood are conspiring against the GCC ruling systems, and they will be in control by the year 2016.

He said they will start with Kuwait in 2013.

“They are concerned only with ruling chairs and have nothing to do with implementing Islamic Jurisprudence.

SCB chief on Housing Minister’s ‘cleaning’ list KUWAIT: Minister of Housing Affairs, Shuwaib AlMuwaizri, is reportedly shifting his focus of attention to the Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) to address the troubles citizens face in dealing with the facility.

This comes shortly after similar efforts to tackle problems in the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW).

According to sources close to the Minister, AlMuwaizri is reportedly “upset” about the SCB’s current performance and mismanagement, blaming SCB Director Salah Al-Mudhaf for “focusing on the bank’s investments instead of addressing the problems citizens face”.

Furthermore the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, indicated that Al-Muwaizri is leaning towards filing a request to the Cabinet to prepare for Al-Mudhaf’s retirement, a step he also took with the PAHW Director, Ali Al-Fawzan.

Al-Muwaizri, who is also the Minister of Parliament Affairs, reportedly noted Al-Mudhaf’s “inability to implement housing loan procedures concerning female citizens”, as well as “ignoring veteran SCB staff to hire people from outside to senior posts”, the sources added.

Whoever become one of them after they ruled Egypt is a traitor. They are also secret soldiers for America and they are executing plans to create tension,” he said.

Additionally, he described them as corrupt and very far from religion. He said they are more dangerous for the

GCC countries than Iran.

Khalfan released some declarations lately which met reactions in most of the GCC states and par ticularly in Kuwait. General Dhahi Ben Khalfan has a high ranking post, and people are not used to a man in his position speaking publicly. —Al-Watan

Gitmo dads want their sons freed KUWAIT: Fathers of the two Kuwaiti detainees at Guantanamo Bay Fayez Al-Kandari and Fawzi AlOuda organized a sit-in protest in front of the American Embassy.

They were joined by political science professor at Kuwait University Dr Ghanem Al-Najjar. Al-Ouda said that they will continue protesting in a civilized way to convey a message to the American administra-

tion that they do not accept the continuous detention of the Kuwaitis at the US detention centre.

“Everything is closed for us, and we want the Kuwaiti public to k now and suppor t us in this protest, and we call upon the National Assembly to activate its tools and pressure the government to be serious and strict in demand-

ing the release of our sons,” AlOuda said. “ Why are the two Kuwaitis detained until now? Saudi Arabia for example has got back more than 115 detainees through diplomacy and Kuwait has all possibilities but did not get two of its people out until now despite that they have golden cards which they can use to pressure the American government,” he said.

Kuwaiti, US commanders discuss cooperation KUWAIT: Top Kuwaiti and American military commanders held talks here yesterday on military cooperation between the two countries within the framework of a joint defense treaty, means of boosting this coordination, as well as regional issues.

During the meeting, the Kuwaiti side was headed by Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Khalid AlJarrah Al-Sabah, in the presence of members of the defense council, and the American party was headed

by General James N. Mattis, Commander of the US Central

Command (CENTCOM).

Kuwait and America maintain close cooperation in the defense and military fields. Washington spearheaded an international military campaign that drove Iraqi occupation forces out of the country in 1991.—KUNA

caught napping.

Chairperson of Kuwait Voluntary Work Center Sheikha Amthal AlSabah said the center’s volunteers were ready to help. She said she called Kuwait Fire Services Director (KFSD) Maj Gen Jassem AlMansouri to offer the help of volunteers.

News

in brief

Free food items plan KUWAIT: MP Dr. Faisal Al-Mislem, Official speaker of the Growth and Reform Bloc, said the block will suggest the distribution of ration card food items to citizens free of charge. He said the bloc is keen to ensure honorable life to citizens. Al-Mislem said the Bloc will present this suggestion to the rest of the MPs, to take their opinion about it. Sources said that some MPs, who were consulted by the Growth and Reform Bloc, prefer that free basic rations of food be provided for four years for Kuwaiti citizens, whether through a Government decision or through coordination between both authorities.

Housing plots to be distributed KUWAIT: Sources at the Housing Authority said that within the coming few weeks, an announcement for 30,000 housing units will be declared and distributed over different areas close to the city center. Sources said that number of housing units will differ from one area to the other, as some have 18 residential plots and some have 18,000 residential plots of 400 sq m area. The largest of these areas is one parallel to Saad AlAbdullah city in Jahra governorate as it contains 18,000 housing plots, followed by the 7th Ring Road area which contains 6,000 residential plots.

The remaining are distributed among Sabahiya, Abu Halifa, Jahra and other places.

Cemetery flags removal KUWAIT: Sources revealed that removal of flags from Shiite cemeteries was based on a decision signed by the former minister for municipal affairs Dr Fadhel Safar which he took before leaving the municipality and his transfer to the ministry of public works. Sources explained that Safar asked officials close to him not to execute the decision until the arrival of a new municipality minister.

Sources enquired about actual reasons behind Safar action, which created tension in the state and involved the new minister Abdul Aziz AlIbrahim in the matter, especially since some MPs accused the government of trying to pressure Shiites through the decision, which found to be of Safar.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

local

Budget increase to cover pay raises KD600 million more needed

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah received at Dar Salwa yesterday Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the accompanying delegation. The meeting reflected the strong relations between the two GCC countries. Both leaders agreed on further boosting the historic and brotherly relations to achieve goals of both the Omani and Kuwaiti people. The meeting was attended by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, sheikhs and senior state officials.

Amir hails role of private sector KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday at Bayan Palace, Chairman of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industr y (KCCI) Ali Thunayan Al-Ghanim, First Vice Chairman Khalid Abdullah Al-Sagar, Second Vice Chairman Abdulwahab AlWazzan and members of the chamber.

The meeting was held on the occasion of the Board of Directors’ new formation. His Highness the Amir emphasized the essential role of the private sector in boosting national economy and diversifying income sources. The Amir called for unyielding efforts to keep up with all the latest regional and international economic developments.

KCCI’s Chairman, meanwhile, said that HH the Amir’s directives are like a niche in the business world, especially those related to turning the state of Kuwait into a financial center and a commercial hub. The Amir, also, received Dr Fayza AlKharafi, Head of Higher committee of the Second Kuwait Conference of Chemistry and the 16th Arab Chemists Conference, which is currently held in Kuwait.

His Highness also received Union of Arab Chemists’ Secretary General Dr. Ahmad Al-Ghamdi and the participating delegation in this event.

The two meetings were attended by Amiri Diwan consultant Mohmmad Dhaifallah Sharar. —KUNA

KUWAIT: The Government is expected to send a request to Parliament for an increase in the current state budget to absorb the recent general pay increases to public sector employees. Sources close to the budget committee said a recent report stated that paying the salary increases requires an additional KD600 million to the annual budget.

Minister of Finance, Mustafa Al-Shamali, is due to send a budget increase request to the committee “within days”, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, reportedly attended a Monday meeting of a parliamentary committee probing suspicious transfers the former Prime Minister is accused of sending to private accounts overseas.

According to sources familiar with the investigations, Minister Al-Khalid provided no details of the total value of the transfer or the spending mechanism. He insisted, during the two and a half hour hearing, that the transfers were made to serve “the higher interests” of

the state.

In other news reported yesterday, MP Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaei said a draft law for a grilling motion he plans to file against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah will be submitted to the Majority Bloc in Parliament for coordination.

The Development and Reform Bloc member said talks will commence next Tuesday “in order to make a suitable decision” on whether to go ahead with the grilling or not.

Meanwhile, MP Mubarak Al-Waalan spoke on Monday about death threats he reportedly received for destroying a copy of the new Syrian Constitution during a Parliament session.

“The Kuwaiti embassy in Syria sent notice to (Kuwait’s) Foreign Ministry stating that authorities in Damascus have instructions from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to assassinate me”, Al-Waalan said. He added that the note mentions him tearing a copy of the Syrian constitution apart and stomping

on it during a session held last month.

“Such threats, which are expected from the Baathi Regime in Syria, will not stop us from supporting our brethren in Syria,” he said.

Hussain Al-Qallaf, leading Shiite lawmaker, made a strong statement regarding a recent incident in which Kuwait Municipality removed flags placed on graves in the Jaafari Shiite cemetery at Sulaibikhat.

“The incident is provocative and unacceptable”, Al-Qallaf said on Monday after participating in the funeral of former Kuwaiti goalkeeper Sameer Saied. He said the flags will be put back “but this time each hand that extends to them in harm will be cut-off”.

Meanwhile, Government sources said Minister Al-Shamali will present during next week’s Cabinet meeting a detailed report that includes recommendations to establish an unemployment insurance fund. The fund will provide financial support to citizens laid-off from the private sector. The report will be sent to Parliament once approved during the Cabinet session.

Social affairs plans big reshuffle KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor will witness a state of rotation during the coming period, sources said. This shuffle will cover jobs at all levels, in the administration and in the various departments.

The rotation will be inside the sections, and transfer one employee from one section to another and transfer someone else from that section to another.

The aim is to introduce new blood into the administration, and will be according to specialization. The sources expected that all managers, supervisors and heads of department in the different sectors will be included in the shuffle.

The temporary shelter center at Khaitan will be transferred to the permanent shelter building at Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh shortly.

The transfer will occur before the convening of the conference of the international law organization for this year, which is usually held annually around the end of the month of May.

KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait will be a golden sponsor of the first Youth Conference for Banking, to be held by the Gulf University for Science and Technology students’ union between May 1 to 3. The picture shows CBK Assistant General Manager of the Human Resources Department, Mrs. Huda Sadeq, handing the union’s representative, Ali AlIbrahim, a cheque for a financial contribution towards the conference.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

LOCAL In my view

Letters to Badrya Darwish

Challenges for new expats

Left out of society

By Labeed Abdal Dear Badrya I am a regular reader of your articles .. I would like to raise an issue. My mother is Kuwaiti and we still didn’t get citizenships.

We have lived in Kuwait all of our life .. We feel we are left out of society. We are humans. We want to be in Kuwait, growing successfully. I would like to request you to please help us make this awareness to provide us with rights and justice.

Best Regards, Taimur S Rana.

local@kuwaittimes.net

W

hen entering Kuwait for the first time, one can only wonder about the right source of guidance for doing things correctly.

There are difficulties like getting a driving license, getting married, getting a loan, getting labor rights and dues, moving from one address to another, paying traffic violations, making family or commercial visas, or renting an apartment or leaving it ...etc.

These issues are not limited to Western expatriates alone; they concern Arab expatriates too.

The above mentioned difficulties are very much influenced by the type of employers. If we have a responsible and trustworthy one, for sure most of the above mentioned points will be easily resolved and supported, while it will be the opposite if employers are corrupt and using the company to misuse and mislead people by mainly selling visas on the black market.

That just means that the irresponsible companies must be monitored and inspected carefully, in a way that they can be eliminated and weeded out from the market by first fining them and then canceling their license.

However, the big companies in Kuwait must also contribute to their social responsibilities and be an example to be followed by the small and medium ones.

Also, given the increased number of expatriate workers, we need in Kuwait to separate social affairs from labor matters at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. To make sure of that, we can establish a new public authority for labor to do better monitoring of the labor sector, upgrade the quantity of the supporting public employees and the quality of service.

Frankly, with that in mind, we will for sure make a more positive impact in the country, like having a more welcoming working environment and with less headache.

No doubt, urgent and condensed efforts in that area will improve the social and general wellbeing of the work force in Kuwait to a much better condition!

kuwait digest

No impulsive legislation!

By Ali Al-Bedah

I

have not read the blog in which someone reportedly posted slanderous remarks blaspheming the Prophet (PBUH). Nevertheless, like everybody else we got angry without realizing what actually happened. Assuming that someone did commit a mistake, does this entitle us to ‘wage’ war and jump to setting new legislation which affect the whole country because of a mistake committed by one individual?!

Surely, nobody accepts blaspheming the Almighty, nor any of his prophets. Once this happens, we should take our time to probe the motives of those behind the act in order to straighten them back to the right path.

Respect for religions should not be imposed by the law, it should be within us, alongside us as we are brought up and grow up into social norms and rules. Whenever a person slanders a religion, we should not all start stoning him blindly knowing that Almighty God forgives everything except polytheism. So, why can’t we be wiser in dealing with those people? Will sending them to prison make them better Muslims?!

We all know that certain people love promoting tumult and will never miss a chance to set alight more of their fires, otherwise, why has such a legislation been tailored in this way?

The way I see it, the only way to prove blaspheming the Almighty or any of the holy prophets is a personal testimony from an eye witness. We cannot afford to waste a life based on mere allegations. Almighty God never blames people for their verbal mistakes. How can we?

Even if someone lacks the proper faith.....wouldn’t it be better if we try to revert him with reason? If a convict happens to utter the testimony of Islam, swearing that there is no god but God and that Mohammed (PBUH) is his messenger right before he is hung, should we still carry on with the execution?!

Some of our youths are totally lost between Islamist statements and their deeds. Islamic regulations are comprehensive. There is no selectivity in them. How, then, can a man who spends all his time in mosques humiliate a maid in his house or not know what his children ate, where they spent the night nor what they studied? How can someone be a true Muslim while he receives a Government salary without doing anything to earn it?!

They don’t know how it is that a clergyman has a certain appearance when he is in Kuwait, but another whenever he travels abroad. They fail to comprehend why some clergymen are so strict with them, while they are way too lenient when it comes to their own interests. The ‘new cons’ opened wide for fake marriages, with the excuse of protecting society. They committed all the violations that they urge people to avoid. So, should we call for executing them for sabotaging the religion?

Aren’t they more serious sins than those playing with words? Who is more of an infidel... those legislating in the name of religion, or those who erroneously express an opinion? Who brought us all this far......wasn’t it you?! —Al-Jarida

Zimbabwe Independence Day

Unlocking investment potential

By Mark Grey Marongwe, Zimbabwe ambassador

T

he People of Zimbabwe today celebrate the 32nd anniversary of their acquisition of independence and the right to self-determination and social justice, after 90 years of British settler colonial rule.

The acquisition of these rights came following a protracted struggle that began three years after British settler occupation in 1890 and culminated in a civil war from 1966 to 1980, between the indigenous black majority on one hand, and the British whitesettler minority, which had unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965, on the other. The 13-year-long armed conflict saw more than 65,000 people killed on both sides and resulted in nearly three million indigenous Zimbabweans taking refuge in neighboring countries or internally displaced. It ended in 1979 when the British government agreed to resume its colonial responsibility and presided over the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference, which brought about a ceasefire and facilitated the holding of the first democratic elections under universal suffrage. The Conference ran for three months, much longer than the two weeks the British government had envisaged, after representatives of the liberation movement, led by Robert Gabriel Mugabe (the current President) and the late Joshua Nkomo, refused to settle on any arrangement that did not include the transfer of land from the 4,000 white settlers of British extraction, who held 80 percent of the country’s arable land, to the 7 million indigenous black majority, whose land had been appropriated through colonial conquest.

The parties to the Conference only reached agreement after the British government, under the Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher, with the support and prodding of the American Administration, agreed to fund the gradual transfer of land to the indigenous people. It is the dispute over implementation of this provision of the agreement that has resulted in the current fall-out between Britain and Zimbabwe, with the former reneging on its obligation, forcing the latter to compulsorily acquire land from the 4,000 white settler farmers for redistribution to the indigenous black majority, without compensation.

Many people in the international community fail to appreciate the gravity of the land question in Zimbabwe. Before the government of President Mugabe compulsorily acquired land for re-distribution to the indigenous people, one British white settler, for example, held a farm the size of Belgium.

Zimbabwe is endowed with a variety of vast mineral, agricultural and tourist resources. There are huge platinum, diamond, gold, nickel, chromium, iron and uranium deposits, spread throughout the country’s 390,580 square

kilometers. The country sits on the World’s second largest platinum deposits and 35 percent of the World’s gemstone and industrial diamond deposits. Most of these minerals have yet to be exploited, explaining the huge interest in Zimbabwe by industrial countries in Europe and North America, and their quest for regime change and machinations to try and install a political dispensation that is pliant to their neoliberal ideology.

In the agricultural sector, despite several cycles of drought that have hit subSaharan Africa in the past decade, and challenges occasioned by the imposition of illegal sanctions by Britain, the United States and the European Union, production has been on the rise over the last few years.

Tobacco output has increased threefold from just under 100,000 tons in 2008 to nearly 350,000 tons this year. Food imports have been reduced by three-quarters, with the production of maize, the staple food, doubling from just under 500,000 tons in 2007 to a million tons in 2011.

Increases have also been recorded in the production of cotton, flowers, fruit, beef, tea, and small grains.

There is a rebound of the tourism sector and the number of visitors to the country has doubled in the last two years, with tourists increasingly discounting the antiZimbabwe propaganda by the mainstream international media, which has been imbedded in the regime-change agenda for the last twelve years. The United Nations World Tourism Organization, UNWTO will hold its 2013 conference at Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the World.

Zimbabwe boasts of a very educated and skilled workforce, with the highest literacy rate on the African Continent, according to UNESCO. It has more than a dozen universities and nearly the same number of technical colleges and polytechnics.

Relations between Zimbabwe and the State of Kuwait are very warm and cordial. Kuwait established its Embassy in Harare in 1992, while Zimbabwe reciprocated in 1995.

The warm and brotherly relations were cemented in 1990, following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Zimbabwe as the President of the United Nations Security Council, then, played a key role in coordinating the international community’s response to the aggression of Kuwait by Iraq. Harare also continued to honor its loan obligations, paying installments of its debts to the Gulf emirate to the exiled Kuwaiti leadership. On its part, Kuwait has supported the government and people of Zimbabwe through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, financing the rehabilitation of Zimbabwe’s road and railway network, the land resettlement program and providing petroleum products, among other projects.

Dear Ms. Badrya, I read your story in Kuwait Times.

First of all I have to mention that the true name of the Gulf is Persian Gulf, not Arabian Gulf. You can search that in many sources to make sure.

Secondly, about the islands, they do not belong to UAE. Before 1902 these islands belonged to Iran and at that time Great Britain occupied these islands until 1971. Then they withdrew and Iran took control over its own islands again.

It is funny that a country with only 40 years history claims the islands of a country with 2,500 years of history!

If we want to go back in history, then all of you must doubt your independence!

Regards, Daryoush

kuwait digest

Different Kuwait

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

K

uwait today, in spite of everything beautiful, is not the Kuwait of yesterday. Kuwait of yesterday was more open in everything and deserved the title “Bride of the Gulf”.

Kuwait today is not my father’s Kuwait, that accepted the other and taught me to accept the other, though he is different from me and I am different from him. My father is a bedouin, educated and noble. He reads the books of Carnege, loves the stories by Yousuf Idrees and Najeeb Mahfouz, and collects prohibited political books. Whenever I can, I “steal” them or loan from his library. He was living in a beautiful time, much more beautiful than the time I am living in today.

I do not know Kuwait today, as I used to know my father’s Kuwait yesterday. I loved it with all its differences and I accepted it. Contrary to today, when a generation could be your enemy simply because you don’t share the same opinion.

Yesterday’s Kuwait was the Kuwait of the late Abdullah Al-Nouri, a quiet and honorable religious man, and not Kuwait of those who call for demolishing churches and standing against others simply because he is different from you in religious belief or sect.

Yesterday’s Kuwait is the Kuwait of theater and arts and singing. On the other hand, I was a young teenager in 1988 collecting donations for our brothers in Afghanistan during a book exhibition for religious people at the Social Reform Society. It was alright, and no one accused me of anything.

Although I was a young lad who owned a modern sports car, I left the donation center after participating in collecting some of the charity.

Yesterday’s Kuwait never held anyone accountable for their intentions, or for the way they dressed, but held people accountable for what they said and did. — Al-Anbaa

kuwait digest

Kuwaitis are of Greek origin

By Sami Al-Nisf

T

he Kuwaiti society is the only one in the world that is characterized by the following features: ● It is a society where you find the fiercest fighters of corruption are actually corrupt, and the strongest defenders of the Constitution violate it the most.

You will also find that the most unpatriotic people have the loudest voices in Kuwaiti society in support of patriotism, while the most religious people are usually those who mostly hurt the religion they claim to be defending. ● In Kuwaiti society there is no difference between a state official who saves KD 1 billion in public funds and another who loses KD 1 billion from the state budget. They are all the same to Kuwaitis. ● Kuwaitis would cry their eyes out in dismay over their lost country, but once their country is returned they start from day one to work on... losing it again! ● The longer democratic practice takes place in Kuwaiti society, the more intolerant people become towards different opinions. ● People with the most illegal practices in Kuwaiti society are those who are supposed to be protecting the law, including lawmakers and police officers. ● Kuwaiti citizens use their credit card to pay for everything, even when buying chewing gum. ● People who live in areas in the east

of Kuwait work at areas located in the west, while people who live in the south usually work at locations in the north of the country. Therefore, traffic jams take place all the time in Kuwait as employees travel to and from their workplaces. No one understands why people do not move to live near their work places. ● A Kuwaiti citizen makes sure to allocate a guest room and vast halls to welcome their visitors in their homes. Yet, Kuwaitis try their hardest to never welcome guests into their houses. ● Kuwaitis build the most luxurious and costly homes you will ever see, but will never put their names outside on the door, because of the guilt they feel over what they did! ● Everyone in Kuwaiti society claims to be subjected to injustice in their own country, whereas facts prove that no one has ever subjected their own country to as much injustice as the Kuwaitis do themselves. ● The whole world envies Kuwaitis for the living conditions they enjoy, yet Kuwaitis behave like they are the most unfortunate people in the universe. ● In parliamentary elections held in Kuwaiti society, people opt against electing candidates who speak the voice of reason. After that, the same people complain about the lack of reason or wisdom inside the Parliament they elected. ● Kuwaitis willfully take loans from

banks and companies, and then blame these banks and companies as well as the Government for what they did. They never blame themselves. ● Voters in Kuwaiti society elect candidates known for their obstructive approach to developmental projects, then complain that the development process in their country is not moving.

Oh, poor Kuwaitis! ● Kuwaitis own farms where they do not plant, industrial units where they do not manufacture, stables where they do not have equestrians, livestock farms where they do not have livestock, and even schools and universities where they do not have know-how. ● Kuwaitis are fascinated by what others have, even if those others live in arid deserts, while they always complain about what they do not have even if they live in heaven. ● Extremists in Kuwaiti society race to make legislation that limits social tolerance in the country, yet you find them racing during holidays to travel with their families to the most open countries! ● Kuwaiti citizens get emotional while listening to patriotic songs, but launch fierce attacks against national unity even before the song finishes. ● It needs a genius to create a single problem in a country so rich in wealth, with such a small population and so

small in size. Yet, Kuwaiti society is smart enough to create multiple problems that exceed those found in China, India and Bangladesh combined. ● Despite the fact that the country lacks rivers and has a limited average of annual rainfall, Kuwaitis have the largest average for wasting rare fresh water in the world. ● Kuwaitis have astonishing skills in making sure that their country does not have a promising future. They destroy their food security by overfishing, which killed 85 percent of their fish resources, and destroy their agricultural production by dividing large productive farms into small farms for recreational purposes. ● The Majority in Kuwait’s Parliament practices things they used to condemn when they were the Minority, while the Minority practices things they used to condemn when they were the Majority.

The victim in the end is Kuwait and its people.

On a final note, they say that there are ancient Greek remnants on Failaka Island that prove without a doubt that all Kuwaitis are of Greek origins. I think this is true due to the striking similarities between Kuwaitis today and people of ancient Byzantium. They were known for their foolishness and fruitless arguments until the end of their nation, and people of Athens today are known for their excessive spending habits. —Al-Anbaa

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

local

Winners of Kuwait Times Photography Competition 2012 Winners of KT competition 1) Ramil Sunga 2) Najwa Marafie 3) Ahmad Akbar 4) Sayed Hussein Al Hashemi 5) Saleh Taqi 6) Colin Mc Lurg

-

First Winner Second Winner Third Winner Fourth Winner Fifth Winner Sixth Winner

Special Award Al-Hajri lSalwa Yahia Omara lRamon M. Marbella lSana Abdul Sattar lMaitham T. Al-Misry lBozenna Grecka

-

Special Award Special Award Special Award Special Award Special Award Special Award

lMefleh

(Full coverage of the Photography Competition on Thursday)

Top priority to development MPs respond to Amir speech

KUWAIT: Winners of the Kuwait Times Photography Competition 2012, judges and Kuwait Times staff members are seen in this picture.

—Photo by Joseph Shagra

Malta to open embassy in Kuwait VALLETTA: Malta is planning to open an embassy in Kuwait, reciprocating a decision by the Gulf state to open an embassy in Malta, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said this week.

Speaking at a press conference to mark the fourth year of this legislature, the minister said trade promotion in the Gulf was one of the areas in which his ministr y focused in the past year.

He said that over the past year, Malta’s diplomatic offices abroad had 1,600 commercial contacts, continuing a growing

trend over the years.

He said that in association with Malta Enterprise, representatives had been appointed in various regions to focus on trade and investment.

Malta also opened an embassy in Poland and new consulates in India and Benghazi, Libya. 26 double taxation avoidance agreements were signed since 2008 along with six visa-waiving treaties, which all facilitated trade.

The Foreign Ministry was also involved in six new reciprocal health agreements, 11

agreements on collaboration in the fight against crime and nine agreements on cultural exchanges.

Dr Borg said that the ministry last year was par ticularly involved in assisting Maltese caught up in the turmoil of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and also assisted in the evacuation of hundreds of foreigners from Libya. The ministr y along with Malta Enterprise and in some cases, the Office of the President, was also involved in the organization of trade missions to Portugal, Poland, Ukraine and the Gulf.

KUWAIT: Kuwait National Assembly members referred to a specialized committee yesterday their response to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s inaugural speech of the 14th parliamentary session. The move comes after the Parliament completion of the general deliberation of the speech, and a suggested MPs’ response to it.

During the deliberations, the MPs said that the Government must have a clear political vision and reform programs to deal with the political situation and crises in the state.

They also stressed that the Government should give its highest priority to economic and social development, and upholding the rule of law.

The MPs highlighted the great role of national unity in pushing the development process ahead. National unity is the main pillar of the state’s stability and strength, they concurred.

Parliament underscored that democratic practices have become an integrated part of national security and stability, particularly after the pro-

democracy upheavals in the Arab region. The MPs urged the Government to exert more efforts to upgrade medical and housing services and education. The Government has to use all necessary measures to fight rampant graft and protect public money. Meanwhile, national unity and maintaining the social fabric of Kuwait are among the priorities of the Government and are the top priority of the Ministry of Information (MoI), the Minister affirmed yesterday.

In a statement as he emerged from a Parliament session, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak AlSabah said while the file of the national unity and the solidarity of social fabric are among Government priorities, they are regarded by the MoI as major priorities, and other matters as secondary.

Unity of the social fabric of Kuwait can be solidified through literal implementation of the audio, visual and publishing laws and the bill that was presented by the Government regarding the protection of national unity, he said. —KUNA

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

local

KUWAIT: The Ambassador of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ho Jong hosted a reception at his residence to commemorate the birth centenary of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung.

Senior officials, diplomats and media persons attended the reception. —Photos by Yasser Zayyat

Second Kuwait Metro, Rail Conference kicks off KUWAIT: Under the patronage of Minister of Communications Salem AlUtheina the Second Kuwait Metro and Rail Conference and Exhibition kicked off here yesterday, with large participation from rail, transport companies and experts from the four corners of the globe. “This gathering of a galaxy of international transport and infrastructure experts is a great chance to mull the relevant projects which Kuwait is preparing to execute as a part of the state development plan,” Acting Communication Ministr y Undersecretary Rashed Al-Mea said in the conference opening speech.

He added that the Ministr y of Communication is keen to participate in the second round of the conference and exhibition.

“We believe that this participation will help develop the ministry performance in future projects,” he said.

Kuwait is on the verge of a new era in public transportation. The country is planning to develop its own rail and metro projects as part of the GCC’s wider efforts to improve public transportation networks and its connectivity with neighbors.

The project is part of the planned Gulf railway network aiming to link the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states together.

Another mega project is the Kuwait metro which involves the construction of a 160 km-long metro network with more than 60 stations along four lines

running across Kuwait City. Some 65 per cent of the network will be above ground on an elevated track.

The project also includes an interchange station, electricity substations and maintenance workshops. Kuwait Metro is likely to go ahead simultaneously with the GCC metro network in Abu Dhabi and Doha. All these projects will be completed by 2018.

The government procurement agency, the Partnerships Technical Bureau, has recently invited expressions of interest in the first phase of the Kuwait metro which includes 50 km railroad, 28 stations, 30 percent of them are underground.

Held for the second time, Kuwait Metro and Rail Conference and Exhibition is a unique international event for rail professionals, consultants, contractors, suppliers and investors.

It is a one-stop platform to discuss the future of rail infrastructure, including planning, expansion, execution, project funding models, operations, maintenance, station management, civil and construction work, cuttingedge technologies of signaling, telecommunication, rolling stocks, tunneling, power and electrification and track management.

The event will provide a superb platform to network, exchange ideas, seek business opportunities and to tap into the experience of key industry leaders.— KUNA

Kuwait, Netherlands to deepen cooperation in oil sector THE HAGUE: A top-level delegation from Kuwait’s oil sector is currently visiting the Netherlands for talks with Dutch government officials and representatives of oil companies to boost cooperation between the two countries.

Kuwait has already planned steps to entrench its presence in the Netherlands.

The oil-rich Gulf state is to revamp and expand its refinery in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and Kuwait Petroleum International, KPI, is to inaugurate its European headquarters at the Hague in May. The chairman and managing director of Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), Fahed Al-Ajmi, said their visit follows an invitation by the Dutch embassy in Kuwait to meet representatives of Dutch oil companies and officials from the ministry of economic affairs and innovation. The Kuwait delegation has already met representatives of the Royal Dutch Shell, he said.

“Many off shore companies and international oil companies have their offices in the Netherlands. Rotterdam is the most important port in Europe for oil trade. It is the number one gas hub in Europe,” he said.

Today the Kuwait delegation will be visiting Rotterdam where the KPI, the international marketing and refining arm of KNPC, has a large refinery.

“We are now going to visit this facility and see it with our own eyes. We are going to develop a mega project and we discussed it with Dutch economic officials what facilities they can provide,” said the top Kuwaiti oil official.

Al-Ajmi said Kuwait is embarking on building a large LNG facility to import gas. “We are now under the concept and study phase. The Dutch have an excellent experience in this sector. We want to know the technical know-how and maybe we need assistance from them.”

They will also be meeting the Chamber of Commerce and the mayor in Rotterdam. “We are looking forward to these important meetings,” he said.

Commenting on the current global oil price, Al-Ajmi said many Kuwait official have always indicated that price of oil above one hundred US Dollars is good for both the consumer and supplier. “Our view is that the price between USD 100 and 120, we find it reasonable, “ he said.

On his part, Hussain Esmaiel , chairman and managing director of KPI, noted that Netherlands is one of the leading importers of Kuwaiti oil and petroleum products.

“I think Kuwait and Netherlands enjoy

an outstanding relationship and it goes back a long time. We through the KPI have major investments in the Netherlands like our refiner y in Rotterdam. We also operate retail stations to sell fuel products like gasoline and diesel within the country,” he said.

Esmaiel emphasized that “Kuwait has very good taxation treaty with the Netherlands The Hague is very well suited from many aspects . Therefore we will locate our European headquarters in the Hague in May,” he declared.

The KNPC board has taken a decision to proceed with the feed study to revamp and develop the refinery at the Europort in Rotterdam. This decision was taken ten days ago and we are now proceeding to implement this decision, noted Esmaiel.

The feed study will last one year and its results will be presented before the KNPC board for a final investment decision, he said.

“We are planning to install a new unit.

Once the final investment decision is made we will be able to sustain this refinery for a long time and operate it in a profitable way,” he said.

“The Netherlands is a very important strategic partner of Kuwait from all aspects. We have big investments in this country and we are hoping to expand this relationship further and further,” he emphasized.

Esmaiel said the “oil price has to be at a level to enable the oil producers to invest in further capacity expansion. At the same time we as responsible producers do not want to negatively impact the growth in the world economy. I think the numbers that we are seeing now is something that both sides can live with.”

The ambassador of Kuwait to the Netherlands, Hafeez Mohammad Al Ajmi, hosted a dinner at his residence in honour of the visiting Kuwait delegation on Monday night.

KNPC chairman Fahed Al Ajmi thanked the ambassador for all his support and cooperation.

“He is very energetic and active in promoting Kuwait’s interests in the Netherlands. We are very happy over the support and cooperation extended by the Kuwait embassy in Holland,” added Al-Ajmi.

The delegation includes the executive director of Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, Qasem Al-Mejadi, Deputy Managing Director of Kuwait Oil Company, Mazen Al Sardi and the Managing Director of National Petroleum Services Company, Khaled Al-Safi. —KUNA

Abused teenager attempts suicide Nine-year-old injured in school fight KUWAIT: An elementary student was hospitalized with serious injuries following a vicious brawl with a classmate inside a Taimaa school.

The 9-year-old boy was taken in an ambulance to Jahra Hospital, where he was diagnosed with multiple head bruises. Police in the meantime were able to identify the attacker and launched questioning to reveal the motives behind the attack.

Suicide attempt A teenager was hospitalized recently following a suicide attempt she reportedly committed due to domestic abuse. The victim was rushed by a family member to Adan Hospital, where she arrived in critical condition. Her condition later stabilized inside the intensive care unit, where she was treated from complications of a medication overdose.

Investigations revealed that the girl deliberately overdosed on medication in a bid to end her life due to mistreatment by her father. A case was opened for investigations at a local police station in Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate.

Like father, like son Jahra police ended a fugitive’s trip with his teenage son recently. They placed both of them under arrest after finding drugs on the boy. The two were driving in Al-Qasr when they were pulled over by patrol officers, who soon grew suspicious at the behavior of the 14-year-old. A search revealed that the boy was carrying 40 drug pills and two pieces of hashish. Verification of the identity of his father revealed that the stateless resident is

wanted on charges of threats. The two were taken to the proper authorities for further action.

Fatal accident A pedestrian was killed near Farwaniya Hospital. He was run over by a driver who disappeared after the accident. The Asian man succumbed to his injuries before paramedics arrived on the scene. The body was taken to the Forensics department after the man was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation was opened.

Body found Investigations are currently ongoing to reveal the mystery behind the death of an Asian man, whose body was recently found near a Fahaheel mall. Criminal investigators, who were called to the scene after paramedics pronounced the 22-year-old man dead, found no evidence of foul play on the victim’s body. Police are waiting for an autopsy report from the Ministry of Interior Forensic Department to confirm the cause and time of death.

Conman caught A fugitive who collected KD70,000 through a scam was arrested recently in a police ambush in Salmiya. Investigations had been ongoing following reports about a person who was collecting money from people. He fooled them into believing he could help them to obtain work permits or driver’s licenses. Detectives struggled to follow the suspect during intensive investigations because he

was careful not to leave any evidence after his crimes. An undercover agent was able to make a deal with him. The suspect was detained red-handed and taken for investigations, during which he admitted responsibility for all the reported crimes. He remains in custody pending legal procedures.

Fugitives found Two fugitives did a favor to police when they put themselves in a compromising position in a public place. They made it easier for the police to arrest them. The arrest took place in Salmiya, where patrol officers caught the duo inside an SUV parked behind an apartment building. Verifying the identities of the couple revealed to police that the man was wanted for five cases, including one in which he faces a criminal charge. The woman is wanted in three cases; only one of them is a civil action case. The two were referred to the proper authorities for further action.

Blackmail A search is currently ongoing for a man accused of blackmailing two women, who demanded exaggerated interest on money they borrowed from him. The case was filed in Ahmadi where the attorney of the two Filipina victims explained to police that the Indian suspect made the women sign documents. In them, he agreed to lend them money for a small amount of interest. But it was later revealed that he tricked them into signing a promissory note in which they are required to repay their loans with a highly exaggerated rate of interest. —Al-Rai, Al-AnbAa, Al-Qabas

Kuwaiti film dazzles, nabs prize at Gulf festival DUBAI: Kuwaiti film “Tora Bora” dazzled the panel at the 5th Gulf Film Festival and was awarded the top prize in the conclusion ceremony Monday night, with a special honor awarded to prominent Kuwaiti actor Saad Al-Faraj before the regular awards were called out. Al-Faraj received the award from festival sponsor Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

Film director Waleed Al-Awadi

said the red-carpet premier was a great success, and the film was praised by head of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

He said he is pleased with the reception of his work, adding that he was also proud to have Palestinian actor Qais Nashif in a leading role in the film, and that his performance had earned him the best actor award.

Upon receiving the festival’s special award presented by the judges’ panel, the director said the weight of the story behind the film and the strong scenario contributed to its excellent reception.

He dedicated this achievement to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, all those who contributed to the production, and to the Kuwaiti people, and espe-

cially to Al-Faraj.

The Kuwaiti film is about a misled youth who ends up associating with an extremist group in Afghanistan and his parents’ struggle to track him down. It was screened along with 154 other films from 40 countries. The festival includes three regional and international competitions and a special program to whet the skills of those working in cinematic production. — KUNA

Burgan Bank signs Jewelry Exhibition sponsorship agreement with Kuwait International Fair

‘Scenes from Kuwait’ art exhibition opens KUWAIT: An art exhibition entitled “Scenes from Kuwait” was opened on Monday by Secretary General of the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters (NCCAL), Ali Al-Yo’ha.

Al-Yoh’a said in his opening speech that since the inception of the plastic art movement in the 1960s, the Kuwaiti youth has been participating in art exhibitions and showcasing their talent.

The exhibition, said Al-Yo’ha, showcased the sense of community amongst artists. He added that the event, which was held at the Art gallery in Abdullah Al-Salem area, reminded Kuwaitis of similar events held by the pioneers of art in the country.

He affirmed that the NCCAL would continue to support the art scene in the country in order to cultivate Kuwaiti talent and present it to the public. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait International Fair and Burgan Bank recently signed the Tenth Jewelry Exhibition sponsorship agreement, which is scheduled to take place from April 23 to 28 at the International Fair grounds in Mishref, Hall 8.

The agreement was signed by Misha’al Al-Rashed, assistant marketing and sales manager at Kuwait International Fair, along with Haneen AlRumaihi, head of marketing unit at Burgan Bank.

This is the tenth consecutive year in which the Jewelry Exhibition is being hosted. The exhibition, which is regarded as one of the biggest events, includes local and international prominent jewelry companies.

Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is the youngest commercial Bank based in Kuwait, with a significant focus on the corporate and financial institutions sectors, as well as having a growing retail and private bank customer base.

Burgan Bank has four majority owned subsidiaries: Gulf Bank Algeria - AGB (Algeria), Bank of Baghdad - BOB (Iraq), Jordan Kuwait Bank - JKB (Jordan) and Tunis International Bank - TIB (Tunisia), (collectively known as the “Burgan Bank Group”).

The Bank has continuously improved its performance over the years through an expanded revenue structure, diversified funding sources, and a strong capital base. The adoption of state-of-the-art services and technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market

and within the MENA region.

Burgan Bank’s brand has been created on a foundation of real values - of trust, commitment, excellence and progression, to remind us of the high standards to which we aspire. ‘People come first’ is the foundation on which its products and services are developed.

Excellence is one of the Bank’s four key values and Burgan Bank continually strives to maintain the highest standards in the industry. The Bank was re-certified in 2010 with the ISO 9001:2008 certification in all its banking businesses, making it the only Bank in GCC to receive such accreditation.

The Bank also has to its credit the distinction of being the only Bank in Kuwait to have won the JP Morgan Chase Quality Recognition Award, twelve years in succession.

Burgan Bank won the prestigious “Banking Web Awards” prize in the commercial and corporate Category for Kuwait. In 2010 Burgan Bank was awarded with the “Best Internet Banking Service award” from Banker Middle East Awards. Burgan Bank was recognized in 2011 as Kuwait’s “Best Private Bank”, by World Finance. The bank also won, in 2011, the coveted “International Platinum Star For Quality” award from Business Initiative Directions, and “The Best Technical Award” from Banking Web Awards. Burgan Bank, a subsidiary of KIPCO (Kuwait Projects Company), is a strongly positioned regional Bank in the MENA region.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

Bin Laden family to leave Pakistan today

UN admits tough task as Syria toll mounts Page 8

Page 11

Norway killer unrepentant ‘I would have done it again’ OSLO: The Norwegian anti-Islamic gunman who massacred 77 people said in court yesterday his shooting spree and bomb attack were “sophisticated and spectacular” and that he would do the same thing again.

Anders Behring Breivik, 33, has pleaded not guilty and said he was defending his country by setting off a car bomb that killed eight people at government headquarters in Oslo last July, then shooting another 69 people at a youth summer camp organised by the ruling Labour Party.

Taking the stand at his trial for the first time, the high school drop-out read from a statement for an hour, ignoring pleas from the judge to stop and spark ing criticism from victims he was being allowed to use the trial for violent propaganda.

The killer, a former business fraudster who lived with his mother, invoked Native American warriors such as Sitting Bull, raged against Islam and multicultural “hell” and warned of “rivers of blood” in Europe.

“I have carried out the most sophisticated and spectacular political attack committed in Europe since the Second World War,” Breivik told the court in a monotonous, unemotional voice, seated with one hand on his papers and another on his leg.

“The July 22 attacks were preemptive attacks to defend the Norwegian people and the Norwegian ethnicity.” “Yes, I would have done it again, because offences against my people ... are many times as bad,” he said.

His attacks were “based on goodness, not evil,” he added, saying that teenagers he murdered in cold blood on the island retreat were not innocent but political activists promoting multi-culturalism.

While he will probably be kept behind bars for the rest of his life, Breivik’s main objective is to prove he is sane, a court judgement that he sees as vindicating his anti-Muslim and anti-immigration cause.

He has said being labelled insane would be a “fate worse than death”. If found guilty and sane, Breivik faces a maximum 21-year sentence but could be held indefinitely if he is considered a continuing danger. If declared insane, he would go to a psychiatric institution indefinitely with periodic reviews.

Before yesterday’s statement, Breivik had promised to be sensitive to victims and tone down his rhetoric. But the court audience, including survivors, shifted in their chairs, rolled their eyes, and murmured with impatience during his speech.

He ignored the repeated pleas of an angry judge to stop talking. When Breivik started talking about Japan and South Korea as role models, the judge asked him “to limit himself to Norwegian issues.”

Breivik’s testimony, which will go on for five days, will not be broadcast on television due to concerns that the gunman could use the trial as propaganda for his violent cause. “He is getting what he wants and I don’t want to be a part of that,” survivor Hildegunn Fallang said.

The day began in controversy when the court dismissed a lay judge because he posted a comment on a Facebook page days after the massacre saying the gunman should face the death penalty.

Two professional judges, as well as three lay judges chosen from civil society, preside over the court.

The judge, who will be replaced, posted “The death penalty is the only just outcome of this case” on a Facebook page.

The prosecutor quizzed Breivik about his past, including his avoidance of military service and his career as a failed businessman who once sold fake college diplomas. “I don’t think he was prepared that he would be so stripped of honour and glory,” said forensic psychiatrist Paal Groendal, who followed Breivik’s testimony in court.

Breivik appeared for the first time in court on Monday, giving a clenched-fist salute, smirking at the court and pleading not guilty in a trial that threatens to showcase his anti-Islamic views. Breivik listened impassively for hours as prosecutors read out an indictment detailing how he massacred teenagers trapped on the island resort outside Oslo.

He only shed tears when the court later showed one of his propaganda videos.

Breivik shot most of his victims several times, often using the first shot to take down his target then following up with a shot to the head. His youngest victim was 14. He later surrendered as “commander of the Norwegian resistance movement”.

The trial is scheduled to last 10 weeks. More than 200 people sat in the specially built courtroom while about 700 attack survivors and family members of victims watched on closed-circuit video around the country.

His defence team has called 29 witnesses to argue Breivik is sane, including Mullah Krekar, the Kurdish founder of Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, jailed in Norway for five years last month for making death threats, and “Fjordman”, a right-wing blogger who influenced Breivik.

Last July 22, he set off the bomb in the centre of Oslo before heading to the youth camp on Utoeya, an island in a lake 40 km (25 miles) outside the capital, gunning down his victims while police took more than an hour to get to the site in the chaos

following the bomb blast.

Disguised as a police officer, Breivik managed to lure some of his victims out of hiding, saying help had arrived. Other victims jumped into the lake, where he shot them in the water. “Your arrest will mark the initiation of the propaganda phase,” Breivik wrote in a manual for future attackers, part of a 1,500-page manifesto he posted online. “Your trial offers you a stage to the world.”

An initial psychiatric evaluation concluded that Breivik was criminally insane while a second, completed in the past week, found no evidence of psychosis. Resolving this conflict could be the fivejudge panel’s major decision.

“It is not so important what he feels,” said Randi Johansen Perreau, a mother whose son was killed on the island. “It is about what he has done and I hope this court will be able to punish him in a way that ... that we can have an ordinary life back, if we can. That is difficult.” — Reuters

OSLO: Defendant Anders Behring Breivik approaches the witness box in the courtroom in Oslo yesterday. The antiMuslim fanatic who admitted to killing 77 people in a bomb-and-shooting massacre took to the stand in his terror trial yesterday. — AP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

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

Iraq orders 15 Saddam-era officials to be freed BAGHDAD: The Iraqi High Tribunal has ordered the release of 15 officials from Saddam Hussein’s regime, after finding no charges to bring against them, an official in the justice ministry said yesterday.

Three have already been liberated, including Mahmud Faraj Bilal AlSamarrai, a scientist implicated in Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program

under Saddam, who surrendered to the CIA in May 2003. Former Iraqi trade minister Mohammed Mahdi Al-Saleh was freed in March. He was number 35 among the most wanted officials by US forces following the 2003 US-led invasion, and was arrested on April 23, 2003.

And Hamed Yussef Hamadi, who served under Saddam as information

and culture minister, then culture minister after the two ministries were split, and also as secretary of the presidency, was released in April.

“The decision was taken on April 5 by the Iraqi High Tribunal to free 12 other officials one by one after a final check,” the justice ministry official said.

The remaining 12 include Hashem Hassan al-Majid, the governor of Babil

province and the brother of “Chemical Ali,” who was executed in 2010, and Fadel Salfij Al-Azzawi, the governor of Salaheddin province at the time of the 1982 Dujail massacre. Also to be released are the chief of the air force at the time of the Gulf War, General Muzahem Saad Hassan Al-Tikriti, Latif Mahal Hamud, the former governor of Basra province, and Ogla Abed Sigar, a

former high-ranking official in the nowdisbanded Baath party. “The 12 will be released today from Kadhimiya prison,” said Badie Aref, a lawyer who has represented a number of Saddam-era officials, including former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz. The US military transferred 200 officials it held to Iraqi control before the departure of US troops at the end of last year. — AFP

UN admits tough task as Syria toll mounts Ban Ki-moon calls on forces to exercise ‘restraint’

PORT SAID: Some of the 75 Egyptian defendants charged in connection with Egypt’s worst football disaster, which left more than 70 people dead in Port Said in February, appear behind a cage in a court room during their trial in police academy in Cairo yesterday. Defendants pleaded “not guilty” as some chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great), denying the charges of premeditated murder and possession of weapons. — AFP

Egypt judge adjourns stadium disaster trial CAIRO: The trial of 61 men over the death of 74 soccer fans in Egypt’s worst stadium disaster was adjourned yesterday after a rowdy first session that was suspended briefly when dozens of defendants hurled abuse at the judge.

Judge Abdel Magid Mahmoud walked out as the defendants jumped on benches in the courtroom’s steel cage and waved their fists at the bench, denying any role in the deaths and demanding that the true culprits be punished.

“Either we get justice for them or we die ourselves!” the defendants yelled. The judge returned when calm was restored and set May 5 for the next session to give the court time to call witnesses, prepare documents requested by lawyers and summon more of the accused to stand trial.

Many of those killed on the night of Feb. 1 were crushed when panicked fans tried to escape from the stadium after a postmatch pitch invasion by supporters of local side al-Masry. Others fell or were thrown from terraces, witnesses said.

It was the country’s deadliest incident since protests toppled long-serving President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 and it deepened frustration that a police force weakened by last year’s uprising seemed unable to protect the population.

Fans of the visiting team, Al Ahly, accused the Interior Ministry of deliberately causing the disaster in revenge for their role in toppling Mubarak and their continued hostility to an unreformed police force.

The court ordered that Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim and the heads of alMasr y club, the Egyptian Football Association and the Supreme Sports Council be named as concerned parties in

the case, meaning they will not be exposed to criminal charges but may be told to pay compensation if found responsible for acts of their subordinates, state news agency MENA reported.

A parliamentary inquiry blamed fans and shoddy policing for the deaths and the head of state security in Port Said was fired along with the board of the football association. “The accused used different types of sharp weapons, explosives and stones and waited for the fans in Port Said stadium to arrive to watch the match between Egypt’s Ahly vs Port Said clubs,” the general prosecutor told the court.

The 61 were charged with premeditated killing and 12 others, including nine police officers and three Masry club officials, with helping cause the disaster.

The interior ministry has refused to provide security at soccer matches since the disaster, forcing the cancellation of the rest of the top-flight league season. Hundreds of protesters outside the court building demanded justice for the victims. Some fans wore black shirts imprinted with the words: “When I forego the rights of the martyrs, I will surely be dead”.

“We only want the justice of God,” said Ahmed Khater, 55, whose son died in the stadium. Many of the protesters outside the court were Ahly fans who see the trial as a last chance to reassert their dignity.

Some likened the case to the ongoing trials of Mubarak and other state officials blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people in last year’s uprising.

“We will not allow any prolonging of the process. If the martyrs’ rights aren’t secured by law, we will achieve it by other means,” said student Mahmoud Adel. — Reuters

Amnesty questions Bahrain reforms DUBAI: Amnesty International said yesterday that Bahrain had failed to deliver on promises of political reform after a deadly crackdown last year, as controversy mounted over the kingdom’s hosting of the Formula One Grand Prix next weekend.

In a 58-page report released just days before the Gulf kingdom is due to host the prestigious race, which was cancelled amid last year’s unrest, the London-based watchdog said authorities “have failed to provide justice for victims of human rights violations.” “With the world’s eyes on Bahrain as it prepares to host the Grand Prix, no one should be under any illusions that the country’s human rights crisis is over,” said Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

“The authorities are trying to portray the country as being on the road to reform, but we continue to receive reports of torture and use of unnecessary and excessive force against protests,” Sahraoui said, adding that so far, “reforms have only scratched the surface.” The report came just a day after a prominent international think-tank warned that Bahrain’s hosting of motor racing’s premier event was a “time bomb,” amid threats of new protests against the Sunni rulers of the Shiite-majority kingdom.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) cautioned that “beneath a facade of normalisation, Bahrain is sliding towards another dangerous eruption of violence,” and urged the government in Manama to heed calls for real reform.

King Hamad has promised change in line with the recommendations of an independent commission of inquiry into his government’s bloody crackdown in March last year against month-long Shiite-led pro-democracy protests. The commission found that the security forces had used excessive force

against unarmed protesters and tortured detainees in an operation that left 35 people dead, including five from torture. According to Amnesty, “despite some institutional and other reforms, the government’s overall response has been inadequate.”

Specifically, Amnesty says “no senior member of the security forces has been held to account... and scores of prisoners have not been released.” Protests in the kingdom have intensified in recent days in support of prominent Shiite activist Abdulhadi alKhawaja, who has been on hunger strike since the night of February 8-9.

On Monday, the ICG said Khawaja’s health was a second “time bomb” and warned that his death “would spark a serious intensification in anti-regime activism.”

Khawaja was sentenced to life in prison with other opposition activists over an alleged plot to topple the monarchy during last year’s protests.

Tensions in the island kingdom have been mounting in the run-up to Sunday’s Grand Prix as the main Shiite opposition bloc, Al-Wefaq, launches a week of protests.

The “Revolution of February 14” youth group, whose members have repeatedly clashed with security forces, have called for “three days of rage” from Friday through Sunday. On Monday night, hundreds of protesters, calling for the overthrow of the ruling Khalifa dynasty, clashed with police in the Shiite village of Salmabad, witnesses said, adding that police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Activists were expected to demonstrate near Bahrain’s international airport later yesterday. Amnesty accused security forces of continuing to “face protesters with unnecessary and excessive force... particularly tear gas,” which has resulted in “several deaths in recent months.”—AFP

DAMASCUS: UN observers acknowledged yesterday that they face a tough task to firm up a ceasefire in Syria, as five civilians were killed in the latest violence on the sixth day of a tenuous truce.

Colonel Ahmed Himmiche, a Moroccan who heads an advance team of six members preparing for the deployment of a 30-person mission, said the observers would move forward one step at a time.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States was still “hoping for the best” but was discussing with other powers what to do in the event the peace plan collapses. Her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, pointed the finger at the opposition — 11 of 35 people killed in violence on Monday were soldiers-and called on its foreign supporters to press the rebels to honour the hard-won truce. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon called on regime forces to exercise “maximum restraint” and the opposition to “fully cooperate.” Three of the five dead yesterday were killed in regime shelling of Idlib, a northwestern province close to the Turkish border, where there is a strong presence of rebel fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Shelling killed two more and wounded dozens at Basr al-Harir in southern Daraa province, cradle of the 13-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Britain-based watchdog said.

The rebel districts of Khaldiyeh and Bayyada in the flashpoint central city of Homs also came under renewed shelling, it added. The opposition Syrian National Council accused the regime of “flagrant violations of the ceasefire” and called on the UN observers to “travel to Idlib and Homs immediately to see first-hand the massacres which the regime is carrying out and has not stopped carrying out.”

UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who brokered the peace plan, was to travel to Qatar for a ministerial meeting of the Arab League on the crisis later yeserday, his spokesman said. Colonel Himmiche said “it’s a difficult mission that needs coordination and planning.” “No ceasefire, not even the beginnings of a political process-this mission will be one of the toughest ever undertaken by

DAMASCUS: An image grab from AFP footage taken at a Damascus hotel yesterday shows Moroccan advance team leader Colonel Ahmed Himmiche, one of a UN monitors team who arrived in Syria earlier this week, talking to television reporters. Himmiche acknowledged that a hard-won UN military observer mission to oversee a Syria ceasefire will be “difficultî. — AFP the United Nations,” he added.

Clinton called on Damascus to honour Annan’s plan in full, not just the promised ceasefire. “What the Assad regime needs to do is to make clear that they’re going to silence their guns, withdraw their troops and work toward fulfilling the six-point plan,” she said.

Complying with the plan also means allowing peaceful demonstrations, releasing political prisoners and allowing a peaceful political transition to begin, Clinton added.

“We want to see a political process begin, but if violence is renewed, the regime reverts to shelling its own people and causing a great deal of death and injury, then we’re going to have to get back to planning what our next steps (are).”

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said “stronger sanctions” against Damascus must be adopted to “pressure the Syrian regime” and erode its resources.

Damascus ally Moscow took aim, without naming them, at supporters

of the rebels, such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, for what it acknowledged was a “fragile” truce. “There are countries-there are outside forces - that are not interested in the success of current UN Security Council efforts,” Lavrov said. But in a clear reference to Moscow, a group of 50 countries supporting sanctions against Assad’s regime yesterday expressed “strong disapproval of any financial or other support, in particular the continuation of arms sales to the Syrian regime.”

Russia, which voted in favour of the text after vetoing two previous draft resolutions, will be “substantially” represented in the UN mission, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

“The specifics of our participation in the observers mission are being worked on right now,” Interfax quoted Ryabkov as saying. The advance team of military observers had arrived in Damascus late on Sunday, and the Local Coordination Committees activist group said that

“cars carrying the observers arrived in Daraa accompanied by army vehicles.” A spike in deadly violence forced the Arab League to end its own Syrian monitoring mission in late January, barely a month after sending observers. The UN chief voiced concern late Monday. “I am very much concerned about what has happened since yesterday and today,” Ban said. “It is important, absolutely important, that the Syrian government should take all the measures to keep this cessation of violence,” he said, adding that Damascus must “guarantee” free access countrywide to the military observers. Anti-regime activists have advised fellow citizens to “speak the truth, that’s what freedom is about” when they meet the UN observers.

Meanwhile, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will visit China today, Beijing announced, to showcase efforts taken by Damascus to execute the UN ceasefire. —AFP

Palestinian inmates launch ‘battle of empty stomachs’ R AMALL AH: At least 1,20 0 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails launched an open- ended hunger strike yesterday, upping the stakes in a protest movement that has put the Jewish state under pressure. Israel has already struck deals with two Palestinian detainees this year af ter they staged prolonged hunger strikes and 10 other inmates have been refusing to take food in an ad-hoc campaign that has gathered unexpected momentum.

Hundreds more joined the socalled “battle of empty stomachs” yes terday to coincide with “Prisoners’ Day”, when both the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip stage mass rallies in support of some 4,800 prisoners who are held in Israeli prisons.

“I am afraid for the life of my son. I am afraid for all their lives.

All the prisoners are as dear to me as my son is,” said Gaza resident Zbaida Al-Masri, adding that her son, Yusri, was serving a 20-

GAZA CITY: A picture taken on April 9, 2012, shows former prisoner Hanaa Shalabi, who spent 43 days on hunger strike in an Israeli, joins a protest calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners still being held by Israel, outside the Red Cross Headquarters in Gaza City. In an interview with AFP on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, yesterday, Hanaa Shalabi paid tribute to the 10 prisoners who have been on hunger strike for several weeks, two of whom have now gone 50 days without eating. — AFP

year-term for fighting against Israel.

The Israeli prisons’ authority said 2,300 prisoners had announced they would rejec t their daily meal on Tuesday, while 1,200 indicated they were launching a formal hunger strike. “The I s raeli Pr is ons Au thorit y ha s coped with hunger strikes in the past and is prepared to cope with it now,” it added.

Palestinian officials said 1,600 prisoners were joining the indefinite hunger strike, which fits into their much broader battle to secure an independent home land. The hunger strikers have a long list of complaints, including the Israeli use of solitary confinement, the difficulty many having in securing family visits and the strip searches that are imposed on visitors.

Palestinians also denounce socalled administrative detention, whereby Israel can imprison suspects indefinitely, without ever informing them of the charges they face or presenting their lawyers with any evidence.

Althou g h all the ma in Palestinian political factions said they were back ing the action, divisions swiftly appeared, with prisoners belonging to the mainstream Fatah faction accusing the Islamic group Hamas of using the campaign to diver t attention from its own internal divisions.

Attempts to end a feu d bet ween President M ahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, which holds sway in the West Bank, and

Hamas, which governs Gaza, have so far failed to bear fruit.

Abbas urged the prisoners to remain united in their cause. “The sole beneficiary of the Palestinian split is Israel, the occupying power,” he said in a statement.

“Preserve the unity of prisoners’ movement, because you know what divisions and disagree ments have done to our homeland and our just cause.”

The start of the mass hunger strike coincides with the expected release of Khader Adnan, who refused food for 66 days before agreeing to a deal to secure his freedom. Adnan, 33, is a member of Islamic Jihad, which has vowed to destroy Israel. Inspired by his protest, a female prisoner, Hana Shalabi, refused food for 43 days before the Israelis decided to deport her to Gaza, barring her from returning to her native West Bank for at least three years.

At the pro -prisoner rally in Gaza, boys in chains stood before the crowd as demonstrators set fire to an Israeli flag. On a nearby float, a dummy representing an Israeli soldier sat dejected-looking in an iron cage. “ We demand that the Palestinian resistance carries out a second prisoner swap deal,” said Ahmed Bahar, a senior Hamas politician, hinting that militants should try to seize an Israeli soldier and use him to bar ter for Palestinians. Israel agreed last year to free 1,000 Palestinians in return for Gilad Shalit, a soldier held by Hamas for five years. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

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

UK sentences ex-head of Nigerian state to 13 years LONDON: A former governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta state was sentenced in Britain yesterday to 13 years in prison for fraud and money-laundering, capping a spectacular fall from flashy political kingmaker to convict.

The sentencing of James Ibori in London culminated years of probes both in London and his native Nigeria, where the ex-governor once held great political sway. But it ultimately took Britain, Nigeria’s former colonial ruler, to imprison a corrupt politician from the West African nation where graft dominates politics.

“You turned yourself in short order into a multimillionaire through corruption and theft in your powerful position as Delta state governor,” Judge Anthony Pitts said in his ruling at Southwark Crown Court. Ibori stood accused of stealing $250 million from the public purse and funneling much of the stolen funds to banks in England to fund a lavish lifestyle of private jets and luxury cars. He pleaded guilty in

February to fraud and money-laundering sums of approximately 50 million pounds ($79 million).

“During his two terms as governor of Delta State, James Ibori deliberately and systematically defrauded the people whose interests he had been elected to represent,” Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement after the sentencing. “Very significant cooperation was secured from many countries worldwide to enable us to bring this prosecution.”

Ibori held great political power in Nigeria before leaving his gubernatorial office. He was a kingmaker in the People’s Democratic Party, the ruling political force in Nigeria since the country became an uneasy democracy in 1999 after years of military rule. The ex-governor’s guilty pleas in London capped an inquiry which began in association with Nigerian anti-corruption investigators in 2005. Ibori was immune from prosecution in Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, when he was

serving as governor of Delta state, police said.

Ibori contributed his wealth toward the 2007 election of Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua and later served as a trusted confidant to the ill leader, who later died. Anti-corruption officials complained to Western diplomats that the Yar’Adua administration protected the politician from investigations, even after he lost his immunity.

British prosecutors and police have said Ibori used money funneled from the state to buy houses in London and Johannesburg, a fleet of armored Land Rovers, a Jaguar, a Bentley and a $20 million private jet. He racked up credit card bills of $200,000 a month.

Nigeria’s main anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, arrested Ibori in 2007, and police in London got a court order to freeze UK assets of 35 million pounds which allegedly belonged to him. In 2009, a Nigerian judge dismissed a 170-count indictment against

Britain to deport cleric Abu Qatada bin laden’s ‘right-hand man’ LONDON: Britain said yesterday it had re-arrested a radical cleric once described as Osama bin Laden’s “right-hand man in Europe” and would resume plans to deport him to Jordan, where he has been convicted in his absence of involvement in terrorist plots.

Jordanian preacher Abu Qatada had been under virtual house arrest at his family home in London since February, when he was freed from a British prison after a court said his detention without trial was unlawful.

The cour t ’s decision followed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in January that Qatada would not receive a fair trial in Jordan because evidence against him may have been obtained through the use of torture.

Home Secretary (interior minister) Theresa May said reassurances from Jordan meant Britain could now proceed with deportation and comply with the European court’s ruling. “British courts have found that Abu Qatada is a dangerous man. He is a risk to our national security and he should be deported to Jordan,” May told parliament.

“I believe the assurances and the information we have gathered will mean we can soon put Qatada on a plane and get him out of our country for good.” Under the deal struck with Jordan, May said, Qatada would be tried by a court used to hearing criminal cases and not a quasi-military body, the case would be heard in public with civilian judges, and his conviction in absentia would be quashed.

She added that his two co-accused had received pardons and could give evidence against him freely without any fear for their safety, and changes to the Jordanian constitution now banned the use of testimony obtained using torture.

Lawyers for Qatada poured scorn on the assurances and indicated they would appeal against the deportation. Britain has been trying to deport Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, for more than a decade and his case has become an important test of how Britain treats foreign suspects accused of having links with groups such as al Qaeda.

It has also proved an embarrassment for the British government and prompted calls from politicians to defy the European court and deport the cleric before London hosts the Olympic Games in July and August.

Britain says videotapes of his sermons were found in a German apartment used by three of the people who carried out al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Qatada, a father of five, denies belonging to al Qaeda.

A court in Jordan found him guilty in absentia of involvement in two bomb plots and a senior British judge has described him as a “truly dangerous” supporter of radical Islamist groups.

He was described as bin Laden’s “right-hand man in Europe” by Spanish high court judge and human rights investigator Baltasar Garzon in 2004 after 191 people

LONDON: In this undated 2005 image made available by the British Prison Service, and aired by Arabic TV channels, shows Abu Qatada who makes a televised appeal from Belmarsh high security prison, in London calling for the release of hostage British Norman Kember being held in Iraq. — AP were killed by bombs put on board commuter trains in Madrid by Islamist militants.

“I know that many honourable members are frustrated by Strasbourg’s ruling and by the time it is taking to deport him. I share their frustration entirely,” said May, who travelled to Jordan in March to seek an agreement to allow deportation.

“With the assurances we have received we can have confidence in our eventual success.”

Qatada appeared in the dock at a specialist court in the basement of a judicial building in central London where he heard the government wanted to send him home by April 30.

The judge said an appeal could not be heard until October and May herself admitted it could be many months before he left Britain.

Al Qaeda warned Britain last week against sending Qatada to Jordan, saying in a statement on an Islamist website that such a move would open the “door of evil” for the British government and its people.

Qatada was born in 1960 near Bethlehem, then part of Jordan and now of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Never formally charged with an offence, he has been in and out of custody since he was first detained under anti-terrorism laws in 2002. Since his release Qatada has had to wear an electronic tag to allow the police to keep track of him and spend 22 hours a day at his family home. He was also banned from using the Internet and mobile phones. — Reuters

Ibori for lack of evidence. But that would be the height of his power.

When Yar’Adua died in 2010, Ibori saw his influence fade and quickly became a pariah. The case was reopened in 2010 by Nigerian investigators, but Ibori evaded arrest and fled to Dubai.

He was detained there at the request of British police and extradited to London in 2011.

British prosecutors said that after two years and nearly 60,000 pages of evidence, the next step in Ibori’s case will be to enable the courts to issue orders confiscating his illegal profits.

Reaction to Ibori’s sentencing, while generating talk online, was muted Tuesday in Nigeria, an oil-rich nation where most live in crushing poverty and wearily accept the rampant corruption that chokes government and business. The state -run Nigerian Television Authority ran a news crawl with Ibori’s conviction during its Tuesday afternoon broadcast, but did not immediately mention it on air.

Ibori - who prosecutors said is 49 years old, but according to the birth date he used in Nigeria is 53 - was charged in Britain with a string of offenses. Prosecutors have suggested Ibori changed his age in Nigeria to hide previous convictions in the UK as the country’s constitution bans convicts from holding office.

He had pleaded guilty in February to seven counts of money laundering and one count each of conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to make false instruments and obtaining a property transfer by deception.

Britain’s International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said Ibori’s sentence “sends a strong and important message to those who seek to use Britain as a refuge for their crimes.” “We are committed to rooting out corruption wherever it is undermining development and will help bring its perpetrators like Ibori to justice and return stolen funds to help the world’s poorest.” — AP

Top civilian, military figures arrested in post-coup Mali BAMAKO: Gunmen rounded up top Malian officials including two presidential hopefuls in a show of force by a junta that seized power last month, as the interim leader named a Microsoft executive as prime minister.

Those arrested included former prime minister Modibo Sidibe and Soumaila Cisse, a former minister who led the West African Economic and Monetary Union until November last year. Cisse suffered an unspecified injury while fleeing his home, and was later arrested at a hospital and taken by ambulance to the junta’s headquarters in Kati, near Bamako, a family source said.

Both Sidibe and Cisse were leading candidates in a presidential election set for April 29 that was derailed by the March 22 coup. Aides to interim president Dioncounda Traore, who took office following an April 6 deal brokered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said he had no prior knowledge of the raid.

Yesterday, Traore satisfied a key condition of the ECOWAS deal by naming a prime minister to head a unity government that will include the military. The new prime minister, Cheick Modibo Diarra is a former astrophysicist who served as Microsoft’s chairman for Africa and had planned to run in the aborted April 29 election under the Rally for Mali’s Development he founded last year. But as Diarra takes charge of the interim government, he will have to contend with the junta which observers said carried out the high-profile arrests to show it has no intention of being sidelined by politicians.

A family member said “several armed men including two or three wearing masks” raided Sidibe’s home, arresting him for the third time since the coup. Police chief Mahamadou Diagouraga, former defence minister Sadio Gassama and Hamidou Sissoko, a top aide to ousted president Amadou Toumani Toure, were among others arrested in overnight raids and whisked to Kati.

A Malian security source said the arrests would be explained “when the time comes.” A statement from European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s office demanded the “immediate release” of Sidibe and the others, calling for “urgent clarification” regarding the circumstances of their arrest.

Aside from dealing with junta, Diarra’s top priority

will be to negotiate with Tuareg and Islamist rebels as well as various criminal groups who took advantage of the coup to overrun much of the country’s north.

Initial contacts been made with some of the groups since Traore’s inauguration, and he has vowed “total and

BAMAKO: A file photo taken on September 22, 2010 shows then Malian Prime Minister Modibo Sidibe arriving for a military parade in Bamako during celebrations marking 50 years of independence from France. Former Malian prime minister Modibo Sidibe was arrested overnight along with several other high-ranking figures, both civilian and military, relatives and a security source said yesterday. — AFP implacable war” if talks fail. The low-ranking army officers who staged the putsch justified their action by denouncing the government’s ineffective resistance to the Tuareg rebellion, which was rekindled in January.

The coup prompted the rebels, joined by Islamists, to capture an area roughly the size of France, including the ancient town of Timbuktu.

The main Tuareg rebel group Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) then declared an independent state, drawing international condemnation. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

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

Venezuela rejects ‘threats’ against Argentina CARACAS: Venezuela strongly criticized what it called Britain’s threats against Argentina as its South American ally intensifies its claim to the Falkland Islands. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Monday that the government of President Hugo Chavez rejects “the threats and attempts at intimidation that are taking shape in Europe.”

He did not specify the threats, though tensions between Britain and Argentina have grown recently, especially around the anniversary of Argentina’s invasion of the Falklands, which Argentines say Britain has long illegally occupied.

Argentina has increasingly sought to isolate the South Atlantic islands by barring trade, ships and planes from adjacent Argentine territory and

waters. That has led to shortages of some types of produce on the islands.

Argentina’s claim to the islands, which are known in Latin America as the Islas Malvinas, has widespread support across the region.

While Argentina considers the islands an illegal British colony, the British government says the Falklands have long been a self-governing British territory.

Britain, which has controlled the Falklands since 1833, sent forces to the islanders’ defense when Argentine forces invaded on April 2, 1982. The 74-day war ended when British troops routed the Argentines. In all, 255 British soldiers, 649 Argentines and three islanders were killed.

Venezuela also threw its support behind Argentina’s decision to rena-

tionalize the South American country’s largest oil company and said it’s willing to help Argentina strengthen its oil industry.

Fernandez has put a bill put to congress that would give Argentina a majority stake in oil and gas company YPF by taking control of 51 percent of its shares currently held by Spain’s Repsol, a move that could cause a major rift with Spain.

Venezuela, Latin America’s largest oil producer, has forged strong relations with Argentina. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez announced the move to gain control of Argentina’s energy reserves on Monday.

Maduro also suggested that the United States is losing clout with its Latin American neighbors, saying U.S.

officials were overwhelmed by the show of support from Latin American leaders who strongly objected to Washington’s stance against Cuba’s inclusion in the hemisphere’s affairs during last week’s Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

“The isolation of the United States was evident in Cartagena,” Maduro said. The United States insists the communist-run nation must be barred from the 18-year-old Summit of the Americas.

Several Latin American nations are certain to boycott the next meeting, possibly leading to its cancellation, if Washington does not change its position, Maduro said.

“If Cuba is not invited, there won’t be another Summit of the Americas,” he said. During a televised interview,

Maduro accused the United States of conspiring against Venezuela’s government. Washington has teamed up with opponents of Chavez to orchestrate plans aimed at spurring street violence or a possible coup attempt ahead of an Oct. 7 presidential election.

“At this moment it’s difficult to consider an improvement in the relations with the United States due to this conspiracy,” he said. Maduro, one of Chavez ’s closest confidants, said President Barack Obama “represents the machinery of this conspiracy.”

Relations between Caracas and Washington have been tense for years.

US officials have questioned Chavez’s commitment to democracy while Chavez has accused Washington of aiding his political adversaries. — AP

As Romney seeks running mate, Palin lessons echo ‘It won’t be like the McCain campaign’

TONGOY: People remain outside their homes in Tongoy, some 200 km north of Santiago, early yesterday, after a strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile late Monday. The quake sent tremors through the Chilean capital Santiago, sparking concern and causing power outages, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, according to witnesses and local authorities. — AFP

Strong quake shakes Chile, no damage SANTIAGO: A powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Chile’s eastern port of Valparaiso early yesterday, shaking buildings as far away as the capital Santiago, but there were no reports of significant damage and the country’s main copper mines were unaffected.

One elderly man died as a result of a heart attack brought on by the quake, which struck 26 miles (42 km) northnortheast of Valparaiso, and 69 miles (112 km) northwest of the capital Santiago, but there were no other reports of injuries.

State emergency office ONEMI said a stretch of coastline was being evacuated as a precaution, but there was no tsunami alert. Rodrigo Ubilla, an Interior Ministry undersecretary, said there had been no reports of damage to public or private infrastructure, although state television said several thousand homes were without power outside Santiago.

The governor of the Valparaiso region, Raul Celis, said one elderly man died from a heart attack during the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said occurred at 50 minutes after midnight (0350 GMT). The USGS recorded an aftershock of 5.1 magnitude 13 minutes later.

The first quake was measured at a depth of 23 miles (37 km). Apartment buildings in Santiago shook heavily, and residents opened doors as a precaution

to clear potential escape routes. Local television broadcast images of lamps swinging in homes in the capital.

Local media said basic services like power and telecommunications continued to operate normally, but Ubilla said the government had asked regional authorities to keep the evacuation in place for now as a precaution.

State mining giant Codelco, the world’s No.1 copper producer, said it had evacuated its smelter in Ventanas as a precaution. But it said its operations were not impacted by Tuesday’s quake, as did global miner Anglo American.

State oil company ENAP also said its Bio Bio refinery was operating normally.

Chile is prone to earthquakes, and was hammered by a massive 8.8 magnitude tremor in early 2010 which ravaged the south-center of the country, devastating industries and triggering tsunamis, in a disaster that killed about 500 people.

The 2010 quake caused roughly $8 billion in insured losses and economic losses of at least twice that. In the past two years, earthquakes have been a scourge of the insurance industry. In addition to Chile, quakes in Japan and New Zealand in 2011 caused recordbreaking losses in the tens of billions of dollars. Mexico has also been rattled by a series of strong quakes in recent weeks. — Reuters

BOSTON: Republican front-runner Mitt Romney has begun his search for a running mate in the race for president, and he will be guided in part by the lessons his party learned from Sarah Palin’s selection four years ago.

As he prepares for the chance to challenge President Barack Obama in November, Romney wants to avoid the blowback Republican John McCain faced in 2008 with his surprise choice of the little-known Alaska governor as the vice presidential candidate.

Questions about Palin’s readiness to serve and McCain’s decision-making came to define his flawed campaign.

Romney will put experience at the top of his list of qualities as he chooses a No. 2, according to senior advisers and Republican operatives familiar with his thinking. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak candidly about a process Romney is trying to keep as private as possible.

“The hallmark for Governor Romney’s candidacy, and how he would be as president, is that he approaches these decisions in a wellthought-out, methodical way,” said Steve Duprey, a former McCain adviser and member of the Republican National Committee. “It won’t be like the McCain campaign, where there was a big surprise.”

The former Massachusetts governor did give a few hints about his plans Monday, disclosing that he had chosen his former chief of staff and 2008 presidential campaign manager, Beth Myers, to lead the vetting and analysis of prospective running mates.

Romney said the selection would certainly happen before the Republican National Convention in late August, where he is all but certain to become the party’s nominee. But when asked about potential choices - and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, specifically Romney hedged.

“Well I think he’s one of the terrific leaders in our party, but I think it’s way too early to begin narrowing down who the potential vice presidential nominees might be,” Romney said in an interview with Diane Sawyer of ABC News. “But we’re beginning that process, we’ll talk about a lot of folks, and then go through the kind of vetting and review process that you have to go through to make sure whoever you select will pass the evaluation that’s required by the American people.”

In addition to his running mate being prepared to assume the presidency, Romney has laid out only one other public criterion: that

he or she oppose abortion rights. That condition could help reassure social conservatives that Romney is serious about his opposition to abortion - a sensitive issue because he supported abortion rights when he ran for the

tive favorites such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. Still, if he’s looking for experience, that group has just five years of gubernatorial experience among

PHILADELPHIA: Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney greets supporters after speaking at Tri-State Tax Day Tea Summit April 16 at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Romney continues his campaign as the presumptive GOP candidate after his closest rival Rick Santorum suspended his campaign last week. — AFP Senate in 1994. Several Republicans familiar with Romney’s thinking downplay the importance of choosing a running mate from a particular battleground state or an important voting demographic.

Romney also is expected to avoid a candidate with the kind of star power that might distract too much attention from the party’s main campaign themes - Republicans are working to make the election a referendum on Obama - or overshadow Romney himself.

Rubio, 40, is one such celebrity candidate.

The Florida senator is in the midst of only his second year on Capitol Hill, but he is both a conservative favorite and potential bridge to the growing Hispanic voting bloc, which typically favors Democrats.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman is also near the top of many speculative lists of potential running mates. Portman endorsed Romney early and campaigned hard for him in Ohio, a key battleground state that can vote either Republican or Democratic.

Romney also is likely to consider conserva-

them. More experienced Republicans could help Romney mitigate some political liabilities, such as his $250 million wealth and his struggle to connect with working -class voters. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty comes from a working-class background that could help. He’s been aggressively campaigning on Romney ’s behalf since suspending his presidential campaign last year.

Republican budget guru Rep. Paul Ryan also came from humble beginnings. Ryan campaigned at Romney’s side for several days ahead of Wisconsin’s recent Republican primary, a victory that helped push conservative favorite Rick Santorum out of the race.

Over the coming months, the only thing that’s certain in an otherwise uncertain process is that Palin’s shadow - and the troubles of 2008 - will loom large. “There’s one thing the people in the Republican establishment agree on: There was clearly not a thorough thought process or vetting that went into the vetting of Sarah Palin. —AP

Mexican female candidate tries to mount a comeback GUADALAJARA: On a campaign swing through the heart of her political stronghold, the first serious female contender for Mexico’s presidency didn’t fill a town square or the tables at a business luncheon.

After stumbling early in her campaign, Josefina Vazquez Mota is trying to mount a comeback but isn’t drawing the crowds or the energy that marked her nomination in February as the first woman to lead a major party in presidential elections. Her rival, Enrique Pena Nieto, has built a double-digit lead in the polls ahead of the July 1 vote, more than 20-percentage points in some.

In a downtown plaza in the city of Leon over the weekend, the cameras could easily spot the empty spaces. Signs and shirts for gubernatorial candidate Miguel Marquez, who also appeared, utnumbered those for Vazquez Mota.

Her party, the ruling National Action Party, or PAN, has yet to recover from the divisive primary that Vazquez Mota won over the candidate of President Felipe Calderon and the party establishment. Her initial events after the campaign officially started two

weeks ago were marked by poor planning, small crowds, or disruptive hecklers.

Despite a reorganization last week, it’s still not clear where the campaign is going, newspaper columnist Jesus Silva-Herzog Marquez said Monday. “There have been mistakes that reveal a lack of professionalism in her inner circle,” said Silva-Herzog, a law professor at the Mexico

Autonomous Institute of Technology. “Despite the attempt to show unity within the PAN, the wound of the internal election has yet to heal.”

Vazquez Mota disagrees, telling The Associated Press in an interview Sunday that the remaining 21/2 months is enough time to narrow the gap with Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party,

GUADALAJARA: Josefina Vazquez Mota, presidential candidate for the National Action Party (PAN), center, delivers a speech during a campaign stop in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday. On a campaign swing through the heart of her political stronghold, Vazquez Mota, the first serious female contender for Mexico’s presidency, didn’t fill a town square or even the tables of a business luncheon. — AP

or PRI. “Not only do I have time, we’re going to win,” she said during a campaign stop in Guadalajara, one of two in the heart of her conservative PAN party’s base.

The PRI is trying to return to power after ruling Mexico for 71 years, then losing the presidency to the PAN in 2000. With left-leaning candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador running third, Vazquez Mota is considered the strongest candidate to block the return of the long-ruling party.

But the 51-year-old former education secretary is fighting voter weariness with 12 years of PAN governments. A February poll showed that only a third of Mexicans think the country is going in the right direction under Calderon, who can’t run for reelection. Eighty percent think the economy and security have gotten worse.

Vazquez Mota said she will do more town halls and smaller events as part of a new strategy to target undecided voters. She said her early campaign problems, including a canceled rally, a dizzy spell from low blood pressure and a misspoken promise to “strengthen money laundering,” were overblown by the press. — AP

GEORGIA: In this Monday, April 16, 2012 image made from video and provided

by WMAZ-13 TV, kindergartner Salecia Johnson, 6, is shown at her home near Milledgeville, Ga. Police in Georgia handcuffed the kindergartner after the girl threw a tantrum, and the police chief is making no apologies. Johnson is accused of tearing items off the walls and throwing furniture at school in the central Georgia city of Milledgeville. The police report says the girl knocked over a shelf that injured the principal. — AP

Australia to withdraw troops from Afghanistan early: PM SYDNEY: Australia said yesterday it will bring its troops home from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned with most soldiers withdrawn in 2013 after significant security gains over the past 18 months.

Canberra, a key coalition ally of the United States, has repeatedly said it intends to remain in the war-wracked nation until 2014 but Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Afghans would now be ready to take responsibility earlier.

She will take her pull-out timetable to a NATO summit in Chicago next month with her announcement coming a day ahead of NATO foreign and defence min-

isters meeting in Brussels to fine-tune their own troop withdrawals.

“I’m now confident that Chicago will recognise mid-2013 as a key milestone in the international strategy,” she said in a keynote speech shortly after a wave of coordinated Taleban attacks in Afghanistan left 51 people dead.

“A crucial point when the international forces will be able to move to a suppor ting role across all of Afghanistan.” Australia has some 1,550 troops stationed in the strife-torn country and has so far lost 32 soldiers in the conflict. — AFP

11

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

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

Malaysia passes bill to curb jailing without trial KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian legislators yesterday approved a bill designed to prevent authorities from detaining suspects indefinitely without trial. The Security Offenses Bill is the centerpiece of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s pledge to reform decades-old laws that opposition and rights groups consider repressive.

Rights activists nevertheless say the bill remains vulnerable to

abuse. Opposition leaders insist it’s a government ploy to introduce superficial changes ahead of national elections expected within months. Parliament’s lower house yesterday passed the bill, which limits detentions without charge to 28 days and only for the purpose of active police investigations.”Definitely the government will continue with the noble transformation

and renewal efforts,” Najib told Parliament before legislators debated the bill.

The legislation needs to be endorsed by the upper house, which is overwhelmingly dominated by the ruling coalition, and the constitutional monarch before it takes effect. It will replace the 52-year-old Internal Security Act, which gave the government powers to indefinitely

detain people considered threats to national security.

In recent years, the Internal Security Act has been used mainly against militant suspects, but on several previous occasions opposition leaders and government critics were held for months without trial. The new bill states that people cannot be detained for their political beliefs. They will have the right to consult a lawyer

while being held. After 28 days, police must either release them or charge them in court.

The Malaysian rights group Suaram has said the bill is flawed and the courts instead of police should determine whether someone should be held without charges for weeks. Some opposition leaders and lawyers also say the definition of security offenses covered by the bill is too broad

and unclear. They say it also blocks charged suspects from being released on bail until their trial and appeals are concluded.

Najib this week assured Parliament that the bill carries sufficient safeguards to prevent abuse, including provisions for judicial oversight and a clause for detention periods to be reviewed by lawmakers every five years. —AP

Bin Laden family to leave Pakistan today Family likely to be flown to Saudi

JALANDHAR: Rescue workers clear debris from the site of a factory that collapsed in Jalandhar, India, yesterday. Rescue work continues at the site of a three-story factory that collapsed in northern India close to midnight Sunday, killing at least five people. —AP

NATO ministers to mull Afghan strategy BRUSSELS: NATO ministers will discuss strategy for the military withdrawal from Afghanistan at a meeting in Brussels tosday, even as violence inside the country mounts and more allies prepare to head for the exits.

The two-day gathering of defense and foreign ministers is intended to pave the way for a conference of NATO leaders in Chicago on May 20-21.

Ministers also will tackle the thorny topic of funding the Afghan army and police after NATO’s planned withdrawal at the end of 2014 - one of the top items on the summit agenda. “ We’re at a pivotal point for the alliance as we build on the gains that have been made in Afghanistan and try to chart the course for the future in that area,” US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Monday in Washington.

Other items for discussion include plans for a missile defense system in Europe, and for improving the pooling and sharing of equipment among the European members as military budgets across the continent are being pared down. “ This involves a fundamental rethink of how we design, deploy and use our capabilities in the future,” said a senior NATO official who could not be named in line with standing rules.

“In that sense, we see Chicago as a stepping stone for the future. The United States hopes to finalize an agreement with Afghanistan outlining the alliance’s future role in the country before the summit occurs. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that 2013 should be a milestone for NATO, when it transitions from a combat role to a supportive role, only par ticipating in combat when absolutely necessary to back up its Afghan allies.

“2011 was, I think, a clear turning point,” Panetta told reporters. “We did seriously weaken the Taleban.” The

Afghan army and police are being expanded rapidly, and are expected to grow to 352,000 by the middle of this year. They face about 25,000 Taleban and other insurgents.

Coalition forces, whose numbers reached a peak of over 140,000 troops last year, have already started a draw down. The US, which had about 100,000 ser vice members in Afghanistan, has begun a withdrawal which will eliminate about a third of them by September.

Other major contributors to the coalition - including Canada, the Netherlands and France - have already pulled their forces out of combat or accelerated their withdrawals. And in a surprise announcement yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said her government expects to pull most of its troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2013 - nearly a year earlier than the original target.

Nearly 3,000 NATO troops have perished in the conflict, about two-thirds of them Americans. Opinion polls in NATO nations show the popularity of the commitment has plummeted amid the rising the death toll. In the US, six out of 10 of those surveyed saw the war as not worth its costs, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last month. Opposition to the war is bipartisan, the poll showed.

The emphasis on the buildup of Afghan forces and the withdrawal of foreign troops comes despite the alliance’s failure to finally defeat the insurgency after 10 years of war. On Sunday, a small band of guerrillas mounted a brazen strike on embassies, government buildings and NATO bases in Kabul’s heavily guarded central district. The violence showed the Taliban and their allies are far from beaten and underscored the security challenge facing the fledgling government forces as U.S. and NATO troops pull out. —AP

AMRITSAR: Indian Sikh devotees carry the Palki Sahib (Sikh holy book) during a procession from the Sri Akal Takhat at the Sikh Shrine, The Golden Temple in Amritsar yesterday, on the eve of the 391st birth anniversary of the ninth Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur. —AFP

ISLAMABAD: Osama bin Laden’s family is expected to be deported from Pakistan early today, their lawyer and an intelligence official said, 11 months after the US raid that killed the Al-Qaeda kingpin.

The 9/11 mastermind’s three widows and their children were detained by the Pakistani authorities after the Saudi was killed in a US Navy SEAL operation in the garrison town of Abbottabad, north of Islamabad, last May. The news came as Washington and Islamabad try to patch up their relationship, which was badly damaged by the revelation that the world’s most wanted man was living a stone’s throw from Pakistan’s elite military academy.

Two weeks ago a court sentenced the widows and two of bin Laden’s older daughters to 45 days’ detention on charges of illegal entry and residency in Pakistan and ordered their deportation as soon as possible.

They are due to complete the sentence, served in an Islamabad villa designated by authorities as a “sub-jail”, as it officially began when they were formally arrested on the charges on March 3. “They will go tonight or tomorrow early in the morning. After 12 tonight they can be deported any time,” their lawyer Muhammad Aamir told AFP yesterday.

Aamir said the family-who number 12, including bin Laden’s three widows, eight children and one grandchild-would probably initially go to Saudi Arabia. He said bin Laden’s youngest and reportedly favourite wife, Amal Abdulfattah, who is Yemeni, may be sent to Yemen afterwards with her five children.

A Pakistani intelligence official confirmed to AFP that the family was expected to be deported “sometime around midnight” and said “most likely they would be flown to Saudi Arabia.” A number of Saudi diplomats have visited

Pakistan in recent weeks to work out the details of the deportation, sources say.

The discovery of the 9/11 mastermind in Abbottabad dealt a massive blow to US-Pakistan relations and led to accusations of Pakistani complicity or incompetence. Abdulfattah, 30, told

three -storey house inside a walled compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad in 2005.

According to the police report, the family movements while they were on the run were organised by “Ibrahim and Abrar ”, two Pak istanis given responsibility for the task by

Abbottabad house to become a shrine to the dead terror leader, used bulldozers to raze the building to the ground.

The continued detention of bin Laden’s wives led to accusations that Pakistan was attempting to muzzle them to stop them from providing details that could

ISLAMABAD: In this photograph taken on April 2, 2012, Pakistani security personnel stand guard outside the house where family members of slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden are believed to be held in Islamabad. Osama bin Laden’s family is expected to be deported from Pakistan early today their lawyer and an intelligence official said, 11 months after the US raid that killed the Al-Qaeda kingpin. —AFP Pakistani interrogators bin Laden had fathered four children while he hid out in Pakistan, according to a police report seen by AFP last month.

After fleeing Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, bin Laden moved his family around Pakistan before settling in a

Pakistan gives new mag a rousing Hello!

ISLAMABAD: The first issue of the new Pakistan edition of celebrity and lifestyle magazine Hello! has sold out in three of the country’s major cities, the publisher and distributor said yesterday. Hello! launched in Pakistan promising a “socially responsible” approach celebrating the best of the country’s culture, fashion and glamour.

Publisher Zahraa Saifullah said more than 20,000 copies of the monthly, which features a cover interview with Hollywood star Sean Penn, had been sold across Pakistan since Sunday and hailed the success as a vindication of the strategy. “Our first issue is not a tabloid but a comprehensive catalogue of the nation’s seriously underrepresented bright side; its appeal, grace, beauty and glamour,” she told AFP. “It’s because Hello! Pakistan offers substance that it has received such a phenomenal response.”

She said the magazine, cover price 395 rupees ($4.40), sold out immediately when it hit newsstands in Karachi and Islamabad on Sunday and the eastern city of Lahore on Monday. Jamil Hussain, owner of Karachibased Liberty Books, the largest international distributor in Pakistan, said he had to restock shops in the southern port city-the country’s most populous-at the weekend.

“In my 25 years of experience in this business I have honestly never seen such a beautifully produced magazine. Its no surprise it sold out like hot cakes,” Hussain said. “I personally had to drive on a Sunday to several book shops in Karachi to redeliver stock.”

Farid Viyani, owner of Agha’s, one of the largest supermarkets in Karachi, said hundreds of copies were sold just in a day. “I have never seen anything like this.

People keep flocking in to buy Hello! our demand is overwhelming, we’ve given the largest counter to Hello!

Pakistan,” Viyani said, adding that the new magazine was easily outselling local rival Good Times, known as GT magazine.

Saifullah had a strong response to those who questioned launching a magazine like Hello! in a country so troubled by Islamist violence. “Hello! Pakistan is not the first lifestyle and entertainment publication this side of the Himalayas and it won’t be the last,” she said.

“All the local glossies that profile celebrity and lifestyle in the country their editors and subjects, as far as we know, have not been picked up by nefarious radicals as of yet.” —AFP

members of Al-Qaeda. Both the men were killed during the raid on Abbottabad and had been living in the same compound, along with Ibrahim’s wife, Bushra, and bin Laden’s son, Khalid.

In Februar y the Pak istani authorities, reluctant for the

embarrass Islamabad or add to suspicions it knew where bin Laden was.

Pakistan, allied to Washington in the “war on terror”, was humiliated by the cover t American operation that k illed the AlQaeda leader in the early hours of May 2. —AFP

Karzai challenges Taleban ‘brothers’ over attacks KABUL: President Hamid Karzai said yesterday coordinated Taleban attacks in Kabul and three provinces had only prolonged a foreign presence in Afghanistan and he challenged the insurgents to do more for the good of the country. The weekend attacks on the parliament and Kabul’s diplomatic quarter had caused only Afghan deaths and worked to hurt economic and security confidence, Karzai said. Clashes raged for 18 hours before Afghan security forces backed by NATO killed the insurgents. Karzai said the violence had done nothing to win support for Taleban aims of getting foreigners and NATO-led troops to leave. “You did nothing for Islam, you did not work for Afghanistan’s independence and you did not work for its people, freedom and development. You worked to prolong a foreign presence,” Karzai said in a speech commemorating almost 150 years since the birth of an Afghan reformer.

But in an effort to keep alive reconciliation efforts with the insurgents and hopes of a peace deal before most foreign combat troops leave the country in 2014, Karzai said he would not stop calling the Taleban “brothers”.

“Some criticise me in the Afghan media for saying the Taleban are brothers, but I won’t give up,” he said to enthusiastic applause. Karzai on Monday laid most of the blame for the Taleban assault on NATO and his government’s Western backers for the failure of intelligence agents to prevent it. Thirty-five insurgents were killed along with 11 members of the Afghan security forces and four civilians. But NATO defended intelligence efforts and said it was not possible to block every insurgent attack in the conflict-racked country, where the war has entered its 11th year and where NATO is expected to complete its combat drawdown by the end of 2014.

“You will never be able to, in a counterinsurgency, stop every attempt of determined insurgents to infiltrate into a city of

three million,” Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for NATO forces in Afghanistan, told Reuters.

The assault raised fresh questions about Afghanistan’s prospects just as NATO members with forces there are making plans to get troops out. Australia said yesterday it would start withdrawing its troops this year and expected all international forces there to be playing a supporting role for Afghan forces by mid-2013.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she would take her timetable to a NATO conference on Afghanistan in Chicago in late May, before which the U.S. government is aiming to sign a strategic agreement on a future presence in the country after NATO’s 2014 combat force withdrawal.

Karzai challenged the United States to do more in the agreement to fund infrastructure and improvements that would be of benefit to all Afghans, rather than just spend billions on training and equipping the police and army.

“We would like to help them save their money and give some of it back to us,” Karzai said of the United States, adding he wanted at least $2 billion a year from Washington after 2014. He said that while the United States had promised money as part of its strategic partnership, it had not specified an amount.

“Write the figure, just write something!”

Karzai said. The suppression of Sunday’s Taleban attacks has been billed by NATO as proof of the fledgling Afghan security forces’ ability to confront the Taliban, while Karzai and the U.S. pursue twin track peace talks with the insurgency.

The Taliban in March said they were suspending peace talks with the United States and a plan to open an office in the Gulf state of Qatar to smooth negotiations, accusing Washington of double-dealing over confidence-building measures including the release of insurgents from a US military prison in Cuba. —Reuters

12

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

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

Vietnam, US to hold five-day naval exchange HANOI: Vietnam and the US will hold five days of “non-combatant” naval exchange activities next week in the port city of Danang, the US Embassy said, amid rising tensions in the South China Sea. The exercises “underscore the closer ties between the US and Vietnam”, according a statement from the United States, which is increasingly seen as a counterweight to Beijing’s growing naval assertiveness in the region.

The US 7th Fleet Flagship USS Blue Ridge, the guided missile destroyer USS Chafee and rescue and salvage

ship USNS Safeguard will be in Danang port from April 23, according to the US Embassy statement released late Monday. It said the trip “will focus on non-combatant events and skills exchanges in areas such as navigation and maintenance”. The exchange comes after a string of diplomatic skirmishes between China and Vietnam this year over islands in the South China Sea. Hanoi and Beijing have rival claims to the Spratly Islands and a longstanding dispute over the Paracel island group. China claims all of the

South China Sea, which is believed to encompass huge oil and gas reserves and sees one-third of global seaborne trade passing through the region.

Several other Asian nations have competing claims over parts of the waters. For decades, the rival claims have been a source of regional tensions, but over the past year the Philippines and Vietnam have accused China of becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting its position.

Yesterday, the Philippines said it had lodged a new diplomatic protest, accusing Chinese vessels of harassing

a Filipino-flagged archaeological research ship at Scarborough Shoal.

The shoal is the same area where Chinese vessels last week blocked a Filipino warship from arresting the crews of eight Chinese fishing boats.

On Monday the United States military began 12 days of major war games in the Philippines, involving more than 6,000 Filipino and US soldiers. Philippine President Benigno Aquino said that there was no reason for the manoeuvres to provoke China, but the country’s military has confirmed some of the drills will be held

just off the western coast of Palawan in waters facing the South China Sea. China, which has expressed irritation at the increased US military focus on Asia, said Monday it was displeased with the war games. The disputed region is a key trading route for the US, which has opposed Beijing’s attempts to settle conflicting claims bilaterally, repeatedly calling instead for the “peaceful resolution” of disputes. In recent years, US ships have made regular port calls to Vietnam, most recently in July last year, despite objections from China. —AFP

Philippines, China trade barbs over new incursions Manila lodges new diplomatic protest MANILA: The Philippines and China traded fresh accusations yesterday of illegal incursions in a disputed area of the South China Sea, while refusing to compromise on their territorial claims. The Philippines said it had lodged a new diplomatic protest, accusing Chinese vessels of harassing a Filipino-flagged archaeological research ship at Scarborough Shoal. The shoal is the same area where Chinese vessels last week blocked a Filipino warship from arresting the crews of eight Chinese fishing boats. Depar tment of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the M/Y Saranggani was “harassed by Chinese ships and aircraft” at Scarborough, which is about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines’ main island of Luzon.

“We lodged the protest yesterday afternoon. The harassment of the vessel is part of the continued intrusion and illegal activities being done by China in our area,” Hernandez told AFP. Philippine National Museum director Jeremy Barns said the vessel was conducting a preliminary survey of potential ancient shipwrecks, and was manned by Filipino and French scientists, including nine French archaeologists.

“We’re looking for the wrecks of Western as well as Asian vessels-Vietnamese, Thai, and also Chinese. This is a project of the National Museum,” Barns told AFP. He described the area around the shoal as an important maritime passageway for foreign vessels that conducted trade with the Philippine islands, possibly even prior to their colonisation by Spain in the

16th Century. Filipino officials would not say when the scientific vessel specifically arrived in

the area, but Hernandez said the boat was still there. “It is doing research, which is well within

MANILA: Philippine Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez answers questions from repor ters at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, Philippines, yesterday. China asked the Philippines yesterday to withdraw a Filipino coast guard ship and an archeological research vessel from a disputed shoal, ignoring Manila’s proposal to bring a dangerous naval standoff to a UN-linked tribunal for arbitration. —AP

our rights,” he said. But the spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Manila, Zhang Hua, insisted China owned Scarborough, and accused the Saranggani of intrusion. “We urge the archaeological vessel leave the area immediately,” Chang said in a statement. China claims all of the South China Sea as its own on historical grounds, even waters approaching the coasts of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.

The nearest Chinese land mass from Scarborough Shoal is Hainan province, 1,200 kilometres, (750 miles) to the northwest, according to Philippine naval maps given to the media.

The rival claims have been a source of regional tensions for decades, and the Philippines as well as Vietnam have accused China over the past year of becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting its position.

The latest flare-up occurred on April 8 when the Philippines found the eight Chinese fishing boats at Scarborough Shoal, and sent its warship to arrest the crew. China quickly deployed three civilian maritime vessels that took turns in blocking the warship.

In a bid to calm the situation, the Philippines pulled back its warship and replaced it with a coast guard vessel late last week, and the fishing vessels sailed away over the weekend.

Hernandez said a lone Philippine coast guard boat now remained in the area yesterday, facing off against two Chinese civilian ships.

“As of now, we are still in a stalemate or a stand off,” Hernandez said. —AFP

Ex-guerrilla fighter wins East Timor presidency DILI: A former guerrilla fighter who went on to become East Timor’s army chief is on course to be the tiny, turbulent nation’s new president, preliminar y results showed yesterday.

Jose Maria Vasconcelos, known universally by his nom de guerre, Taur Matan Ruak, which means “two sharp eyes” in the local Tetun language, got 61 percent of the vote in Monday’s run-off. His rival, Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres, pulled in just 38 percent. The results released by the National Elec tion Commission still need to be vetted by the cour t of appeals before they are official, but with such a large gap, it’s unlikely there will be any significant change. Incumbent Jose RamosHorta was forced to bow out last month, after a poor showing in the first round.

East Timor, a desperately poor half-island nation of 1.1 million people, has had a turbulent past. It voted overwhelmingly in 1999 to end 24 years of brutal Indonesia occupation that had left more than 170,000 dead.

When withdrawing soldiers and proxy militias went on a rampage, killing another 1,500 people and destroying much of the infrastructure. The international community was quick to jump in, deploying UN peacekeepers and pouring in billions of dollars. But the road to democracy has been rough, with gang violence and splits in the army and

police turning deadly several times and, six years ago, leading to the collapse of the government.

“In many ways, it’s seen as an experiment in democracy,” said Damien Kingsbury, an Australian academic and expert on East Timor. “There’s a feeling, if we can’t make it happen here, then we’re really going to struggle everywhere else.”

tered with abandoned, burnedout buildings where the homeless live as squatters. Many people live on 50 cents a day.

But a spokesman for Taur Matan Ruak said he was up to the task, once he officially becomes winner. “And when he does, he’ll be president for all people in East Timor, even those who didn’t vote for him,” spokesman Fidelis Magalhaes said at a news confer-

DILI: Supporters of East Timorese presidential candidate Taur Matau Ruak stand under his banner as they wait for the vote counting results in Dili, East Timor, yesterday. The former guerrilla fighter who went on to become East Timor’s army chief is on course to be the tiny, turbulent nation’s new president, preliminary results showed yesterday. —AP The challenges ahead are many. The country’s roads are still in disrepair. There is little access to clean water or health services. And the capital is lit-

ence Tuesday in in the dusty capital, Dili.

The head of state has no real power, but can act as a moral compass during difficult times.

Nobel laureate Ramos-Hor ta, elected president after the government collapsed in 2006, helped steer the country back on course after a turbulent period, but his popularity has since faded. The next few months will be crucial. If parliamentary elections, now scheduled for July 7, are peaceful, discussions will begin about the withdrawal of 400 international peacekeepers still deployed in the countr y, Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith said recently.

They could star t heading home before the end of the year, leaving security in the hands of local police. Taur Matan Ruak, who ran as an independent but had strong backing from Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, came from humble beginnings.

He was just a teenager when Indonesian troops invaded in 1975, joining the resistance soon after. He led guerrilla attacks against occupying troops from the hills, rising quickly through the ranks.

Eventually, he became the rebel’s top commander. After independence, Taur Matan Ruak was accused by the UN Special Commission of Inquiry for East Timor, of helping fuel social unrest by transferring weapons to civilians. He was never prosecuted, however, and was instead appointed the top military chief in the country. He resigned last year so he could run for president. —AP

BANDA ACEH: This picture taken in Banda Aceh on April 5, 2012 shows Aceh gubernatorial cadidates Zaini Abdullah (L) and his deputy Muzakir Manaf (R) attending a debate in Banda Aceh. Indonesia’s only region where Islamic sharia laws apply elected another former rebel as governor yesterday in Aceh’s second election since a devastating 2004 tsunami and 30-year war. —AFP

Indonesia’s Aceh province elects ex-rebel as governor BANDA ACEH: Indonesia’s Aceh province yesterday elected a former rebel as governor, who vowed to implement a “purer” form of sharia in what is the country’s only region to practise the Islamic law.

The election was seen as a test of Aceh’s fragile peace following a 30-year separatist war that ended in 2005, and a devastating tsunami that destroyed entire towns in 2004. The powerful Aceh Party’s Zaini Abdullah-the former “foreign minister” of the defunct rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) — beat four other candidates in a landslide victory in the largely autonomous province.

“The candidate pair Zaini Abdullah and Muzakir Manaf... will serve as governor and vice governor for the period 2012 to 2017,” Aceh electoral commission head Abdul Salam Poroh announced. Abdullah won with 1.3 million votes, more than 55 percent, while his main rival, incumbent and independent Irwandi Yusuf, came second with around 30 percent.

Abdullah is credited as a key negotiator in a 2005 agreement with the central government that granted special autonomy to Aceh, which sits on the northern tip of Sumatra island. The Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding, in which the rebels agreed to lay down arms, put an end to 30 years of bloody unrest in which more than 15,000 people died, and gave Aceh the freedom to implement sharia laws. Abdullah, 71, said he was “deeply moved” to have been elected, vowing to eradicate corruption in government, and boost the local the economy by developing the agriculture and fisheries industries.

He also said he would seek to pass a

new bill to implement “purer” sharia laws, which are not in force anywhere else in Indonesia, where the vast majority practise moderate Islam. “We will meet with ulema and discuss a new sharia bill that can be accepted by all Acehnese,” he said.

“Sharia is about how to educate our youths about what is right and wrong.”

The vote on April 9 came after months of political manoeuvering by Abdullah and his party, which tried to see independents like Yusuf disqualified from running.

Yusuf’s campaign team accused the Aceh Party of intimidating voters to back Abdullah by using threats of violence and kidnappings, allegations the party denies.

Around 200 Aceh Party supporters at parliament house cheered upon hearing of Abdulla’s victory, yelling “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) and “Long live Zaini Abdullah”. Abdullah, a trained physician when GAM was formed in 1976, quickly rose to the top ranks of the rebel group while working as a doctor.

But the central government eventually named him a wanted man and he fled to the jungle, according to the Aceh Party, moving to Sweden in 1981, where he lived in exile for 24 years. Abdullah’s win boosts the power of the Aceh Party, which already dominates parliament.

Sporadic politically-motivated violence continues in the restive province, with more than a dozen fatal shootings in the six months ahead of the election. The 2005 agreement between Jakarta and the rebels was also made in the spirit of rebuilding Aceh after the devastating tsunami in 2004 killed 170,000 in Indonesia, the vast majority in Aceh. —AFP

Japan to be without nuclear power after 40 years TOKYO: Japan will within weeks have no nuclear power for the first time in more than 40 years, after the trade minister said two reactors idled after the Fukushima disaster would not be back online before the last one currently operating is shut down.

Trade Minister Yukio Edano signalled it would take at least several weeks before the government, keen to avoid a power crunch, can give a final go-ahead to restarts, meaning Japan is set on May 6 to mark its first nuclear power-free day since 1970.

“If we thoroughly go through the procedure, it would be (on or) after May 6 even if we could restart them,” Edano told a news conference, adding that whether they can actually be brought back online is still up to ongoing discussions.

The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where a huge earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 triggered radiation leaks, has hammered public faith in nuclear power and prevented the restart of reactors shut down for regular maintenance checks, with all but one of 54 reactors now offline.

Nuclear power accounted for about 30 percent of Japan’s electricity demand before the Fukushima crisis. In discussing restarts of the No.3 and No.4 reactors at Kansai Electric’s Ohi nuclear power plant, in western Japan, the first to

clear the government’s technical review on resilience against a severe event, Tokyo has said it wants local backing even though it is not legally required.

The hosts of the Ohi plant - the governor of Fukui prefecture and mayor of Ohi town, some 360 km (225 miles) southwest of Tokyo - told Edano on Saturday that some conditions should be met before they can make a decision. These included a safety review by an expert panel formed by the prefecture and backing from areas neighbouring Fukui that are becoming increasingly vocal about possible radiation damage in the event of an accident at any of the 13 reactors in Fukui.

Exactly when Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa and Ohi Mayor Shinobu Tokioka will make decisions is unclear.

Members of the expert panel will be visiting the Ohi plant on Wednesday and are likely to meet several more times before they reach a conclusion, while the Fukui assembly may meet as early as next week to discuss whether they can back the restarts, Masao Sato, a member of the assembly, told Reuters.

Ohi town told Reuters in March that it conditionally backed the restar t.

Fukui governor Nishikawa told Edano on Saturday that, while the government has addressed some of Fukui’s concerns, more discussions were needed on safety. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

NEWS

WASHINGTON: Hitching a ride on top a special NASA Boeing 747 jet, the space shuttle Discovery soars past Capitol Hill yesterday after a flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. —AP

Shuttle in dramatic Washington flyover WASHINGTON: Piggybacking aboard a Boeing 747, the space shuttle Discovery made a dramatic flyover of Washington yesterday on the way to its final resting place, a museum outside the US capital. Riding atop a modified plane kept by NASA specifically for transporting space shuttles, Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just after dawn for its last journey in the skies.

Crowds whistled and cheered the shuttle, which first flew in 1984, as it circled over the US capital for about an hour before landing at Dulles International Airport. “Touchdown, Discovery!” NASA said on the microblogging site Twitter after the shuttle cruised onto the runway.

Tourists wearing shorts on a sunny spring day gathered along the National Mall near the Washington Monument, staring skyward to catch a glimpse of the storied white and black shuttle, which appeared scuffed and grubby from its 39 journeys into space. Office workers clustered at windows or climbed onto rooftops to see the aircraft and shuttle as they soared low over the US capital’s historic landmarks. Outside the Pentagon, a throng of military officers and civilian employees watched the shuttle fly a final time, reveling and applauding as it made two low passes over the building, escorted by a T-38 fighter jet.

Traffic slowed on some of Washington’s

major roadways as drivers pulled over to gape at the skies, according to some shuttle spotters who reported what they were seeing on Twitter. “I have a tear in my eye,” retired NASA astronaut Joseph Allen, who flew aboard Discovery in 1984, told a CNN reporter at Dulles airport. A ceremony to mark the official induction of the Discovery will be held tomorrow at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center outside the US capital in suburban Chantilly, Virginia.

Discovery flew its last mission to space in February and March of last year, on a 13day trip to the International Space Station. It is the oldest and most traveled craft in the

Assange interviews Nasrallah in TV debut MOSCOW: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange yesterday made his debut as a chat show host on a Kremlin-funded channel with a deliberately shocking choice of first guest - the leader of Hezbollah. While still under house arrest in London, the founder of the whistle-blowing website spoke via video link to Hassan Nasrallah, whom both the United States and Israel consider a “terrorist”. Russia aired the show,

Hassan Nasrallah called “The World Tomorrow”, with fanfare on its international RT news channel.

The multilingual channel, which makes no secret of giving the Russian take on world affairs and has the slogan “Question More”, built up anticipation by promising the first guest would outrage many. “I won’t be surprised if after the first show the hawks want not just to shut down Assange but us as well,” channel director Margarita

Simonyan wrote on her Twitter account, while stressing the guest was Assange’s choice.

In his introduction, Assange called Nasrallah “one of the most extraordinary figures in the Middle East”, and said he would examine why he is viewed by some as a “freedom fighter” and others as a “terrorist”. Speaking from what was described as a secret location in Lebanon, Nasrallah

Julian Assange beamed genially as he laid out the group’s position on the Syrian conflict, flanked by the flags of Lebanon and Hezbollah. He criticised the “American hegemony” and described Israel as an “inimical state” in comments dubbed into English in what the RT described as his “first interview in the West since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.”

Later in the segment, Assange and Nasrallah also shared a joke about encryp-

tion - with the latter saying that Hezbollah kept Israeli code-breakers on their toes by using Arabic farm slang. “That’s not going to do you any good in WikiLeaks, by the way,” Nasrallah joked. Getting Nasrallah on air was something of a coup. The Shiite militant boss rarely gives interviews, and when he does they usually are on Hezbollah’s Manar TV station. According to Hezbollah’s media office, Nasrallah’s last outside interview was with Kuwait’s Rai TV three years ago.

During the half-hour show, Assange sat at a desk in a small room wearing a creased white shirt, with books and recording equipment visible on shelves behind him.

RT scored a media coup by securing the show, while Assange said in a promotional interview that he had chosen the channel because it had higher penetration in the United States than Al-Jazeera. Russian observers said the show’s overtly provocative stance was bound to attract attention and in some ways chimed with Russia’s foreign policy, which has featured antiAmerican statements during the presidential campaign.

“Aiming for scandal is legitimate enough, it’s a successful move for a time.

The head of Hezbollah works in this way: he scandalises the audience,” said Maria Lipman, an analyst at Carnegie Moscow Centre. “But if their aim is to compete with the BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera, this move more puts them into a niche category, not one aiming for a wide international audience.” “According to the Anglo-Saxon tradition, such people cannot be given a mouthpiece. RT is trying to break a taboo,” said Anna Kachkayeva, a media correspondent on Radio Liberty. “It’s curious that a channel run on state money dares to do this. But will it show the people whom Russia does not allow to speak publicly?” —Agencies

Govt ready to face grillings Continued from Page 1 The minister also denied that the government may send a letter of non-cooperation with the National Assembly to HH the Amir if MPs file to grill Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali, adding that the government will also deal with such a grilling, if submitted, in accordance with the law.

Opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak had vowed to file to grill Shamali before the end of the month but only after showing a draft of the planned grilling at a meeting next Sunday of the majority bloc. The backing of the bloc is essential for the success of the grilling if the intention is to vote the finance minister out of office which needs only 25 votes while the majority has well over 30 MPs. Earlier in the week, Barrak strongly criticized the minister over allegations of administrative and financial irregularities and the minister responded by blaming Barrak for harming national interests by issuing irresponsible statements. Observers expect that Barrak could be joined by two more MPs in the grilling against Shamali over several issues including appointments at state-

owned companies and the finance ministry’s role in the bank deposits and foreign transfers scandals that have rocked the country.

In another development, the Assembly began yesterday debating the Amiri Address delivered by the prime minister at the inauguration of the new Assembly, with MPs calling for fundamental political reforms. The special session was cut short due to a lack of quorum after the session was temporarily adjourned for prayers. Newlyelected MP Faisal Al-Yahya insisted that the cornerstone of any democracy is the peaceful rotation of power, and urged the ruling family to appoint members of the family in posts that are suitable to them. He also called on the government to pay more attention to the youth.

MP Abdulrahman Al-Anjari called for comprehensive democratic and political reforms, insisting that there can be no true democracy without political parties. MP Mohammad Al-Sager also criticied the ruling family’s increased ownership of media outlets, saying that six daily newspapers and five satellite channels are owned by members of the ruling family and questioned the aims of such moves.

US collection of three space-flying shuttles also including Endeavour and Atlantis - and one prototype, the Enterprise, which never flew in space. Two other shuttles were destroyed in flight. Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia broke apart on re-entry to Earth in 2003.

Both disasters killed everyone on board.

Discovery spent a total of 365 days in space, and flew nearly 241 million km, NASA’s mission control said. Discovery was the first of the three shuttles to retire last year. Endeavour began its final trip to space in April and the 30-year US program ended after Atlantis returned to Earth for the last time in July 2011. Russia is now the only

nation capable of sending astronauts to space aboard its Soyuz capsules.

Private US companies are competing to be the first to fill the gap left by the shuttles’ retirement, with SpaceX set to attempt its first unmanned cargo mission to the ISS on April 30. A flyover by the shuttle Enterprise is set for April 23 over New York City, NASA said. The Enterprise, which had been a centerpiece attraction at the Udvar-Hazy Center, part of the Smithsonian museums, until Discovery was assigned to take its place, will pass by the Statue of Liberty and other landmarks, NASA said. Enterprise is to go on display at New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. —AFP

Hillary Clinton parties in Colombia nightclub CARTAGENA, Colombia: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, known for her hard work and gruelling schedule, took a rare moment off at the weekend and let her hair down to enjoy a dance and a beer with friends. Just hours after attending Saturday’s official dinner for the heads of state and government attending a Latin American summit in the Colombian tourist resort of Cartagena, Clinton was seen partying in a nearby nightclub. Still attired in the smart black evening pant suit set off by an impressive sparkly necklace that she wore to the dinner, Clinton was seen enjoying herself at a late-night gathering of her staff in the Cafe Havana.

A State Department official told AFP the US top diplomat had heard that staffers were celebrating the birthday of Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. “ When she heard some of the staff had gone dancing to celebrate A/S Jacobson’s birthday, and the party was still going on when the summit dinner ended, she wanted to stop by. So yes, she joined the party in progress,” the official said, asking to remain anonymous.

Casting off her usually stuffy world of diplomatic niceties and thorny global issues, Clinton was

CARTAGENA, Colombia: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton relaxes at Cafe Havana on April 15, 2012. —AFP Pictures of Clinton’s happy seen smiling and dancing, surrounded by a crowd of women, as moment went viral, the second well as sitting at a table sharing a time in recent days that her fun side joke and drinking a beer. In has become an instant hit on the Washington, State Department Internet. Yesterday, the creators of spokesman Mark Toner said that “Texts from Hillary”, a spoof blog Clinton had “a very good time and featuring photos of a sunglasseswas just enjoying some of the spor ting Clinton reading her nightlife in Cartagena with col- Blackberry inside a C-17 military leagues”. Toner dismissed a question cargo plane, were invited to the on whether her actions were appro- State Department to meet her. She priate, saying: “It’s kind of a ‘dog then posted her own texts onto the bites man’ story. You know, there’s blog on the popular Tumblr platform. —AFP nothing to it.”

Gulf united over Iran island row Continued from Page 1 force to any threats to its territorial integrity, adding that it would prefer to cooperate with its Arab neighbours to maintain security in the Gulf. “The armed forces and the army will inflict heavy regret and shame in case of any aggression against Iranian lands and interests,” Ahmadinejad said as Iranians marked National Army Day with a military parade near the capital Tehran, adding that Iran “is ready to protect its existence and sovereignty”.

Iran’s army commander, General Ataollah Salehi, echoed the remarks, saying his forces “would not allow anyone to threaten Iran’s territorial integrity”. General Salehi also expressed pride over an April 11 visit by Ahmadinejad to Abu Musa. “The three islands are part of Iranian territory,” he said in remarks reported by the Mehr news agency, adding that the army would not tolerate any “discussions” about the country’s territorial sovereignty.

Ahmadinejad himself during his speech yesterday neither referred to the visit nor to fresh tensions with Gulf Arab nations over it. He said the key to lasting stability in the Gulf was regional cooperation. “When it comes to the ...Gulf, security is achieved only through the collective cooperation of all nations and governments,” he said, while lashing out at “foreign interference which only causes destruction and division”.

During the parade yesterday, Iran displayed an array

of its homemade short-range missiles, tanks, drones and air defense system as well as some of its jet fighters, warplanes and military helicopters. Iran has tried to build a self-sufficient military program since 1992. On the sidelines of the parade, Iran’s army chief Gen Ataollah Salehi told the state IRNA news agency that US warships in the Gulf are “sweet targets” for Iranian armed forces.

Abu Dhabi has recalled its ambassador to Tehran and lodged a protest with the United Nations over Ahmadinejad’s visit, stressing that the territorial dispute should be resolved in talks or at the International Court of Justice. On Sunday, Sheikh Abdullah met ambassadors representing UN Security Council member states in Abu Dhabi to convey the “UAE’s condemnation of this provocative visit,” UAE’s official news agency, WAM, said.

Tehran has insisted that Ahmadinejad’s trip, during which he said historical documents proved “the Persian Gulf is Persian”, was a purely “domestic issue”. Both Iran and the UAE claim territorial sovereignty over the three islands in the southern Gulf. Iran, then under the rule of the Western-backed shah, gained control in 1971 of the islands as Britain granted independence to its Gulf protectorates and withdrew its forces. Abu Musa, the only inhabited island of the three, was placed under joint administration in a deal with Sharjah, now part of the UAE. Abu Dhabi says the Iranians have since taken control of the entire island which controls access to the oilrich Gulf and have built an airport and military base there. — Agencies

14

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

opinion

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

Issues

Obama and the failed drugs war

By Bernd Debusmann ong before he was in a position to change his country’s policies, Barack Obama had firm views on a complex problem: “The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws. We need to rethink how we’re operating the drug war.” That was in Jan 2004, during a debate at Northwestern University, when he was running for a seat in the US Senate. To make sure his student audience understood his position on the controversial issue, Obama added: “Currently, we are not doing a good job.”

To look at a classic flip-flop, forward to April 2012 and a summit of Latin American leaders, several of whom have become vocal critics of the US-driven war on drugs, in the Colombian city of Cartagena. More than three years into his presidency, Obama made clear that he is not in favor of legalizing drugs or of ending policies that treat drug users as criminals. “I don’t mind a debate around issues like decriminalization,” he said at the Cartagena summit. “I personally don’t agree that’s a solution to the problem.” Decriminalization means scrapping criminal penalties for the use of drugs. It falls short of legalization which, in its purest form, means the abolition of all forms of government control of drugs. Obama is against that, too. “I don’t think that legalization of drugs is going to be the answer,” he said.

So what is the answer? In his first year in office, Obama talked about placing more emphasis on curbing demand - the United States is the world’s richest market for illicit drugs - and less on enforcing punitive laws that filled American prisons with drug offenders and helped turn the country into the world’s chief jailer. It has 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. But the rebalancing and the rethinking Obama mentioned before and after becoming president have been largely rhetorical. His administration has not put its money where its mouth is. Those who complain that the Obama administration is not doing enough to reduce demand can point to the proposed National Drug Control Budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which begins in October.

The allocation of funds is pretty much the same it was in the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton - roughly 40 percent for programs aimed at curbing demand and treating addicts and 60 percent for enforcing anti-drug laws, throttling the flow of drugs across the long border with Mexico and financing the eradication of drug crops in Latin America and Asia. The 2013 budget proposal allocates 41.2 percent for demand reduction and 58.2 percent for law enforcement. In other words, more of the same - policies that have been pursued since President Richard Nixon first declared war on drugs in 1970. Obama’s 2004 assessment of those policies - “utter failure” - has come to be shared by many even though he no longer stands by it and even though members of his team such as Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano insist the old approach is working.

By some estimates, the war on drugs has so far cost close to a trillion dollars. What has that vast expenditure bought? Very little. According to the government’s latest “Survey on Drug Use and Health,” more than 22 million Americans - nearly 9 percent the U.S. population - used illegal drugs in 2010, up from 8 percent in 2008. That demand and the vast profits derived from it, has prompted violence on a mind-boggling scale south of the US border. In Mexico alone, around 50,000 people have died in the past six years as drug cartels fight each other - for access to supply lines to the US market - and the Mexican state.

Drug-fueled violence is not restricted to Mexico.

According to the United Nations, eight of the world’s most violent countries are in Latin America. The small states of Central America, astride trafficking corridors to the north, are particularly vulnerable. Honduras now has the world’s highest murder rate. Guatemala is not far behind. Which explains why Guatemala’s president, Otto Perez, has emerged as the most outspoken proponent of the need for new ways of tackling an old problem. Perez, a former army general, has impeccable credentials as a hardline drug warrior. So has the host of the Cartagena summit, Colombian President Juan Manual Santos, a former defense minister.

Their views echo the arguments of a panel of highprofile establishment figures who published a devastating critique of the drug war last June. It made headlines the world over but apparently failed to convince the Obama administration. — Reuters

L

All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Attacks rattle Afghans ahead of NATO pullout

By Lawrence Bartlett he biggest coordinated attack on the Afghan capital in 10 years of war has shaken a vulnerable nation facing the withdrawal of a huge force of NATO troops within two years. President Hamid Karzai said Sunday’s assault showed an intelligence failure on the part of both Afghan and - “especially” - NATO forces and called for an investigation. Karzai, like NATO, praised the rapid response

by Afghan security forces, saying it “proved to the people that they can defend their country successfully”. But his laying of the major share of the blame on troops whose home countries are already tired of the long war and its enormous cost, is unlikely to go down well with his allies.

For 18 hours, squads of Taleban militants who had infiltrated the capital and taken up strategic positions in three locations fired on government buildings, embassies and foreign military bases before all 15 were killed. A total of 51 people died, including 36 militants, and some 74 were wounded in Kabul and three neighbouring provinces where government and military targets also came under synchronised attack, the government says.

“That they did manage to pull off simultaneous complex attacks shows quite a level of sophistication in preventing detection... so that would be a failure in intelligence,” said Martine van Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts’ Network. “But having said that, in a big bustling city like

T

Kabul it is incredibly difficult to stop this type of attack,” she said.

NATO, which is committed to pulling its 130,000 troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014 whatever happens militarily, was naturally looking for the positives out of the attack. “I am enormously proud of how quickly Afghan security forces responded to (the) attacks in Kabul,” said General John Allen, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). His praise was echoed by US ambassador Ryan Crocker, who said the ability of Afghan security forces to respond to the attacks was a “clear sign of progress”.

But a Western diplomat with security expertise told AFP: “I don’t share at all the optimism of NATO or the Americans: the Afghan forces just reacted to several attacks as they are in charge and did their duty, at the end with the help of American Black Hawks. “It’s true that they did it better than in the past - there is progress but still, to build up so many attacks and being able to launch them simultaneously demonstrates clearly (the Taleban’s) ability to strike where and when they want,” he said on condition of anonymity.

For Afghans themselves the assault was not unexpected but was “shocking in terms of the scale of the attack and in terms of being very well-coordinated in different cities simultaneously,” said Abdul Waheed Wafa, director of the Afghanistan Center at Kabul University. “It shook the confidence of the Afghan people in their national security

forces, especially as they were hearing from the foreign forces and their government over the last couple of months that the Taliban had ‘lost their momentum’,” he told AFP. Karzai said in a statement that “the terrorists’ infiltration in Kabul and other provinces is an intelligence failure for us and especially for NATO and should be seriously investigated”. ISAF has dismissed the Kabul attacks as “largely ineffective” and it is a fact that no major damage or casualties were inflicted on the main targets - embassies, military bases and government institutions. But the Taleban, which claimed the attacks as the start of their annual spring offensive marking the beginning of the Afghan fighting season, will relish the propaganda victory of penetrating Kabul’s “Ring of Steel”.

“I think the attacks were specifically designed to capture headlines. They were not designed to result in maximum casualties or maximum damage,” said Van Bijlert. “So they really managed in creating an impression of Kabul under siege, with relatively limited means. What it illustrates is how this is very much a war of perceptions and also how the Taliban understands that very well.” The insurgents had used “a pure guerilla tactic, which shows their will and determination to strike symbolic targets, to get the maximum impact in the media,” said a second Western diplomat, describing the attacks as a “very ill omen for the future”. — AFP

Assad unbowed by Annan plan

By Karin Laub

he UN insists a fragile truce it brokered in Syria is holding, even though regime forces have been hammering the rebellious city of Homs with artillery for days. It’s a sign of the leeway the international community seems willing to give President Bashar Al-Assad in hopes of forcing him into the next stage of special envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan - talks with opponents who demand his removal. Assad has made it brutally clear that he won’t step aside, trying to snuff out a 13-month uprising with tank fire and mass arrests. Even though he ostensibly accepted Annan’s plan, he’s likely to wriggle out of it since he seems largely insulated from pressure.

He does not face a threat of Western military intervention. Poorly armed rebel fighters don’t pose a danger to his rule.

And Assad has the backing of Russia, China and Iran, along with key groups at home. Some even argue the Annan plan has actually allowed Assad to strengthen his hold on the country of 22 million.

“There is nothing to suggest that there is light at the end of the tunnel here,” said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center, a Gulf-based think tank. “If the end game is the fall of the Assad regime, I don’t think we are any closer to the end game.” From the time the April 12 ceasefire deadline was announced, the regime escalated blanket shelling attacks on rebel-held neighborhoods, killing dozens every day in what the opposition described as a frenzied last-minute rush to crush the uprising. Yet the plan by Annan, the joint UN-Arab League emissary, is the only one a deadlocked international community could rally behind and is seen as the only practical way forward. The West is “half-heartedly supporting the Annan plan although it expects it to fail, because it is even more hesitant at the idea of getting sucked into an armed confrontation,” said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group think tank.

Syria’s allies, meanwhile, back the initiative because, unlike an Arab League plan earlier this year, it does not require Assad to step down ahead of transition

T

talks. Still, even Annan demands that Assad eventually “address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people” in talks with the opposition. The behavior of the regime in the past few days suggests the plan is likely to unravel well before any political talks could begin. Since a truce formally took effect Thursday, Syria has violated key provisions. Tanks, troops and widely feared plainclothes security agents continue to patrol the streets to deter anti-regime protests, despite Annan’s demand that the army pull back to its bases.

And while there’s been a sharp drop in violence since last week, the regime resumed its assault on rebellious Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, over the weekend, after only a brief lull. UN chief Ban Ki-moon hinted Monday he’s ready to overlook Assad’s transgressions for now.

He said the truce is “very fragile” but essential for getting to political negotiations, suggesting Ban is willing to stretch the definition of a cease-fire to salvage Annan’s plan. It’s not clear if Ban will call out Assad on truce violations once a full

contingent of up to 250 UN monitors has been deployed. So far, only an advance team of six is on the ground.

Annan has been intentionally vague about the terms of political talks since gaps are vast and neither side even recognizes the other. The regime portrays its opponents as thugs and terrorists, while the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group, says there’s no point talking to Assad. Political leaders of the opposition say they’re willing to let Annan’s plan play out even though they believe Assad has no intention of heeding it.

If Assad keeps violating the truce, it will sharpen the message that he can’t be reasoned with and that the world needs to take more forceful action, said Louay Safi, the Syrian National Council’s chief strategist in exile. But if, against all odds, the regime were to scale back violence, it could quickly lose control as peaceful protesters flood the streets, Safi said. “Popular pressure, the atmosphere, will bring down the regime and probably those in control now will have to negoti-

Syrian children flash victory signs during an anti-regime demonstration in the village of Kfar Nubul in the northwestern province of Idlib yesterday.

Arabic writing on toy plane reads “Go away Bashar (Al-Assad)”. — AFP

ate their way out,” he said.

Others say it’s unlikely Assad will let things get this far. During last Friday’s anti-regime marches, the first since the truce, troops opened fire on demonstrators in some areas, killing at least six, but stood by in others. Activists reported a much larger turnout than in previous months, when an intense clampdown reduced the crowd sizes, but said an intimidating troop presence still kept many Assad opponents off the streets.

Analysts say that in the end, only two things can force Assad’s hand - a real military threat from abroad or at home, or a change in Russia’s position, neither of them likely to happen soon. Economic sanctions have started to bite, but experts say regimes can survive them for months or years, and Syria’s allies, including oil-rich Venezuela, can try to soften the blow. Russia and fellow UN Security Council member China have effectively shielded Assad from international condemnation so far. Moscow’s nudging was key to getting Assad to accept the Annan plan, but it’s not clear how far Russia would go in demanding compliance.

While Russian leaders may be uneasy about the regime’s brutality - more than 9,000 people are said to have been killed since March 2011 - they do not have compelling reasons yet to dump Assad, said Asli Bali, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Russia and Iran will only pressure Syria if they get something in return, Bali said.

Russia would likely seek guaranteed access to Syria’s Mediterranean ports, while Iran could demand an easing of sanctions imposed to halt its suspected nuclear weapons program, she said.

“Absent some kind of grand bargain to enable negotiations to move toward a political transition, there is no reason to expect the cease-fire to hold for long or for a transition to follow,” Bali said.

Expectations should be kept low, cautioned Harling, the Crisis Group analyst.

The Annan plan “will definitely not bring all violence to an end. It won’t topple the regime,” he said. “The immediate, the urgent aim should be to de-escalate the violence which has crossed very dangerous thresholds.” — AP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

sp orts Contador targets Vuelta

Sludnov leads the way at Russian nationals

SPAIN: Alberto Contador is hoping to be part of the Spanish squad for the world championships after taking part in the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) when his doping ban ends in August, the double Tour de France champion said yesterday. Contador was handed a retroactive two-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in February and was stripped of his 2010 Tour title after failing a test for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol.

“I will be back for the Eneco Tour. For the first time, I can say that I will be at the Vuelta,” Contador told Spanish radio network Cadena COPE. The week-long Eneco Tour, also called the Tour of Benelux, starts on Aug. 6, one day after Contador’s suspension ends, and will finish on Aug. 12. The Vuelta starts six days later.

Contador will then set his sights on the road world championships in Valkenburg, Netherlands the following month. “I would like to be part of the selection,” he said.—Reuters

MOSCOW: Veteran three-time world champion Roman Sludnov lead the way at the Russian national swimming championships here yesterday by finishing first in the men’s 50m breaststroke. The 32-year-old, winner of a bronze in the 100m breaststroke at the 2000 Syndey Olympics, clocking 27.80sec to finish ahead of Kirill Strelnikov (28.01) and Anton Lobanov (28.10).

In the championships which also double as Olympic qualifiers, Yegor Degtyarev booked his ticket to the London Games by winning the men’s 400m freestyle. Degtyarev clocked

3:48.94 to finish 1.86sec ahead of Yevgeny Kulikokv with Alexander Selin third in 3:51.58. Yelena Sokolova won the women’s 400m freestyle to seal her Olympic berth in 4:12.29.

However Beijing Olympics 4x200m freestyle silver medallist Nikita Lobintsev surprisingly failed to qualify for London over his preferred distance.

Yana Martynova of Russia’s republic of Tatarstan won the women’s 400m medley with a time of 4:38.69.

Martynova qualified for London along with second-placed Daria Belyakina, who clocked 4:45.24.—AFP

Galimzyanov admits doping BELGIUM: Russian cyclist Denis Galimzyanov yesterday admitted doping but cleared his team Katusha of any involvement. Galimzyanov was on Monday provisionally suspended after traces of the blood booster EPO were found in a urine sample following an out-of-competition test on March 22 this year.

In a letter in Russian on his team’s website, Galimzyanov held his hands up and said he would not be asking for his ‘B’ sample to be analysed.

“I admit the use of the banned substance,” said Galimzyanov, adding that he was “willing to accept the appropriate punishment”.

“I fully realised what I did. I deeply regret what happened and I present my apologies to the entire team and my teammates, as well as all the fans who I let down,” he continued.

“I would like in particular to draw attention to the fact that the Katusha team had nothing to do with what happened. No member of the team knew and could know what I did. It was my personal decision and my responsibility.”—AFP

Verlander pitches Tigers to 3-2 victory over Royals KANSAS CITY: Justin Verlander beat Kansas City once again, surviving a shaky ninth inning Monday to deliver the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Royals.

Austin Jackson hit a leadoff homer and Brandon Inge added a two-run shot in the fifth for the Tigers, giving their reigning American League Cy Young pitching award winner enough support when things got tight.

Verlander (1-1) allowed an RBI single by Humberto Quintero with two outs in the ninth, and then loaded the bases when he walked Mitch Maier and plunked Alcides Escobar on the elbow. Verlander came back to strike out Alex Gordon looking, sending the Royals to their fifth consecutive loss. Detroit manager Jim Leyland had closer Jose Valverde warming up in the ninth, but he decided to stick with the AL MVP even after things got tense. Verlander ended up throwing 131 pitches while improving to 14-2 in his career against the Royals.

WASHINGTON: Nationals’ Stephen Lombardozzi bunts against the Houston Astros during the third inning of a baseball game.—AP

Nationals win over Astros WASHINGTON: Stephen Strasburg pitched six innings for his second win of the season to lead the Washington Nationals to a 6-3 victor y over the Houston Astros on Monday. Strasburg looked nearly unhittable for five innings, allowing just three singles, but the Astros got to him in the sixth for two runs and three hits.

Strasburg (2-0) walked one and struck out five. He hasn’t allowed a home run in 50 1-3 innings - since Aug. 15, 2010.

Steve Lombardozzi had three singles and a two-run double in the sixth off Kyle Weiland (0-2) that gave Washington a 4-2 lead. Ryan Zimmerman followed with a two-run single.

Mets 6, Braves 1 At Atlanta, Ike Davis hit a tiebreaking three-run homer and Dillon Gee pitched four-hit ball over seven innings as New York downed Atlanta.

The Mets snapped Atlanta’s five-game winning streak and kept up their early dominance in the NL East rivalry, winning again after a three-game sweep of the Braves in New York to start the season.

With the game tied at 1 in the sixth, Atlanta intentionally walked hot-hitting David Wright with two outs to get to Davis - a move that certainly made sense, given the first baseman was batting just .118. The strategy backfired when Tommy Hanson (12) hung a 2-2 pitch and Davis drove it into the right-field seats.

Gee (1-1) was never in much trouble.

Atlanta put together a couple of hits and a walk in the second, leading to its only run on Jack Wilson’s RBI groundout.

Padres 7, Rockies 1 At Denver, Cory Luebke threw seven efficient innings and Chase Headley equaled a team record with three doubles, helping San Diego beat Colorado and end a four-

game losing streak. Luebke (1-1) breezed through the Rockies lineup on a brisk night, giving up six hits and one run.

Lately, the Padres have made themselves quite at home at Coors Field, winning seven of their past nine in the hitter friendly park. They did a bulk of their damage with doubles, hitting seven for the game. Jeremy Guthrie (1-1) was feeling under the weather, but gave it a go despite a sore throat.

D’backs 5, Pirates 1 At Phoenix, Chris Young had three hits, including his team-best fifth home run, and Joe Saunders pitched seven strong innings to help lead Arizona past Pittsburgh.

Saunders (1-0) allowed a run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Aaron Hill and Gerardo Parra also homered for the Diamondbacks, who have won two straight. Arizona is 25-4 in its last 29 home games.

Neil Walker drove in the run for the Pirates, who have lost six of seven.

Pittsburgh has scored two runs or fewer in seven of 10 games this season.

Phillies 5, Giants 2 At San Francisco, Roy Halladay outlasted Tim Lincecum in a matchup of two-time Cy Young pitching award winners as Philadelphia beat San Francisco.

Halladay (3-0) struck out six and allowed seven hits in eight innings on a crisp and cool spring night along the bay. He also had an RBI single in a rematch of aces from the 2010 NL championship series.

Laynce Nix’s two-run double highlighted a four-run first off Lincecum (0-2) that produced all the power Philadelphia needed. The Phillies chased San Francisco’s shaggy-haired and struggling right-hander after he gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings.—AP

MLB results/standings Tampa Bay 1, Boston 0; Minnesota 7, NY Yankees 3; Washington 6, Houston 3; NY Mets 6, Atlanta 1; Baltimore 10, Chicago White Sox 4 (10 innings); Detroit 3, Kansas City 2; San Diego 7, Colorado 1; Arizona 5, Pittsburgh 1; LA Angels 6, Oakland 0; Philadelphia 5, San Francisco 2.

American League Eastern Division Baltimore Toronto NY Yankees Tampa Bay Boston Detroit Chicago W Sox Cleveland Kansas City Minnesota Texas Seattle LA Angels Oakland

W L PCT 6 4 .600 5 4 .556 5 5 .500 5 5 .500 4 6 .400 Central Division 7 3 .700 5 4 .556 4 4 .500 3 7 .300 3 7 .300 Western Division 8 2 .800 6 5 .545 4 6 .400 4 7 .364

GB .5 1 1 2 1.5 2 4 4 2.5 4 4.5

Washington NY Mets Philadelphia Atlanta Miami St. Louis Milwaukee Cincinnati Houston Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs LA Dodgers Arizona San Francisco Colorado San Diego

National League Eastern Division 8 3 .727 7 3 .700 5 5 .500 5 5 .500 4 6 .400 Central Division 7 3 .700 4 6 .400 4 6 .400 4 6 .400 3 7 .300 3 7 .300 Western Division 9 1 .900 7 3 .700 4 6 .400 4 6 .400 3 8 .273

.5 2.5 2.5 3.5 3 3 3 4 4 2 5 5 6.5

Orioles 10, White Sox 4 At Chicago, Matt Wieters homered twice, including a 10th-inning grand slam, lifting Baltimore to a come-from-behind win over Chicago. The White Sox took a 4-1 lead into the eighth, but Baltimore hit three solo homers against a pair of relievers to send the game into extra innings. Chicago reliever Zach Stewart (01) allowed six runs in the 10th, five unearned.

Wieters went deep off Jesse Crain in the eighth to make it 4-2. Nolan Reimold and Adam Jones homered off rookie closer Hector Santiago in the ninth to tie it.

Angels 6, Athletics 0 At Anaheim, California, Kendrys Morales hit his first homer in nearly two years and drove in four runs, and Jered Weaver recorded his 1,000th career strikeout while pitching five-hit ball into the seventh inning of Los Angeles’ victory over Oakland.

Morales followed his three-run homer in the first inning with an eighth-inning double to score Albert Pujols, who went 2 for 4 with a double. Pujols still hasn’t homered in 10 games with the Angels, but his new cleanup hitter provided

plenty of power as Los Angeles opened a weeklong homestand with just its second win in six games.

Morales staked Weaver (2-0) to a healthy lead, and the AL Cy Young runner-up retired his first 11 batters. Weaver struck out six, rolling his career total into quadruple digits when he fanned Josh Reddick in the sixth inning.

Tampa Bay, as the Rays stopped a four-game losing streak.

Twins 7, Yankees 3 At New York, Carl Pavano quieted an unfriendly Yankee Stadium crowd with seven solid innings, and Justin Morneau played in the field for the first time this season and hit a long

KANSAS: Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) throws against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning of a baseball game.—AP Rays 1, Red Sox 0 At Boston, James Shields allowed four hits in 8 1-3 innings as Tampa Bay beat Boston Red to avoid a four-game sweep.

The only run came when Daniel Bard (0-2) walked Evan Longoria on four pitches with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Shields (2-0) led the majors with 11 complete games last year and had a chance for another until he walked Dustin Pedroia with one out in the ninth. Fernando Rodney retired the next two batters for his fourth save in four chances. Joe Maddon got his 500th win as a manager, all with

homer as Minnesota earned a rare victory in New York.

Joe Mauer had three hits, including two doubles, and every position player had a hit in a tweaked Minnesota lineup. Josh Willingham batted fourth for the first time this season and was one of seven Twins to drive in a run.

Minnesota won for just the sixth time in 34 regular-season games in the Bronx since Ron Gardenhire took over as manager in 2002.

Yankees fans were relentless with their boos when Pavano was introduced before the game.—AP

Kuwaiti teams leave for UAE Drag Race KUWAIT: Kuwaiti racers headed to the United Arab Emirates last night in order to take part in the second round of the 2012 UAE Drag Race set to take place tomorrow and Friday in Abu Dhabi.

This was announced by secretary of the Kuwait Quarter Mile Motorsports Club, Sheikh Ali Al-Fawaz Al-Sabah, who expressed confidence in a press statement about the ability of Kuwaiti teams to achieve

good results in the regional competition.

Second round competitions will be preceded with continuation of first round races that were delayed last month due to poor weather conditions, Al-Sabah indicated.

Briton charts fall and rise of rugby in China SHANGHAI: When Briton Simon Drakeford learned a man with his family name played rugby for Shanghai in 1907, it sent him on a journey to document the history of the sport in China.

The mission took him from musty newspapers in the Shanghai library to the archives of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in London and interviews with descendants of former players.

In doing so, he found that the rise of rugby, its demise after the Communists took power in 1949 and its revival as Shanghai became an international city again in the 1990s, mirrored the history of China itself.

His namesake Thomas Drakeford, who travelled to Shanghai as a merchant in the early 1900s, turned out not to be a relative.

But the research led to the discovery that when the Shanghai rugby club takes to the field today, players are fulfilling a historical legacy stretching back to the late 1800s, shortly after the Chinese port city opened to the West after the Opium War. “When you’re playing for Shanghai,

you have the burden of history on your back,” said Drakeford, 47, a lifelong rugby player now living in Shanghai. What started as a pursuit during his free time has become a book, and he is now seeking a publisher. “I’m an accountant, not a writer, but I know the material is great,” Drakeford said. “This is telling the story of Shanghai through the lens of a rugby club.”

Drakeford dates the beginning of the sport in China to 1867, when Shanghai set up its first football club, since at the time there were no separate rules for football and rugby.

By 1875, a game recognisable as modern rugby was played in Shanghai, but it would take three decades before the city had a dedicated rugby club.

Shanghai had hundreds of clubs at its height, ranging from the exclusive Shanghai Club for business leaders to the Shanghai Paper Hunt Club, whose members chased their quarry on horseback. “Shanghai was a very clubby city,” said Tess Johnston, author of several books on the expatriate expe-

rience in old China. “There were clubs that shut out people by race and social class.”

The rugby club had no Chinese members and only a handful of people with mixed Chinese heritage in its history. The golden age for rugby was the 1920s and 1930s, when Shanghai acquired its reputation as both “Paris of the East” and “Whore of the Orient”.

Large numbers of foreign troops were stationed in Shanghai, providing opposition for the local club. “During the massive boom times when Shanghai really got its reputation as a decadent city, the 1920s to 1930s, the rugby club flourished,” Drakeford said.

World War II saw players go off to fight and rugby was never the same.

The last game Drakeford found after the founding of the People’s Republic of China was in March, 1950, between the club and the “Retired Gentleman” team which apparently lacked stamina since the match only lasted 20 minutes. “Quite a sad end to what was the glorious 1920s and 1930s,” Drakeford said. In the mid-1990s, a small band of foreign expatriates started playing

touch rugby and a defeat at the hands of the government-backed Shanghai Sports Institute-the only others playing at the time-helped the formation of the club.

“It was a real sting, which gave us the impetus to get ourselves ready for a rematch,” said Sam Crispin, one of the founders of the club.

The Shanghai Hairy Crabs Rugby Club-named after a popular local delicacy now has around 60 playing members and a permanent clubhouse and playing field in a city suburb.

Much like the British settlers who brought the sport to Shanghai, the dedicated amateurs are in it as much for the chance to socialise as for the game. But the biggest difference between the new club and old is the inclusion of Chinese players. “It’s much more diverse, in nationality and social class,” Drakeford said.

China itself has a national rugby team which could make a bid for a place in the Rio Olympics in 2016, but the sport never really caught on unlike another British export, cricket in India.—AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

sp orts

Ogwumike taken No. 1 by Sparks in WNBA draft BRISTOL: Nnemkadi Ogwumike is excited to be staying in California. The Stanford senior was picked No. 1 in the WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks on Monday.

“I’m grateful for the L.A. Sparks for picking me,” Ogwumike said. “It means a lot and it’s one of the highest accolades I’ve ever received. I’m looking forward to going back to Cali.”

Ogwumike helped guide the Cardinal to the Final Four during all four of her seasons at the school, including this year’s loss to eventual champion Baylor. The 6-foot-2 forward, who averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds this past season, is the first Stanford player to be taken with the No. 1 pick. Previously three Cardinal players have been drafted third overall.

“I think looking back, a lot of the players could have gone No. 1,” Ogwumike said. “Things go different ways. I’m really proud to be part of this legacy.”

Despite finishing with the fourth-worst record in the league at 15-19, the Sparks won the draft lottery in November. They had the smallest chance of the four teams with a shot at winning with only a 10 percent chance. They are the second team in the 11-year history of the lottery to win with the fewest number of chances. Phoenix did it ahead of the 2007 draft.

Los Angeles also had the top pick in 2008 and selected Tennessee star Candace Parker, who went on to win Rookie of the Year and MVP hon-

ors in her first professional season.

While Ogwumike’s selection was almost a certainty with the top pick, the rest of the draft was a bit more of a mystery with no clear-cut choices going in.

Tennessee guard Shekinna Stricklen went second to the Seattle Storm, who will be without star Lauren Jackson for the first part of the season since she will stay in Australia to train for the London Olympics this summer.

“I was a little surprised,” Stricklen said. “It helped when I did a workout with coach Brian (Agler), I had a feeling but wasn’t sure.”

Notre Dame post Devereaux Peters went third to the defending champion Minnesota Lynx, who had five of the first 20 picks in the draft. She was surprised she was picked so high, having recovered from two ACL surgeries on her left knee since entering Notre Dame.

“I never thought I’d be (drafted) at that point,” Peters said. “When they interviewed me they talked about my knee. To come this far and have 21/2 years where I got to play free from injury is great. It’s great to see all my dreams come to fruition here.”

The Lynx also picked Damiris Dantas of Brazil with the final choice of the first round. Minnesota drafted mid-major stars Julie Wojta of WisconsinGreen Bay and Kayla Standish of Gonzaga in the second round. The Lynx rounded out their five picks with Russian guard Nika Baric.

Nicklaus hasn’t forgotten his most magical shots COLUMBUS: Now 72 years old, Jack Nicklaus jokes that he can’t remember what happened yesterday. Yet he’s never forgotten what it was like to hit the most famous shots of his illustrious career.

“I can still feel it, it feels the same,” he said Monday at a charity luncheon affiliated with the Memorial Tournament, which he founded and hosts. “You can still feel the shot, the way it came off your hands, 30 or 40 years later. I still have that same feeling. I haven’t matched it lately. I do know that feeling, though. And it’s kind of fun to know what it feels like in golf.”

The years have not dimmed the sweet spot he hit on the 1 iron that he drilled through the wind and off the pin at 17 to take the 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, or the 5 iron with a slight draw at 16 that helped him win the 1986 Masters at age 46.

Nicklaus, who helped raise $275,000 at the luncheon for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, appeared with the defending Memorial Tournament winner, Steve Stricker, and two-time U.S. Open champion and golf analyst, Andy North.

Even though he no longer plays much golf - he said his five kids and 22 grandchildren all lead busy lives and don’t usually have time - Nicklaus said he hasn’t forgotten his signature shots.

Funny, he said, how many of them were 1 irons. There was the shot at Pebble Beach that helped him hold off Bruce Crampton. There was also another 1 iron at Augusta National, with Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller pressuring him, that led to his Masters victory in 1975. Stricker remains impressed by the 5 iron that Nicklaus carved into the backleft pin placement on Sunday at the ‘86 Masters.

“I still can’t get over that shot,” Stricker said. “I know you’ve hit a ton of great shots over the years, but that’s not an easy pin, first of all. One little flick over there and you’re in the water.” With some embarrassment, Nicklaus said that shot was memorable because of his reaction to it. “On that particular shot, I made probably the cockiest remark I’ve ever made in my life on a golf course,” he said.

“It was 175 yards and a 5 iron that I had to take a little off of, but I hit it exactly the way I wanted to hit it. I hit it just to

Jack Nicklaus the right of the flag, with a slight draw. I hit the shot and I knew where it was. I reached down to pick up my tee and (son) Jackie, who was caddying for me, said, ‘Be right!’ I said, ‘It is.’”

To loud laughter, he added, “ That remark can get you in a lot of trouble when the ball’s still in the air.” North said all of those shots are memorable but it was much shorter ones that made them so. “When I think of Jack Nicklaus, I think of (those), and 100,000 8-footers he made when he needed to make them,” he said.

Bubba Watson’s hooked wedge shot from the trees right of the 10th fairway in a playoff at this year’s Masters ranks with the greatest shots of all time, Nicklaus said. In trouble off the tee, Watson had to hit an incredible shot to just stay alive in his two-man showdown with Louis Oosthuizen.

Watson’s dramatic shot landed on the green and spun within range of an easy two-putt par that gave him his first major-championship victory.

Nicklaus said it was hard to even imagine the difficulty of the wedge shot.

“I’d never been where he was,” he cracked. But it was the creativity that Watson showed that made it so memorable. —AFP

upcoming World Cup in Italy next month and the London 2012 Olympics in July.

Butaiban lauded the role of KOTC in supporting the youth and sports activities in general and the sport of shooting in particular, as officials there are continuously following the progress in all foreign competitions especially when Kuwaiti shooters are participating.

Heat 101, Nets 98 At Newark, New Jersey, LeBron James scored Miami’s final 17 points in a furious oneman rally, finishing with 37 to lead the Heat past the Nets. In a game the Heat never led until the final 51 seconds, James willed them to their 10th straight victory over New Jersey.

With Dwyane Wade resting, James scored those 17 points over the last 4:48.

Chris Bosh had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Heat, carrying them early in the fourth until James checked back in midway through the period and turned what appeared a certain loss into a stunning victory. Kris Humphries scored 29 points and MarShon Brooks had 24 for the Nets.

added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who solidified their grip on the No. 3 position in the Eastern Conference standings.

Indiana scored at least 100 points for the 10th time in 11 games. Jose Barea had 14 points and nine assists and reserves Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams added 13 points each for Minnesota.

Magic 113, 76ers 100 At Orlando, Florida, Ryan Anderson had 26 points and 16 rebounds, and J.J. Redick scored 18 points as Orlando held off Philadelphia.

The Magic won their second straight game and played their fifth consecutive without Dwight Howard, who is out indefinitely with a herniated disc in his back. The All-Star center has missed seven games overall with the injury and Orlando improved to 3-4 in his absence. Jrue Holiday led Philadelphia with 18 points and Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young and Lou Williams each finished with 15.

Suns 125, T Blazers 107 At Phoenix, Marcin Gortat had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Steve Nash had 13 assists to help Phoenix cruise past Portland.

Channing Frye added 19 points for Phoenix and Jared Dudley had 18. With their win and a victory by Denver over Houston, the Suns and Rockets have identical records. JJ Hickson and

Jamal Crawford both had 22 points for Portland.

Clippers 92, Thunder 77 At Los Angeles, Nick Young scored 19 points, Blake Griffin added 17 and Randy Foye 13 to help the playoff-bound Clippers beat Oklahoma City. The Clippers had already clinched their first playoff berth in five years before the game began as a result of Houston’s three-point loss to Denver, ending the second-longest active postseason drought in the league. Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 24 points, Serge Ibaka and James Harden added 12 points each, and Russell Westbrook was held to nine as the Thunder’s two-game winning streak ended.

Spurs 120, Warriors 99 At Oakland, California, Tim Duncan scored 13 points in his shortest night of work this season, and Tiago Splitter added 15 points and eight rebounds as San Antonio moved into the top spot in the Western Conference.

Gary Neal added 17 points and Manu Ginobli scored 12 points with four assists for the Spurs, winners of 17 of their last 20. San Antonio moved percentage points ahead of Oklahoma City in the race for the No. 1 seed in the West. Nate Robinson had a season-high 30 points and Klay Thompson scored 29 for Golden State. —AP

Hornets 75, Bobcats 67 At Charlotte, North Carolina, Greivis Vasquez scored 20 points as New Orleans handed Charlotte a franchise-record 17th straight loss. The Hornets, playing without leading scorers Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman, won despite shooting just 34 percent from the floor in the second-lowest scoring NBA game this season. Gordon was given the night off to rest, but no reason was given before the game as to why Kaman was held out of action. Carl Landry added 14 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for New Orleans.

Gerald Henderson led Charlotte with 27 points.

Wizards 87, Bulls 84 At Chicago, Kevin Seraphin had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and John Wall scored 16 points as Washington beat Chicago.

Richard Hamilton scored 22 points to lead the Bulls, who played without stars Derrick Rose and Luol Deng. Rose was out with a sore right foot as he missed his 24th game of the season, and Deng sat out due to sore right ribs.

Nuggets 105, Rockets 102 At Houston, Arron Afflalo scored 26 points and Ty Lawson had 25 as Denver continued its playoff push with victory over Houston.

Al Harrington added 15 points and Andre Miller had 13 assists for the Nuggets, who swept back-to-back games with the Rockets, the team directly behind them in the Western Conference standings.

Denver began the night holding the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the Rockets. Houston was only one game ahead of Phoenix and 1 1/2 games ahead of Utah, who were both playing later Monday. Goran Dragic and Chandler Parsons scored 21 points apiece for the Rockets.

Hawks 109, Raptors 87 At Toronto, Jeff Teague had 19 points and 10 assists, and Ivan Johnson scored 21 points as Atlanta beat Toronto for the seventh time in eight games. Joe Johnson scored 18 points and Josh Smith had 15 points and nine rebounds as the Hawks avenged Sunday’s 10286 home loss to Toronto, a game in which the Raptors never trailed. Marvin Williams scored 16 for Atlanta and former Raptors star Tracy McGrady scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 22 points, and James Johnson had 18.

Essa Butaiban

DENVER: In this March 31, 2012 file photo, Stanford’s Nnemkadi Ogwumike reaches for the ball during practice at the NCAA Women’s Final Four college basketball tournament. —AP

Jazz outlast Mavericks SALT LAKE CITY: Al Jefferson scored 28 points and equaled a career-high with 26 rebounds as the Utah Jazz defeated Dallas 123-121 Monday in triple-overtime to halt a seven-game losing streak against the Mavericks and preserve their slim playoff hopes.

Utah began the day 10th in the Western Conference but pulled one-half game behind Phoenix and Houston for the eighth and final spot with four games remaining. The loss dropped Dallas to seventh in the West, onehalf game behind Denver.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points against Utah for the second straight time. His 3-pointer forced the second overtime, but he couldn’t convert late in the third extra period.

KOTC Cup shooting tournament KUWAIT: A large number of shooters from the Kuwait Shooting Club, police and National Guard have registered to participate in the Kuwait Oil Tankers Company Cup, to be held at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex in the 10m Air pistol and rifle, 50 meter rifle prone, 50m free pistol, starting today.

Meanwhile, the air gun officiating committee made all necessary preparations and divided the groups with the rounds referees and timings of official training and competitions.

Kuwait shooting Club Treasurer Essa Butaiban said he is satisfied with efforts by the organizers of the KOTC Cup both administratively and technically and hoped the Cup enjoys strong competition between the participants to produce outstanding results.

Butaiban said the Cup is a continuation of the preparations by shooters who had outstanding results during HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Grand Prix as well as the 10th Arab Championship in which a large number of shooting federations participated towards the end of March.

He said KOTC Cup is considered one of the important stations in the program of upcoming competitions specially the

Tulsa, which had the worst record in the league last season with just three victories, took Glory Johnson fourth. The Tennessee forward has a good chance to make an immediate impact with the Shock. The team also picked Miami guard Riquna Williams in the second round. She missed the Hurricanes two NCAA tournament games after being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team by coach Katie Meier.

Williams wasn’t surprised she slid down the draft.

“I mean after what happened at the end of the season, I wasn’t expecting to go in the first round. It was a mistake I made and something I had to deal with the outcome,” she said. “I’m not this horrible person that the media portrayed me to be after one mistake. I think with Tulsa picking me, it’s a great honor for them to believe in me and to know one situation doesn’t determine who I am.” Williams’ teammate at Miami Shenise Johnson went fifth to San Antonio. Phoenix took Ohio State point guard Samantha Prahalis sixth.

“It’s the perfect fit,” Prahalis said. “They love playing up-tempo and so do I, I’m really looking forward to playing with Diana Taurasi.”

The New York Liberty drafted Kelly Cain seventh. Natalie Novosel went eighth to Washington. The Mystics also took LSU’s LaSondra Barrett with the 10th pick.

Connecticut chose 6-foot-8 Astan Dabo from Mali with the ninth pick. Georgia Tech’s Sasha Goodlett went 11th to Indiana. — AP

Pacers 111, T’wolves 88 At Indianapolis, David West had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help Indiana win its fifth straight game. Danny Granger scored 19 points, Paul George had 18 and Roy Hibbert

LOS ANGELES: Clippers guard Randy Foye (4) attempts to get by the double team of Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (left) and guard Thabo Sefolosha (2), of Switzerland, in the first half of an NBA basketball game. —AP

NBA results/standings New Orleans 75, Charlotte 67; Orlando 113, Philadelphia 100; Indiana 111, Minnesota 88; Atlanta 109, Toronto 87; Miami 101, New Jersey 98; Washington 87 Chicago 84; Denver 105, Houston 102; Utah 123, Dallas 121 (OT); Phoenix 125, Portland 107; San Antonio 120, Golden State 99; LA Clippers 92, Oklahoma City 77. (OT denotes overtime Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT 36 25 .590 Boston NY Knicks 31 29 .517 Philadelphia 31 29 .517 New Jersey 22 40 .355 Toronto 22 40 .355 Central Division Chicago 46 15 .754 39 22 .639 Indiana Milwaukee 29 31 .483 Detroit 22 38 .367 Cleveland 20 39 .339 Southeast Division Miami 43 17 .717 36 25 .590 Atlanta Orlando 36 25 .590 Washington 15 46 .246 Charlotte 7 53 .117

GB 4.5 4.5 14.5 14.5 7 16.5 23.5 25 7.5 7.5 28.5 36

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 44 17 .721 34 27 .557 Denver Utah 32 30 .516 Portland 28 34 .452 Minnesota 25 37 .403 Pacific Division LA Lakers 39 22 .639 38 23 .623 LA Clippers Phoenix 32 29 .525 Golden State 22 38 .367 Sacramento 20 41 .328 Southwest Division San Antonio 43 16 .729 35 25 .583 Memphis Dallas 34 28 .548 Houston 32 29 .525 New Orleans 19 42 .311

10 12.5 16.5 19.5 1 7 16.5 19 8.5 10.5 12 25

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

S P ORT S

LONDON: This is a handout photo provided by LOCOG which shows an aerial view of the Olympic Aquatics Centre. Today marks 100 days before the London 2012 Olympic Games begin. — AP

LONDON: This is a handout photo provided by LOCOG which shows an aerial view of the Olympic Park showing the Olympic Stadium (foreground). — AP

NAIROBI: Kenyan athletes run the menís 10,000m yesterday at the Nyayo national stadium, in Nairobi during the pre-trials ahead of 2012 London Olympics. — AFP

10 athletes to watch at the London Olympics LONDON: With today marking the 100-day countdown to the London Olympics, it’s time to take a look at some of the athletes who will stand out on the global stage this summer. As London organizers put the finishing touches on the venues and city officials prepare for an invasion of fans, athletes around the world are training for the big moment. From the track to the pool to the hardwood, here’s a list of 10 to watch (mindful that some still need to qualify): •

•

USAIN BOLT: Surprise, surprise. Any talk of the Olympics has to start with the flashy Jamaican sprinter. His performance in Beijing four years ago was magical - gold medals and world records in the 100 meters, 200 meters and sprint relay. Sure, Bolt hasn’t been as supernatural for the past couple of years, but expect him to peak just in time for the big show in London. There’s no reason he can’t win another three golds, though world records may be too much to ask.

His toughest competition in the 100 and 200 is likely to come from countryman Yohan Blake.

MICHAEL PHELPS: After winning a record eight gold medals in Beijing, the 26-year-old American is back for his final big splash before retirement.

With a career total of 16 medals, Phelps needs just three more of any color to become the most decorated Olympian in any sport. He’s called his results over the past three years “horrendous” but h e w a s b a c k i n t o p f o r m a t l a s t m o n t h’s Indianapolis meet. U.S. teammate Ryan Lochte,

be more in the spotlight than Walsh and MayTreanor, who won gold medals in Athens and Beijing and are favorites for a third title in London. And, yes, the Americans will still be wearing the standard bikini uniforms - not the more modest attire approved recently by the International Volleyball Federation.

who won five golds at the 2011 worlds, is Phelps’ top rival.

•

•

•

OSCAR PISTORIUS: The South African double amputee, who runs on carbon-fiber blades, is looking to make history by becoming the first amputee runner to compete in an Olympics. The “Blade Runner” has already gone under the 400-meter Olympic qualifying time of 45.30 seconds and needs to do it once more at an international meet to be eligible for Olympic selection. Pistorius also plans to run in ablebodied IAAF events in Europe and the U.S. ahead of the Olympics. He’ll compete in the Paralympics, too.

HIROSHI HOKETSU: At the age of 71, the Japanese equestrian rider will be the oldest competitor in London. Hoketsu has qualified for the individual dressage, riding a 15-year-old mare called Whisper. He competed in his first Olympics in 1964 when he was 23. Hoketsu was 67 when he competed in Beijing, finishing ninth in the team event and 35th in the individual competition. He still won’t break the record as the oldest Olympian ever. That distinction belongs to Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who was 72 when he won a silver medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games.

KERRI WALSH/MISTY MAY-TREANOR: Beach volleyball will be one of the main attractions in London, with the competition taking place at a temporary venue in Horse Guards Parade, a stone’s throw from Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. No one will

•

•

CHRIS HOY: Winner of three gold medals in Beijing, the British track cyclist is one of the host nation’s top hopes for glory in the spectacular new velodrome.

The Scot was knighted Sir Chris by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 and could become Britain’s most decorated Olympian. The “Real McHoy” is expected to compete in the keirin and the team sprint, and possibly the individual sprint. With a career total of four gold medals and a silver, Hoy could eclipse rowing great Steve Redgrave’s British record of five golds and a bronze.

NEYMAR: Argentina failed to qualify for the Olympic football competition, meaning Lionel Messi won’t be coming. But Brazil did qualify and Neymar is the player to watch. “The Prince” is a prolific goal-scoring striker for Santos, the Brazilian club which Pele, “The King,” made famous in the 1960s. The 20-year-old Neymar has already scored nearly 100 goals for Santos in less than three seasons. Pele recently called Neymar the best player in the world - better than 3time FIFA player of the year Messi. The Olympic title is the only significant football competition Brazil has yet to win.

•

KEVIN DURANT: It’s hard to single out any single player from the star-studded U.S. basketball team.

Kobe, LeBron and D-Wade are back from the group that won the 2008 gold medal. So this will be the chance for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Durant to show his Olympic credentials. KD led the US to gold at the 2010 world championship, but the Olympic title is what really matters. Durant, a two-time NBA scoring leader, is averaging nearly 28 points per game this season and should be a key in the lineup for London.

•

LIN DAN: Widely considered the greatest badminton player of all time, China’s “Super Dan” is a four-time world champion, five-time All England winner and the reigning Olympic gold medalist. Standing in the 29-year-old Lin’s quest for a second Olympic title will be his main rival, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. The competition will be at Wembley Arena. Get ready for a dose of, you guessed it, “Lin-Danity.”

•

KATIE TAYLOR: With women’s boxing making its Olympic debut in London, the Irish fighter is a good bet for gold in the lightweight (60kg) division. Boxers won’t qualify for the games until the world championships in China in May, but chances are Taylor will get through. She’s a three-time world champion and picked up the International Amateur Boxing Association’s female fighter of the year award in 2010. By the way, Taylor will wear traditional boxing shorts, not a skirt as allowed under a new amendment to amateur boxing rules. — AP

China’s equestrian hopes slim

Michael Phelps in action in this file photo

Phelps stands between Cseh and Olympic gold BUDAPEST: As Hungarian swimmer Laszlo Cseh trains in four-hour, early-morning sessions, his mind is on the man who could once again spoil his Olympic dream: Michael Phelps.

The American won a record eight gold medals in Beijing, five in individual events. Cseh placed second in three of those five races, the medleys and the 200m butterfly.

“I gave the maximum in Beijing,” Cseh told Reuters, goggle marks ringing his eyes, after he had emerged from the water. “I had perfect races but nobody could beat Michael Phelps in Beijing. Come close, yes; beat, no.”

Once again, in London, Cseh is likely to square up against Phelps in the same three events. Phelps has stopped him in every major tournament they have raced together.

Cseh won his only world championship gold in an event Phelps decided to skip in 2005.

When Phelps skipped more events, another American, Ryan Lochte was there to claim the crown, leaving Cseh in second or third place again. For a racer who has won medals at every tournament he has entered in the last decade, this runner-up streak should be frustrating, but Cseh says he is not unhappy. His time might just come now.

“I think this is the Olympics I have the greatest chance to be the best, to beat everyone,” he said. “Phelps and Lochte are great swimmers.

Beating them is a huge deal, which requires huge effort.”

The Hungarian’s huge effort involves waking up at five a.m., spending time in the gym from 5.45 to 7.30, swimming from 7.30 to 9.30.

He swims again from 4 to 6 in the afternoon, repeating the programme four days a week. On two other days, he has a longer combination of gym and swimming. Sundays, he has off.

“I have done this longer than I can remember,” Cseh said. “When I step on that starting block in London I want to explode with power so no distance exhausts me and no rival scares me.”

Cseh is no stranger to tough challenges as an athlete. At the age of 10, already a promising swimmer, he was diagnosed with acute allergyinduced asthma that had him gasping for air many nights. With medication and exercise he

suppressed the condition.

He was 14 when he was invited to a training camp with the adult national team. He trained with the last of a great generation of Hungarian swimmers who won armloads of Olympic medals in the 1980s and 1990s.

The training regime was so intense that the teenage Cseh was often reduced to tears by nightfall. He was helped by double Olympic silver medallist Karoly Guttler, his room mate at the camp.

“I was 14, he was over 30, already a father,” Cseh said. “In camp you can really grow isolated and blame everyone, including the coach. An older guy can help a lot by saying: ‘Look, Coach is trying to make you better, not to torture you for pleasure’.”

Guttler said the young Cseh looked up to his older team mates, copying their training methods as he tried to emulate their results.

“He saw the medals, and he saw the kind of effort that went into them, what work ethic we adopted to get there,” Guttler said. “I had a reputation for being calm and balanced under pressure and that’s why they asked me to share a room with him.”

For the next four years the two bunked together the world over, killing time during a race in Athens, and killing large cockroaches in the accommodation at one training camp in South Africa.

“We used Laszlo’s slippers because he has enormous, size 46 feet,” Guttler said. “That’s useful for propulsion, and for swatting bugs.”

By the time Guttler retired in 2003, Cseh had won his first major medal, a silver in the 400 medley at the world championships...behind the up-and-coming Phelps.

The pair’s rivalry continued, although nearly every time they met Cseh was debilitated in one way or another. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Cseh broke his foot a few weeks before the race and finished with a bronze in the 400m medley. Phelps, healthy, won six golds and set a world record in the 400 medley.

In 2005, Phelps used the Montreal World Championships to experiment and skipped the 400 medley, which Cseh won. In 2007, Cseh had a bad year, while Phelps took seven golds

and five world records. Then came Beijing, and the triple duel, with a clean sweep by Phelps en route to his eight golds and seven world records. Hungarians were glued to their television sets.

Sandor Demjan, one of the country’s richest people, was so impressed with Cseh’s performance that he upped the prize money that the government offered to silver-medal winners to match the amount received by gold medallists.

“Laszlo Cseh gave a performance at the Beijing Games that only the greatest can,” Demjan told Reuters in an emailed reply to questions. “His three silvers were right up there with three golds in the eyes of all Hungarian fans.

“The duel of Phelps and Laszlo Cseh enchanted the fans of swimming and enhanced the sport’s popularity. This should give some consolation to Laszlo, too.”

After Beijing, a streak of bad luck haunted Cseh, while Phelps ruled supreme in the swimming world. At the 2009 World Championships, Cseh was bothered by illness and restricted to a silver and a bronze. The 2011 event was marred by a bad recurrence of his asthma.

“I had emergency medication with me, but the asthma attack came during the preliminaries of the 400 medley,” Cseh said. “There was nothing I could do. It pissed me off because I prepared very hard for that event.”

Again he had to make do with a bronze. So, when choosing tactics for the preparation for London, Cseh, now 26, decided he would do everything to reach the top.

“I am good enough for a medal anytime,” he said. “I can’t be content with that. I will take risks... I will try the craziest things if I think they are useful, rather than settle for a Beijing-like result.”

He tries to block Phelps from his mind and says it is the clock he is trying to beat. That is what Guttler, still a good friend, advises him too.

“Swimming isn’t boxing,” Guttler said. “You can’t focus on one individual. You have the entire field to beat. There are new swimmers, surprises. You have to do the best you can, and hope it’s enough.”— Reuters

LONDON: China’s chances of adding equestrian medals to its haul at Olympic Games will remain slim until it invests at the grassroots level of the sport, said four-times gold medallist Ludger Beerbaum. German Beerbaum is tutoring American-born Zhu Meimei, who changed her nationality in 2006 and should be eligible for Rio in 2016.

British-based Alex Hua Tian, the former Eton schoolboy who took a tumble in Beijing, is the only Chinese rider to qualify for London so far.

Beerbaum said China’s problem was a lack of tradition and breeding and called for more investment in the sport. “Equestrian is not a traditional sport in China, it’s kind of new,” he told the China Daily newspaper. “The history is not here, which is the first obstacle.

“In Europe we have a tradition (going back) a couple of hundred years to get going with breeding. “The second (problem) is you have to build up breeding, which means opening the borders and having trade between Europe and China. The whole industry need to be developed yet.”

China has a rich history of riding but more as a practical farming skill until recently. Equestrian

events were staged in Hong Kong at the Beijing Games after international veterinary groups refused to certify the Chinese capital as free of equine diseases. “Europeans are very strict in vaccinating the horses and have passports for every single horse,” said Beerbaum, adding that vaccination log entries were meticulous.

“It is mentioned what you vaccinate is not in the food chain. The authorities in Europe are pretty much working on this issue and would like to have the same system in China. “But for the moment, they are starting slowly in this process and it’s not on the same level.”

China is hosting more equestrian competitions, attracting international riders, but the vaccination issue means they must compete on local horses instead of their own.

The 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou was the first time the Chinese mainland held an international equestrian tournament and 80 foreign horses were quarantined before being sent home.

An interim measure of unloading European horses at the airport and sealing them in a truck for the journey to the venue was under discussion, Beerbaum said. — Reuters

Golden pole vaulter to quit in two years LONDON: Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, chasing her third straight Olympic gold medal at the London Games this year, says the strain of training will force her to retire in two years.

“When I’m on the track, I always think, oh my goodness it’s so easy. Why can’t it be all the time the same. But once I get off the podium, I was like ‘oh, I’m too tired for the training’,” the 29-year-old told the Laureus website (www.laureus.com).

“I decide that another two years and then I will retire. Training becomes difficult...every year the body is getting old it becomes harder and harder to prepare for the competition. I enjoy competition more than training.” Isinbayeva’s will to win was on display last month at the world indoor championships in Istanbul, where she claimed a fourth title and her first major victory since her Beijing gold in 2008.

Isinbayeva’s confidence is definitely back if her preOlympics talk is anything to go by.

“In London, my main competitors will be myself, because I know how high I can jump and I know that height is almost impossible for my rivals,” said the Russian, who holds the outdoor record of 5.06 metres.

“My coach says that my potential is 5.10 and higher, so that right now and with my present preparation, I am able to jump 5.10. “I am not worrying about the Olympics. I am confident because I know that right now everything is fine in my life.” Isinbayeva’s life has not always been rosy despite a bagful of records and high profile titles.

Plagued by injury, poor form and the ignominy of failing to register a height at the 2009 world championships, she took an 11-month break.

“I was tired from everything. My body, my mind was tired because I was almost 10 years competing at winter season and summer season. I decided to have some rest without competing, without training, without everything,” she said. Isinbayeva is currently unbeaten in 2012 and set a world indoor record of 5.01 in Stockholm in February before she needed just two jumps to claim the world indoor title in Istanbul.

Her final goal outside another Olympic gold is to

add to her 30 world records and possibly beat Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka’s mark of 35.

“Sergey was a role model. He was a star at the time I was starting,” she said of former Olympic and world champion Bubka. “It was my goal from the beginning to set up 36 world records. This is still in my mind and now I feel that I can achieve it.”

After her loss of form that led to her break from competition, Isinbayeva returned to former mentor Yevgeny Trofimov having left Vitaly Petrov, a move she credits for her renewed confidence.

“To work again with Yevgeny was my best decision ever in my life, because I trust him,” she said. “I grew up with him as a pole vaulter. He loves me like a daughter. I do not consider him just a coach. He is my coach, my friend, my second father. I trust him 100 percent.”— Reuters

Yelena Isinbayeva reacts in this file photo

18

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

S P ORT S

Tsonga, Murray advance Monte Carlo Masters MONACO: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrated his 27th birthday by saving all six breakpoints in a 6-2, 6-4 win yesterday against Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

larly used the drop shot to get out of trouble. “But I played well on the important points.”

The Frenchman will play 13thseeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain, who rallied from a set down

year’s semifinals. “But I played very well, it was a very good first match.” Murray had spent a few days practicing on clay in Florida before heading to the Mediterranean.

MONACO: Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber plays a return to France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, during their match of the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters tournament. —AP Andy Murray started his claycourt season in style by beating Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-3. Tsonga, who was serenaded with a brief rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ from the crowd, served five aces and broke his opponent three times.

“I had some worrying moments because I was almost broken several times,” said Tsonga, who regu-

for the second straight match in winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 against Ivan Dodig of Croatia. Murray will face either Jurgen Melzer of Austria or Julien Benneteau of France.

“Normally when I come here I usually find I need a few matches to get adjusted,” said Murray, who lost to seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in last

“The sooner I can get on this surface for me the better,” Murray said. “It was good that I stayed in the States and actually got sort of four or five days on the clay there before coming (here). I was sliding pretty well on the court. Normally that’s the thing that takes time to get used to.

Murray didn’t face a single

break point in improving to 6-0 against Troicki. Murray is being helped with his clay game by coach Ivan Lendl, who won three French Opens in eight Grand Slam titles plus two Monte Carlo Masters among his 94 career victories.

“He only arrived this morning so he’s getting no credit for today,” Murray joked. “But he’ll help me (over) the next five, six weeks.”

Italian veteran Andreas Seppi’s reward for a 6-3, 6-1 win against Victor Hanescu is to play topranked Novak Djokovic in the second round on Wednesday, when Nadal plays Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen.

Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan reached the second round after beating 14th-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Also in the first round, Fabio Fognini beat Michael Llodra 7-5, 6-3, Thomaz Bellucci downed Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 and Filippo Volandri defeated Alessandro Giannessi 7-5, 6-3.

Kei Nishikori advanced with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Albert Ramos, who lost in the Grand Hassan II final last Sunday to Spanish countryman Pablo Andujar. Andujar had to rally from a set down to get past Federico Delbonis 3-6, 64, 6-2.

Juan Monaco of Argentina limped out of his match against Dutchman Robin Haase with the score at 7-5, 0-6, 2-3 after turning his right ankle.

He was on the clay for several minutes, with Haase making a pillow for him with a towel. Monaco finished the fifth game but then had to quit. —AP

Rangers and Bruins advance OTTAWA: Henrik Lundqvist made 39 saves for his fourth NHL playoff shutout, and Brian Boyle scored for the third straight game to break a third-period deadlock as the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 on Monday.

The Rangers, who lost Game 2 at home in overtime, lead the best-of-seven, first-round series 2-1. Game 4 will be tonight in Ottawa before the series returns to New York.

Lundqvist’s biggest save came in the last minute when he robbed Kyle Turris on the doorstep with a quick pad stop.

Craig Anderson was nearly as good, keeping the Senators in it with a 22-save effort.

Ottawa was without captain Daniel Alfredsson, who sustained a concussion in Game 2 when he was elbowed in the head by Rangers rookie Carl Hagelin. Hagelin served the first of a three-game NHL suspension for the hit.

Bobby Butler replaced Alfredsson. Chris Kreider, who nine days earlier won the NCAA championship with Boston College, made his NHL debut in place of Hagelin.

Bruins 4, Capitals 3 At Washington, Zdeno Chara scored the tiebreaking goal during a 4-on-4 play with less than 2 minutes left as reigning Stanley Cup champion Boston beat Washington to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

Chara’s shot from the right circle appeared to get deflected on its way past Braden Holtby. The Bruins captain also had two assists.

Tim Thomas, last season’s playoff MVP, made 29 saves and ignored the taunting from fans who held up photos of President Barack Obama, reminding Boston’s goalie that he turned down a trip to the White House in January with his teammates.

Game 4 tomorrow in Washington. After that, the best-ofseven Eastern Conference series shifts back to Boston for Game 5 on Saturday.

Brian Rolston, Rich Peverley and Daniel Paille also scored for the Bruins. Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich got Washington’s goals. Laich scored on a breakaway with 6 minutes left to make it 3-3, but Chara came through with 1:53 remaining. Holtby, who blocked 72 of 74 shots through the first two games, made 25 saves.

Blues 4, Sharks 3 At San Jose, California, Andy McDonald scored one goal and set up another in the second period to help St. Louis regain home-ice advantage in their first-round series against San Jose by in Game 3.

Patrik Berglund, Jason Arnott and Alexander Steen added power-play goals, and Brian Elliott made 26 saves in place of injured Jaroslav Halak as the Blues won their second straight following a double-overtime loss in Game 1 to take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is tomorrow in San Jose.

Brent Burns, Colin White and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, who again struggled to find answers against St. Louis, losing for the sixth time in seven meetings this season. If San Jose doesn’t find a way to penetrate St. Louis soon, the Sharks could exit in the first round after making it to the Western Conference finals the past two seasons. —AP

BANGALORE: Pune Warriors batsman Steven Smith (left) dives unsuccessfully to save his run-out by Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Vinay Kumar (right) during their Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match. —AP

Gayle, Hodge shine on day of thrillers at IPL JAIPUR: Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Chris Gayle and Rajasthan Royals batsman Brad Hodge produced superb batting performances yesterday to steer their teams to last-over wins in the Indian Premier League.

Gayle smashed 81 off 48 balls with eight sixes and four fours as Bangalore completed a win off the last ball in scoring 186-4 in reply to Pune Warriors’ 182-6 at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

South African batsman AB de Villiers (33) and Saurabh Tiwary (36) were the not out batsmen for Bangalore. De Villiers played some predetermined sweep shots, smashing three sixes and two fours off 14 balls.

But the win was secured by a boundary from Tiwary off pace bowler Ashish Nehra on the last ball. Robin Uthappa top-scored for Pune with 69 while Jesse Ryder and Marlon Samuels chipped in with 34 apiece.

It was the second win in five games for Bangalore while Pune remains on three wins from five.

At Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur, Hodge hammered 48 not out off 21 balls with two sixes and six fours as Rajasthan scored 197-5 in 19.4 overs in reply to Deccan Chargers’ 196-2.

In-form Ajinkya Rahane hit 44 and captain Rahul Dravid 42 to be the other contributors in Rajasthan’s victory. Rajasthan had looked on course until legspinner Amit

Mishra brought Deccan back into the game from the 12th over, taking 3-32 that included the wickets of Rahane and the dangerous Owais Shah.

Rahane leads the tournament with 304 runs, including a top score of 103 not out against Royal Challengers Bangalore, but he was caught at long off. Shah holed out to deep mid-wicket.

With the focus on Hodge, little-known batsman Dishant Yagnik blasted two consecutive fours off South Africa paceman Dale Steyn to hit the winning runs with two balls to spare. For Deccan, South African batsman JP Duminy (58 not out) and Shikhar Dhawan (52) were the main scorers.

Rajasthan went to top position recording its fourth win from six games, while Deccan is without a victory after three matches.

Scores: Rajasthan Royals 197-5 in 19.4 overs (Brad Hodge 48 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 44, Rahul Dravid 42; Amit Mishra 3-32) def.

Deccan Chargers 196-2 (JP Duminy 58 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 52, Kumar Sangakkara 44, Daniel Christian 29 not out).

Royal Challengers Bangalore 186-4 (Chris Gayle 81, Saurabh Tiwary 36 not out, AB de Villiers 33 not out) def. Pune Warriors 182-5 (Robin Uthappa 69, Jesse Ryder 34, Marlon Samuels 34; Vinay Kumar 2-34). —AP

TRINIDAD: West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul plays a shot for a four runs during the third day of the second cricket Test match with Australia. —AP

Aussies in driver’s seat PORT OF SPAIN: Australia, abandoning conventional wisdom by opening their bowling attack with a spinner, seized control of the second test against West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad on Monday.

The tourists, already 1-0 up in the three-match series, ripped through the West Indian top-order in the final session of the second day to reduce the home side to 49 for three in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 311.

With the pitch already turning sharply, Australian captain Michael Clarke took the unusual step of tossing the new ball to lef t-arm spinner Michael Beer and he vindicated his skipper’s decision with an early wicket.

In his seventh over, Beer trapped Adrian Barath lbw for seven after paceman Ben Hilfenhaus made the initial breakthrough by removing K raigg Braithwaite lbw for a duck.

James Pattinson, who scored an invaluable 32 in Australia’s innings, then chipped in to dismiss K ieran Powell, also lbw, for 19, leaving Darren Bravo (16 not out) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (one not out) to battle through to stumps.

The late dismissals handed the momentum back to Australia after the visitors had lost their last four wickets for just 14 runs af ter M ike Hussey scored a resilient 73 to get them past 300 on an increasingly difficult batting pitch.

West Indies paceman Kemar Roach captured the last two wickets in three balls to finish with 5-105 while Shane

Shillingford (3-92) and his fellow spinner Narsingh Deonarine (2-32) split the other five.

Australia resumed on 208-5 and did well to add another 103 to their total after West Indies made an early breakthrough when they dismissed Australian wicketkeeper M atthew Wade in the second over of the day.

West Indies might have had another quick wicket when Hussey advanced down the pitch and was beaten by Shillingford, playing his first test since 2010.

But wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh, who dropped Hussey when he was on five on day one, fumbled the ball, allowing the lefthander to scramble back inside his crease before the bails were removed and he made them pay.

Hussey, who was on 47 at the time, posted his highest test score in the Caribbean and shared an 89-run partnership with Pattinson.

Hussey batted cautiously for most of his innings, which was interrupted by almost two hours because of rain, but showed some occasional flashes of aggression.

He lofted Shillingford over the fence for six but threw his wicket away on 73 when he tamely pushed a ball from Deonarine straight to Braithwaite at extra cover, triggering the late collapse.

Pattinson departed in the next over then Roach polished off the tail when he was reintroduced into the attack, bowling Hilfenhaus then trapping Beer as the ball ominously started to skid through. —Reuters

Scoreboard Scoreboard at the close of play on the second day of the second test between West Indies and Australia at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad: Australia 1st innings (overnight 208-5) D.Warner c Sammy b Shillingford 29 E.Cowan lbw b Roach 28 S.Watson c Barath b Shillingford 56 R.Ponting c Sammy b Roach 7 M.Clarke c Shillingford c Deonarine 45 M.Hussey c b Deonarine 73 M.Wade c Bravo b Roach 11 J.Pattinson c Bravo c Shillingford 32 B.Hilfenhaus b Roach 5 N.Lyon not out 7 M.Beer lbw b Roach 2 Extras (lb-5 nb-5 w-1 b-5) 16 Total (all out, 135 overs) 311 Fall of wickets: 1-53 2-65 3-83 4-167 5-178 6208 7-297 8-297 9-309 10-311 Bowling: Edwards 23-11-45-0 (nb-1), Roach

27-5-105-5 (nb-3 w-1), Sammy 16-6-27-0, Shillingford 49-17-92-3 (nb-1), Deonarine 206-32-2.

West Indies 1st innings A.Barath lbw b Beer 7 K.Brathwaite lbw b Hilfenhaus 0 K.Powell lbw b Pattinson 19 D.Bravo not out 16 S.Chanderpaul not out 1 Extras (nb-6) 6 Total (for three wickets, 25.3 overs) 49 Still to bat: N.Deonarine, C.Baugh, D.Sammy, S.Shillingford, K.Roach, F.Edwards Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-26 3-38 Bowling: Beer 9.3-5-22-1, Hilfenhaus 5-3-12-1, Lyon 8-4-9-0, Pattinson 3-2-6-1 (nb-2)

Pakistan prepares for cricket revival

WASHINGTON: Boston Bruins left wing Brian Rolston (12) celebrates his goal with teammates Dennis Seidenberg (44), Zdeno Chara (33) and Chris Kelly (23) during the third period of Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals. —AP

LAHORE: Work is being sped up to get Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium ready for the visit of Bangladesh later this month, cricket officials say-Pakistan’s first home international in three years.

Foreign teams have shunned Pakistan since the deadly militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus during the third Test in Lahore in March 2009, but on Sunday Bangladesh agreed to a two-match tour.

“The preparation work is fast and we are ready to host Bangladesh,” said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman Nadeem Sarwar. “We have had a physical inspection

of the Stadium today and are gearing up for Bangladesh matches.”

Work has begun to clean the stands and replace broken seating, but with the security situation still volatile, measures to ensure player safety have taken precedence. PCB security manager Waseem Shahid said a complete plan for the arrangements will be submitted to the government for their approval. “We will send a security plan to the federal government and as per the ICC (International Cricket Council) standards will put in place the best possible arrangements for the Bangladesh team,” said

Shahid. When Bangladesh and Pakistan line up for their 50-over match at the Gaddafi Stadium on April 29, it will be the end of a 37-month gap in international cricket in Pakistan. Groundsman Haji Bashir, who has worked at the stadium since its inception 53 years ago, said he was thrilled at Bangladesh’s visit. “I am delighted at the prospect of preparing pitches for the matches and it’s great news for the nation that we will host international games again,” the 73-year-old said.

The Gaddafi Stadium, named after the former Libyan leader in 1974 — has been

the focus of the cricketing world on numerous occasions.

It was here that Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga lifted the trophy after their shock World Cup triumph in 1996, sparking wild celebrations on the island.

But 13 years later, the Sri Lankan cricketers had to be airlifted in a helicopter after the horrifying terror attacks. Last year, the Pakistan government resisted calls from the world community to change the name of the Stadium after the autocratic rule of Libya’s leader ended in a bloody revolution. —AFP

19

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

SPORTS

Premier League gets nostalgic 20 years on LONDON: Nostalgia, the old line goes, is not what it used to be. But as the Premier League gets misty eyed about its 20 years of existence, it appears that great goals are not what they used to be either. Arguably the most striking thing about the candidates for the ‘20 Seasons Awards’ launched this week by the Premier League is that just one of the 10 best goal contenders was scored in the last 10 years.

Wayne Rooney’s overhead strike for Manchester United against Manchester City in February 2011 stands alone as the only goal scored after 2002.

This means there is no place for any of the competition’s recent top marks-

men like Cristiano Ronaldo, who found the net 84 times in six seasons at Manchester United, or Chelsea’s Didier Drogba who has twice topped the goal chart. Two goals from former Southampton favourite Matt Le Tissier a player whose chubby physique was a throwback to the days before the increased athleticism of the Premier League era- are the earliest choices on the list.

There is also David Beckham’s famous 1996 goal from the halfway line for Manchester United against Wimbledon.

Strikes by Tony Yeboah, Eric Cantona, Paolo Di Canio, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Alan

Shearer all feature among the nominees that fans will select a winner from via a vote on the Premier League website, www.premierleague.com.

The public will also choose the best match, best save, best celebration and best team of indivuduals from the 20 years since the 20-team league replaced the old first division as English football’s top tier in August 1992. In contrast with the choice of goals, seven of the 10 contenders for the best match of the past two decades are from 2007 onwards.

In fact there are three games from 2011 alone, compared with just two from the 1990s-Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Newcastle United in 1996 and

Newcastle’s 5-0 rout of Manchester United that same year. This begs the question whether individual goals stay in the memory longer than games.

Football fans with longer memories might also point out the irony of the Premier League getting nostalgic in the first place as the preceding century of organised league football in England is often ignored amid the hype surrounding the competition.

Besides the public vote, which is open until April 30, a panel of football figures, journalists and commentators will select a best player, manager, team and season.

The 10 candidates for best player are Bergkamp, Cantona, Henry,

Ronaldo, Shearer, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and Gianfranco Zola.

There are five Manchester United players among the 10, underlining the Old Trafford club’s dominance of the English game in the Premier League era. By contrast only one United player, Rooney, featured on the six-player shortlist of nominees announced on Monday for this season’s Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year award.

There were three Manchester City players - Sergio Aguero, Joe Hart and David Silva - along with Arsenal striker Robin van Persie and Tottenham’s Scott Parker.—Reuters

Preview

Chelsea warriors digging in for Barcelona assault

TOKYO: China’s Beijing Guoan’s Wang Xiaolong (left) fights for the ball with Japan’s FC Tokyo’s Kosuke Ota during their soccer match for the 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying. —AP

Guangzhou roar to the top SINGAPORE: Super-rich Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande roared to the top of their AFC Champions League group yesterday, with resurgent former winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in hot pursuit.

Argentine midfielder Dario Conca, reputedly one of the world’s best-paid players, and Brazilian import Muriqui were both on target as Guangzhou beat Kashiwa Reysol 3-1 at home.

Guangzhou’s second win in four Group H games was enough to supplant stumbling Thai champions Buriram United, who fell 3-2 to 2006 champions Jeonbuk.

The Chinese Super League title-holders smashed Jeonbuk 5-1 in their first game but slipped up away against Buriram and drew against Kashiwa away last time around.

At Guangzhou Tianhe Sports Centre, they were ahead through Conca on 29 minutes before Hiroki Sakai levelled for the visitors five minutes after half-time.

But within minutes Muriqui, Guangzhou’s top-scorer last season, had the Chinese side back in front and he added gloss to the win six minutes from time.

Now Guangzhou will face Jeonbuk in their penultimate pool match next month in a game which could decide the group. Jeonbuk have won their last two games to lie just one point behind the leaders.

Chinese football’s profile has risen dramatically since Guangzhou began a trend of big-money signings, highlighted

by Shanghai Shenhua’s landmark capture of ex-Chelsea star Nicolas Anelka.

In Group F, FC Tokyo maintained their narrow lead with a 3-0 win over Beijing Guoan inspired by forward Kazuma Watanabe, who headed the opener from a free-kick on seven minutes.

Watanabe also provided the cross for Yohei Otake to make it 2-0 in first-half injury time. Substitute midfielder Tatsuya Yazawa dribbled into the box and fired the third after the break.

The win made up for Tokyo’s disappointing 1-1 draw in Beijing last time around, and kept them ahead of South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai by virtue of their superior goal difference.

“It was an important game. It was good result that we won it without several regular starting players from the JLeague, but we made it,” said Tokyo’s coach Ranko Popovic. Watanabe was delighted to get on the scoresheet after struggling to get into Tokyo’s starting team.

“It’s a long time since I last started a game, so I really wanted to help the team win. I’m glad that I could,” Watanabe said. “I received a nice ball and I’m happy that it went in. I tried to help the team win and I’m really happy that I did it.”

Elsewhere Ulsan’s 2-1 away win all but ended Australian champions Brisbane Roar’s interest in the competition. Ulsan captain Kwak Tae-Hwi scored a penalty with 18 minutes remaining to give the Korean club the win after the teams had gone into the break locked at one goal apiece.

“We made two mistakes and were punished,” said Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou, whose team is now six points off the Group F lead with two games remaining.

“We also had a number of chances in the front third and didn’t convert them, which cost us. At the end of the day, we just have to get better.”—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

UEFA Champions League Chelsea v Barcelona Aljazeera sport +7 Aljazeera sport 1 HD Aljazeera sport +4 Aljazeera sport +8

21:45

Guardiola dismisses talk of Chelsea move LONDON: Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola said yesterday talk he’d leave the European champions for Chelsea was “fantasy”.

Guardiola has been reported to be the number one target for Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, who earlier this season sacked Andre Villas-Boas and installed former Blues midfielder Roberto di Matteo as caretaker boss until the end of the season.

But not even the suggestion of a £10 million-a-year contract appeared enough to sway the 41-year-old Guardiola, speaking on the eve of Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, downplayed all talk of a move, even though he has yet to sign a new contract with the Spanish giants.

“It is fantasy, it’s hypothetical,” he said. “I am coach of Barcelona now and they (Chelsea) have a good manager who is getting unbelievable results. “It’s not useful for Chelsea or for Barcelona to talk about that. There is no time to talk about that.”

The fact Guardiola has yet to put pen to paper on a new Nou Camp contract has led to intense speculation on his future but, not for the first time this season, he insisted he was just concentrating on the match in front of him.

“I just want to focus on the game,” he said ahead of today’s clash in west London. “This is a dream come true, to be here ahead of this great game. “I just want to make sure my players are focused on the game and can enjoy playing matches like that.”—AFP

LONDON: Written off as too old and accused of hastening the downfall of Andre Villas-Boas, Chelsea’s old guard have flourished under stand-in manager Roberto Di Matteo and will relish trying to halt Barcelona’s bandwagon today.

Chelsea reached the semifinals of the Champions League for a sixth time after a thrilling second leg comeback to knock out Napoli, playing with more freedom and confidence since Italian Di Matteo replaced the sacked Villas-Boas in early March.

Holders Barcelona represent formidable opponents but the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry will walk out at Stamford Bridge for the first leg with no trepidation and fuelled with a desire to avenge a bitter semi-final defeat in 2009.

The sides have met four times in the knockout phase of the tournament with Barca prevailing three times, most notably three years ago when Chelsea were on the brink of reaching the final before Andres Iniesta’s stunning stoppage time strike broke their hearts and sent Drogba apoplectic with rage.

Drogba warmed up for another meeting with Barca with a spectacular goal in the 5-1 FA Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, while Lampard scored a sensational free kick and Terry produced some

LONDON: Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas controls the ball during a training session at Stamford Bridge Stadium. Chelsea will play Barcelona today, in a Champions League semifinal soccer match. —AP defensive heroics. All three have been instrumental in the club’s upturn in fortune since Villas-Boas left.

Di Matteo is holding the fort while owner Roman Abromovich decides on a new general, with Barca’s Pep Guardiola one of the names mentioned, but the Italian appears to have unified a fractured dressing room-crucially getting the best out of the club’s old warriors.

“Robbie has been brilliant, he took over a team that was looking like going out of the Champions League, struggling in the league,”

Lampard told Chelsea’s website.

“He loves the club, he has brought confidence into the dressing room, spoke to all the players and you can see the response he has got.”

Barca have been on a dizzying run of form, winning 14 of their last 15 matches and drawing the other 0-0 against AC Milan in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Lionel Messi has scored 26 goals in 14 games during that run and the Argentine World Player of the Year has set a new Champions League season record of 14 goals.

His incredible 63 goals in all competitions this term is only four short of the all-time season record of 67 set by former Bayern Munich striker Gerd Mueller in 1972-73.

“All that matters in the two games is that we perform on the night. Barcelona have so many players that can hurt you, the greatest player in the world in Lionel Messi so it’s a tough task for us but we have to be confident,” Lampard said.

If Chelsea can shackle Messi they have half a chance of knocking out the holders as they did in 2005. “Messi is decisive, and when you have the best player in the world in your team, you tend to become a little dependent on him because he is goal-hungry and in any match he can be the decisive element,” said Barca midfielder Javier Mascherano.

The first leg comes three days before crucial domestic league fixtures for both clubs. Barcelona have cut Real Madrid’s lead at the top of La Liga back from 10 points to four over the last month and host Jose Mourinho’s side, who play Bayern Munich in the other Champions League semi-final this week, on Saturday. Chelsea face Arsenal on Saturday when defeat could mean their best hope of playing in next season’s Champions League could be by winning this year’s competition.—Reuters

Asia’s future could hang on bin Hammam case

Raul Pacheco

The shoe fits for Peru’s marathon man Pacheco LIMA: Like many athletes in Peru, Raul Pacheco has had to train without the proper nutrition and equipment due to a lack of financial support, but at least he will not be running the marathon in soccer boots at the London Olympics.

Qualifying for the London Games is a dream come true for Pacheco, who has had to overcome severe financial constraints to enjoy any kind of success at international level.

“When I started doing athletics I won a competition wearing football boots,” said Pacheco, one of only a handful of Peruvian competitors going to London after he qualified at the Seoul marathon last month. “It was very difficult because with every step I took, they made a noise and on reaching another competitor or the finish, my shoes sounded louder than the others,” he told Reuters in a interview.

Pacheco began racing more than 10 years ago but did not think at first about becoming a professional athlete.

“The investment needed to be an athlete is very high, which is why there are so few sportspeople going out to represent Peru. The majority try to race here in national races,” said Pacheco, who turns 33 on April 26.

“To be an athlete is very difficult in Peru because of the fact we don’t have sports equipment, because it is very expensive ... We don’t have a balanced diet, which means our bodies don’t have much resistance. We don’t have nutrition through vitamins to help us reach our objectives.”

Pacheco, born in the Andean city of Huancayo some 300 km southeast of Lima, says he loves football but turned his back on the game to dedicate his time to athletics after being encouraged by a teacher to train.

“I started to run when I was 17 but it was like a hobby ... Suddenly I was taken to a race and I won and that pushed me to keep at it,” Pacheco said.

Several years on, Pacheco concentrated on the marathon and now hopes to spring a surprise in London. “I feel proud to represent my country at an Olympics ... I hope to bring back good results and if possible win a medal. It would make me and the country very proud.”

Pacheco, four times winner of Peru’s Marathon of the Andes, might have missed out on London after an injury-plagued 2011.

He placed 12th in the marathon at the PanAmerican Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October, 11 minutes behind winner Solonei Silva of Brazil.

Pacheco has left behind the difficulties of his early years as an athlete and gets help from the Peruvian Sports Institute (IPD) but still has to make big sacrifices.

“To qualify for the Olympics I had to invest 80 percent of my money in training ... The IPD gives us a percentage but it’s not enough to be able to train well and get (to the Games) in good shape,” Pacheco said. “Our goal is London and to try to win, bring home a medal which would be an achievement for the country.”

Latin America’s limited success in the marathon has been almost exclusively Argentine apart from Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima’s bronze medal at the Athens Games eight years ago.

Juan Carlos Zabala won the 1932 marathon in Paris for Argentina and compatriot Delfo Cabrera gave them their second goal medal in 1948 the last time the Games were held in London. Four years later, Reinaldo Gorno extended the Argentine marathon tradition by winning the silver medal in Helsinki. —Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: Asian football is facing a potentially momentous week as powerful regional chief Mohamed bin Hammam appeals against a lifetime corruption ban in a case with wide significance.

The hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, will be closely watched in Kuala Lumpur where the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has been under interim stewardship for nearly a year.

Bin Hammam, 62, is fighting allegations that he tried to buy FIFA delegates’ votes while campaigning to unseat the world body’s long-standing president, Sepp Blatter, in a leadership election last year.

Bin Hammam says the cash hand-outs were merely gifts, and he describes the charges and his punishment by FIFA as politically motivated.

The scandal earned him a life ban from football and was followed by the resignation of FIFA’s controversial vice president and Caribbean soccer chief Jack Warner. A host of other officials were punished over the bribery claims.

The revelations also refocused attention on Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, in which bin Hammam played a key role, and sparked calls for reform of FIFA’s governance structure.

If bin Hammam wins his appeal, acting AFC president Zhang Jilong will step aside and the wealthy Qatari businessman will resume his leadership of the regional body, AFP understands.

He will also want to return to FIFA’s executive committee, a move that would inevitably cause tensions between the world body and its biggest confederation.

If he loses, bin Hammam’s football career is effectively over-and the AFC would face leadership elections either at an emergency congress or at its next scheduled gathering in May 2013.

Interim chief Zhang has not revealed whether he would stand, and no other candidates have declared their interest. “A sense of togetherness and unity of purpose has never been more important in Asian football,” Zhang told AFC’s executive committee last month.

“2012 will be very challenging for me, and you, but I promise you that as the acting president I will go by the AFC statutes.”

Bin Hammam was seen as a moderniser of Asian football after overseeing the launch of the AFC Champions League and the admission of Australia into the regional body. But he also raised hackles with his leadership style.

The affable Zhang, China’s former soccer boss and considered a safe pair of hands, has stressed his current role is only temporary and has not outlined clear policies.

In an interview with AFP last year, he said his priorities were to “maintain stability, enhance unity, promote development, hand in hand together to manage the difficulties”.

Other potential leadership candidates are not known but Malaysia’s Prince Abdullah Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah and UAE’s Yousuf Yaqoob Yousuf Al Serkal are both AFC vice presidents. The body’s executive committee also includes Japan’s Kohzo Tashima and Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, a FIFA vice president.—AFP

Tsonga, Murray advance

Ogwumike taken No. 1 by Sparks in WNBA draft

18

16

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

10 athletes to watch at the London Olympics

Page 17

MUNICH: Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas makes a save against Bayern’s Mario Gomez as Real’s Pepe (left) looks on during the Champions League first leg semifinal soccer match. — AP

Gomez gives Bayern victory over Real MUNICH: Striker Mario Gomez pounced from close range in the final minute to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final yesterday.

Gomez converted Philipp Lahm’s low cross to hand Bayern a slender lead to take into the return leg next week in Madrid. Franck Ribery fired the Bavarians ahead in the 17th minute after Real’s defence, hesitant throughout the match, failed to deal with a corner.

Bayern had chances to increase their lead but were instead pegged back when Mesut Ozil scored

in the 53rd minute from close range following some sloppy home defending.

Bayern continued to press forward in a match littered with high tackles, theatrical dives and harassment of match officials from both sets of players.

Gomez rewarded Bayern’s persistence but Real manager Jose Mourinho was not too downcast in defeat. “It was a match that did not leave me with negative feelings,” he told Spanish television.

“It was a match that I don’t think we deserved to lose but we lost and football is like that.”

Mourinho said he was “optimistic” that Real would turn the tie around at home.

“We’ll have a tough game but as I said we don’t have to get a crazy result, we have to play a good match and win 1-0 or 2-0 or 3-1. “I think the team has the capacity to do it.”

Bayern were penned into their own half for the first quarter of an hour and the home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when Karim Benzema’s shot was punched over by Manuel Neuer. But the hosts quickly evened things up and went ahead when Ribery, who two minutes earlier

had a penalty appeal turned down, fired home from around the penalty spot.

Ronaldo sent one free kick over the crossbar and another into the Bayern wall, but Real were in trouble at the back and a Bastian Schweinsteiger shot flashed wide of their goal from 25 metres.

In the run-up to halftime, Toni Kroos carried the ball from his own half and slipped it to Gomez, whose left-foot shot was superbly turned away by Iker Casillas.

Bayern started the second half brightly with Robben cutting inside and firing over the bar from

just outside the area. But some dreadful defending by the Bavarians allowed Real to equalise in the next move.

Ronaldo had a poor effort saved by Neuer but Bayern failed to clear, Benzema played it to the far post when Ronaldo pulled it back for Ozil, also unmarked, to equalise.

Gomez headed over from close range as Bayern, whose Allianz Arena hosts the final, exerted strong pressure and the hosts finally got their reward after Lahm had wriggled free on the right. — Reuters

Wigan great escape continues at Arsenal Getafe rout Sevilla to dent European hopes

LONDON: Wigan Athletic pulled off a Wigan 2 shock 2-1 win at thirdplaced Arsenal on Monday to continue their dramatic late bid Arsenal 1 to escape the Premier League relegation zone.

Roberto Martinez’s side scored twice in the first eight minutes and although Arsenal struck back quickly at the Emirates Stadium, Wigan hung on to claim a victory that moved them five points clear of relegation with four matches left in the season.

Arsenal stayed third, five points ahead of their north London neighbors Tottenham Hotspur and fifth-placed Newcastle United.

“I am so so satisfied because this wasn’t an accident,” Martinez told Sky Sports. “The manner in which we coped physically and tactically makes me very very proud. “It was a well deserved three points and to say that speaks volumes about the performance of my players.”

Wigan, who beat league leaders Manchester United 1-0 last week, took the lead when striker Franco di Santo scored a classic counter-attacking goal after seven minutes and they immediately doubled the advantage through Jordi Gomez.

Arsenal, who had won nine of their last 10 league matches, were shell-shocked but they regrouped quickly and defender Thomas Vermaelen powered home a header after 21 minutes from Tomas Rosicky’s whipped cross.

The hosts continued to dominate possession and Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi made several fine saves to keep his team in front at halftime.

Wigan defended bravely in the second half as Arsenal’s frustration mounted and the visitors’ man-of-the-match striker Victor Moses wasted a good chance to add a third goal after breaking clear of the home defence.

“We should have been ahead at halftime but in the second half we did not create a lot because we were not patient enough,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

“In the second half we lost our cohesion, we were doing too much individually, the passing wasn’t quick enough to be dangerous. We had too many strikers, we were exposed a bit but we weren’t sharp enough.”

Wigan climbed three points ahead of 17th-placed Queens Park Rangers and five clear of Bolton Wanderers who occupy the last relegation spot but have two games in hand on their rivals. — Reuters

LONDON: Arsenal’s Swiss defender Johan Djourou (right) vies for the ball with Wigan Athletic’s Argentine striker Franco Di Santo (left) during the English Premier League football match. — AFP

MADRID: Sevilla’s hopes of a place in European competition next season suffered a big blow when they let slip a one-goal lead to lose 5-1 at Getafe in La Liga on Monday.

Michel’s Sevilla, who had won four of their last five matches to close to within a point of sixth place and the Europa League slots, took the lead at the Coliseum with a stunning strike from Alvaro Negredo in the 19th minute.

Pedros Rios engineered the turnaround, however, having a hand in four of Getafe’s five goals, scoring one himself and laying on two for Miku and one for Miguel Torres. Sevilla slipped down to ninth on 45 points, level with Athletic Bilbao, Atletico

Madrid, Espanyol and Getafe who are 11th.

Real Madrid top the standings with 85 points from 33 games, four ahead of Barcelona, who they play at the Nou Camp on Saturday, with five games left this season.

Sevilla looked to be cruising when Spain striker Negredo scored a spectacular overhead kick, but they eased off and Torres volleyed Getafe level from a Rios corner in the 35th.

Medhi Lacen fired Getafe in front from outside the area in the 49th and winger R ios then car ved Sevilla apart. The 30-year-old set up Miku after a mazy run, headed the fourth and played Miku through for the fifth. — Reuters

Poland’s Euro stadium clears new hurdle WARSAW: Poland’s national stadium, where Euro 2012 kicks off in two months, cleared a new hurdle yesterday with its first ever club game, pitting Polish league leaders Legia Warsaw against Spanish side Sevilla.

The friendly, which ended 2-0 for the Spanish side, was seen by the stadium management as a way for the staff to hone their skills.

Drawing 20,000 supporters, it followed the 58,000-capacity arena’s February 29 footballing debut, a sell-out friendly between Poland and Portugal that was hailed as a logistical success.

Co-hosts Poland kick off the European Championship against Greece on June 8 at the stadium in the heart of the capital.

But with concerns about hooliganism running high, matches between Polish clubs have so far been off limits at the 1.9-billion-zloty (453m euro, $591m) ground.

Police have underlined the need to improve the security-communications system for higher-risk games. The stadium had been due to make its debut on February 11, hosting the Super Cup between 2011 Polish Cup winners Legia and league champions Wisla Krakow. The authorities called off the match three days beforehand, however, citing security fears.

Legia fans have repeatedly fallen foul of officialdom both at their own new stadiumwhich lies over the River Vistula from the national arena-and elsewhere.

This month they have been banned from three away games in a row due to trouble during a league game against Wisla in Krakow.

Legia’s management has lambasted the violent minority, underlining that they keep racking up financial penalties for the club.

Ignoring the announcer’s appeals yesterday, a section of the crowd set off flares and fireworks, a regular problem in Polish stadia.

There had also been plans to hold next week’s cup final at the national stadium, but the Polish football association opted for the southern city of Kielce.

That decision came before the names of the finalists, Legia and Ruch Chorzow, were known, but the association was mindful that the 2011 edition in the northern city of

Bydgoszcz between Legia and Lech Poznan ended with a pitch invasion and brawl. Polish police say the hooligan hardcore number up to 5,000 in this nation of 38.5 million.

Long accused of failing to take the problem seriously enough, and aware of the Euro 2012 spotlight, the authorities were stung into action after last year’s cup final and have bolstered electronic tagging and stadium bans.

The broad-brush approach has alienated many ordinary fans, however. Poland’s other Euro 2012 stadia are in the Baltic port of Gdansk, the western city of Poznan, and Wroclaw in the southwest. Fellow host nation Ukraine’s quartet are in Kiev-the venue for the July 1 final-plus Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv. —AFP

SABIC Q1 net hit by higher costs, slow China demand Page 22

Kuwait budget surplus could reach KD 17.5bn Page 23

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

India cuts rates by 50 points to spur growth

Kuwait equities rally on corporate results Page 24

Page 25

MUMBAI: Indians shop at a local street market in Mumbai yesterday. Asia’s growth prospects have dimmed but the region will avoid a hard landing in 2012 thanks to strong domestic demand and monetary flexibility, the IMF said in a report. — AP

Protests, crises dampen ME economies: IMF Kuwait GDP grew 8.2% in 2011, seen growing at 6.6% in 2012 KUWAIT: Growth in the Middle East and North Africa took a dive in 2011 because of the Arab Spring protests and resulting political upheaval, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the region, stretching from Iran to Mauritania, grew by 3.5 percent last year, down from a healthy 4.9 percent in 2010, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook. However, the IMF projected that the region would grow by 4.2 percent this year, up 0.6 percent on its January estimates, and by 3.7 percent in 2013, down 0.2 percent on earlier projections.

The report said social unrest that swept the Arab world negatively impacted tourism and capital flow, both badly needed by the region’s poor nations.

Besides internal challenges and geopolitical risks associated with Iran, there are also large potential spillovers from the European debt crisis on oil prices and trade links with Arab Maghreb states, the IMF said.

“A more intense recession in Europe could further undermine the already shaky tourism sector,” which could also spill over into slower global growth,

negatively impacting oil prices, said the IMF. The economies of oil exporters, which include some of the world’s main crude producers Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya and other Gulf countries, grew by just 4.0 percent despite exceptionally high oil prices, the IMF said. Growth in oilimporting nations, such as Egypt and Tunisia which saw their long-time leaders toppled, was up a modest 2.0 percent even after excluding violence-hit Syria, the IMF said. They grew by 4.5 percent in 2010.

“This low growth is a direct reflection of the effects of social unrest... Regional spillovers from the social unrest have been large, particularly on tourism and capital flow, which have declined throughout the region,” the report said.

GDP in Tunisia, the North African nation where the region-wide protests began, shrank by 0.8 percent for the first time in many years, the IMF said. The Tunisian economy grew by 3.1 percent in 2010.

The economies of the Arab Maghreb, consisting of Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania, contracted by 1.7 percent in 2011, apparently because of low performance by Tunisia and Libya, which was hit by a violent rebellion. No

Global economy in ‘uneasy calm’ WASHINGTON: The global economy was in an “uneasy calm”, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday, predicting low growth, especially in debt-troubled Europe.

“The world economy is in uneasy calm ... there is a feeling that things could get very bad again. That pretty much shapes our forecast,” IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard told reporters. “Our baseline forecast is for low growth in advanced countries, especially in Europe, but with downside risks being extremely present.”

Blanchard said the IMF would not like to see further fiscal consolidation should growth prospects in Spain and other countries worsen.

The Fund is more optimistic about the global economy after seeing faster US growth and a coordinated effort in Europe to address its debt crisis. The global lending organization said that the US economy should expand 2.1 percent this year.

Europe will likely shrink 0.3 percent and the world economy should grow 3.5 percent. All three of the IMF’s estimates are slightly better than its January’s forecasts.

The group praised European leaders for bulking up its bailout fund and taking oth-

er steps to address the crisis. The IMF said the crisis continues to loom as the biggest threat to the global economy.

The IMF’s World Economic report comes as the 187-nation IMF and its sister lending institution, the World Bank, prepare to hold their spring meetings in Washington this week. The report represents improvement from January, when IMF officials warned that the global economic recovery was in danger of stalling.

Since then, European leaders have worked together on a plan intended to restrain deficit spending. New governments in Spain and Italy have committed to reforms and spending cuts. And the European Central Bank has lent more than $1 trillion to the region’s banks. That has brought down borrowing costs in some of the most troubled countries.

In the US, consumers are spending more, business investment has grown and the job market has shown “signs of life,” the report says. “With the passing of the ? crisis, and some good news about the US economy, some optimism has returned,” Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s chief economist, wrote. “It should remain tempered.” — Agencies

separate figures for Libya were provided.

However, the IMF projected the Maghreb’s economy to rebound by as high as 11.0 percent in 2012 and 5.9 percent next year. In Egypt, the most populous Arab nation hit by revolution, the economy grew by 1.8 percent last year, far below the trend of previous years.

Egypt’s economy is projected to grow by 1.5 percent and 3.3 percent in 2012 and 2013 respectively, but it will have double-digit inflation and a negative current account balance, the IMF said. The region will continue to face serious policy challenges mainly to “secure economic and social stability,” but there is a “shor t-term need to place public finances on a sustainable footing,” it said.

In the medium term, the IMF called for the “reorientation of fiscal policies toward poverty reduction and the promotion of productive investment.” The economy of non-Arab oil-exporting Iran grew by just 2.0 percent last year. It is forecast to grow by a meager 0.4 percent in 2012 and by 1.3 percent in 2013 with inflation rates above 20 percent.

Growth in the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and Iraq remained strong, led by gas-rich

Qatar with a massive 18.8 percent, the IMF said. Qatar’s economy, however, is projected to slow to 6.0 percent this year and 4.6 percent in 2013.

Growth in Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil producer and exporter, was 6.8 percent last year and is forecast to slow slightly to 6.0 percent in 2012 and 4.1 percent next year, the IMF said.

The United Arab Emirates economy, the second largest in the GCC, grew by 4.9 percent and Kuwait by a strong 8.2 percent last year. They are forecast to grow by 2.3 percent and 6.6 percent respectively in 2012. The IMF warned oil expor ters about rising government expenditure, mainly on salaries.

“Government expenditures have risen to such a degree that a relatively modest fall in the price of oil can lead to budget deficits,” the IMF said. Iraq’s economy grew a massive 9.9 percent in 2011 and the strong growth is expected to continue over this year and the next with projections at 11.1 percent and 13.5 percent, the IMF said. The economy of wartorn Sudan shrank by 3.9 percent last year. It is forecast to contract by 7.3 percent this year and 1.5 percent in 2013, coupled with high inflation. — AFP

Obama seeks new oil market crackdown WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama proposed higher penalties for companies accused of oil market manipulation and sought more money for government oversight yesterday, trying to blunt the impact of high energy prices on his re-election chances.

Republicans, who blame Obama’s energy policies for high gas prices, immediately called the effort a political ploy. Gasoline prices have surged nearly 50 cents since late January, as tensions in the Middle East and supply disruptions bolstered oil costs. While prices at the pump have eased slightly in the past two weeks, gasoline remains around $3.92 a gallon nationwide.

Obama has spent weeks trying to show he is on the case to bring down energy costs over the short- and long-term. yesterday, the White House laid out five ways to crack down on oil market manipulation, one of the elements it blames for high fuel prices.

Civil penalties for firms involved in market manipulation would rise to $10 million from $1 million and would be assessed for each day the manipulation occurs rather than on a per-violation basis under the new proposal.

Maximum criminal penalties would rise to $10 million as well. The White House also asked Congress to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority to require traders to have more collateral when they trade oil in an effort to reduce risky trading. Obama is also calling for more funding to increase CFTC surveillance and enforcement staff and to improve technology.

“At a time when American consumers are feeling pain at the pump, it is critically important to ensure that illegal manipulation, fraud and market rigging are not contributing to gas price increases,” the White House said in a statement.

Obama will make a statement in the White House Rose Garden about the issue at 11:10 a.m. EDT (1510 GMT). “If there’s fraud going on, the administration has the tools to stop it,” said Brendan Buck, spokesman for Republican speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner.

“The truth is the president’s policies are restricting American energy production, and he’s looking for a scapegoat. The American people aren’t going to buy it.” — Reuters

Saudi unable to fill oil gap in long run: Iran DUBAI: Saudi Arabia will not be able to replace Iranian oil supplies in the long run, in case of shortfalls due to sanctions against Iran, state television quoted I ranian Oil M inister Rostam Qasemi as saying.

On Friday, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said top oil exporter Saudi Arabia was determined to bring down high oil prices, reiterating there were no supply shortages in the global markets and the kingdom stood ready to use its spare production capacity if necessary.

“The level at which Saudi Arabia is producing at the moment, I think that’s a maximum,” said Qasemi, quoted by Iran’s Press TV news channel late on Monday. “If it wants to produce any further it may be on a temporary basis... in the longrun that cannot last,” Qasemi said.

Concern of a supply shortage due to production problems in some producing countries as US and European sanctions target exports from OPEC’s second-largest producer Iran have helped lift Brent crude by about 13 percent this year.

“Qasemi said there had been no drop in production of Iranian crude despite unilateral sanctions by the EU and the United States,” the English-language television reported. “Iran’s crude is of high quality and will always have its own customers,” Qasemi added. —Reuters

Kuwait to shut parts of Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery in mid-May DUBAI/SINGAPORE: Kuwait’s largest refinery Mina AlAhmadi will be partially shut in mid-May for planned maintenance that is expected to last up to 30 days, four industry sources said yesterday.

The maintenance will include shutting down a crude distillation unit (CDU), an atmospheric residue desulphurisation unit and some other units, the sources said. Refinery shutdowns change the short-term balances of the oil products market in the region and are closely watched by traders.

The capacity of the CDU to be shut was not immediately available but the total capacity of the three CDUs at Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery is 466,000 barrels per day (bpd). OPEC member Kuwait has a total refining capacity of 930,000 bpd in three refineries. One trading source said there were also plans to partially shut down Kuwait’s Mina Abdullah refinery later in the year but that the dates had not been set yet. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

BUSINESS

UAE’s Mubadala in $1bn outsourcing deal with Boeing ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala’s aerospace division unveiled a $1 billion contract to build carbon-composite structures for Boeing, boosting the United Arab Emirates’ efforts to become a key manufacturer for the aerospace industry. The 10 year deal calls for the Mubadala Aerospace to produce ribs, or strengthening components, for the tail section of the 777 mini-jumbo and the ver tical par t of the tail for the 787 Dreamliner, Boeing’s latest passenger jet. It also marks the first time, Boeing said, of a direct outsourcing deal for composites production in the Arab

world. Airline manufacturers are using more and more lightweight composite materials in their aircraft to boost fuel efficiencies.

“It’s ballpark about the same as our previous deals with Airbus and Alenia Aermacchi. The payments will be spread over time, according to deliveries,” Executive Director Homaid al-Shemmari told Reuters. The move reflects a goal by Mubadala Aerospace, a unit of state fund Mubadala, to become one of the world’s top five suppliers to the aerospace industry, he said.

“Aerospace is one of the key factors

that Mubadala is interested in. We are about 28 percent of their (Mubadala’s) revenue and we are not backing out,” Shemmari said. Its Strata subsidiary started delivering wing parts for the A330340 to Airbus 18 months ago from a factory at Al-Ain. Strata will begin delivering the carbon-composite tail parts to Boeing in 2013, according to the deal finalised at an Abu Dhabi aerospace conference.

A newly signed strategic agreement also puts Strata in a position to be a future supplier of the vertical fin or stabilizer for the 787 Dreamliner, the compa-

nies said. Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure, real estate and tourism to diversify its economy. “One of the targets for us is to be a risk-sharing partner for the OEMs by 2020,” said Shemmari. “When they launch the new narrow body we want to have the engineering capacity, the research and development capacity to participate in a serious manner in those programs.”

Abu Dhabi accounts for more than half of the country’s economic output.

The emirate hopes to lift its non-oil share of gross domestic product to 64 percent

Aldar signs $1.1bn credit facility with NBAD

SABIC Q1 net hit by higher costs, slow China demand CEO eyes good performance in coming quarters RIYADH: Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world’s biggest petrochemicals group by market value, posted a fall in first quarter earnings, sandwiched by higher input costs and a slowdown in Chinese consumption that crimped demand.

SABIC’s net profit fell 5 percent to 7.27 billion riyals ($1.94 billion), but this was better than analysts expected and the shares rose 3.8 percent to 101.75 riyals by 0936 GMT. Analysts surveyed by Reuters estimating the chemicals, fertilizers, metals and plastics conglomerate would post profit of 6.74 billion riyals.

“China was growing at a higher rate (before), then there was a slowdown in its economy, also the European slowdown...and high oil prices had an impact on raw materials cost,” Chief Executive Mohamed Al-Mady told a news conference. He said that product selling prices overall continued to be satisfactory, given the circumstances, and sounded a bullish note on coming quarters.

“Prices are still reasonable within the economic situation...we will make good results in the coming quarters if there are no jitters in Europe,” he said.

SABIC’s profits fell sharply in the last quarter of 2011 after two successive quarters of record profits achieved on the back of surging product prices and strong global demand.

Since SABIC products are used in a wide variety of industries, from car manufacture to house

construction and cheap retail goods it is highly sensitive to movements in the global economy.

SABIC benefits from government subsidized gas feedstock prices, which are a fraction of international prices, but was hit during the quarter by higher liquid fuel costs. Brent crude rose 14 percent during the quarter and now hovers

around the $120 per barrel mark. On average, crude prices were clearly higher year on year in the first quarter.

By the end of this year SABIC plans to launch an iron plant with the production capacity of 500,000 tons which would help boost the firm’s products volume, Mady said. — Reuters

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties has secured a 4 billion dirham ($1.09 billion) credit facility from National Bank of Abu Dhabi, a deal expected to help the struggling developer manage its liquidity needs.

The three-year revolving facility, which was undrawn at signing, will be used for general business purposes, Aldar said in a emailed statement.

The funds from the deal will allow the company to manage its working capital and liquidity requirements over the next three years, it said. No terms of the deal were provided in the statement, the latest show of financial support for the emirate’s flagship developer which has been hit hard by slumping real estate value in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

National Bank of Abu Dhabi is the largest lender by market value in the UAE and over 70-percent government-owned.

Aldar has been bailed out twice by the Abu Dhabi government with rescue packages totaling over $10 billion. State-owned investment fund Mubadala, which holds a

near-majority position in Aldar said last month that it transferred a 14 percent stake in the developer to secure a loan facility from another Abu Dhabi lender.

Talks are also underway for a possible merger of the developer with rival Sorouh Real Estate, as Abu Dhabi looks to consolidate its property sector. Shares of Aldar were flat on the Abu Dhabi bourse following the announcement.Aldar’s $1.25 billion 10.75 percent bond, maturing 2014 was bid at 109.244 yesterday, according to Thomson Reuters data, to yield 6 percent, down about 10 basis points since the beginning of the month.

The builder of the Yas Marina Formula One circuit has been forced to sell key projects to the government including the Ferrari World Theme Park.

The announcement comes after the United Arab Emirates’ central bank amended large exposure limit rules for statelinked firms earlier this month, setting a limits of 100 percent of the capital base for all lending by a bank. — Reuters

Abu Dhabi’s Invest AD bets big on Africa growth SINGAPORE: Stacks of containers pile up at the Keppel port terminal in Singapore yesterday.

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell sharply for March from February figures, according to a statement from International Enterprise (IE) Singapore. NODX fell 4.3 per cent on-year last month compared to a 30 per cent rise in February. —AFP

Sarkozy supports ECB independence PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted yesterday that he supports the independence of the European Central Bank but said he wanted to “start a dialogue” on its role in promoting growth.

“I am for its independence, but precisely because it has independence we must be able to discuss its role,” Sarkozy said on France Inter radio. “What is wrong is this crazy idea that is to say that because the central bank is independent, we don’t have the right to talk,” he said.

Sarkozy, standing for re-election against frontrunning Socialist Francois Hollande, caused a stir on Sunday when he questioned whether the ECB’s role should be expanded to boost economic growth.

The German government, strongly opposed to boosting the ECB’s role beyond simply ensuring price stability, reacted by saying the bank ’s independence was untouchable. Sarkozy and other officials have since downplayed his remarks, insisting he was only

in 2030 from roughly 50 percent now.

Mubadala Aerospace owns a majority stake in SR Technics (SRT ), the Swiss repair and overhaul firm. It also owns local repair company Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT).

It holds a controlling stake in Italian business aircraft manufacturer Piaggio Aero along with India’s Tata Group and has partnerships with General Electric and Finmeccanica. In Abu Dhabi its subsidiaries also include military repair company Ammroc, which it owns together with minority partners Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky. — Reuters

StanChart eyes $100m Gulf PE deal in 2012 DUBAI: Standard Chartered’s private equity arm expects to close a $100 million private equity deal in the Gulf Arab region before the end of this year, a senior executive at the UK lender told Reuters.

“We should close one deal this year between $75 million and $100 million,” Taimoor Labib, the bank’s private equity head for the Middle East and North Africa, said. “We are actively looking at the manufacturing business, retail and healthcare,” he said, adding that the bank is seeing attractive opportunities in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

The British bank, which invests in mid-market deals, last year bought a minority stake in family-owned Saudi Binladin Group’s unit for $75 million. The bank also completed a $75 million mezzanine investment in Bahrain-based Jawad Group.

Deal activity in the Middle East has plunged in the last two years, with investors backing out

looking to start a debate on the bank’s role.

But he said yesterday that discussing the central bank’s mission should not be “taboo” in Europe.

“It is not possible that the (European) central bank is not participating in supporting growth, as all the world’s central banks do,” Sarkozy said.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent sovereign debt crises among eurozone members, many voices-particularly on the left-have called for the bank to take a more active role in economic policy.

But Germany has stood steadfast against calls for euro devaluation, common EU government bonds or increasing the money supply, fearing rising inflation and of rising interest rates on its own debt.

French voters head to the polls on Sunday for the first-round vote, to be followed by a run-off election on May 6. Polls indicate Hollande is the clear favorite. — AFP

from capital calls and sellers demanding higher prices. Private equity firms faced various challenges including buyer/seller valuation discrepancies, tight financing and finding the right exit strategies.

But Labib is seeing signs of recovery in the private equity market driven by more active equity markets and higher government spending in countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where billions of dollars are being spend to boost infrastructure and provide housing for the growing population.

“Fund raising remains difficult but the private equity market is back on its way in the MENA,” said Labib. “Small firms are almost out of business and the big guys will get even bigger,” he added.

Standard Chartered’s private equity arm has invested more t han $3.5 billion in over 6 5 companies throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East since 2002. —Reuters

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi-owned fund Invest AD is betting on its range of investment products to tap growth opportunities in fastgrowing Africa, a continent which the state-owned investment firm believes is still undervalued for its potential.

“If you look at Africa, there are opportunities across the board and it’s not as welldefined as in some other more mature markets. So we want to build a suite of products that captures that growth,” Chief Investment Officer David Sanders said in an interview.

As part of the move, Invest AD has converted its existing Emerging Africa Fund to a Ucits standard fund-viewed as more regulated, transparent and liquid-to lure riskaverse European investors, Sanders said.

The fund expects to be $40 million in size by the end of May. The firm will retain a portion of the existing fund in a different Cayman Island structure and look at less liquid investments, the executive said. The company teamed up with Japan’s SBI Holdings set up a $75 million Africa fund in 2010 and invested in the 2011 initial public offering of Bank of Kigali, Rwanda’s largest bank by assets.

The joint venture, which does not shy away from investing in unlisted companies, is closely studying opportunities in countries such as Tunisia, Morrocco, Ghana and Nigeria.

“We have some early due diligence. Our aim is to be a financial investor and not take controlling stakes. Occasionally you will visit a listed company and you will find a better unlisted company or the flip side is also true,” Sanders said.

Valuations in the continent are still compelling for investors, the executive said, adding markets in the region lagged other regions which have seen a sharp recovery after the 2008 financial crisis.

“If you see where the global markets are today, we are pretty much back to levels seen in 2008 but markets like Africa have lagged and there is enough value for them to catch up in the near-term,” said Sanders, who was previously senior fund manager at National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

At the end of March, Invest AD’s emerging Africa fund had allocated 33 percent in African banks, followed by a near 12-percent allocation to telecommunication firms.

“For us, the overarching theme in our investments in consumer. Within that, you look at banks, telecoms, retail as opportunities. If you see consumer spending in Africa last year was more than in India,” Sanders said.

The fund has returned 10.1 percent year-to-date and its top holdings include companies such as Nigerian Breweries (NB) and Moroccan home builder Addoha.

Global institutional investors plan to boost their asset allocation in African markets over the next five years, and are shifting to long-term investment strategies from more speculative, short-term bets, a survey released in January by Invest AD and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) showed. Invest AD is owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Council (ADIC), which focuses on countries closer to home and is a separate entity from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4390000 .3620000 .3010000 .2760000 .2850000 .0040000 .0020000 .0753500 .7341090 .3830000 .0710000 .7196620 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2775500 GB Pound/KD .4424980 Euro .3645620 Swiss francs .3034160 Canadian dollars .2780780 Danish Kroner .0490070 Swedish Kroner .0410100 Australian dlr .2869590 Hong Kong dlr .0357620 Singapore dlr .2217740 Japanese yen .0034440 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0755960 Bahraini dinars .7365000 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0740330 Omani riyals .7211900 Philippine Peso .0000000

.2810000 .4480000 .3690000 .3100000 .2840000 .2940000 .0070000 .0035000 .0761070 .7414870 .4000000 .0760000 .7268950 .0072000 .0500000 .2796500 .4458460 .3673200 .3057120 .2801820 .0493780 .0413200 .2891300 .0360320 .2234520 .0034700 .0054580 .0021860 .0030970 .0034330 .0761680 .7420720 .3955450 .0745930 .7266470 .0066030

US Dollar Pak Rupees

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

279.200 3.075

Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

5.417 2.195 3.414 6.565 76.120 74.595 742.300 46.200 448.500 3.190 1.550 369.300 284.900 3.510

Rate for Transfer

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal

5.405 2.177 3.387 3.079 75.85 741.46 46.11 396.57 724.45 76.87 74.43

5.700 2.550 4.000 3.250 76.50 741.00 47.25 395.45 726.00 77.50 74.25

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

278.350 369.300 444.200 280.600 3.475 5.397 46.115 2.171 3.405 6.515 3.070 741.400 75.850 74.350

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY

SELL DRAFT SELL CASH

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka

291.84 282.96 308.87 368.58 445.95 3.54 3.403

292.00 284.50 307.50 369.00 447.00 3.65 3.650

Selling Rate

278.950 281.210 444.240 365.770 303.830 738.695 75.925 76.570 74.345 392.660 46.178 2.189 5.426 3.082 3.411 6.549 684.255 4.440 9.120 5.875 3.480 92.305

Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Bahrain Exchange Company 10 Tola COUNTRY

SELL CASH

Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka

291.500 741.470 3.670

282.300 547.600 45.500 50.200 167.800 47.770 369.700 36.610 5.710 0.032 0.159 0.236 3.570 395.110 0.189 93.930 45.200 4.290 231.200 1.806 49.600 724.190 3.170 6.840 77.120 74.440 224.100 39.110 2.656 446.400 42.100 307.900 4.200 9.410 198.263 76.020 279.200 1.340 GOLD 1,724.440

SELL DRAFT

290.000 741.470 3.405

Sterling Pound US Dollar

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 444.400 278.800

280.800

224.100 46.164 368.200 36.460 5.400 0.031

395.060 0.188 92.930 3.400 229.700 724.010 3.081 6.530 76.690 74.440 224.100 39.110 2.175 444.400 306.400 4.200 9.250 75.920 278.800

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

BUSINESS

Vodafone threatens India over tax row LONDON: Vodafone threatened the Indian government with arbitration proceedings yesterday in a fight over retrospective tax proposals which could cost the British company dear and undermine wider foreign investment in the country.

Vodafone is the largest overseas corporate investor in India and its five-year $2.2 billion tax battle has come to symbolize the perils foreign firms face from doing business in the country.

The group, the world’s largest mobile operator by revenue, thought it had finally secured victory in January when India’s Supreme Court dismissed a tax demand from the authorities linked to Vodafone’s 2007 acquisition of Indian mobile assets.

But an unexpected proposal in March to amend 50-year-old tax laws would allow the government to open a new front against the company, sparking condemnation from international trade groups and companies.

“The Indian government’s retrospective tax proposals have raised significant and widespread concern within India and internationally and have been criticized by businesses and industry,” Vodafone said.

The British group said it had served a notice of dispute against the Indian government to protest the tax proposals which could reverse the legal victory it won in January. It said the notice was the first step required before the commencement of international arbitration.

“International arbitration proceedings take years to resolve,” analyst Nick Brown at brokerage Espirito Santo said. “I doubt there’ll be any resolution in the near term.

“We’ve actually recently decided it was prudent to re-introduce the potential tax liability into our sum-of-the-parts valuation. It’s starting to look as though India won’t be denied a second time around.”

The earlier court victory had been hailed by business groups as a sign of an improving climate for foreign investment and the many twists and turns have been closely

watched by the business community.

Kraft Foods’ 2010 acquisition of Cadbury’s Indian business and deals involving Indian assets sold by AT&T Inc and SABMiller Plc’s purchase of Fosters would also be at risk of new tax liabilities under the new amendment. Vodafone has endured a rocky time in India.

While its Indian unit became the country’s second-largest mobile carrier by revenue and third-largest by subscribers, it was forced to take an impairment charge of $3.6 billion in 2010 due to cut-throat competition and escalating spectrum costs. Vodafone shares, which had fallen when the Indian government proposed the retrospective tax legislation, rose 1.3 percent to 172 pence by 1225 GMT, slightly outperforming London’s blue-chip FTSE index. The tax case stemmed from Vodafone’s 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s Indian mobile assets for $10.7 billion.

The Indian authorities had argued that the transaction was liable to be taxed in India and the government maintains it warned Vodafone it would be liable for tax before the deal was done.

Vodafone argued that the Indian authorities had no right to tax the transaction between two foreign entities and even if tax was due, it should be paid for by the seller not the buyer.

Vodafone said in a statement yesterday that the 2012 finance bill proposals violated international legal protections granted to Vodafone and other foreign investors in India. India’s parliament is likely to approve in early May the finance bill, which includes the tax change proposals. An official in the Prime Minister’s office said he could not comment.

In arbitration, the two sides would each select an arbitrator who would then select a chairman. The arbitration would take place in a neutral country and the process would be governed by international business principles. — Reuters

COLOGNE: Production workers prepare a Ford Fiesta on the production line of the car manufacturer Ford in Cologne, Germany. Germany’s ZEW survey of investor optimism released yesterday unexpectedly rose in April. — AP

EU inflation shows no signs of easing BRUSSELS: The EU’s statistics agency revised upwards its March inflation reading for the euro-zone yesterday, adding to the case for the European Central Bank to hold back from further monetary stimulus. Costlier oil pushed consumer prices higher.

Prices in the 17 nations sharing the euro were up 2.7 percent in March from a year ago, Eurostat said yesterday, the same level as in February but up from a first estimate for March of 2.6 percent. Brent crude prices are near $120 a barrel, hitting prices at a time when a depressed economy with rising unemployment, government cuts and weak business confidence has eaten into consumers’ ability to spend.

That and the return to debt crisis mode in Spain and Italy have prompted speculation that the ECB could do more to stimulate growth. But high headline inflation numbers to some extent tie the bank’s hands. “Higher energy prices and increases in indirect taxes may keep inflation above the ECB’s target in

the remainder of this year,” said Martin van Vliet, an economist at ING, referring to planned increases in value-added taxes in Italy and France. Energy accounted for about 0.6 percentage points of the euro-zone’s inflation in March. Without that rise, consumer prices would be around the European Central Bank’s target of below, but close to 2 percent.

Concerns about supply disruptions from US and European sanctions on OPEC’s secondlargest producer Iran have driven Brent crude up by about 13 percent this year. Underlining the impact of oil prices, inflation in non-eurozone Britain also rose in March from February.

“There is quite a big hurdle for the ECB to cut interest rates further to help revive euro zone growth,” van Vliet said.

The ECB left interest rates on hold at 1.0 percent for the fourth month running in early April, resisting calls from European politicians and leading international economists to cut rates further, and let inflation rise, to promote growth. — Reuters

UK has vast shale gas reserves: Geologists LONDON: Britain may have enough offshore shale gas to catapult it into the top ranks of global producers, energy experts now believe, and while production costs are still very high, new US technology should eventually make reserves commercially viable. UK offshore reserves of shale gas could exceed one trillion trillion cubic feet (tcf), compared to current rates of UK gas consumption of 3.5 tcf a year, or five times the latest estimate of onshore shale gas of 200 trillion cubic feet.

Reserves of 200 tcf would put the UK in the top 20 countries with the highest shale reserves, alongside Brazil, and 1,000 tcf would put Britain in the same league as estimates for China, the United States and Argentina, top dogs in global shale potential. Although there are still no reliable figures available for the UK, and only around 10-20 percent of total reserves are currently deemed recoverable, experts say that

whatever the final recoverable reserve figure is, it is likely to be big enough to make Britain energy self-sufficient.

“There will be a lot more offshore shale gas and oil resources than onshore,” Nigel Smith, subsurface geologist and geophysicist at the British Geological Survey (BGS) said. UK offshore reserves could be five to 10 times as high as onshore, said. On Tuesday, UK authorities gave approval to drill for shale gas onshore after a temporary ban on the controversial extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Britain is well placed for offshore development with its North Sea oil and gas sector long established.

“We were pioneers in the North Sea with conventional oil and gas and the technology has gone around the world, so why not become one in the unconventional sector,” Smith said.—Reuters

Kuwait budget surplus could reach KD 17.6bn NBK ECONOMIC REPORT KUWAIT: Oil prices had a steady month in March, holding on to the gains made in February which saw them reach post-financial crisis highs. The price of Kuwait Export Crude (KEC) began and ended the month at $120 per barrel (pb). The average price during the month was also $120, the highest since July 2008. Brent crude, meanwhile, enjoyed a similarly stable month, holding at around $125. The main US crude benchmark - West Texas Intermediate (WTI) - continues to trade at a substantial discount to other blends, averaging $106 in March.

Two opposing supply-side factors have vied for influence over oil prices in recent weeks. On the upside, markets remain pressured by the potential loss of Iranian oil exports as the July 1t start date for EU embargo on Iran oil draws nearer. Estimates suggest that Iran could lose up to 1 million barrels per day (mbpd) of crude, worth around 1% of world output, which would need to be made up by other producers. Iranian production is estimated to have already fallen to a 10-year low of 3.4 mbpd this year, as buyers look to pre-empt supply chain disruption.

On the downside, speculation has intensified over a possible release of government-controlled strategic oil stocks to cap further upward pressure on prices. Aside from questions over the legality and timing of the move, few analysts expect it would have a lasting impact. Last summer’s release of 60 million barrels over 2 months saw prices drop 5% on the announcement, but quickly recover. This may of course lead to speculation that any release will need to be bigger this time around.

These two forces are linked and may be offsetting: rising concerns about supply shortages only generate a stronger likelihood of an emergency supply release. Note, however, that futures markets see the price of Brent crude falling to below $100 pb by the end of 2015. The premium for spot over futures prices can be partly interpreted as a measure of current nervousness over the Iranian issue.

Oil demand outlook Analysts’ expectations for oil demand growth in 2012 were little changed over the past month, the global economic environment having calmed down somewhat. Global oil demand growth is seen in the range of 0.8-1.1 mbpd, or 0.9-1.2%, similar to 2011 levels. Demand growth in non-OECD countries is expected to remain robust, at up to 1.5 mbpd (3.5%), while demand in OECD countries may fall by up to 0.4 mbpd (0.7%). If these trends continue, non-OECD countries will overtake developed markets as the primary users of oil for the first time next year. They have already contributed all of the increase in world oil demand seen over the past decade.

Oil supply outlook Crude oil output of the OPEC-11 (i.e. excluding Iraq) rose by a marked 121,000 bpd in February to 28.3 mbpd. Declines were seen in Kuwait (43,000 bpd), Saudi Arabia (41,000 bpd) and Iran (37,000 bpd). However, these were more

than offset by a continued recovery in Libyan output which jumped by 181,000 bpd to 1.2 mbpd, closing in on its 1.6 mbpd pre-war level.

Total OPEC production (including Iraq) reached 31 mbpd in February, a level not witnessed since October 2008. Recent cuts in Saudi production do not reflect a desire for a tighter market. Indeed, Saudi Oil Minister Al-Naimi has made a concerted effort to talk prices down, publically emphasizing that markets are well supplied, that domestic production could be lifted to its maximum of 12.5 mbpd if needed and that the kingdom stands ready to meet any supply shortfall arising from the loss of Iranian supplies. Along with a further recovery in Libyan output, Iraq’s production could rise in future with the start-up of the new export facility at Basra.

the second half of the year; though remain high at around $110 pb at year-end.

Alternatively, if oil demand growth proves much stronger than anticipated (1.3%), oil market fundamentals could begin to tighten again and prices are likely to rise. In this scenario, the price of KEC accelerates to above $135 pb by year-end. However, such high prices would hurt global economic growth, pressing OPEC members to supply more oil to the market.

If, on the other hand, non-OPEC supplies turn out to be 0.3 mbpd higher than expected, we could see a rapid build-up of global stocks. Such a scenario could result from the return of South Sudanese output, following a production shutdown linked to a dispute with North Sudan. The price of KEC could slide to under $90 pb in the

Non-OPEC supplies are projected to rise by 0.5-0.8 mbpd in 2012, although more than half of this increase will come from OPEC natural gas liquids (NGLs). This is only slightly above last year’s disappointing growth of 0.5 mbpd, which was held back by a combination of geopolitical and technical issues. In total, if OPEC-12 output were to remain at its current level (i.e. assuming that any future loss in Iranian output is compensated for by other OPEC members); global oil supplies could rise by up to 2.0 mbpd in 2012.

Given higher Libyan and Iraqi production, however, OPEC output should rise further.

final quarter of 2012, likely prompting OPEC members to make deep significant cuts.

Price projections Oil supply increases are therefore expected to outpace demand growth this year, and - despite a tight starting point - it is conceivable that market fundamentals will soften. If non-OPEC supply growth comes in at the lower end of expectations at 0.5 mbpd, and OPEC output increases on average by 1.6 mbpd in 2012, then - based upon a consensus-looking increase in demand (0.9%) we could see a relatively large stock-build of 0.7 mbpd this year, following last year’s stock draw.

In this case, the price of KEC could fall steadily in

Budget projections The fiscal year 11/12 just ended saw the price of KEC average $110 pb, up 33% on FY10/11.

Although official figures have not yet been released, we expect oil revenues of some KD 28 billion, 45% up on the previous year. If as we expect, spending comes in at 5-10% below the government’s forecast, last year’s budget surplus could end up between KD 11.3 billion and KD 12.3 billion before allocations to the Reserve Fund for Future Generations (RFFG). This is lower than the KD 16.1 billion surplus revealed by official figures for the first eleven months of the year, but the surplus usually declines once late spending data are included.

The outlook for next year is still unclear, but our projections are based upon oil prices averaging between $101 and $132 pb. Press reports show budgeted spending for FY12/13 of KD 22 billion, although this number could subsequently be revised. Using our price scenarios, we project a surplus of between KD 6.5 billion and KD 17.6 billion before allocations to the RFFG.

Goldman Sachs profits mask revenue decline NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs more than doubled its first-quarter profits for common shareholders and announced plans to raise its dividend yesterday.

The strong results masked other problems, including a 16 percent decline in revenue. Also, the jump was largely a quirk related to repaying Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway last year. To make up for that, Goldman turned to cost-cutting. The storied investment bank slashed 3,000 workers over the year, or about 8 percent of its work force. It cut back on salaries, trimmed occupancy costs and paid less in brokerage fees, cutting total expenses by 14 percent. Average compensation per employee, which includes benefits, fell to $135,000 for the quarter, down from $148,000 a year ago.

Revenue from financial advising, where the bank advises big companies and investors on mergers and acquisitions, was one of the few areas to record a revenue gain, 37 percent.

Revenue from underwriting stock and bond sales fell 27 percent. Revenue from trading fell 14 percent, hurt by lower fees and revenue from the division that trades bonds, currencies and commodities. Total revenue fell to $9.9 billion from $11.9 billion, though that beat the $9.4 billion that analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting. Goldman Sachs said its net income available to common shareholders rose to $2.1 billion, or $3.92 per share. That was a jump of about 128 percent from $908 million, or $1.56 per share, a year ago. The per-share earnings also beat expectations of analysts, who had been predicting $3.52. The net

income for common shareholders strips out expensive dividend payments that the bank makes to preferred shareholders. Including those, Goldman’s profits fell 23 percent. The first quarter of 2011 included a repayment to Buffett for his investment in the bank. Goldman had an easier time doubling its net income for common shareholders because it didn’t have to make that same payment.

The bank also announced it would raise its

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein testifies before a Senate investigative committee. — AFP

quarterly shareholder dividend to 46 cents per share from 35 cents. Though the bank didn’t say so, that’s a particular sign of strength in the current market, because it’s also a reminder that Goldman, unlike some of its peers, got permission to do so after passing the government’s most recent round of stress tests.

CEO Lloyd Blankfein called the quarter a “solid performance.” In a prepared statement, he noted that “client activity remains relatively low in certain areas,” but said that “our mix of businesses gives the firm significant room for revenue growth as economic and market conditions continue to improve.”

For decades, Goldman has been known for beating its Wall Street competitors and churning out executives who go on to high leadership positions. But the past few years have left it bruised. Last fall, it recorded a quarterly loss, only its second since going public in 1999. In 2010 and 2011, its net income fell year-overyear in six of the eight quarters.

Investors are trying to piece together whether the troubles are a short-term annoyance or a sign of deep-rooted problems. They wonder if the bank needs a new game plan.

Like the rest of the banking industry, Goldman has to figure out how to navigate a world of stricter government controls that will dry up some of its key revenue streams.

Goldman has made big profits trading for its own account, especially when markets are volatile. But regulations taking effect this year will reduce Goldman’s ability to make those trades. — AP

24

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

business

Kuwait equities rally on corporate results GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwaiti equities rallied yesterday with blue-chips surging to their best level since April 03, 2012. First quarter earnings from companies are expected to drive near-term direc tion. National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) set the first quar ter earnings repor ting in motion Monday with a 0.30 percent climb.

The market benchmark KSE Price Index increased by 0.67 percent, and closed at 6,237.4 points.

The Global General Index rose 1.54 of a point (or 0.87 percent) to close at 178.75 points. The market ’s heav y-weights clocked a marginal 1.11 percent decline as measured by the market’s bluechips’ barometer, Global Large Cap Index.

Yesterday’s performance was accompanied by growing trading activity. Volume of shares traded on the exchange rose by 4.8 percent, at 344.48mn shares. Real Estate groups accounted for 107.56mn shares (31.22 percent) of the market ’s total volume.

International Resorts Company the most actively traded stock, with 36.96mn shares changing hands. The scrip was up by 7.69 percent.

KIPCO Asset M anagement (KAMCO) was the prominent gainer. The scrip added 9.26 percent to close at KD0.295. On the other hand, Kout Food Group was the biggest loser yesterday as it plunged by 5.17 percent to close at KD0.550.

Sector-wise The advance was broad-based with 6 out of the 8 sectors managing to eke out some gains.

Services stocks spearheaded gainers, housing 1.23 percent in gains.

National Cleaning Company witnessed increased investors’ inter-

est, with 11.84mn shares changing hands. The scrip grew by 6.41 percent.

National M obile Telecommunications Company and Zain too were up by 2.63 percent and 1.39 percent respectively. The Investment Sector came in the second place, adding 1.01 percent to close at 81.39 point.

The sec tor ’s per formance was

highlighted with 9.26 percent gain repor ted by KIPCO Asset Management (KAMCO). The company’s stock closed at KD0.295.

However, it was a 3.77 percent gain repor ted by Al-I mtiaz I nvestment Company, that pushed the index higher. Al Imtiaz said it has agreed with a local bank to get a seven-year shariacompliant financing wor th KD25mn ($89.88mn). The Islamic investment firm said the funding is part of its efforts to enhance its financing resources in order to boost its investment activities.

Bank ing I ndex was also a notable gainer today. The index managed to gain 0.92 percent.

National Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait International Bank Boubyan Bank and Burgan Bank all repor ted gains during yesterday’s session, gaining 1.89 percent, 1.82 percent, 1.69 percent and 1.19 percent respectively. NBK’s results

were closely in line with our expectations and therefore void of any surprises with the exception of deposit growth which was starkly high. Deposit mobilization may be taken as an indicator of improved loans offtake in succeeding quarters. Drop in provisions was expected and may be cited as the only explanation behind QoQ growth in the bottom-line; on YoY basis addition to the top-line though slight was offset by a matching rise in provisions. Top-line was stagnant YoY and so was non-interest income

which was reflected in the stagnancy in the bottom-line. Overall we remain satisfied with the results.

Oil news The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $116.98pb on M onday, compared with $119.10pb the previous Friday,

according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

Corporate news Kuwait ’s I ndustrial and Financial Investments Company (IFIC) said it has sold its 42.04 percent stake in Kuwait Qatar I nsurance Company for about KD3.15mn ($11.33mn). IFIC didn’t name the buyer in a statement posted on the Kuwait bourse website. The company said in December that it was in talks with an unidentified investor who had offered to buy its stake.

Oil slips towards $118 on euro-zone worries LONDON: Brent crude oil slipped to $118 yesterday, continuing a steep decline as rising Spanish debt costs raised fears of a new euro zone crisis that could derail economic growth.

Brent crude for June delivery fell 70 cents to a low of $117.98 before recovering a little to trade around $118.40 by 0825 GMT. On Monday, Brent slid 2.6 percent, its biggest one-day percentage loss since December. US crude for May delivery which expires on Friday, rose 20 cents to $103.13 a barrel.

“A new euro-zone debt crisis appears to be building,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “It could have a serious impact on commodities and the growth outlook.”

Ben Le Brun, market analyst at OptionsXpress, agreed, saying euro zone concerns were affecting all risk assets. “If something falls over in Spain and Italy, they’re too big to fail and too big to bail and will likely create a domino effect,” Le Brun said. Spanish government bond yields broke through 6 percent on Monday for the first time since December, stoking fears that the euro zone’s fourth largest economy could fail to meet deficit targets and require a very costly bailout.

Spain would see its borrowing costs leap when it sells 12-and 18-month bills at auction later yesterday.

Market nervousness is now also spreading to Italy and investors are worried rescuing

either of these major European economies could put unbearable strain on the eurozone.

Worries over the possible loss of Iranian oil gave some support for prices after US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said sanctions would be maintained on Tehran. Iran’s foreign minister was quoted as saying his country was ready to resolve all nuclear issues if the West started lifting sanctions.

Iran produced 3.15 million barrels per day (bpd)in March, Reuters’ OPEC output survey showed and the loss any significant portion of this would impact prices, traders say.

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said Saudi Arabia would be unable to replace Iranian oil supplies in the long run, in case of shortfalls due to sanctions. “The level at which Saudi Arabia is producing at the moment, I think that’s a maximum,” Qasemi was quoted by Iran’s Press TV as saying. “If it wants to produce any further it may be on a temporary basis ... in the long-run that cannot last.”

Iraqi oil exports have surged to record rates that are expected to be sustained this year.

US commercial crude stockpiles were forecast to have risen last week after data showed the largest three-week build in more than three years due to higher imports, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) will release its report at 2030 GMT. — Reuters

Iraq seeking refinery investors; demand up LONDON: Iraq is looking to gradually privatize its oil refineries and to attract investment in new plants around the country, its deputy oil minister said yesterday.

Domestic demand for fuel is rising fast in Iraq as in other major Middle East oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia. Baghdad, which is boosting its oil production, is also pushing ahead with a downstream expansion to end costly fuel imports. “We would like to see the private sector increase its role,” Deputy Oil Minister Ahmed AlShamma said at a conference in London.

“You shouldn’t have the ministry of trade buying and selling commodities; it’s out of date.”

He added, “We are looking to complete renovation of old refineries and privatize them gradually. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Demand for products coming from refineries is growing fast, both internationally and at home, the deputy minister said.

“Domestic demand is increasing rapidly.

People are driving around at midnight, when a few years ago there was an effective curfew at 6 pm.” — Reuters

25

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

business

Spain pays higher borrowing rate in debt auction MADRID: Spain had to pay sharply higher borrowing rates at a short-term debt auction yesterday as investors worried that it might become the next victim of the euro-zone debt crisis.

Rates leapt for the auction of 12- and 18-month bonds, allowing the Treasury to raise a higher-than-targeted 3.178 billion euros ($4.2 billion) but at an exorbitant cost.

The sum raised was well above the targeted range of two-three billion euros, Bank of Spain figures showed.

But when compared with a similar auction March 20, the rate on 12month debt soared to 2.623 percent from 1.418 percent and the rate on 18month debt jumped to 3.110 percent from 1.711 percent.

The debt sale was the first of two

major tests of waning market confidence in Spain this week. The state also hopes to raise up to 2.5 billion euros in an auction of benchmark 10year government debt on Thursday. In Greece meanwhile, the national debt management agency said that Athens raised 1.625 billion euros in threemonth debt yesterday at 4.20 percent, a slightly lower rate than during its last comparable operation. Greece had offered interest of 4.25 percent on March 20, the PDMA agency said, adding that demand for the threemonth Treasury bills this time was two-and-a-half times the amount on offer. The latest tender was the second since Greece restructured a large part of its sovereign debt held by private investors, a move which enabled it to

2012 and 3.0 percent of GDP in 2013.

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said this week that Madrid had no “Plan B” and that it would not need to ask for an international rescue. “Spain is not going to ask for a rescue. No intervention will take place,” he said in an interview with the conservative daily El Mundo published on Monday.

In the first three months of 2012, Spain’s Treasury had already raised 50 percent of its financing needs for the year, he noted, and banks had enough liquidity to make interest payments for the next two years. “Spain has absolutely no financing problems or urgent needs,” De Guindos said. He stressed that the government’s 2012 budget, with spending cuts and tax increases of 27 billion euros ($35.0 bil-

cancel more than 105 billion euros of the money it owed.

The auctions come at a time of heightened market tensions, with yields on 10-year Spanish government bonds soaring above 6.0 percent in past days for the first time this year.

Analysts and investors are concerned about the ability of Spain to reduce its annual public deficit at a time when the unemployment-scarred economy is plunging into recession.

Spain posted a public deficit of 8.51 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, missing the 6.0-percent target by a wide margin, in part because of problems in the budgets managed by powerful regional governments. The central government has promised to cut the deficit to 5.3 percent of GDP in

lion), was credible and based on a realistic forecast for a 1.7-percent contraction of economic output for the year.

Berenberg Bank senior economist Christian Schulz said however that “The worries about Spain are not over yet despite better bond auction results today.

“While higher yields seem manageable for the country, the reliance on its domestic banks to purchase bonds at auctions makes the country vulnerable.”

Reports in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times yesterday said that the Spanish government has warned that it might have to take control of the finances in some autonomous regions to curb deficit spending. — AFP

India cuts rates by 50 points to spur growth Move for first time in three years

India’s Kingfisher pins last hope on foreign capital MUMBAI: India’s struggling Kingfisher Airlines is banking for survival on an expected government decision to allow foreign airlines to pick up stakes in domestic carriers. But experts say this may not be enough to save the cash-squeezed company. Its shares surged last week on hopes that the cabinet could soon agree to give foreign carriers the green light to invest-a move that could throw a lifeline to the airline controlled by billionaire liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

But Kingfisher, which has never made a profit since it was created in 2005, is in urgent need of as much as $600 million to stay in business, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, a consultancy firm, said.

“Without these funds, its survival is extremely challenging,” said CAPA’s South Asia chief executive Kapil Kaul.

Kingfisher, which has shut down its overseas operations and slashed domestic flights, desperately needs the cash infusion to pay the millions of dollars it owes to suppliers, lenders and other creditors. Mallya is strongly rooting for the new foreign direct investment (FDI) policy which could be Kingfisher’s last chance of survival.

But the policy move is “like the government calling his bluff”, said Sonam Udasi, head of research with IDBI Capital. Udasi said foreign investors may show interest in some Indian airlines on hopes they will start making money at some point, but better-managed carriers such as the low-cost SpiceJet would likely be more attractive. Kaul added that investor interest in India’s embattled aviation industry was “limited” due to high fuel taxes and poor airline balance sheets.

India logged the second-best air traffic growth at 12.3 percent in the world after Brazil in February, according to global airline body IATA. But despite the fast-growing market five of India’s six main airlines are losing money due to high fuel costs, fierce competition, price wars and an economic slowdown. Debt-laden national carrier Air India is among those facing a financial crisis, while rival Jet Airways is also hit by losses. Just one Indian air-

line, the budget carrier IndiGo, is profitable. This month, Kingfisher started to pay its staff salaries which were pending for months, after its bank accounts were unfrozen, but it still owes more tax dues and also has to pay airports and clear fuel bills.

The airline will also need a “comprehensive restructuring with a revamped top management and board”, Kaul told AFP. The reputation of the airline is in tatters after it more than halved its daily flights to about 120 operated by 20 aircraft, down from a peak of over 250 flights with 64 planes.

Mallya, who also runs a profitable brewery business, has confirmed “interest” from prospective buyers to invest in Kingfisher, which could help reduce its $1.5 billion net debt.

Analysts have mentioned IAG, the parent company of British Airways, and Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi’s flagship carrier, as companies that might be interested in taking a stake but neither has made its interest public. Foreign airlines are currently barred from holding stakes in Indian airlines though other overseas investors can hold up to 49 percent.

“Kingfisher’s future investor must have deep pockets for the industry is likely to face more years of losses,” said an aviation analyst with a Mumbai brokerage, who declined to be named.

The company’s net loss widened sharply to 4.44 billion rupees ($88 million) in the three months to December from a loss of 2.54 billion rupees a year earlier.

The analyst said Mallya may soon have to relinquish control of the airline in favor of other investors, including banks-among the airline’s main shareholders-while retaining only a small stake.

Mallya, known as the “King of Good Times” for his flamboyant lifestyle, erred by trying to merge the low-cost Air Deccan brand, which he bought out, with the premium Kingfisher, according to observers.

“Had he continued with Kingfisher alone and not Air Deccan, he would have been better off,” said IDBI’s Udasi.

“Low-cost is not his game.” —AFP

PUERTO VALLARTA: Handout photo released by the Mexican Presidency of Mexican President Felipe Calderon (left) meeting with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) General Secretary, Sharan Burrow in the framework of the World Economic Forum meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico yesterday.— AFP

MUMBAI: India’s central bank lowered interest rates for the first time in three years yesterday, springing a bigger-than-forecast cut of 50 basis points along with a warning that further easing will be difficult. Seeking to spur faltering growth, the central bank said the benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, would fall to 8.0 percent and the reverse repo rate, which it pays banks for deposits, would fall to 7.0 percent.

“The reduction in the repo rate is based on an assessment of growth having slowed,” Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao said.

The central bank hiked interest rates 13 times from March 2010, undertaking the most aggressive monetary policy tightening drive of all major economies. Rates have been on hold since late last year.

The stock markets cheered the rate cut, with the benchmark 30-share Sensex index comprising blue-chips up 0.72 percent at 17,274.54 points. By early afternoon trading the index had retraced to 17,239.71, still up 0.52 percent.

The economic outlook “should now improve,” said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, promising the government would take “additional steps to further reimpose the focus of growth” in coming weeks.

Business leaders have been clamoring for interest rates to be reduced to boost the economy, expected by the government to grow 6.9 percent in the financial year just ended, its slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis. The bank’s decision comes as India’s inflation climbed unexpectedly in March to 6.89 percent, data showed on Monday, fuelled by rises in food and fuel prices.

Subbarao said that inflation, though on a downtrend, remains “challenging”, amid rising crude oil prices and growing geo-political tensions.

“These considerations inherently limit the space for further reduction in policy rates,” Subbarao said of inflation risks.

Industry heads welcomed the larger-thanexpected cut. “The repo rate cut will provide

the boost to investment as well as send a strong signal that turning around growth is of pivotal importance,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist with

bid to boost lending and spur growth.

Subbarao forecast India’s GDP growth in the new financial year, which started April 1, at 7.3 percent, slightly below the government’s estimate of 7.6 percent.

This is still far below the eight-to-nine per-

AHMEDABAD: Indians throng a vegetable market in Ahmadabad, India. India’s central bank cut its key interest rate by a bigger-than-expected half percentage point yesterday, the first cut in three years as it tries to shore up flagging growth even as inflation remains high. —AP the state-run Bank of Baroda, said the “pru- cent growth for much of the past decade. dent policy” would create pressure for the India’s slowing growth comes as the Congress party-led government, battered by a string of banks to lower their rates.

“This is like a hormone injection to improve graft scandals, has been under heavy financial the feel-good factor,” she said. Emerging mar- market pressure to curb public spending and ket nations have been cutting rates to bolster rein in a ballooning deficit.

India’s government is expected to raise fuel expansion and shield their economies from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis as well as the prices once again in coming months, which weakened US economy and to offset a slow- could raise inflationary pressures. India’s projected growth remains enviable by Western down in China.

In a preliminary step to loosen monetary standards but it is too slow to fulfill governpolicy, the Reserve Bank has twice reduced ment pledges of significant poverty reduction since the start of 2012 the amount of cash and to create enough jobs for a soaring young commercial banks must keep in reserve in a workforce in the country of 1.2 billion. —AFP

Japan pledges $60bn to IMF for Europe firewall TOKYO: Japan said yesterday it would pledge $60.0 billion to the International Monetary Fund, saying it was a critical part of the organization’s bid to boost a global firewall against Europe’s debt crisis. Finance Minister Jun Azumi said he hoped the move would spur other nations to kick in funds, which he said were “crucial not only to the euro-zone but also to Asia and Japan if we are to ensure that the crisis is completely over.” The announcement comes several days before a Group of 20 finance chiefs’ meeting in Washington that is expected to focus on Europe’s debt, with the spotlight now on Spain as its borrowing costs spike.

Azumi said yesterday that the $60.0 billion, which will come in the form of emergency loans using Japan’s foreign-exchange reserves, was “important to make public our attitude if we are to help forge an early agreement”.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde welcomed the pledge and urged other member states to follow suit. “This is an important step forward... to prevent and fight crises and to promote global economic stability,” she said. The Washington-based fund earlier this year said it would likely need an additional $500.0 billion to help European countries strengthen their defenses against the crisis.

But Lagarde told a German newspaper that the lender was scaling back its debt-crisis funding needs to “$400 billion plus.”

“My hope is that we will get a critical mass this week,” added Lagarde in comments published Tuesday by the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Yesterday’s effort makes Japan the first non-eurozone country to announce a pledge, which will be formally announced at the G20 talks starting Friday, and was expected to be among the largest contribution by an IMF member. Euro-zone contributions have so far hit $200.0 billion, with Beijing and others also expected to kick in as part of the global effort.

Tokyo and Beijing have been in talks about their contributions with Azumi saying that the pair “have confirmed a shared sense of direction,” Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Lagarde added that “Japan has a longstanding record of helping others, and of supporting the IMF in its core mission of helping to support economic stability in all its member countries.” — AFP

MADRID: Executive Chairman of Spanish oil company Repsol, Antonio Brufau gives a press conference in Madrid yesterday. Spanish oil giant Repsol vowed to fight for at least $10 billion (eight billion euros) in compensation after Argentina decided to expropriate its subsidiary YPF. — AFP

Repsol fights for $10bn over Argentine expropriation MADRID: Spanish oil giant Repsol vowed yesterday to fight for at least $10 billion (eight billion euros) in compensation after Argentina decided to expropriate its subsidiary YPF. “These acts will not remain unpunished,” said Repsol executive chairman Antonio Brufau, as his company’s shares plummeted more than five percent on the Madrid stock market.

Brufau said the company would seek international arbitration over Argentina’s decision to take over 51 percent of YPF, in which Repsol has a 57.4-percent stake.

Repsol would seek an amount at least equal to the value of its stake in YPF, which the firm estimates at $10.5 billion, the Repsol chief told a news conference.

“Repsol will launch all legal actions that are within its reach,” Brufau promised, saying he had a wide range of options including constitutional, commercial and civil actions. Repsol stock plunged 5.03 percent to 16.60 euros by late morning after Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner’s announcement of the state takeover, which ignored warnings from the Spanish government. Brufau

denied Argentine charges that it has failed to invest enough in YPF, saying that it had poured $20 billion into YPF in addition to the $15 billion it paid to buy the subsidiary in 1999.

“The investments have always been much higher than the results,” he said.

The Repsol boss accused Kirchner of taking the decision “as a way of hiding the economic and social crisis which Argentina is suffering.” He blamed that crisis on “a mistaken energy policy”.

Argentina had run a campaign of “harassment” over past weeks so as to make the YPF share price fall and ease the expropriation at a bargain price, Brufau charged. “It is not appropriate for a modern country, Argentina does not deserve this,” he said of the takeover, which Repsol has described as “manifestly illegal and gravely discriminatory”.

Brufau said YPF accounted for 25.6 percent of the group’s operating profit, 21 percent of its net profit and 33.7 percent of its investments, adding that:“These are big figures but we can withstand them.” — AFP

26

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

business

Zain KSA raises revenues to SR 1.522bn in Q1 2012 Zain Group supports Zain KSA’s capital restructuring, refinancing

Prince Dr Hussam bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of Zain KSA

Al-Mazaya wins occupancy rate according to plan KUWAIT: Al-Mazaya Holding has recently announced offering office spaces at its Mazaya1 and Mazaya2 for rent. Strategically situated in the heart of Kuwait Business Town, the two flagship towers were designed and built under the theme “Office at Reach” with the aim to create a professional business environment while providing companies with a unique and stylish working space equipped with the latest technologies.

Speaking on the occasion, Jassim Al-Ghanim, VP Marketing, said: “Al-Mazaya’s team has achieved a balanced average rent percentage at the recently launched Mazaya Towers, after the company launched the towers through a program that includes finished spaces in a variety of designs and a selection of spaces starting from 180 square meters to 369 square meters, all with stylish and harmonious interior designs, that reflect the personality of the tenant, at a competitive prices.

One of the most important characteristics of Mazaya Towers is its strategic location in the heart of Kuwait, which is regarded as one of the most active and strategic locations for investors. The site also offers easy access to various main roads into the city center, which will provide tenants with a central hub to the downtown and a route to all the recognized shipping lines.

“More significantly, Al-Mazaya Towers are distinguished by their global identity through the state of the art design by renowned international architecture houses and the stunning view on the city and gulf”, AlGhanim said.

“Al-Mazaya Holding has obtained approval from Kuwait Municipality to build multi-level parking spaces to serve tenants and their visitors. The facility is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion soon. Until the parking spaces are completed, the company has temporarily provided each level with 4 free parking slots for visitors. The company, also, provides parking valet service for greater convenience and comfort to tenants and visitors,” Al-Ghanim added.

Al-Mazaya provides the best services for the tenants in terms of cleanliness, maintenance, security, safety and reception, as these issues all combine to ensure a modern, practical and pleasant working environment. He stressed that Al-Mazaya is well known for its state of the art architectural designs and its unique and unrivaled management and logistic services.

Speaking of the “Office at Reach” campaign, AlGhanim stated that after the contractor and consultant finalized construction and operation of equipment, AlMazaya readied offices for its operations at Mazaya Towers in order to receive tenants, process their work and receive their applications The new option enables Al-Mazaya to lease open spaces, finished, or furnished offices as meets their requirements. Al-Ghanim added: “Al-Mazaya’s office at the Towers has already been opened for clients and visitors since the contractor finished the examination and ensured all the equipment is running well. “We will introduce potential tenants to “Office at Reach”, showing them the rental options and conditions that will suit their needs and circumstances. This includes a range open spaces or furnished offices, as well as the opportunity to work hand in hand with associate companies to customize the dÈcor and furnishings at competitive prices,” he added On the other hand, Al-Mazaya has offered an interior design service in association with well-known interior designers under the theme “Design Your Own Office”, whereby the company accepts requests for specific and tailored designs. Al-Ghanim said: “Al-Mazaya has opened its operation office at its towers located in Kuwait Business Town,” during a press conference that was held in presence of a large number of media representatives.

The media gathering was preceded by a familiarization tour of the project”

RIYADH: Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA or the Company), operator of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s most up-to-date networks, yesterday announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, maintaining positive growth across key financial metrics and continuing its investment in network quality.

Total revenues from services increased to SR 1.522 billion, up 3% from the same period in 2011 (SR1.484 billion). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) during the first quarter amounted to SR 243 million compared to SR 154 million for the same quarter last year, which represents an increase of 58%. Operating losses decreased by 18% from SR 233 million in the first quarter of 2011 to SR 191 million in first quarter 2012 as the Company continues to streamline its organizational structure, operations and spending. Net losses also decreased by 21%, down to SR 420 million in Q1 this year from SR 532 million in the first quarter of 2011 as a result of lower financing costs, depreciation and amortization.

Zain KSA continues to focus on financial structure and improvements throughout 2012 During the period, Zain KSA also achieved a key operational milestone, as it continues to deliver against its key business objectives, such as the ‘Hala’ prepaid package, which is designed to suit the different needs of Zain KSA customers.

Commenting on the company’s financial results, Prince Dr Hussam bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman

of Zain KSA, said: “The improvement in our key financial metrics in the first quarter is encouraging and reflects the company’s continued progress in achieving its strategic goals following the strategic review carried out towards the end of 2011.

The period also saw continued delivery against our key technical initiatives that will see further improvement of our network whilst also providing greater control of operating expenses.

As a result of these developments, along with the continued close support of the parent company, Zain KSA looks forward to playing a prominent role in improving mobile communications in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and contributing to the Kingdom’s economic development plans.”

Zain KSA board and management team are actively working on the company’s planned capital restructuring (capital reduction and subsequent capital increase) with the full support of all of its founding shareholders, including strong sponsor support from Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC (Zain Kuwait). The capital restructuring is subject to the requisite regulatory approvals. Furthermore, following the Company’s announcement in January 2012 of the successful extension of the maturity of its current $9.75 billion Murabaha Financing facility to July 27, 2012, the Company is finalizing documentation and arrangements towards the refinancing of the said facility which is to be replaced by a 5-year, medium term facility.

Take on the world with American Tourister!

KUWAIT: American Tourister, one of the world’s leading luggage brands with presence in over 80 countries worldwide, announced an aggressive media campaign in the country.

The company emphasized on its major expansion plans in Kuwait and has earmarked over $2.5 million over a period of two months starting May 2012. This includes advertisement campaigns across a diverse mix of media encompassing Arab and Asian TV networks, outdoor and market activation programs. This is the highest media spend by a luggage brand in Kuwait.

In his comments on the media blitzkrieg, Jai Krishnan, Vice President - Middle East, East Africa and SAARC at American Tourister, said: “American Tourister is entering its 80th year -as you know, it was born in the USA in 1933. We’ve had this continued tradition over the years of offering the latest designs and the best quality at a great value. We know that this is a combination that the consumers in Kuwait look for in the products they buy and that’s why we believe that the Kuwait is a very important market for us. We have, therefore, decided to invest heavily in Kuwait.

He adds, “American Tourister is going to open the first showroom in Souk Al-Kabir, Kuwait City by second week of May. This will be the first American Tourister mono brand store in the region. Our plan is to increase the number of retail outlets of American Tourister in 2012, so that the brand will have the right spread in terms of availability - hence making it more convenient for the consumer.” Currently American

Tourister is available in all major hypermarkets , departmental stores and leading departmental stores in Kuwait spread across more than 40 outlets. The company organized a product launch seminar in the country during which 16 new collections were unveiled to our trade partners.

“This year’s advertising campaign, starting in May, will be a truly integrated one - we plan to reach the consumers through various media TV, print, outdoor and in-store. It’s going to be a high impact campaign with up to 650 TV exposures per day across channels and will definitely catch the attention of the discerning Kuwait consumer. I’m confident that at the end of the campaign, the brand awareness of American Tourister among the consumers in the Kuwait would have increased considerably and we would be the top-of-the-mind luggage brand”.

The advertising, which encourages people to travel and see the world is very much in sync with the tone of the brand - which is smart, friendly, practical and fun. The company believes that the new campaign “Take on the World” will connect very well with American Tourister’s primary target consumers in Kuwait which are the family traveler and leisure traveler.

It may be recalled that American Tourister had launched an extensive campaign in the summer of 2011 under the tagline ‘Go see the world’ aimed to establish the brand as an ideal accessory for the young and family traveler. It was followed up with a campaign on similar lines which played out on TV and print, but with a different tagline - ‘The world is calling’.

KUWAIT: Jai Krishnan, Vice President - Middle East, East Africa and SAARC at American Tourister, along with other officials announces the proposed media blitzkrieg in Kuwait.

—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Toyota to unveil all-new 86 Coupe KUWAIT: The Toyota all-new 86 is on every car lover’s mind at the moment. Toyota Al-Sayer is ready to impress its customers with its new exciting 2013 Toyota 86. It’s been more than a year since Toyota unveiled the concept version of the all-new Toyota 86 Coupe During Frankfort international Motor Show. That year, we’ve heard so many reports, rumors, and whispers about the car.

The all new Toyota 86, designed to put the fun and thrills back into driving again. Experience the responsive flat boxer engine, outrageous rear wheel drive handling and low centre of gravity control through the corners. Combined with the stunning looks in a lightweight sport-scar body the Toyota 86 delivers thrilling drive after drive after drive.

A combination of lightweight body and superb aerodynamics ensures that every ounce of power is put to very good use.

Six-speed transmission The 86 is available with a six-speed automatic transmission or an advanced sports shift six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. It’s equipped with a specially designed sports steering wheel, sports seats and sports pedals.

Although complete specs and details on the 86 have yet to be announced, we’ve pieced together enough information to have an idea of what it’s going to look like. For starters, the car’s overall shape and design was inspired by sports coupe concept that was unveiled in the 80s. Toyota 86 is going to be a compact rear-wheeldrive sports coupe with an aerodynamic body that rides low to the ground to improve handling and allow it to cut through the air with ease. The fascia is completely aggressive with long slit-looking headlights giving it a mean and intimidating look.

All-new Toyota 86 interior is as sporty as its outside with a flatbottomed leather-covered steering wheel with its very own red stitching. In addition to that, it also has aluminum pedals, a navigation system, gauges that light with red neon, digital readouts, and a gray instrument panel that seamlessly molds into the darker dash.

The production of The Toyota 86 has been put to year 2012. Its launch is expected to face fierce competition. To read more about it, please visit www.hot86.com.kw

Boubyan Bank profits to rise by 17% to KD 2.48m for Q1 KUWAIT: Providing the fastest growth rate among the Islamic banks in Kuwait, Boubyan Bank reported net profits of KD 2.48 million for the first quarter in 2012 compared to KD 2.11 million for the corresponding period of 2011, by a growth rate of 17% due to hike in the bank’s operating profits amounting to KD 7.5 million.

Adel Al-Majed, Chairman & Managing Director of Boubyan Bank, highlighted that Boubyan managed, in a short span from the strategic development in 2009, to prove its potential to compete in the Islamic product and service market, which witnesses continuous growth of customer acquisition.

Al-Majed added: “many of our strategic targets for 2010-2014 have been accomplished by the bank, which is now bound back to profitability thanks to the banking products and services and financing solutions that accommodate the individual and corporate customers’ needs.”

“This is backed by a hike in our market share of deposits during the period from December 2009 to February 2012 from.45% to 3.95%, and of finance from 2.34% to 4.23%”, Al-Majed added.

He concluded that the bank shall step up the drive to accomplish all plans and targets and become closer to the potential Islamic banking customers by launching more distinctive products and services and opening more branches across the country.

Positive highlights Boubyan Bank reported an increase in financing income for the first quarter of 2012 by 36% to touch KD 11.8 million against KD 8.7 million for the comparative period of 2011, and an increase by 21% to KD 1.249 billion compared to KD 1.036 billion in 2011.

Total assets of the bank increased, at the end of March 2012, to KD 1.618 billion compared to KD 1.424 billion in March 2011, ie a growth rate of 14%. Total shareholders’ equity increased to KD 249 million against KD 242 million in 2011 giving rise to a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 24% compared to the minimum regulatory ratio of 12%, as stipulated by the Central Bank of Kuwait.

Chief among the positive highlight is was the booming financing portfolio, which amounted to KD 1.092 billion at the end of March 2012 compared to KD 889 million, i.e. a growth rate of 23% in addition to the increasing number of bank’s customers.

Recognition The bank crowned its achievements with 3 regional and international awards namely Service Hero “The Best Islamic Bank in Kuwait for Customer Service Award” for the second year in succession, The Banker Middle East “Best Premium Islamic Covered Card Award” and Global World Finance “Best Islamic Bank in Kuwait”.

Adel Al-Majed, Chairman & Managing Director of Boubyan Bank

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Man linked to ‘Anonymous’ pleads not guilty SALT LAKE CITY: An Ohio man linked to the hacker collective “Anonymous” pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of breaching the websites of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association and the Salt Lake City Police Department. John Anthony Borell III took credit for the attacks on Twitter, said FBI officials, who subpoenaed the direct messages the suspect traded with Salt Lake City reporters. The FBI traced Borell’s Twitter account to a workplace computer. “That didn’t hurt the investigation, of course, when people make comments like that,” FBI agent David Johnson said Monday. Borell appeared with a public defender at federal court in Salt Lake City after being released from a halfway house for the appearance. He faces 10 years in prison and a

$250,000 fine if convicted on two counts of computer intrusion, prosecutors said. FBI agents say they don’t know what motivated an Ohio man to tamper with the Utah police websites in January. Prosecutors say Borell intruded on the chiefs’ website server Jan. 19, then broke into the police department’s website Jan 31. Salt Lake City police spent $33,000 to repair damage to their website and shore up security, and the hacker was able to access citizen’s supposedly confidential crime tips and even some personal information on police officers, Johnson said.

FBI investigators tracked Borell through his Internet address associated with a Twitter account he had been using to claim responsibility for the

attacks. The indictment cites several Twitter messages between local media, including an Associated Press reporter, and the suspect using the screen name (at)ItsKahuna, in which he takes responsibility for the hacking.

Borell was arrested March 20 and has been detained at a halfway house in Ohio. Borell and his lawyer refused to comment the case Monday. The attack on the Utah servers came around the same time a spate of Internet attacks attributed to Anonymous occurred around the country, in Boston, Syracuse, New York, and overseas in Greece. Saboteurs stole passwords and sensitive information on tipsters while hacking into the websites of several law enforcement agencies, police have said. Authorities had said the hackers

who attacked the Salt Lake City Police Department website gained access to citizen complaints about drugs and other crimes, including phone numbers, addresses and other personal data of informants. The police website was just recently restored after additional security measures were added.

Anonymous is a collection of Internet enthusiasts, pranksters and activists whose targets have included financial institutions such as Visa and MasterCard, the Church of Scientology and law enforcement agencies.

Following a spate of arrests across the world, the group and its various offshoots have focused their attention on law enforcement agencies in general and the FBI in particular. At the time in February, Anonymous also published a

recording on the Internet of a phone call between the FBI and Scotland Yard, gloating in a Twitter message that “the FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now.”

In Greece, the Justice Ministry took down its site back in February after a video by activists claiming to be Greek and Cypriot members of Anonymous was displayed for at least two hours. In Boston, a message posted on the police website before it was taken down said, “Anonymous hacks Boston Police website in retaliation for police brutality at OWS,” an apparent reference to the Occupy Wall Street movement. The message also promised “there is plenty more mayhem to deliver.” — AP

Japan’s newest tower uses anti-quake technology World’s second-tallest structure behind Burj Khalifa

PENNSYLVANIA: This handout photo, taken in July 2011, provided by the Federal Transit Administration, shows Peter Rogoff, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration looking at electrical equipment at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s Jenkintown power station that has been operating with outdated circuits and electrical equipment from the 1930s. Driven by high gas prices and an uncertain economy, Americans are turning to trains and buses to get around in greater numbers than ever before. The aging trains and buses they’re riding, however, face an $80 billion maintenance backlog and technological updates that jeopardizes service just when it’s most in demand. — AP

IKEA to sell TVs integrated in its furniture STOCKHOLM: Already the one-stop shop for smart and compact home furnishing, IKEA has launched yet another product for your living room: the IKEA TV. The new furniture range, named UPPLEVA, the Swedish word for experience, integrates an LED TV, a sound system with wireless bass speakers, an internet connection and CD, DVD and Blu-ray players - all in one piece.

Although the TV and the other electronics are made by Chinese manufacturer TCL, IKEA has built everything around them, hiding the masses of cables that can be a nuisance and make a living room look shabby. To further simplify things, IKEA and TCL have combined all the controls into a single remote control.

The furniture comes in three designs and will be sold first in Sweden, France, Poland, Germany and Italy in June, with a few more markets due to launch in the second half of the year. By the first half of next year, it will be available worldwide, with the cheapest costing about 6,500 Swedish kronor ($955). To test market appetite for its latest innovation, IKEA had a survey conducted by pollster YouGov. The poll showed that three out of four people want less visible cables in their living rooms and 50 percent wanted to reduce the amount

of electronics lying about.

The study, done in five countries with more than 5,200 respondents between Feb. 29 and March 15 this year, also showed that 60 percent of the people asked have between three to four remote controls at home. “We’ve realized that people are watching more TV and are using electronics in their living rooms more and more,” IKEA spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said.

“We came up with this because we found that people want to get rid of the cables and they don’t want those mountains of remote controls either.” Martin Rask, a 38year old from Stockholm, said the all-in-one concept sounded interesting but wondered how it could keep up with new technologies. “The furniture is a tempting idea I’m wrestling with a bundle of cables at home myself at the moment - but the problem is that so many new things are released all the time,” he said. “I’ve had three different Internet suppliers in the past year for example, and imagine if you had an old VHS player built into your furniture that no one is watching.” Magnusson at IKEA said that although the electronic devices are physically attached to the furniture, there is plenty of room for customers to put in IKEA-designed add-ons. — AP

Oracle skewers Google as Android trial opens SAN FRANCISCO: Oracle began Monday trying to convince a jury that Google’s top executives have long known that they stole a key piece of technology to build the Android software that now powers more than 300 million smartphones and tablet computers. The unflattering portrait of Google Inc. was drawn

by Oracle lawyer Michael Jacobs in the opening phase of a complex trial pitting two Silicon Valley powerhouses in a battle delving into the often mind-numbing minutiae of intellectual property and computer coding.

“We will prove to you from beginning to end ... that Google knew it was using someone else’s property,” Jacobs said near the end of his hour-long opening statement.

The showdown in a San Francisco federal court centers on Oracle’s allegations that Google’s Android software infringes on the patents and copyrights of Java, a programming technology that Sun Microsystems began developing 20 years ago. Oracle Corp, a business software maker based in Redwood Shores, acquired the rights to Java when it bought Sun Microsystems for $7.3 billion in January 2010. Google Inc. the Mountain View, California-based Internet search leader, has steadfastly denied Oracle’s allegations since the lawsuit was filed seven months after the Sun deal closed.

The impasse has left it to a 12-member jury to resolve the dispute in a trial scheduled to last as long as 10 weeks. U.S. District Judge William Alsup devoted most of Monday’s session to picking the jury, leaving only enough time for Oracle to lay out the framework for its case.

Oracle is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and an injunction that would force Google to pay future licensing fees or find an alternative to Java to keep its

Android system running smoothly. At one point in the lawsuit, Oracle estimated it might be owed as much as $6.1 billion. But Alsup has whittled the case down in a way that has substantially lowered the size of the potential payout if Google loses. In a sign of how far apart the two sides are, Google last month said it would be willing to pay $2.8 million plus a tiny percentage of its future revenue if the jury decides Android infringed on two Java patents. Google hasn’t publicly estimated what it thinks its liability might be if the jury decides Android violated 37 Java programming copyrights as alleged by Oracle.

The copyright disagreement - the most important point of the case - will be covered in the first phase of the trial followed by the patent dispute. If necessary, a third phase will be devoted to how much money Google owes Oracle. Much of the evidence presented during the trial will delve into highly technical fare likely only to appeal to programming geeks and patent-law aficionados. However, there may be dramatic interludes that lift a veil on the inner workings of two of the world’s most influential technology companies.

The intrigue will include testimony from the two companies’ multibillionaire CEOs, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Google’s Larry Page.

Several other industry luminaries, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, are also on the list of potential witnesses.

Jacobs focused much of his opening statement on excerpts in internal emails that suggest Google knew it needed to pay licensing fees to use some of the Java technology that went into Android, a project that began in earnest in 2005 when Google bought a startup run by Andy Rubin. —AP

TOKYO: A Tokyo developer took visitors up the world’s tallest freestanding broadcast structure yesterday, a 634-meter tower with special technology meant to withstand earthquakes that often strike Japan.

The Tokyo Skytree is the world’s second-tallest structure behind the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai, according to owner Tobu Tower Skytree Co. The needle-like radio and television tower opens to the public on May 22.

Journalists given a tour yesterday saw sweeping if hazy views of the Tokyo skyline.

It took about 50 seconds in a high-speed elevator yesterday to zip up to the lower observation deck at 350 meters, and another 30 seconds to reach the higher deck at 450 meters. The Skytree has a restaurant and two cafes on the observation decks, a vertigoinducing glass floor that allows visitors to look straight down, and an emergency staircase with 2,523 steps.

The tower was constructed with extremely strong steel tubes surrounding a central concrete column that are structurally separate from each other in the tower’s mid-section. In the event of an earthquake, the concrete core

TOKYO: The Tokyo Sky Tree soars in Tokyo yesterday. The world’s tallest freestanding broadcast structure that stands 634-meter will open to the public in May. — AP

and steel frame are designed to offset each other to reduce the building’s overall motion.

The Skytree has been built to stand firm even if a magnitude 7 quake were to strike beneath the

building, said Sho Toyoshima, a spokesman for Tobu Tower. He said the tower sustained no structural damage from the magnitude 9.0 quake that struck off Japan’s northeastern coast last

March, even as it was being built.

The Skytree is expected to bolster television and radio transmissions in the capital region. Owners hope it will also become a new tourist destination in Tokyo. — AP

Iran tightens grip on web in ‘soft war’ with West TEHRAN: Iran calls it the “soft war” with the West: Battles to control, defend and monitor the Internet and other high-level telecommunications. The latest move came quietly when the powerful Revolutionary Guard recently launched what it claims is a hack-proof communications network for its high-level commanders. Largely overshadowed by the showdowns over Iran’s nuclear program, the efforts to build a cyberfortress have become a priority among leaders fearful of Internet espionage and virus attacks from abroad and seeking to choke off opposition outlets at home.

The drive also highlights the stepped up attempts by many nations - particularly across the Middle East - to filter the Web after social networking sites played such a crucial role in the Arab Spring uprisings. In a video message for Iranian new year last month, President Barack Obama denounced what he called the “electronic curtain” that keeps ordinary Iranians from reaching out to Americans and the West. “We are not in an imaginary state of threats or sanctions,” Revolutionary Guard Deputy Cmdr. Hossein Salami told Guard leaders in late March as he inaugurated the new closed communications system called “Basir,” or Perspective. “Threats and sanctions are practically being enforced against us. Communications have changed the picture of the world including threats and wars.”

The system is vaguely described as a something akin to a closed mobile phone network, possibly involving special relay towers and pass codes. The Guard’s network is separate from Iran’s wider goal of creating a so-called “clean” Internet, a plan not fully explained by authorities but apparently seeking to weed out non-sanctioned content. The Guard’s new communications system reflects the increased emphasis on high-level security amid tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the possibility of a preemptive Israeli strike to stop what the West suspects is a program aimed at building weapons.

Basir was unveiled days after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the creation of an Internet oversight agency that included top military, security and political figures in the country’s boldest attempt yet to control the Web. The panel is headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and includes powerful figures in the security establishment such as the intelligence chief, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards and the country’s top police chief. Iranian officials have repeatedly claimed that websites with servers controlled from outside the country can’t be trusted. The deputy intelligence chief in charge of technology, identified by the state only by his last name Ahangaran, was quoted in February as saying the “Internet is not an instrument of threat or

TEHRAN: In this file photo, Iranian journalism students use computers in an Internet cafe in central Tehran, Iran. Iran calls it the “soft war” with the West: Battles to control, defend and monitor the web and telecommunications. — AP espionage. It’s a spy itself.” Iran’s police chief, that the Islamic Republic is subject to a “cultural Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, called Google an invasion” by enemies aimed at promoting dis“instrument of espionage” rather than a search sent and undermining the ruling system. engine. Iran claims that it now has enough Officials have made various proposals to develhomegrown technology to sharply limit the op a type of homegrown Internet, but few reach of the Web or develop military communi- details on the logistics have been disclosed.

Minister of Information Technology and cations with protective cocoons such as Basir. “ The armed forces had no trust in the Telecommunications Reza Taqipour said the first telecommunication equipment produced by phase of a “national Internet” will be launched by other countries. So, an indigenous multilayer June. Experts say this would require special nationwide system was designed and built,” said servers controlled by Iran. Iranian users currently an article in a magazine published by the Guard. have relatively wide access to the Web and often But Iran’s civilian telecommunications officials use filter-busting proxy websites to access have used technology from a host of foreign blocked sites such as those of the political oppocompanies, including Nokia Siemens Network, sition or some Western governments. Late last to boost capabilities of monitoring mobile and year, the Obama administration opened a “virtuWeb traffic - particularly after the unprecedent- al embassy” website as part of Washington’s ed street protests and clashes touched off by attempts at outreach to Iranians despite three Ahmadinejad’s disputed 2009 re-election. The decades without diplomatic ties. The site was Guard - which already runs every key military quickly blocked by Iranian authorities.

New rules announced earlier this year limited and industrial program in Iran - has added cyber cop to its portfolio in recent years after virus the speed of home Internet links, complicating attacks such as the highly specialized Stuxnet in links to video and other data-heavy downloads.

2010. Iran has blamed Israel and the US for It also required Internet cafe owners to keep cusStuxnet, which targeted nuclear facilities and tomer logs and install surveillance cameras. other industrial sites. Tehran acknowledged the Experts in Internet technology question whether malicious software affected a limited number of Iran will try to create a completely closed Web centrifuges, an essential tool used in nuclear fuel universe - which is possible but exceedingly production. But Iran has said its scientists discov- complicated - or simply take cues from China’s ered and neutralized the malware before it could “Great Firewall” policies that tightly control the Web and cut links at any signs of politically cause serious damage.

Iranian leaders also have long maintained uncomfortable chatter or postings. —AP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Outbreak of fatal horse disease due to drought Dusty conditions can cause spread of bacteria

Dar Al Shifa Hospital focuses on Best Practice Healthcare Methodologies KUWAIT: Dar Al Shifa Hospital recently concluded its sponsorship of the Kuwait Medica Conference and Exhibition 2012, in which it focused on utilizing best practice case studies in highlighting patients’ overall wellbeing.

The hospital, through its medical speakers, covered a wide range of topics and medical related issued that included cardiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, diabetes, medical training, amongst many others.

Mr Bader Ali Jeraq, Deputy General Manager at Dar Al Shifa Hospital, said: “We are proud to have sponsored and participated in one of Kuwait’s leading medical conferences. Such platforms present an ideal gate for our renowned medical professionals to highlight the latest in research topics, while also demonstrating the capabilities that the healthcare sector in Kuwait presents.”

“Dar Al Shifa Hospital’s participation has provided us with a chance to showcase the hospital’s overall strengths and leadership position across this sector, while also shedding light on our professional medical staff who continue to apply international best prac tice methodologies across their daily work,” added Jeraq. “Advanced technologies, better care, and faster service are the

primary reasons why patients consider travelling abroad when in need of treatment,” said Jessy Jacob, Head of Quality and Patient Safety Department at Dar Al Shifa Hospital. “Over the years, Dar Al Shifa Hospital has been consistent with advancing both the available technologies as well the medical staff.”

During the conference, Dar Al Shifa Hospital’s Dr. Mohamed Wagih El-Deeb, Head of Ophthalmology highlighted key factors leading to and after the lasik procedure, while Dr. Muhammad Al Azemi, Consultant in nephrology, blood pressure and Internal Medicine spoke about diabetes as well as kidney diseases. At the event, representatives from Dar Al Shifa Hospital were present at the hospital’s booth to answer visitors’ questions, and provided a number of consultations.

Dar Al Shifa Hospital was the first hospital to be accredited in Kuwait by Accreditation Canada in December 2007, and was then reaccredited with Platinum Level in 2010, making it first hospital across the Middle East region to attain such recognition. In 2010, the hospital was recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) as the First Private Hospital in Kuwait to have an independent affiliated training center that offers life support training courses.

NEW ORLEANS: Agriculture officials in Arkansas and Louisiana have warned veterinarians to watch for signs of a potentially fatal horse disease if there’s another drought this year. The disease is often called pigeon fever because basketballsized abscesses in the chest and abdomen can give horses a pigeonbreasted look. It’s also referred to as dry-land strangles, as cases seem to spike in dry weather. The disease has been reported in at least a dozen states in the past decade.

Louisiana usually has fewer than three cases per year, but the state veterinary lab confirmed 33 during last year’s drought, said Sam Irwin, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. And, from what veterinarians have told her, the number may be far greater perhaps as many as 300, Louisiana State University veterinarian Rebecca S. McConnico said.

Horse owners such as Kathryn Loewer, who gives riding lessons, runs horsemanship camps, sponsors a youth drill team and boards horses at Soaring Spirit Ranch near Crowley, don’t always spend the money to have the state lab confirm their animals’ diagnoses. “The treatment wasn’t going to be any different,” Loewer said. Mark Russell, an equine specialist at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, said he’d heard of about a dozen cases in Arkansas, and there could have been more.

“No one, that I could tell, had a lot of experience with treating it,” he said. Experts say about 3 percent of infected horses develop internal abscesses, which are fatal if left untreated and often fatal even with treatment. External abscesses are more common but almost never lethal, although treatment can be messy.

The abscesses’ thick walls defy antibiotics, so the best treatment is having them lanced and drained by a veterinarian and then washing them out regularly with an antiseptic, McConnico said. The disease

also can show up as inflammation and a line of sores and bumps in a horse’s leg and a series of small, painful pimples spread by contaminated blankets, grooming equipment, saddles and harnesses. It’s not clear whether the bacteria that causes the disease is spreading or whether it’s in dirt all over and hot, dry weather just increases the opportunity for infection. Brian Miller, a veterinarian who teaches at Colorado State University and

BATON ROUGE: This photograph provided by the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine shows a horse with “pigeon fever,” a bacterial infection named for the “pigeon-breasted” appearance given by large abscesses on the chest. —AP

Beyond drowsy, too little sleep ups diabetes risk

PORT-AU-PRINCE: US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, center, tours the Eliazar Germain hospital during a visit in Portau-prince, Haiti, on Monday. — AP

US, Haiti kick off vaccination campaigns PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti, the United States and international par tners are launching a nationwide vaccination campaign in the Caribbean country that seeks to curb or prevent infectious diseases, health officials said Monday. On a twoday visit to Haiti, US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the effort to vaccinate Haitians against such diseases as diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough is critical because the country is especially vulnerable to diseases brought from outside. “We know the population in Haiti remains at risk for cases imported from other parts of the world because of low vaccine coverage rates here for both polio and measles rubella among infants,” Sebelius told reporters following a tour of the Eliazar Germain hospital in Haiti’s capital. “That’s why an important part of the reconstruc tion effor ts af ter the January 2010 earthquake response was rebuilding the childhood immunization infrastructure.” Immunization rates are low in Haiti. Coverage for measles and polios for 1-year olds, for example, is only a little more than half of the country’s 10 million inhabitants, according to the World Health Organization. And the ability for infectious diseases to spread quickly in Haiti is evident. A cholera epidemic has ravaged the country since it surfaced a few months after the 2010 earthquake and gone on to kill more than 7,000 people and sicken 530,000 more, according to Haitian health officials. Scientific studies say a unit of peacekeepers from Nepal inadvertently brought the disease from their homeland, where the disease is endemic.

The campaign launched Monday is ambitious and, according to Health Minister Dr. Florence Duperval Guillaume, seeks to vaccinate 90 percent of Haiti’s youth population. The vaccines will be

free, she added. The vaccines aim to immunize children for measles rubella and polio and other diseases, and immunization will be staggered. Vaccination for measles rubella and polio will begin Saturday. The other vaccine to be introduced Monday is pentavalent, which is used to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type b, a bacterium that causes meningitis and pneumonia. It also began today but will be broadly available in June.

The campaign will be supported in part by the GAVI Alliance, a group of international health organizations, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. In 2012, the GAVI Alliance will provide Haiti with $ 7.5 million for the pentavalent vaccine in Haiti. The Haitian government will contribute $177,500, which is being paid for by the CDC. GAVI also provided $100,000 to the Haitian government to train health workers. The CDC is paying another $3.5 million - $2.5 million for the measles rubella campaign and $1 million for the polio one. The campaign is part of a broader effort announced this month to vaccinate Haitians. The Boston-based Partners in Health and the Haitian-run Gheskio Center have teamed up to distribute a two-dose, oral vaccine for cholera to as many as 50,000 Haitians in the capital and in a rice -farming community in the countryside. In the end, the groups plan to vaccinate 100,000 people, or 1 percent of Haiti’s population. Distribution of the Shanchol cholera vaccine was supposed to begin in January but was delayed because an ethics committee in the Health Ministry expressed concerns that the groups wanted to use the vaccine as a research project rather than as a pilot project. It wasn’t until last week that the Health Ministry approved the roll out. — AP

WASHINGTON: More people pull the night shift. Teens text past midnight and stumble to class at dawn.

Travelers pack red-eye flights.

Nodding off behind the wheel isn’t the only threat from a lack of shuteye. There’s growing evidence that people who regularly sleep too little and at the wrong time suffer long-lasting consequences that a nap won’t cure: An increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other health problems. “We have a societal conspiracy for sleep deprivation,” says Russell Sanna of Harvard Medical School’s sleep medicine division, who attended a TEDMED conference last week where scientists called sleep loss one of health care’s big challenges.

Just how unhealthy is it?

Consider how sleep may play a role in the nation’s diabetes epidemic.

Studies have long shown that people who sleep fewer than five hours a night have an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the kind that tends to strike later in life. Rotating shift work - three or more night shifts a month interspersed with day or evening hours raises the risk, too, says a recent report from researchers who analyzed years of medical records from the huge Nurses’ Health Study. Diet and physical activity are big factors in Type 2 diabetes. Certainly it’s harder to work out or choose an apple over a doughnut when you’re tired, especially at 3 am when your body’s internal clock knows you should be sleeping.

But a study published last week shows sleep plays a more complex role than that. As sleep drops and normal biological rhythms are disrupted, your body physically changes in ways that can help set the stage for diabetes, reports neuroscientist Orfeu Buxton of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Buxton’s team had 21 healthy volunteers spend almost six weeks living in a laboratory where their diet, physical activity, sleep and even the light was strictly controlled. The volunteers started out well-rested. But for three of those weeks, they were allowed only about 51/2 hours of sleep every 24 hours - at varying times of the day or night, to mimic a bad shift rotation or prolonged jet lag.

That knocked out of whack the body’s “circadian rhythm,” a master biological clock that regulates such patterns as when we become sleepy and how body temperature rises and falls.

What happened was startling: Blood sugar levels increased after

runs its Equine Field Service, thinks it’s probably everywhere and outbreaks increase when dry weather turns the ground to dust that carries the bacteria into scratches and other small wounds. Once a horse develops abscesses, the disease can be spread by flies landing on the infected areas and then carrying the bacteria to other animals, he and others said.

Loewer quarantined her horses after two developed symptoms

meals, sometimes to pre-diabetic levels, because the pancreas stopped secreting enough insulin, Buxton reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine. At the same time, the volunteers’ metabolic rate slowed by 8 percent. The researchers had them on a diet so they didn’t gain weight but Buxton says typically, a metabolism drop of that size could mean gaining 10 to 12 pounds over a year. The results make sense, says Dr Michael Thorpy, sleep center director at New York’s Montefiore Medical Center and a neurology professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “If we’re going to spend a third of our day sleeping, there’s got to be a good reason for it,” says Thorpy, who notes that diabetes is far from the only worry.

Up to 70 million Americans are estimated to suffer from chronic problems with sleep, from insomnia to sleep apnea. Impaired sleep has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, depression, memory impairment and a weakened immune system.

Still another concern: The World Health Organization has classified night shift work as a probable carcinogen, because too much light at night may hamper a hormone involved both with sleep and suppressing tumor cells. Don’t people adjust to the night shift if they’re on it long enough? Buxton says rotating shifts probably are most worrisome. In his study, the volunteers’ bodies went back to normal after nine nights of sufficient sleep at the right time. No one knows how long it takes before sleep deprivation and an off kilter biological clock may cause permanent damage.

Montefiore’s Thorpy says natural night owls seem to adapt better to night shifts, but that people never fully adapt if they swing back to daytime schedules on their days off. Also, about 30 percent of regular night workers have trouble sleeping during their off hours or are particularly fatigued, he says, something termed “shift work disorder.” The consumer message: The National Institutes of Health says adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep daily for good health. If you work nights, go straight to bed when you get home, Buxton advises. Avoid too much light along the way. Thorpy says wearing yellow- or orangetinted sunglasses on the drive home can block short-wavelength “blue light” that triggers wakefulness. — AP

around the first of the year. That meant turning down an invitation for her drill team to perform. Both sick horses recovered, and none of the others was infected, she said. “I wash my buckets. I bleach my buckets. I bleach my ground,” she said, while her horses were still in quarantine. Bleaching the ground is probably not effective, but scrupulous cleanliness - including bleaching any hard surface the horse may touch - is a good idea, McConnico said. Other guidelines include wearing gloves when treating infected horses and changing clothes and shoes, as well as washing hands, before going from sick to healthy animals.

Spraying horses with fly repellant also can help since flies can carry the bacteria from an open sore to a small cut on a healthy animal, McConnico said. Loewer said she thinks it’s significant that the horses that got sick had weaker immune systems. One is old, having turned 25 in February, and the other was “starved twice - I rescued her from the rescuers,” she said. Michael Paton, a veterinarian with the Western Australia Department of Agriculture and Food, has studied the disease for 20 years and said it has two forms. One infects sheep and goats but not horses; the other infects horses but not sheep and goats. Both types can infect cattle and people, though human infections are rare. Vaccines exist for sheep but not horses.

Sheila McDonald, a veterinarian in Kelowna, British Columbia, estimated 400 to 500 horses in that area had pigeon fever in 2010 but said she didn’t hear of any cases last year. An outbreak in 1990 was followed by 20 years free of pigeon fever, she said. McDonald said the outbreaks tend to be limited, and if flies carry the disease, they don’t take it far. “It seems to get on a farm and spread horse to horse, but not too far in the neighborhood,” she said. “You may see it next door but not two blocks away.”— AP

Hong Kong’s next leader to ban mainland babies HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s next leader said yesterday that he plans to ban pregnant mainlanders from giving birth in the city and deny their children residency rights, in a bid to ease pressure on local hospitals. The southern Chinese city has been struggling to cope with tens of thousands of mainland Chinese women who arrive yearly to give birth, thereby gaining residency rights for their children and dodging China’s one-child policy. Mainlanders accounted for nearly half of Hong Kong’s 88,000 births in 2010, prompting an outcry over shortages of places in maternity wards and the soaring cost of childbirth in the former British colony of seven million people.

Incoming chief executive Leung Chun-ying said he would ban pregnant mainlanders whose husbands were not from Hong Kong, dubbed “double negatives”, from giving birth in local hospitals next year. “I hope the ‘double negative’ pregnant mainland Chinese women understand this message,” Leung told public broadcaster RTHK less than a month after he was chosen to succeed outgoing Chief Executive Donald Tsang. “If they have registered and prepared to give birth here next year, it is very likely that their child will not be entitled to the residency rights.”

Leung, a wealthy former property consultant, will assume responsibility for running the semi-autonomous city on July 1 after winning the backing of a pro-Beijing electoral committee last month. Leung’s remarks prompted a mixed response from activists and medical practitioners, with campaigners who have taken to the streets to protest at the influx of mainland women lauding his plan. Christine Chan, spokeswoman of a Facebook campaign set up to protest against mainland mothers, applauded Leung’s tough stance. “We need to send out a very clear message,” she told AFP. “They have put an unprecedented strain on our medical and education resources, and push up prices of baby products like baby formula. I think it’s high time for us to deal with this issue.”

But doctors warned the government against rushing into a decision that could have disastrous financial consequences for hospitals, many of which have expanded obstetrics services to meet the inflated demand. “It should not be an abrupt U-turn. If we have three years (before a complete ban), we can have time to plan,” Private Hospital Association chairman Alan Lau told RTHK radio. Responding to public pressure, the government set a quota of 31,000 mainland mothers in private hospitals this year and 3,400 at state hospitals.

The health department is set to announce the new quota for 2013 by the end of the month. The city has clamped down on agents who arrange birthing trips for mainland mothers to Hong Kong, and raided unlicensed hostels where the women stay. Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 under a system which guarantees rights and freedoms not enjoyed in the mainland. — AFP

Sushi ‘tuna scrape’ blamed for US salmonella outbreak WASHINGTON: A ground fish product known as “tuna scrape,” imported to the United States from India, was blamed Monday for a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 116 people, US health authorities said. The illnesses are being linked to Nakaochi Scrape, or tuna backmeat, “which is specifically scraped off from the bones, and looks like a ground product,” said the US Food and Drug Administration. Many of the people who became ill reported eating raw tuna in sushi as “spicy tuna,” the FDA said, adding that illnesses had been tracked to 20 states and had caused 12 hospitalizations but no deaths.

A Californa-based company, Moon Marine USA Corporation, issued a recall of 58,828 pounds (26,683 kilograms) of the frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, which it imported from India, an FDA spokesman told AFP. Tuna scrape is often used for making sushi sold in restaurants and grocery stores, but is not typically sold to individuals, health authorities said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that collaborative probes by state, local, and federal public health agencies indicate that Nakaochi Scrape “is the likely source of this outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly infections.”

“Nakaochi Scrape is tuna backmeat that is scraped from the bones of tuna and may be used in sushi, sashimi, ceviche, and similar dishes. The product looks like raw ground tuna.” The CDC added that the ingredient was used to make up between 43 and 71 percent of sushi orders fingered in the outbreak and 29 to 53 percent of “spicy tuna” orders. Earlier this month, a leading US ground-beef processor, AFA Foods, filed for bankruptcy protection after it came under intense criticism for its use of a meat by-product nicknamed “pink slime,” formally known as Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT). BLBT is made from beef trimmings otherwise used in pet food and cooking oil that is treated with a puff of ammonia to deter E. coli bacteria. The lean, finely textured beef is typically added to ground meat, like hamburger, as a low-cost filler. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

H E A LT H

Single people with cancer often face the toughest battle alone Help from friends, family, community boosts hope CHICAGO: Claudia Peyton went to the doctor’s office alone to receive the terrifying diagnosis. Doctors told her she had an aggressive breast cancer, which would require surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Treatments would be so intense, she’d need rides to every appointment. And sometimes she would be too sick to get out of bed. “All I could do was sob,” said Peyton, 55, who is single and remembers coming back to her studio apartment afterward and collapsing in grief. “There was fear and anxiety and I wanted to feel supported.”

So the former adjunct fine arts professor at Northern Illinois University and Harper College did what she had to do to get through her illness. She assembled a remarkable team of family, friends and ultimately, strangers, who drove her to chemotherapy sessions, brought over dinner and even did fundraising to make sure her bills were paid when she was too sick to work. “I’d come from an upbringing where I believed that I had to do everything alone,” said Peyton of Chicago’s Roscoe Village. “I think when you realize when your life might be limited, all my baggage needed to go and I needed to invite people in for support.”

Alone as Peyton felt after her diagnosis last year, the experience is becoming increasingly common for a growing number of single people like her diagnosed with cancer and facing the prospect of fighting for their lives alone, experts say.

Their solo efforts to triumph over the disease are inspiring additional resources and training for medical staff as well as encouraging new support groups, according to advocates. “As people are choosing to live alone and are living longer, this situation is going to become more and more normal,”

said Lidia Schapira, an editorial board member for Cancer.net, a website of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “It’s really important for us to understand the community the patient is coming from.”

The American Cancer Society doesn’t track how many are single at the time of a cancer diagnosis, but last year, more than 34,000 people in Illinois who were alone or had nowhere else to turn depended on the organization for transportation, health counseling or even just a friendly voice on the phone. That number is up from 31,215 the year before, and 27,125 in 2009, according to the society. Recognizing this, oncologists and medical staff are learning how important it is to inquire early on if a patient has support. “The first thing the oncologist should say is, “I notice you’ve come alone. Is there somebody who is going to be able to help you?” said Schapira. “You need people to be there to help you with their time, their ideas and sometimes even their practical resources.”

Today, 67 percent of those diagnosed with all types of cancer are expected to live an average of five years or longer - a higher survival rate than ever before, according to the American Cancer Society. But when a patient doesn’t have adequate support, it can be hard to feel optimistic about their chances. “It’s just very emotional,” said Cathy Galligan, director of patient navigation services for the cancer society. “So to get somebody at the time of diagnosis, or shortly after, to know that there’s help available - it’s very important to give them help and hope.” After receiving the news, Peyton allowed one of her sisters to create and keep a blog seeking prayers and financial contributions. She sought out a spiritual adviser, with whom she scheduled phone conversations after important

check-ups and other emotional moments.

And, most notably, she created a weekly email that she called her “Support Needs List.” Sent to about 45 people who offered help, the list detailed shifts to handle needs as simple as a ride to the hospital or a phone call at bedtime. Friends eagerly grabbed opportunities to help, and eventually, word of Peyton’s list spread to former colleagues, high school classmates she hadn’t seen in decades - even strangers willing to pitch in. A nun from her high school became a regular driver.

Former students cooked meals. Checks, sometimes in sums as large as $250, arrived in the mail from people she had never met. Peyton said she went from

being overwhelmed by the disease to humbled by the kindness of others.

“Seeking out support helps us stay connected to something greater than ourselves: it’s community,” she said.

Those on Peyton’s email list said they got something out of their good deeds, too. “She was tough. No self-pity. I think that made people want to help,” said Mary Ellen Hynes, a friend who stopped by frequently to tidy up Peyton’s home or just offer company. “People felt nurtured by her presence.” The story is a refreshing change from what medical experts more typically see when single people deal with cancer on their own, said Michelle Peters, a nurse at Swedish Covenant Hospital, who

CHICAGO: Sevara Cruzat, left, helps her friend Claudia Peyto make dinner for both at Peyton’s apartment in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday March 23, 2012. Peyton is recovering from breast cancer, and Cruzat is one of many friends that pitches in to help Peyton.— MCT

helped Peyton navigate the treatment process. “I think a lot of time, people’s needs are not met because they’re not expressed,” Peters said.

Officials at the American Cancer Society had such individuals in mind when they created the Patient Navigation Services program in 2003. The most popular feature of the program is the transportation component, which is free of charge. Last year, the program offered 72,000 rides to people in Illinois unable to visit a doctor on their own. Some of those who need help are young and never-married; others widowed; still others homeless. All of them feel they have nowhere else to turn, Galligan said, who remembers a former patient. “She was going home, and I said, ‘Who’s going to help you?’ She said, ‘I don’t have anybody,’” said Galligan. “We’re trying to help people overcome barriers to care.”

For the first three years of his battle with blood cancer, Daniel Adams of Vernon Hills, Ill., relied on his wife, Margaret, for rides to treatment and for emotional support. But when she was diagnosed with her own cancer last year, which took her life in 11 months, Adams began riding his bike to chemotherapy treatments. “You don’t really have a choice in the matter if you want to live,” said Adams, a former US Marine. “It’s all you can do.” Adams said he eventually learned there were many resources available for single people dealing with cancer - from rides from the American Cancer Society, to grants from pharmaceutical companies to pay for medication, to medical coverage from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. “I don’t think a lot of people know what’s available,” Adams said. “There are companies that will help you. It’s just that you don’t know.” — MCT

30

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N Greetings

‘Be the Change’ exhibition by Dr Tahseen Khan opens Happy Birthday Sauna!

Belated happy birthday to our dearest daughter Sauna who celebrated her seventh birthday. May almighty Allah bless her with good health and bright future. Best wishes come from father Shek Monir Ahamed Mozumder, mother Rubina Monir and grandfather Shek Ahamed Mozumder. Wishes come also from Molana Kamrul Hasan, Ataul Gani Mamun, Jalal Ahmed Cunnu Molla, AlAmin Chowdhury Shapon, Abdul Kader Molla, A.K. Azad Nur, Al Same Jakir, reporter Mohd. Jalal Uddin and all relatives and friends in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Pakistan and Kuwait.

Charity evening for ‘Palestine’s Children’

T

he ‘Kuwaitis for Jerusalem’ committee; a joint committee between the Women’s Cultural and Social Society and the Kuwait Graduates’ Society, organizes a charity evening next Sunday, April 22, 2012, to support a planned project for the ‘Relief for Palestine’s Children Society’ to establish a cancer treatment pediatric hospital in Bait Jala, Palestine. The event, titled ‘We Deserve to Live’, takes part at the Movenpick Hotel at the Free Trade Zone.

For reservations or other inquiries, please call: 99714347 99723474 - 67676167.

Announcements Golf Tourney American Business Council of Kuwait invites you to its 11th Annual 4-man 18 hole Golf tournament at the Sahara Club on Friday, May 4th. If interested to participate, register now, individually or a team off our at americanbusinesscouncil@abckuwait2012 Non-Golfers are welcome to enjoy the day-out at the Sahara club and experience the delicious luncheon at the tournaments prize distribution ceremony.

Ahmadi Music Group Ahmadi Music Group is very pleased to announce that tickets for Semele are now available on our website www.ahmadimusicgroup.com or though our charming and energetic ticket person Yvonne whom you can reach at tickets@ahmadimusicgroup.com Semele is a dramatic story of love and deception which scandalized audiences when it first opened, and has enraptured audiences ever since. Our performance will be in the beautiful Dar alAthar al-Islamiyyah which is much smaller than our other recent venues. Entry will be very limited, so please do not delay. nPlease note also that purchase of a “ticket” is in fact a subscription to “Friends of Ahmadi Music Group” which entitles you to attend a performance of the opera.

There will be no tickets available at the door.

Gulf Jazz Festival Gulf Jazz festival at 8 pm at Al Hashemi II Grand Ballroom at Radisson Blu Hotel on 25th April. Opening concert/dinner performed by Full Drive Quartet (Poland) with Vivian Buczek (Sweden). 26th April, Speical Concert performed by Michaela Rabitsch & Robert Pawlik Quartet (Austria).

Public speaking “Speech Craft” Public Speaking course vy Bright Horizons Toastmasters Club. May 4, 2012 - May 26, 2012 (all-day). Weekly on Friday and Saturday until May 26, 2012 at Better Books & Cafe (Located behind Rashid Hospital, right around the corner from the Titanic building and Sanbouk Supermarket, Salmiya). Contact: Anil Lobo or Mariam Othman 9928-3020 or 6640-5018.

Kala-Kuwait, Balakalamela-2012 KALA-Kuwait is pleased to announce the registration for the Balakalamela-2012, the art & literary completions for Indian school children, to be held on two consecutive Fridays 27 April 2012 & 4 May 2012 at Carmel School, Khaitan, to provide maximum opportunity for the students to participate. Based on the repeated requests from the community, KALA have included instrument music also in addition to the existing list of items.

Competitions on dance and performing arts are scheduled to 27 April 2012 while Literary & instrument music competitions will be held on 4 May. The registration is free and forms are already distributed to Indian schools in Kuwait as well as available in our website www.kalaonweb.com The filled form may be sent to kalabalakalamela@gmail.com or fax to 24317875.

The completions shall be for the 3 categories Sub-Junior, Junior & Seniors and are open to students from Class-I to XII. The prize distribution will be on June 1, the KALA mega event for the year ‘Thathwamasi’ at Central School Auditorium Abbassiya. For further information/ clarification contact 66180229, 66863957, 97817100, 67765810 Palakkad Pravasi Association Arts Day Palakkad Pravasi Association of Kuwait is conducting Arts Day, a full day socio-cultural event for its members and children. The program will be held on 27th April 2012 at 10 am at Indian Central School Auditorium, Abbassiya.

The program will consist of various items include bharatanatyam, mohiniyattam, folk dance, Mono Act, mimics, fancy dress, mappilapaattu, recitation, cinematic, group dance etc. PALPAK has been conducting similar event every year since its inception aiming to encourage the talents of its members and children. For registration and more details please contact Suresh Pulikkal - Arts Secretary (97260159) and the Area Secretaries Suresh Madhavan - Salmiya (97253235), Sankaranarayanan Fahaheel (90925460), Sunilkumar - Farwaniya (97201399), Udayavarman - Abbassiya (97216434).

T

he Embassy of India will present Dr Tahseen Khan’s art work at an exhibition called “Be the Change”, at the Bayt Lothan Gallery.

The ambassador of India inaugurated the exhibition yesterday. The display will continue until today April 18, 2012. Khan’s passion for life in its varied hues is mirrored in her myriad colors on canvas. Khan creatively uses mixed media in her art as a language when words no longer do justice to describe a spectacular seaside sunset or a bustling South Indian village landscape.

Art is also her call to action, so with just a different twist of her brush, her colors can evoke a burning desire to take a stand on important issues. Her pieces “Despite all Odds”, “War and Peace”, “Liberation” and “Give Me a Chance” depict issues such as social disquiet, disasters and gender discrimination. However, there is something

in all of them that gives us hope for a better tomorrow, only if we can “Be the Change”. Khan uses art as an out-

let to decompress from the intensity of work as a pediatrician in Kuwait. It calms her soul and gives meaning to

life. The exhibition is an initiative of the embassy of India in collaboration with the Indian Women’s Association.

Palestinian Cultural Exhibition

H

andicrafts reaffirm the Palestinian national identity and support needy children and families. The Palestinian Culture Center in collaboration with the Women’s Cultural Society invite you to its spring exhibition. The exhibition aims to preserve Palestinian handicrafts in order to reaffirm the Palestinian national identify by adapting it harmoniously to the 21st century demands.

We display classic designs intertwined with modern uses, colors, and motifs, to showcase some of the creativity of the Palestinian women. Items on sale include: cushions, runners, scarves, shawls, long traditional dresses as well as smaller items. We also have handmade ceramics from Palestine, books, music, and movies.

Tomorrow evening there will be a folklore dance and a bake sale of traditional foods as well as children’s activities at The Kuwaiti Women Cultural Soceity, Khaldiya, Block 2, Al Qurouba Street Date: Monday April 23 to Thursday 26th 2012 from 10 am to 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm to 8:30pm. Call 25755866, 25727388, 99376608.

Blessen George Memorial Volleyball tournament

R

iggai Sports Club defeated Nepal Sixes at the Final of the Blessen George Memorial Volleyball Tournament held on Friday April 14, 2012 at the Indian Central School ground in a tough match which lasted five Games and won the first Blessen George Memorial Ever Rolling Trophy.

The Riggai Sports Club won the first, third, and fifth games while the Nepal Sixes won the second and fourth games. The winner’s Trophy was presented by Sebastian George, who is a former Calicut University and Kerala State Volleyball Player and younger brother of late Jimmy George. The Runner-up Trophy was presented by Pancily Varkey, Country head of UAE Exchange. The Trophies for Man of the Match and Player of the Tournament were awarded to Najeeb of Riggai Sports Club, whose thunderous smashes were highlights of the tournament.

Trophies for Man of the Match award for each match were also distributed on the final day.

T

A match between United Indian School and Carmel School Teams was also held earlier in the same day and

the match was won by Carmel School.

The Trophies and medals for Winner and Runner-up were presented by for-

mer Calicut University and Kerala State Players Mani C. Kappen and Sebastian George.

Blessen George Foundation gave away outstanding sportspersons awards among Indian School students in Kuwait to Roshni Mathew of United Indian School and Tom Joseph of Carmel School in recognition of their excellent performances in CBSC National Sports and Games, school and inter-school sports and games competitions and as an encouragement to further develop and enhance their sports talents. The trophy for best sportsperson award for Roshni Mathew was presented by Mani C. Kappen and the trophy for best sportsman award for Tom Joseph was presented by Sebastian George. A video recording of the 1986 ASIAD in which the great Jimmy George, Udayakumar and Cyril C. Valloore played a pivotal role in winning Bronze medal for India was also aired during the tournament.

he Progressive Art Realization Troupe (PART) conducted a painting workshop and seminar for all PART members on 13th at Amrutanjali Hall in Salmiya.

31

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

AUK celebrates diversity at its 7th Annual International Week

T

he Office of Student Life at The American University of Kuwait (AUK) organized its 7th Annual International Week from March 25th 27th. The International Week was a collaborative undertaking which contained numerous and diverse events, such as cultural luncheons and student-led discussions by various students at AUK. Cultural foods, traditional arts and clothing, and diverse films were components of the week. These events support the mission of the Office of Student Life by celebrating cultural diversity to reflect current issues in the world and by providing more personal development opportunities for students.

The week featured a variety of events including, a sidewalk art contest organized by the Office of Student Life. At the entrance of the Liberal Arts buildings,

students competed to show their artwork featuring designs and phrases of peace and love. A drawing that quoted one of the Beatles most famous song, “All You Need Is Love” was the most attractive to the student crowd.

Student-led discussions, which took place throughout the three-day event, were a good opportunity for students to gather and discuss the current issues in the world. “International Community and the Bedoon” was one of those discussions that tackled the issues of Bedoons in Kuwait. The discussion which was moderated by the Fulbright Scholar Madeline Murphy Hall, focused on the life of unemployed Bedoons, and the difficulty of getting into friendship/relationships with citizens.

Other student-led discussions were: “The Unfinished Arab Spring” and

“UNDP Youth Program = Your Program”.

The highlight of the event was the Global Village Day, where students were encouraged to celebrate and represent their individual cultural diversity.

Students represented their culture through works of traditional products, food, music, and art. The countries represented were, Egypt, Pakistan, Thailand, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, France and Iran. During the Global Village Fair, representatives from each country had the opportunity to provide information about their country and culture to the diverse body of the AUK Community.

The students, faculty, and staff had the opportunity to ask the representatives questions about their countries including, history, tourism, and educational opportunities. Representatives also offered informational presentations.

The day also featured a country competition, where judges visited each country’s booth to judge them based on chosen country themes, content and representation, as well as knowledge about the country’s culture and history. The first place winners were Egypt and Palestine.

The 7th Annual International Week provided opportunities for students to interact and engage in meaningful experiential learning activities. This allowed them to deepen their understanding and appreciation of cultural differences. The week highlighted the important role these differences play in the human experience. It also cultivated a sense of social responsibility to others, fostered cultural collaboration, and communication, as well as offered civic, personal, and organizational leadership.

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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus requests Cypriot citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy has moved. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Cypriot citizens in cases of emergencies. Registration information can be emailed to cyprusembassykwt@gmail.com or faxed to 22253227 or given by phone to 65906048 (Mrs Christine). nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF FRANCE For the first round of voting for the French presidential election, the French Embassy in Kuwait will be closed to the public on Sunday April 22, 2012. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref. New Address: Embassy of the Republic of Korea Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6 The Embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: 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 nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location.

Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com nnnnnnn

Future Eye Theatre presents ‘Kaliyarangu 2012’

F

uture Eye Theatre, Kuwait presented ‘Kaliyarangu 2012’, a theatre-based cultural event, celebrating its second anniversary on Friday at the Indian Central School auditorium, Abbassiya. Well-known film and theatre personality and the chief guest of the anniversary celebration Manjulan lighted the traditional lamp to officially inaugurate ‘Kaliyarangu 2012’.

In his inaugural speech, he said Malayalam theatre is witnessing some positive changes today with the active involvement of several dedicated young theatre persons.

Future Eye Theatre Patron Adv John Thomas, President Sajeev K Peter and General Secretary K.V. Pradeeshkumar spoke on the occasion. General convener and program convener John Mathews welcomed the gathering while Joint Secretary Praveen Aduthila proposed a

vote of thanks. Treasurer Biju Samuel released the annual souvenir by handing over the first copy to Adv John

Thomas. Executive member Rajeshwari Subbaraman anchored the show.

‘Kaliyarangu 2012’ got off to a glittering start with the staging of a theatre

sketch based on Bertolt Brecht’s popular play’ Threepenny Opera’. More than 30 children participated in the play which

was directed by John Mathews.

Manjulan staged his path-breaking solo drama ‘Koonan’ (The Hunchback) before a spellbound audience. He established

an immediate rapport with the audience with his versatile acting skill, who freely interacted with them during his performance.

The highlight of the celebration was the staging of the Malayalam version of Samuel Beckett’s play ‘Waiting for Godot,’ by Future Eye Theatre members.

It was scripted by Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan and directed by Future Eye Theatre Vice President K K Shemejkumar. The play offered a unique theatre experience for drama connoisseurs in Kuwait. Biju Samuel, Sunesh Kumar, P.D Poulose, Sajeev K Peter and K.V. Pradeeshkumar acted in the play.

Those who worked behind the stage for the success of the play included Praveen Aduthila (associate director), Tom (assistant director), Sunil Cherian (music), Ramaprasad, Shaji P.B (stagecraft), George Mathew, Raghavan and Mithun.

FTS starts sixth batch GTH The Faith Theological Seminary (FTS) (Manakala, Kerala), Extension Centre, Kuwait Chapter announces the inauguration of the sixth batch in Graduate of Theology (G.Th) on 12th May, 2012.

This two year (four-semester) course is well renowned among theological students for systematic education, eminent faculty, etc. Along with extension centers in USA, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Chapter also serves a major role in fostering unity and cooperation among NRI individuals. For details: Rev. Joy Thomas (President at 99514986 or Blesson Daniel (Coordinator at 97968334).

KAA opens exhibition

(Left to right) IDAK’s new Executive Council - Treasurer Dr Prakash Kamath, President Dr John Joy Manappallil, Vice President Dr Dolly Chopra, Joint Secretary Dr Jijan Sam Thomas and General Secretary Dr Anil George Philip.

New IDAK executive council takes charge

T

he Indian Dentists’ Alliance in Kuwait (IDAK) held its annual general body meeting at the Kuwait Medical Association hall, Jabriya to give a warm welcome to the newly elected council. The outgoing President Dr Peter D’Souza gave the presidential address. Master of ceremony and outgoing vice president Dr. Pooja Nanda in her video presentation focused on the various achievements which brought back memories of the days gone by. Outgoing General Secretary Dr. Shaheer Malik gave a detailed report of all

the activities; a financial report was presented by the outgoing Treasurer Dr. Jitendra Ariga. Outgoing Joint Secretary Dr Dileep Thomas thanked everyone for contributing to IDAK’s success. The IDAK executive council members for the year 2012-2013 are President Dr John Joy Manappallil, Vice President Dr Dolly Chopra, General Secretary Dr Anil George Philip, Joint Secretary Dr Jijan Sam Thomas and Treasurer Dr Prakash Kamath.

The evening concluded with a magic show, a raffle draw and a sumptuous buffet.

Under the patronage of His Excellency Matthew H. Tueller, ambassador of the United States of America to Kuwait, Kuwait Arts Association Is opening an exhibition of Kuwaiti women artists today 18 April 2012 at 7:30pm in Kuwait Arts Association in Hawally.

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 yesterday, 15th April, 2012. Till the new telephone connections are installed, the Embassy may be contacted by email: info@nepembku.org nnnnnnn

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 nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF ROMANIA The Embassy of Romania to the State of Kuwait would like to inform that the Consular Section of the Embassy will be closed for construction works beginning with 18 April 2012, till 10 May 2012. During this period of time the Consular Section will not issue any type of visas for Romania and will not issue any Romanian passports or travel documents. The Consular Section will only be able to assist with notary deeds. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF THAILAND The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait, wishes to invite the Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 -25317531, Ext: 14. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” (+ 965) 972-79-206.

IKFS holds calligraphy competition IKFS Calligraphy Competition to be held on May 11 from 8 am to 11 am in Salmiya Indian Model School. For more information call 9733-7861 or email ikfsociety@gmail.com. The Indo-Kuwait Friendship Society (IKFS) is conducting a calligraphy competition in 3 languages (Hindi, Urdu and Arabic) for all nationalities and genders age 17 years and above in Kuwait. The IKFS is requesting the participants to register their names along with their contact numbers and emails on or before May 6, 2012 either by phone or via email.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR JZR QTR ETH GFA UAE ETD DHX FDB MSR QTR KAC THY DHX FAH JZR AFR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD GFA RNV FCX MEA JZR MSR IRM KNE JZR SVA CLX IRC MSR GFA RJA KAC FDB KNE QTR KAC SVA VTF KAC KAC QTR JZR KAC ETD IYE SYR UAE GFA SVA UAL JZR BAB JZR ABY ALK KAC KAC KAC FDB MSR JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA KAC KLM UAE JZR ETD BBC ABY QTR DHX AIC GFA UAL SAI JZR DLH THY

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 18/4/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 6130 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 370 BAHRAIN 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 6702 PARIS 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 344 CHENNAI 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 311 YEREVAN 203 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 5066 MASHAD 460 MEDINAH 561 SOHAG 9191 MEDINAH 792 LUXEMBOURG 6791 MASHAD 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 640 AMMAN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 790 MEDINAH 500 JEDDAH 302 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATI 788 JEDDAH 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 535 CAIRO 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 303 ABU DHABI 824 SANAA 341 DAMASCUS 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 177 DUBAI 436 BAHRAIN 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 227 COLOMBO 542 CAIRO 166 PARIS 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 620 ASSIUT 787 RIYADH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 102 NEW YORK 774 RIYADH 393 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 514 TEHRAN 417 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 307 ABU DHABI 43 DHAKA 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 372 BAHRAIN 975 CHENNAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 441 LAHORE 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 772 ISTANBUL

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:40 1:45 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:55 3:10 3:20 3:25 4:10 4:35 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:05 6:15 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:20 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:25 9:30 10:00 10:20 10:30 10:55 11:05 11:10 11:55 12:10 12:25 12:30 13:15 13:15 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:15 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:10 16:35 16:35 16:40 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:55 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:10 23:40

Airlines AIC UAL DLH PIA THY ETH QTR UAE FDB DHX ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR JZR GFA THY AFR KAC KAC BAW FDB BAW KAC ABY JZR KAC KAC UAE KAC KAC QTR FDB ETD IRA GFA RNV KAC FCX MEA MSR JZR KAC KNE KAC JZR IRM SVA IRC GFA FDB MSR RJA CLX KAC KNE SVA KAC JZR QTR KAC KAC ETD JZR IYE SYR JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY KAC SVA UAL JZR ALK FDB BAB MSR VTF JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA GFA JZR DHX KLM ABY KAC ETD UAE FAH QTR KAC KAC DHX BBC QTR AXB GFA KAC SAI

Departure Flights on Wednesday 18/4/2012 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 206 LAHORE 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 6131 DOHA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI, 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 6702 DUBAI 545 ALEXANDRIA 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 175 FRANKFURT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 789 MADINAH 117 NEW YORK 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 602 SHIRAZ 214 BAHRAIN 312 YEREVAN 541 CAIRO 204 DUBAI 405 BEIRUT 619 ASSIUT 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 461 MADINAH 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 5065 MASHHAD 2191 JEDDAH 6792 MASHHAD 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 641 AMMAN 792 GIALAM 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 503 MADINAH 617 DOHA 786 RIYADH 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 824 SANAA 342 DAMASCUS 538 CAIRO 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 153 ISTANBUL 511 RIYADH 982 BAHRAIN 266 BEIRUT 228 DUBAI 64 DUBAI 439 BAHRAIN 621 ALEXANDRIA 300 KANDAHAR 184 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 361 COLOMBO 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 222 BAHRAIN 502 LUXOR 171 BAHRAIN 417 DAMMAM 120 SHARJAH 381 DELHI 308 ABU DHABI 860 DUBAI 102 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 373 BAHRAIN 44 DHAKA 147 DOHA 394 KOCHI 218 BAHRAIN 415 KUALA LUMPUR 442 LAHORE

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 1:25 2:15 2:45 3:10 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:55 7:05 7:10 7:55 8:10 8:20 8:25 8:25 8:25 8:55 9:05 9:10 9:20 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:45 11:30 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:10 12:15 12:30 13:00 13:10 13:20 13:25 14:00 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:25 17:20 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:50 19:10 19:25 19:35 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:35 21:45 21:50 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:30 23:50 23:59

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

Fajer: Dhour: Asser: Mughreb: Esha:

03:58 11:48 15:22 18:15 19:35

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya from 1st May for one bachelor, near Unique Store No.2 with a Goan Catholic family.

Contact: 24313908/ 66110593. (C 3957) 18-4-2012 Sharing accommodation available for one or two working ladies to share with other Filipina. Airport road, Khaitan, just one minute to all route bus stop. Contact: 60077068. (C 3950) 14-4-2012 A flat in Farwaniya air conditioned 2 bedrooms + 1 drawing room with 2 bathrooms, only Pakistani or Indian family. Rent KD 180.

Contact: 55321944. (C 3949) A room available for a single working class lady in a furnished 2-bedroom flat in Salmiya -close to Hadi hospital. Please call 66801355 Furnished room in apartment (for Pakistani or Indian decent bachelor) in Salmiya near City Center. Rent KD 65. Tel: 99959140. (C 3946) 11-4-2012 For decent bachelor (non smoking) or working ladies location: Amman street, opposite to Al Rashid hospital. Building no. 44 2nd floor, room no. 10. Contact: 66232356, 50223132.

(C 3945) 10-4-2012

SITUATION WANTED Diploma in Civil Engineering having 7 years experience in India, transferable residency no. 18, seeking suitable placement.

Can join immediately.

Please contact: 66242041.

Email: abrahamkjohn@rediffmail.com (C 3955) 15-4-2012 CHANGE OF NAME I, Ajruddin holder of Indian passport No. F5493179 issued in Jaipur on 22-112005. I have changed my name to Azharuddin Saiyed, s/o Saiyed Mohiuddin. (C 3958) 18-4-2012 I, Purushothaman, son of Nagarajan, holder of Indian passport No. G1674605 have converted to Islam on 21st October 2009 and do now here after be known by my new name Abu Bakkar. (C 3956) 17-4-2012 Marali Surya Pujari holder of Indian Passport No: F1052862 has converted to Christianity with name of SURESH JOSEPH ARANHA, and shall be known here forth.

(C 3951) I, Abul Abdul Rehman Bongai holder of Indian Passport No: F8708599 hereby change my name to ANSAR ABDUL REHMAN BONGYA. (C 3952)

Hospitals

TUITION Teacher available to teach Mathematics B.Maths, Algebra, Calculus, Geography, Science and Statistics for British, American and bilingual school and university students. Contact: 97170935.

(C 3954) 18-4-2012 Math teacher for secondary stage, language schools, bilingual schools and intermediate stage: Algebra, Gmath, Geometry, Statistics for arts and science branches. Tel: 66974020.

Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Clinics Rabiya

24732263

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Senior chemistr y and physics teacher. Long experience for 10th, 11th and 12th stages. Intermediate science and applied institutions. Highly competent.

Tel: 99542922.

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Mathematics and statistics female teacher for female students in the secondary, intermediate, university and applied institutions female students. Tel: 99410370.

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Female Syrian Arabic language teacher for elementary and intermediate, and starting the weak using Halaby method in her house located in Abdallah Al-Mubarak area. Tel: 50513699.

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

Senior biology and science teacher for 12th, 11th and 10th grades, and science for all intermediate classes, religious institutes, nursing, educational experience, simple explanation for fast understanding.

Tel: 66543474.

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

English language teacher specialized in starting elementary and intermediate, 10th and 11th experienced in starting functions, grammar, set book, vocabulary, notes and model exams available. Tel: 65791555.

Arabic language teacher, masters in methods of teaching for secondary and intermediate students. Tel: 50644685.

Senior Arabic language teacher, elementary and intermediate, long experience in Kuwait curricula, explaining grammar rules and starting those weak in reading and writing. Tel: 99262948.

No: 15422

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

Europe’s old wealth seeks new home in Asia

By John O’Callaghan and Charmian Kok

I

n the 1470s, the prominent Spinola family of Genoa had an apprentice business agent in Barcelona named Christopher Columbus helping to handle their shipments, preparing the young sailor for his later voyages of discovery to the New World. These days, that Italian clan and other ultra-affluent families are moving assets to Singapore by setting up family offices in a city-state often touted as the Switzerland of Asia. Wealthy people from Europe and the Americas have long looked to the East for ways to build and preserve their fortunes. But only recently have they started opening family offices - private companies that manage the trusts and investments of rich households - in the region in earnest.

“Because Asia has been a place where we’ve been investing very heavily - more than 50 percent of our assets are in Asia for the last 15 years - we feel a need to come closer,” Federico Spinola, son of the family patriarch, told Reuters from New Caledonia, a Pacific archipelago known as the “Land of Eternal Spring”. Campden Wealth, which provides research and data on family offices, says up to 10 European family offices have moved to Singapore since the financial crisis in 2008, bringing $5$10 billion worth of assets with them.

Singapore, a global banking and investment centre in the heart of Southeast Asia, is an attractive base for its efficient registration process, relatively benign regulations, smooth movement of money, financial infrastructure and low tax rates. Clean and safe, it also offers highend shopping, fine dining, casinos, luxury hotels, golf courses and marinas filled with super-yachts to help the

wealthy spend and unwind. Asia’s prospects are alluring as economies in Europe and the United States look weak.

After the crisis, regulatory pressures in the West and a crackdown on offshore centres have hastened the pace of family offices moving to Singapore and Hong Kong.

“The families want to be where the action is,” said Munish Dhall, a UBS executive director and head of ultra-high net worth offering and client development. “They want a piece of the economic pie.”

Big financial institutions, feeling the pinch of a tougher investment banking climate and higher capital requirements, are taking note - and looking to get their own piece of the action. UBS, a Swiss banking giant, has set up a family office team that is looking to cater to two dozen clients in Asia who have assets of $200 million or more. Other global players like Credit Suisse, HSBC and Canada’s RBC Wealth are also courting family offices, along with Singapore-based DBS Group.

The Spinolas, whose ancestors include crusaders during the Middle Ages, cardinals of the Holy Roman Empire and influential figures in the politics, culture and prosperity of Genoa, are one of those families. But they are doing things their own way. Last year, representatives of the family began setting up an office in Singapore to manage their investments in the region, rather than using their Geneva-based operation Parly Company SA. It is still early days for Parly Singapore as it applies for licences and tests its bespoke portfolio management tools. The plan is to hire senior investment managers from top banks over the next year, with the 10-15 members of the team working under an advisory fee model rather than on commission. “We are a family company

and the family is not involved in the business. We’re basically shareholders,” said Spinola, who sits on a management committee with several relatives and now has permanent resident status in Singapore. By keeping family and investment matters separate and allowing Parly managers to make decisions, he said, “that is a way of differentiating risk.” The Spinolas are clubbing together with two other family offices to cut costs and leverage on efficiencies. Parly officials declined to identify the partners, other than to say they are “household names” in Europe one is an English entrepreneur who has donated much of his money to charity and the other is a Swiss-based family. Spinola would not discuss the amount of investment in Parly Singapore and neither would its managing director, Roxanne Davies. But she did give a clue. “A family office with such a strategy can’t really exist - it is not economically feasible - without half a billion,” Davies said.

Campden Wealth counts about 2,500 family offices around the world. In Asia, it says, there are 150-200 roughly half in Australia and Japan - but the number is growing alongside the surge in new wealth in China, India and Southeast Asia. A recent survey by Campden and UBS showed the amounts being managed by these family firms range from $50 million to more than $1 billion, with an average return of 9.1 percent over the 12 months to October 2011. The goal for the Spinolas and other family offices is simple: control their wealth, maximise returns and minimise fees charged by commissionhungry money managers.

Concerns about the health of big banks and dismay at their hard-sell tactics that pushed products of dubious merit onto high net worth clients - such as mortgage-

backed securities that turned toxic - are other factors.

“Singapore is tightening offshore rules but it will continue to be a very attractive place for family and investment offices,” said David Bain, Campden Wealth’s head of research. “No government in the world is so committed to attracting the money of the ultra-high net worth.”

Wealthy families from Europe, more so than Americans, are looking to set up shop in Asia because of the banking situation in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, said Donald Riegger, a Singapore-based expert on family offices at Deloitte & Touche LLP, a global accounting and advisory practice. “It’s picking up steam,” said Riegger, adding Singapore is on the map as a financial centre and as more family wealth shifts to Asia in an overhaul of portfolios. “I’m not really getting much of a sense that they’re fleeing something to come here ... For a U.S. person, they’re not going to avoid that (taxes) but if you’re a European looking for a better tax structure, Singapore could work well.”

Spinola, who worked at Italian drinks group Martini & Rossi and managed agricultural firms in Argentina before setting up Parly in Geneva in 1993, is no stranger to investing or to Asia. Now he and his family want a more direct link to how their money is managed in the region, although success is not certain given the volatility of markets and the variety of political, investment and regulatory risks in many Asian countries. “We are trying to move away from hot money, high-frequency trading and things that have price discovery that we just cannot control,” Davies said. “If we are able to target single digit returns of 6-7 percent annualised in today’s market, we would think of ourselves as very lucky.” — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 01:40 02:35 03:00 03:30 04:25 05:20 05:45 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:10 10:05 11:00 11:55 12:50 13:45 14:10 14:40 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:25 18:20 18:45 19:15 19:40 20:10 20:35 21:05 22:00 22:55 23:50

Untamed & Uncut Human Prey Wild Animal Orphans Safari Sisters Wildlife SOS Last Leopard Going Ape Wildlife SOS Safari Sisters Dolphin Days Orangutan Island Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Talk To The Animals The Really Wild Show Project Puppy America’s Cutest...

Last Leopard Animal Precinct Animal Cops Phoenix Cell Dogs RSPCA: On The Frontline Wildlife SOS Last Leopard Animal Battlegrounds The Really Wild Show Breed All About It Breed All About It Dogs 101: Specials Project Puppy Project Puppy Wildlife SOS Going Ape Orangutan Island Animal Battlegrounds Natural World Planet Earth Wildest Africa Animal Cops Houston

00:15 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 00:40 Indian Food Made Easy 01:05 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 01:35 Living In The Sun 02:20 Bargain Hunt 03:05 Rachel’s Favourite Food For Living 03:30 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 03:55 Antiques Roadshow 04:45 Living In The Sun 05:30 Rachel’s Favourite Food For Living 05:55 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 06:25 Indian Food Made Easy 06:50 James Martin’s Favourite Feasts 07:15 MasterChef Australia 08:05 MasterChef Australia 09:20 Bargain Hunt 10:05 Antiques Roadshow 10:55 Come Dine With Me 11:40 10 Years Younger 12:30 What Not To Wear 13:20 What Not To Wear 14:10 Fantasy Homes Down Under 14:55 House Swap 15:40 Bargain Hunt 16:25 Antiques Roadshow 17:20 Cash In The Attic USA 17:40 Cash In The Attic USA 18:00 Delicious Iceland 18:30 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 18:55 Indian Food Made Easy 19:20 James Martin’s Favourite Feasts 19:45 10 Years Younger 20:35 What Not To Wear 21:25 What Not To Wear 22:20 Bargain Hunt 23:05 Antiques Roadshow

00:00 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:30 01:45 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 03:45

BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today

04:00 Newsday 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 Newsday 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 Newsday 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 BBC World News 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 14:30 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 21:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Hardtalk

00:00 Backstory 00:30 World Sport 01:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 02:00 World Report 03:00 Anderson Cooper 360 04:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 05:00 Quest Means Business 06:00 Erin Burnett Outfront 07:00 World Sport 07:30 News Special 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Inside Africa 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 Amanpour 12:30 Road To Rio: A Green City Journey 13:00 World One 14:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 15:00 News Stream 16:00 World Business Today 17:00 International Desk 18:00 Global Exchange 19:00 World Sport 19:30 Road To Rio: A Green City Journey 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business 22:00 Amanpour 22:30 News Special 23:00 Connect The World With Becky...

00:15 01:10 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05

Aircrash Confidential Destroyed In Seconds Dirty Jobs Battle Machine Bros Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How It’s Made How Stuff’s Made Dirty Jobs

07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 Penn & Teller Tell A Lie 08:45 Mythbusters 09:40 How Stuff’s Made 10:05 Cake Boss 10:30 Border Security 10:55 Auction Kings 11:25 Deadliest Catch 12:20 Deadliest Catch 13:15 Deadliest Catch 14:10 Deadliest Catch 15:05 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 16:00 Battle Machine Bros 16:55 Wheeler Dealers 17:20 Ultimate Survival 18:15 Mythbusters 19:10 How It’s Made 19:40 How Stuff’s Made 20:05 Border Security 20:35 Auction Kings 21:00 Cake Boss 21:30 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 22:25 Mythbusters 23:20 Penn & Teller Tell A Lie

00:35 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 01:25 The Tech Show 01:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 02:40 Bad Universe 03:35 Weird Connections 04:00 Weird Connections 04:25 Junkyard Mega-Wars 05:20 Ecopolis 06:10 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 07:00 The Gadget Show 07:25 The Gadget Show 07:50 Kings Of Construction 08:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 09:35 Bad Universe 10:25 Weird Connections 10:50 Weird Connections 11:20 Ecopolis 12:15 Junkyard Mega-Wars 13:05 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 13:55 The Gadget Show 14:20 The Gadget Show 14:50 Weird Connections 15:15 Weird Connections 15:40 The Tech Show 16:05 Ecopolis 17:00 Kings Of Construction 17:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 18:40 Weird Or What?

19:30 Cool Stuff & How It Works 19:55 Cool Stuff & How It Works 20:20 The Gadget Show 20:45 The Gadget Show 21:10 Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg 22:00 Weird Or What?

22:50 Cool Stuff & How It Works 23:15 Cool Stuff & How It Works 23:40 Kings Of Construction

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:45 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:31 08:45

RETURNER ON OSN ACTION HD

Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Fish Hooks Recess So Random Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

09:10 09:25 09:35 09:45 10:00 10:25 10:45 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:30 22:55 23:20 23:45

Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mouk Recess So Random Have A Laugh Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Jake & Blake Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb So Random Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie A.N.T. Farm Phineas And Ferb Recess So Random Fish Hooks Wizards Of Waverly Place Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Have A Laugh Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Kim Possible

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 American Dragon 06:45 Rekkit Rabbit 07:10 Pokemon: Black And White 07:35 Timon And Pumbaa 08:00 Phineas And Ferb 08:25 Pair Of Kings 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 Pair Of Kings 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 Kickin It 16:40 Pair Of Kings 17:05 Zeke & Luther 17:30 Scaredy Squirrel 17:55 Iron Man Armored Adventures 18:20 Phineas And Ferb 18:45 Phineas And Ferb 18:55 Phineas And Ferb 19:10 Rated A For Awesome 19:35 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 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 THS 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 Christina Aguilera 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Bridalplasty 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Kendra 13:35 Kendra 14:05 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 14:35 Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Dirty Soap 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Ice Loves Coco 20:25 Ice Loves Coco 20:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:15 Gotta Grudge 00:40 Salad Days 01:30 World Combat League 02:20 Gotta Grudge 02:45 Gotta Grudge 03:10 Enfusion 04:00 Glutton For Punishment 04:25 BMX Masters 2010 04:50 Salad Days 05:40 World Combat League 06:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 07:00 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 07:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 08:00 Tread BMX 08:25 Summer Dew Tour 2011 09:15 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

10:05 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

10:55 Dr Danger 11:20 Dr Danger 11:45 Untracked 12:10 Untracked 12:35 Gotta Grudge 13:00 Stairsmasters 2010 13:25 Taig Jumping The Tower

14:15 World Combat League 15:05 Dr Danger 15:30 Dr Danger 15:55 Untracked 16:20 Untracked 16:45 Tread BMX 17:10 Summer Dew Tour 2011 18:00 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

18:50 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships...

19:40 Taig Jumping The Tower 20:30 Gotta Grudge 20:55 Stairsmasters 2010 21:20 Man’s Work 21:45 Man’s Work 22:10 World Combat League 23:00 Enfusion 23:50 Gotta Grudge

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Kid In A Candy Store 00:55 Guy’s Big Bite 01:20 Guy’s Big Bite 01:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 02:35 Meat & Potatoes 03:00 Meat & Potatoes 03:25 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 03:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 04:15 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 04:40 Good Eats 05:05 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 05:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 05:50 Food Network Challenge 06:35 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Food Network Challenge 07:50 World Cafe Asia 08:15 Barefoot Contessa 08:40 Good Eats 09:05 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 09:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:55 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 10:20 Lidia’s Italy 10:45 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 12:00 Food Network Challenge 12:50 Aarti Party 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 14:30 Kid In A Candy Store 14:55 Paula’s Best Dishes 15:20 Meat & Potatoes 15:45 Iron Chef America 16:35 Cooking For Real 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:50 Aarti Party 18:15 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 18:40 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 19:05 Kid In A Candy Store 19:30 Food Network Challenge 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Unwrapped 21:35 Unwrapped 22:00 Kid In A Candy Store 22:25 Kid In A Candy Store 22:50 Good Eats - Special 23:15 Good Eats - Special 23:40 Meat & Potatoes

00:30 01:20 01:40 02:05 02:55 03:45 Cases 04:30 05:20 05:45 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 Cases

Ghost Lab Crime Scene Psychics Crime Scene Psychics Couples Who Kill Deadly Women Autopsy: Most Shocking

01:40 01:55 03:35 05:10 06:35 08:10 10:20 11:55 13:20 15:20 16:55 18:25 18:40 20:10 PG 22:00 23:25

Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM Jinxed!-18 Bar Girls Bloodmatch Chains Of Gold-PG The Pride And The Passion-PG Danielle Steel’s Heartbeat-PG Strictly Business-PG Play Dirty-PG K-9000-PG Carrie (2002) Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM High Noon-PG Report To The Commissioner-

Ghost Lab Crime Scene Psychics Crime Scene Psychics Disappeared FBI Files Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared FBI Files Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared LA: City Of Demons Cops And Coyotes Autopsy: Most Shocking

Ninja Vengeance-PG Rollerball (1975)-PG

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 A World Apart 02:00 Treks In A Wild World 03:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 04:00 Graham’s World 04:30 Graham’s World 05:00 The Green Way Up 05:30 The Green Way Up 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 A World Apart

OCEANS ON OSN CINEMA 08:00 Treks In A Wild World 09:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 10:00 Graham’s World 10:30 Graham’s World 11:00 The Green Way Up 11:30 The Green Way Up 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 Weird & Wonderful Hotels 13:30 Young Global Hotshots 14:00 Madagascar Maverick 15:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 16:00 Banged Up Abroad 17:00 A World Apart 18:00 Meet The Amish 19:00 Weird & Wonderful Hotels 19:30 Young Global Hotshots 20:00 Madagascar Maverick 21:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 22:00 Banged Up Abroad 23:00 A World Apart

04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

True Blood Live Good Morning America The Protector Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Private Practice Grey’s Anatomy Live Good Morning America The Protector The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Once Upon A Time Grimm The Glades Law & Order: Criminal Intent True Blood

00:00 Don’t Look Up-18 02:00 Blood Out-18 04:00 The Kingdom-18 06:00 Arctic Predator-PG15 08:00 Red Faction: Origins-PG15 10:00 Camp Hope-PG15 12:00 Ong Bak 2-PG15 14:00 Red Faction: Origins-PG15 16:00 Returner-PG15 18:00 Ong Bak 2-PG15 20:00 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 22:15 Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader-PG

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Parenthood Pillars Of The Earth House Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Burn Notice Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street The Nine Lives Of Chloe King The Ellen DeGeneres Show Grey’s Anatomy House Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Nine Lives Of Chloe King Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Nine Lives Of Chloe King Once Upon A Time Grimm The Glades Law & Order: Criminal Intent The Killing

01:15 03:00 05:00 PG15 06:45 09:00 11:00 PG15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Last Ride-18 Oceans-PG15 The LXD: Secrets Of The RaBright Star-PG15 A Trace Of Danger-PG15 The LXD: Secrets Of The RaOceans-PG15 A Trace Of Danger-PG15 Waiting For Superman-PG15 Season Of The Witch-PG15 Roadie-PG15 I Melt With You-R

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 03:00 Melissa And Joey 03:30 10 Items Or Less 04:00 The Simpsons 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Weird Science 06:30 How I Met Your Mother 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 The Simpsons 08:30 Melissa And Joey 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 Raising Hope 10:00 Modern Family 10:30 How I Met Your Mother 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Weird Science 12:30 The Simpsons 13:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 13:30 How I Met Your Mother 14:00 10 Items Or Less 14:30 Modern Family 15:00 Raising Hope 16:30 Weird Science 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Melissa And Joey 18:30 10 Items Or Less 19:00 Two And A Half Men 19:30 Modern Family 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Angry Boys 23:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00

Private Practice House Pillars Of The Earth Grey’s Anatomy

01:00 The Losers-PG15 03:00 The Kingdom-18 05:00 The Nun-18 07:00 Secret Window-PG15 09:00 True Justice: Street Wars-PG15 11:00 Largo Winch 2-PG15 13:00 The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course-PG15 15:00 True Justice: Street Wars-PG15 17:00 Warriors Of Heaven And Earth-PG15 19:00 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 21:15 Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader-PG 23:15 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-18

00:00 Knucklehead-PG15 02:00 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie-PG15 04:00 16 To Life-PG15 06:00 Frank McKlusky, C.I.-PG15 08:00 Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement-FAM 10:00 Molly-PG15 12:00 Labor Pains-PG15 14:00 Malibu’s Most Wanted-PG15 16:00 Knucklehead-PG15 18:00 Without A Paddle-PG15 20:00 Aim Low: The Very Best Of Dylan Moran-18 22:00 Coldblooded-PG15

01:30 03:00 05:45 PG15 07:45 09:45 11:15 13:00 15:00 PG15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Partir-18 Horse Whisperer-PG15 The Deep End Of The OceanThe Associate-PG15 Freestyle (2010)-PG15 The Nutty Professor-FAM Remember Me-PG15 Squanto: A Warrior’s TaleCinema Verite-PG15 The Maiden Heist-PG15 Chelsea On The Rocks-18 Thunderheart-18

01:00 04:00 05:30 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Horse Whisperer-PG15 Flipped-PG A Family Thanksgiving-PG15 Battle: Los Angeles-PG15 The Bounty Hunter-PG15 At Risk-PG15 Bound By A Secret-PG15 Gasland-PG15 The Bounty Hunter-PG15 Jonah Hex-PG15 Roadie-PG15 No Strings Attached-18

01:30 Super Rugby Highlights 02:30 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 03:30 Premier League Darts 07:00 Super Rugby 09:00 Volvo Ocean Race 10:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 11:00 Super Rugby Highlights 12:00 Trans World Sport 13:00 Premier League Darts 16:30 Volvo Ocean Race 17:30 UFC 145 Countdown 18:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 19:00 Trans World Sport 20:00 WWE SmackDown 22:00 WWE Vintage Collection 23:00 UFC

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 15:30 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 22:00

AFL Winners Futbol Mundial Mobil 1 The Grid NRL Premiership Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial SPL Highlights Scottish FA Cup Triathlon Triathlon Top 14 NRL Full Time NRL Premiership Futbol Mundial AFL Winners Super Rugby Highlights Trans World Sport Triathlon NRL Full Time Super Rugby Top 14

03:00 NRL Full Time 03:30 Top 14 Highlights 04:00 Adventure Sports 06:00 Ping Pong World Championship 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 09:00 Super Rugby Highlights 10:00 AFL Winners 11:00 Golfing World 12:00 Rugby League Challenge Cup 14:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 15:00 Golfing World 16:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 16:30 Pro 12 Celtic League 18:30 AFL Winners 19:30 Trans World Sport 20:30 Golfing World 21:30 European Tour Weekly 22:00 Top 14 Highlights 22:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 23:00 Futbol Mundial 23:30 Rugby League Challenge Cup

00:00 01:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:30 18:00 20:00 22:00 23:00

UFC Unleashed Prizefighter UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT Prizefighter Mobil 1 V8 Supercars Extra WWE SmackDown UAE National Race Day Series Mobil 1 The Grid WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars Extra V8 Supercars Highlights UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter V8 Supercars Highlights

35

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 651

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You have a great deal of understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others just now and may be called on to help a co-worker or you could be asked to run some important errand. It may be easy to come up with ideas for a neighborhood beautification project later today. You seem able to create incentives so that others want to be included in future plans. This may involve planting of flowers or hedges along the entrance to your neighborhood. Perhaps a protective cover near a bus stop could be petitioned for now. Whatever the case you will successfully involve others in a quest to beautify your neighborhood or city. There is a real opportunity today to complete and work out difficulties that involve people or projects requiring a high degree of discipline.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You will easily adapt to any environment or social group today.

You are naturally attracted to agreeable people who can satisfy your craving for continuous mental encouragement. You will need to pick and choose your activities so that you are not scattering your energies in too many different directions. You could spread yourself too thin and find yourself spent of energy by this evening. There may be an opportunity to listen to a motivational speech, attend a lecture or learn a new craft today. Listening and learning instead of teaching and action may be the mode of the day—going with the flow, so to speak. You crave new experiences and as you reach out for that something new, you will not be disappointed. You are optimistic about your future.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. The cry made by sheep.

4. An industrial city in southern Poland on the Vistula.

10. Call upon in supplication.

13. Someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential).

14. Join the military.

15. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

16. An undergarment worn by women to support their breasts.

17. A republic in the western central Pacific Ocean in association with the United States.

19. A family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in southeastern Asia.

21. An implement used to propel or steer a boat.

22. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

23. An Indian nursemaid who looks after children.

25. An official language of the Republic of South Africa.

27. (Babylonian) God of wisdom and agriculture and patron of scribes and schools.

29. Loose temporary stitches.

33. A unit of information equal to one million (1,048,576) bytes.

35. A very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk.

37. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

39. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

42. The basic unit of money in China.

43. An American doctorate usually based on at least 3 years graduate study and a dissertation.

44. Noisy talk.

46. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

48. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

50. Slender bristlelike appendage found on the bracts of grasses.

52. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

56. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

59. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

60. A device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or surfaces.

61. Wear away through erosion or vaporization.

63. 100 pyas equal 1 kyat.

64. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

65. A deep bow.

66. A guided missile fired from shipboard against an airborne target.

DOWN 1. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

2. An orderly arrangement.

3. A port city in southwestern Iran.

4. A cap with a flat circular top and a visor.

5. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

6. (prefix) Indicating difference or variation.

7. Deciduous South African tree having large odd-pinnate leaves and profuse fragrant orange-yellow flowers.

8. Earlier a god.

9. The local time at the 0 meridian passing through Greenwich, England.

10. Old World wild swine having a narrow body and prominent tusks from which most domestic swine come.

11. A river in central Europe that arises in northwestern Czechoslovakia and flows northward through Germany to empty into the North Sea. 12. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

18. A town in northern France on the Strait of Dover that serves as a ferry port to England.

20. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

24. The central part of a car wheel (or fan or propeller etc) through which the shaft or axle passes.

26. Of or relating to abasia (inability to walk).

28. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

30. A socially awkward or tactless act.

31. The 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

32. Having an eye or eyes or eyelike feature especially as specified.

34. A flexible container with a single opening.

36. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

38. A festival featuring African-American culture.

39. Earlier a god.

40. Doglike nocturnal mammal of Africa and southern Asia that feeds chiefly on carrion.

41. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

45. A Bantu language spoken by the Kamba people in Kenya.

47. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

49. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

51. An architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness.

52. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

53. A system of one or more computers and associated software with common storage.

54. Common Indian weaverbird.

55. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

57. An associate degree in applied science.

58. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

62. The square of a body of any size of type.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) A strong need for nurturing is a bigger than usual element in your life now. You may feel the need to care for others or to have them care for you. You have needs and you sense the needs of others: fitting the two together makes progress easy. Your mind could be quite clear and natural just now.

Ideas are flowing and come with ease. It is easy for you to talk a lot. Activities with neighbors, friends or relatives make the afternoon go along with the strong feelings of support and appreciation for life. Demands on you and on others will begin to loosen.

However, other people may tend to encourage you to act prematurely. Think things through before jumping into something you may not want to do in the future.

Weather permitting, enjoy a walk tonight.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You tend to enjoy making a difference for people with a common cause or a universal ideal instead of seeking power. However, today you may find others could give you much encouragement along the lines of obtaining a power position, perhaps in your profession or perhaps in the community.

If you desire this, support is available. Part of the responsibilities and additional life experiences that come with having such a wide scope of friends is that you are constantly manipulating your time. This afternoon you may find yourself helping or being with friends—someone could be moving or otherwise needing your assistance. Your unique qualities stand out today—you are able to help others without relinquishing your personal time.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Too many people in one place today may have everyone in a frustrated mood. This may mean a meeting has been going on a little too long. Perhaps it is time to suggest a break. People always see situations in a different way after getting a little fresh air or taking in a little snack. New insights make everyone happy this afternoon. A few chores at home after the workday is over and you are ready to play with friends or family. Close relationships take on more emotional depth, power and importance this evening. A love of music, an appreciation for sensual pleasures and other fine things in life are the signs of the cycle that has begun for you. A few of your friends, relatives or neighbors may gather this evening to chat about plans for the summer.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You want balance during the working week and the easier you can make it for you and your family, the happier you are. Meals made ahead of time and frozen and lunches ready to assemble in a quick manner are fun to grab and go . . . you are proud of yourself and you feel organized. If you have a large family, you will enjoy helping them become organized. They will all learn from you, so keep up the good work. Consider writing a magazine article on some of the techniques you use to make your family run well. You may be surprised at the response you get . . . you could even put out feelers to the crowd and see if readers will support a blog. You may want to send a letter to a friend or secluded family member, via fax or computer this evening.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Check out a class or book on meditation. It will give you tools for relaxation. Meditation classes will also help you have that an inner comfort that comes with being nurtured. You might even find some cassette tapes along this subject. A library or store that will trade your cassette tape for another will save you money and allow you to find the rhythm or style of meditation best for you. Nurturing and being nurtured are important to us all. Today is a great time to collect the support that comes from being positive and calm. Close relationships take on more emotional depth, power and importance. You are in a great mood today and can appreciate your own better qualities. You may have fun caring for animals this evening—perhaps a bath.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Arriving at work early this morning helps to avoid the crowd of commuters. You have lots to do. This is a very good time for meeting, decisions and finding your way through just about any problem you may uncover. Visiting a music store at the noon break creates some fun-filled minutes. If you do not have children, someone in your family or among your friends does. You will find yourself around children this afternoon. There is a chance that someone will want to borrow your tools, car, lawn equipment, etc. If you feel that there could be a risk—say no. You are learning to stand firm in many different areas of your life—about time!

More thoughtful communication with a loved one is enjoyed this evening. Harmony fills the air this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Stay away from lifting and moving heavy things today, unless you can get someone to help or you wear a brace and bend from your knees—your back will be much more relaxed. There are opportunities to move equipment, help someone carry boxes, etc. Your professional life is interesting today, in that you are around entertaining, smart and witty people. As much fun as it is to listen to a few jokes or witty remarks, it is also fun to hear your own voice—easy does it.

At home this evening you may become aware of an elderly friend or relative that has some background of interest. Encourage the elderly in your family, or friend’s family, to write down genealogy or event facts for the next generation. You could record their stories for posterity.

You could enlist the aid of others to help you in the workplace now. There can be rewards in team efforts. Your creative abilities are in full gear and you could come up with some creative ideas that will aid your team.

Your success arrives in an educational, legal or publishing venture. You could be involved in helping the elderly, handicapped or children this afternoon. There is a second chance today to make a dream come true—for yourself or someone else. You could be most persuasive with others. A good conversation with those you love is possible this evening. Stability satisfies a deep emotional need. If you are staying home, music could be fun this evening, whether it is in listening or participating in a jam session with your musical friends.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) A group meeting turns out to be quite successful this morning.

You always have intelligent, serious, yet light-hearted ways to get your message across to others. Employees that know you are speaking will not usually be absent on those meeting days. A creative and upbeat meeting provides a positive sort of atmosphere for the whole day. There are stimulating conversations popping up in the most interesting places. This afternoon, a friend may encourage you to take better care of yourself. You may find you have an interest in signing up for a nearby exercise class with this friend. The domestic scene gains new appeal and now is a good time to talk with your family. You are very aware of other people and their needs.

Consider a summertime offer.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

This is not the time to be lazy. There is much to do this morning and the preparations for a presentation or sales pitch will go very well. A tendency to scatter your energies may need watching at this time. There are workable solutions to most everything and you are patient. Do not hesitate to follow up on a blossoming business venture—research may be in order. There may be someone new that you will meet who will give you important information. Dealings with relatives may keep you very busy this afternoon. The results of these interactions with relatives are most positive. It pleases you to make others happy. Group and social activities fill your time this evening. Often community or hobby activities provide a relaxing break.

36

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

lifest yle G o s s i p

he 46-year-old actress and the cricketer will tie the knot in Britain and the sportsman’s native Australia next summer, and the ‘Gossip Girl’ star admits she feels like she has known her fiance “forever”. She said: “It feels like we have known one another forever. “I am extremely happy when I’m with Shane. We are very similar in many ways. “Despite differences in our backgrounds and careers, we both come from very secure, loving homes and to me that says a lot.” Shane - who has three children, Brooke, 14, Jackson, 12, and 10-year-old Summer, from his previous marriage to Simone - admits he and Elizabeth are an unlikely match, but the pair are “very much the same” despite coming from “different worlds”. He added: “I think we just ‘get’ each other and it feels like we have known one another for ever. I understand why Elizabeth and I getting together initially seemed strange to some people and why it created a lot of interest. We are from different worlds, but funnily

T

he supermodel and singer Seal split in January after seven years of marriage and Heidi is still figuring out how to adjust to the changes in her life. She told allure magazine: “Sometimes life throws you a curveball, and then you just figure it out and deal with it, but my dream always was that - to have the perfect family and have lots of children and a beautiful garden and trampolines and swings and things. “I had dreams of how I wanted things to be and planned for things and, as we all know today, they don’t always turn out as you dreamt them in your head.” Heidi - who raises children Leni, seven, Henry, six, Johan, five, and two-year-old Lou with Seal - added she doesn’t feel any resent about the split, which her former husband has said was caused by them growing apart. She added: “I don’t resent anything that ever happened. Things just turn out the way they turn out.” The 38-year-old model also told the magazine she is proud never to have had surgery, as she doesn’t think the results look good. She said: “I’m proud to be able to say, in this day and age, I haven’t done anything. Everyone has a view of what’s not pretty and [plastic surgery] just doesn’t look pretty to me.”

T

he rapper is rumoured to be dating the reality TV star and she is finding all his attention overwhelming, although she is flattered by it. A source told Hollywoodlife.com: “Kim really hasn’t ever had a guy be so obsessed with her. “She almost doesn’t know how to handle how much Kanye likes her. She has never felt this loved and it makes her feel good.” Kim - who sensationally split from basketball player Kris Humphries after just 72 days of marriage last year - and Kanye are said to be going to great lengths to see each other as much as possible. The source added: “Kim flies to New York all the time and Kanye is loaded so it’s not

T

enough they are very much the same, too.” The 42-year-old sportsman revealed the pair also have “embarrassing” pet names for each other, with Elizabeth - who has 10-year-old son Damian from her brief relationship with Steve Bing - referring to him as “Big Blonde” due to his hair colour and Shane often calls her “Luna” after seeing a picture of her with a “massive mouth” in a newspaper. In a joint interview for HELLO! magazine, Shane explained: “Elizabeth calls me a lot more than just the Big Blonde - she has dozens of names for me, all of them too embarrassing to share. “I have a handful for her, too, but I usually call her Luna as there was a terrible paparazzi picture of her once looming in to kiss me, which reminded me of the massive mouth at the entrance of Luna Park, the Australian theme park.”

hard for them to see each other. “He flew her private to Paris for his fashion show last minute - he’ll do anything for Kim.” Kanye has previously confessed he “fell in love” with Kim in a song, ‘Way Too Cold’, which debuted online two weeks ago. In the song he says: “I admit I fell in love with Kim / Around the same time she fell in love with him / Well that’s cool baby girl / Do your thing.” It is also rumoured Kanye is to splash out £30,000 on a luxury holiday for them both to the island of St Lucia.

he TV host is due to give birth to her first child with husband Nick in September, and while they don’t yet know the gender, she is hoping for a boy. She told Wonderwall.MSN.com: “It’s going great, knock on wood! I’m feeling awesome and no morning sickness, no crazy cravings. “I’ve always envisioned a little boy first. Maybe because when I fell in love with Nick - the man of my dreams and the father of my children - I could easily imagine falling in love with the mini-him; that’s how I see it.” Vanessa, 31, explained she had tweeted her thoughts, but some people had misunderstood her. She added: “There was a lot of backlash, with people saying, ‘How dare you! How dare you!’ Don’t get this confused: I want a healthy child, absolutely, first and foremost, God willing. But of course every mother has a vision.” Vanessa - who married Nick in July 2011 - won’t be afraid to join in when it comes to male activities either, should they have a boy.

She added: “I want to be able to throw a baseball with my son and want to be able to just wrestle with him in the yard, and I want to do all that fun stuff.” However, Vanessa is also keen for them to have a girl in the future. She said: “I can’t wait, when we keep having more children, to sprinkle boys and girls throughout the family. And if I have a little girl, she’s going to be Nick’s angel, I’m sure!”

T

roducers behind the troubled actress’ next role, a television biopic of Elizabeth Taylor, are worried by conflicting reports of an alleged altercation with a female at the Chateau Marmont hotel earlier this month.

Lindsay claimed she was not at the hotel on April 5, but the woman, Marisa Dugas, has filed a police report accusing her of battery. Two further reports have been given, claiming Lindsay - who was released from probation last month - was present at the party. A source told RadarOnline.com producers “are extremely concerned about Lindsay’s hard partying ways. Here are the facts, since she was formally taken off formal probation, she has been at the Chateau Marmont several times. “She was definitely at the nightclub when the assault allegedly took place. “However, Lindsay told the producers that she wasn’t there, so even if she isn’t charged with a crime, her inability to tell the truth is hurting her, period.” Lindsay’s legal problems stem back to a driving under the influence (DUI) conviction in 2007, and her long history of problems with the law make it hard for anyone to employ her as an actress because of the insurance costs. The source added: “The producers had to jump through hoops to get Lindsay insured for the project, so it’s very concerning that she is putting herself in situations that just aren’t good for her. “You compound that with the lies, and Lindsay is truly her own worst enemy.”

P

he 43-year-old rocker presented actress and filmmaker Seraphim Ward, 27, with a family ring, thought to have belonged to his grandmother, according to friends. A source told Life & Style magazine: “Marilyn proposed with a family ring. I think it was his grandmother’s. It’s Celtic, and Seraphim says it has a magical bonding to the receiver.” Seraphim’s representative added: “Seraphim is in a committed relationship and is over the moon about what her bright future holds with her partner.” The actress tweeted a picture of a diamond encrusted Claddagh ring - a traditional Irish ring given as a token of friendship, love, or marriage - with the caption “OMG! (sic)”. She later added: “I am still speechless and in shock!” On her twitter page Seraphina describes herself as “a Independent Occult Filmmaker and a Industrial Goth Rock Artist (sic)” and pals say she and Marilyn bonded over their shared interest in the supernatural. The friend added: “They share an interest in the occult and have bonded fast. He’s gotten her a house in the Hollywood Hills.” Marilyn was previously married to Dita Von Teese and engaged to both Rose McGowan and Evan Rachel Wood. — Bangshowbiz

T

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

lifestyle

T

he lead singer of disco group Boney M yesterday joined a rally in Seoul in support of North Korean refugees who fled to China and now face repatriation to their impoverished homeland. Liz Mitchell, from the group who were hugely popular during the disco era of the late 1970s, shouted “Save my friends” as she joined around a dozen activists and defectors outside the Chinese embassy, witnesses said. She also held a placard reading “Don’t repatriate North Korean refugees” and delivered an envelope of cash donations for refugees. Members of Boney M, whose hits include “Rivers of Babylon”, will join a larger, candlelight rally Wednesday outside the embassy, according to concert promoter Btechnic.

Mitchell, 60, earlier called for China to be lenient on North Korean refugees. “There should be some kind of leniency, giving these people a chance to live a life they have chosen,” she was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. On Saturday the group will play a concert in the South Korean capital and donate part of its ticket sales to defectors, Btechnic said in a statement. Defectors and activists have been staging hunger strikes or rallies outside the Chinese embassy in protest at Beijing’s crackdown on fugitives from North Korea.

China has repatriated dozens of refugees this year, despite pleas from South Korea and international rights groups for Beijing to change its policy. If repatriated, North

Korean refugees face harsh punishment, but China says they are economic migrants and not refugees deserving protection. Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled poverty or repression in their homeland, almost all of them across the border into China. Some hide out among-or marry into-the ethnic Korean community in China’s northeast. Others try to travel on to Southeast Asian nations before flying to Seoul. — AFP

Liz Mitchell (centre), the lead singer of disco group Boney M, poses with North Korean defectors as they shout slogans denouncing Beijing’s repatriation of North Korean refugees back to their impoverished homeland during a rally outside the Chinese embassy in Seoul yesterday. — AFP

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed AlNahyan is pictured with Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of the Gulf Film Festival, and Nawaf Al-Janahi, Director of Sea Shadow.

S

heikh Abdullah Bin Zayed AlNahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, visited the Gulf Film Festival and was received by the senior management of the festival.

Sheikh Abdullah also watched the Emirati film Sea Shadow, directed by Nawaf Al-Janahi and produced by Imagenation Abu Dhabi. The 5th edi-

tion of the festival is currently screening 155 films from 40 nations, including more than 40 films from the UAE, at Grand Cinemas Dubai Festival City until April 16.

Giordano launches online shopping

G

iordano, the leading international apparel retailer, yesterday reached another customer service milestone in its almost two decades of operations in the region, with the launch of its online shopping at www.giordano-me.com.

The move into e-commerce is being piloted in the UAE, with more than 300 of Giordano’s most popular items available in the initial launch phase, and products delivered within five working days to any UAE address.

“With the launch of our online shopping, we provide our customers with immediate access to our products right at their fingertips. No matter where they are in the UAE, they will be able to shop for Giordano products from the comfort of their home or workplace. The shopping portal is another demonstration of how Giordano adapts its business model to expand reach, and provide the best possible customer service,” said Ishwar Chugani, Executive Director of Giordano, Middle East, India and Africa. “As it is in its nascent stage, we’re piloting online shopping first in the UAE, with plans to cover other markets in the future”.

Giordano’s performance in the Middle East also continues an upward trajectory, registering 12 percent growth during the first quarter of the year across the region, versus the same period in 2011. The retailer attributes the growth to strong sales in the Saudi Arabian market; increased consumer confidence; growing demand for highquality, value-for-money wardrobe

Ishwar Chugani

essentials; and contributions from newly-opened stores.

Giordano’s stores in the region now total 226, including eight shops opened in the first three months of 2012 in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, and Lebanon. The retailer is poised to open a minimum of 10 more stores through to the end of the year, including market launches in Palestine and Mozambique, and additional shops in Lebanon, Georgia and Sudan, putting Giordano on track to hit its target of 250 stores by 2015.

“At Giordano, we just don’t stop at opening new stores. We strive to reinvent our products and our way of doing business, especially at a time when economic uncertainties remain. The key is in keeping close to our customers and offering them the quality basics they need, at the best value price, with the highest level of convenience,” said Chugani.

Last month also saw the opening of the first Giordano Essentials Kiosk at Dubai Festival City in the UAE. The concept was rolled out in Saudi Arabia last year and following its success, more kiosks are slated to open across the region. “In 2012 alone, we are investing AED10 million in opening new stores and refurbishing our existing outlets to meet our customers’ needs. The kiosk concept means that shoppers can pick up essential clothing items on the go, it’s quick, easy and convenient,” said Chugani.

Social media presence is also an important tool for Giordano in the Middle East. To date, the fashion retailer’s regional Facebook page has attracted over 50,000 fans, who each receive regular updates on its activities and products. In customer loyalty rewards, Giordano is one of the leading brands with a substantial base of loyalty club members reaching over 300,000 in the Middle East in just four years. World Without Strangers (WWS) was the first global and cardless loyalty programme to be introduced in the region.

Members get to avail discounts and points in most Giordano shops worldwide. Sales from WWS members account for 25 percent of Giordano’s revenues.

In this image, a black Labrador retriever stands by yellow Lab that was hit in La Puente, Calif. — AP

A

loyal Labrador retriever named Maggie, who was videotaped as she guarded the body of a yellow Lab hit and killed by a car in California, has been reunited with her family. A passer-by noticed the street scene last week, put traffic cones around the dogs and took the video that touched hearts across the US. Maggie’s family claimed her Monday. The name of the family was not released. Dozens of people called or visited the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control shelter offering to adopt the dog. The passer-by was the first to fill out paperwork. No one knows who the yellow Lab belonged to or where Maggie met him, said Capt. Aaron Reyes, deputy director of the department. Maggie’s family wasn’t the first to show up at the shelter Monday claiming the dog belonged to them. But it was the first family to have papers to prove it and to call the dog Maggie. Even though she was groggy from surgery, the dog responded immediately to her name and the family, Reyes said. — AP

A girl walks through giant eggs installation in central Moscow yesterday during the Easter Eggs Festival.

— AFP

A

nn Patchett, who won the Orange Prize for Fiction for female writers in 2002, was nominated again yesterday with “State of Wonder”, her sixth novel.

She was one of three US authors on a shortlist of six, including Cynthia Ozick, who turned 84 yesterday and was the oldest nominee for the annual award.

“My only regret is that the rules of the prize don’t permit a longer shortlist,” said author Joanna Trollope, chair of the judges. “However, I am confident that the 14 novels we had to leave out will make their own well-deserved way.” The winner of the prize, which comes with a cheque for 30,000 pounds ($48,000), will be announced in London on May 30.

Patchett won the award 10 years ago with “Bel Canto”, and in 2012 is in the running with State of Wonder, described by organisers as a journey into the “heart of the South American darkness”. It follows Marina Singh as she tries to track down enigmatic scientist Annick Swenson in the Amazonian rainforest, where she is developing a drug that could alter women’s lives forever but refuses to report on her progress.

Ozick’s contender, “Foreign Bodies”, revolves around Bea Nightingale, another woman who leaves her familiar surroundings to travel from the United States to France where she becomes entangled in the lives of her brother’s family.

The third US author, Madeline Miller, was nominated for her debut novel “The Song of Achilles”, based on Greek legend, which she worked on for 10 years.

Ireland’s Anne Enright, the Man Booker Prize winner in 2007, was shortlisted for “The Forgotten Waltz”, about love and desire set in modern-day Dublin, and Britain’s Georgina Harding was nominated for “Painter of Silence” set in 1950s Romania. Canadian writer Esi Edugyan rounded out the 2012 nominees with “Half Blood Blues”, which takes place in Paris in 1940 and Berlin 50 years later. — Reuters

British Library buys Europe’s oldest book for £9m

T

he St Cuthbert gospel, Europe’s oldest intact book, will remain in Britain after a recordbreaking fundraising campaign by the British Library, it said yesterday. Half of the £9 million ($14.2 million, 10.8 million euros) required to purchase the 7th Century copy of the Gospel of St John came from the The National Heritage Memorial Fund with charitable foundations, trusts and the public making up the rest. It is the largest ever campaign mounted by the library and ensures the manuscript, which was buried with the early English Christian leader on Lindisfarne, off north east England, in about 698 AD, stays in the UK. “To look at this small and intensely beautiful treasure from the Anglo-Saxon period is to see it exactly as those who created it in the 7th Century would have seen it,” said Lynne Brindley, the library’s chief executive. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

lifestyle

Hollywood warms to China s

T

here’s a new breach in China’s great cultural wall and Hollywood is cautiously moving in. Disney’s announcement Monday that it will make “Iron Man 3” in partnership with a Chinese company is the latest sign that movie studios are warming to China’s new openness. For decades, China has capped the number of foreign films it allows into the country. Until recently, the limit was 20, but in February Chinese officials announced that they are increasing the quota to 34.

China said it will also allow foreign studios to garner a greater share of box office revenue. Foreign companies can now expect to earn 25 percent of their movies’ ticket sales in China, up from between 13.5 and 17.5 percent. The changes are a significant move for a bureaucracy that is leery of outside cultural influences and competition from foreign films. The change could affect everyone from action movie fans in Guangzhou to Hollywood’s most powerful filmmakers.

The relaxing of China’s strict rules comes at a price for US studios. The world’s most populous nation wants foreign studios to bring their moviemaking know-how to China by forming joint ventures with Chinese studios. Still, Hollywood isn’t gushing.

In recent years, US movie studios have developed a rocky romance with China. Chinese people adore foreign movies, especially 3D adventures like “Avatar,” or more recently “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.” But studios have been jilted when Beijing has promised new openness only to reverse course. In Disney’s case, many of its movies have made it into the country, but recent hit “Tangled,” for instance, was stopped at the border.

In a recent interview, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg summed up the industry’s

attitude: “The goal lines are moving all the time,” he said. “Everyone is wondering how it plays out.” China has long kept up a barrier against foreign films wary of insidious cultural influences while sheltering its own filmmakers.

Officials last raised the annual cap on foreign movie imports as a condition of joining the WTO in 2001. The recent increased foreign movie quota is a belated response to a trade dispute the US won nearly three years ago.

Studios are patiently trying to make the relationship work, because of China’s enormous potential. Box office revenue in China rose more than a third last year to $2 billion, putting the country on pace to become the world’s second largest movie market after the combined US and Canadian region this year.

It is expected to top $5 billion by 2015. The US and Canadian theatrical market, meanwhile, shrank two years in a row to about $10 billion in 2011.

So far this year, however, revenue at US and Canadian theatres is up about 19 percent. It’s only a matter of time before China’s movie-going market is the world’s biggest, according to some industry-watchers. Whether it is the most profitable for outsiders is another question. In 2006, Warner Bros. pulled out of a two-year-old theatre chain joint venture when Beijing changed the rules, suddenly disallowing the studio’s majority stake. Late last year, production company Legendary Pictures’ joint venture, which is set to make the movie “The Great Wall,” hit a stumbling block when its Hong Kong-based partner failed to raise enough capital.

Entertainment lawyer Schuyler Moore says he has warned clients not to be overly optimistic in dealing with the country, and says it will take a year to see how China implements its new movie policy. Moore believes China’s new openness is aimed mainly at

new openness

In this publicity image Jaden Smith as Dre (left) and Jackie Chan as Mr. Han are shown in a scene from “The Karate Kid.” —AP boosting its own cultural industries. “In the long term, it’s no different than China trying to make aircraft and cars and everything else. Their goal is to have the expertise so they can displace Hollywood,” he says. Against that backdrop, companies like The Walt Disney Co. and Katzenberg’s DreamWorks are entering a delicate dance.

Katzenberg traveled to China in mid-March to meet with Chinese officials about how the expanded quota

rules would be applied. He also sought to work out details regarding the company’s new joint venture in China, Oriental DreamWorks. “(China) is big, it is the fastest growing and that’s what makes it challenging,” Katzenberg told The Associated Press prior to his trip.

Disney and its new partner, Beijingbased DMG Entertainment, didn’t offer many details about their “Iron Man 3” project, although the companies say the movie will incorporate Chinese elements and be partly funded by

DMG. The DreamWorks’ deal, announced in February, is for a joint venture studio based in Shanghai that is 45 percent owned by DreamWorks and 55 percent owned by its Chinese partners, capitalized at $330 million.

Some analysts questioned whether it was worth it for DreamWorks to give up a 55 percent stake in the venture. “It is not clear how well DreamWorks will do when it has to relinquish creative controls,” said Janney analyst Tony Wible. “This just adds to some of the uncertainty with the deal. However, there is a good long-term potential, so the risk goes with the return.” China isn’t just waiting for Hollywood to come running. Last month, a key official in China’s movie infrastructure, Yang Buting, appealed to Hollywood’s finance community to enter new joint ventures in the country. He once led the nation’s primary distributor of foreign films, China Film Group, and now chairs a co-financing arm of the government, China Mainstream Media National Film Capital Hollywood Group Inc., which set up an office in Beverly Hills, Calif., this year.

“I have a vision of an ideal version of film cooperation between China and the United States: Chinese or American stories, joint investment, co-production, joint cast and credits, distributed globally,” he said at a conference in Los Angeles. The formula will “surely be a win-win miracle for both China and the US.” So far, co-productions have had mixed success. The 2007 Ang Leedirected film, “Lust Caution,” which paired Hai Sheng Film Production Co. and Universal Pictures’ Focus Features group, won critical acclaim but failed to make its money back. On the other hand, the retelling of the 1984 classic “The Karate Kid” by Sony Pictures and China Film Group in 2010 reinvigorated a franchise. Much of its success can be credited to the charming chemistry between its new star, Will Smith’s son

Jaden, and martial arts legend Jackie Chan, a well-established Hong Kongborn hit with Chinese audiences. The movie was a global hit. It cast China and kung fu in a positive light and grossed $343 million worldwide.

Still, it is unclear whether new rules favor Chinese co-productions, or movies brought in under the new quota. Based on a deal announced by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Joe Biden, China will let in 14 more foreign movies a year as long as they are in 3-D or the Imax format. That lifts the number of foreign films allowed under the quota system each year to 34. These foreign films will also share 25 percent of the box office receipts, up from 13.5 percent to 17.5 percent now. The rest goes to theatre owners and the government.

While the new, higher cut is less than the 43 percent share China offers domestic movie studios, it still could be a better deal for Hollywood than being the junior member of a joint venture.

Meanwhile China’s home movie market is dominated by pirated films.

The fledgling market for legitimate online movie rentals is tiny. One of the clearest beneficiaries of the rule change is Imax Corp., the big-screen movie company that licenses its technology for a share of ticket sales. Imax is hugely popular with Chinese movie fans. It receives about half of the studios’ share of the box office for movies that end up on its screens in China. As more Imax-format movies are let in, more films will contribute to its Chinese revenue going forward. Still, CEO Rich Gelfond treads carefully. “I’d say there’s always country risk wherever you do business in the world,” he says. “But by creating a win-win scenario where it’s good for the Chinese partners, it’s good for the Chinese consumer, and it works for Imax, we think we can minimize that risk.” —AP

Tribeca broadens film slate for festival s second decade

T

Writer Nicholas Sparks and family pose on arrival for the world premiere of the film “The Lucky One” at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood on April 16, 2012 in California. The film will be released April 20. —AFP

Neon Trees value punch over purpose

T

he band Neon Trees has decided to double down with the brash synthrock sound on “Picture Show,” its sophomore release. The all-Mormon foursome from Provo, Utah packs a decent pop punch, but the arrangements meander from cautious to, unfortunately, contrived. The band is fronted by Tyler Glenn, a talented vocalist full of tricks who is not afraid to use them all.

The opening vocals on “Moving in the Dark” have tinges of Axl Rose’s soaring “Appetite”era scream. And he’s just getting started.

Songs such as “Teenage Sounds” and

“Hooray for Hollywood” supply plenty of pace, while lacking ingenuity. Drummer Elaine Bradley has the speed to drive a fast song faster, but her by-the-book turns and fills lack imagination.

Musically, it all circles back to Glenn’s vocals. If you like a raucous and occasionally whiny delivery, he’s your guy. Not to diminish his skill set, but his voice can go from good to grating in a heartbeat. Still, he’s the straw that stirs the drink. All in all, “Picture Show” is a scattershot approach to being a well-backed rock band. Perhaps there’s a nice car commercial track here, and movie soundtrack song there and hopefully a hit along the way. Yet, the album feels artistically rudderless.

Check this track out: “Picture Show” has 11 tracks and if they all sounded more like “Close to You” the band would have been better off. It has a lush late-1980s electronic vibe that exudes coolness. For a band that puts a premium on energy, they’ve done best here by slowing it down. Beautiful track. —AP

he Tribeca Film Festival kicks off this week with a greater emphasis on independent foreign films in competition, stars such as Justin Bieber on red carpets and a broader overall program heading into its second decade. The festival, one of the largest in the United States and co-founded by Robert De Niro as a way to revive downtown Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks, opens today with high-profile Hollywood comedy, “The Five-Year Engagement” starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. But the 12-day festival which runs until April 29 features mostly independent cinema. From almost 6,000 submissions, Tribeca 2012 will screen 89 feature films split between 57 fiction and 32 documentaries, including 50 world premieres.

Half of its lineup of 12 fiction films in competition are international productions. “War Witch” is shot entirely in the Congo and tells the story of one girl’s harrowing life since rebel warlords stormed her village. Among world documentaries, “The World Before Her” parallels the lives of women in the Miss India beauty pageant with those in a fundamentalist Hindu camp for girls. It opens the documentary competition.

This is the first year Tribeca organizers selected debut night films for the narrative and documentary competitions, and the overall program reflects of a range of films from around the world instead of typically dominant European fare, said Tribeca’s chief creative officer Geoff Gilmore. “I think they had been all over the map, sometimes in the past,” he said of the programming in the past 10 years. “There was sometimes a lack of consistency, and I think one of the things that you look for is the kind of discovery and diversity that we have in the program this year.” Sandwiched between the South by Southwest indie film festival in Austin, Texas and France’s Cannes film festival, which has a reputation for hosting some of the world’s best films, Tribeca shows only slightly more than half the total number of films it screened six years ago. “Cannes shows just a few films and there is lots of other kinds of work we can reach out to and we did that,” Gilmore said. “It feels like we are in a new phase, we have done our ten years of Tribeca ... now are entering our next decade.”

Bieber does Tribeca The festival has tried to balance the sort of Hollywood star power that brings attention to a festival with its eclectic film program because, as Gilmore said, “if that (celebrity) is the only hook for the festival, then you have sold yourself down a slippery slope,” Gilmore said. This year, the festival honours Justin Bieber for being a leading innovator in using technology to reach mass audiences. Other stars expected to attend include James Franco, Olivia Wilde, Chris Rock, Tony Bennett, Kristen Wiig, Rob Lowe and Jason Sudeikis who are all due to hit red carpets. Stars on the big screen include Kate Bosworth playing an unhappy wife who travels to Naples in “While We Were Here” and Freida Pinto in director Michael Winterbottom’s “Trishna.”

Some of the US feature films premiering range from “First Winter” about a group of Brooklyn hipsters staying in a remote farmhouse to the more artistic “Consuming Spirits,” a meticulous animation film 15 years in the making. Tribeca’s traditional strength - documentaries - include sports story “Knuckleball!” about the best known knuckleball pitchers in baseball and “Wagner’s Dream” a look at the pursuit of art that tells about stage director Robert Lepage’s staging of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at The Metropolitan Opera house. “The Flat” has gained some pre-festival buzz as an accomplished and unusual holocaust tale, as has “The Revisionaries” about the politicizing of education textbooks in Texas. Also, Morgan Spurlock returns to Tribeca with a humorous look at what it means to be a modern man in “Mansome.” In addition Tribeca, which has experimented in the past with online films, will again offer several premieres on the Internet for US audiences to watch including “The Russian Winter” about ex-Fugees musician John Forte’s concert tour in Russia. Gilmore predicted indie films could look forward to a stronger future in the video-on-demand market that has grown in recent years but remains slow in recapturing lost revenue from declining DVD sales. “There is a new generation out there that is accessing film and all the different forms

In this file photograph, Frank Ocean performs at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, California. —MCT

Coachella artists are hip to fashion, too I n the run-up to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which starts Friday, we’ve been anticipating not just the music and art but also the independent sense of style that will be on display. We talked to a couple of the standouts who will hit the stages in Indio over the next two weekends about what shaped their looks and what they might be wearing to the increasingly fashion-focused festival.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals For the last few years, Grace Potter, the leggy singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist fronting Waitsfield, Vt.’s Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, has been working a Tina TurnerMarianne Faithfull vibe, favoring sparkly, fringed mini-dresses inspired by the 1960s and ‘70s. But Potter says that her look - and the band’s - evolves with each successive album. With a new album set for release June 12, Potter says she’s finally lifted the “denim jihad” that’s been in place since the band’s 2010 self-titled album was released. (But that doesn’t mean you’ll see the band awash in head-to-toe blue jeans any time soon.)

Style icon: “My style icons growing up tended to be men, so it was Mick Jagger in the leotards, bell bottoms and suspenders and David Bowieespecially his outfits from the movie ‘Labyrinth.’

You can see influences of that in what I wear today. Some days I want to be Mick Jagger, some days I want to be Bianca Jagger, but either way there’s definitely a lot of ‘70s influence running through what I like to wear.”

Fashion influences: “As a kid, I was obsessed with fashion, and I basically worked with whatever was in the shed - my parents had all their old, crazy, ‘60s and ‘70s hippie clothes in trash bags in a shed by our house. Every couple of months, I’d dig into that and go through every article of clothing and invent crazy outfits.”

Favorite brands: “Balenciaga is huge for me. I love Balmain, and Miu Miu has some fabulous shoes right now. Every once in a while I like to incorporate something a little more refined, like a piece from Prada or Lanvin. Lanvin moves really beautifully onstage and I love the textures they’re using right now.

“I love Gucci, but a lot of times it doesn’t fit me

properly, so I have to get it specifically tailored.

And Issa of London has some really amazing dresses, so when it does come time for me to wear a (full, floor-length) gown, there are a few things I’m impressed with. Isabel Marant makes some nice, nonfussy dresses and little chiffon floaty shirts, and ALC is killing it right now. I love their silk pieces because they’re light enough for summer but they’re this luscious, buttery silk.”

Coachella wardrobe: “It’s important to put some thought into our ‘moments in the sun’ - our TV moments, our big, onstage Coachella moments - so you know exactly how everything’s going to look on camera. And right now my dream list for Coachella includes Stella McCartney, an (Alexander) McQueen piece and some Givenchy ... We’ll see which of those three is going to wind up onstage.

“The guys (bandmates Matt Burr, Benny Yurco and Scott Tournet) will probably be dressed in All Saints, (which is) bringing some custom pieces for me to try on. I’m a huge fan, and they’re like the gasoline that fuels our tour. If it weren’t for them, I’m not sure we’d ever be in clean clothes.

“At festivals, especially when I’m bopping around doing press and not onstage, I like to keep it light and simple and fuss-free, so I find the beach approach is a good way to go. Sometimes I’ll just wear a bathing suit and throw a bunch of stuff over it.”

Favourite stores: “I’m bicoastal at this point because of work, and I find amazing pieces in Vermont. I’ll go to some random store where there’s a lady knitting scarves and get a beautiful beret or a gorgeous super-thin long scarf. Then I’ll bring it out to LA, and I’ll build around it by zinging over to someplace like Sunset Plaza. H. Lorenzo is a great store that’s got a lot of exciting, hard-to-find pieces, pieces that are pretty rare, pretty hard to find.

“I like to hang out at Barneys and in a pinch I’ll go to Robertson, but I’m more of a Beverly Center kind of girl. I love Traffic - they’re an amazing store; our drummer Matt has borrowed suits from them.

For festival stuff, I find a lot of light pieces at Calypso and amazing basics at J. Crew. Corey Lynn Calter is a designer I love, and she’s got a lot of great festival stuff.” —MCT

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

lifestyle

By Nawara Fattahova

T

he first J.Cure London and Q8 Limited luxury fashion store was officially launched in Kuwait on Monday.

Located at Burj Jasim, Kuwait City, Al-Soor Street, it is the first luxury fashion concept store to open its doors in Kuwait and the Middle East. During this event, their first perfume, Curiosity was also launched.

J.Cure London specializes in exquisite hand-crafted crocodile and python skin custom-made handbags, wallets, belts, phone cases and gentlemen’s accessories and Q8 Limited is a luxury watch specialist which has the most sought-after international collection of watches.

Though this is J.Cure London’s first store in the Middle East, their collection has been available in the market for about three years in Kuwait, Saudi and Bahrain. “I’m happy with the demand and that’s why I decided to launch this store. I’m also willing to expand to other countries in the future. The price mostly depends on the size of the item and ranges from KD 70-600,” Jose Cure, the founder of fashion house J.Cure London told the Kuwait Times.

J.Cure London and Q8 Limited is much more than just a store. “We provide services and souvenirs to our customers as they shop. There is a reference library, a cigar lounge, a VIP lounge for the clients to relax and enjoy a cigar or a cup of Nespresso at the store as well,” he added.

Jose Cure is the designer and breeder of crocodiles and pythons from which the goods are made. “This brand and products are made from crocodile and python skin from my family’s farm in Colombia. Crocodile breeding has been a family business for 100 years and we have identity certificates for each animal on this farm, according to the regulations in Colombia. We never hunt any animal from nature or wildlife.

We also have an agreement with the government there to give some of the crocodiles that we breed to wildlife,” Cure explained.

After getting the crocodile and python skin from Colombia, Cure brings it to London where the items are made. “I manufacture my collection in London, and all the pieces are handmade using Italian craft. I release two successful collections every year and am keen to mix classy, stylish, and fun stuff together to cater to different tastes and ages,” he pointed out.

“I don’t follow the old trend of displaying the brand name everywhere. That’s why I prefer to hide it, except for a small plate made from sterling silver with the brand name engraved on it,” Cure revealed.

Having a passion for style and luxury, Jose Cure founded the fashion house J.Cure London in 2007. Cure with his exceptional taste, creative mind and original approach to luxury spawned many innovations, such as accessories in luxury covers for BlackBerry and iPhones apart from other goods.

Recognized personalities and celebrities continue to wear his brand.

J.Cure London has changed the perspective that only older people can wear luxury skins. J.Cure London is currently making original designs for the young as well as mature audience.

J.Cure London is an international company which has expanded its operations to include boutiques in many countries like United Kingdom, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The company’s products include phone covers, iPad covers, ladies handbags, clutches, belts, and a line of corporate gifts.

Karim Sonji expressed his pleasure at the launch of J.Cure London and Q8 Limited luxury fusion store where high-end luxury brands of pre-owned and new watches are sold. “We have different brands of watches such as Rolex, Bvlgari, Piguet, Cartier, Franc Vila, Hublot, Richard Mille and many others,” he said.

Guests are pictured with Karim Sonji at the store launch.

(From left to right) Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan, Judge Khaled Al-Asousi, J.Cure London’s founder Jose Cure and Kuwait Times Deputy Editor-in-Chief Dr. Ziad Al-Alyan are pictured at the launch of J.Cure London and Q8 Limited luxury fashion store in Kuwait. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Jose Cure is pictured with his wife, Polina Volkova.

Artistic decoration is pictured at the store.

Clutches, belts and handbags are seen at J.Cure London store.

The newly launched perfume ‘Curiosity’ is seen.

J.Cure London and Q8 Limited fashion store launched in style WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012

39

This photo shows Afghan Shia Muslim 12-year-old Tarana Akbari crying near dead and injured people after explosions during a religious ceremony at the Abul Fazel shrine in the centre of Kabul where Shia Muslims were marking the Day of Ashura. —AFP

A

gence France-Presse and the news websites Huffington Post and Politico each won their first Pulitzer Prizes Monday as the prestigious journalism awards highlighted global issues and online reporting. The New York Times won two Pulitzers, and the committee notably did not make awards for editorial writing or fiction in a year which saw Web journalism mark further gains. AFP’s Massoud Hossaini won the award for breaking news photography “for his heartbreaking image of a girl crying in fear after a suicide bomber’s attack at a crowded shrine in Kabul,” the committee announced.

His AFP photograph published December 7 shows young Tarana Akbari screaming after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a crowd at the Abul Fazel Shrine in Kabul on December 6. “When I could stand up, I saw that everybody was around me on the ground, really bloody. I was really, really scared,” said the girl, whose name means “melody,” and whose age has been given as either 10 or 12. Sig Gissler, the Pulitzer administrator, called the AFP picture “one single riveting photograph,” and “a picture you will long remember.”

AFP chief executive Emmanuel Hoog said the committee “has honoured one of our bravest and best photojournalists, Massoud Hossaini, and the award is recognition of AFP’s insistence on quality and

commitment across the range of journalistic pursuits.” Hoog added, “Today, in the news arena, words without images are impoverished and pictures without text are not enough.

The two complement each other and images-fixed or movingare essential to the journalism of the 21st century... Bravo and congratulations to Massoud.”

but I hope they don’t forget the pain Afghanistan’s people have in their life.” The Pulitzers, which date back to 1917, began allowing online-only publications to compete three years ago.

David Wood of The Huffington Post won the national reporting prize “for his riveting exploration of the physical and emotional challenges” fac-

Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Massoud Hossaini (right) poses with colleagues including photographer Shah Marai (left) at the AFP office in Kabul yesterday. —AFP Hossaini, who is based in Kabul, said he was “so happy and excited” to win the prize that he was unable to sleep. “I’m humbled to be an Afghan who can be a voice for the painful life and moments which people have here,” he said. “I know that whoever sees this photo will think about the photographer

ing American soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, the committee said. Politico’s Matt Wuerker won the award for editorial cartooning, satirizing the partisan conflict that engulfed Washington in 2011. The public service award went to The Philadelphia Inquirer “for its exploration of pervasive vio-

lence in the city’s schools,” according to the Pulitzer committee.

The prize for breaking news went to the staff of the Tuscaloosa News for the Alabama paper’s coverage using real-time updates to help locate missing people after a deadly tornado, which forced the newspaper to publish at another site.

spying program that monitored daily life in Muslim communities. The Seattle Times journalists were honoured for their coverage of a little-known governmental body in Washington state which moved vulnerable patients from safer pain-control medication to methadone, a cheaper but more dangerous drug. The New York Times took

Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll (left) applauds as Associated Press reporter Adam Goldman (center) is hugged after winning the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. —AP The award for investigative reporting was shared by Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the Associated Press and Michael Berens and Ken Armstrong of The Seattle Times.

The AP was recognized for reporting on the New York Police Department’s clandestine

awards for explanatory reporting for David Kocieniewski’s reporting on tax loopholes; and for international reporting for Jeffrey Gettleman’s coverage of famine and conflict in East Africa.

Pulitzers also went to Sara Ganim, one of the youngestever winners at 24, and mem-

bers of The Patriot-News Staff in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for local reporting; Eli Sanders of the Washington state weekly The Stranger, for feature writing; Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune for commentary; Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe for criticism; and Craig Walker of The Denver Post for feature photography.

Spoonful” by Quiara Alegria Hudes, while the history prize went to the late Manning Marable for “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention.”

John Lewis Gaddis won the Pulitzer for biography for his book “George F. Kennan: An American Life,” on the American diplomat. The Pulitzers for poetry went to “Life on Mars” by

Craig F. Walker of the Denver Post hugs former United States Marine Scott Ostrom the subject of his 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography depicting his struggle with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder in Denver. —AP Besides journalism, the Pulitzer Board, made up of journalists from around the country and representatives of Columbia University, also bestows awards for literature, drama and music. No award was given this year for fiction for the first time since 1977. The drama award went to “Water by the

Tracy K. Smith; general nonfiction to “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern,” by Stephen Greenblatt; and music to “Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts” by Kevin Puts. Each Pulitzer winner receives $10,000. —AFP

Girl in Pulitzer-winning picture still has nightmares

D Eleven-year-old Afghan girl Tarana Akbari, poses for a photograph after an interview in Kabul yesterday. —AFP

own a rutted dirt alley in Old Kabul, the “Girl in the green dress”-the subject of AFP’s Pulitzer-winning photograph still has nightmares about the day a suicide bomber made her image world famous. Tarana Akbari, 11, no longer wears her best dress, which was drenched in her own blood and that of her relatives who were among 70 people who died around her at a religious festival on December 6 last year. AFP photographer Massoud Hossaini, 30, won the prestigious US journalism prize for his “heartbreaking image of a girl crying in fear after a suicide bomber’s attack at a crowded shrine in Kabul,” the Pulitzer committee said. Tarana still cries sometimes when she remembers that day, but she managed an occasional shy smile in an interview with

AFP at her modest home yesterday, as she cuddled her sisters, who were both wounded in the blast.

That her picture has been featured on newspaper front pages around the world means little to her, she says, with a small shrug and a fleeting smile. But when she first saw the searing image she wondered: “How come I am alive. I can see all the dead bodies around me but only I survived.”

She is still frightened at times, and that bloody day still haunts her, awake or asleep, but she says she is getting better.

One of the two spartan rooms that Tarana shares with her family of seven has a television in a corner, but what she sees there does not always help her recovery. Last Sunday, squads of Taleban

suicide bombers infiltrated the capital and unleashed gunfire and explosions in an 18-hour assault before all being killed by security forces. “It made me frightened again,” she said. “I am not happy, because that day when the bomb went off destroyed my family.” Of the bomber and those who sent him on his mission, she says only: “They did a bad thing. They should not have done it.” Her unemployed father, Ahmad, 35, lifts the shirt of Tarana’s four-year-old sister to show horrific scars covering her entire stomach from the shrapnel that ripped through the celebrating crowd. Out of 17 women and children from her extended family who went to a riverside shrine near her home that day to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashura, seven died, including her seven-year-old brother Shoaib.

Tarana herself has scars on her legs and arms and walks with a limp. She no longer attends school because her legs hurt, she says, adding: “I hope I can get well soon and go back to school.”

Asked about her hopes for the future, the sweet smile makes an appearance and she says she would like to be a teacher, with the local language Dari being her favourite subject. She spends her days playing with her sisters in the ramshackle house and in the dirt courtyard outside which leads to an alley where huddled young men openly inject heroin against crumbling mud walls. Behind those walls, the “Girl in the green dress” nurses her pain and her fears, now dressed in a plain, baggy, shalwar khameez hiding the scars from the day her life was torn apart. —AFP