28 Feb 2013

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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Kuwait after 22-yr halt

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7First Iraq 8 plane 21 lands20in Flight hailed as sign of improving relations

Deadly virus demands swift sleuth work LONDON: The emergence of a deadly virus previously unseen in humans that has already killed half those known to be infected requires speedy scientific detective work to figure out its potential. Experts in virology and infectious diseases say that while they already have unprecedented detail about the genetics and capabilities of the novel coronavirus, or NCoV, what worries them more is what they don’t know. The virus, which belongs to the same family as viruses that cause the common cold and the one that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), emerged in the Middle East last year and has so far killed seven of the 13 people it is known to have infected worldwide. Of those, six have been in Saudi Arabia, two in Jordan, and others in Britain and Germany linked to travel in the Middle East or to family clusters.

“What we know really concerns me, but what we don’t know really scares me,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the US-based Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and a professor at the University of Minnesota. Less than a week after identifying NCoV in September last year in a Qatari patient at a London hospital, scientists at Britain’s Health Protection Agency had sequenced part of its genome and mapped out a so-called “phylogenetic tree” - a kind of family tree - of its links.

Continued on Page 12

KUWAIT: Iraqi officials arrive at Kuwait International Airport yesterday onboard the first Iraqi airplane to land in Kuwait since the Iraqi invasion in 1990. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Max 28º Min 12º High Tide 01:03 & 13:45 Low Tide 07:44 & 20:01

KUWAIT/BAGHDAD: An Iraqi plane landed in Kuwait yesterday for the first time since Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of the state. Iraq’s foreign and transport ministers Hoshyar Zebari and Hadi Al-Amri - travelled on the symbolic Iraqi Airways flight, hailed by officials as a sign of improving relations between the oil-producing neighbours, and they were greeted by Kuwaiti officials upon landing. The Iraqi transport ministry said there would now be regular flights between the countries. “Today was the first flight between Iraq and Kuwait after a stoppage that lasted more than 22 years,” the ministry’s media advisor Karim Al-Nuri said. “This visit shows that Iraq has started to be open, especially with the state of Kuwait ... I believe that relations are heading in a positive direction.”

The plane was greeted on arrival in Kuwait by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah AlKhaled Al-Sabah, Iraq’s ambassador to Kuwait Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Ulum, President of the Kuwait Directorate of Civil Aviation Fawaz Al-Farah and Chairman and Managing Director of Kuwait Airways Corporation Sami AlNisf. The plane landed on the Amiri runway at 11:55 am local time with a symbolic ceremony followed by an official reception of the Iraqi guests.

Diplomatic ties between the neighbours were bolstered last year after they came to a settlement over Gulf War-era debts, and by a series of bilateral visits involving HH the Amir and Iraq’s prime minister. In December, Kuwait Airways dropped legal cases against Iraqi Airways in return for compensation of $500 million. Although one small private carrier offers direct flights between the two countries, major airlines route through cities such as Dubai even though the nations’ capitals lie just 560 km apart. Kuwait Airways has yet to restart flights to Iraq. Nisf said that all outstanding issues between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi national carriers have been completed and fully resolved. On the possibility of operating flights to Iraq, Nisf said “a shortage of aircraft hinders us at the time being”. — Agencies

Pope bids farewell to huge crowds

ARLINGTON, Virginia: New US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks to service members and civilian employees at the Pentagon yesterday after being sworn-in. — AP

Hagel takes Pentagon helm after bitter fight US can’t ‘dictate’ to world WASHINGTON: Decorated Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel was sworn in as US defense secretary yesterday after a bruising Senate confirmation battle, and promised to renew old U.S. alliances and forge new ones without attempting to “dictate” to the world. Addressing Pentagon employees shortly after a small, closeddoor swearing-in ceremony, Hagel spoke optimistically, if vaguely, about global challenges ahead and the importance of American leadership abroad. “We can’t dictate to the world. But we must engage the world. We must lead with our allies,” Hagel said in what appeared to be unscripted remarks. “No nation, as great as America is, can do any of this alone.”

He also plainly acknowledged the prospect of looming automatic budget cuts, known as the sequester, saying flatly: “That’s a reality. We need to figure this out. You are doing that.” “We need to deal with this reality,” he added, as hopes dim in Washington that Congress might act in time to forestall $46 billion in Pentagon cuts, due to kick in on March 1.

Hagel, a former two-term Republican US senator from Nebraska, broke from his party during the administration of George W Bush to become a fierce critic of the Iraq war. Many Republicans opposed to Hagel’s nomination scorned him over Iraq and raised questions about whether he

was sufficiently supportive of Israel, tough enough on Iran or truly committed to maintaining a robust nuclear deterrent.

The 58-41 Senate vote to confirm him late on Tuesday was the closest vote ever to approve a defense secretary, with only four Republicans supporting him.

Hagel did not acknowledge any Republican criticisms or reveal any personal concerns about working with Congress during his remarks yesterday.

But he did articulate his views about the need for caution when America flexes its muscle abroad. “We have great power and how we apply our power is particularly important,” Hagel said. “That engagement in the world should be done wisely. And the resources that we employ on behalf of our country and our allies should always be applied wisely.”

Hagel told the Pentagon audience that the United States was ultimately a force “for good”. “We make mistakes. We’ve made mistakes. We’ll continue to make mistakes. But we are a force for good. And we should never, ever forget that, and we should always keep that out in front as much as any one thing that drives us every day.” Hagel, 66, took his oath of office at about 8:30 am (1330 GMT) at the Pentagon as his wife looked on, becoming the first combat veteran from the Vietnam conflict to take up the post. — Agencies

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI yesterday admitted “stormy waters” during his papacy as he gave an emotional farewell in St Peter’s Square before tens of thousands of pilgrims on the eve of his momentous resignation. A smiling Benedict looked relaxed as his white “popemobile” bore him through the famous plaza where more than 150,000 people had gathered under a bright, cloudless sky for his historic sendoff. A woman clutching a rosary wiped away tears as the octogenarian Benedict passed. One of the hundreds of cardinals and bishops in their red and purple-sashed robes could also be seen tearing up. Some in the throng held up huge banners with messages such as “Benedict, we’ll miss you!” and “The pope is the heart of this city!” or waved the Vatican’s yellow and white flag at the pontiff’s last public event.

A hush fell over the sea of pilgrims as the pope began speaking. Benedict drew an analogy between his reign and a miracle recounted in the Bible. “The Lord gave us days of sun and of light breeze, days in which the fishing was good. There were also moments when there were stormy waters and headwinds...” the pope said in an apparent reference to the multiple scandals that have plagued his reign. “But I always knew that God was in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, is not ours, but is his and he will not let it sink,” the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics told the cheering crowd. “I never felt alone,” he said.

Benedict also said his decision to resign - which makes him the first pope to do so since the Middle Ages - had not been an easy one but had been taken for the good of the Church. “I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit,” he said, adding: “I will continue to accompany Continued on Page 12

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives in St Peter’s square for his last weekly audience yesterday at the Vatican. — AP

Iran upbeat on nuke talks, West wary ALMATY: Iran was upbeat yesterday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears of a secret weapons program. The United States, China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany offered to ease sanctions slightly in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive work, but had made clear they expected no breakthrough in the talks in Kazakhstan, the first in eight months.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the talks had been “useful” and that a serious engagement by Iran could lead to a comprehensive deal in a decade-old dispute that has threatened to trigger a new Middle East war. Iran’s foreign minister said in Vienna he was “very confident” a deal could be reached and its chief negotiator said he believed the Almaty meeting could be a “turning point”.

The two sides agreed to hold expert-level

talks in Istanbul on March 18 to discuss the offer, and return to Almaty for political discussions on April 5-6, when Western diplomats made clear they wanted to see substantive movement by Iran. “Iran knows what it needs to do, the president has made clear his determination to implement his policy that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” Kerry said in Paris. A senior US official in Almaty added: “What we care about at the end is concrete results.”

Israel, assumed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed power, was watching the talks closely. It has strongly hinted it might attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to ensure that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such aim. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said economic sanctions were failing and urged the international community to threaten Iran with military action. Western officials said the offer presented by the six powers included

an easing of a ban on trade in gold and other precious metals, and a relaxation of an import embargo on Iranian petrochemical products. They gave no further details. In exchange, a senior US official said, Iran would among other things have to suspend uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at its Fordo underground facility and “constrain the ability to quickly resume operations there”.

This appeared to be a softening of a previous demand that Iran ship out its entire stockpile of higher-grade enriched uranium, which it says it needs to produce medical isotopes. Iran says it has a sovereign right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and wants to fuel nuclear power plants so that it can export more oil. But 20-percent purity is far higher than that needed for nuclear power, and rings alarm bells abroad because it is only a short technical step away from Continued on Page 12

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

LOCAL

Financial disputes behind Sharjah murder KUWAIT: Personal and financial disputes led to the assault which resulted in the death of a Kuwaiti student in the United Arab Emirates last Sunday, Sharjah police said in a statement on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a senior Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry official urged the local media to ‘maintain caution’ as they pursued the story and not to “jump to conclusions without clear evidence or before investigation results are released.”

Mubarak Meshal Mubarak, 19, was pronounced dead at the University of Sharjah hospital after he succumbed to injuries sustained during a physical assault. Police later arrested his two Kuwaiti roommates who admitted to the beating which led to the man’s death. “The authorities in the UAE are doing their job in interrogating the two suspects... and we are waiting for the inves-

tigations’ results,” Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khalid Al-Jarallah told AlRai on Tuesday.

The victim was rushed to the hospital by one of his roommates who was taken into custody by the police after marks of beatings were found all over the deceased’s body. The suspect confessed that the victim was beaten for three days at his rented apartment.

While the victim’s body was supposed to have arrived in Kuwait yesterday according to an Al-Rai’s report, the local newspaper indicated that relatives of the victim complained of lack of cooperation from Kuwait’s embassy in the UAE, quoting lawyer Fayez Al-Kandari, who was assigned by the National Union of Kuwaiti Students to follow the case, in this context.

Opportunities to solve Mideast problems UNITED NATIONS: A UN official yesterday told the Security Council that opportunities were out there to solve all the problems of the Middle East if the international community did not sit still.

Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told the Council in its monthly briefing on the situation in the Middle East, “we meet at a moment of heightened risks across multiple fronts in the Middle East. Opportunities do exist to reverse these trends, but not if the international community sits still.”

“Stepped up efforts by this Council and its members can make a substantial difference while there is still time to do so ... It is my hope that the shared sense of frustration translates into a shared sense of urgency,” he added.

“It is our strong belief that we need to inject new life in the political process now.

This is a time for renewed impetus and political will to end the conflict and the occupation that has already scarred the lives of far too many Israelis and Palestinians for far too long,” he stressed.

He called the rocket attack from Gaza into Israel earlier today as “troubling,” indicating that the “temperature is again rising” between Israelis and Palestinians, and “there is as yet no process of negotiation to offer hope on the horizon.”

On the demolition of Palestinian houses in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, he said at least 139 structures were destroyed by the Israeli authorities in January alone, adding that this is the “highest number of such demolitions in a single month in over two years.”

“It is now the time for all of us to act decisively, and with concerted purpose, including through a revitalized and relevant Quartet, but also beyond, if we are to salvage the two-state solution” - Palestine and Israel, he said.

He said “we look for ward” to the renewed US engagement with President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s upcoming visit to the region next month, and with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators preparing to visit Washington, DC. He therefore called on Palestinians and Israelis to be “prepared to embrace their responsibilities to engage fully with any credible new initiative and demonstrate good will and renewed commitment.”

On the situation in Syria, he said “tentative steps to dialogue (between the government and the opposition) are struggling to take root, and the conflict is threatening to pull its neighbours “most notably and worrisomely Lebanon, into its vortex.”

“We are also looking into media reports that the Israeli government authorized drilling in the search of oil in the occupied Syrian Golan,” he said.

Predicting the fall of the Assad regime, he said “there should be no room in the future Syria for those who hold contempt for the beliefs, practices, and symbols of other religious traditions or who cite secularism as a pretext for trying to monopolize power predominantly in the hands of one group.”

“There is no room for sectarianism or discrimination on any grounds. All communities must be assured that their rights will be respected,” he added.—- KUNA

KUWAIT: Fire department participated in Independence Exhibition 52 which was held at the Fair Ground in Meshref over the weekend. Fire protection, marine rescue technical rescue, dangerous materials and public relations represented the fire department in this exhibition. Fire fighting equipments were exhibited.—Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

MPs complain against ministers’ ‘favoritism’ Help to finalize transactions KUWAIT: Efforts are currently on to prevent the conflict between the parliament and cabinet from spilling over in the wake of four grilling motions filed against ministers, as well as some MPs ‘complaining’ about certain ministers acting in a discriminatory fashion, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting parliamentary insiders. Speaking to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity, sources said four MPs had recently met two ministers and complained against at least five other ministers who they believed “deliberately favor certain lawmakers in helping them finalize transactions leaving out others.” The MPs made it clear to the two ministers that if this approach did not change, “then

the cabinet could find itself with little support when it will be time to debate the interpellations,” the sources added.

The sources did not name the complaining lawmakers, nor the ministers they met or the ones they complained about, but pointed out that the two ministers promised to convey their feelings to HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlSabah. Meanwhile, the same sources indicated that a majority in the parliament planned to ask the premier to conduct a “wideranging cabinet reshuffle” at the beginning of the next parliamentary term “that sees changes in at least half of the portfolios.” (Rai) In other news, rapporteur of the parliament’s health commit-

tee Hani Shams said that the panel would reject any proposals which would mean that medical services would be provided to people in separate time bands based on the patients’ nationality.

Reports last week had suggested that the ministr y was studying the possibility of allocating the morning period at outpatients clinics for Kuwaiti patients and the afternoon period for expatriates patients. “The Ministry of Health is required to allow people to be equally entitled to medical attention regardless of their nationality, and that is out of the belief that every person living in Kuwait is entitled to equality and justice especially when it comes to healthcare,”

Shams told Al-Qabas.

Separately, Shams told AlJarida newspaper that he received information that the Prime Minister, Parliament Speaker Ali Al-Rashid, Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali and head of the parliament’s financial and economic committee Yousuf Al-Zalzalah, agreed during a recent meeting on a mechanism to “drop the interests accrued on the bank loans taken before April 2008,” which would pave the way towards ending the dilemma by sometime next month.

Al-Jarida also spoke to committee member Mohammad AlJabri who indicated that the panel was set to officially approve the mechanism during its meeting next Sunday. (Jarida)

Close brush with death

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A driver had a close brush with death when his vehicle caught fire at the King Fahad road and was completely gutted within seconds.

The man managed to escape the moment fire broke out. Firemen arrived later but there was little left of the vehicle.

Two little girls were burnt to death in their sleep at a spring camp at Al

Mutlaa while their mother succumbed later to her burns after fire broke out in their tent at Abdaly Road near kilo 3. Of the two daughters, one was six years of age while the other was ten.

Security sources said fire started from a candle box when the family was fast asleep and engulfed the entire tent as well as the rest of the camp. The father was able to rescue his mother and wife but could not save the daughters as flames frustrat-

ed his efforts. Flames also spread to where his four wheel drive car was parked, and reduced it to ashes. The wife later succumbed to the severe burns.

Jahra governorate security director Lt Gen Ibraheem Al Jurrah, Jahra area commander Col Salah Al-Daas, head of north Jahra police station Maj Ali Al-Shimmary and personnel from criminal investigation department inspected the scene. A case was filed.

Arab journalist heads South Asia Foreign Correspondents Club NEW DELHI: Senior Arab journalist based in New Delhi for more than three decades, Dr. Waiel Awwad, has been elected as the new President of the prestigious Delhi-based “Foreign Correspondents Club of South Asia”.

A Syrian national, Dr Awwad is currently the South Asia Bureau Chief of AlArabiya TV Channel (Dubai Media City).

The new team of office bearers elected for the 2013-2015 term also includes KUNA’s (Kuwait News Agency) India Correspondent Pankaj Yadav (as member of the Managing Committee).

Another Arab journalist who got elected among the new office bearers includes Omar Achy of the Magareb Arab Press (MAP) as member of the Managing Committee. The other office bearers of the renowned media club are: Baldev Kapoor (Vice-President), Hari Kumar Tyagi, a reporter with the New York Times (Treasurer), and Ragavendra Verma, correspondent with International News Services (Secretary). The Managing Committee members are: Omar Achy (MAP), Nita Bhalla (Thomson Reuters Foundation), Karuna Madan (Yomiuri

Shimbun), PM Narayan (ARD German Television), Siddharth Srivastava (News Asia International), and Pankaj Yadav (Kuwait News Agency).

The FCC is a club whose more than 500 members are journalists and photographers covering South East Asia, Tibet, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. The club was founded in 1958, and has since been the most prestigious press club in India. It is frequented by news-makers and leading dignitaries from India, South Asia and other foreign countries. — KUNA

The Creative Design Center hosted the 2013 Hala February raffle draws that attracted wide participation from people who took part in competitions and events for a chance to win prizes described as the largest in value in Kuwait. Meanwhile, Souq Sharq also hosted special performances for the Zain Circus to mark the National Holidays.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwaiti national days celebrations at United Nations, Hong Kong, Moscow and Caracas.

Embassies celebrate Kuwait national days Festivities around the world CAPITALS: The Kuwaiti diplomatic missions in several countries yesterday continued celebrating Kuwait’s 52nd Independence Day, 22nd liberation day, and the seventh anniversary of His Highness the Amir’s assumption of office. Kuwait’s permanent delegate to the United Nations, on the occasion of the National Days, shed light on the Gulf State effective role on the international stage and its external balanced and peaceful policy that has drawn global acclaim.

Ambassador Ayyad Al-Otaibi, who held a formal reception to mark the National Days, late on Tuesday, expressed good wishes to the homeland and congratulations to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, the natives and residents of the country. He also prayed for souls of the national martyrs who sacrificed their life for protecting Kuwait’s security and independence.

“We are proud, on the anniversaries of independence and liberation, of the accomplishments made over the past years, namely the level of our relations with the United Nations in various sectors. “The State of Kuwait plays effective and active roles in support of activities of the United Nations in the realms of keeping the international peace and security and bolstering international cooperation for realizing economic and social development, as well as backing states that suffer from natural catastrophes and crises. Moreover, the State of

Kuwait is keen on honoring its international pledges and obligations, in line with the resolutions or treaties it has approved or joined.”

Kuwait has adopted an external policy of relations, based on respect for objectives and charter of the United Nations, most notably states’ sovereignty, non-intervention in their domestic affairs, abstention from usage of force or threats to resolve disputes.

Therefore, Kuwait occupies an eminent stature in the international community, and there is recognition and appreciation for its regional and international role, he affirmed, noting the three visits that had been paid by the UN Secretary General, Ban ki-Moon, to Kuwait within 12 months, its hosting, over the past months, of crucial international conventions, latest of which was the conference for donations for Syria. Citing other factors that reflect Kuwait’s distinguished role and recognition as an influential state internationally, Ambassador AlOtaibi indicated at its membership in several of the UN agencies and councils.

In Tehran Ambassador to Iran Majdy Ahmad Al-Dhafiri hosted a reception with large number of Iranian politicians and public celebrities attending.

Among the top guests were Chairman of Iran’s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Dr. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian side in the joint parliamentary friendship committee MP Javad Saadoun Zadeh Deputy Foreign Minister Behrouz Kamalvandi, and Mohammad Sadeq Al-Husseini, an Iranian political analyst.

In a statement Ambassador Al-Dhafiri congratulated HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah as well as all the Kuwaiti people and government on this occasion.

Ambassador Kamalvandi and Dr.

East and Oceania Affairs Dr. David Velazquez.

He voiced best wishes for HH the Amir and the Kuwaiti government and people, commending the close ties between Kuwait and Venezuela. In Moscow, Ambassador to the Russian Federation Nasser Al-Muzayyen hosted a reception which gathered dozens of

Boroujerdi expressed best wishes for Kuwait, voicing hope for even stronger ties with Kuwait. In Caracas, Ambassador to Venezuela Mohammad Al-Shabu hosted a reception which gathered a large number of statesmen, members of parliament, public figures and intelligentsia, as well as representatives of the Arab diplomatic missions in the Latin American country.

Al-Shabu welcomed the officials foremost among who were Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia, Middle

government officials, public and media figures, as well as representatives of the Arab and foreign diplomatic missions.

Among the senior guests were Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Bogdanov and former foreign minister Igor Ivanov, from Russia, and Saudi Ambassador Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz.

Al-Muzayyen congratulated HH the Amir, HH the Crown Prince and HH the Prime Minister as well as all the Kuwaiti people and government on this occa-

Kuwaiti tourists celebrate national days in Lebanon BEIRUT: A number of Kuwaiti tourists celebrated Kuwait’s National and Liberation Days in the snaw-caped Faraya Mountains northeast of the Lebanese capital yesterday.

“We congratulate His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the occasion of Kuwait’s 52nd National Day and 22nd Liberation Day, and wish His Highness good health and Kuwait more progress and prosperity under his leadership,” one of the Kuwaiti tourists told KUNA. “We are spending a great time here while enjoying the beautiful weather, especially in the snowy areas,” the

tourist added, confirming commitment to celebrate Kuwait’s anniversaries anywhere.

“As Kuwaiti nationals, we are currently living in joy as these national days are the dearest to our hearts,” Khaled Al-Duaij, a Kuwaiti tourist, said.

Wani Khalil, owner of ski equipment center in Faraya, said that despite the drop in the number of tourists this year, Faraya has remained busy with tourists from the Gulf countries, especially Kuwait, stressing that Lebanon is considered a second home for Kuwaitis. The increased number of tourists in the meantime is due to the Kuwaiti national days celebration, he

added, wishing Kuwait’s government, people and HH the Amir success and prosperity and Lebanon and the Arab world more security and stability.

The unstable situations in Lebanon and the region have affected tourism and lessened the arrival of businessmen to the country as the number of tourists from the Gulf used to reach 40 percent with spendings worth 60 percent of the overall tourism income.

Lebanon is the Middle East’s leading center of tourism due to its mountainous scenery and its 220 kilometer long beach as its tourism sector secures up to 22 percent of the national income. — KUNA

Sheikha Latifa urges discussion of Arab women’s status ALGIERS: Visiting Chairperson of the Kuwaiti Cabinet’s Committee on Women’s Affairs Sheikha Latifa Al-Fahad AlSalem Al-Sabah met Algerian Minister of National Security and Family Souad Bent Jaballah here yesterday.

The meeting was attended by Kuwaiti Ambassador to Algeria Saud Faisal Al-Duweesh and a Kuwaiti delegation attending an Arab Women’s Organization conference, which began in Algiers on Monday.

During the meeting, Sheikha Latifa, who doubles as chairperson of the Kuwaiti Union for Women Societies, stressed the significance of discussing how to develop Arab women’s status during sessions and meetings held on the sidelines of the conference.

They considered different issues that concern Arab women and ways and means of promoting Arab women’s circumstances.

They also discussed brotherly relations between Kuwait and Algeria and how to further promote and reinforce bilateral cooperation for the interest of inter-Arab ties.

Sheikha Latifa is leading a Kuwaiti delegation partaking in the Arab Women’s Organization conference. — KUNA

Al-Nisf expected to resign KUWAIT: The Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Kuwait Airways (KAC), Sami Al-Nisf, is expected to resign from his post of Managing Director before May 28, according to the new commercial Companies Law. He will retain his post as chairman.

Meanwhile, Communications Minister and Chairman of the higher council of Civil Aviation, Salem Al-Athena, is looking for a replacement for deputy chairman Mutlaq AlSane who had quit.

The restructuring operations and fleet modernization have been facing several obstacles including the fact that the government has not released KAC’s financial dues that have accumulated since 2004 and were now being pegged at KD 435 million.

Also, there have been several changes in the board of directors apart from the fact that the current fleet operations have been accruing losses.

sion Embassy in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, also held a reception to celebrate the national days with Ambassador Yaaqoub Youssef Al-Sanad and the diplomatic staff welcoming the senior well-wishers.

The dignitaries present included Kenyan government officials, public and media figures, as well as representatives of the Arab diplomatic missions; foremost among them was Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism Ambassador Ruth Sereti Solitei. Al-Sanad congratulated HH the Amir, HH the Crown Prince and HH the Prime Minister as well as all the Kuwaiti people and government on the national days.

In Pretoria, Ambassador to South Africa Hassan Bader Al-Oqab hosted a grand reception which gathered a large number of government officials, public and media figures, as well as representatives of the Arab and foreign diplomatic missions.

Among the dignitaries present was South African Minister of Energy Elizabeth Dipuo Peters. As part of the celebration a documentary was screened featuring the various stages of Kuwait history and the aspects of the country’s prosperity.

Al-Oqab welcomed the guests and voiced best wishes for HH the Amir, HH the Crown Prince and HH the Prime Minister as well as all the Kuwaiti people and government.

In Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, Sheikh Fahad Salem Al-Nasser Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s consul general and dean of consular corps in the city, hosted a reception which gathered a large number of gov-

ernment officials, public and media figures, as well as representatives of the Arab and foreign diplomatic missions.

In a statement during the event, Sheikh Fahad voiced best wishes for HH the Amir, HH the Crown Prince and HH the Prime Minister as well as all the Kuwaiti people and government. He commended the close ties and cooperation with Turkey in all domains which kept growing to the benefit of both nations.

On his part, Istanbul Governor Hussain Avani lauded the great achievements made by Kuwait under the wise leadership of HH the Amir. In Baghdad, Ambassador to Iraq Ali Al-Momen hosted a reception which gathered a large number of Iraqi government officials, public and media figures, as well as representatives of the Arab and foreign diplomatic missions. The reception began with playing the national anthems of the two sisterly countries and then Al-Momen welcomed the guests.

He commended the close bilateral ties which grow steadily thanks to the wise leaderships of HH the Amir and Iraqi leaders, citing the headway made by the recently-launched joint ministerial committee.

He wished for quick recovery for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Ambassador Al-Momen voiced best wishes for HH the Amir, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah as well as all the Kuwaiti people and government. — KUNA

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

LOCAL Letters to Muna

the column

National Day celebrations

Traffic bad all the time

By Fouad Al-Obaid

By Muna Al-Fuzai

fouad@kuwaittimes.net Twitter:@fouadalobaid muna@kuwaittimes.net

Hello, I am an American working here in Kuwait. I have worked and lived in about ten major cities in the US in my life and I have to tell you that traffic can be bad everywhere “at times” but here it is bad “all the time.”

I have been in more stop-and-go traffic jams in the last 11 months than I have been in during the last 11 years before that. From 9 am to 10pm every day, there seems to be no way for the vehicles to go anywhere.

The only city that could even come close was Miami but that too was only for a couple of hours on any day, between 4:00 and 6:00 in the evening.

In the States, most of the cities are shifting to what is called “metered” traffic. The ramps are two-lanes wide and have a set of stop lights. When traffic starts to become congested the lights (which are green all the time when traffic is light) start turning red for a few seconds. It ensures that the road is not clogged.

Everyone faces a little inconvenience but one knows that once one is on the road, one will eventually reach the destination in a reasonable time span with a bit of stress. Traffic does slow down but it never stops with metered traffic.

The problem here is exactly the way you described. The same guys who race down at 80 or 100 kph when traffic starts to slow down will be the guys who will drive right through the red lights.

Traffic rules work only when everyone obeys them.

Anyway, I read your articles every time a new one appears and I like your style, but then again, they profess common sense. So I suspect more than a few ignore the advice.

Have a good evening.

A US Reader Dear Madam, Greetings, First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Ermias and I have a housemaid recruitment office registered with the Ministry of Labor here in Ethiopia. I have been in the job placement field for almost five years. I have agents in Kuwait who are very wonderful and cooperative.

The reason I am emailing you now is that I have read many of your articles on Kuwait Times online and I find all of them, recent and old ones, very informative as they deal with sensitive issues and advocate the cause of the voiceless domestic workers. Not much attention is given to these problems in the host countries and they are often at the receiving end in countries like Kuwait. Thank you and hopefully some reforms will happen soon.

Sincerely, Ermias F.Y. Salam This is just one side of a coin which is often highlighted and reported. It will do a lot of good if responsible media personnel also report the positive side.

Though I am not an ardent wanderer, I did witness a scene along with my wife regarding the subject you wrote on. I saw a maid being seen off at the airport by not one but several female members of a Kuwaiti family. It was quite an emotional scene with the maid and the women hugging each other and crying profusely, a scene that is hard to forget. I am not sure about others but as for us, it moved us to no end.

Clearly, no was feigning it, there were no cameras around and the emotions were all genuine.

Something like this could not have been witnessed without the entire Kuwaiti family being so very nice towards the maid.

The second scene I witnessed was in a hospital where a Kuwaiti lady, may Allah increase her tribe, gently let a maid wait in the waiting hall while herself moving around and dealing with people at various windows to complete all formalities. All this while, she did not appear annoyed nor did she behave as if she was doing a favour to the maid. When my wife asked the maid about her, she said it was simply how this Kuwaiti woman was as a person, forever caring.

The third scene was also at an airport where a Kuwaiti gentleman had come to receive a maid who was perhaps returning after a vacation. The moment his little boy saw her, he raced past all barriers and leaped to greet her, hugging her tightly and kissing her even as the Kuwaiti man watched in an amused fashion. Now, what must this Kuwaiti family have done differently in order to invite such reciprocal warmth?

Yes, there definitely are situations that are akin to slavery in Kuwait, but the freedom and equality available to a majority cannot even be imagined by these maids at the hands of their own countrymen belonging to the same faith or tribe. Such inspiring stories must also find space in your column.

Khalid Faridi Muna, Kudos to you on your recent article in the Kuwait Times, titled “Safety and Security.” It was a great piece of writing on an issue whose importance you recognized and which will hopefully jolt the conscience of citizens and expats besides energizing the government.

For the last two months or so, I have been routinely reading the Kuwait Times. I have become increasingly dismayed at not only the frequency of crime and the viciousness involved, but also the nonchalance with which it is generally reported. What has become of Kuwait’s society that it is seemingly turning a blind eye? I am puzzled that thousands of people are not commenting on-line on this editorial.

This is not the Kuwait that I heard so much about in the 1970s from students who used to come to the U.S. to study. I can remember thinking all those years ago what a refuge Kuwait would be from all the craziness here in the States. It saddens me that that a hint of that craziness has now entered Kuwait.

Regards, BJ

T

kuwait digest

A life worth living

By Dr Ibtihal Al-Khateeb

B

ashayer, one of my students at the Kuwait University, asked me during a class why I keep writing despite the emotional stress that it brings to me and my family. In order to avoid giving her a cliched answer about ‘change’ and ‘believing in principles’, I simply said, “I don’t know.” I tried hard to bring myself to confront why I have such an intense commitment towards what I believe in. The eagerness to confront and challenge, the thrill in instigating people and even the desire to achieve fame are after all the things that are hidden but that could motivate people. These are human feelings and my emotional or mental state of mind cannot prevent these feelings from affecting me.

In a bid to force myself to answer this question, I found myself confronting me with another question: Do I think that what I do can achieve any change?

The answer which comes as a stab in the heart is a clear ‘No.’ No, I do not think that any tangible change can be achieved in my lifetime. Clearly, there must be ‘other reasons’ because the human purpose cannot be devoid from the desire to improve the present. What is that intangible thing that I want? Honestly, I do not know.

I have been invited to attend a National Day event organized by the Al-Raya students’ list in the UK and Ireland which is to take place next weekend (March 2 & 3). When I received the invitation, emotions came surging in my heart, and many a thought flashed by in my head. I started coming up with ideas and taking notes about what I am going to speak about, and then the metaphorical light bulb lit above my head signaling that I found the answer I was looking for. I understood that the source of my commitment and activity are these young men and women, their reactions, the spark I sometimes see in their eyes, the moment of silence that follows when I say something they never thought of before or when they say something that had escaped my attention. It is that inspiration, and my passion to become a source of inspiration and my need for them to be my source of inspiration.

I think I found the truth about the source from which my persistence comes. I understood my message and goal. It is the message and goal of every ‘happy’ teacher in the world who seeks not to provide new information, but use this information to inspire his students. All I want from these children is for them to think, to challenge the prevailing thoughts.

Whether they achieve the results or not, it is certainly not my right to know or influence that, but moving what is idle is my duty, my call and my holy mission until the day I die.

Though my upcoming meeting with students in the United Kingdom is not my first, this one comes when I have grown older and have a better understanding of myself and my goals in life. It comes as part of my search for the source of my work, my thinking, my perseverance and my struggle. My goal is to be an inspiration for the young people as they grow, to say a word or make a note that leaves a mark, to explain a piece of information or opinion from a perception they had not known earlier. Whether they like it or not, approve of it or reject it, I want them to think about something they never thought about before, to ask ‘why’ regarding things that are considered foregone conclusions, and to ask ‘how’ and ‘when’ about something deemed an indisputable truth. What if one of them stood at a crossroad in their life because of something that I had said? What if their lives change as a result?

Who knows if this has not already happened without me even knowing? Is there a motivation to continue working that is more beautiful and awe-inspiring than this?

Inspiration, and only that, is what I seek to achieve. My goal is not to deliver information; millions of others can do that, nor is it to change people’s approach because that is a personal decision. My goal is this fleeting moment in the lives of young men and women who I meet in class or outside campus when they pause for a second while their facial expression would tell that they would be thinking about something. Then their body language gives the impression that they have so much to say, yet they end up saying nothing. You see the inner struggle right before your eyes as these flowers blossom and enter the enchanting world of thinking. I live for these moments. All my human values, my goals, my struggles and my perseverance are reflected in them. At the ending of the Tom Hanks starrer ‘Cloud Atlas’, , a conversation takes place between a slave dealer who confronts a couple who are active in the cause of freeing the slaves. He says, “No matter what you do, it will never amount to anything more than a single drop in a limitless ocean.” The husband replies, “What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?” One drop every day. One idea every day. If we can inspire one person in our entire lives, it would be a life worth living.—Al-Jarida

kuwait digest

Is it feasible to clone Iranian model in Egypt?

By Dr Mohammed M.Hasanen

I

n a previous article “Historical Opportunity for Egyptian Parties,” published here on January 23rd 2012, I discussed the future political system in Egypt after the January 25th Revolution from the diverse perspectives of major political forces. I argued that those vying to control the government would each apply a different model, if successful. I contended that the political Islamic groups would seek to copy the Iranian political system and that liberal parties would follow the philosophy of the Turkish model. The former is becoming the political reality.

Ever since the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) ensconced itself in the presidential palace in July 2012, it has been striving to achieve its political goals. For many observers, the Guidance Bureau - the most authoritative level in the MB’s political hierarchy - has turned out to be the major decision making centre in Egypt. MB leaders have started to control public media and key high ranking government positions. The new constitution, designed mainly by political Islamic groups, has been ratified overnight. The constitution framers were keen to introduce changes to the governmental structure in order to eliminate the influence of some individuals and opposing groups, or at least minimizing their power. These changes include, but are not limited to, the restrictions on the powers of the Constitutional Court, the judicial branch, and the media.

A few days ago, the warm reception given to the Iranian President in Cairo and the secret visit of the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to Egypt raised red flags in the minds of many Egyptians. The political scene, as well as the violent anger in many major cities, shows the disagreement of many segments of the society and their refusal to accept such policies and changes. People are openly criticizing MB plans in public and protesting vociferously against the MB and its Guidance Bureau. This brewing antagonism is of both regional and global significance.

Iran is an important regional power and should not be ignored. Development of appropriate diplomatic relations and communication channels between Egypt and Iran might be necessary for both national and regional interests. However, simply cloning the Iranian political system is definitely not appropriate for modern Egypt. Wholesale import of pre-decided political structures rarely works. Egypt and Iran are similar in many respects: they are the two most populated and influential countries in the Middle East. Each has witnessed decades of political and social corruption that culminated in popular revolution against the incumbent regimes. On the other hand, there are significant differences between them, differences that should be given deep thought before taking further steps toward emulating the Iranian political system in Egypt.

The most important distinction is that the Egyptian revolution has had no charismatic leader till now; this was not the case in Iran. Ayat Allah Khomeini was the leader of the Islamic Iranian Revolution. Khomeini was not just a spiritual leader, but also a key theoretician for the Iranian revolution. He designed a unique political system in which spiritual authority resides in him as the Supreme Guide, elected by the eighty members of the Assembly of Experts, a council composed of Iran’s leading religious authorities. According to the Iranian constitution, the supreme leader - the highest power in the land - has an almost free hand in appointing the head of the judiciary, military leaders, the head of radio and TV, and even Friday prayer leaders.

In the case of the Egyptian revolution, the absence of charismatic leadership has led to greater fragmentation of its political forces and decision making processes than in the Iranian case.

The liberal and the Islamic blocs have no acceptable leader capable of uniting the opposing factions under one strategy.

Moreover, each of these factions is divided into groups with different goals and strategies. The inter- and intra-party divisions and the use of the streets as platforms to promote their ideologies have led to more confrontation and violence. As a result, the economy, investment, and tourism have been harshly and negatively affected, further complicating effective political management of the state. However, the Iranian revolution was not characterized by these elements. Economically, oil revenues helped the post-revolution regime in Iran to get through the transition period smoothly, facilitating greater popular support.

This is one important reason that a clone of the Iranian political model in Egypt is unlikely to succeed.

The military has, does, and will continue to play a key role in Egyptian politics. The army has an honourable place in Egyptian history. Though it has been withdrawn from the political scene since the president was elected in July 2012, the people look up to it as the last resort if MB fails to lead the country to safer shores. The army leaders would not accept what happened in Iran after the revolution, when Khomeini ordered the execution of many generals and exiled others. Moreover, they will stand firm against the founding of an Egyptian equivalent of the Iranian revolutionary guard. Establishment of loyal military corps is likely to result in the unfettered formation of militias.

Other political forces will find that they are able to form one and this would easily lead to a new civil war, a situation that would have been easily quash in a post-revolutionary Iran with relatively economic, political, and military stability. It would turn out to be another reason that a clone of the Iranian model is not Feasible in Egypt. May God protect and bless Egypt.

(The author is an Assistant Professor for political science at the Gulf University for Science and Technology.)

here is something peculiar about the way we have developed our concept of National Day celebration especially in light of the magnitude of the events that we ought to be commemorating, and hence should reflect upon. In essence the 25th and 26th of February of each year are dates set on calendars of every Kuwaiti.

The 25th is the day we celebrate our freedom post-protectorate and the effective return of full sovereignty of our territory politically, militarily and economically. The latter is more emotional, for it is a reminder of what happens when we fail ourselves and end up at the receiving end of a tragic invasion that had the potential to annihilate Kuwait.

You would think people in this country would take the opportunity and symbolism fueled by the history represented in those two days to commemorate in a humble manner the sacrifices of generations gone that laid the foundation for our modern country. You would expect the young generation to be inspired by the countless stories of courage by the many men and women of this country that have paid the ultimate price for the survival of this country. It is with much shame and regret that I hope many enlightened patriotic Kuwaitis would come to condemn the cheapening of those two high symbol days to a mere dirty liquid national spray game where the youth vent their frustration ‘almost legally’ on the country’s cars!

The many galas organized by our Ambassadors’ abroad in the many countries we have embassies should be seen as a model for celebrations. It should be a time of high patriotism that is not necessarily reflected in the many flags flying aimlessly on cars (often finding their way on the streets to be run over by other cars). It should be a time where the older generation partakes their acquired wisdom on the younger one. It should be a period of deep reflection with a powerful speech of motivation to be delivered by the Prime Minister - State of the Union style. It needs to become a time when we can reflect on the year that past and measure it against what we set ourselves to carry out the previous year.

At such a time major celebrations should be organized, such as a major open-air concert, a public laudation with specific medals handed out to different pioneering Kuwaitis in fields that contributed to the development of the State. Statewide galas should be held to honor different categories of national achievers in respective fields in the many ballrooms and celebration halls.

Schools should organize different events and host open days for parents and the wider public showcasing their various achievements and the plans they have for the year to come. Teachers should be commemorated on such a day. The entire celebrations should come to a close with a major firework and light show not too dissimilar perhaps a bit smaller in scale to the 50-year of the constitution celebrations.

We should not let such days become days of utter chaos and pointless street roaming encouraging car degradation and random acts of unacceptable behavior.

kuwait digest

All running behind the ball

By Jaafar Rajab

“W

hat is your opinion of the opposition and the public movement?” The clear answer is that they lack seriousness.

Lack of seriousness summarizes everything about the opposition. No one is serious about their work or about the slogans they raise. They only feign seriousness, like an orchestra that you watch playing a beautiful piece while in reality the music is being played in the background from behind the curtains.

Nevertheless, the crowd applauds the musicians at the end of the show for an ostensibly ‘great’ performance.

Seriousness means having a clear plan to follow.

When it comes to the opposition, it has no plans. It is like children in a soccer field where everybody runs behind the ball and wants to score a goal in order to claim credit. No one is there to defend, or guard the goal. There is not even a coach on the bench, but they will all be playing for their personal glory.

Seriousness means that when you are given an opportunity to legislate, you bring all the draft laws that you called for and present them before the parliament. It does not mean using your position to search for vacancies in state departments in order to help people obtain senior posts, while disregarding all promises about freedoms and constitutional monarchy. Seriousness means that you explain to us what you have achieved, what your plans are, what are the constitutional articles you want amended and why, and what have you done to achieve that? It means that you put up a plan before the people to explain the reasons why you are going out in a public demonstration at that specific time and place, and what you plan to achieve in the future. It is not about mocking the current parliament, hurling abuses at it or doing similar other things that would not change the reality.

Seriousness means having a vision for the future instead of living the delusions of the past. I am not taking about ten or five years ahead, but just about a month. What do you plan to do next week? Do you have a plan or are you just going to gather at the dewaniya as usual, have dinner and then go home?

To young people who are fuelling the public movement, I have this to say: The people you walked behind when they promised to support the hardworking class and defend people’s dignity as well as to fight the alleged influence of big business in politics, have all turned out to be political bargainers.— Al-Rai

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

LOCAL

Connecting cars: Digital technology on the road KUWAIT: Wireless connectivity is rapidly expanding beyond mobile devices, bringing the benefits of digital technology to many aspects of consumers’ lives.

The connection of passenger cars to the Internet is the next digital wave, a development that will provide important opportunities for Middle East governments, telecom operators, automotive players, andinsurance companies.

Connected devices are possible because of machine -tomachine (M2M) communications.

M2M useswireless data networks, sensors, and software to conduct remote monitoring, measurement and condition recording, infield data collection, and other sophisticated processes.

Within automotives, M2M’s potential is considerable. M2M provides drivers with connected cars fitted with in-vehicle applications, turning a transport machine into a social, intelligent, and interactive device. Already drivers do not have to read maps and plan journeys. They can just put a destination into their GPS and start driving.

Unsurprisingly, the M2M market is expanding rapidly.In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the M2M market is estimated to reach over $2 billion by 2016, representing 6.1 percent of the global M2M market, driven mainly by the demand of new vertical ser vices. Automotive M2M services are expected to have a large share of this new revenue by 2016, with 12 million automotive M2M connections, up from just 3 million in 2012.

Such rapid growth presents companies with a tantalizing opportunity. To successfully enter the market, however, they must develop the rightbusiness model, and partnerships to provide the end-to-end innovative services that consumers and businesses expect.

In particular, telecom companies willneed to determine their growth strategy based on their core capabilities and their positioning in the overall M2M ecosystem. They will haveto develop right-to-win capabilities including vertical innovation, solutions development and man-

Preventing youth crimes ‘a family priority’

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Acting Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad AlKhaled Al-Sabah promoted here yesterday a number of Army officers to the rank of Brigadier in accordance with an Amiri decree. The Minister congratulated the officers and called on them to continue their efforts in protecting Kuwait and its people against any threat. The ceremony was attended by Chief of the Kuwaiti Army Staff Lt Gen Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarah Al-Sabah and members of Defense Council.

agement, end-to-end horizontal platforms, and commercialization.

By building these capabilities, telecom companies will be able to deliver on the two sets of services required by connected cars: core and value added.Core services include fleet management, usage-based insurance, driver intelligence, and road tolling.

Fleet management is the biggest segment today. It is also one of the first successful services in the automotive M2M market because of its significant cost benefits to companies. Companies use this service to improve utilization and tracking of their fleet vehicles, which can reduce costs by optimizing route management and enhancing fleet security.Usagebased insurance serviceallows insurance companiesto analyze driving data of policy holders and lower costs by customizing insurance coverage to match driving patterns and habits.

Similarly, driver intelligence services can monitor the driving behavior of new, young drivers along with older ones. Insurance companies can then personalize premia based on driving behavior rather than age alone. Also, par-

ents can receive reports on the driving behaviors of their teenagers. Finally,road tolling services allow customers to pay tolls through devices attached to their cars, based on their geographic location (geo-fencing).

This allows governments, highway, and road operators to reduce costs associated with building and maintaining road toll stations, and saves time for drivers.

Value-added services includedriving and green reports, navigation and mapping, remote vehicle diagnostic, weather and traffic reporting, and social media connectivity.

Although few of theseservices are on offer in the MENAregion, providing them will be an important part of the growth in the automotive M2M market. The challenge will be to elaborate the correct business and distribution models.

In terms of business models, successful automotive M2M providers are increasingly subsidizing the cost of devicesand setup fees to promote device penetration in the market. These firms lease device to users, or provide them for free and only charge a

monthly subscription.Another model, used for road tolling services, ispay-per-usage which charges a commission for each toll payment or for the distance driven.

There are two distribution models available. The first is abusiness-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) or business-togovernment-to-consumer (B2G2C) modelthat distributes products to insurance companies, telecom operators, or governments which then provide the M2M services tofee-paying customers. In the alternative model, business-to-consumer-to-business (B2C2B),the automotive M2M provider sells devices directly to consumers. Automotive M2M services in the Middle East are a growth market thanks to the new digitization trends that are driven by government initiatives, combined with growing demand from Generation-C and enterprise customers. Telecom operators in the region can grab the first mover advantage if they move fast to build the correct capabilities, partnerships, and models that will help transform our cars into the next digital device.

—Booz and Company

KUWAIT: The increasing number of crimes committed by the youth might stem from different causes; however, the responsibility of preventing these crimes lies primarily on the family, said experts here yesterday.

Head of the Public Relations and Moral Support Department at the Ministry of Interior Col Adel Al-Hashash said that social and economic pressures play a role in driving youth to commit crimes, adding that influences from abroad also have a hand in driving youth in Kuwait to do wrong.

He pointed out that civil institutions and the government could play a part in correcting youth to prevent crime; however, the prime responsibility of

doing just that falls upon families.

On his part, Lawyer Hassan AlMatrook stressed that religious, moral awareness, and Islamic values also have a hand in stopping youth from committing such acts, stressing that families should instill these values onto their children so that they may grow up to be a productive member of society.

Meanwhile, media studies teacher, Dr. Ahmad Al-Shireef said that media could play a role in rectifying the youth. A mutual effort on part of society, media outlets, government, civil institutions, and families would surely lead to a better world for youth, said the official. —KUNA

Spain happy at expansion of cooperation with Kuwait MADRID: Relations between Spain and Kuwait have recently tangibly grown and the two countries have succeeded in expanding scope of cooperation in the business and commercial and tourism sectors, affirmed Spanish former minister of foreign affairs Trinidad Jimenez.

Jimenez, in remarks to KUNA on sidelines of a reception held by the Kuwaiti embassy on the occasion of the National Days of Kuwait, late on Monday, said the distinguished ties between Kuwait and Spain became deeper, over the past years, along with an “increasing rapprochement between peoples of the two countries,” as well as between companies and institutions of Kuwait and Spain, thus resulting in wide-scale commercial and tourism cooperation between the two sides.

Kuwait’s policy of openness and political moderation has contributed to boosting its vital role in the Arab Gulf region and the Middle East, said Jimenez, noting that she had succeeded in maintaining coordination with Kuwait regarding various issues when she held the foreign affairs portfolio.

She thanked the ambassador of Kuwait, Adel Al-Ayyar, for his role in cementing the political and economic relations with the European nation, noting that this approach was in harmony

with the two states’ historic and cultural roles as well as their political commitments in the Middle East.

Admiral Jaime Munoz-Delgado, Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army, who was also among the guests that took part in the Kuwaiti celebration, noted the brotherly and friendly relationship bounding HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah with King Juan Carlos. He also expressed satisfaction at the close cooperation between the two countries in the political, economic and cultural fields.

Presence of the large crowd of dignitaries sharing the Kuwaitis their happiness for the national occasions signal extent of rapprochement between leaders and peoples of the two countries and the mutual desire to pursue action for cementing the historic and humane links between the two peoples, he said.

Secretar y General of the World Tourism Organization Taleb Al-Rifaee stressed on the key role, played by the State of Kuwait in the Arab Gulf region and the Middle east in general, also hailing the Kuwaiti government efforts to expand the sector of tourism.

Participants in the ceremony, held at the InterContinental Hotel, were entertained with Kuwaiti folkloric and patriotic shows, national cuisines and formative-art works. — KUNA

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

LOCAL

UAE appreciative of Amir’s various initiatives ABU DHABI: A fixed daily article published in “Al Ittihad” newspaper yesterdaysaid that His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, has a “special stature in the hearts of the people of the UAE” Author Ali Al-Amoudi said in his article titled “good morning” that His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad was among them in the early stages through his shuttle travels during the negotiations that preceded the establishment of the Emirates and was present during that historic moment when the flag of the Emirates was hoisted off the Jumeirah Beach for the first time.

He added that Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad

was always present during critical moments of the region’s history.

He added that the UAE recalls with appreciation the positions of Kuwait in those ancient times when dozens of parents and grandparents were eagerly searching for a living.

He said his generation recalls with appreciation Kuwait’s contributions to the UAE with hospitals and schools in early 60s.

He also said that the UAE highly appreciates His Highness the Amir’s initiative of naming Kuwait’s fifth ring road after late UAE founder and late President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nuhayyan which is 30 kilometers long. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait Oil Company Chairman and Managing Director Sami Al-Rushaid and other KOC officials visited patients and medical staff at the Ahmadi Hospital on the occasion of the national holidays.

Japanese tsunami-hit railway to run new trains with Kuwaiti aid TOKYO: Top officials from tsunami-hit city and its railway lines in northeastern Japan have shown their utmost gratitude for Kuwait’s massive donation after a magnitude 9.0-quake and ensuring tsunami in March 2011, and declared that train services will be resumed soon, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi said yesterday.

In their recent meeting in Tokyo with Al-Otabi, Ofunato City Mayor Kimiaki Toda and Sanriku Railway Company President Masahiko Mochizuki expressed appreciation and briefed the ambassador on the latest developments of the railway lines, of which rails and railroad bridges were wrecked by the devastating tsunami.

According to the Japanese officials, three new train cars manufactured with Kuwait’s aid will start serving for the local people in the disaster-struck coastal area in Iwate Prefecture in April.

At a side of the new cars, the messages showing gratitude to the support from Kuwait are written in Japanese, English and Arabic languages, while the

national emblem of Kuwait is drawn at the head and the back of the car, they said.

Equipped with bigger windows and more comfortable seats than the old carriages as well as barrier free measures, each car costs about $1.63 million.

Sanriku Railway’s South Rias Line, which runs along the Pacific coast, was completely destroyed by the twin natural disasters and remains out of service. The new train cars replacing the damaged ones have arrived at Ofunato City before the railway company will partially resume operations after a two-year hiatus.

The Ambassador appreciated their sincere devotions to the restoration of the daily lives of local people in the disaster-struck region and wished for further progress of the reconstruction works.

Following the catastrophe that left about 19,000 people dead or missing, Kuwait offered the donation of 5 million barrels of crude oil, equivalent to some $500 million, of which value was distributed to the three hardest-hit prefectures including Iwate. —KUNA

Dashti’s visit to Seoul extolled SEOUL: Kuwait’s Ambassador to the Republic of South Korea Mitteb Saleh AlMutotah expressed content of outcome of the visit to South Korea by the Minister of State for Planning and Development and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr Rola Abdullah Dashti. Dashti was on a visit to participate in the inauguration ceremony of President of the Republic of Korea Park Heh as an envoy of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. An Embassay statement said that this visit reflects the strength and excel-

lence of relations between the State of Kuwait and South Korea, as well as the care and attention of both leaderships to strengthen these ties in all fields.

He stressed that the visit had a positive impact on political and media circles in the Republic of Korea and will undoubtedly push forward the relations between the two countries to wider horizons.

He said that the new Korean leadership praised the initiative of His Highness the Amir to send a special envoy to participate in the inauguration ceremony. —KUNA

FASTtelco announces winners of ‘Experience Fast’ competition KUWAIT: FASTtelco, the leading Internet Service Provider in Kuwait specialized in providing innovative Internet and data communication solutions recently announced the winners of its “Experience Fast” competition organized in parallel with the company’s participation in the InfoConnect 2013 exhibition held at Kuwait International Fair Grounds from Jan 27 to Feb 2. FASTtelco congratulated and handed the “Experience Fast” competition winners; Nabil Suroor, and Usama Qureshi an all expense trip to Dubai for 2 persons, including accommodation and a chance to experience the thrilling SkyDive experience.

In this regard, the winners expressed

KUWAIT: The winners with Hamad Al-Selmi.

their gratitude and appreciation for FASTtelco’s unique services and promotions, and thanked the company for continuously offering its customers best in class service and amazing chances to win valuable gifts and prizes.

FASTtelco announced that all the 200+ contestants were given an equal chance to be amongst the winners of the “Experience Fast” competition. The competition was without a doubt, organized well and voted fairly on FASTtelco’s facebook page; FAST Experience application. By adopting this new technique in nominating the winners, FASTtelco succeeded in encouraging customers who visited its booth at the InfoConnet exhibition to interact and provide their honest feedback on the quality of services provided.

According to FASTtelco, the creative offering showcased at the InfoConnect exhibition succeeded in attracting a record number of visitors interested in experiencing high-speed Internet services and participating in the various competitions and promotions offered by the company such as the “Experiece Fast” competition.

FASTtelco also added that the “Experience Fast” competition aims at rewarding customers for their loyalty and support, and comes as part of the company’s initiative in providing high-speed downloads and browsing services especially tailored to meet the needs of businesses and individuals in terms of speed, efficiency, safety and information security.

Officers to be arrested in trespassers’ escape case Man injured in landmine explosion KUWAIT: Following the arrest and then escape of 13 people who infiltrated into Kuwait and then escaped, four were re-arrested on Tuesday in Mangaf and Riqqa while search was on to nab the remaining nine even as orders went out to hold accountable the concerned coastguards officers. Higher authorities ordered that the coastguard officers facing charges of negligence be apprehended since the 13 infiltrators had escaped from a cell of the Coastguards Department two days ago. The 12 Iranians and one Afghan origin man were caught three days ago when they trespassed illegally into Kuwait through the sea route. The circumstances around their escape remain unclear, and police were hopeful of tracking down the fugitives after interrogation of the four arrested.

the scene following reports about a man bleeding heavily with dead sheep strewn all around.

With the explosion leaving the Asian man with both legs severed, he was rushed to the hospital.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the landmine was a remnant from the 1990/91 Iraqi Invasion. Bomb squads combed the area for more potential explosives.

War remains The human remains found recently in AlFahaheel belonged to a person who died during the days of the 1990 Iraqi Invasion days, investigations revealed. Police were called to an open square near the Fahaheel Club late on Monday night after a skeleton was found there. Criminal Evidence General Department officers were called to the scene, and their investigations revealed that the person had died and had been buried during the war. The remains were transferred to the forensic department.

Drugged celebrator A man who first clashed with a police officer while being in an inebriated state but then tried to escape stabbed himself when other officers chased and cornered him. He was hospitalized in a critical condition. The incident took place during National Day celebrations in Salmiya where the suspect clashed with a police officer who had noticed him behaving strangely. The man reportedly stabbed the officer with a pocketknife before trying to run away. He was eventually cornered by policemen, at which point he stabbed himself, then hit his head hard on a lamp post before falling unconscious. He was rushed to the Mubarak Hospital along with the officer. The man was diagnosed with a skull fracture apart from the self-inflicted stab wound, and was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit. He was charged with drug abuse, attempted murder and attempted suicide.

Desert explosion A shepherd lost both his legs in a landmine explosion reported on Tuesday night in the Salmi desert. Police and paramedics rushed to

Fatal crash Two people died and a third man was injured when two cars collided recently in Kabad. Paramedics and police rushed to the

scene and found two men, a Saudi and a Bedoon (stateless), dead in one car while a Kuwaiti man in the second car suffered multiple injuries. The injured man was rushed to the Far waniya Hospital. An investigation was opened to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

Ardiya shooting A man shot at a Kuwaiti man standing outside his house in Ardiya and then escaped.

Paramedics and police rushed to the spot where the scuffle was reported which ended with a shooting. The victim, who was hit by a bullet in the lower abdomen, told the police that the suspect escaped along with another person after firing the shot. The man was taken to the hospital where his condition was described as stable.

He provided the police with the identity of his attacker and his accomplice, as also their addresses.

Harasser assaulted A teenager who allegedly harassed a woman in Failaka recently was brutally assaulted as an act of revenge and sustained serious injuries, following which he was hospitalized. According to the police report, the 17-year-old stalked a girl who drove an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) during a National Day event on the island. The girl immediately called her brother who showed up within minutes with 11 of his friends. They beat up the teenager until the police arrived and broke up the fight. Police later helped the boy to the nearest medical facility. A case was filed.

Japanese kids invited to Kuwaiti ‘handmade’ celebration TOKYO: Despite being thousands of miles away from Kuwait, little Japanese Children enjoyed a handmade festival to celebrate Kuwait’s National Day, which was prepared by a cheerful Kuwaiti family living in Tokyo.

The handmade event at Sesame International Preschool, hosted by Abdullah Al-Zaidan and his wife Shaimaa, included a presentation for the children introducing them to Kuwait’s location, Kuwaiti traditional clothes, language, flag colors and Kuwait towers, and how and why Kuwaitis celebrate National day. The children were also overjoyed at gifts and souvenirs from Kuwait, such as hats, flags and sunglasses, and trying Kuwaiti dresses.

“My wife was more than happy in preparing cakes and desserts, and introducing to the kids and teachers traditional home-made Kuwaiti meals, which included Majboos dajaj (rice with chicken ), Imrabyan (rice with shrimp) and Balalyt (sweet noodle with eggs),” said Abdullah, who has been here for study since 2007 with his family.

All the children showed tremendous curiosity about Kuwait’s culture and the celebration of National Day, chanting, “I enjoyed this very much,” “I want to visit Kuwait !” Speaking after the “minifestival, “ Takuji Fujii, an owner of the preschool, where the Kuwaiti couple’s two sons are attending, stressed that the event let the children respect a different culture.

“Things today are going to be a great experience for future,” Fujii said. “We are honored to be able to join the celebration of Kuwait’s National Day and I want to say thank you very much to AI-

Zaidans for giving a great opportunity,” he added.

Every item presented at the event was shipped from Kuwait with the help of the couple’s families, who have been always supporting them during their long stay in Japan. “Preparation was difficult but my loving wife is always determined when it comes to making our children and other people happy,” said Abdullah.

“Since our sons-Abdulrahman and Salim-are the only Kuwaitis at this school, we want to introduce to them and other kids how we celebrate our National Day back home,” said Abdullah. “Also, being away from our family and friends in Kuwait make us appreciate more all the support that our country is giving us, no matter where we are.” Their 6-year-old son Abdulrahman also took a pride in the celebration, which the Al-Zaidans hosted for second year in a row. “I am very happy, because it is “Kuwait’s birthday” and I have fun with my friends on this day giving gifts to them and my teachers,” said Abdulrahman.

School Administrator Kazuko Fujii also attached a high value to the event, as “all the children and teachers were soaked in Kuwait traditional celebration with homey environment, including decoration, gift, food, drink and sweets.” “We have had really great time. I am sure that everyone who joined today will keep precious memory for their entire life,” she said.

As the only and probably the first Kuwaiti student at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Abdullah has continued higher education since 2008 starting with a master’s program on Japanese government scholarship, with undergo-

ing his PhD. course through September this year.

He has worked at the Living Resources Department of the Environmental Public Authority (EPA) since 2002 as a laboratory researcher, involving in various projects both local and international including Japan.

“I have been introduced for the first time to Prof.

Endo Makoto from Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology in 2002 to assist with the investigation of the previous fish kills events in Kuwait Bay. The projects included those funded from the Japanese government aiming at monitoring and improving the quality of Kuwait Bay,” he said. The 2-year project involving the EPA and the Japanese government has strengthened the scientific relations and ongoing friendships between Kuwait and Japan. His father Dr Salim Al-Mohanna, who is a professor at Kuwait University’s Biological Sciences/Marine Biology Department, has also strong ties with Japan.

In 1968, Dr Al-Mohanna jointly worked with two Japanese scientists for the establishment of the Mariculture & Fisheries Department at the Kuwait Center for Scientific Research, which was created in compliance with a concession agreement awarded by the Kuwaiti government to Japan’s Arabian Oil Company.

The two Japanese scientists were invited to stay in a marine research laboratory of Dr Al-Mohanna’s Zoology Department at Kuwait University for the duration of their stay in Kuwait till 1989, and engaged in a number of joint surveys with Dr AlMohanna while forging a brotherly friendship between them. —- KUNA

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Kerry holds talks on Mali, Syria in France

Taleban kill 17 at Afghan police checkpoint

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TEL AVIV: Israeli Arabs and leftwing Jewish Israeli students take part in a gathering in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in front of Tel Aviv University yesterday. Clashes that flared in the West Bank after a Palestinian died in Israeli custody are unlikely to turn into a third intifada, but each side will use them when US President Barack Obama visits, commentators say. — AFP

EU hammers Jerusalem settlements Report slams Israeli policy, urges sanctions JERUSALEM: Israel’s construction in east Jerusalem is a deliberate strategy to prevent the city from becoming capital of two states, an internal EU report found yesterday, urging members to block funding for any settlement activities. In its Jerusalem Report 2012, a copy of which was seen by AFP, the European Union said Jewish settlement construction posed “the biggest single threat to the twostate solution”. And it outlined a series of recommendations urging member states to halt or avoid any financial investment or transactions which could directly or indirectly feed into Israel’s settlement-building enterprise - in an effective call for economic sanctions.

Written by the EU heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah, the strongly-worded report described Israel’s settlement construction in east Jerusalem as “systematic, deliberate and provocative”, accusing the Jewish state of making deliberate political choices that threaten to render the two-state solution impossible. An Israel spokesman dismissed the report, saying it showed that the Europeans had failed in their diplomatic mission. “A diplomat’s mission is to build bridges and not to encourage confrontation,” foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP. “These consuls have failed in their

diplomatic mission.”

But the Palestinians hailed the report, with senior official Hanan Ashrawi saying it was a “responsible assessment” of Israeli actions in east Jerusalem. “It is ringing an alarm concerning the destructive nature of the Israeli policies and its dangerous implications for peace,” she said. “We hope that this report will be adopted

by Brussels and implemented individually and collectively in concrete and tangible steps to hold Israel accountable,” she said.

Relations between Israel and the EU have been unusually tense in recent months, with Europe voicing anger over a swathe of Israeli plans for more than 5,000 new settler homes in east Jerusalem. In the 15-page report, EU diplomats flagged construction on the southern flank of east Jerusalem in Har Homa, Gilo and Givat HaMatos as being the “most significant and problematic” saying that if it continued unabated, it would likely cut the area off from Bethlehem by the end of the year.

“The construction of these three settlements is part of a political strategy aiming at making it impossible for Jerusalem to become the capital of two states,” it warned. “If the current pace of settlement activity on Jerusalem’s southern flank persists, an effective buffer between east

Jerusalem and Bethlehem may be in place by the end of 2013, thus making the realisation of a viable two-state solution inordinately more difficult, if not impossible.”

The report also highlighted Israel’s plans to build 3,426 units in E1 - a deeply sensitive strip of West Bank land east of Jerusalem, saying if implemented, it would effectively cut the West Bank in half. It was the decision to build in E1 as a punishment for the Palestinians winning upgraded membership at the United Nations that saw Europe’s frustration peak late last year, sparking Israeli fears that the EU could call for economic sanctions.

The 27-member bloc is Israel’s largest import and export market and accounts for about a third of the Jewish state’s total trade.

The report makes six recommendations on economic issues, suggesting member states “prevent, discourage and raise awareness about problematic implications of financial transactions, including foreign direct investments, from within the EU in support of settlement activities, infrastructure and services”. It also urges member states “ensure that imports of settlement products do not benefit from preferential tariffs” and that all such products are clearly labelled as originating from areas considered illegal under international law. —AFP

Blaze kills 19 in Kolkata market KOLKATA: A fire swept through a sixstorey building housing illegal shops in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata in the early hours of yesterday, killing 19 workers sleeping in the building, local officials said. Hundreds of firefighters battled the flames at the Surya Sen market near the railway station in the centre of the colonial-era capital, where decrepit and poorly maintained buildings with faulty wiring are vulnerable to fires. A total of 38 workers were rescued while 19 died,

mostly migrants from the eastern state of Bihar who were sleeping in the building when the fire broke out at around 04:00 am (2230 GMT Tuesday).

“The market had no fire extinguisher,” state fire services minister Javed Khan said, confirming that one woman was among the dead. “The fire spread before the people sleeping there could understand anything.” Around a dozen people have been transferred to two city hospitals and five were in a critical state with

KOLKATA: Indian firefighters carry out the body of a blaze victim from the Surya Sen market building yesterday. — AFP

burn injuries, he added. “We found dozens of people lying unconscious with severe burn injuries on the floors of shops and some died of suffocation in their sleep,” state fire services director Gopal Bhattacharya told AFP. The unlicensed shops clustered in the building were selling plastics, papers, and foam products, which created acrid black smoke that impeded rescue efforts and led to the high number of deaths.

“The fire has been brought under control,” Bhattacharya told AFP around midday. City mayor Sovan Chatterjee criticised “illegal construction” and unlicensed shops, while local legislator Sikha Mitra said she had complained about the building to the city authorities. “I sent letters to the city mayor and the fire services minister highlighting the dangers of the market over the past two years,” Mitra said. “My letters went unheeded.”

Firefighters said it was too early to pinpoint the cause of the blaze, but short-circuits caused by old wiring are frequently the source of such fires. In March 2010 a huge blaze on one of Kolkata’s most exclusive streets killed 43 while in late 2011, 90 people were killed when a fire engulfed a city hospital. In the 2010 fire, many people fell or jumped to their deaths after finding that a topfloor fire exit leading to the roof had been locked.— AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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Christians grow anxious in ‘100%’ Islamic Sudan KHARTOUM: When Pastor Kamis went to visit his small church in the Sudanese capital just before Christmas last year, he found a pile of rubble and the remains of a single blue wall. Hours earlier, authorities had sent in a bulldozer and workers backed by police to demolish the Africa Inland church, which used to lie in a slum suburb of Khartoum. The structure was one of several small churches that the government has knocked down over the past few months, shocking Christians who worry they will not be able to practice their faith in majority-Muslim Sudan now that the country’s south - where most follow Christianity or traditional animist beliefs has seceded.

“The government says the land was owned by some businessman, but I think they destroyed our church because they want to target Christians,” said Kamis, a native of South Sudan, which split away in July 2011. Sudan’s President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir has said he wants to adopt a “100

percent” Islamic constitution now that the South has split off. The government says the new constitution will guarantee religious freedom, but many Christians are wary. They say authorities started a crackdown in December and it has been getting worse.

Last week, security agents raided the library of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, founded by missionaries in central Khartoum more than a hundred years ago, seizing all books to check on their content, church sources told Reuters. “They took hundreds of books and the entire archive, not just religious literature,” said a church source, who like most others interviewed for this article asked for anonymity or to be identified by only their first and last name for fear of arrest.

Several church-affiliated institutions such as orphanages or schools have also been closed and a number of foreigners working for them have been deported, according to the Geneva-based World

Council of Churches, a global ecumenical church body. “Christians in the north are compromised because they are no longer respected. They cannot even celebrate Christmas anymore,” said Daniel Deng Bul, the Juba-based archbishop and primate of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, which covers both Sudans and is part of the Anglican community.

Most southerners have moved south since the birth of their country but some 350,000 are estimated to remain in Khartoum. Some Christians also live in the Nuba Mountains, a region bordering South Sudan. Although Muslims have dominated Sudan for centuries, Christian roots go back to the 5th century. Missionaries were active in the 1800s, mainly from the Anglican, Presbyterian, Catholic, Africa Inland and Coptic churches. Without accurate census information, it is not yet clear what the current breakdown is. Some tribes also practise animist beliefs.

Officials strongly deny any discrimina-

tion against Christians. “All religions can practise their faith in total freedom,” said Rabie Abdelati, a senior official in Bashir’s National Congress Party. “There are no restrictions at all.” Authorities say Kamis’ church was bulldozed only after it lost a legal case against a businessman who claimed the land. “The church was erected on land owned by a citizen who filed a complaint,” said an official at the government land protection unit, which removes illegal buildings. He asked not to be named. “In November 2011 we took the decision to remove the church which has no permit to use the land. We gave the church several warnings.”

But church officials ask why only the church, built around 2000, was demolished and not the buildings right next to it in the densely inhabited district. Less than one km away in the same area lie the remnants of the St John church of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, which authorities also tore down. Officials pointed to a

missing license in that case, too. Christians concede that some churches were built without formal paperwork but say that was because permits or licences to build proved so difficult to obtain, and authorities signalled they would tolerate them.

The situation was exacerbated after secession when South Sudanese became foreigners, requiring them to get new building permits for existing churches which authorities didn’t grant. For archbishop Bul, the license argument is just an excuse to clamp down. “You cannot get a license and then they ask you where is the license? So how do I get the license - from God?,” Bul said. Bashir has been facing pressure from religious hardliners who feel his government has given up the values of his 1989 Islamist coup. He has been also facing small street protests in Khartoum and other cities against galloping inflation.

Mobs stormed several churches in Khartoum last year, in one case burning Bibles in public. — Reuters

Pak president in Iran for gas pipeline talks Tehran tells Zardari project must advance

SANAA: Supporters of Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh (inset) climb on flagpoles during a rally marking the anniversary of his power handover yesterday. — AP

Yemen ex-prez fingers Iran over separatism SANAA: Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh affirmed his support yesterday for Yemen’s unity in the face of calls by southerners for secession, which he said are backed by Iran.

“No to secession... Our people in the south are with unity,” Saleh said in a rare public appearance in Sanaa’s Sabiin Square before thousands of supporters. “A small minority which supports secession is funded from abroad... Those who receive money from Iran know that their days are numbered,” he said, affirming his “support to President (Abdrabuh Mansur) Hadi in preserving Yemen’s security and stability.”

Saleh was alluding to the exiled Ali Salem Baid, who heads a hardline faction of the Southern Movement that insists on secession and has refused to join a national dialogue set to begin on March 18. Baid was vice-president of South Yemen, which was briefly independent after it broke away in 1994, sparking a civil war that it lost. In October, Saleh’s successor and interim President Abdrabuh Hadi accused Iran of backing Baid’s faction in a bid to secede violently. And national security

chief Ali Hassan Al-Ahmadi accused Iran last month of “supporting separatists and trying to fuel the conflict to undermine the Gulf Initiative,” which led to Saleh’s departure.

Saleh, who ruled for 33 years before resigning last year under the UN-backed deal, is still head of the General People’s Congress party.

He organised yesterday’s rally to mark the anniversary of his handing over power to Hadi. Retaining the loyalty of some army elements and owning a television station, he is accused by his opponents of impeding the political process in Yemen. The UN Security Council warned him this month that he could face sanctions for undermining the transition.

Saleh dismissed such accusations last week and accused the powerful Islamist Al-Islah (Reform) party of circulating them. His opponents have been calling for his ouster as head of the GPC and for him to be kept out of politics ahead of the dialogue that has been delayed from November. The talks will aim to draft a new constitution and electoral law ahead of parliamentary and presidential polls next year. —AFP

Tunisia ruling Islamists to give up key ministries TUNIS: Tunisia’s ruling Islamists said yesterday they have agreed to give up key ministries to independents, a concession that could speed up the formation of a new government and end a political crisis. “We confirm the ‘neutralistion’ of the four sovereign ministries,” Ennahda party leader Rached Ghannouchi said on Radio Kalima, referring to the interior, justice, foreign and defence portfolios. It appeared to be a significant backdown from the powerful politician who had previously declared that Ennahda would “never give up power ” which it secured through “the legitimacy of the ballot”.

Ennahda has controlled the interior, justice and foreign ministries since Tunisia held its first free elections in Oct 2011, nine months after strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in an uprising that sparked the Arab Spring. The defence portfolio is already in the hands of an independent, Abdelkarim Zbidi, who has held the post since the revolution. Ghannouchi said a new government could now be formed “at the end of the week”. “We see that it is in the interests of the Tunisian government, in the transitional period and for the period to come, to bring together Islamists and secularists... even though we are the majority,” he said.

Ennahda was responding to a demand by almost all of the opposition and the government’s two secular, centre-left partners, Ettakatol and the Congress for the Republic of President Moncef Marzouki. Ghannouchi has said the new cabinet would be made up of “five or six parties,” and suggested the Wafa movement, the Freedom and Dignity bloc and the Democratic

Alliance as potential partners.

But Ettakatol spokesman Mohamed Bennour said his latest concession did not mean a positive compromise had been reached. “There is an agreement that departments are entrusted to independents, but not the names of the ministers,” he told AFP, adding talks on the matter were unlikely to be completed before “the middle of next week”. “There also remains the question of other departments,” said Bennour, whose party is calling on Ennahda to reverse a series of disputed appointments in public institutions and regions of Tunisia.

Interior Minister Ali Larayedh was charged last week with forming a new government following the resignation of prime minister Hamadi Jebali, after his plan for a non-partisan government failed. Jebali announced the plan on Feb 6, the day that a lone gunman shot dead leftist opposition leader Chokri Belaid outside his home in the capital Tunis. The assassination of the fierce Ennahda critic triggered violence that deepened a crisis already building for months due to rising tensions between Islamists and liberals. Larayedh, also an Ennahda member, has until March 8 to form a new government, which he has vowed will be “for all Tunisians”.

The struggle to form a new government comes amid deadlock over the drafting of a constitution, with parliament divided over the nature of Tunisia’s future political system 16 months after it was elected. Since the revolution, Tunisia has also been rocked by violence blamed on radical Salafists, and ongoing social unrest over the government’s failure to improve poor living conditions. — AFP

TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday told the visiting Pakistani president that a much-delayed $7.5 billion gas pipeline project must go ahead despite US opposition. “The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is an important example of Tehran-Islamabad cooperation, and despite hostilities towards the expansion of ties we must overcome this opposition decisively,” Khamenei told Asif Ali Zardari, his office reported. The gas pipeline project is strongly opposed by Tehran’s archfoe Washington. “Accessing safe energy source is the first priority for any country including Pakistan. In this region, the Islamic republic is the only nation that has safe energy resources and we are ready to provide Pakistan its energy needs,” the all-powerful Khamenei said.

The pipeline project has run into repeated problems, including Pakistan’s difficulty in finding funds and opposition to the project from Washington, which has slapped Iran with a raft of sanctions over its nuclear activities.

The Pakistani media reported last year that Zardari would visit Iran in mid-Dec 2012, when a final agreement was to have been signed, but the visit was delayed. In 2010, Iran and Pakistan agreed that Tehran would supply between 750 million cu ft and one billion cubic feet per day of natural gas by mid-2015.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Zardari that, “building the gas pipeline between Iran and Pakistan is a great and important event, and it serves the two nations’ interests,” the president’s office reported. “I believe that building this project is very beneficial for both sides and we support all the work carried out so far,” Zardari said in talks his Iranian counterpart. “The international and regional players have tried in vain to prevent an expansion of Iran-Pakistan ties but the people have learnt how to act against

enemies of Islam,” he was quoted as saying.

Islamabad has said it will pursue the project regardless of US pressure, saying the gas is needed to help Pakistan overcome its energy crisis that has led to debilitating blackouts and suffocated industry. Iran has almost completed the pipeline work in its territory, but Pakistan has not yet started construction of 780 km of the pipeline on its side, which is said to cost some $1.5 billion.

Sanctions-hit Iran finally agreed to finance one third of the costs of laying the pipeline through Pakistani territory to Nawabshah, north of Karachi, with the work to be carried out by an Iranian company.

Pakistani officials in mid-December said Iran had promised a $500 million loan and that Islamabad would meet the rest of the cost. “There are impediments in view of the US opposition to the project but we are

determined to complete it to meet our fastgrowing energy requirements,” said one government official on condition of anonymity. Tehran has been strangled by a Western oil embargo that has seen its crude exports halve in the past year, while Pakistan has an acute need for energy and plans to produce 20 percent of its electricity from Iranian gas.

Iran has the second largest world gas reserves after Russia and currently produces some 600 million cu m a day, almost all of which is consumed domestically due to lack of exports means. The only foreign client is Turkey, which buys about 30 million cu m of gas a day. Tehran also plans to sell its gas to two other neighbours, Iraq and Syria. The three countries agreed in 2011 to build a pipeline, with the work already started on the Iranian side.— AFP

TEHRAN: Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right), Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari (center) and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are seen during a meeting yesterday. — AP

Salafists fail to stop ‘Harlem Shake’ in Tunisia TUNIS: Salafist Muslims in socially divided Tunisia tried to prevent the filming of current Internet craze the “Harlem Shake” at a school yesterday, but were driven off after coming to blows with students, an AFP correspondent said. At another school, south of the capital, the principal called in police to stop filming there, the interior ministry said. Students reacted by hurling stones at the police, who responded with tear gas. When a dozen or so ultraconservative Muslims, some of them women in veils, showed up at the Bourguiba Language Institute in the El Khadra neighbourhood of Tunis, a Salafist bastion, students shouted “Get out, get out!”

One of the Salafists, shouted “Our brothers in Palestine are being killed by Israelis, and you are dancing,” while saying he wanted to make the students understand the difference in Islam between behaviour that is “haram” (prohibited) and “halal” (permitted). Another, bearded and wearing military gear, was carrying a petrol bomb, which he didn’t use. The Salafists eventually withdrew, and the students were able to film their production.

A number of social media sites belonging to Salafists and other Islamist groups have denounced the “Harlem Shake” as indecent.

In Sousse, 120 km south of Tunis, students tried to stage a “Harlem

Shake,” but their principal called the police, interior ministr y spokesman Khaled Tarrouche told AFP. “The students gathered outside the school, near a hospital, and began igniting smoke bombs,” he said. “The security forces tried to convince them to put out the smoke bombs, but they refused and threw stones at them and wounded two policemen. The forces of order were obliged to respond with tear gas,” he added.

More and more people around the world are emulating the dance craze, which was sparked by a group of Australian teenagers who uploaded a 31second clip “The Harlem Shake v1 (TSCS original)” onto YouTube

TUNIS: Islamist students attack students of the Bourguiba Language Institute in the El Khadra neighbourhood, a Salafist bastion of the capital as they try to prevent the filming of current Internet craze the ’Harlem Shake’ yesterday. — AFP

earlier this month. It has since been viewed millions of times.

Video footage, which shows participants smoking, dancing wildly in uncoordinated manner and simulating sexual acts, has spread on the Internet, with dozens of different versions attracting millions of views.

On Monday, Education Minister Abdellatif Abid said a probe had been ordered into the staging two days earlier of a “Harlem Shake” by students in a Tunis suburb. He said there could be expulsions of students or sacking of educational staff who were behind the staging of the dance. In response, the ministry’s website was hacked and a call went out on social media for the staging of a mega Harlem Shake in front of the ministry on Friday.

The Saturday version was purportedly staged by students from Menzah 6 district in a school compound, with some in shorts and others sporting fake beards and the tunics typically worn by Salafists.

The Islamist movement has carried out a wave of attacks in the past year, including on galleries, cultural festivals and Sufi shrines.

In June, Salafists destroyed works of art exhibited in a chic suburb of Tunis which they considered “blasphemous”.

That sparked clashes across the country that saw police stations and political par ty offices torched, in some of the worst violence since the Jan 2011 revolution that toppled president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The secular opposition regularly accuses Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party Ennahda of allowing a slow Islamisation of the society. The education minister is a member of Ettakatol, a centre-left secular ally of Ennahda. — AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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

A police colonel vows justice for all in Gao GAO, Mali: Amid the chaos of Gao in strife-torn northern Mali, paramilitary police Colonel Salihou Maiga describes himself as a “law-abiding man” who will bring wrongdoers to justice, including Malian soldiers. Welcoming AFP journalists to his headquarters set up in a former clinic, Maiga pledges fair treatment for armed Islamists and the army alike at a time when rights groups are accusing troops of atrocities, including summary executions.

In the hallway, five detainees are sitting or lying on the floor of the clinic turned police station. “ We’re installed here because we no longer have a place,” Maiga says apologetically. After 10 months of Islamist occupation, Gao, 1,200 km from the capital Bamako, has no administration and public buildings have been looted. A Tuareg of about 60, bearded and wearing a turban, hails the colonel. He says he wants a Tamashek interpreter, but “it’s a lit-

tle late, he has already gone home,” says a policeman. “ The population of Ansongo denounced him. According to the public outcry, he was the commander of a MUJAO cell,” Maiga says, referring to the fundamentalist Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), one of the armed groups that occupied northern Mali last year. The man shakes his head in denial. “He says it isn’t true (...) But we’re going to send him to Bamako so that he can appear before a judge who will decide.”

The colonel has his staff fetch Ousmane, a 23-year-old from neighbouring Niger who turned himself into the police with his weapon on Saturday. “He said that he wanted to leave MUJAO to surrender,” explains Master Sergeant Mohamed Ibrahim, who carried out his interrogation. The thin young man has a deep purple mark around his neck, as if he

has been tied or strung up. “He arrived like that,” Ibrahim says. “Perhaps he was caught by villagers, but he simply said that he was hungry.” “In Niger, he heard that MUJAO was recruiting people who were well paid. So he came, but in two months, he hasn’t been paid a cent,” Maiga says.

The young man with large dark eyes took part in MUJAO patrols, according to gendarmerie staff. Like all “terrorist” suspects, he is due to be sent before a judge, either in Bamako or the central town of Sevare. Ousmane walks unsteadily back to his cell. “It’s a makeshift cell,” Colonel Maiga says, sounding slightly flustered.

The room is less than four square metres in size, dimly lit by daylight through a tiny barred window. The heat is stifling and the stench of urine overpowering. Eight mostly young men sit on the floor. The policemen say that prisoners are held in such conditions for a maximum of three or four

days. Since he arrived in Gao on Jan 27, in the wake of the entry into the town of French and Malian troops who reclaimed it from the Islamists, Maiga has sent about 30 detainees on to judicial authorities. “It’s very few, but the others are dead. You really need to understand that these people don’t come here to fight and fall back.

They come to die,” the colonel says.

According to Ousmane’s account, many MUJAO fighters deserted after the movement pulled out in the face of the arrival of French and Malian forces. “He told us that some were caught and are now prisoners of MUJAO,” Ibrahim says.

Another detainee denies having anything to do with the Islamist movement.

“I’ve never been MUJAO,” he yells. But the police say that the man was well known in Gao for having been a close aide to “Yoro”, one of the MUJAO leaders in the town. As soon as he arrived, Maiga explained “the rules” to his men.— AFP

Col Salhiou Maiga

Italy’s gridlock deepens as Europe watches nervously Napolitano snubs German candidate over ‘clown’ comment

MASERU, Lesotho: Britain’s Prince Harry bakes at the Kananelo Centre for the Deaf yesterday. — AFP

Harry in Lesotho for charity visit MASERU, Lesotho: Britain’s Prince Harry visited his charity projects in Lesotho yesterday, finding time to perform traditional dance moves with children during his return visit to the southern African kingdom. On the last day of a three-day tour, the 28-year-old stopped by schools for deaf and blind children in and around the capital Maseru. He watched fascinated as students at St Bernadette’s Resource Centre for the Blind played a football match unassisted, and chatted with pupils afterwards.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asked a boy dressed in the school’s khaki-coloured uniform. “A soldier,” he replied in Sesotho, the local language. “I’m a soldier myself. I’ll tell you what that is like next time,” said Harry, who returned in January from a five -month tour in Afghanistan as army helicopter gunner.

The royal was also shown how to use some of the braille equipment at the school - the only institution for blind children in the tiny mountain kingdom. His NGO Sentebale pays for 60 percent of the centre’s running costs, where all 68 pupils board full-time. Harry set up Sentebale in 2006 with Prince Seeiso, the younger brother of King Letsie of Lesotho, in memory of their late mothers. Its name means “forget me not” in Sesotho.

The organisation supports children

infected with HIV and AIDS, as well as those orphaned by the virus or with disabilities.

Earlier in the day the royal visited the Kananelo Centre for the Deaf in the nearby town of Buasono, where around 70 students cheered his arrival. He took part in a traditional dance with them, though the locals coyly admitted that the flame-haired royal messed up the moves. Some children also performed a mini-theatre production in sign language to show off the skills learnt at the centre.

The prince learnt a few simple sign language words like “father” and “mother” and tried his hand at baking mokoenya, a traditional sweet bread, while wearing an apron with teddy bear print. Sentebale carries most of the institution’s overheads, contributing around 350,000 maloti ($40,000) a year. It teaches the national curriculum in sign language and also trains life skills in the impoverished country.

The prince was given a violin-like musical instrument, traditional straw hat, and cloth blanket as gifts. On Tuesday he rode a helicopter to the remote Mokhotlong region in the north, where Sentebale is building schools for cattle-herding boys.

The third-in-line to the British throne will fly to Johannesburg in neighbouring South Africa in the afternoon for a fundraising gala dinner.— AFP

3 dead, 7 wounded in Swiss shooting MENZNAU, Switzerland: A 42-year-old employee killed two workmates and wounded seven when he opened fire in a Swiss factory yesterday, rocking the small community where the plant is located. Police said that the gunman, who also died, had worked for more than 10 years at the Kronospan wood panel plant in Menznau, near Lucerne in central Switzerland. He had no record of making trouble, police and factory officials said, but workmates quoted by Swiss media said he may have been suffering from mental problems since last year. The man, who was not identified by name, reportedly launched his assault with a handgun at around 9:00 am (0800 GMT) in the plant’s canteen.

Police said that he appeared to have aimed deliberately at his victims, rather than spraying shots at random. Of the seven

MENZNAU, Switzerland: Police arrive yesterday at the Kronoswiss wood panel plant near Lucerne where a gunman opened fire.— AFP wounded, six were in a serious condition.

Three helicopters from the Swiss emergency service REGA evacuated four of the wounded to neighbouring hospitals, a spokesman told AFP. Police would not say how the shooter died and added they were waiting for the results of an autopsy. “We still don’t know what his motives were,” Lucerne’s police chief

Daniel Bussmann told reporters.

Some Swiss media claimed the gunman had fallen out with his employers, with local newspaper Willisauerer Bote noting that Kronospan had last week announced it was cutting production. Owned by Austrian group Kronospan, the factory is the top employer in Menznau, giving jobs to about 400 people in the community of almost 2,600. Kronospan underlined that the production cutback was the result of a wood shortage due to bad weather, and that there had been no threat to jobs. “We said on several occasions that there would be no layoffs,” company director Mauro Capozzo told reporters. Capozzo said the gunman was known as a very calm individual. “We can’t understand what happened,” he said.

Board member Urs Fluder said the plant had been left reeling. “We’re all in shock. We’ll do everything we can to help the victims’ loved ones and support them financially,” he said. “This is a tragedy,” Menznau’s mayor, Adrian Duss, told AFP. The national daily Blick said the gunman was a family man who worked as a machine operator at the plant.

The regional newspaper Luzerner Zeitung quoted an unnamed colleague as saying that the man’s behaviour over recent months suggested he was having mental problems. “He changed last year. He talked to himself, or to people who weren’t there. And he’d change the subject completely in mid-conversation, so you could barely talk to him anymore,” the colleague said. The colleague said that the gunman had in the past practised kickboxing, but underlined that he had never shown any aggression. “He was weird, but we’d never have thought it would come to this,” he added.

Switzerland has a longstanding tradition of gun ownership, rooted in the fact that the bulk of its military are reservists, rather than professionals. The country ranks third in the world for the number of guns per inhabitant, after the United States and Yemen.— AFP

ROME: Italy’s political gridlock deepened yesterday with bickering between the main leftist party and a new anti-establishment party putting off the prospect of a new government any time soon, following shock elections that have spooked Europe.

Comedian turned populist firebrand Beppe Grillo said his Five Star Movement (M5S) would not endorse the Democratic Party (PD), which won the most votes in the elections on Sunday and Monday but not enough to form a majority in parliament.

“The M5S is not going to give a vote of confidence to the Democratic Party or to anyone else,” Grillo, who has channelled the frustrations of austerity-weary Italians, wrote on his blog.

The comment appeared to be a rejection of overtures from the PD, which on Tuesday held out the possibility of working with M5S on key reforms like slashing government costs and helping Italy’s poorest get through a grinding recession. Grillo said the PD had made a series of “indecent proposals”, prompting PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani to hit back with a statement saying: “If Grillo has something to say to me, including the insults, I want to hear it in parliament.” Grillo has railed against traditional politicians and has called for a referendum on the euro. His party won 163 seats in the lower and upper houses.

After market panic on Tuesday, investors were more measured yesterday, especially after a better-than-expected bond sale even though I taly ’s borrowing costs spiked.

European capitals remained nervous however amid fears Italy could turn back the clock on reforms and austerity following an election that had been seen as crucial for the future of the eurozone. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano yesterday cancelled planned talks with the man bidding to unseat German Chancellor Angela Merkel

after he called two Italian political players “clowns”. Commenting on the inconclusive vote in Italy, Steinbrueck said late Tuesday he was “downright appalled that two clowns won” - a reference to the big votes won by showman Grillo and scandal-tainted former premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Government officials such as Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle have called on Italy to continue on the path of reform pursued by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti that led to improved confidence in the financial markets. “The outcome of the elections was even more confusing than we had anticipated,” the Mediobanca investment bank said as Moody’s warned it might downgrade Italy’s debt rating, saying the vote result “increases the risk of political paralysis and prolongs political uncertainty”. The rating agency added: “This week’s elections have implications well beyond Italy itself and are, indirectly, credit-negative for other pressured euro area sovereigns.”

Monti was due to meet with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels later on Wednesday also to discuss Italy’s impasse. Backroom negotiations are already underway and they could last for weeks, with some analysts warning that if no deal is struck in parliament Italy may be forced to hold new elections. The PD-led coalition took the lower house of parliament but no party won a majority in the upper house and support in both chambers is needed in order for a government to be formed. Under the constitution, parliament has to meet within 20 days of an election, after which formal negotiations begin with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on setting up a new government. The possibility of a minority centre-left government reliant on votes from other parties in the Senate on a case-by-case basis has been judged as possible but “highly unstable” by analysts. Leading

Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo warned the suspense could last for weeks. “Uncertainty may characterise the coming weeks,” it said.

Also yesterday, Italy ’s ISTAT statistics agency said that business confidence had dropped from 80 points in January to 77.4 points this month. I taly is enduring its longest recession in 20 years and unemployment rates are at record highs. The government’s forecasts of a gradual recovery starting in the second half of the year have been judged “too optimistic” by ISTAT. A coalition led by irrepressible tycoon Berlusconi confounded all poll predictions by coming in an extremely close second in the vote for the lower house, winning 29.18 percent to Bersani’s 29.54 percent. The billionaire had promised to refund an unpopular property tax-if necessary out of his own pocket-and has blamed a “hegemonic ” Germany for many of Italy’s current economic woes. Monti was the big election loser, taking just 10.56 percent in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies. His technocratic government, which replaced Berlusconi after he was ousted at the height of the financial crisis in 2011, won praise from other European leaders, but his austerity drive was unpopular at home.

Bersani admitted he had been “overtaken” by the protest vote for M5S, which became the biggest single party in parliament, but warned that the huge anti-austerity protest vote should be heeded beyond Italy’s borders. “The bell tolls also for Europe,” he said on Tuesday in his first speech following the vote. Eoin Ryan, Italy analyst at IHS Global Insight research group, said: “The prevailing political situation is one of greater political instability in the short and medium terms”.

“Whatever government configuration takes shape, it will have to prioritise and find political agreement on electoral reforms, paving the way to fresh elections,” he said.— AFP

Kerry holds talks on Mali, Syria in France PARIS: US Secretary of State John Kerr y and French President Francois Hollande held talks yesterday on Mali and Syria and a proposed trans-Atlantic deal to create the world’s largest free trade zone. Kerry spent just over an hour at the Elysee Palace presidential residence on Wednesday morning. He then held talks with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and was due to address a joint press conference in the afternoon. Hollande’s office said Kerry and the French leader had discussed revived plans for a free trade accord between the EU and the 27-nation European Union (EU). “France is favourable in principle but would like it to conform to the (EU’s) Common Agricultural Policy” an aide said.

“They also discussed Mali, Syria and the need to relaunch the Middle East peace process,” he added.

After his talks in Paris, Kerry was due to fly on to Rome for a “Friends of Syria” meeting today.

The conflict has claimed 70,000 lives, according to the United Nations. The main talking point during Kerry’s Paris stopover which followed halts in London and Berlin - was Mali, where France sent in troops on Jan 11 to stop Islamists holding the north from pushing down to the capital Bamako. The French intervention has driven Islamist rebels - composed of various groups - from cities in the north of the west African country, but clashes and guerrilla attacks have continued.

Mali has become the new symbol of the fight against terrorism

after Afghanistan and Washington sent transport planes and drones to boost the Frenchled intervention, currently backed by the African force AFISMA. “Now, the French have decided it’s enough of a threat to them that they’re taking the lead and they’re engaged in trying to work to strengthen the government,” Kerry said in Berlin on Tuesday.

“They don’t want to be there, I assure you, for the long term.”

Washington and Paris have not always been in sync on Mali, which was initially supposed to have a west African force come in

to stop the advancing Islamists.

That was held up partly due to financial and weapons constraints faced by African nations, prompting Paris to send troops to its former colony to prevent the Islamists from marching on the capital. French officials had voiced frustration with what they saw as foot-dragging by the US administration on providing logistical support to the French intervention, but any issues appear now to have been resolved. American officials have stressed that Washington had already given $96 million to help

train the African force, which may evolve into a UN peacekeeping mission.

French officials said the other main items on the agenda were the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, which have sparked global alarm, as well as the dragging conflict in Syria. Citing US and European officials, the Washington Post newspaper said the White House is mulling a major policy shift on Syria and is toying with the idea of supplying rebels with direct aid like body armour, armoured vehicles and even military training.— AFP

PARIS: US Secretary of State John (left) walks with French President Francois Hollande after their meeting yesterday at the presidential Elysee palace. — AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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

China may name expert on Japan, N Korea as FM Beijing’s tough task of improving relations in region

Rohingya people, part of a 121 strong group, including six women and two children, arrive at a shelter in Punteuet, in Lhokseumawe, Aceh province, yesterday.—AFP

Over 100 Rohingya asylum seekers rescued off Indonesia COT TRUENG, Indonesia: Fishermen in western Indonesia rescued more than 100 ethnic Rohingya who had sailed from Myanmar, an official said yesterday, with an asylum seeker claiming they had been shot at in Thai waters.

The 121 Rohingya were found drifting late Tuesday around 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the coastal village of Cot Trueng, on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island in Aceh province, village chief Mukhtar Samsyah told AFP. “Their boat ran out of petrol as they tried to sail from Myanmar to Thailand,” he said. But 21-year-old asylum seeker Farid Alam claimed the lack of fuel was due to sabotage by the Thai authorities.

He said the boat carrying the Rohingya, including six women and two children, had been intercepted in Thai waters three days after they left Myanmar around a month ago.

“They came onto our boat, threw away our food and petrol and then towed our boat further out to sea. During the night, they shot at us,” he told AFP by phone in Malay, from an immigration detention centre in Lhokseumawe city. Alam said there were originally 12 more members on the boat, but he believed they had been “shot dead and fell

into the sea”.

All of those rescued were taken to the detention centre yesterday morning after being given a place to sleep, food and water.

“We want to stay in any country with Muslims. We don’t mind where, Aceh is good too. But please don’t send us back to Myanmar. Just shoot all of us-we are better off dead than going back to our country,” Alam said.

The UN considers the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim ethnic group, to be one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Myanmar views its roughly 800,000 Rohingya inhabitants as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, denying them citizenship.

Buddhist-Muslim unrest in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine has left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced since June 2012. Almost 6,000 Rohingya fleeing the violence have illegally entered Thai waters since October, the Thai army said earlier this month.

In 2009 Thai authorities admitted to towing Rohingya asylum seekers out to sea after claims they had been abused and set adrift with minimal food and water.—AFP

Vietnam reporter fired for criticizing ruling party chief HANOI: A Vietnamese journalist said yesterday he had been fired from his state-run newspaper after criticizing the head of the ruling Communist Party in a personal blog.

Nguyen Dac Kien was sacked from the Family and Society newspaper less than 24 hours after he published an essay on his blogwhich quickly went viral-criticizing a speech by the party’s general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The newspaper falls under the remit of the Ministry of Health. Vietnam, a one-party state that forbids political debate, routinely jails or places under house arrest activists and bloggers for publicly expressing dissent and challenging the communist party’s rule. “I am not surprised. After what I wrote (my removal from the paper) was easy to predict,” Kien, who had worked at the newspaper since 2008, told AFP by telephone. “I disagree with his (Trong’s) speech... I think it is unacceptable,” the 29-year-old reporter said.

The newspaper said in a statement that Kien was sacked for “violating the operation status of the newspaper” and would have to take “personal responsibility” if prosecuted.

Speaking on Monday Trong, one of Vietnam’s

most powerful leaders, accused people calling for political reforms in the authoritarian state of showing “political, ideological and moral deterioration”.

“Who wants to deny the Communist Party’s leading role? Who wants pluralism and a multi-party system? Who wants separation of power?... This must be nothing else but deterioration,” he said. Responding in his essay, Kien said Trong had “no right to address the whole country” and only certain communist party officials wished to preserve the protected status of the party in political life. “You cannot say that it’s the aspiration of the Vietnamese people... only embezzlement and corruption, running counter to the benefits of the people and the nation, are deterioration,” he added.

The reporter, who is married and has one young son, told AFP he was prepared for difficulties after his sacking but was worried about the impact on his family. “I will continue to pursuit my path fighting for democracy in this country,” he said.

Vietnam ranks a dismal 172 out of 179 countries on the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. — AFP

BEIJING: China is likely to appoint an expert on Japan and North Korea as its next foreign minister, three independent sources said, in a measure of Beijing’s resolve to improve difficult relationships with two of its closest neighbors.

Barring last-minute changes, Wang Yi, 59, China’s ambassador to Japan from 2004 to 2007, was likely to be appointed foreign minister during the annual full session of parliament next month, the sources said. A fluent Japanese speaker, he was China’s main representative to the six-party talks on North Korea from 20072008, and was a counsellor and later minister counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo from 1989 to 1994.

“China is sending a signal that Sino-Japanese relations will be the most important of important issues,” a source with ties to the leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for speaking to foreign reporters.

Tensions over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea - claimed by Beijing as Diaoyu and by Tokyo as Senkaku - flared last year, raising fears of a miscalculation and an unintended military confrontation.

Wang was to replace Yang Jiechi, 62, who was tipped to be promoted to foreign policy tsar as

one of five state councillors, the sources said.

The post is senior to that of foreign minister.

The source with ties to the leadership said deteriorating ties with Japan could be improved.

“Wang Yi is like Zhou Enlai - a modest gentleman with a scholarly bearing,” the source said, referring to China’s first premier and foreign minister. “He will exercise restraint, is rational and wise.”

The islands, also claimed by Taiwan, are one of several maritime territorial disputes involving China that have worsened as Washington shifts its security focus to Asia.

Wang’s two immediate predecessors were former ambassadors to Washington before taking over the foreign policy portfolio. But mending fences with Tokyo will be no easy task.

“Japan must first recognise the Diaoyus are disputed,” a second source said. “If Japan insists there is no dispute, then what is there to talk about?”Since 2008, Wang has been minister of the cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which implements policy towards the self-ruled democratic island Beijing claims as its own.

During his time in that role, he has overseen steadily warming ties with Taiwan, including the signing of landmark trade and economic agree-

Salvage crews break up US Navy ship in Philippines MANILA: Salvage teams have begun cutting up a US Navy ship stranded on a UN World Heritagelisted coral reef in the Philippines in a process that could take almost month, the coastguard said yesterday. The smokestack, or funnel, of the minesweeper USS Guardian was lifted off on Tuesday while the mast was removed yesterday, marking a major step in the operation, said coastguard spokeswoman Lieutenant Greanata Jude. The 68metre (223-foot) vessel ran aground on the Tubbataha Reef in a remote part of the Sulu Sea on January 17 and strong winds and heavy seas have hampered the operation to dismantle it.

The United States has repeatedly apologized for the incident, which it has blamed on faulty maps, but the incident has fuelled anger in the Philippines, a former American colony and important US ally in the Asia-Pacific region. “Most of the equipment on top of the deck has already been transferred to a barge but they have yet to remove the large equipment inside the ship,” Jude told AFP. The dismantling of the ship has been repeatedly delayed by bad weather, but clear skies are now forecast to last over the next few days, she added.

The US Navy had originally targeted March 23 for the full removal of the vessel but the recent bad weather could now change the timeframe, Jude said without giving details.

Salvage ship Jascon-25 (right) near the US navy ship, USS Guardian (left) during salvage operation off Tubbattaha reef in Palawan island, Western Philippines. Salvage teams have removed the funnel from a US Navy ship stranded on a UN World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines after bad weather caused weeks of delays, the coastguard said yesterday.—AFP Jude said the team has also removed a winch used to operate the vessel’s sonar equipment, and are preparing to take apart the second level of the ship, located beneath the deck.

Sensitive equipment will be rec ycled but most of the ship will have to be scrapped after its fibreglass-reinforced wooden hull was breached when it

ran aground, she said.

Portable equipment as well as toxic substances have already been removed from the ship, she added.

When it ran aground, the ship damaged a section of reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site, known for its rich marine life.

President Benigno Aquino has said the US Navy will have to pay penalties for the damage. The vessel, esti-

A NASA satellite captured image of cyclone Rusty closing in on the northwestern coast of Western Australia. — AFP

ing the coastline near Pardoo, a small mining town and cattle station just east of Port Hedland, but the port town remained on high alert. Cyclones are erratic and can quickly change direction.

Atlas Iron which operates a mine in Pardoo yielding around 2.5 million tons of ore a year, has evacuated the site. Calls to local residents and businesses went unanswered. Australia’s three main iron ore ports, Port Hedland, Dampier and Cape Lambert, were closed on Monday. Offshore oil and gas fields have also been shut down. Severe weather warnings extend as far as 500 km (310 miles) inland to the mining camps and towns of Tom Price, Mt Newman and Nullagine, operated by Rio Tinto , BHP Billitonand Fortescue Metals Group.

The Pilbara, a sparsely populated and inhospitable outback part of Australia, is the world’s largest source of iron ore. Rusty early yesterday strengthened to a category four storm on a scale of one to five. “This is a large tropical cyclone and its slow movement is likely to result in an extended period of destructive winds near the track, with rainfall that is heavier than that associated with a typical system,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Areas hardest hit by the storm could receive up to 600 mm, or 2 feet, of rain in 24 hours. Such extensive flooding threatens to submerge hundreds of kilometres (miles) of rail lines owned by the miners and used to transport ore to the ports.

“Extreme weather preparations continue across our mining operations in anticipation of the cyclone moving further inland,” BHP said in a statement emailed to Reuters. “Additional operations will be suspended if necessary.” —Reuters

mated to cost about $277 million, was too badly damaged to be towed away, the US Navy said earlier.

Vessels sailing into the Tubbataha marine park need permission but Philippine authorities said the crew of the Guardian had made no request to enter and had even ignored radio messages that it was about to hit the reef. — AFP

Singapore professor denied second term

Australia’s Port Hedland spared worst of cyclone PERTH: A powerful cyclone that brought half the world’s seaborne-traded iron ore to a halt spared Australia’s Port Hedland shipping hub yesterday, making landfall about 120 km (75 miles) to the east.

Cyclone Rusty, with destructive winds up to 200 kph (125 mph), is expected to flood inland iron ore mine operations and rail links with heavy rain expected overnight and today. “Port Hedland will escape Rusty’s worst winds,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Residents of the Pilbara iron belt have been told to prepare for a prolonged battering given the storm’s slow advance, suggesting it could be several days or more before iron ore mining and shipping operations return to normal. Satellite tracking by meteorologists showed the cyclone cross-

ments. From 2007 to 2008, Wang was China’s point man on six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia aimed at curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

North Korea conducted a third nuclear test on Feb. 12 and is ready to go ahead with a fourth and possibly fifth test. China is the North’s only major ally and while it appears to be exasperated with the isolated state’s belligerent behavior and is likely to agree with U N sanctions, it is not likely to cut food or fuel supplies.

“Wang Yi is familiar with the North Korean issue, but it is complicated and more difficult (to resolve) than scaling the heavens unless the United States is willing to help,” the second source said.

Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun, 60, was widely expected to become minister of the Communist Party’s International Department, which deals with foreign political parties, including Pyongyang’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, the sources said. Zhang was vice minister of the department from 2000 to 2009.

Another vice foreign minister, Cui Tiankai, 60, was to be named ambassador to the United States, the sources said. —Reuters

TAIPEI: Chinese dissident Wang Dan (right) and Wuer Kaixi hold posters in front of Taiwan ‘s presidential office calling Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou to help to free China’s jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, in Taipei yesterday. More than 140 Nobel laureates petitioned Taiwan in a global campaign to push for China’s release of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo.—AFP

Ancient king’s hat holds clues to Korean alphabet SEOUL: A hat which belonged to South Korea’s most revered monarch King Sejong has been recovered more than 500 years after it was looted by Japanese invaders, a senior scholar said yesterday.

Apart from its intrinsic value as an historical relic, the discovery has thrilled scholars after documents were found stitched inside the hat carrying explanations of King Sejong’s greatest legacy-the Hangeul alphabet. The monarch known as Sejong the Great ruled from 1418-1450. His reign had a profound impact on Korean history with the introduction of the Hangeul phonetic alphabet that replaced classical Chinese characters.

Hangeul vastly increased literacy-previously restricted to the top scholarly class-and remains the official script of both South and North Korea. The king’s statue occupies an honored place in the centre of Seoul and numerous buildings and institutions are named after him. Hangeul Day commemorat-

ing the alphabet’s creation is a public holiday.

Lee Sang-Gyu, a professor of Korean language and literature at Kyungpook National University, told journalists that the Ikseongwan (cicada-wing hat) was purchased in Japan last year by a South Korean collector.

“This hat will help shed light on details on the creation of Hangeul and ancient royal costumes,” Lee said. The documents are believed to be at least two years older than the hitherto oldest documents explaining the principles behind the creation of the Korean alphabet, he said. The hat is believed to be one of many royal relics looted during the Japanese invasions of Korea in the 16th century, Lee said. The outside is composed of pieces of brown and dark cloth embroidered in gold, and the inside of fine red cloth. The documents were found hidden in between the two. The unidentified local collector has decided to donate the relics to the state, Lee said. — AFP

SINGAPORE: A Singapore journalism professor who has written extensively about the lack of media freedom in the city-state has been denied tenure a second time, and hundreds of his supporters at home and abroad are demanding to know why.

Supporters of Cherian George, an associate professor in journalism studies at the Nanyang Technological University’s School of Communication and Information, contend that his credentials are so strong that politics must be behind the university’s unwillingness to give him a permanent faculty position. His first application for tenure was rejected in 2009.

Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, a professor from Wales’ Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, said she was one of the outside experts who reviewed George’s case for tenure. She called him one of the “foremost public intellectuals in Singapore,” and called the rejection “incomprehensible and plainly absurd.”

“I can only speculate about the reasons for this decision not to grant tenure to someone known for being critical of the government but it does not make NTU or Singapore look good in the eyes of the international academic community, and raises serious questions about academic freedom,” Wahl-Jorgensen said in an email to The Associated Press.

The Southeast Asian country, known for its groomed image of efficient governance and political stability, has long been criticized by human-rights groups for using measures such as criminal and civil defamation to stifle opposition voices critical of the government and its leaders. The People’s Action Party has ruled since 1959 but has seen support drop in recent years as discontent grows over the high cost of living, an influx of foreigners and rising income inequality.

A former journalist, George holds degrees from Cambridge and Columbia University and obtained his doctorate from Stanford University. He is known for his books such as “Freedom From The Press,” which assessed the state of media and politics in Singapore.

Nanyang Technological University did not respond directly to queries from the Associated Press. In a media statement Tuesday evening, the public university said it has a “rigorous tenure process” in place but added that “as all employment matters are confidential, NTU will not comment on any specific cases.” George said he learned of the rejection last week, but he declined to comment further. A former student of his, Bhavan Jaipragas, began a petition demanding that the university disclose reasons behind its decision to deny George tenure, along with details on how it assesses the teaching quality of faculty members seeking tenure.

The petition had received about 800 signatories by Wednesday. Bhavan said copies were to be delivered later that day to NTU’s president and other key university leaders.—AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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

Suicide bomber blows up Army bus in Kabul Taleban drug, gun down 17 Afghans

KABUL: Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers look at a damaged bus.—AFP

India rejects Finmeccanica denial over chopper bribes NEW DELHI: India yesterday rejected denials by Italy’s Finmeccanica that the company paid bribes to clinch a $748million contract for 12 British-built helicopters.

India in mid-February put payments to the company on hold and asked the Italian firm to reply if any terms of the contract and an “integrity pact” it signed in 2010 had been violated in securing the deal.

Finmeccanica, whose chief executive was arrested on February 12 in Milan as part of a probe by Italian prosecutors, insisted in its response last week to the Indian government that it acted “correctly ” in securing the deal. “ We do not believe the company’s reply to the government’s show-cause notice,” Defence Minister A K Antony told parliament yesterday during a debate on the contract.

Antony’s statements came as the government agreed to set up a joint parliamentary commission including opposition MPs to probe charges that bribes were paid to swing the deal in favour of Finmeccanica’s British unit AgustaWestland. “We will go to the root

of the issue... I want to give the maximum punishment to the guilty,” Antony told the upper house of parliament. He also threatened punitive action against Finmeccanica if police establish that the Italian firm violated terms of the contract and used middlemen to influence the deal in favour of its helicopters. Indian police this week filed a “preliminary enquiry” report linking four companies, four Westerners, six Indians and a former Indian air chief marshal to the bribery allegations.

India’s defense ministry announced earlier it had “initiated action for cancellation” of the helicopter contract. The purchase came under scrutiny from Italian investigators looking into allegations the group had broken the law by paying bribes to foreign officials, leading to the arrest of Finmeccanica’s boss Giuseppe Orsi. The chopper deal was cleared by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose Congress-led government has been buffeted by a series of corruption scandals that analysts say could affect the party’s electoral chances in 2014 polls. —AFP

KABUL: Taleban insurgents poisoned and then shot to death 17 people in an overnight attack on a government-backed militia post in eastern Afghanistan, an official said yesterday.

The militants somehow poisoned those inside the outpost, incapacitating them, before gunning them down Tuesday night, said Abdul Jamhe Jamhe, a leader of the Ghazni provincial government. The method of poisoning was unclear, he added.

The dead included 10 members of the government-backed Afghan local police, and seven of their civilian friends, said Provincial Gov Musa Khan Akbarzada. He says there was a conspiracy of some sort but declined to confirm if poison was involved.

The lightly trained Afghan Local Police, a village-level force backed

by US troops and overseen by the Ministry of the Interior, is tasked with helping bring security to remote areas. But President Hamid Karzai has expressed concern that without careful vetting, the program could end up arming local troublemakers, strongmen or criminals.

Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack. He told The AP by telephone that the attackers shot the men dead in their sleep but that no poison was involved.

In the capital, meanwhile, a suicide bomber slid under a bus full of Afghan soldiers and blew himself up, wounding 10 in an attack that underscored the insurgency’s ability to hit even heavily guarded Kabul. The man, wearing a black overcoat, approached the bus purposefully in heavy morning snow as soldiers were boarding, set

KABUL: Afghan firefighters wash debris off the road following a suicide attack against a bus carrying Afghan army personnel in Kabul yesterday. —AFP down his umbrella and went under the chassis as if to fix something, according to a witness.

Watching from across the street, office worker Ahmad Shakib said he thought for a moment the man might have been a mechanic.

“I thought to myself, what is this crazy man doing? And then there was a blast and flames,” that engulfed the undercarriage, he said. “It was a very loud explosion. I still cannot really hear.”

Kabul police said the attack, which was the second this week, wounded at least six soldiers and four civilians. The bomber also died. Bakery owner Mirza Khan

said the blast shattered the windows of his nearby shop where people were waiting to buy bread, leaving six wounded. The Afghan government uses buses to ferry soldiers, police and office workers into the city center on regular routes for work, and the vehicles have been a common target for insurgents, who were also behind this attack.

Mujahid, the Taleban spokesman, also claimed responsibility for the Kabul bombing.

The attack comes three days after a would-be car bomber was shot dead by police in downtown Kabul. That assailant was driving a

vehicle packed with explosives and officials said he appeared to be targeting an intelligence agency office.

It also comes as the US-led militar y coalition in the countr y is backing off from its claim that Taleban attacks dropped in 2012, tacitly acknowledging a hole in its widely repeated argument that violence is easing and that the insurgency is in steep decline.

Some 100,000 international troops are helping secure Afghanistan at the moment, but most, including many of the 66,000 Americans, are expected to finish their withdrawal by the end of 2014. — AP

Bangladesh protesters urge death for politician DHAKA: Thousands of people have demonstrated in Bangladesh’s capital to demand a death sentence for an Islamic party leader accused of committing atrocities during the country’s 1971 independence war. More than 5,000 people rallied yesterday after a special tribunal said it would deliver its verdict against Delwar Hossain Sayedee the next day.

Sayedee is among nine leaders of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party who have been put on trial on charges of mass killings and atrocities allegedly committed during Bangladesh’s war of separation from Pakistan. Earlier this month, another party leader was sentenced to life in prison.

The Islamic party, a key ally of the country’s main opposition party, denies committing atrocities and says the charges are politically motivated. It has called a general strike on Thursday to protest Sayedee’s expected conviction. — AP

KARACHI: Pakistani custom officials pose for photographs in front of liquor bottles seized from smugglers in the Arabian Sea in Karachi yesterday. Pakistan customs and Maritime Security Agency arrested 11 alleged smugglers, seized three boats along with 25,000 liquor bottles, 77,000 cans of beer and 55,000 litres of Iranian diesel in different operations they carried out while patrolling the Arabian Sea, according to maritime officials at a media briefing. — AFP

Australian Muslim activists lose free speech case MUMBAI: Indian police detain activists of the Republic Party of India, protesting against the rape and killing of three young sisters earlier in the month in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, outside the state government headquarters in Mumbai yesterday. —AFP

Policeman killed, scores hurt in Myanmar clash MAUBIN, Myanmar: A policeman was killed and more than a dozen farmers wounded-some by gunfire-during a protest over land ownership in Myanmar’s Delta region, activists and police said yesterday.

They said 26 police were also injured during Tuesday night’s demonstration, in which farmers demanded the return of 500 acres (200 hectares) of land in the Irrawaddy Delta which they say was seized by the military government in 1996. Around 300 farmers have been protesting about the alleged land grab since last week, and have vowed to continue until the land is returned to them by the private company that bought it from the former junta.

Similar demonstrations have taken place across the country since 2011, when the repressive junta was replaced by a civilian government. Analysts say protesters have been emboldened by reforms since the end of the junta which routinely crushed dissent of any kind.

Parliament has now been tasked with solving hundreds of resurgent land disputes. But Tuesday night’s clashes in Maubin township were a reminder of the incendiary nature of such disputes.A crackdown on a protest camp at a copper mine in November left scores injured, prompting accusations of abuses by authorities. A police official in Maubin, requesting anonymity, told AFP the officer died during treatment in Yangon

from a stab wound, adding police “acted with restraint” and had only fired warning shots.

Activists painted a different picture of events, saying at least 14 farmers were hurt, including three who suffered bullet wounds, as police sealed off the area and opened fire.

“The police opened fire more than 100 times. We did not think that they will be so cruel,” Tun Naing, an activist for farmers’ rights close to the scene told AFP. He said farmers had been trying to secure the return of land seized from six villages in the area and sold to a livestock company which has kept it idle.

There were no new reports of violence as dusk fell in Maubin. But one of the wounded villagers said they had seized the chance to reclaim their land and livelihoods as farmers, rather than day labourers, after years living in fear. “We didn’t dare to complain when the military government seized our land as we were frightened,” Naing Win, a villager shot in his arm and back, told AFP from hospital.

“I did not think they would shoot us.

Although I got shot, I will continue until we get our land back.”

Under the military government land was routinely appropriated across Myanmar without explanation or compensation and handed out to cronies for their own use or sold on to private companies. — AFP

CANBERRA, Australia: Australia’s highest court yesterday narrowly rejected the case of two Muslim activists who argued they had a constitutional free -speech right to send offensive letters to families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Iranian-born Man Horan Monis, a Sydney cleric also known as Sheik Haron, was charged with 12 counts of using a postal service in an offensive way and one count of using a postal service in a harassing way over three years until 2009. Amirah Droudis was charged with aiding and abetting the offences. They face potential maximum prison sentences of 26 years and 16 years respectively if convicted.

The six judges of the High Court split on whether the charges were compatible with Australians’ right to free speech. When the nation’s highest court is tied, an appeal is dis-

missed and the lower court decision stands.

That sends the charges to a lower court where they will be heard on a date to be set. Monis allegedly wrote letters critical of Australia’s military involvement in Afghanistan and condemning the dead soldiers. He also allegedly wrote to the mother of an Australian official killed in a terrorist bomb blast in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2009 and blamed Australian government foreign policy for the tragedy.

His lawyer, David Bennett, argued in the High Court last year that the letters were “purely political.” He argued the charges were invalid because they infringed on Australians’ right to freedom of political communication.

The Australian Constitution doesn’t include an equivalent of the US First Amendment. But the High Court has held for decades that the constitution contains an implied right to free

ALLAHABAD: A devout belonging to the Ramta Panch group of the Juna Akhara sect walks a horse to be loaded onto a truck before leaving for Varanasi from the outskirts of Allahabad at the end of Maha Kumbh festival, in Allahabad yesterday.—AP

speech because such political communication is essential to democracy. This right is not as ex tensive as that guaranteed by the US Constitution.

The pair had appealed in the High Court the unanimous ruling of three judges of the New South Wales state Court of Appeal in December 2011. “Whilst at one level the letters are critical of the involvement of the Australian military in Afghanistan, they also refer to the deceased soldiers in a denigrating and derogatory fashion,” their judgment said.

Prof. Anne Twomey, a Sydney University constitutional lawyer, said the High Court’s tied decision offered little legal precedent on the extent that offensive speech can be prohibited in Australia.

She said the issues could be tried again in a different case. Two of the seven judges on the High Court will have changed before the next such case is heard.

“It’s rather unpredictable” how the court would rule on a similar case, Twomey said.

“The area of offensive speech has always been difficult.” Only six judges heard the case because the seventh, Justice William Gummow, intended to retire in October last year before the trial was likely to be completely heard. One of the judges who would have u pheld the a ppeal on free s peech grounds, Justice John Dyson Haydon, retires in March.

It is a crime under Australian federal law to use a postal service to communicate a message that “reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, menacing, harassing or offensive.” Twomey said Monis and Droudis might not have been charged if the letters had been hand delivered. Federal authorities have limited criminal jurisdiction in Australia and relied in this prosecution on their powers over national postal and electronic communications.

Australia has 1,550 troops in Afghanistan which is the biggest military contribution to the war of any countr y outside NATO. Australia has suffered 39 casualties over the past decade in Afghanistan and another 249 Australian soldiers have been wounded. — AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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

Search for boat, missing family ends off California SANTA CRUZ, California: Rescuers have stopped searching the cold Pacific Ocean for a couple, two young children and a sinking sailboat as questions of a hoax arise amid no reports of the missing family or any registration of the vessel in question.

The Coast Guard on Tuesday called off the search for a boat that reportedly sank in rough seas far off the Central California coast, saying nothing more could be done and that the family’s distress calls might have been a hoax.

“We’ve exhausted the possibilities,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Mike Lutz said. The Coast Guard is treating the incident as a rescue, with the possibility the calls came from a trickster.

Coast Guard Executive Officer Noah

involving major rescue efforts. A massive search was launched last year in the Atlantic Ocean east of Sandy Hook, NJ, after a caller falsely radioed for help, claiming, “We have 21 souls on board, 20 in the water.” Kurtis Thorsted, 55, of Salinas, Calif., was released from federal prison last summer after being convicted, for the second time, of making false calls to the Coast Guard. Court records show he made 51 distress calls over a fivemonth period, claiming in one case to be in trouble in a kayak off the coast of Santa Cruz.

Crews off Monterey started looking for the family by sea and air after receiving the first distress call Sunday afternoon. In one call, a man’s calm

Hudson in Monterey said it was tough to call off a search, but that if it was a hoax, “it’s unfortunate that we were forced to use so many resources for so much time.”

Making a false federal distress call is a federal felony, and perpetrators face up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The 42-hour search involved hundreds of rescuers from the Coast Guard and the California Air National Guard. A Hercules C-130 fourengine turboprop aircraft buzzed above the seas, while helicopters, cutters and lifeboats plied the waters, as costs soared into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Coast Guard handles several hundred hoax calls a year, some

voice is heard saying, “Coast Guard, Coast Guard, we are abandoning ship.

This is the (Charmblow). We are abandoning ship.”

The caller said they had to abandon the boat and were trying to tie together a makeshift life raft out of a cooler and life-preserver ring, a method taught in survival classes. The Coast Guard then lost radio contact with the boat.

The Monterey Bay at this time of year is about 50 degrees; a person could survive between 30 minutes and an hour without a survival suit or wetsuit. Investigators said they believed, from the distress calls, that the family included a husband and wife, their 4-year-old son and his

cousin, Coast Guard Lt. Heather Lampert has said.

Sailors along this renowned stretch of coastline are a close-knit group who were gripped by the news of the missing family, but also baffled by important omitted details.

Harbor masters at the string of ports that dot the coastline from Monterey to Half Moon Bay told The Associated Press the same thing: No boats launched from their docks were missing, and no family had disappeared from their community. “It’s all kind of strange,” said Brad Miller, who operates a fishing charter out of Santa Cruz. “But why would somebody want to make something like that up?

What’s the point of that?”—AP

Obama, Congress leaders to meet on budget cuts Republicans already see march-end shutdown

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, accompanied by (from left) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, applaud at the unveiling of a statue of Rosa Parks yesterday on Capitol Hill. — AP

Obama unveils Capitol statue of Rosa Parks WASHINGTON: Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus, so it was fitting that her statue unveiled yesterday by President Barack Obama in the US Capitol depicts her in the position from which she launched a civil rights revolution.

Congressional leaders, dozens of relatives and several hundred guests joined Obama as Parks, represented by a nine-foot (2.7m) bronze statue, took her rightful place among the nation’s heroes depicted in Statuary Hall.

The statue is the first of an AfricanAmerican woman in the US Capitol. “This morning we celebrate a seamstress slight in stature, but mighty in courage,” Obama said in tribute to the woman who, on Dec 1, 1955 at age 42, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a crowded bus in Montgomery, Alabama. “In a single moment with the simplest of gestures she helped change America and change the world,” the president said. James Clyburn, the most senior African-American in Congress, described Parks as “the first lady of civil rights, the mother of the movement, the saint of an endless struggle”.

Blacks were freed from slavery 150 years ago when president Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation

Proclamation, but it took another century marred by second-class citizenship, racial violence, and voter suppression before the civil rights movement took root, culminating with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “As America shapes its future it struggles with its past - a past in which equality was our principle but not always our practice,” said Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid as he noted the country’s continuing efforts to “eradicate slavery’s unsavory successors: racism and inequality”. “Without the determination and sacrifice of Rosa Parks, this presidency... and so much of the progress we have made to perfect our union would not have been possible. So today a nation pays enduring tribute to the woman who moved the world when she refused to move from her seat.”

Parks is depicted in the statue as many Americans envision her: sitting, hands folded across her lap and clutching her handbag, her hair pulled back, and staring steadily out from behind rimless glasses. But she was no meek woman. She fought hard for her right to vote, fighting a voter literacy test skewed against African-Americans. She later collaborated with civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr and Jesse Jackson, who was at yesterday’s unveiling. — AFP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will meet tomorrow with congressional leaders to discuss what to do about $85 billion in spending cuts that kick in that day, the White House said yesterday.

It’s the first face-to-face meeting between Obama and Republican leaders this year. The meeting will come after a divided Congress has officially missed the deadline for averting the cuts to defense and other programs, which had been designed to be so ugly that Washington would be forced to avoid them.

Before the White House announcement, there had appeared to be no talks under way to find a better way to tackle the country’s $11.7 trillion debt. Some opposition Republicans had seemed ready to let the cuts take effect and let attention turn to an even more worrying fiscal deadline at the end of March - a possible government shutdown.

It’s hardly the scenario Obama promised as he ran for re-election last year and tried to convince voters that Washington would be a different place in his second term. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said tomorrow’s meeting is a chance to address ways to reduce government spending. He said Americans won’t accept more taxes as part of a deal to avert the cuts. Experts believe the standoff is already slowing the fragile economy’s recovery from the Great Recession. And government agencies, faced with cuts that mean taking out the same rough percentage whether or not certain budgets are already streamlined, continued to warn what would happen.

Americans appear exhausted by the march of fiscal crises. Three out of 4 say they aren’t following the spending cuts issue very closely, according to a Pew Research Center poll released this week.

Efforts to close the budget gap have been hurt by Republicans’ refusal to accept new tax increases and Democrats’ insistence that any spending cuts be matched by tax increases.

The spending cuts would carve $85 billion from the US budget through the end of the fiscal year at the end of September, and $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Economists agree that policymakers should delay the deep cuts until the economy has strengthened, but they

Deadly virus demands swift sleuth...

Continued from Page 1 Swiftly conducted scientific studies by teams in Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere have found that NCoV is well adapted to infecting humans and may be treatable medicines similar to the ones used for SARS, which emerged in China in 2002 and killed a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected. “Partly because of the way the field has developed post-SARS, we’ve been able to get onto this virus very early,” said Mike Skinner, an expert on coronaviruses from Imperial College London. “We know what it looks like, we know what family it’s from and we have its complete gene sequence.”

Yet there are many unanswered questions. “At the moment we just don’t know whether the virus might actually be quite widespread and it’s just a tiny proportion of people who get really sick, or whether it’s a brand new virus carrying a much greater virulence potential,” said Wendy Barclay, a flu virologist, also at Imperial College London.

To have any success in answering those questions, scientists and health officials in affected countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan need to conduct swift and robust epidemiological studies to find out whether the virus is circulating more widely in people but causing milder symptoms. This would help establish whether the 13 cases seen so far are the most severe and represent “the tip the iceberg”, said Volker Thiel of the Institute of Immunobiology at Kantonal Hospital in Switzerland, who published research this month showing NCoV grows efficiently in human cells.

Scientists and health officials in the Middle East and Arab Peninsular also need to collaborate with colleagues in Europe, where some NCoV cases have been treated and where samples have gone to specialist labs, to try to pin down the virus’ source. Initial scientific analysis by laboratory scientists at Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) - which helped identify the virus in a Qatari patient in September last year - found that NCoV’s closest relatives are most probably bat viruses.

It is not unusual for viruses to jump from ani-

mals to humans and mutate in the process - high profile examples include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS and the H1N1 swine flu which caused a pandemic in 2009 and 2010. Yet further work by a research team at the Robert Koch Institute at Germany’s University of Bonn now suggests it may have come through an intermediary - possibly goats.

In a detailed case study of a patient from Qatar who was infected with NCoV and treated in Germany, researchers said the man reported owning a camel and a goat farm on which several goats had been ill with fevers before he himself got sick. Osterholm noted this, saying he would “feel more comfortable if we could trace back all the cases to an animal source”. If so, it would mean the infections are just occasional cross-overs from animals, he said - a little like the sporadic cases of bird flu that continue to pop up - and would suggest the virus has not yet established a reservoir in humans.

Yet recent evidence from a cluster of cases in a family in Britain strongly suggests NCoV can be passed from one person to another and may not always come from an animal source. An infection in a British man who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, reported on Feb 11, was swiftly followed by two more British cases in the same family in people who had no recent travel history in the Middle East. The World Health Orgnisation says the new cases show the virus is “persistent” and HPA scientists said the cluster provided “strong evidence” that NCoV, which like other coronaviruses probably spreads in airborne droplets, can pass from one human to another “in at least some circumstances”.

Despite this, Ian Jones, a professor of virology at Britain’s University of Reading, said he believes “the most likely outcome for the current infections is a dead end” - with the virus petering out and becoming extinct. Others say they fear that is unlikely. “There’s nothing in the virology that tells us this thing is going to stop being transmitted,” said Osterholm. “Today the world is one big virological blender. And if it’s sustaining itself (in humans) in the Middle East then it will show up around the rest of the world. It’s just a matter of time.” — Reuters

WASHINGTON: The Capitol dome is seen as automatic spending cuts are set to take effect tomorrow in Washington.—AP

say lawmakers should come up with a realistic long-term plan to fix the debt as soon as possible. The cuts are “haphazard, and cuts good programs and bad. It’s not good budgeting practice,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. The country’s deficits have exceeded $1 trillion the past four years.

Obama on Tuesday warned that the government-wide cuts could hurt military readiness and called the move a “self-inflicted wound that doesn’t have to happen.”

But some opposition Republicans see the battle as their best opportunity to stand their ground and exact deep spending cuts from Obama - even if it means taking money from the Defense Department, a step Republican lawmakers have traditionally opposed.

Top Republicans support a plan that wouldn’t replace the cuts but would give Obama’s

agency heads, such as incoming Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, greater discretion in distributing the cuts. The idea is that money could be transferred from lower-priority accounts. But Obama rejected the idea, saying there’s no smart way to cut such a large chunk from the budget over just seven months. The White House is also keenly aware that it would give Republicans an opening to blame Obama, instead of themselves, for every unpopular cut he makes.

Despite the grim predictions, there is breathing room for political settlement if tomorrow’s deadline comes and goes. Many of the cuts to hit the Defense Department and other federal agencies would come in later years and could be partially offset by cuts in programs that are wasteful or behind schedule. —AP

Pope bids farewell to huge crowds Continued from Page 1 the Church with prayer and reflection.” The frail 85-year-old stunned the world with his abrupt decision to end an eight-year reign dogged by scandal and Vatican infighting, declaring he was too weak to keep up with the modern world.

The scourge of paedophile priests and cover-ups by their superiors cast a dark shadow over Benedict’s papacy, combined with a longstanding money-laundering scandal at the Vatican bank, which exposed infighting among Benedict’s closest allies. What observers said may have been the last straw was the scandal that came to be known as “Vatileaks”, in which his trusted butler leaked secret papal memos revealing intrigues between rival groups of cardinals.

But yesterday’s crowds did not dwell on the scandals. “I have come in gratitude for everything he has done these past eight years,” said Father Giulio, a 67year-old priest from the Abruzzo region.

“Resigning is a powerful message for every Christian. He resigned without bitterness but instead in sweetness and

serenity,” he said. Giuseppe Fan, a Vietnamese seminarian, stood on tiptoe on the steps of one of the square’s fountains for a better view. “I love the pope,” he told AFP. “I’m sad that he’s leaving, but he has made a grand gesture of love for the Church.”

Benedict’s resignation is a break with Catholic tradition that has worried conservatives but kindled the hopes of Catholics around the world who want a successor who will breathe new life into the Church. Sharon Clark, a tourist from the United States, told AFP: “I admire Benedict, but I hope the next pope will have the strength to unite the Church and help it grow again - and bring back a bit of morality.”

While most appeared to accept the pope’s imminent departure, at least one banner pleaded: “Benedict, change your mind!” But Jan Graubner, archbishop of Olomouc, Czech Republic, said that while he was sad to see the pope leave, “gratitude outweighs sadness because I see that the Holy Father wants this. It’s his will.” Benedict told English-speaking pilgrims he was “deeply grateful for the understanding, support and prayers of

so many of you, not only here in Rome, but also throughout the world”. Later yesterday the pope followed up his farewell speech with what the Vatican said would be one of his last tweets.

The Vatican has said Benedict will receive the title of “Roman pontiff emeritus” and can still be addressed as “Your Holiness” and wear the white papal cassock after he officially steps down at 1900 GMT today. Rome has been gripped by speculation over who the leading candidates might be to replace him - the so-called “papabili” - as cardinals from around the world fly in ahead of the conclave to elect the next pope.

Rumours and counter-rumours in the Italian media suggest cloak-and-dagger lobbying, prompting the Vatican to condemn what it has called “unacceptable pressure” to influence the papal election. Campaign groups have also lobbied the Vatican to exclude two cardinals accused of covering up child sex abuse from the upcoming election conclave. A total of 115 “cardinal electors” are scheduled to take par t in next month’s conclave to choose a successor to Benedict. — AFP

Iran upbeat on nuke talks, West wary Continued from Page 1 weapons-grade. Iran’s growing stockpile of 20-percent-enriched uranium is already more than half-way to a “red line” that Israel has made clear it would consider sufficient for a bomb.

The US official said the latest proposal would “significantly restrict the accumulation of near-20-percent enriched uranium in Iran, while enabling the Iranians to produce sufficient fuel” for their Tehran

medical reactor. Iran had previously indicated that 20-percent enrichment was up for negotiation if it received the fuel from abroad instead. Chief negotiator Saeed Jalili suggested Iran could discuss the issue, although he appeared to rule out shutting down Fordo. He said the powers had not made that specific demand.

Western officials were aware that the closeness of Iran’s presidential election in June is raising political tensions in Tehran and made rapid progress unlikely. One

diplomat in Almaty said the Iranians appeared to be suggesting at the negotiations that they were opening new avenues, but that it was not clear if this was really the case. “Everyone is saying Iran was more positive and portrayed the talks as a win,” said Iran expert Dina Esfandiary of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “I reckon the reason for that is that they are saving face internally while buying time with the West until after the elections.” — Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

14

ANALYSIS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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Issues

Obama has not broken GOP ‘fever’

By Julie Pace President Barack Obama promised this time would be different, that if he won re-election, a Republican “fever” would break and legislative gridlock would ease. Yet just over a month into his second term, Washington is once again mired in a partisan budget battle. And rather than figuring out a way to work with Republicans, Obama is largely ignoring them, trying instead to build public support for his approach to averting automatic budget cuts - and perhaps overplaying his hand if the dire consequences he’s warning of are not quickly felt by many Americans.

For their part, Republicans are ignoring Obama, too, choosing biting news conferences on Capitol Hill over negotiations with the president. As a result, $85 billion is almost certain to be yanked from the nation’s budget beginning Friday. After more than two years of bitter, down-to-the-wire negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, shutting down the government and preventing tax hikes on most people, a failure to push off the looming cuts would mark the first time Obama and Congress actually had blown past a crucial economic deadline.

That’s hardly the rosy scenario Obama promised as he ran for re-election and tried to convince voters that Washington would be a different place in his second term.

At a fundraiser in June the president told donors that if he won re-election, “the fever may break, because there’s a tradition in the Republican Party of more common sense than that.” “My expectation is that after the election, now that it turns out that the goal of beating Obama doesn’t make much sense because I’m not running again, that we can start getting some cooperation again,” he added.

Obama advisers insist there are some signs the “fever” has eased since the November election. In a major concession, Republicans gave in to Obama during the year-end “fiscal cliff” negotiations when he insisted on higher tax rates for upper income earners. And the GOP decided last month to extend the debt limit for three months after previously demanding that any increase be paired with an equal amount of spending cuts.

But that doesn’t mean the GOP is ready to give in again as Washington lurches toward Friday’s deadline. Some Republicans see the sequester battle as their best opportunity to stand their ground and exact deep spending cuts from Obama - even if it means taking money from the Pentagon, a step Republican lawmakers have traditionally opposed. After all, many House Republicans believe they have a mandate to cut spending significantly. Despite a dismal national approval rating, the GOP maintained control of the House - even though it lost seats - in the November election, in part by pledging to cut government spending and block Obama’s proposals for increasing taxes.

“Republicans feel very strongly that they have a substantive argument on the spending problem, particularly given the way the national debt has increased over the last four years,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former adviser to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“They believe that in the long run, having fought on those issues is going to be a part of bringing back the Republican Party.”

And Obama isn’t budging on his insistence on higher tax revenue along with spending cuts. The White House has warned that the broad-based $85 billion in cuts could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. The cuts would slash domestic and defense spending, leading to forced unpaid days off for hundreds of thousands of workers. But the impact won’t be immediate, giving negotiators some breathing room to work on a deal.

That is, if both sides decide to actually start negotiating.

No serious talks to avert the budget cuts are under way, even among White House and congressional staff. There have been no face-to-face meetings between Obama and Republicans this year. And there’s been just one known phone call this year between Obama and the top congressional Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Instead, Obama is focusing his efforts on rallying public support for his sequester offset plan, including a trip Tuesday to Newport News, Va., an area that could be hurt by the defense cuts. His message to America: The cuts will be drastic; they’ll result in job loss, and Republicans will be to blame. Polling suggests the president’s strategy may be working. A new Washington Post-Pew Research poll showed that 45 percent of Americans would blame congressional Republicans if the cuts took effect, while 32 percent would blame Obama. An additional 13 percent said both sides would share in the blame.—AP

US

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The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

It’s about to get serious for comic Grillo

By Gavin Jones and Francesca Piscioneri eppe Grillo can allow himself a few days to bask in the afterglow of his triumph in Italy’s election, but soon the comedian who now leads the country’s largest party will face some tough political choices. After a spectacular rise since its formation in 2009, Grillo’s antiestablishment 5-Star movement won a stunning 26 percent of lower house votes at the election, fractionally more than the centre-left Democratic Party (PD). His 108 seats in the 630 seat Chamber of Deputies and 54 in the 315 seat Senate leave him holding the key to Italy’s political future.

His followers are delighted.

“We hope to change politics and give a bigger voice to the young. The old parties did nothing for 30 years,” said Manolo Pellegrini, a 26 year-old television technician who voted for Grillo in Rome. The only government that can be formed without Grillo’s consent would be a re-edition of the unnatural alliance between centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi and Pier Luigi Bersani on the centre-left which ruled for a year under outgoing technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Yet this would enrage many supporters on both sides and make it likely that when Italians return to the polls, the 5-Star Movement performs even better. That is why, after decrying Grillo for months as a rabble-rousing demagogue, the other parties are already hinting they want to do business with him. Now not just Italians, but also foreign leaders worried by the inconclusive election outcome in the euro zone’s third largest economy, are asking themselves what Grillo will do next. “There are no strategies, we will support ideas that are in line with ours, bill by bill,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

With his fierce invective against established politicians, the hoarse-voiced, shaggy-haired Grillo has been branded a dangerous populist by many commentators, yet he could turn out to be a positive force for Italy. Grillo, who is 64, did not run for election himself and says with some irony that he is merely the 5-Star’s “spokesman.”

One possibility is that he eventually joins forces with the PD for a government that finally cuts politicians’ privileges, changes the dysfunctional electoral system and per-

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haps adopts some of his signature policies on ecology or internet access. The other option, perhaps more likely, is that he remains in opposition with his army of young lawmakers, most with no previous experience as career politicians. They were selected in primary elections held on the Internet in which would-be candidates presented themselves with a biography or using a webcam.

If Grillo stays in opposition, the threat that he makes further gains may be just the scourge that the other parties need to finally reform the electoral law and adopt the cost-cutting reforms that they have promised for years.

These are best-case scenarios. A less favourable one for Grillo is that his lawmakers’ idealistic enthusiasm dissolves into anarchy when they arrive in the corridors of power and some gradually abandon ship to join the more established parties. In a rare and unusually frank newspaper interview last summer, Grillo admitted that his movement was more suited to local politics and was unprepared for parliament.

Carla Ruocci, a 34 year-old mother of two who will leave her job in the state tax offices to become a lower house deputy said she and her colleagues would collect just Ä2,500 per month, compared with the standard lawmakers’ salary of around Ä8,000. “The first thing I want to do in parliament is to reduce what Italians have to pay for their political institutions,” she told Reuters in a Rome hotel where Grillo’s supporters were celebrating their election success.

Alarm over Grillo’s call for a referendum on Italy’s euro membership or occasional suggestions it should restructure its debt is probably unjustified. These issues do not figure in the party’s programme and are certainly not the core of his appeal. That is based overwhelmingly on cutting down Italy’s bloated political apparatus and putting an end to the privilege and corruption of its political and business elite. Among scores of comments by Grillo supporters to Reuters outside the polling stations, there were none that wanted Italy to leave the euro, but the vast majority said they were voting to clean up politics.

It was no coincidence that Grillo’s first comment after the election was a tweet saying simply: “Honesty will become fashionable.” He proposes to slash lawmakers’

salaries, impose a salary limit for public sector managers of 12 times the average salary of their workers, and a minimum income for jobless Italians. Other policy planks include breaking down state monopolies in transport, energy and communications, free internet access for everyone and the abolition of state funding for newspapers which he says limits their independence.

His program also has a strong ecological slant, promising incentives for green energy production, a tax on the use of cars in city centres and an extensive network of urban cycle tracks. Grillo has not only refused to accept any state financing for his movement, but 5-Star’s regional councillors in Sicily took a 75 percent cut in their salary and pooled the saving to provide cheap credit to small businesses. He showed what some saw as a disturbingly authoritarian style when, two months ago, he expelled two party members who bemoaned a lack of internal democracy and flouted the movement’s rule not to appear on television talk shows.

“Don’t come and break my balls, me of all people, about democracy. I’m getting fed up, I’m getting angry, seriously angry,” Grillo wrote on the 5-Star Movement’s blog, its main forum for communication. While his rhetorical skills make him an ideal front man, many analysts point out that his movement’s followers, often young professionals, tend to be far more down to earth and pragmatic. The average age of the four mayors elected by the 5-Star Movement in local elections last May was 31, in contrast to the gerontocratic world of Italian politics.

The most high profile was Federico Pizzarotti, a previously unknown computer technician elected as mayor of the prosperous northern city of Parma, famous for its ham and cheese. Judging by the national election, the citizens of Parma have liked what they have seen, with 5-Star winning 28 percent of the vote in the city, even higher than its showing nationally. In Sicily, where four months ago the party elected numerous regional councillors that have influenced local policy, it boosted its vote from 18 percent to a startling 34 percent, its highest showing anywhere in the country. In both places, 5-Star has been pragmatic and worked with allies on a case-by-case basis, a far-cry from the iconoclastic rhetoric of Grillo’s speeches.— Reuters

Mexico arrest sounds warning to reform foes

By Dave Graham he arrest of Mexico’s best-known trade union leader on fraud charges has thrown down the gauntlet to powerful interests standing between President Enrique Pena Nieto and his plans to shake up Latin America’s second-biggest economy. For a generation, even presidents shied away from taking on teachers’ union boss Elba Esther Gordillo, making her Mexico’s most prominent female politician and a formidable enemy to those who accused her of fostering corruption rather than education. Pena Nieto, who has been in office for less than three months, crossed that line on Tuesday when police arrested the 68-year-old Gordillo and three other people with her at Toluca airport near Mexico City.

A former grandee of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, Gordillo faces charges of embezzling around $200 million from union coffers and using it to buy property in the United States and pay for luxury goods, expensive designer clothes, works of art and plastic surgery.

In the past, Gordillo has denied accusations of corruption. She was snared a day after Pena Nieto signed a law aimed at improving education standards that she had opposed because it would weaken her union’s clout.

The arrest came as Pena Nieto prepares to launch a series of ambitious measures that aim to overhaul taxes, open up state oil giant Pemex to more private capital and ease tycoon Carlos Slim’s tight grip on Mexico’s telecommunications industry. “The fundamental point is that resistance by the de facto powers to reform will be confronted with energy and determination,” Federico Berrueto, director general of Mexican polling firm GCE, said after Gordillo’s arrest.

In Mexico, the “de facto powers” refer to various entrenched interests that include Slim’s business empire and dominant broadcaster Televisa, run by Emilio Azcarraga. Both have repeatedly fought off regulatory efforts to loosen the control they wield over their respective markets. The government is due to unveil a major telecommunications proposal in the next few days, while separate initiatives on overhauling Pemex and

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boosting Mexico’s weak tax take are expected to go to Congress during the second half of 2013.

The education law signed by Pena Nieto on Monday still faces a fight from Gordillo’s union because it requires a secondary law to be implemented. Changes to the energy sector could face resistance from the Pemex union so Gordillo’s arrest was also interpreted as a government warning to other labor bosses that they too might face close scrutiny.

Although Gordillo is unpopular in Mexico, her arrest has also stirred fears that Pena Nieto could be leaning toward the authoritarian past of the centrist PRI, which ruled Mexico continuously from 1929 to 2000. Brasil Acosta, a PRI congressman from Pena Nieto’s home turf, the State of Mexico, said the party had to be careful the case against Gordillo was not brought for the wrong reasons. “If it isn’t legally proven, we’ll be looking at an act of political repression, which would be dangerous,” he said.

Carlos Salinas, who was president from 1988 to 1994, removed two troublesome union leaders as he embarked on his own historic reform drive, but his administration ended mired

in allegations of graft. Appointed by Salinas in 1989, Gordillo became one of the most controversial figures in Mexico. She has been widely criticized for her lavish lifestyle and she became more vulnerable after splitting with the PRI ahead of the 2006 presidential election, when the party suffered its biggest-ever defeat. “I imagine he (Pena Nieto) was looking to land a decisive blow against someone, and she was the easiest target,” political analyst Denise Dresser told Mexican television. Gordillo was taken to Santa Martha Acatitla women’s prison on the edge of Mexico City on Tuesday night.

The PRI, reviled by many Mexicans as corrupt and heavy-handed by the time it lost power in 2000, pledged to mend its ways after Pena Nieto recovered the presidency last year. The former State of Mexico governor vowed to usher in greater accountability and transparency, and his allies are portraying the investigation into Gordillo as part of the new PRI’s broader efforts to clean up Mexico. “They send a clear message. We’re not playing games when it comes to governing,” said Alejandra Del Moral, a 29-yearold PRI congresswoman.

Gordillo has long been a symbol of the PRI’s cozy relationship with trade unions and established interests, which critics blame for fomenting inefficiency and helping to keep the economy lagging behind its emerging market peers. Opposition lawmakers quickly argued that to realize lasting change Pena Nieto must go further than just arresting Gordillo. “Today we’re going to demand that Pena Nieto carries on with the others in the way he started with Elba Esther,” said Armando Rios Piter, a senator for the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD. “There are hundreds and perhaps thousands who represent this model of corruption.”

Among these, he said, is Carlos Romero Deschamps, head of the oil workers’ union at Pemex and also a PRI senator. Revamping the state-run Pemex is one of the toughest tasks facing Pena Nieto. Created when the PRI nationalized the oil industry in 1938, the company became a symbol of Mexican self-reliance and his party has been very reluctant to touch it. Romero Deschamps has fought off corruption allegations in the past, and both the PRD and the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, called for an investigation into his wealth after Gordillo’s arrest.

Romero Deschamps has denied taking part in corruption.

With no outright majority in Congress, Pena Nieto needs support from opposition parties for any major reform of Pemex. They are likely to seek concessions in exchange for votes.— Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

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Isner advances at Delray Beach

Argentina’s Reveco defends WBA title

Vaughan hopes players learn Maynard lessons

DELRAY BEACH: Top seed John Isner hammered 28 aces en route to a threeset victory over Jesse Levine in the first round of the ATP Tour’s Delray Beach International Championships on Tuesday.

Isner, who is looking to regain his form after battling a knee injury earlier this year, got off to a slow start against Canada’s Levine but played an efficient third set to win 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-4. “I knew it was going to be a tough match,” Isner said. “The first match outdoors is always tough. “Very different conditions. Jesse’s good. I’ve always had trouble with him,” he added. “Honestly, it was a good one to get through. A win is a win and I haven’t had many lately. I’m just trying to get this train going. I’ll rest up and I anticipate I’ll be better.” Isner reached the semi-finals in Delray Beach last year. He moves on to play Japan’s Go Soeda, who survived a third-set tie-break to defeat last year’s finalist Marinko Matosevic. Soeda trailed 3-6 in the tie-break but managed to save three straight match points during a five-point winning streak to claim the match 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6).—AFP

KAWASAKI: Argentina’s Juan Carlos Reveco achieved a u n a n i m o u s p o i n t s d e c i s i o n o ve r J a p a n’s M a s a y u k i Kuroda to defend his World Boxing Association ( WBA) flyweight title yesterday.

Two judges scored it 117-111, while the other judge counted it 116-112 in favour of the defending champion.

It was Reveco’s third defence of the title since he defeated Jean Piero Perez of Venezuela by a knockout to become the interim champion in June 2011.

The 29-year-old Reveco, who became the full champion after his second defence, improved his record to 30 wins, including 16 KOs, against one defeat.

It was the first attempt at a world title for Kuroda, ranked ninth in the WBA, who saw his record reduced to 21 wins, including 13 KOs, against four defeats and two draws.— AFP

LONDON: Former England captain Michael Vaughan hopes the increased testing for recreational drugs promised by cricket chiefs following the death of Surrey batsman Tom Maynard will “frighten” anyone still using them. A coroner’s inquest in central London was told on Monday that Maynard was nearly four times above the legal alcohol limit for driving and had taken cocaine and ecstasy before he was electrocuted and hit by a train in June last year.

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death on the promising cricketer, whose father was former England batsman Matthew Maynard.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) responded by announcing increased testing for recreational, as well as performance-enhancing, drugs.

Vaughan, writing in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph, said: “There will be players in cricket who have taken recreational drugs and are still doing it, but I hope Tom Maynard’s tragic story will make them stop.—AFP

Fans injured at NASCAR race explore legal options

PALM BEACH GARDENS: Tiger Woods of USA talks with his coach Sean Foley during the pro am of the Honda Classic at PGA National yesterday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. — AFP

Maiden Tshwane Open draws Major champions JOHANNESBURG: Major champions Jose Maria Olazabal, Darren Clarke and Michael Campbell are the leading drawcards at the maiden Tshwane Open golf championship near Pretoria, which starts on Thursday.

The European Tour-Sunshine Tour cosanctioned event will be played over the par-72, 7,791-yard (7,124-metre) Copperleaf Golf and Country Estate designed by leading South African golfer Ernie Els. It is the last of six 2013 European Tour season tournaments to be staged in South Africa and the race for the 237,750euro ($310,690) first prize appears open as many big names are absent.

With the Accenture World Match Play Championship just completed and the Cadillac Championship coming next week, South African and European stars like Els have opted to remain in the United States.

That offers seasoned professionals like 1994 and 1999 US Masters winner Olazabal, 2011 British Open champion Clarke and 2005 US Open title-holder Campbell a chance of victory, along with rising local and overseas stars.

Although the 1,750-metre (5,750-feet) altitude will see shots fly further and take some sting from one of the longest layouts on the European circuit, Olazabal was struck by the distance of some holes.

“It is a great course and very, very long,” said the 23-time champion on the European circuit, “even though we are not playing off the back tees all the time.

“The front nine is particularly long and I’m struggling with my driving. It is a course you need to drive well and, hopefully, I can find something over the four rounds.”

Spaniard Olazabal, 47, skipper of the 2012 European Ryder Cup-winning team in the United States, last triumphed when he finished five strokes clear of the 2005 Mallorca Open field.

That year was also memorable for New Zealander Campbell as he lifted the US Open and defeated Paul McGinley of Ireland 2-1 to capture the HSBC World Match Play Championship.

Northern Irishman Clarke enjoyed his moment of Major glory more recently, winning the 2011 British Open, and is a regular visitor to South Africa for co-sanctioned and Sunshine Tour events.

South African Jaco van Zyl starts 14/1 favourite and another strong local contender should be recent Africa Open winner Darren Fichardt, while six-time European Tour winner Simon Dyson of England is also in the 156-strong field.

“I have been improving each week,” said Pretoria-born Van Zyl as he seeks a maiden European Tour victory, “and winning on the Sunshine Tour last week has greatly boosted my confidence.”

Laid out in a figure of eight, the Copperleaf course is built on land where the late grandfather of Els grew up and while the length may be intimidating, the fairways are considered generous. — AFP

ORLANDO: The attorney for three NASCAR fans injured last weekend during a race the day before the Daytona 500 says they are exploring a possible lawsuit, but some experts say they could face tough obstacles in winning damages.

Matt Morgan, the Orlandobased lawyer for the fans, said at a news conference Tuesday than any suit would focus on the safety fence used along the track at Daytona International Speedway. He said he hopes to reach a settlement with NASCAR to avoid a lawsuit.

More than 30 people were injured last Saturday after a horrific wreck in a second-tier NASCAR series race sent chunks of debris, including a heavy tire, into the stands. Morgan declined to provide the identities of his clients, but said two of them were seated directly in front of the crash and sustained injuries ranging from a frac tured fibula to abdominal swelling. All have been released from the hospital.

Some experts say there could be grounds for a lawsuit, and that courts have looked past liability waivers written on the backs of sporting event tickets. Others maintain the ticket is a legal contract that could be hard to overcome in court.

“Ultimately, I believe it would be gross negligence,” Morgan said. “We all know that when you go to a race you assume a certain amount of risk. But what people don’t assume is that a race car will come flying into the stands... That’s why they make the fences.”

Asked to comment on the fans’ retention of a law firm, NASCAR spokesman David Higdon wrote in a statement, “We are unaware of any lawsuits filed.”

Daytona International Speedway is owned by International Speedway Corp., a NASCAR sister company.

Spokesman Andrew Booth said, “As

DALLAS: Dayton 500 winner and five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson attends a Daytona 500 Champion Luncheon at House of Blues yesterday in Dallas, Texas. — AFP per company policy, we do not comment on pending litigation.”

Donnalynn Darling, a New Yorkbased attorney who has been practicing personal injury law for 30 years, said there is a theory that a spectator who buys tickets to a sporting event assumes the risk of objects coming out of the field of play, such as a foul ball at a baseball game.

But she said there is also a foreseeable risk question that promoters of events also accept.

“Did the sporting event promoter take action to prevent that specific risk?” Darling asked. “In terms of this fence...it was put up to prevent people from being hurt. You have people who were not only injured by falling debris, but by the failure of the fence.”

Others say such restrictive clauses on the back of tickets are generally disfavored by Florida courts.

“If it’s just something written on

the back of the ticket and not called to the attention of the person purchasing, there’s reason to believe many courts in Florida won’t hold that they consented efficiently,” said University of Florida emeritus law professor Joseph Little.

Still, Paul Huck, an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, said contract law could take precedence. “A ticket to one of these events is like a contract - and its provisions limiting liability are generally enforceable,” he said. “We enter into these types of contracts on a regular basis, and we often don’t give it a second thought that we may be limiting or even giving up certain legal rights when we do so.”

Darling also said that the fence’s manufacturer at Daytona would likely be “very much responsible” because of it being foreseeable that debris could go through a fence

Injury forces Miyazato out of HSBC Champions

Lorenzo breaks Pedrosa grip at tests SEPANG: World champion Jorge Lorenzo ended rival Dani Pedrosa’s unbeaten streak in pre-season MotoGP testing after pipping the fellow Spaniard yesterday at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit. Three -time MotoGP runner-up Pedrosa had swept to the top of the timesheet across the first three-day session early this month, and also led the pack here Tuesday on his lightning-fast Honda.

But Lorenzo clocked 2 minutes 00.282 seconds on a scorching hot second day of testing, and consistently dipped under the 2 minutes 1 second mark despite “playing with the settings” across his 58 laps.

Although Pedrosa worked hard throughout a cooler afternoon session, he could not better his earlier time which was 0.369 seconds off the pace.

Lorenzo, 25, said he was close to his best of 2 minutes 00.19 seconds at Sepang and may beat it on Thursday after his Yamaha improved on acceleration, where the team continues to lag behind the Hondas.

“I’m ver y satisfied with the pace, because it was mostly 00 — very positive,” the two-time MotoGP champion added.

Nine -time world champion Valentino Rossi also praised his Yamaha teammate’s consistency, calling it a “strong motivation” for him after trailing in fifth spot, 0.783 seconds behind. Rossi, who put in 63 laps yesterday, said he struggled to improve on his lap times after “paying a high price” for more traction.

“I’m not 100 percent happy because we tried to improve the traction but we lose balance. We spin a bit too much in the exit from the corners,” he said.

Honda rider Pedrosa, chasing his first MotoGP title, said he tried to learn more about his setup, and his timing was hampered as one bike was under repair.

“Not everything was positive but we got some inputs so it’s okay,” the Spaniard said, adding that he was more confident of his chances as compared to last year’s pre-season.

His rookie teammate Marc Marquez continued to impress, finishing fourth fastest 0.710 seconds behind Lorenzo after “trying many things” to better understand “the reaction of the bike with me”.

British rider Cal Crutchlow broke up the dominance of the big teams by placing third, 0.625 seconds off the pace.

But the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Nick y Hayden continued to lag behind at eighth and ninth respectively, both about 1.5 seconds off the pace.

The team’s Dutch test rider Michele Pirro worked on a new chassis, according to MotoGP.com, which could be the game-changer Ducati needs before the season-opening race in five weeks. The second test session at Sepang ends today.

A third session will be held in Jerez from March 23 to 25 before the opening round of the MotoGP world championship in Qatar under floodlights on April 7. Malaysia will host round 15 on October 13. — AFP

that has holes in it.

That seems to be theory that Morgan is adopting. He referenced a 2009 crash at NASCAR’s racetrack in Talladega, Ala. in which a car that launched into the catch fence sent debris into the stands and injured several fans.

“At that point in time a group of engineers got together and they said ‘It’s time for us to manufacture a safer fence,’” Morgan said. “To my knowledge, that was done. But what we have to investigate at this point in time is what was done...If you can ever point to monetary considerations being put ahead of people, then there’s a big problem.”

Darling predicted that NASCAR would tr y to settle with the injured fans. NASCAR “ had an obligation to protect the fans that are so loyal, and it is bad from a public relations standpoint,” Darling said. “So they’re going to do something.” —AP

SINGAPORE: This file photo taken on February 23, 2013 shows Ai Miyazato of Japan playing a shot during the third round of the Honda LPGA Thailand golf tournament in Pattaya. Former winner Ai Miyazato pulled out of the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore yesterday as she battles whiplash injuries from a car crash which also left US star Paula Creamer struggling to recover. — AFP

SINGAPORE: Former winner Ai Miyazato pulled out of the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore yesterday as she battles whiplash injuries from a car crash which also left American star Paula Creamer struggling to recover.

The Japanese world number nine said she had stiffness in her neck, back and shoulders after Sunday’s five-car pile-up in Bangkok as the players were en route to the airport following the Honda LPGA Thailand.

“I still have some stiffness in my neck, shoulder, and back area but it is also a precautionary measure so as not to risk further injury this early in the season,” the 2010 champion said in a statement, adding that she was “very disappointed”.

“I now plan to return to Japan to see my trainer for a few days.” Creamer also cut short her appearance in Wednesday’s pro-am to seek extra treatment for similar injuries. But the American, who earlier said it was “pretty amazing how we walked away”, tweeted that she hoped to tee-off on Thursday.

World number one Tseng Yani heads a field featuring most of the globe’s best players at the $1.4 million event, considered the most prestigious women’s golf tournament in Asia.

The “Pride of Taiwan”, winless for nearly a year, has started the season with back-to-back top-three finishes, and she insisted staying at number one was not her main concern.

“World number one is not as important as before now,” said the 24-year-old. “I’ve already reached (there), and I’ve been there before. I’m still here, but I just want to enjoy (myself ) more. Because I know if I’m not looking at the result, I just want to play the golf and enjoy every swing and enjoy every tournament.” Tseng admitted she had burdened herself with “too much expectation” last season when a run of missed cuts, which contrasted with her seven titles in 2011, left her struggling emotionally. “I think I put too much expectation on myself. I think people, the fans and the media, they give lots of pressure. You know, if I don’t finish top 10, I’m in trouble, like ‘What’s wrong with Yani?’” Tseng now has a slim 1.35 average points lead over South Korea’s Choi Na-Yeon, who will also tee it up on Thursday on Sentosa, a wealthy resort island in tropical Singapore.

Missing from the field is 25th-ranked New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko, 15, who has become the most talked-about player on tour after winning last year’s Canadian Women’s Open and coming close at the season-opener in Australia. Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, 17, will hope to make up for her heartbreaking triple bogey on the final hole which cost her victory and left her in tears at last week’s event in Pattaya. Former teen prodigy Michelle Wie, currently ranked 73rd and playing on a sponsor’s invite, and defending champion Angela Stanford will also contest a tournament whose other previous winners include Lorena Ochoa and Karrie Webb. —AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

S P ORTS

Chinese team joins 2014 Formula E championship

GROZNY: In this late Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 photo Chechen sportsmen try out the slopes during the opening ceremony of an all-season mountain ski resort in Veduchi, 100 km south of the regional capital Grozny. — AP

Istanbul wants wrestling back for 2020 Games LONDON: The head of Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Olympics hopes a winning vote coincides with wrestling’s reinstatement.

The International Olympic Committee executive board voted this month to drop wrestling from 2020, but the final decision will be made at the assembly in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

That is when Istanbul will be challenging Madrid and Tokyo for the right to stage the games in seven years.

“If we are awarded the games, Turkey wants to have wrestling events in Istanbul,” Istanbul bid leader Hasan Arat said Tuesday at a media roundtable in London.

One of Turkey ’s five medals at the London Games came in wrestling - a bronze - while the country’s only gold at the 2008 Beijing Games came in the sport, which was included in the ancient Olympics staged near Turkey’s present-day territory.

Wrestling was caught off guard by the IOC executive board decision, and will now have to compete with seven other sports for a spot on the 2020 program: baseball and softball, squash, wakeboarding, sport climbing, roller sports and the martial arts of karate and wushu.

Wrestling leaders have acknowledged that the sport needs to introduce more user-friendly rules that would benefit spectators, television and athletes alike.

“There is a big responsibility for the international wrestling federation to really make their presentation, to make them really understand the position of this sport in those countries, like the United States, like Russia, like Japan, like Uzbekistan, like Turkey, like Azerbaijan,” Arat said. “These countries are very sensitive about wrestling. I hope the wrestling federation will do their best to make their presentation. ... They have to lobby, that’s very normal.”

Arat is preparing for the visit to Istanbul by the IOC evaluation commission from March 24-27. The commission will be in Tokyo next week.

The proposed budget for Istanbul’s fifth bid to host the Olympics is $19.2 billion for infrastructure and public services, much higher than the $4.9 billion of Tokyo and $1.9 billion of Madrid.

When Istanbul bid previously, Arat said, “Turkey was an emerging country.” Now, he stressed, “Turkey has emerged.”

Arat highlighted the investment in infrastructure, including $1.2 billion since 2005 to improve transportation in Istanbul, which has been known for its gridlocked roads. But the bid leaders will have to convince Olympic members that Turkey is taking strong action to protect the integrity of sports in a country where soccer has had match-fixing problems. In 2012, 93 people went on trial in Turkey for match-fixing, including 14 players.

“There is zero tolerance now, it’s very strict rules,” Arat said. “You cannot change the things in one day, you have to prove it.

For us, we believe the Olympic movement also will bring us a lot of values.”

Arat hopes a successful bid would help to speed up slow-moving talks with the European Union about Turkey joining the 27-member bloc.

Turkey began EU accession negotiations in 2005, but has made little progress since then because of a dispute with EU-member Cyprus and resistance by some in Europe to admitting a populous Muslim nation into the bloc.

“It will help first of all for the futures of our people, the future of our children to understand more about integration to the world,” Arat said. “Turkey is working hard to fulfill their obligations concerning the participation in the EU and I think Turkey is doing very well.” — AP

PARIS: Team China Racing is the second team to sign up for next year’s environmentally friendly Formula E championship, which will feature zero-emission cars racing in 10 cities around the world.

China Racing was officially proposed to motor sport’s governing body as one of the 10 teams taking part. British-based Drayson Racing was the first team to sign up, while Rio de Janeiro and Rome are the first two cities to commit to hosting a race.

“The Formula E championship with single -seater cars is a FIA championship of the future. The future is not so far away,” FIA president Jean Todt said during a presentation in Paris yesterday. “In a few days we will have the opportunity of presenting the calendar, and I am sure we will have some nice surprises.”

The championship, scheduled to begin in May 2014, features cars powered exclusively by electricity. Races will be held in the streets of major cities over a distance of about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles), and cars will travel at a maximum speed of 220 kph (135 mph). “It is very rewarding for the FIA and for myself as president to see all the attraction it is creating, at the level of the cities, the teams, the competitors, the drivers,” Todt said at the FIA’s Paris headquarters. “I would say all the ingredients are there to prepare a very strong championship. Times are changing, and it is very important for the FIA to have a vision of the future ... electric cars in cities.”

The championship is based on 10 teams and 20 drivers in evening races. China will host a race, although the city has not yet

PARIS: This photo released yesterday, by DPPI agency shows (left to right): CEO Team China Racing, Steven Lu, Chairman Team China Racing, Yu Liu, FIA president, Jean Todt, first secretary of the Chinese embassy, Liang JianSheng, and CEO Formula E Holdings, Alejandro Agag, posing for photographers near a Team China Racing prototype in front of the FIA headquarters in Paris, France, yesterday. Team China Racing is the second team to sign up for next year’s environmentally friendly Formula E championship, which will feature zero-emission cars racing in 10 cities around the world. — AP been chosen. “China has enormous potential for the expansion of electric vehicles as a tool to fight pollution in cities,” race promoter Alejandro Agag said. “We think the FIA Formula E Championship can be a powerful tool to make electric cars popular with the Chinese public, particularly the younger generations.”

The target audience for the races is aged from 12-25, with a view to making them more eager to drive electric cars. Each team

has two drivers and four cars.

Drivers switch cars during the race, returning to the original car once it has been recharged. A car battery contains three 200-cell units and at top speed a battery lasts up to 25 minutes, making for a race time of about one hour.

Unlike in Formula One, where mechanics typically change tires in lightning quick times, the pit stops in electronic racing are only to change cars. The driver enters the pits, runs 100 meters and

jumps into the new, freshly charged car.

China’s city will be named next week . “ We will bring a lot of Chinese fans,” Steven Lu, the chief executive of Team China racing said. “Big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are all excited.”

Prize money totals ?4 million ($5.2 million) for the winning teams (euro 400,000 or $523,000 per race) and a euro 2 million ($2.6 million) prize for the season’s best driver. —AP

Greek government promises funds for struggling sports ATHENS: The Greek government has pledged to revise blanket cuts in funding for sport and allocate an extra 11 million euros ($14.38 million) to stop some beleaguered federations from closing down.

Rowing was one of the sports that would benefit, officials said. Last month, world championship silver medallists Nikos and Apostolos Gountoulas quit the sport, complaining that elite athletes could no longer afford to compete for Greece because of funding cuts.

The budget for Olympic sports federations has been slashed by 50 percent year on year since 2010, while cuts of between 60 and 80 percent were due to be put into effect for 2013 under the country’s austerity measures.

A total budget of 14.5 million euros was officially announced last week but, after meetings between Hellenic Olympic Federation (HOC) officials and sports federation heads, the government had agreed to provide more funding to help between 300 and 400 federations, sports minister Giannis Ioannidis told a news conference yesterday.

“After discussions with the prime minister I have been given the okay to add an additional 11 million euros to the existing 14.5 million,” Ioannidis said.

The minister said mistakes had been made in previous budgets and many federations had serious economic problems.

“Unfortunately in the past there have been many favours done in the drawing-up of previous budgets, but I am not a person who does this,” he said.

“We arrived halfway through the year and we could not change the way the budgets were shared out at that point...

Now we will make sure that the money goes to where it is needed most.

“We can’t give money to all 5,000 federations but to the 300-400 which are creating growth. The most successful last year was rowing. We have no obligation to help that federation but we have to do it and we will. Sport is an investment.”

HOC president Spyros Capralos, reelected for a second term this month, had warned that several federations could close down because of the funding cuts. The cash-strapped athletics federation (SEGAS) has suspended its operations twice in 12 months in protest at cutbacks in state funding since 2008.

Water polo and swimming have also suffered, with Greece pulling their swimmers out of the European shortcourse championships at the end of last year for the first time in 16 years.

Rower Nikos Gountoulas, who with his twin won four European titles, said of their decision to give up after 13 years in the sport: “We’ve reached the point at which we simply can’t continue without economic support (from the state).”

The government also withdrew 190 million euros of funding for accommodation projects for the Mediterranean Games, which were supposed to be held in Volos and Larisa in 2013 but we re m ove d to M e r s i n i n Tu r k e y instead. — Reuters

DOUR: Belgian Kris Boeckmans of team Vacansoleil-DCM (2nd place), Russian Alexey Tsatevich of Team Katusha (1st place) and French Adrien Petit of Cofidis (3rd place) pose on the podium after the 44th Grand Prix Samyn, 192 km from Frameries to Dour, yesterday. — AFP

Russia plans major Tour with Red Square finish MOSCOW: Russia is planning a world-class velodrome on the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics and hopes to create a Tour of Russia with a Red Square finish to promote the sport, its cycling federation chief said yesterday.

The head of Russia’s cycling body, Igor Makarov, told reporters that the federation’s plans to renovate the country’s cycling infrastructure with a view to staging major events had received full backing from the government.

He said that Russia’s cycling ambitions would be centred around 2014 Winter Olympics host city Sochi, a resort on the Black Sea with a temperate climate and surrounded by huge mountains.

“We decided to transform one of the skating rinks which are now under construction in Sochi into a top-class cycling racing track after the end of 2014 Olympics,” he said.

“We need it desperately, as none of the existing racing tracks in Russia fit the strict demands for the Olympic cycling track. “Besides, we’re going to create a great cycling centre in the city

using the classy highways which are currently being constructed there for the Games.”

Russia has made little impact in track cycling in recent years, as advances in technology and training by the likes of Britain and Australia left other nations with less funding trailing in their wake.

Some racers like Denis Menchov have made an impact in road racing, however, while Russia also has its own Katusha road racing team. But the country has never been considered a great force in the big European tours.

Makarov also revealed that he was also planning to stage a professional Tour of Russia-an annual multiple-stage race. Sochi, the western city of Saint Petersburg and the capital Moscow would be ready to host the stages of any race soon after the 2014 Sochi Games end, he added.

“I believe a professional race with its overall finish in Red Square in front of Moscow’s ancient Kremlin would attract the attention of millions of sport lovers everywhere,” he said.

“I believe such a race will also seriously boost

cycling’s popularity in Russia,” said Makarov, a former Soviet champion-turned-businessman who is an influential figure in cycling.

Makarov said he wanted to concentrate on the development of cycling in Russia, adding there was much to do to revive the winning traditions of the Soviet era. “After the fall of Soviet Union, the cycling infrastructure in the country fell into decay,” he said.

“It’s a miracle that Russian cyclists managed to win medals at the Olympic Games, the world and European championships under the existing situation. We need to work out a plan of cycling revival in Russia and put it into practice day by day.”

Makarov meanwhile dismissed the rumours that he was set to run for the post of the International Cycling Union (UCI) president. “It’s not true. I have no intention to run for the post of UCI boss,” said Makarov, who is also the head of the Russian gas company ITERA. “I’m too busy and already hold too many posts to stand for this chair also.” —AFP

Pistorius representatives name substance found JOHANNESBURG: Oscar Pistorius’ representatives have named the substance found in his bedroom after the shooting death of his girlfriend as Testis compositum and said yesterday it is an herbal remedy used “in aid of muscle recovery.”

A product called Testis compositum is also marketed as a sexual enhancer, good for lack of stamina. Some online retailers advertise oral and injectable forms as testosterone boosters and say it can aid sexual performance.

South African police said during Pistorius’ bail hearing that they found

needles in Pistorius’ bedroom along with the substance, which they initially named as testosterone. Prosecutors later withdrew that statement identifying the substance and said it had been sent for laboratory tests and couldn’t be named until those tests were completed. Pistorius family spokesperson Lunice Johnston said in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the athlete’s lawyers had confirmed that the substance is Testis compositum. I n cour t last week , Pistorius’ defense lawyer Barry Roux said the substance was not banned by spor ts

authorities, but it had been unclear what it was and what the exact name was.

A product called Testis Compositum is made by Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH, based in Baden-Baden, Germany. The company website says it is one of the world’s leading makers of homeopathic combination medications. A US subsidiary, Heel USA Inc., markets the product in tablet form only and spokeswoman Joan Sullivan said she didn’t know if injectable versions are sold in other countries. Heel USA’s website says the product provides tem-

porary relief for men’s “sexual weakness” and lack of stamina.

The US-sold tablets contain 23 ingredients, including pig testicles, pig hear t, pig embr yo and pig adrenal gland, cortisone, ginseng and other botanicals. It also contains several minerals, according to a list Sullivan provided. Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor emeritus and expert on steroid use in sports, said animal steroids likely wouldn’t have an athletic performanceenhancing effect unless taken in huge quantities. Even so, he said many elite athletes would be wary of using such

supplements because they can be laced with banned substances and few would want to risk it.

The company website listed a South African subsidiary as ModHomCo (Pty) Ltd., based in Centurion, near Pretoria.

That company couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Pistorius was charged with premeditated murder in the Feb. 14 shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He says he shot her by accident after mistaking her for an intruder in his home. Prosecutors allege he intended to kill her. — AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

S P ORTS

California swim coach says accuser is ‘bully’ CALIFORNIA: A San Diego swim coach alleged to have multiple identities and a felony conviction fired back Tuesday, calling his accuser a “bully” with a checkered past.

James Pantera issued a statement one day after a complaint was filed with USA Swimming by Mike Saltzstein, a former vice president with the governing body.

The statement said Saltzstein is

“attempting to smear the name of a well respected and liked swim coach and official” who has passed numerous background checks. It also points to Saltzstein’s legal issues, saying he was involved in an insider trading case more than a decade ago.

Saltzstein went to USA Swimming alleging Pantera has at least 11 identities and three dates of birth, and that he was sentenced to a year in federal

prison for making false statements and fraudulently obtaining student loans. USA Swimming said it would “carefully look into the matter.”

Pantera’s statement came after The Associated Press emailed a request to his Web site, which describes him as a swim coach, physiologist, executive and consultant. “Mr. Saltzstein is attempting to obfuscate the current complaints against himself, for a long

history of bullying in violation of USA Swimming’s new anti-bullying policies,” it said.

The statement also referred to a 1999 case that Saltzstein settled by paying about $6,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission, without conceding any wrongdoing.

Saltzstein scoffed at Pantera’s description of how he is viewed within the swimming community.

“Having been a coach or official for about six weeks, it would be difficult to have long-term positive references within the sport,” Saltzstein said. He called on USA Swimming to take swift action to revoke Pantera’s membership, saying it would be the best way to show the organization is serious about protecting athlete safety in the wake of sexual abuse allegations that rocked the sport.— AP

Price, Longoria make spring debut for Rays

PORT ST LUCIE: Lucas Duda #21 of the New York Mets looks on during batting practice prior to the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Tradition Field yesterday in Port St. Lucie, Florida. —AFP

Scotland success excites Maitland EDINBURGH: New Zealand-born Scotland wing Sean Maitland believes last week’s Six Nations win over Ireland could be the start of a new era for a side under the caretaker charge of Australian coach Scott Johnson.

Sunday ’s gutsy 12-8 win at Murrayfield on Sunday followed a victory over Italy and saw Scotland enjoying back-to-back Six Nations successes for the first time since 2001.

It also left Scotland level on four points with second-placed Wales in the table, and just two behind leaders England. “It’s a pretty great feeling,” said Maitland, drafted in by Johnson this season. “This is just the start for our team.” Scotland’s defeat of Ireland was a triumph of team spirit, with the Irish dominating more than 70 percent and territory and scoring the only try of the match through wing Craig Gilroy.

But they failed to kill the game off and Scotland, from 8-0 down early in the second half, saw their forwards provide a platform for scrum-half Greig Laidlaw to kick them into a winning position with four penalties.

Ireland did have one final chance to salvage a win but with 80 minutes up and in the last play of the game, debutant centre Luke Marshall knocked in sight of Scotland’s try-line.

“I was really scared,” said Maitland. “I thought they were going to get in for a try. But to hold out and show our courage on defence was very pleasing.

“It just shows the character of the men in this side.”

Meanwhile Scotland prop Ryan Grant hailed Johnson’s decision to move Laidlaw back to his more familiar position of scrum-half. Laidlaw has been playing at fly-half for much of the season with club side Edinburgh but, following the Test retirement of former

Scotland No 9 Mike Blair, Johnson installed him at scrum-half.

And the way Laidlaw, the nephew of Scotland scrum-half great Roy Laidlaw, directed his pack as well as dictating play when his side did get their hands on the ball, suggested Johnson had made a smart call.

“Greig is a class, class player. He is great with the boot and a great marshal of the pack,” said Grant.

“That’s why he’s perfect for the nine role. He speaks to the forwards and lets us know where we need to be. He does the same with the backs and has got a great understanding with them.”

Wales assistant coach Neil Jenkins, whose side saw off Italy 26-9 in Rome last weekend, refused to entertain talk of a March 16 Cardiff title shoot-out against Grand Slam-chasers England on the final day of the championship.

Instead the former Wales outsidehalf, who helped wreck England’s bid for a Grand Slam when he kicked the winning conversion in a 32-31 win at Wembley in 1999, said the team would not take Scotland lightly when they faced the resurgent hosts at Murrayfield on March 9.

“They (Scotland) are the same as ustwo wins out of three-and it is a home game for them,” said Jenkins. “ They will fancy their chances against us and then to go to Paris on the final day with a chance of maybe them winning the championship.

“It was an excellent win for them on the weekend against Ireland. People talked afterwards about stats and possession, but if you have got the ball you have got to take your chances.

“Ireland didn’t take their opportunities on Sunday, and Scotland kept hanging in there, dug in and kicked their kicks.” — AFP

Ireland’s Healy to face France after ban cut LONDON: Ireland prop Cian Healy had his ban for stamping on England’s Joe Marler reduced by a week on appeal at a hearing in Glasgow yesterday and will now be available to face France in Dublin on March 9. Healy was cited after Ireland’s 12-6 loss to England at Lansdowne Road on February 10 and three days later was banned for three weeks.

However, the ban was spread over four weeks in an attempt to take account of the first ‘break ’ weekend of the Six Nations, the concern among officials being Healy could simply have used up a week of the ban when he would not have been playing in any event.

But matters were complicated by the fac t that on the ‘break ’ weekend his province, Leinster, had a Celtic League match against Italian side Treviso.

Leinster wanted him to play in that fixture but were told by officials that Healy, who also missed last weekend’s 12-8 Six Nations loss away to Scotland, was barred from that match too.

However, Healy argued extending the three week suspension over four weekends was not permissible under the relevant regulations.

And an independent disciplinar y appeal committee, chaired by Scotland’s Professor Lorne Crerar agreed yesterday, saying they “therefore concluded that Cian Healy’s suspension should end at midnight on Sunday 3 March 2013, and not a midnight on Sunday 10 March 2013.”

Tempers flared in the 14th minute of England’s victory in Dublin when Healy used his boot on rival front row Cole’s ankle at a ruck formed following a collapsed maul, sparking a mass brawl.

Match referee Jerome Garces of France took no action at the time, but Healy was cited by I talian citing commissioner Alberto Recadini.

Last Sunday, injuries and Healy’s suspension forced Ireland coach Declan Kidney into mak ing five changes at Murrayfield, with the looshead prop’s place taken by Tom Court.

This weekend is the second ‘break’ in the Six Nations, with the tournament resuming on March 9.

Ireland are currently four th in the table, having beaten champions Wales in Cardiff on the first weekend only to since lose to England and Scotland. — AFP

PORT CHARLOTTE: AL Cy Young Award winner David Price and Evan Longoria had brief, but satisfying spring debuts for the Tampa Bay Rays. Price pitched one scoreless inning and escaped injury when a groundball glanced off his left wrist, while Longoria successfully tested his surgically-repaired left hamstring on the base paths and had a RBI single during Tuesday’s rain-shortened 7-2 victory over a Houston Astros split-squad.

Both players felt good about the way they performed. “Its’ just getting back in a competitive mind-set. That’s the first real competitive thing I’ve done since last year that really meant something,” said Price, who went 20-5 with a 2.56 ERA in 31 starts in 2012 to edge Justin Verlander in the closest Cy Young balloting ever.

“I know this doesn’t mean a whole lot, but to me it does,” the

27-year-old left-hander added. “I told (pitching coach Jim Hickey), it starts today. One scoreless inning, I’m happy with that.”

Longoria missed 85 games last season after partially tearing his hamstring sliding into second base on April 30. The Rays went 41-44 during his absence, compared to 47-27 in the career-low 74 games he started at either third base or as the designated hitter.

Keeping the three-time AllStar healthy figures to be one of the keys to the club’s hopes of getting back to the playoffs following a one -year hiatus.

Longoria, who had minor surger y on his hamstring in November, left camp for four days last week to be with his girlfriend for the birth of his baby.

The third baseman played three innings, going 2 for 2. He singled and was thrown out trying to score from second base in

the first inning, then delivered his RBI single before scoring from first base on Leslie Anderson’s two-run, secondinning triple off Pirates starter Jordan Lyles.

“I definitely got my baserunning in today,” said Longoria, who slid into home plate when he was thrown out tr ying to score from second on Shelley Duncan’s single to left field. “ That ’s always the way it works. The first day out you get tested. I’m glad I got it out of the way early,” the slugger added. “I felt great. I don’t know how it looks, but it feels 100 percent better than it did at the end of the season last year. And that’s all that really matters.” The 21-year-old Lyles, the youngest starting pitcher in the majors over the past two seasons, allowed six runs and 10 hits over two innings.

The Astros scored twice in the

sixth off right-hander Alex Colome. Justin Maxwell’s double led to the first run, and Matt Dominguez hit a solo homer for the other. Lyles, 5-12 with a 5.09 ERA in 25 starts last season, wasn’t concerned about the ugly numbers he posted.

“I’m not worried about the results right now,” Lyles said, adding that he felt comfortable on the mound and felt good about the way he threw the ball.

Price was not injured when he instinctively reached for leadoff batter Mar win Gonzalez ’s grounder back to the mound.

Shortstop Ben Zobrist fielded the ball and threw to first for the out.

“It didn’t hurt. I’m fine,” Price said. Yeah, but it wasn’t an ideal way to begin a spring training outing. “Sure it was,” Price said, adding that the wrist didn’t require treatment. “It was an out.

That’s all that matters.” —AP

PORT ST LUCIE: Members of the St. Louis Cardinals warm up prior to the game against the New York Mets at Tradition Field yesterday in Port St. Lucie, Florida. — AFP

Scotland’s De Luca banned for 13 weeks LONDON: Edinburgh and Scotland centre Nick de Luca received a 13week ban for a dangerous tackle yesterday, a suspension which if upheld should see him ruled out until the end of the season.

The ban was imposed by a disciplinary hearing after de Luca was sent off during Edinburgh’s 24-7

loss away to Welsh regional side the Ospreys in the Celtic League on Friday. De Luca was shown a red card for a tip-tackle, now regarded as one of rugby’s most dangerous offences by officials, on Ospreys winger Tom Grabham at the Liberty Stadium. The 29-year-old de Luca, who won the last of his 38 caps in

Scotland’s shock defeat by Tonga in Aberdeen in November and has not yet featured in the ongoing Six Nations, has the right of appeal.

De Luca was playing for just the second time Friday following his return from surgery on a fractured eye socket suffered in training in January, an injury which was set to

KAWASAKI: Champion Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina (R) hits Japanese challenger Masayuki Kuroda (L) during their WBA flyweight title match at Todoroki Arena in Kawasaki yesterday.

Juan Carlos Reveco won the match. — AFP (See Page 15)

sideline him from the Six Nations completely.

Explaining how de Luca had been banned for 13 weeks, a statement from the league said: “Nick de Luca, the Edinburgh centre, appeared today before an independent RaboDirect Pro12 (Celtic League) disciplinary committee comprising Michael Coghlan, Dr Barry O’Driscoll and David Hurley (all from Ireland), following the red card issued by the referee for a tip tackle contrary to Law 10.4(j) during the Ospreys and Edinburgh match on Friday 22 February.

“Having considered all of the evidence presented, including the video of the incident, the disciplinary committee considered the incident to be at the top end level for this type of offence, which has a range of suspensions from 12 to 52 weeks and having taken into account aggravating and mitigating factors, decided that a suspension of 13 weeks was appropriate.

“The suspension concludes at midnight on Sunday 26 May 2013.

The player has a right of appeal.”

In de Luca’s absence Scotland, beaten in their opener by England, have won back-to-back Six Nations matches for the first time since 2001 following victories over Italy and Ireland.

They are now third in the standings, level on points with secondplaced Wales-their opponents in the fourth round of the Championship at Murrayfield on March 9.— AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

S P ORTS

Bruins beat Islanders for 16th time in 20 meetings Capitals shut down Semin UNIONDALE: Brad Marchand scored the goalahead in the second period and the Bruins continued their dominance of the Islanders with a 4-1 victory Tuesday night - Boston’s 16th win in its last 20 games against New York.

Adam McQuaid, David Krejci and Greg Campbell also scored for the Bruins (12-2-2), who won their fourth straight to bolster their best start since the 1976-77 season. All four victories have come on the road, where the Bruins are 8-1-1.

Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders, who are

on five-game points streak with a goal and four assists.

Cizikas tied the score at 15:49 of the first when he jammed a rebound past Tuukka Rask. Josh Bailey raced down the right side and swooped in front of Rask, backhanding a shot toward the goalie. Cizikas tapped in the loose puck for his second goal of the season.

That was all the Islanders could muster in their second straight loss. They had won four of six games before squandering a 2-0 lead against

UNIONDALE: Andrew MacDonald No 47 of the New York Islanders holes up David Krejci No 46 of the Boston Bruins at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday in Uniondale, New York. The Bruins defeated the Islanders 4-1. —AFP a league-worst 2-8 at home. The Bruins came out flying, punishing the Islanders along the boards at both ends of the ice and not relenting for 60 minutes. Boston is 16-3-1 in its last 20 games against the Islanders, who remain in the basement of the Atlantic Division.

The bruising defenseman McQuaid started the scoring at 6:43 of the first with his first goal of the season, a shot from the right point that squirted through the pads of Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

Center Tyler Seguin skated out of traffic in the left circle to make the pass to McQuaid. The assist was the 100th point of the 21-year-old Seguin’s career. The second overall pick of the 2010 draft is

Carolina on Sunday and losing 4-2.

Marchand put Boston up 2-1 with his teamleading 10th goal of the season 38 seconds into the middle period when he backhanded a rebound past Nabokov. Patrice Bergeron assisted on Boston’s first two goals.

Krejci made it 3-1 with a perfect one-timer from the left circle off a backhand pass from Milan Lucic at 5:16 of the second period, and Campbell scored into an empty net at 18:55 of the third for his second of the season.

Rask made several terrific saves among his 36 stops. The Finnish goaltender twice denied Michael Grabner on breakaways and made a nifty block on Frans Nielsen while the Bruins were

NHL results/standings Winnipeg 4, NY Rangers 3; Washington 3, Carolina 0; Dallas 5, Columbus 4 (OT); Boston 4, NY Islanders 1; Buffalo 2, Tampa Bay 1; Florida 6, Pittsburgh 4; Minnesota 2, Calgary 1 (OT); Phoenix 4, Vancouver 2; San Jose 3, Colorado 2 (So).

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF Pittsburgh 13 7 0 69 New Jersey 10 5 4 48 Philadelphia 9 11 1 60 NY Rangers 8 8 2 44 NY Islanders 8 11 1 57

GA 54 49 66 48 68

PTS 26 24 19 18 17

Montreal Boston Ottawa Toronto Buffalo

Northeast Division 12 4 3 53 12 2 2 49 12 6 2 48 12 8 0 57 7 12 1 50

41 35 37 46 64

27 26 26 24 15

Carolina Tampa Bay Winnipeg Florida Washington

Southeast Division 9 8 1 50 9 9 1 70 9 9 1 52 6 9 4 48 7 10 1 51

54 60 60 69 55

19 19 19 16 15

Western Conference Central Division Chicago 16 0 3 61 Nashville 9 6 5 44 St. Louis 10 6 2 55 Detroit 9 7 3 57 Columbus 5 12 3 44

37 47 52 54 61

35 23 22 21 13

Northwest Division 10 5 4 54 9 7 2 39 7 7 4 49 7 7 4 42 7 8 3 44

52 43 61 49 54

24 20 18 18 17

Vancouver Minnesota Calgary Edmonton Colorado

Pacific Division Anaheim 13 3 1 59 47 27 Dallas 10 8 2 56 57 22 San Jose 9 6 3 44 41 21 Phoenix 9 7 3 54 51 21 Los Angeles 9 6 2 45 41 20 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

short-handed in the first period. He twice stopped defenseman Mark Streit with spectacular glove saves and smothered a Kyle Okposo pointblank slap shot early in the third.

The 25-year-old Rask is 6-0-1 in his last seven games, a stretch in which he has not surrendered more than two goals in regulation. Boston’s league-best penalty kill stymied the Islanders three times. The Bruins have 24 consecutive penalty kills since allowing a power-play goal in Montreal on Feb. 6. They have stopped 58 of 61 chances this season.

The Islanders, who play nine of their next 12 games at home, were playing their second on a seven-game homestand.

The Washington Capitals shut down former teammate Alexander Semin, scored a goal with a one-of-a-kind combo and put together a second consecutive impressive performance, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 Tuesday night in their quest to make a quick last-to-first move in the Southeast Division.

Nicklas Backstrom scored in the first period and supplied the pass for John Erskine’s goal in the second - the first Backstrom-to-Erskine score in their six seasons as teammates. John Carlson scored in the third and Braden Holtby, who signed a two-year contract extension Monday, made 33 saves for his fifth career shutout for the Capitals.

After a miserable start to the season, Washington has back-to-back wins by more than one goal for the first time this season. The victory moved the Capitals within four points of the Hurricanes, who led the NHL’s weakling division at the start of the day’s play.

Cam Ward, under pressure for much of the game, kept it from turning into an ugly rout by making 37 saves for the Hurricanes, who have lost four of five and are 0-5 against Southeast Division opponents.

Making his debut on the visitor’s bench at the Verizon Center was Semin, who was booed and whooped derisively whenever he touched the puck. He ranks as the Capitals’ No. 5 all-time goalscorer and was often touted as having more natural talent than two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin, but his seven seasons in Washington were marred by criticisms about his work ethic, a complaint voiced again by Washington forward Troy Brouwer on Monday.

The Capitals allowed Semin to depart via free agency last summer, and he appeared determined to show up his old team. He shot the puck more than anyone else in the first period - three on goal, two wide of the net. He had a solo breakaway on a penalty kill early that was thwarted when his shot ricocheted off Holtby’s glove, giving the fans another excuse to let out a huge cheer.

Semin finished with nine shots, including four on goal. The second period brought a moment as unusual as the sight of Semin in an opposing uniform - one that was years in the making.

Backstrom had 278 assists since entering the NHL with the Capitals in 2007, but none of them set up Erskine, who had only nine goals in his seven seasons in Washington.

But the pair produced just 31 seconds into the period, when Backstrom found Erskine trailing the rush. Erskine, who also signed a two-year contract extension Monday, teed up a slap shot that beat Ward on the stick side. Ward was otherwise on top of his game, making point-blank saves on Brouwer and Joel Ward in the second period. The Ward-on-Ward save was an incredible piece of glove work, with the goalie reaching back to deflect the puck just as it was about to cross the goal line.

The Capitals opened the scoring on a powerplay goal by Backstrom, who perched in front of the crease to receive a pass from Mike Ribeiro.

Washington has scored first in eight straight games.

Notes: The Capitals had a season-high 40 shots on goal. ... Washington D Mike Green returned after missing three games with a lowerbody injury. ... Because of uncertainty over the availability of Backstrom (illness) and LW Jason Chimera (lower body) after Monday’s practice, the Capitals recalled F Casey Wellman from Hershey of the AHL. ... Carolina F Jeff Skinner (concussion) missed his fifth consecutive game, and D Jamie McBain (upper body) sat out his fourth straight. —AP

LA Kings trade Gagne back to Philadelphia LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Kings traded Simon Gagne back to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a conditional draft pick, sending the struggling left wing back to the city where he had his greatest NHL success.

Gagne spent his first 10 NHL seasons with the Flyers, but won his first Stanley Cup title last season in Los Angeles after a late-playoff return from a concussion. He hasn’t scored a goal in 11 games this season for the Kings, who decided the veteran didn’t fit in coach Darryl Sutter’s system.

Before Gagne even got up the nerve to ask for a trade, Kings general manager Dean Lombardi sent him back to Philadelphia.

“They just did it on their own,” Gagne said.

“It just shows you the class those guys have.

Even if it’s hard getting traded in the middle of the season, going to Philly - and they told me it was the best place for me to go they’re really gentlemen to do that to me this year.”

Los Angeles will get a third-round pick if Philadelphia makes the playoffs or a fourthround pick if the Flyers miss the postseason.

Gagne had 259 goals and 524 points in his decade with the Flyers, who traded him to Tampa Bay in July 2010 partly to get under the salary cap. The Kings signed him a year later, but Gagne has scored just 24 goals in 108 games since leaving Philadelphia.

“This is a good player that I’ve known a long time, and I know that if he would have wanted to go anywhere, that would be the place he wanted to go,” said Kings general manager Dean Lombardi, a former Flyers scout. “Given that we had to do this, if we can, I would certainly put him someplace I know he’d be happy.”

Gagne scored a career-high 47 goals during the 2005-06 season while playing mostly on a line with Peter Forsberg and Mike Knuble, who re -signed with Philadelphia last month. Before the lockout last July, the Flyers re -signed Ruslan Fedotenko, who began his career alongside Gagne with the Flyers more than a decade ago.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren spoke with Lombardi a few days ago about Gagne, but suddenly had urgency to add front-line depth. Matt Read is sidelined for six weeks with torn ribcage muscles, and Tye McGinn will be out for a few weeks after breaking an orbital bone in a fight with Toronto’s Matt Brown on Monday night.

“He improves our depth up front automatically,” said Holmgren, who traded Gagne three years ago. “He is a good twoway player that can skate. ... Coaches have watched tape of him playing, so we feel comfortable that he is fine. He seems excit-

ed to be coming back, and looks forward to an opportunity to play and help us.”

The seven-time 20-goal scorer was sidelined for more than five months of his first season in Los Angeles with his latest concussion, but returned to action in the Stanley Cup finals. He played four games while winning his first NHL championship, but underwent neck surgery five days after raising the Cup for the first time.

Gagne’s ice time was down sharply this season, and he had been a healthy scratch recently for the Kings (9-6-2), who have won four straight after a slow start. Gagne had five assists this season, but lost playing time recently to fellow veteran Dustin Penner.

Gagne only recently pulled up some of his Philly roots. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette has been renting Gagne’s old house in Philadelphia’s New Jersey suburbs for the past 21/2 years - but Gagne recently sold the house, with the closing scheduled for March 15. While Los Angeles only recently star ted clicking after a slow star t, Philadelphia is off to just a 9-11-1 start despite scoring 60 goals, third-most in the Eastern Conference. Gagne has a $3.5 million salary for the season and will be a free agent this summer, but Holmgren said the Flyers could afford him after losing players to injury. —AP

QUEENSTOWN: New Zealand’s Corey Anderson (R) bowls to England’s Ian Bell during day one of the four day warm up international cricket match between New Zealand and England played at the Queenstown Event Center yesterday. —AFP

Bell chimes in as England recover QUEENSTOWN: An unbeaten century from Ian Bell anchored England’s innings against a New Zealand XI yesterday, as rookie paceman Jimmy Neesham made short work of the tourists’ top order including Kevin Pietersen.

England were seven for 357 at stumps on the opening day of the four-day warmup for next month’s Test series, with Bell on 127 not out and Stuart Broad unbeaten on six.

Pietersen was rested in the recent oneday and Twenty20 series against the Black Caps. He did not last long in his first hit-out since arriving in New Zealand, dismissed

for 14 after just 35 minutes at the crease.

Neesham claimed the prized scalp, also dismissing Nick Compton (21) and Jonathan Trott (1) before lunch to leave England teetering at 3-81.

Alastair Cook and Bell steadied the innings before the England captain departed on 60, with Joe Root (49) and Matt Prior (41) both making starts as Bell resolutely held up the other end.

Prior became Neesham’s next victim, with the 22-year-old ending the day on figures of four for 65.

The three-Test series begins in Dunedin on March 6. —AFP

SCOREBOARD QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand: Scores after the opening day of the four-day warm-up match between a New Zealand XI and England in Queenstown yesterday: England S. Broad not out 6 A. Cook c Watling b Wagner 60 Extras (lb 6, w 4, nb 12) 22 N. Compton c Watling b Neesham 21 Total (7 wickets; 90 overs) 357 J. Trott c Watling b Neesham 1 Fall of wickets 1-45 (Compton), 2-65 (Trott), 3K. Pietersen c Rutherford b Neesham 14 81 (Pietersen), 4-124 (Cook), 5-221 (Root), 6I. Bell not out 127 281 (Prior), 7-318 (Woakes) J. Root b Cachopa 49 Bowling: Gillespie 19-2-84-0, Wagner 20-5-65M. Prior c Patel b Neesham 41 2, Neesham 17-1-65-4, Anderson C. Woakes c Rae (substitute) b Wagner 16 8-4-16-0, Patel 14-1-81-0, Cachopa 12-1-40-1.

West Indies sweeps Zimbabwe in ODI series ST. GEORGE’S: Left-hander Darren Bravo struck a composed, unbeaten 72 Tuesday as the West Indies cruised to a 3-0 clean sweep over Zimbabwe in their one-day cricket series with a five-wicket victory in the third and final match at the National Stadium.

Bravo’s 103-ball knock guided the host to 215-5 off 46.2 overs as it chased Zimbabwe’s modest total of 211-9 off 50 overs.Opener Kieran Powell struck 42, while captain Dwayne Bravo contributed with 25 and wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin had 24 not out.

Tino Mutombodzi, in his first match, was the best of the Zimbabwean bowlers with 2-35 off 10 overs. Earlier, Chamu Chibhabha topscored with an unbeaten 48 after Vusi Sibanda (41) and Brendan Taylor (39) failed to capitalize on good starts. Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul took 3-40 in his first match of the series, while Tino Best (2-38) and Dwayne Bravo (2-58) also help limit the visitors.Zimbabwe were kept in check after winning the toss for the third straight time in the series, and choosing to bat. Tino Mawoyo, included in place of the ill Craig Ervine, fell for nine at 23-1 in the ninth over. The right-hander was lbw to Sunil Narine. Zimbabwe fell to 30-2 a few overs later when Hamilton Masakadza lost his middle stump trying to hit Dwayne Bravo over the top.

Sibanda and Taylor revived the innings with a third wicket stand of 55 off 51 balls. But both departed with a half century in sight to further derail Zimbabwe’s progress. Sibanda was squared up by Tino Best and skewed a catch to mid-off. He struck three fours and a six off 60

balls. When Taylor fell, chipping an off drive to extra cover off Permaul, it was 104-4 in the 25th over. Permaul also accounted for Malcolm Waller (15), lbw to a straighter one, and Regis Chkabva (17), bowled by a similar delivery.

But Chibhabha counterattacked toward the end to give the innings some respectability.

The 26-year-old, who opened in the first two matches, lashed three fours and two sixes off 62 balls as 51 runs came from the last eight overs.

The West Indies’ pursuit got a solid start from Powell and Ramnaresh Sarwan, the pair adding 46 in the first 12 overs.

Sarwan, fresh off a century in Sunday’s second match, eventually fell for 20 when he chipped Mutombodzi’s third ball in international cricket back for a return catch. Leg-spinner Mutombodzi also broke an emerging stand of 37 between Powell and Darren Bravo, Powell holing out to long-on after hitting five fours off 52 balls. But Darren Bravo anchored the innings after that and even though Masakadza’s medium pace prised out Deonarine and Kieron Pollard was run out without facing a ball, the victory was achieved without much fuss.Dwayne Bravo helped his brother add 46 off 43 balls for the fifth wicket while Ramdin hit the winning runs after sharing an unbeaten stand of 48 with Darren Bravo. Bravo, who hit an unbeaten century in the first match, won the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards. The teams now meet in a two-match Twenty20 International series in Antigua on Saturday and Sunday. —AP

SCOREBOARD Scoreboard from the third and final one-day international between West Indies and Zimbabwe in Grenada yesterday.

Zimbabwe innings West Indies innings T. Mawoyo lbw b Narine 9 K. Powell c Waller b Mutombodzi 42 V. Sibanda c Deonarine b Best 41 R. Sarwan c and b Mutombodzi 19 H. Masakadza b DJ Bravo 6 DM Bravo not out 72 B. Taylor c Powell b Permaul 39 N. Deonarine c Mutombodzi b Masakadza21 R. Chakabva b Permaul 17 K. Pollard run out 0 M. Waller lbw b Permaul 15 DJ Bravo c Masakadza b Jarvis 25 C. Chibhabha not out 48 D. Ramdin not out 24 T. Mutombodzi run out 13 Extras (lb-5 w-7) 12 N. Mushangwe b DJ Bravo 1 Total (for five wickets; 46.2 overs) 215 K. Jarvis c and b Best 7 Did not bat: K. Roach, S. Narine, T. Best, V. C. Mpofu not out 2 Permaul Extras (lb-4 w-9) 13 Fall of wickets: 1-46 2-83 3-120 4-121 5-167 Total (for nine wickets; 50 overs) 211 Bowling: K. Jarvis 10-1-54-1, C. Mpofu 8.2-0Fall of wickets: 1-23 2-30 3-85 4-104 5-128 639-0 (w-3), N. Mushangwe 10-1-31-0, T. 139 7-157 8-160 9-201 Bowling: K. Roach 7-3-15-0 (w-1), T. Best 9-0- Mutombodzi 10-0-35-2 (w-2), M. Waller 1-0-738-2 (w-3), DJ Bravo 10-1-58-2 (w-2), S. Narine 0, H. Masakadza 6-0-38-1 (w-1), C. Chibhabha 10-1-41-1 (w-2), V. Permaul 10-0-40-3, N. 1-0-6-0.

Result: West Indies won by five wickets.

Deonarine 4-1-15-0

19

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

SPORTS

Iniesta still believes in European comeback MADRID: Andres Iniesta believes that Barcelona will keep fighting to regain the league title and the Champions League, despite their hammering at the hands of the Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. Madrid’s 3-1 victory at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night rounded off a terrible week for the Catalans, who also now have a huge task if they are to progress to the last eight of the Champions League after losing 2-0 to AC Milan last Wednesday.

However, Iniesta remains confident of turning to tie around on March 12 and gaining revenge over Madrid when the two meet in the league this weekend. “We have to think a lot about these two games, about what we have done well and what we have to improve,” midfielder Iniesta told reporters. “We need to recover the feeling of being a compact and infallible team.

“I am convinced that we can recover this tonic.

On the 12th we are playing in a hugely important competition and for us it is like a final. “We need to go out from the first minute as if we were playing for our lives. The tie right now looks very difficult but the only message I have today is that I trust in this team. “It is a question of pride, necessity and reality and we are capable of turning the scoreline around.” Reaction to the defeat to their perennial rivals was not as positive in the Catalan press, as speculation began about whether the Barcelona side that has dazzled Europe in recent seasons was now past its best.

“It (the match) was a disaster but we have to get up,” said El Mundo Deportivo on its front page, calling an “unrecognisable” Barca “predictable and slow”.

The paper reflected on Barca’s inability to keep a clean sheet in 12 consecutive games, whilst also questioning how big an influence the temporary

loss of coach Tito Vilanova has been.

Vilanova is currently undergoing cancer treatment in New York and the daily said his absence had not only affected the morale of the squad but also the team’s tactical shape. Another Barcelona-based daily Sport lamented that many fans in the Camp Nou “left the stadium before the end because they didn’t want to see a group who have become a shadow of what they were.

“The game against Milan wasn’t an accident.

Barca confirmed all their bad feelings against Madrid.” In the Spanish capital, however, the mood was different with sports daily Marca declaring “the tide turns” on its front page.

“Relentless Madrid strip bare and annihilate Barca in the Camp Nou to progress to the final of the Copa del Rey,” it added, assessing that the result bode well for the Champions League match against Manchester United at the Santiago

Bernabeu on Tuesday.

The match with the English Premier League leaders is finely poised at 1-1. “Now we’re going for Manchester” said Marca. Focus inevitably also centred on the contrasting fortunes of both sides’ star players-four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo-with Marca saying the Portuguese, who scored two goals on the night, put in a “powerful display while Messi was invisible”.

The other Madrid sports daily, AS, was similarly ecstatic. “Take that, that and that” it said in a headline, calling the game “an exhibition from Madrid”. “Cristiano decided the game, Messi was a shadow,” it added. “Ronaldo returns against a caged Messi,” concluded Mundo Deportivo in reference to the Madrid man’s incredible record of scoring eight goals in the pair’s last six encounters at the Camp Nou. —AFP

Uzbeks stun Japanese champs in Asian league Kashiwa beat Guizhou

DOHA: An Iranian supporter of the Iran’s Esteghlal football club plays drums during the AFC Champions League football match Iran’s Esteghlal versus Qatar’s al-Rayyan clubs in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday. — AFP

Messi misses training due to fever: Barca MADRID: Lionel Messi did not train with his Barcelona teammates yesterday morning after being visited at home by club doctors to treat a fever, the club said .

“The Argentine player is suffering from a fever and general sickness,” said a statement on the Barcelona website. “The firstteam doctors have visited Messi at his home where they have given him the necessary medication and recommended he rest.”

Messi played for the full 90 minutes as Barcelona were unceremoniously dumped out of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night after a 3-1 defeat at home to Real Madrid.

However, the club are still hopeful that the four-time World Player of the Year could be fit for another clash with Madrid in the league on Saturday.

“This Thursday the team has a day off and it is hoped that the Barca number 10 could still train on Friday afternoon, which will be the last training session before the Clasico in the league at the Bernabeu,” the club statement added.

Messi has taken part in every league game this season as Barca have built up a 16-point lead over Madrid in the title race.

Meanwhile, Messi has rarely been accused of failing to deliver in big games, having scored in two European Cup finals, but after subdued performances against AC Milan and Real Madrid, questions are being asked.

The four-times World Player of the Year and leading scorer in one of the greatest club teams of all time, was a shadow of his usual self at the San Siro in a Champions League last-16 first leg last week, when Barcelona slumped to a 2-0 defeat.

The same happened again at the Nou Camp on Tuesday, when Cristiano Ronaldo, the player with whom he is always compared, scored twice in a 3-1 second-leg victory to guide Real into the King’s Cup final, 4-2 on aggregate.

Portugal’s Ronaldo has shaken off accusations that he went missing when the going got tough, and in scoring against Barca he passed Messi’s record to become the first player to score in six straight ‘Clasicos’ away from home.

“It is about the team, not about whether Messi is better or worse,” Barca and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta told a news conference on Wednesday, defending his team mate.

“We have scored a lot of goals, and so has he in particular. It is just in these two key games we have lacked accuracy and composure. When the team doesn’t work well, it is everyone’s responsibility.”

Messi, who plays almost every game, has resembled the forlorn figure he was

with Argentina a couple of years ago when criticised for failing to perform on the international stage.

He shrugged off suggestions he was tired on the weekend telling, Barca TV: “I am used to playing a lot of games now, and I prefer it this way. I feel better if I don’t rest.”

Barca and Messi can hardly be accused of decline, as they top La Liga with a 12point lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid, 16 points ahead of champions Real in third.

Messi is La Liga’s top scorer with 38 goals, netting more goals himself than 16 other teams have individually tallied up in the 20-team league. However, he and his team have struggled when confronted with tightly-organised defences of late.

They miss coach Tito Vilanova, who succeeded Pep Guardiola at the end of last season. He has been absent since the turn of the year after needing a second round of surgery following an operation to remove a tumour from his saliva glands in November 2011.

Although his assistant Jordi Roura is in constant contact, there is little doubt that Vilanova’s tactical knowledge has been missed in games at a time of the season when coaches really earn their money.

Barca have become too reliant on Messi’s goals, with fellow forwards Alexis Sanchez, David Villa and Pedro contributing only 12 between them in the league.

By successfully placing Messi in a straightjacket, Milan and Real have stifled Barca, crowding them out and cutting the supply lines from Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, and their gameplan has become too predictable.

A lack of movement up front has left them looking flat and short of ideas, while their leaky defence has now conceded in 12 consecutive matches.

“Madrid destroyed Barca in every facet of the game, with an indisputable and overwhelming victory,” sports daily Marca wrote yesterday. “Few teams in history have demonstrated more conviction in a particular style of play (than Barca) but it became clear they lacked confidence in their style of football.

Barca played with the ball but didn’t play football.”

Milan visit the Nou Camp for their Champions League last 16 second leg on March 12 and Iniesta said Barca did not need a complete overhaul of their way of playing. “We need to get back to the ABC of football, because this is what has helped to make us the team we are,” he said. — Agencies

SINGAPORE: Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor provided the biggest upset of this year’s fledgling AFC Champions League when they shocked JLeague title-holders Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 away yesterday.

Despite last year’s run to the semi-finals the Uzbek cup-winners were considered underdogs against the Japanese champions, but a late goal in each half made them worthy winners in Hiroshima.

Oleksandr Pyshur struck on the stroke of half-time to put the visitors ahead but it wasn’t until the 86th minute that Bunyodkor could be sure of the win, when Fozil Musaev doubled their advantage.

The victory extends Bunyodkor’s fine form in the Asian competition after they overturned three former champions last year before being halted by eventual winners Ulsan Hyundai in the last four. Elsewhere on day two, Kashiwa Reysol registered the first Japanese win when ex-Guangzhou Evergrande striker Cleo, returning to China to face Guizhou Renhe, was on target in the first half to secure a 1-0 victory.

As Tuesday’s flood of goals quickly dried up, 2009 winners Pohang Steelers were held 0-0 by Beijing Guoan and Australia’s Central Coast Mariners and Suwon Bluewings also finished goalless.

In a frantic finish in Pohang, Beijing midfielder Joffre Guerron fired against the crossbar. For the Steelers, Kim Won-Il missed a golden chance and Hwang Jin-Sung twice went close with headers, but nobody could break the deadlock.

Earlier the Mariners, Australia’s only team in the competition, looked sure to secure all the points at their home ground in Gosford when Kwak Kwang-Seon handled inside the

GUIYANG: Kashiwa Reysol’s Tatsuya Masushima (R) tussles for the ball against Guizhou Renhe’s Zlatan Muslimovic in the AFC Champions group H match in Guiyang Olympic Centre Stadium, southwest China’s Guizhou province yesterday. Kashiwa beat Guizhou 1-0. — AFP box in the final minutes. ferent countries. The group phase ends in earHowever, Nick Montgomery’s effort was ly May but the two-legged final will not take saved, leaving it all square after the Mariners place until November. Among yesterday’s latfailed to capitalise on a number of chances er matches, Iran’s Sepahan play Al Nasr of the against the 2011 semi-finalists.

UAE and fellow Emirati side Al Ain, who won The pan-Asian league, now entering its the inaugural competition in 2003, are against second decade, features 32 teams from 10 dif- Saudi team Al Hilal. — AFP

‘Clasico’ result prompts hopes, fears for Europe MADRID: Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey demolition of Barcelona has boosted hopes for the team’s progress in the Champions League and raised fears that the Catalan giants could crash out of the competition. Newspapers in both cities summed up the mood of triumph and dejection after Real’s 3-1 win on Tuesday night that took Jose Mourinho’s side through to the final of the tournament 4-2 on aggregate, with one eye on the last-16 return legs from next week. “Now we’re going for Manchester” said sports daily Marca, referring to the match against English Premier League leaders Manchester United at the Santiago Bernabeu next Tuesday, which is finely poised at 1-1.

Marca also assessed that the Champions League was now providing the motivation for defending La Liga champions Madrid, who are currently in third, 16 points behind Barca.

Barcelona themselves have a mountain to climb to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against AC Milan in Europe’s premier club competition on March 12 — particularly if their current form continues. “It (the match) was a disaster but we have to get up,” said El Mundo Deportivo on its front page, calling an “unrecognisable” Barca “predictable and slow”.

“The team needs to recover to try and come back in the Champions League against Milan,” the daily added. On Tuesday’s match, there was joy in the Spanish capital that an eight-day stretch that could define Madrid’s season had started so perfectly. The two sides meet again in the league on Saturday.

“The tide turns,” said Marca on its front page. “Relentless Madrid strip bare and annihilate Barca in the Camp Nou to progress to the final of the Copa del Rey.” Focus inevitably centred on both sides’ star players-four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo-with Marca saying the Portuguese, who scored two goals on the night, put in a “powerful display while Messi was invisible”.

Barca said that Messi, who played the full game, did not train with the side on Wednesday morning and was being treated for “a fever and general sickness”.

Ronaldo has now scored a remarkable eight goals in the pair’s last six encounters. The other Madrid sports daily, AS, was similarly ecstatic. “Take that, that and that” it said in a headline, calling the game “an exhibition from Madrid”. — AFP

LORIENT: Lorient’s French midfielder Maxime Barthelme (L) and Lorient’s French forward Kevin Monnet-Paquet vie with Brest’s Guinean forward Larsen Toure (c) during the French Cup football match Lorient vs Brest, yesterday at the Stadium of Moustoir in Lorient, western France. — AFP

AFC to investigate match-fixing in Lebanon DUBAI: The Asian Football Confederation will look into the match-fixing scandal in Lebanon following the suspension of nearly two dozen players who are said to have fixed games, including a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

The AFC said the matter was referred to its disciplinary committee and that it would issue a statement today. On Tuesday, the Lebanese Football Association announced it had suspended national team players Mahmoud al-Ali and Ramez Dayoub for life and handed down suspensions ranging from one to three seasons to 22 other players who were implicated in a match-fixing and bribery scandal. Of the 24, 11 were capped at the national level and six had seen recent action in the team’s longshot bid to qualify for the World Cup. The organization concluded that players took money from betting companies to lose domestic and other matches in Asia. The World Cup qualifier was Lebanon’s 1-0 loss to Qatar last year.

The Lebanese FA hired Jordanian and West Asian Football Federation general-secretary Fadi Zreiqat to investigate match-fixing rumors, according to The Daily Star in Beirut. Zreiqat ended up interviewing 65 witness including 44 players and 18 club officials.

The scandal prompted soul searching yesterday in a country that loves its football but has struggled over the years to translate the passion into quality on the pitch.

Newspapers in the capital Beirut all put the story on the front pages, with headlines including “Scandal Shames Lebanese Football.”

It also comes at a difficult time for the national team which has reached the final round of World Cup qualifying for the first time. Ranked 131st in the world, the team’s recent success had helped unify a nation still working to overcome sectarian divisions. The Lebanese government had placed a five-year ban on attending domestic league matches following the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister and a prominent Sunni.

The team’s success has been credited with helping unify the nation but many now are likely to turn their backs on the team in the wake of the scandal. Even national coach Theo Buckner admitted the timing of the report could not have come at a worse time for the team, which sits in the basement of Asia Group A with only one victory.

“If it this is true, then it is a sad day for Lebanese football and for me personally,” Buckner told The Daily Star.

“It is up to the federation to take another decisive step to improve Lebanese football and to make it a more professional environment to work in.”

Buckner also said he had already kicked Dayoub off the national team after watching film of the Qatar match. In the match last June, Dayoub made a horrible back pass to the goalkeeper that Qatar’s Sebastian Soria stole to score the winning goal. — AP

Chinese team joins 2014 Formula E championship

16

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Bruins beat Islanders for 16th time in 20 meetings

18

Uzbeks stun Japanese champs in Asian league

Page 19

MIAMI: Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (3) drives against Sacramento Kings’ Isaiah Thomas during overtime of their NBA basketball game, on Tuesday, in Miami. The Heat won 141-129 in double overtime. — AP

Heat win 12th straight, outlast Kings Pacers beat Warriors after 4th-quarter scuffle Federer outwits Granollers, eyes Djokovic showdown DUBAI: Roger Federer dismissed Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-4 in the Dubai Championships yesterday to book a quarter-final meeting with Nikolay Davydenko.

The 17-times grand slam champion has an 18-2 winning record against the Russian veteran and could be forgiven for already eyeing a potential showdown with world number one Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s final. Yesterday, after the first five games went with serve, Granollers stumbled, a double fault gifting Federer three break points. The 31-year-old needed only one, passing Granollers at the net with an arrowed forehand down the line.

Federer, seeking a first title of 2013 and a sixth Dubai crown, was relentless, regularly opting for serve-and-volley tactics, and wrapped up the set with a love game.

“I thought I was sharp, I knew what I wanted to do and I was able to do it,” the world number two said in a courtside interview. “He was going to come in, so I thought I would rather hit a volley than a passing shot - when the courts are so fast, you want to play offensive.”

Federer broke again for a decisive 3-2 lead in the second set courtesy of a deep forehand that the Spaniard thought had landed long but his appeal fell flat. Earlier, world number seven Juan Martin Del Potro pounded Somdev Devvarman 6-4 6-4.

The Argentine saved three break

points in his opening two service games but was otherwise largely untroubled in dispatching India’s number one. “It’s good, but I need to improve if I want to have a chance of winning this tournament,” Del Potro said in a courtside interview.

The former US Open champion was taken to a deciding set tiebreak by Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in Tuesday’s first round, saving three matches points along the way, but the Argentine was steadier against Devvarman, sealing the first set with an ace.Roared on by a raucous Indian following in the stands, Devvarman provided more resistance in second before a long backhand sealed his fate. Del Potro, 24, lost a year of his career with a wrist problem and he admitted the fear of aggravating the injury was causing him to change his playing style.

“Sometimes I get frustrated because I can’t hit the ball like I want it,” the Argentine told reporters. “I’m not going to put myself at risk again.” Third seed Tomas Berdych, 27, was also through to the last-eight, beating Germany’s Tobias Kamke 7-5 6-1 under a searing desert sun. The Czech toiled more than the score line would suggest, squandering five set points in the first set against the world number 90 and saving 12 of 14 break points himself. Djokovic will play Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in late match. — Reuters

MIAMI: LeBron James had 40 points and 16 assists, and Dwyane Wade scored 39 as the Miami Heat pushed their winning streak to 12 games by outlasting the Sacramento Kings 141-129 in double overtime on Tuesday.

Ray Allen added 21, Chris Bosh finished with 15 and Chris Andersen had 10 for the Heat, who remained six games clear of second-place Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.

Miami’s 12-game winning streak is the longest in the NBA and matches the second-longest in club history.

Marcus Thornton scored 36 points for Sacramento, the most by any reserve in the NBA this season.

At Indianapolis, David West had 28 points and seven rebounds as the Indiana Pacers overcame the ejection of Roy Hibbert following a fourthquarter scuffle to beat the Golden State Warriors 109-97. West also was called for a technical foul, along with the Warriors’ David Lee, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, for the altercation that began with 6:10 remaining in the game. George Hill had 23 points and seven assists, and Paul George had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won five straight. Curry scored a season-high 38 points and Thompson had 13 for the Warriors.

Brooklyn’s Deron Williams scored 33 points and Brook Lopez added 20 while playing against his twin brother Robin as the Nets beat the New Orleans Hornets 101-97.

Keith Bogans added 12 points for Brooklyn, hitting all four of his shots, including three 3pointers in the fourth quarter, when New Orleans nearly erased a deficit that had been as large as 22 points in the second quarter.

Greivis Vasquez scored 20 and Robin Lopez 14 for New Orleans, which has lost four of five. Dion Waiters scored 25 points for Cleveland as the Cavaliers broke an 11-game losing streak against

the Chicago Bulls with a 101-98 victory, and the Milwaukee Bucks downed the Dallas Mavericks 95-90, despite Dirk Nowitzki making 20 points and 20 rebounds for the first time in 10 years. In other games, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Carolina Bobcats 106-84, the Orlando Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers 98-84 and the Phoenix Suns were 94-83 overtime winners over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

If the Indiana Pacers learned anything from their 108-97 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, it’s exactly how close they are as a team.

Team unity and having each other’s back has been a theme for the Pacers, and they had a chance to show it when center Roy Hibbert got involved in a fourth-quarter scuffle.

Hibbert was ejected following the skirmish that began when he and David Lee exchanged shoves under the basket after a missed shot.

“There were two or three guys coming after (Hibbert),” Pacers forward David West said. “We preach and talk about togetherness, so that’s part of what we’re going to do. We’re going to defend one another. They came after him too many times.”

West, who had 28 points and seven rebounds, also was called for a technical foul, along with the Warriors’ Lee, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, for the altercation.No players left the bench.

Curry tried to push Hibbert away and was shoved twice to the court as the fight went from the key to the baseline. “Seriously, I didn’t even feel him,” Hibbert said of Curry. “I saw some lightskinned guy. I don’t know if it was Klay Thompson or Steph Curry, I just knew there was a light-skinned guy by me.”

Hibbert believes he will face a suspension.

“Indiana’s a very physical team,” Lee said. “They’re one of the most physical teams, if not the most physical team in the East.”

George Hill had 23 points and seven assists, and Paul George had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers (36-21), who have won five straight.

Curry scored a season-high 38 points and Thompson had 13 for the Warriors (33-24), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

“It was just physical play,” Curry said. “Teams are gearing up for playoff basketball and amping up the intensity a little bit.”

The Pacers built a 95-85 lead midway through the fourth quarter and not even the scuffle shook them up as they ended a three-game skid against Western Conference teams.

When play resumed, Ian Mahinmi made a free throw and later West had three baskets, Lance Stephenson hit a 3-pointer and George scored on a jumper to give the Pacers a 104-87 lead with 3:28 left to play. “We knew we had to (close it out) with Roy going out,” George said. “We knew we had to close that game. We’re happy about this, but it’s one game.”

Indiana’s Danny Granger played 18 1/2 minutes and scored five points off the bench in his first home game this season.

He wasn’t in the locker room for media availability after the game. Pacers coach Frank Vogel said he wants to get Granger back in the starting lineup and is looking at a possible two-week timetable, but said he will review it week-byweek.

“My expectations are that we’ll get him back into the starting lineup as soon as possible,” Vogel said. Curry hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and the Warriors took a 5-0 lead to start the game. Hill, who had 15 points in the first quarter, hit two 3pointers, including one to tie the game with 4:19 left in the period.

With the Warriors trailing 52-43, Curry hit a 3pointer and two more field goals before Lee scored on a layup to get them within 54-53 at halftime. — Agencies

Business

Egypt approves law on Islamic bond issues Page 22 ECB: Euro-zone crisis still choking credit demand Page 25

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

India economy ‘looking up’: Finance ministry Page 23 Page 26

Air Arabia begins year with new traffic record

DUBAI: With the return of the property market speculators, Dubai is risking the possible repeat of the past, many observers feel.

Return of speculators fuels Dubai bubble fear Emirate risks repeating mistakes of past?

DUBAI: Property speculators are back in Dubai, aiming to make their fortunes by buying apartments and villas for cash, then selling them within months, weeks or even days. It’s a sign, some people fear, that Dubai risks repeating the mistakes of the past.

Queues of investors have formed outside the offices of major real estate developers in the past several months, in scenes that recall the emirate’s boom days before 2008, when money poured into Dubai property from around the world.

That boom was followed by a devastating crash when the bubble burst; inflated residential property prices plunged by more than 50 percent between 2008 and 2011. Dubai was forced to obtain a $10 billion bailout from neighboring Abu Dhabi. This time around, there are reasons to think that any property bubble will not be as large as the last one; supply and demand have not diverged as much, and government officials have said they will regulate the mortgage industry. But given Dubai’s history, renewed signs of exuberance in the property market are grounds for concern. Mario Volpi, head of residential sales and leasing at property consultancy Cluttons in Dubai, warns that an unsustainable bubble could form unless the government steps in.

“Many investors who are queuing up for these properties are looking to make a quick buck by flipping them,” he said. “We need a rule that perhaps stops selling of property for two years after purchase. Or perhaps some sort of a tax on such sales.” Although there a big variations within Dubai’s housing market, and many low-end properties are still weak, prices generally hit bottom around the middle of last year. Since then they have recovered impressively, rising as much as 20 percent in prime areas. Some

investors among the roughly 100 lining up earlier this month at the downtown headquarters of Emaar Properties , the emirate’s biggest developer, were veterans of the last boom.

“There is the same excitement in the air...People are buying anything that’s being offered by Emaar,” said one Pakistani investor, who did not wish to be identified because he did not want to draw attention to his operations.

The investors were seeking to buy “off-plan” properties - projects which had been designed but not yet built, and which might be sold on to another owner before construction. And, like the old days, many or most purchases appeared to be in cash. “No one standing here is buying on mortgage. This is a cash buy business,” the investor said. Ryan Mahoney, chief executive at property brokerage firm Better Homes, said: “In case things get too overheated, I do hope the regulators step in.” Individual Dubai property agents handled as many as 30 separate projects at a time during the boom between 2006 and 2008, he said. “Now we handle about two to three and they have not been launched. So, it’s still nothing like the days back in 2008, but there is definitely increased speculation in the market.”

There are some good reasons for the market’s recovery.

Thanks to a burgeoning tourism sector and its status as a business hub for surrounding regions, Dubai’s economy is now recovering strongly, growing at a rate of roughly 4 percent. Political unrest elsewhere in the Middle East is prompting some people to use Dubai as a safe haven for their wealth.

It is not clear that supply and demand are getting far out of line. Analysts expect about 15,000 to 18,000 residential units to

enter Dubai’s market this year and the same number in 2014 although these numbers may rise as scores of projects, shelved during the crash, are revived. On the demand side, the population of Dubai, now about 2 million, has been growing at annual rates of around 5 percent or more, meaning an addition of about 100,000 people every year, according to official data. Such growth seems able to absorb the projected increase in supply.

Also, Dubai currently does not look expensive compared to other international cities. Prime residential space in Dubai now costs around $1,000 per square foot, compared to twice that amount or more in London. Other aspects of the property market’s recovery are more troubling, however. One major, unresolved question is whether authorities are willing and able to regulate the market to prevent the excessive volatility of the past.

Dubai is certainly monitoring the market more closely now than it did before the crash. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority’s website provides updates on the progress of projects and the performance history of developers, and a system to hear complaints from investors and tenants has been introduced.

But an initial attempt by the United Arab Emirates central bank to curb speculative buying of properties has foundered. In December it introduced caps on mortgage loans as a proportion of the value of properties being bought; three weeks later, after commercial banks complained, it said it would not enforce those rules. The central bank now says it plans to introduce wide-ranging rules for the mortgage market in six to nine months, after consulting the banks. The banks, which are politically influential, have proposed softer caps than the central bank’s original intention.

As few as 15 percent of Dubai’s home purchases are estimated to involve mortgages, so some analysts question how effective mortgage caps would be in heading off speculators.

Another concern is the effect of government statements in fuelling the bullish mood in the property market. Prices have taken off in the last several months after the government and statelinked firms announced plans to build a series of spectacular projects, including a development featuring the world’s largest shopping mall and 100 hotels, a $1.6 billion island project housing the world’s largest Ferris wheel, and a $2.7 billion complex of five theme parks.

The statements buoyed the confidence of investors, but details have not been released, and in the past decade, Dubai announced many plans that were later quietly shelved. If the current plans do not materialise, demand for residential property could turn out to be less than hoped.

An official at a top construction firm in Dubai, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the commercial sensitivity of his remarks, said concrete construction plans had not yet been made for any of the recently announced projects.

“It will be a while before all this translates into work for us or anything starts, if at all,” he said. Volpi said the recent announcements might be linked to Dubai’s active efforts to promote its bid to host the World Expo 2020, an event which could draw an estimated 25 million visitors. A decision on which country will host the fair is expected this year. “If we get it (the Expo), we have seven years to build all that. If we don’t, none of it will ever get built,” Volpi said. — Reuters

Fitch Ratings warns US over budget fighting WASHINGTON: Ratings agency Fitch warned Washington yesterday that continued political fighting over the government budget and deficit-cutting measures could lead to the US losing its top AAA grade. With the government two days away from enacting the harsh “sequester” budget cuts because political parties cannot agree a more moderate compromise, Fitch said that the policy deadlock could lower confidence in the world’s largest economy.

It pointed out that after the $85 billion sequester cuts that begin to take effect Friday comes a battle over a six-month budget, which has to be concluded by March 31 or the government could be shut down. And shortly after that, on May 19, the country will hit its statutory borrowing limit.

“Implementation of the automatic spending cuts-the sequester-and a government shutdown would not prompt a negative rating action,” Fitch said in a statement. “But such an outcome would further erode confidence that timely agreement will be reached on additional deficitreduction measures necessary to secure the ‘AAA’ rating.” Fitch, like other rating agencies focused mainly on how the US will reduce its massive deficit and debt burdens over the medium term, said that the sequester itself was not bad. It called the 2011 poison-pill deal between

Democrats and Republicans, originally aimed at scaring them into a more moderate deficit-cutting plan, the government’s “only substantive agreement on medium-term deficit reduction” so far. But it acknowledged projections that implementing the sequester’s $85 billion in targeted cuts over the next seven months, and $110 billion in reductions for the 2014 fiscal year, would slow economic growth.

“A re-profiling of the spending cuts would support the economic recovery,” Fitch said. “But eliminating the sequester without putting in place equivalent deficit-reduction measures would imply higher deficits and debt than currently projected by Fitch and increase the pressure on the US sovereign ratings.” Washington has already lost its top-grade AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s due to the long-running budget battles. S&P downgraded the United States by one notch in August 2011 citing the country’s unsustainable debt profile and the political deadlock which has prevented the government from implementing a medium-term plan to close the deficit. At that time-and reiterated last December-S&P cited “the political brinkmanship of recent months (that) highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable.”—AFP

This combination image shows an Indian flight technician cleaning the front windows of a Jet Airways Boeing aircraft and Emirati officials posing in front of the new carrier “Etihad” or “Unity”. — AFP

Jet surges on report Etihad deal is close NEW DELHI: Shares in Jet Airways surged as much as 19.7 percent yesterday after TV channel ET Now cited unidentified sources as saying Etihad Airways was close to a deal to purchase a 24 percent stake in the Indian carrier. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad has already paid a “token” amount of $70 million, and will likely pay $400 million in the first tranche of the deal, the channel reported.

A Jet Airways spokeswoman referred Reuters queries on the report to Etihad. Etihad said it did not have an immediate comment. Indian TV channels said Etihad had bought Jet’s slots at London’s Heathrow

airport for $70 million, but did not say whether that was a part of the stake buy agreement.

Jet shares were up 17.3 percent as of 0831 GMT, after having risen as much as 19.7 percent earlier in the day. Shares of smaller rival SpiceJet also surged 9.4 percent to 37.85 rupees. The Jet-Etihad deal would be the first since India relaxed ownership rules in September and allowed foreign carriers to buy up to 49 percent in local carriers, which are battling stiff competition and high operating costs. Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd, Asia’s largest budget carrier, also plans to launch a regional airline in India in a venture with the

Tata group, marking a return to aviation for India’s biggest business house, and betting on potential growth despite near-term issues.

Etihad, launched in 2003, is on a buying spree to compete with regional rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways. The Gulf carrier has taken stakes in Virgin Australia and Aer Lingus and raised its shareholding in Air Berlin and Air Seychelles. Top executives from Etihad and Jet met Indian ministers earlier this month, but the deal faced a set-back later as the Gulf carrier’s chairman told Reuters the deal needs to be revised. —Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

BUSINESS

Egypt approves law on Islamic bond issues

More QE is on the way

By Hayder Tawfik The latest talk among central banks about the effective limit of low interest on lifting economic growth is a bit early and the alternatives are not easy to implement on the back of big deficits and austerity measures.

However, just listening to them and observing what they do, gives us the impression that more Quantitative Easing for sure is on the way. I think this time it will be coordinated on a global scale to make sure that their action will have an immediate effect and lift economic growth across the board. The example of the US Federal Reserve can be copied and implemented without any worry about inflation threat. At least for the time being when inflationary threat is only coming from the volatile food and energy rather than from wages and structural problems. May be living with nominal inflation for the time being is acceptable rather worrying about real inflation. A global monetary expansion is needed now more than before to maintain the momentum at a time when global growth has troughed and is starting to pick up, suggests that policy makers are becoming increasingly more tolerant of higher inflation outcomes in the future.

The US Federal Reserve tolerated higher nominal inflation over the last 4 years provided nominal interest rates kept low to take the burden away from the private and public sector. This has worked over the last 4 years and the recovery of the housing market is a proof of the policy taken by Ben Bernanke. Central bankers now seem to be more willing to embrace this argument and take action to ensure that interest rates in fact stay low, despite the weak cyclical recovery.

Back in 2008 the US Federal Reserve lead by Ben Bernanke took a decisive action in the form of the greatest monetary easing seen since the depression to avoid a global economic depression and indeed has succeeded in doing so. Now the talk from some corners including some at the Federal Reserve is to scale down the Quantitative Easing that I think will be premature and a big mistake. I am glad that Ben Bernanke is against scaling down.

His argument that unemployment should fall below 7% and reaches 6.5% is a valid one and he should be supported in achieving this. The accusation by some central banks in the emerging economies and including the European Central bank that the Federal Reserve action has lead to surge in commodity prices does not stack up at all.

Inflation in the emerging economies

and some part of the euro-zone is a structural problem rather than caused by a surge in food and energy prices. In the emerging economies food goes through a big supply chain or lets call it middle men before it gets to the final consumer and going through this big supply chain always increases the prices regardless of the economic cycle they experiencing. As long as labor productivity increases, inflation should not be a problem and the ECB knows this for well. So the talk at the ECB of inflation caused by surge in commodity prices as a result of the Federal Reserveaction is just a smokescreen to hide behind its failure to address the structural problems they facing.

Since last year consumer confidence has improveddramatically in particular in the US as a result of a pick up in economic activity and a big recovery in the housing market but above all the surge in the financial market. The liquidity glut created by Ben Bernanke should be maintained at least for the rest of this year. The Federal Reserve has saved the world form a great depression and the now the rest of the world should contribute and make sure the fragile world economy does not tilt back to a recession.

This message should be directed at the ECB now more than ever as there are signs that Germany could be facing a big slow down this year. I am wondering now if the ECB comes to the rescue of Germany when it refused to help the troubled euro-zone members last year.

Interesting thought!

We should give some credit to Japan as it has finally decided to end a decade of deflation and join the Federal Reserve in introducing a significant additional monetary easing in different forms to kick start economic activity and at the same time to have a targeted inflation of 2%, at last. Other central banks should join them in more aggressive easing of monetary policy so the whole world avoids a setback.

The biggest threat to the world economy comes from the eurozone and in particular from the ECB. It has been quite adamant throughout last year that inflation is a big threat but that was at a time when the German economy was strong so I am not sure whom the ECB works for the whole euro-zone or just Germany. May be now it has changed its mind after seeing some softness in the German economy. It is unlikely that the ECB cuts interest rates but it has ample power to be more aggressive in easing at a time when the Euro is getting much stronger.

There are not a lot of options open to central banks to generate economic growth but they do have the most powerful weapon in their hands and that is to keep supplying cheap money to the market till economic activities picks up. Consumer confidence will pick up once they feel that effective actions have been taken and the cloud of uncertainty has been removed. — Hayder Tawfik - Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah Capital.

Move could narrow budget deficit CAIRO: The Egyptian government approved a draft law yesterday that will allow the state to issue Islamic bonds, or sukuk, a move that could help narrow a gaping budget deficit and boost foreign currency reserves that have fallen to critically low levels. Shaped by Egypt’s first Islamist-led administration, the law will also allow private borrowers to issue sukuk. Egypt has never before issued bonds that adhere to Islamic principles, under which the payment of interest is impermissible. The law will be referred to the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament before final approval from President Mohammad Morsi. An earlier version of the sukuk law had been criticized by Islamic scholars, forcing a rethink.

With the Morsi administration facing a deep economic crisis, the issuance of Islamic bonds could provide some financial support as parliamentary elections approach. The voting is set to begin in late April and stretch into late June.

Fitch Ratings said yesterday the timing meant conclusion of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan could be pushed back well into the third quarter. Foreign reserves have fallen to $13.6 billion - less than the $15 billion needed to cover three months worth

of imports - and the deficit is forecast to hit 12.3 percent of GDP by the end of June unless economic reforms are implemented. The deficit rose by more than a third in the seven months to the end of January from the same period a year earlier, figures released yesterday showed.

Finance Minister Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy, an expert on Islamic finance appointed earlier this year, said in January that the Islamic Development Bank, a multilateral institution, could be ready to buy around $6 billion of sukuk.

Others are less optimistic. “There is a total hype over the issue. It is a minor issue that might contribute funding of 10 to 15 percent of Egypt’s needs,” said Osama Mourad, a financial and capital markets expert. “The problem is not with the instruments but with the general investment appetite towards Egypt in times of confusion.”

The economy has been hit by unrest that has driven away tourists and investors, and the Egyptian pound has lost 8.2 percent against the dollar since the end of last year.

The government has said it will resume talks with the IMF next month on a loan that would unlock billions of dollars more of financial support from foreign states and

international bodies. But an IMF agreement will also imply austerity measures. Fitch Ratings said it had expected a deal in the second quarter. “But voting is now set to continue until late June, shortly before the start of Ramadan and the summer holiday season,” it said. “This need not hold up negotiations, but finalizing a program would probably be more straightforward after contested elections that produced a government with a clear mandate to conclude a deal.” Egypt reached an initial agreement on the loan in November but postponed final ratification following political unrest in Cairo, which led the government to put off tax increases needed to rein in the deficit.

In a summary of its new plans for the economy released this week, the government said it aimed to increase the foreign currency reserves to $19 billion by the end of June.

But it did not say how. The plan will form the basis of talks with the IMF. The government, in a statement released yesterday, described the plan as “much more gradual” than previous proposals. It said the reforms would be spread over a longer time frame, the impact of some of them would reduced while others were entirely dismissed. But it gave no details. — Reuters

Al Tijari announces winner of mega draw KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al Najma Account draw on 27th February 2013.

The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry represented by Abdulaziz Ashkanani.

The winner of the mega draw: Mohammed Ali Mohammed Yahya AlQahtani— KD 100,000.

The winners of the Al Najma daily draw are: Mohammad Ali Jafaar Mohammad— KD 7000, Hameeda Hamood Soud Al-Jamili — KD 7000, Aziza Abdulaziz Yousef Al-Ajeman — KD 7000, Visarak Sirilakot— KD 7000, Faisal Turky Khalifa — KD 7000.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize

4 million views reached NBK’s YouTube channel More than 4 million viewers viewed National Bank of Kuwait (NBK’s) “NBKMedia” official channel on YouTube. NBK’s channel has seen a great jump in the number of viewers and subscribers keeping its place on top among local banks and companies.

In addition to YouTube, NBK enjoys the largest coverage of social media networks in Kuwait including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare and Google+.

NBK is among the first banks to establish a strong social media presence. NBK’s twitter account, among all local banks, is the first to officially get verified. The verified badge helps users discover high-quality sources of information and trust that a legitimate source is authoring the account’s tweets.

NBK greatly values the role that social media channels play and utilizes them as an important mean of keeping in touch with NBK customers and their concerns around the clock.

NBK’s social media team answers customers on Facebook and Twitter and post the latest news, promotions and services. NBK frequently launches competitions on several social media means as a way of rewarding its fans.

NBK is keen on supporting its customers throughout all of the social media networks as important aspects for supporting the lifestyle and banking habits of customers. For more information regarding banking transactions, events and competitions check out National Bank of Kuwait official facebook page NBK - Official Page or follow NBK on Twitter @NBKPage, and on Instagram @NBKPage

which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministr y of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

Indian business delegation to visit Kuwait KUWAIT: The Embassy of India, Kuwait, in association with Chemical and Allied Products Export Promotion Council (CAPEXIL), an apex organization setup by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India to promote export of chemical and allied products from India, is organizing a visit of a 12-member Indian business delegation to Kuwait from March 1-4, 2013.

The Indian delegation will interact with the senior officials of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and businessmen on March 3, 2013 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am at KCCI premises.

In continuation of the above event, a Buyer-Seller Meet (BSM) is also being organized at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Ground Floor) on the same day from 11:30am to 1:00 pm and from 3:00 pm till 8:30 pm.

The Buyer Seller Meet will be inaugurated jointly by the head of the KCCI delegation, Fahad Yacoub Al Jouaan, Board Member of KCCI and Satish C Mehta, Ambassador of India, immediately after the business meeting at Al-Boom Hall. The delegation is led by L. Rajamannar, Member-Secretary, CAPEXIL. The BSM would provide an excellent opportunity to meet Indian manufacturers and exporters of sawn timber, commercial plywoods, marine plywoods, flush doors, filmfaced BWP plywood, garnet sand, Ilmenite, rutile, marble, granite, sandstone, limestone, slates, polished granite slabs & tiles, other granite products, calendars, computer stationery, printed books, school note books and paper, paper products, paper cups, tissue paper product for corporates, hotels, restaurants, households, etc, to enter into mutually beneficial trade relations.

EXCHANGE RATES Irani Riyal - cash

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 Egyptian pounds

.275000 .425000 .367000 .301000 .274000 .2870000 .0040000 .0020000 .0767850 .7480970 .3900000 .0720000 .7333770 .0420000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2828500 .4272170 .3694590 .3031780 .2756550 .0495470 .0437450 .2889600 .0364600 .2284730 .0030770 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0770390 .7505640 .0000000 .0754470 .7349620 .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - transfer

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.093 5.293 2.892 2.225 3.303 230.350 36.643 3.589 6.971 9.532 0.271

.2850000 .441000 .382000 .3140000 .288000 .2990000 .0067500 .0035000 .0775570 .7556160 .4070000 .0760000 .7407480 .0470000 .2849500 .4303880 .3722020 .3054290 .2777020 .0499150 .0440700 .2911050 .0367310 .2301700 .0031000 .0053140 .0022420 .0029140 .0036280 .0776110 .7561360 .4030410 .0760070 .7404180 .0070470

0.273

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

GCC COUNTRIES 75.830 78.134 735.280 755.280 77.431

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 42.200 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 41.599 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.327 Tunisian Dinar 180.940 Jordanian Dinar 401.570 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.908 Syrian Lier 3.089 Morocco Dirham 34.124 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 284.250 Euro 373.220 Sterling Pound 430.500 Canadian dollar 278.000 Swiss Franc 305.650 US Dollar Buying 283.050 GOLD 304.000 153.000 80.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL DRAFT 293.68 280.86 310.10 375.32 283.65 433.27 3.17 3.611 5.263 2.228 3.303 2.895 77.30 755.26 41.56 404.10 738.22 78.33 75.84

Selling Rate 284.000 280.310 432.705 371.680 304.925 751.890 77.300 77.955 75.695 400.345 41.537 2.224 5.266 2.889 3.594 6.967 696.660 4.090 9.605 3.995 3.370 91.570

Bahrain Exchange Company

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

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

SELL CASH 295.000 288.000 311.000 379.800 283.500 445.000 3.150 3.750 5.350 2.520 3.450 2.860 77.500 750.800 42.500 409.500 734.000 78.500 75.900

CURRENCY Europe British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Scottish Pound Swedish Krona Swiss Franc

BUY

SELL

0.422153 0.006107 0.045746 0.366167 0.045833 0.420325 0.039961 0.299565

0.431153 0.018107 0.050746 0.373667 0.051033 0.427825 0.044961 0.306565

Australasia Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar Uganda Shilling

0.280213 0.226212 0.000110

0.292213 0.236212 0.000110

America Canadian Dollar Colombian Peso US Dollars

0.269904 0.000148 0.281900

0.278904 0.000166 0.284050

Asia Bangladesh Taka Cape Vrde Escudo Chinese Yuan Eritrea-Nakfa

0.003554 0.003151 0.044660 0.016403

0.003609 0.003381 0.049660 0.019503

Guinea Franc Hong Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Jamaican Dollars Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar Sri Lankan Rupee Thai Baht

0.000044 0.034075 0.005215 0.000024 0.002836 0.003009 0.003186 0.087724 0.003144 0.002866 0.006520 0.000073 0.225409 0.001927 0.009125

0.000050 0.037175 0.005285 0.000030 0.003836 0.003189 0.003416 0.094724 0.003344 0.002906 0.006990 0.000076 0.231409 0.002232 0.009725

Arab Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Ethiopeanbirr Ghanaian Cedi Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Sudanese Pounds Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.747022 0.039575 0.012978 0.147855 0.000079 0.000185 0.395061 1.000000 0.000174 0.021816 0.001205 0.726781 0.077366 0.075213 0.049886 0.003169 0.178763 0.075909 0.001281

0.755522 0.041606 0.019478 0.149645 0.000079 0.000245 0.402561 1.000000 0.000194 0.045816 0.001840 0.737781 0.078149 O.075853 0.050436 0.003389 0.184763 0.077359 0.001381

Al Mulla Exchange Currency 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

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 283.600 374.000 431.000 278.750 3.125 5.274 41.575 2.223 3.598 6.965 2.891 755.400 77.150 75.750

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

BUSINESS

US consumer confidence up, but will they spend?

NEW YORK: Americans are more confident in the economy than they have been in the past few months, but that doesn’t mean they’re willing to spend more money.

Consumer confidence rebounded in February, reversing three straight months of declines, as Americans get more used to the higher Social Security payroll tax, The Conference Board, a private research group said Tuesday. But the rosier outlook follows major companies from Burger King to Wal-Mart that have cautioned in recent weeks that Americans are pulling back on their spending as they try to stomach their smaller paychecks since the tax rose by 2 percentage points last month.

Robert Zamora, who lives in Boston, says while he feels encouraged that the value of his home and

his stock portfolio are rising, he’s decided to spend less because of the higher payroll tax, which has reduced his monthly income by $250.

“There is no more discretionary money to go around for anything other than the basics,” says Zamora, who works in web development for a financial services firm.

The way Americans feel about the economy has gone through peaks and valleys as they’ve tried to reconcile improving stock and housing markets with new economic challenges. In addition to the higher payroll tax, gas prices are rising and there are worries that lawmakers won’t resolve a budget impasse that threatens to trigger $85 billion in spending cuts starting tomorrow.

The Conference Board’s index is closely watched by economists because it attempts to keep a

monthly pulse on how Americans are feeling about everything from their jobs to their incomes. That’s important because when Americans feel good, they spend. And since consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of US economic activity, the economy benefits greatly when Americans feel good about it.

The January reading shows that Americans are more confident, but still skittish. Confidence rose to 69.6, up from a revised 58.4 in January and the 60.5 analysts polled by research firm FactSet expected. That’s the highest reading since November’s of 71.5, but well below the 90 that indicates a healthy economy.

The Conference Board’s survey, which was conducted from Feb. 1 through Feb. 14 on a sample of 2,300 shoppers, shows that Americans are par-

ticularly upbeat about their job and income prospects. But that’s coming off gloomier numbers over the past three months. The number of people anticipating more jobs rose to 16.7 percent from 14.4 percent, while those expecting their incomes to increase rose to 15.7 percent from 13.5 percent.

“Consumers are feeling better, but they don’t feel a whole lot better,” says Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo. There’s no wonder Americans are torn between positivity and angst. There’s a mix of good and bad economic news.

Stocks have roughly doubled since June 2009.

And the job market, while still tough, also is rebounding: In January, employers added 157,000 jobs. Still, the unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in December.— AP

India economy ‘looking up’: Finance ministry GDP growth seen at 6.1% in next fiscal year

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NEW DELHI: India’s economy will pick up speed, inflation will fall and the fiscal deficit will be reined in during the next financial year, an official forecast published on the eve of the budget said yesterday.

The upbeat projection, prepared by the finance ministry, predicts Asia’s thirdlargest economy will expand by 6.1 to 6.7 percent in the next financial year to March 2014 after growing by an estimated five percent this year, which marks a decade-low.

“The downturn is more or less over and the economy is looking up,” said the economic survey, a summation of the country’s economic prospects traditionally presented just before the unveiling of the national budget. But the report says the government must keep up economic reforms to reignite investor confidence in the economy which has slowed sharply from expansion of 9.3 percent just two years ago in the financial year 2010-11.

“The slowdown is a wake-up call for increasing the pace of actions and reforms,” said finance ministry chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan in the report which also calls for widening a still narrow tax base to boost revenues.

Qatar vast building plans need more than money DOHA: When Qatar’s government announced a project management training course for some of its officials last month, it was frank about why the course was urgently needed. “The National Development Strategy 2011-2016 calls for individuals and teams within government to work in ways that may be new to them,” the General Secretariat for Development Planning said in a statement. The course will introduce participants to key management concepts such as time, cost, quality and results, and teach them how to handle changes to projects after they have been launched.

Qatar’s huge infrastructure building plans, which envisage spending about $140 billion through 2022, promise to transform the tiny, gas-rich country. They have businessmen around the world salivating at the prospect of lucrative construction and equipment contracts.

But Qatar is finding that its vast wealth alone is not enough to push forward the program. To avoid waste and confusion, the country of just 1.9 million people will need to develop or hire management expertise on a scale that would challenge much bigger nations. For the next decade, much of the capital Doha will resemble a giant construction site, putting pressure on the small non-energy economy, the arid environment and the social fabric some religiously conservative Qataris are apprehensive about the influx of foreign workers who will build the projects.

Because of these obstacles, foreign companies bidding for the projects are already discovering that the business opportunities are not necessarily as attractive as they seem. “Delays and inadequate execution of the investment

program entail significant reputational risk for Qatar,” said Rupert Booth, senior economist at construction design consultant Atkins in Doha.

Qatar’s construction plans include a $36 billion rail system, a new airport that will cost $17.5 billion, a $7.4 billion seaport, hundreds of kilometres of major new roads, and an overall urban makeover. Many of the projects will prepare the country to host the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament, which the government hopes will seal Qatar’s arrival as a top global travel destination.

“I don’t think there has been as comparatively ambitious an infrastructure rollout in such a small place, in such a short period of time,” said one Doha-based economist at a financial institution, declining to be named under briefing rules. “There’s just no precedent for this.”

Since Qatar is one of the world’s richest countries, money does not look likely to be a problem. Over the past three fiscal years alone, the government’s budget surplus has totalled over $33 billion; other sources of financing will include foreign and domestic borrowing, the retained earnings of state-owned companies, and private sector investment.

But completing projects on time may be a problem.

Two years after Qatar won the right to host the World Cup, little work on many of the big projects has actually started, disappointing some businessmen who flocked to the country to seek contracts.

“We’re all expecting a tsunami of work to come in. But we expected it to start last year,” one Doha-based construction consultant said, declining to be named because of the political sensitivity of his remarks. — Reuters

EU blocks Ryanair bid to take over Aer Lingus BRUSSELS: The European Union’s antitrust authority yesterday blocked budget airline Ryanair’s renewed bid to take over Irish carrier Aer Lingus on grounds that it would undermine competition.

The merger of the two leading airlines operating from Ireland would have harmed consumers by creating a monopoly or a dominant position on almost 50 routes where Aer Lingus and Ryanair are currently competing, said the EU Commission, the bloc’s executive arm. “This would have reduced choice and, most likely, would have led to price increases for consumers travelling on these routes,” it said, rejecting the remedies offered by Ryanair in return for a green light to its takeover bid.

Ryanair, Europe’s biggest budget airline, immediately said it will appeal the ruling, decrying it as a “political decision” bowing to the interests of the Irish government. Its offer valued Aer Lingus at about 700 million euros ($900 million). “At a time when airlines in Europe and further afield are merging to form bigger competition champions (...) the EU Commission has yet again set back competition and choice in Europe while delaying much-needed consolidation,” Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said in a statement. The Irish government, which holds a 25 percent stake in Aer Lingus, has opposed the takeover bid. It

feared job losses at the former state carrier and said the takeover would give Ryanair, among others, a dominant position for flights between Ireland and Britain.

The EU said both airlines combined would control 87 percent of all short-haul flights out of Dublin, creating a dominant position on 18 routes and an “outright monopoly” on 28 others. “The Commission’s decision protects more than 11 million Irish and European passengers who travel each year to and from Dublin, Cork, Knock and Shannon. For them, the acquisition of Aer Lingus by Ryanair would have most likely led to higher fares,” said EU antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia.

Ryanair, Aer Lingus’ biggest shareholder with a 30 percent stake, first tried to take over the Irish carrier in 2006 but was blocked by the EU Commission. The company has since resubmitted its bid, insisting Europe’s airline landscape was changing rapidly with regional airlines failing and larger ones merging to remain profitable. The company also claimed that the takeover would drive down average ticket prices. “We regret that this prohibition is manifestly motivated by narrow political interests rather than competition concerns and we believe that we have strong grounds for appealing and overturning this politicallyinspired prohibition,” Kiely said.—AP

“These are difficult times but India has navigated such times before and with good policies it will come through stronger.”

Market expectations are high that Finance Minister P Chidambaram, known as an ardent reformer, will seek to restore investor confidence in India’s unravelling public finances by opting for fiscal prudence over populism in the budget. The Congress-led government has introduced a string of measures since last September to encourage foreign investment in key sectors and reduce subsidies, which have led to a ballooning fiscal deficit.

Inflation will ease further from its current 6.62 percent, the report projected.

The fiscal deficit-the gap between spending and revenues-will be held to a targeted 5.3 percent of gross domestic product this year and fall to 4.8 percent next year. A lower deficit and declining inflation would set the stage for further interest rate cuts to spur the economy, the report said.

“The way out (of India’s financial problems) lies in shifting national spending from consumption to investment, removing the bottlenecks to investment, growth, and job creation,” Rajan said. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram poses for photographs at his office in New Delhi yesterday. Chidambaram will present the budget for the next fiscal year in parliament today. —AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

BUSINESS

Oil edges up from one-month low LONDON: Oil traded near $113 a barrel yesterday, edging up from a one-month low, as world powers ended two days of talks with Iran over its nuclear work with no sign of a breakthrough.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s defense on Tuesday of the central bank’s bondbuying - seen as supporting economic recovery and thereby oil demand - also supported oil and other riskier assets for a second day. Brent crude gained 30 cents to $113.01 a barrel by 1134 GMT.

The contract traded as low as $112.41 on Tuesday, its weakest since Jan 24. US oil gained 24 cents to $92.87. “There may be some support from the inconclusive talks with Iran around its nuclear program,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity strategy at BNP Paribas in London.

“Geopolitical tensions with Iran easily flare up and boost the risk premium embedded in the oil price.”

A perceived risk to oil supplies from

tension between the West and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program has long supported oil prices, helping to keep Brent over $100 for most of 2012 and this year.

The two sides have agreed to meet at expert level in Istanbul next month and to hold further high-level negotiations in Kazakhstan in April. Oil fell to the onemonth low on Tuesday after Italy’s inconclusive election results revived investor concerns about instability in the euro zone economy.

Brent rallied to a nine-month high near $120 in early February but has since fallen back on signs the global economy remains fragile. Some see the potential for further losses.

“Brent could come down to $110 or $108. We got so overdone to the upside, the market will get similarly overdone to the downside,” said Christopher Bellew, a broker at Jefferies Bache in London.

“The downside is going to be because of weak demand in Europe and OPEC not

cutting back on their output to fit in with demand.”

Prices drew some support from an American Petroleum Institute report on Tuesday showing crude stockpiles rose less than expected.

Stocks rose 904,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 22, the API said, while analysts had expected a rise of 2.4 million barrels. Official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due later in the day.— Reuters

HONG KONG: Hong Kong Finance Chief John Tsang (second left) addresses a press conference following his budget speech in Hong Kong yesterday.— AFP

HK unveils budget, warns on global risks HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s finance chief yesterday unveiled a budget to kickstart growth in the city and temper property prices but warned the world economy could face headwinds from possible trade and currency battles.

During a speech interrupted by protests, Financial Secretary John Tsang also set out a series of measures to support the middle class and alleviate poverty in the first budget under an increasingly unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying. The announcement came as data showed the southern Chinese financial hub saw growth of just 1.4 percent in 2012 and was tipped to expand only 1.5-3.5 percent this year.

In unveiling measures to boost the city’s financial sector and private equity industry he warned: “The whole world will have to face wars on three fronts, namely ‘currency’, ‘trade’ and ‘geopolitics’. “As a highly open and small economy, Hong Kong will be impacted by the development of these wars to a certain extent.”

His comment come after a sharp drop in the value of the yen sparked accusations of government meddling and concerns about a possible global war in which nations weaken their currencies to gains give a jolt to softening exports.

Tsang outlined plans to boost the city’s financial sector, including extending profits tax exemption for offshore private equity funds, with an eye on regional rival Singapore.

He also unveiled a string of populist measures aimed at supporting the middle class and poor, while looking to address the city’s chronically high property prices, which have doubled since 2009, squeezing average citizens. Tsang vowed to increase land-supply to allow the building of more houses while quarterly rates amounting to HK$11.6 billion and covering 75 percent of properties will be waived. That follows Friday’s decision to double stamp duty on second homes to 8.5 percent. Also yesterday Tsang said there will be a 75-percent cut in salaries tax to a ceiling of HK$10,000.

However analysts said the budget would do little to improve the lot of the middle-class or poor or give a lift to the popularity of Leung, whose government has been rocked by a series of protests since he came to power in July.

Leung, who was chosen by a committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites, has seen his support rating drop after scandals involving illegal structures at his home, and last year came close to facing impeachment proceedings.

“For the middle class there is very minimal. If the middle class is renting property-those rates are nothing to do with him,” said Philip Hung, President of the The Taxation Institute of Hong Kong. Hung added the level of some of one off measures, such as the salary-tax cut, was lower than last year. Despite announcing a budget surplus of HK$64.9 billion ($8.4 billion) this year-which swelled reserves to HK$734 billion-the new measures totalled only HK$33 billion, down from the HK$80 billion-worth introduced last year.

In a sign of the dissatisfaction with the administration, dozens of people, some dressed as the Chinese “wealth god”, waved banners and shouted slogans outside government headquarters demanding handouts of HK$10,000 and more welfare spending.

“The government should give money directly to the general public so that they can make ends meet,” activist Tam Kwokkiu told AFP, adding that the government is sitting on a fiscal surplus.

Two lawmakers including radical Leung Kwok-hung were escorted out of the chambers after interrupting Tsang’s speech and calling him a “liar”.

Tsang said he had had been listening to the concerns of the middle class, who are faced with rising bills for rent, medical care, and supporting their parents and children. “I agree that middle-class families should be given some support.

However, as one may appreciate, it is impracticable for the government to respond to each and every demand,” he said. —AFP

Petrofac unsettles investors with vague 2013 guidance LONDON: British oil services firm Petrofac just missed 2012 profit forecasts and failed to give a specific target for this year, spooking investors already unnerved by a rivals’ shock profit warning.

Shares in Petrofac dropped as much as 5 percent in early yesterday trading to their lowest level in over three months, recording the biggest fall on Britain’s blue-chip index.

The company, which designs and builds oil and gas infrastructure and also invests alongside oil firms in oil fields, said a strong pipeline of bidding opportunities meant it would deliver “good growth” in net profit this year, giving it confidence in a 2015 earnings target.

However, the vagueness of the forecast for this year disappointed analysts. “The guidance for 2013, I would argue, is not specific enough compared to how Petrofac have guided in recent years,” Macquarie analyst Mark Wilson said.

Analysts’ consensus forecast is for a double-digit percentage rise in profit this year, an estimate which now has a question mark over it given the lack of clarity in the statement, Wilson said. This time last year, Petrofac said it expected profit to grow by at least 15 percent in 2012.

Investors are already nervy on the oil ser vices sector after a surprise profit warning in January from Saipem, Europe’s biggest company in the industry, sent shockwaves through what was seen as a buoyant sector. “We don’t really see a

read-across from Saipem. The fact is that the long-term fundamentals around oil field services are very good,” Petrofac Chief Financial Officer Tim Weller said on a call with reporters.

Oil companies are increasingly reliant on service companies as they are forced to extract hydrocarbons from more difficult environments in a world where all the lowest hanging fruit has already been picked. Petrofac posted a 17 percent rise in net profit to $632 million for last year, just below a $636 million company-supplied consensus forecast.

The company said it continued to see a strong pipeline of bidding opportunities in its key markets in the Middle East, Africa and the former Soviet Union, giving it confidence in a target to double its recurring 2010 group earnings by 2015.

It also announced a plan to spend $1 billion over the next five years to develop an offshore part of the business that can build projects in deep water. Its current capability is focused on engineering big projec ts onshore in places like Turkmenistan, Algeria and Iraq.

“There is little in these results to trigger any meaningful near-term share price upside, and we expect a negative reaction to the $1 billion offshore investment announced,” JP Morgan analysts said.

At 1000 GMT, Petrofac shares were down 3.3 percent at 1,545 pence. The company raised its dividend by 17 percent to 64 cents per share.— Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

BUSINESS

Five stars for Mercedes-Benz C-Class and M-Class get top marks in more stringent US crash test DUBAI: Since the American crash test program US NCAP was made more stringent in 2010, only a few vehicles have achieved the highest assessment with five stars. These elite vehicles include the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and M-Class.

These both also achieved top marks in the European Euro NCAP rating and in the test by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), thereby confidently mastering three of the most challenging international safety ratings. This underlines MercedesBenz’s exceptional position as a pioneer in safety and a technical trendsetter.

The manufacturer-independent US NCAP rating (US New Car Assessment Program) is similar to its European counterpart Euro NCAP in many regards.

However, the US program significantly tightened up many of the requirements in 2010, also including additional tests in the rating. This resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of five -star results. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class and M-Class are among the few vehicles to have achieved the top result of five stars

according to the new criteria which are based on real-life accident scenarios.

Unlike the Euro NCAP, the updated US rating uses a significantly heavier deformable barrier (1368 kg compared with 950 kg) for the side collision in order to comply with the increased average weight of modern American vehicles. Another example: A rigid barrier is constructed for the frontal collision instead of a deformable barrier. The vehicle also hits the barrier with a full overlap (40 percent in Euro NCAP). The test program has also been expanded to include a lateral angled pole impact.

The assessment criteria have also been made significantly more stringent. The probability of serious injury to the head (head injury criterion) and the strain on the throat, chest and femur of the driver and front passenger are evaluated. In order to get five stars, the probability of serious injury must be under five percent.

As well as in the challenging new US NCAP rating, the C-Class and M-Class also achieved five-star results in the Euro NCAP, just like all Mercedes-Benz passen-

ger cars have for many years. The American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a private organisation led by various commercial vehicle insurance companies, also declared both Mercedes-Benz model series to be “Top Safety Picks” thanks to their outstanding test results. Mercedes-Benz believes these national and international safety ratings to be very sensible. However, the safety experts for the premium brand with the three-pointed star will not settle for merely achieving rating targets; instead they work constantly and intensively on achieving a level of safety that exceeds the standards required by all the legislation worldwide.

Actual accident scenarios are therefore an important benchmark for their work. This is why they have been investigating thousands of specific accidents for several years. On this incorruptible basis, Mercedes-Benz has developed a safety concept which not only aims to prevent accidents but also minimize the consequences of them. The experts call the result of their work “Real Life Safety”.

Based on this comprehensive safety

philosophy, Mercedes-Benz has developed or initiated several modern safety systems that effectively support drivers.

One example is the occupant protection system PRE-SAFE(r), launched ten years ago. It can activate safety measures for the passengers as a precaution, even before an impending crash. The aim is to prepare the occupants and the vehicle for an imminent collision, by, for example, ensuring that the seat belts and airbags can implement their full protective effect during an impact. PRE-SAFE is now available in 14 model series right across the Mercedes-Benz model range. As another indicator of its power of innovation when it comes to occupant protection, Mercedes is further expanding its protection for rear seat passengers with the active belt buckle and the beltbag. An electric motor automatically moves the belt buckle up and down as part of the active belt buckle. This allows belt slack in the pelvis and thorax regions to be reduced and passengers are better secured both laterally and longitudinally.

The beltbag is an inflatable belt strap which can reduce the risk of injury to rear-

seat passengers in the event of a frontal collision by reducing the forces exerted on the rib cage. The “Real Life Safety” holistic approach pursued by accident researchers at Mercedes-Benz also increasingly leads to the fusion of comfort and safety, thanks to the implementation of intelligent assistant systems which Mercedes-Benz groups together under the name “Intelligent Drive”. This includes systems which could, for the first time, prevent accidents with crossing vehicles or pedestrians, as well as an active lane keeping assist system which could also prevent accidents with oncoming traffic. Anti-dazzle permanent main-beam headlamps are also in development.

Assistance systems like these are not yet generally required by vehicle safety rating systems but various institutions are already starting to request them.

Mercedes-Benz is constantly increasing the performance of these assistance systems. The aim is all-round protection, not only for the occupants of MercedesBenz vehicles, but also for all other road users.

ECB: Euro-zone crisis still choking credit demand Spain cuts deficit to 6.7% of GDP in 2012

BERLIN: CEO of EADS Tom Enders grimaces during a balance press conference in Berlin yesterday. —AP

EADS sees moderate growth in 2013 BERLIN: European aerospace giant EADS unveiled better-than-expected 2012 results yesterday driven by record deliveries of its Airbus aircraft, but cautioned growth could tail off in the current year. “EADS should see in 2013 only moderate growth,” as deliveries of its A380 superjumbos slow, chief executive Tom Enders told the group’s annual news conference here.

The group also warned that the program of Airbus’s new wide-body longrange A350 passenger jet, scheduled to enter into commercial service in the latter part of 2014, remained “challenging.” “Any schedule change could lead to an increasingly higher impact on provisions,” said chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm, even if he insisted that the A350 “remains on track, based on the revised schedule.”

Last year was a good year for EADS. EADS booked net profit of 1.228 billion euros ($1.6 billion), a rise of 19 percent over the year-earlier figure and beating analysts’ expectations.

Underlying or operating profit, as measured by earnings before interest and tax and one-off items, rose to 3.0 billion euros from 1.8 billion euros in 2011. And revenues grew by 15 percent to 56.48 billion euros, the statement said. The better-thanexpected results sent EADS shares soaring on the Paris stock exchange, where they added more than 6.0 percent and passed the 37-euro mark for the first time. “EADS achieved strong revenue and underlying profit growth for the full year 2012. Despite a difficult macroeconomic environment, EADS saw continued momentum in its commercial activities while defence revenues were broadly stable,” the company said.

On the back of this, EADS said it would propose an increased dividend of 0.60 euros per share for 2012, compared with 0.45 euros per share for 2011. Looking ahead to the current year, EADS said it was projecting underlying or operating profit of 3.5 billion euros, “provided the world econ-

omy and air traffic grow in line with prevailing independent forecasts and there are no major disruption due to the current sovereign debt crisis.”

EADS said its commercial aircraft maker Airbus achieved record deliveries last year, handing over a total 588 airplanes to customers, including 30 A380 superjumbos.

That drove Airbus’s commercial revenues up by 18.6 percent to 36.943 billion euros and its overall sales up by 17 percent to 38.592 billion euros.

Airbus’s underlying profit more than doubled to 1.23 billion euros. EADS said it did not book any additional charges related to the delay of its new long-haul A350 jet, now scheduled for the end of 2014, on top of the 124-million-euro hit it took last year.

But it described the A350 program as “challenging. Any schedule change could lead to an increasingly higher impact on provisions,” it said. Nevertheless, the A350 “remains on track, based on the revised schedule,” it insisted. Airbus recently decided not to use the lithium-ion batteries for the A350 that are the cause of rival Boeing’s current problems with its 787 Dreamliner.

Analysts suggest that a switch to traditional nickel-cadmium batteries could delay the launch of the A350. As for the wing crack problems that have plagued Airbus’s A380 superjumbos, “the wing rib issue has been resolved with repairs on-going on deployed aircraft and design modifications embodied into the new production standard,” EADS said.

Revenues at its Eurocopter subsidiary were up 16 percent at 6.264 billion euros, while its satellite unit Astrium booked a 17-percent increase in sales to 5.817 billion euros.

Business at its Cassidian defence and security unit was “broadly stable” with sales amounting to 5.74 billion euros.

EADS said that at the end of December it had orders on hand of 566.5 billion euros, compared with 541 billion euros at the end of 2011. —AFP

FRANKFURT: Bank lending to private households in the euro area remains weak as the longrunning debt crisis continues to choke demand for credit, European Central Bank data showed yesterday.

Even though sentiment indicators across the 17-country euro-zone are on the rise, companies and households appear reluctant to take out new loans, the statistics showed. The ECB calculated that eurozone bank loans to the private sector declined by 0.9 percent on a monthly basis in January, after already shrinking by 0.7 percent the previous month. The central bank believes that falling loans to the private sector reflect weak demand for credit rather than tight lending conditions, given pessimism regarding eurozone growth prospects and heightened risk aversion amid the crisis.

“Although banks’ liquidity positions have improved overall since early 2012, it is clear that this has had little effect in boosting private-sector lending,” said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer. Neither had the ECB’s rate cuts done much to encourage banks to lend more to the private sector, the expert said.

“The weakness in lending ... (reflects) survey evidence showing that households and firms are reluctant to take on new debt amid weak economic activity levels and still appreciable uncertainty regarding the economic outlook,” Archer said. “Nevertheless, the concern is that a number of companies who do want to borrow-whether it be to support their operations, boost investment, explore new markets-and are in decent shape are finding it hard to, so tight credit conditions are handicapping euro-zone growth prospects,” he said.

Annalisa Piazza at Newedge Strategy also said the lending data were “a clear sign that the euro-zone recession is still weighing on demand for credit.” Loredana Federico at UniCredit noted that the ECB’s recent bank lending survey “confirmed that risk perceptions and low demand were among factors weighing on lending growth.”

She predicted that “all in all, if in the next months the improvement in growth indicators and banks’ funding conditions will not be reversed, the lending cycle is likely to embark on

a moderate recovery sometime in the second half of the year.”

The ECB also published euro-zone money supply data, which suggest that growth in the money supply-a key guide to future inflationpicked up last month. Growth in the M3 indicator, which measures the amount of money in circulation, grew by 3.5 percent in January, compared with 3.4 percent in December. The ECB regards the M3 figure as a key guide to inflation

Spain is in deep recession with a jobless rate of 26 percent, has sparked regular, mass street protests.

“It represents a huge effort by the whole of Spanish society,” Rajoy told a session of parliament.

“It will no doubt lead to a boost in confidence in Spain.” The deficit figure excludes the cost of rescuing Spain’s banking system from a mountain of bad loans built up since a 2008 property

pressures and uses it to set interest rates accordingly.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced yesterday that Spain slashed its public deficit to 6.7 percent of economic output in 2012, a dramatic cut in the midst of a recession yet still short of its European Union target. Rajoy’s conservative government rammed through unpopular austerity cuts and tax increases as it struggled to lower the public deficit to an EU-agreed target of 6.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2012 from 9.4 percent the year before.

Spain’s budget-cutting achievement will likely be welcomed by financial markets despite missing the goal set with Brussels.

But the cost-cutting, coming at a time when

crash, however. Spain has already spent more than 40 billion euros ($52 billion) to clean up its banks’ balance sheets, using a rescue loan extended by its euro-zone partners of up to 100 billion euros, and it will have to pay that money back. The European Union last week estimated the overall Spanish public deficit at 10 percent of GDP, saying the cost of the banking rescue accounted for 3.2 percentage points of the total.

Since coming to power in December 2011, Rajoy’s Popular Party government has launched measures to find 150 billion euros in savings between 2012 and 2014 in spending cuts and tax increases. For next year alone, the government’s budget foresees 39 billion euros in austerity measures. —Agencies

Joyalukkas announces international jewelry celebration across GCC Joyalukkas has announced an International Jewelry Celebration across its showrooms in the GCC. The grand festival will celebrate exquisite and exotic gold jewelry designs and collections from across the world.

Shoppers will get to see and buy intricately embellished Turkish Jewelry, Classic Italian designs, Handcrafted Indian Jewelry, Stylish and modern Singaporean jewelry and unique jewelry designs from Malaysia. The ‘International Jewelry Celebration’ is planned across all Joyalukkas show-

rooms from 27 February to 23 March, 2013. “We are celebrating the traditions and beautiful jewelry designs created by craftsmen across the world. Jewelry designs of Turkey, Italy, India, Singapore and Malaysia each have their distinct look and style and we are sure jewelry lovers will enjoy viewing it and be thrilled with the opportunity to own it,” said Joy Alukkas, Chairman & MD, Joyalukkas Group. To make it convenient for jewelry shoppers Joyalukkas has also planned an exclusive zero percent deduction on exchange of any

GCC 22K gold. Customers who have purchased their gold jewelry from any jewelry showrooms in the GCC will be able to exchange their jewelry for a brand new piece without any deduction in value.

“We are celebrating craftsmanship, styles and trends around the world and at the same time ensuring that we create a convenient option for jewelry lovers to be able to buy these exotic designs with our exclusive exchange offer. Our showrooms will accept any jewelry purchased in the GCC at zero

percent deduction terms during the promotion period,” said John Paul Joy Alukkas, Executive Director, Joyalukkas Group.

Joyalukkas has flow in many new designs from across the world to ensure jewelry lovers get to see the unique and exquisite designs worn around the world. Other than the attractive zero percent deduction exchange offer on 22k gold, Joyalukkas will offer the convenience of easy monthly payment plans in conjunction with leading banks in the GCC.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

BUSINESS

Nikon releases new DX-format D7100 DSLR camera KUWAIT: Nikon Corporation announced the release of the advanced, high-performance DXformat D7100 digital SLR camera.

The D7100 is a compact, lightweight camera (W + H + D: approx.

135.5 + 106.5 + 76 mm; weight: approx. 675 g1) that offers superior portability. It is loaded with features that enable excellent subject detection and is capable of reproducing the finest details.

The high density of the 51-point AF system accurately detects the intended subject for superior tracking performance, and cross-type sensors have been adopted for the 15 most frequently used focus points at the center of the frame. In addition, the cross-type center focus point is fully functional and compatible with lenses with a maximum aperture of f/8. This means faster, more precise autofocusing with a variety of conditions. The D7100 is also equipped with a new crop image area, 1.3+ DX crop, which increases the angle of view by approximately 1.3+ compared to the standard DX-format viewing

angle. This effectively increases the focal length to an equivalent angle of view of approximately 2+2, enlarging distant subjects. In addition, the 51 focus points cover the entire image area when the 1.3+ DX crop is enabled for quick and accurate subject detection for moving objects with high-speed continuous shooting at approximately 7 fps3.

The D7100 is also equipped with a DX-format CMOS sensor of 24.1 effective megapixels and the highperformance EXPEED 3 image-processing engine without a low-pass filter. These features enable sharp focusing with high resolution. The incredible combination of the high pixel count, and the full HD quality of the D7100 can be enhanced further with NIKKOR lenses, which offer superior rendering performance made possible with Nikonís own optical technologies.

The D7100 also offers a number of new functions that improve camera operations for a more intuitive and efficient shooting experience, including Spot White Balance, a white balance preset manual

option that allows users to choose a specific subject from which white balance is measured while shooting in live view. It is also equipped with an array of RGBW that enables more effective accumulation of light, a

large, 3.2-inch high-resolution TFT LCD monitor with a wide viewing angle and an i button that enables direct access to frequently used functions. ● 1Camera body only

● 2 Equivalent in 35-mm [135] format. ● 3 When 1.3+ DX crop is enabled; up to 6 fps when standard DX format is enabled. Both maximum frame rates possible only when image quality is set to JPEG/12-bit NEF (RAW). Measured according to CIPA guidelines.

D7100 Primary Features 1. Supports lenses with a maximum aperture of f/8 and offers a 51-point AF system for faster focus The 51-point AF system built into the D7100 utilizes the new Advanced Multi-CAM 3500DX autofocus sensor module covering broad range of the frame for increased accuracy in subject detection. Crosstype sensors have been adopted for subject detection and to track moving subjects rapidly. In addition, the camera is able to focus automatically with extreme accuracy, even in lighting measuring just -2 EV (ISO 100, 20degrees C), roughly equivalent to moonlight. Whatís more, the center focus point (cross-type) supports autofocusing for lenses with a maximum aperture of f/8. This

allows users to enjoy ultra highspeed AF shooting with a compact and lightweight system when paired with a telephoto NIKKOR lens with a maximum aperture of f/4 and a teleconverter (2+).

2. 51 focus points covering the entire frame that bring distant subjects closer. The 1.3+ DX crop achieves high-speed continuous shooting up to approximately 7 fps*1.

The DX format effectively increases the shooting angle of view to an equivalent of approximately 1.5+ the actual focal length of the lens*2. The new 1.3+ DX crop image area increases this effect by an additional 1.3+ for a total effective increase in angle of view to approximately 2+ lens focal length*2, making distant subjects appear closer. Whatís more, when the 1.3+ DX crop is enabled, the AF systemís 51 focus points cover the entire frame, and high-speed continuous shooting at approximately 7 fps*1 is possible for quick and accurate detection of the intended subject.

Air Arabia begins year with traffic record Record number of passengers in January SHARJAH: Air Arabia, the first and largest lowcost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, yesterday announced that it flew a record number of passengers in January 2013 as the airline carried almost half a million passengers.

Latest statistics released by the airline show that it carried a total of 492,847 passengers in the month, an increase of nearly 15 per cent as compared to a year earlier. This represents the highest number of passengers that the airline han-

dled in a month since inception.

The airline’s seat load factor - passengers as a percentage of total seats available - stood at an impressive 82.5 per cent, further demonstrating the growing popularity of the Air Arabia’s value for money services.

The airline has witnessed a steady increase in passenger numbers in 2012. Last year, the lowcost pioneer carried has 5.3 million passengers, an increase of over 13 per cent compared to 2011.

“It is encouraging to begin the year with record passenger numbers,” said Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia. “The record number demonstrates the strength of Air Arabia - offering affordable fares to an ever growing range of destinations. As we embark on a new growth journey, we remain committed to millions of passengers who choose to fly with Air Arabia, whether for business or leisure purposes.”

As customer demand soars, fleet expansion becomes a top priority for the airline. January 2013 seen the airline taking delivery of its first fuel saving Sharklet equipped aircraft from Airbus, and has become the first airline in the Middle East to operate a Sharklet equipped A320 aircraft. The airline is due to receive five more aircraft this year.

Consumers driving force shaping today’s food trends, says McDonald’s ME Chief DUBAI: Consumers are the driving force shaping the future of the food industry; with demand for convenience, a hunger for greater transparency and use of social media platforms identified as the three key game-changers for the industry. Those are the conclusions of Yousif Abdulghani, Managing Director of McDonalds Middle East and Africa, speaking at Gulfood, the world’s biggest annual food and hospitality show, currently taking place in Dubai.

Abdulghani said: “Consumers’ changing needs are driving us as an industry to offer more choices, better service, and better value. Consumers are changing their eating habits - there is more out of home consumption, they want convenience and they want to know more about their food, how it is made and where it comes from. They are hungry for information and demand transparency from companies.”

Abdulghani was discussing major trends affecting the Middle East food industry in a lively panel debate session entitled - Who is Shaping the Future of Food?

Big Business, Consumer or Public Policy? McDonald’s operates more than 360 restaurants and employ over 10,000 people in the GCC. Abdulghani said: “What is exciting and also challenging to see how lifestyle shifts, technology and social media are changing the way that people interact with brands in our industry. Customers no longer want just to be broadcast to, they expect to be able to have personalized conversations and interact one-on-one with brands. For example, consumers are more active in seeking nutritional information of the food they consume - whether this means checking the packaging for the ingredients or nutritional content.

McDonald’s are leaders in making sure nutritional information of our products is conveniently available on our website, tray mats and flyers and will continue to innovate here to make sure our consumers make informed choices of the food they eat.”

Abdulghani praised the role of regional governments in ensuring quality standards among the industry - especially in terms of halal certification, food safety and hygiene. “We believe that Governments should actively work with businesses to establish guidelines

and regulations that can positively enhance industry practices.

Strict halal guidelines and the inspection process where products are approved by local authorities and Halal officers at the countries of export,are critical to ensure meat products meet the local requirements,” he said.

Calling on the industry to ensure they implement

To qualify as a McDonald’s supplier, a business must fully meet global official benchmarks as well as McDonald’s internal food safety standards, product specification and farm biosecurity policies. In addition, they must also adhere to social responsibility policies on aspects concerning animal welfare, animal feed, as well as prohibition of deforestation and use of antibiotics as growth promoters and above all, Halal.”

Sahand Pouladi, Chief Operations Officer of FASTtelco

FASTtelco participates in Microsoft open door event KUWAIT: Sahand Pouladi, Chief Operations Officer of FASTtelco, Kuwait’s leading Internet Service Provider, has announced FASTtelco’s successful participation in Microsoft Open Door event, unveiling its innovative offers and unique packages directed to support small to medium enterprises (SME’s), affirming its commitment to provide the market and the end users with the state of the art communication services. This event was held Wednesday morning, February 20, 2013 at Movenpick Hotel Convention Center in Free Trade Zone, Shuwaikh.

Open Door is Microsoft’s biggest event in the Middle East and North Africa region, highlighting new launches, breakthrough technologies, products and solutions, with a special focus on the freshly-released Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 and all-up Cloud strategy.

“Participating in such an important regional event will be an opportunity for the company to get more in touch with its potential clients and the market in general, moreover, it is a window to showcase our unique offers and innovative packages, in short, it ascertains our dedication towards the market” noted Pouladi, when asked about the degree of importance Microsoft Open Door event holds.

FASTtelco has always been the pioneer in providing innovative communication solutions

aimed to support small to medium enterprises, achieving cost effective business changes and improvements while assuring the highest levels of safety, security and profitability, among these offers are: FASTtelco Fast Internet, Aloo packages, Microsoft 365 office and FASTFIX much more.

FASTtelco is committed to its responsibilities towards the devoutness in helping businesses in Kuwait, Pouladi said, as this plays a vital role in supporting Kuwait’s business cycle.

When speaking at Open Door, Ehab Mustafa, Microsoft Kuwait Country Manager said: “Microsoft Kuwait is very happy to be partnering with FASTtelco in hosting Open Door this year.

We are also keen to be revealing today a unique solution with FASTtelco on Office 365, providing SMEs in Kuwait with additional tools to enhancing productivity and reducing costs. Office 365 has been reimagined, marking the next big step in Microsoft’s transformation to a devices and services business,”. “ This is so much more than just another release of Office. This is Office reinvented as a consumer cloud service with all the full featured Office applications people know and love, together with impressive new cloud and social benefits..” In addition to on-demand access of the latest Office apps, customers can also have the option to take advantage of premium services such as additional SkyDrive storage.

Ford, Lincoln vehicles cited for favorable Cost of Ownership by KBB.com

Yousif Abdulghani, Managing Director, McDonald’s Middle East and Africa and adhere to their own internal strict sourcing and food safety checks to complement government actions, Abdulghani said, “McDonald’s has built a system of Quality, Service and Cleanliness (QSC) into every aspect of the business, including our supply chain. Our food safety and quality requirements which meet government standards - are among the strictest in the restaurant industry.

McDonald’s have developed a number of local and regional suppliers including Al-Rashed Bakery in Saudi Arabia and Kuwaiti Flower Mills for supply of buns; IFFCO in the UAE and the Kuwaiti Danish Dairy Company for supply of oil, eggs and dairy products; Del Monte in the UAE & Saudi Arabia for supply of salads and vegetables and Nabil Factory in Jordan for supply of meat products.

KUWAIT: Boby Chemmanur International Jewellers Kuwait, Abbasiya showroom being inaugurated by famous South Indian film star Fahad Fazil. Boby Chemmanur International Group Chairman and Managing Director Boby Chemmanur, Thomachan, Major Sulaiman Jabir Al-Said, Anil, Hamsa Payyanur, Hisham Hassan and J S Shaji at the inauguration function.

KUWAIT: Owners of Ford and Lincoln vehicles get a pat in the back for choosing to buy Ford Mustang, Ford Mustang GT, Ford Explorer, Lincoln MKX and Lincoln MKT as the five models were recently recognised in the2013 Kelley Blue Book “5-Year Cost to Own Awards”.

The award from KBB.com intends to highlight total spend on vehicles or cost to own a vehicle in the US, way beyond the purchase price. It factors in financing, insurance, fuel consumption, maintenance, depreciation and other extra expenses that most owners do not include in their calculations when buying a vehicle.

“It’s great to see more and more industry experts recognising Ford and Lincoln products, and the KBB.com award is yet another great testament,” said Larry Prein, Ford Middle East’s managing director. “Cost of ownership is really two-pronged: first to consider is the depreciation and the second, of course, is what you spend with the use of your car such as fuel, maintenance, and, repair costs. At Ford, we already address the factors that influence depreciation within our Ford pillars of Quality, Green, Safe and Smart.

“As we excel in these pillars or be better than our competition, we improve the longterm value of our vehicles. Take for instance our new powertrains, with EcoBoost and other improvements in our engines, the gains in fuel consumption are dramatic and the customer is getting excellent performance,” he added.

Maintenance cost, another driver of total ownership cost, is significantly lower with Ford vehicles according to Chris Noel, Ford Middle East’s regional director for Customer Service.

“Over the past years oil change cycle has been increased from 5,000km to 10,000km which translates to lowering maintenance cost at least half of what was normally spent.

“Additionally, Ford dealers in the region are adding free service and maintenance packages

starting with 3 year/60,000km, and offering plans of up to 5 years/200,000km, tailored to meet owner needs. This significantly adds to the customers’ peace of mind when coupled with the 5 year/100,000km powertrain warranty, 24 hour free roadside assistance as well as the manufacturer warranty,” Noel explained.

In Kuwait, Arabian Motors Group, the local Ford and Lincoln importer-dealer, currently offers a 5 year/100,000km manufacturer’s warranty and 24-hour free roadside assistance anda 5 year/100,000km powertrain warranty on select vehicles, giving Ford owners complete peace of mind. Lincoln products in

Kuwait are offered with a standard 5 year/100,000km manufacturer’s warranty along with a6 year/110,000km powertrain warranty, a 5 year/100,000km 24 hour free roadside assistance, as well as a 3 year/60,000km free service and maintenance package.

KBB.com presents the “5-Year Cost to Own Awards”annually to honor individual winners in 22 different market segments, plus two overall brand winners. It uses comprehensive valuation criteria to determine the most deserving cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans which includes Kelley Blue Book Fair Purchase Price, projected depreciation, financing costs, insurance costs and state fees as well as the anticipated total cost of fuel, scheduled maintenance and repairs.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

technology

Video: Gates, Zuckerberg urge kids to code NEW YORK: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter creator Jack Dorsey are among the tech luminaries appearing in a new video promoting the teaching and learning of computer coding in schools. Titled “What most schools don’t teach,” the video released online Tuesday begins with Zuckerberg, Gates and other tech icons recalling the time they got their start in coding. For some, that was in sixth grade. For others, such

as Ruchi Sanghvi, Facebook’s first female engineer, that happened in college. Freshman year, first semester, intro to computer science, to be exact.

Running less than six minutes, the video promotes Code.org, a nonprofit foundation created last year to help grow computer programming education. “The first time I actually had something come up and say ‘hello world,’ and I made a computer do that, that was just

astonishing,” recalls Gabe Newell, president of video game studio Valve. But it’s not just tech leaders promoting programming in the video.

Chris Bosh, of the Miami Heat basketball team, says about coding: “I know it can be intimidating, a lot of things are intimidating, but, you know, what isn’t?”

Code.org was founded by tech entrepreneur Hadi Partovi, an early investor in Facebook, Dropbox and the vacation rental site Airbnb. The

nonprofit wants to address an oft-cited problem among technology companies - not enough computer science graduates to fill a growing number of programming jobs. The group laments that many schools don’t even offer classes in programming. “Our policy is literally to hire as many talented engineers as we can find,” Zuckerberg says in the video. “The whole limit of the system is just the there just aren’t enough people who are trained and have these skills today.” — Reuters

Poor kids with laptops read less, do more chores in Peru Computer games, listening to music

Playing unfair: Cybercriminals set their sights on gamers According to data from KSN, Kaspersky Lab experts recorded 7,000 attempts to infect gamers around the world every day in 2012. These attacks are launched in an attempt to gain access to personal user data, such as passwords to online games and online banking systems. Where games are concerned, malicious users attempt to steal avatars and in-game items to subsequently sell these virtual goods for real money. In the case of online banking, cybercriminals aim to steal money directly from real bank accounts.

As Kaspersky Lab experts discovered, in order to do this, malicious users send an average of 10 emails with malicious links and attachments to gamers every day, in addition to making roughly 500 attempts to infect gamers via browser-based attacks. What’s more, the company’s “collection” of malicious programs targeting online games is increasing at a rate of 5,000 new programs a day.

One of malicious users’ most favored tactics in the world of online games is, of course, social engineering - phishing in particular. For example, cybercriminals invoke the names of well-known gaming worlds and desperately try to lure gamers to their fake websites in order to harvest passwords from registered gaming accounts. In 2012, Kaspersky Lab experts recorded 15 million attempted visits to phishing websites designed to look like the pages of one of the largest developers of online games. As it turns out, there were up to 50,000 attempted redirects to phishing sites each day. Fortunately, all of these trusting users were saved by the professional anti-phishing system built into Kaspersky Internet Security, which promptly detected the threat.

Threats targeting gamers are found all over the world but are, of course, not found in equalconcentrations everywhere as their numbers are in direct correlation to the number of active players found in different countries. In 2012, the top 3 unlucky targeted countries turned out to be Russia, China, and India. These are the countries were gamers face the highest risk of infection and subsequent theft of avatars and in-game valu-

ables. We also hasten to note that this list of “leaders” has remained more or less unchanged over several years, and there is, unfortunately, no reason to expect malicious users to lessen their interest in this area.

Nevertheless, it is entirely possible to protect oneself and one’s in-game alter-ego against attacks from cybercriminals. At first glance, expert recommendations appear to be obvious, although in practice they have proven to be effective time and again. Malware expert at Kaspersky Lab SergeyGolovanov suggests that gamers adhere to the following simple code of Internet conduct: “First and foremost, one needs to be alert when receiving emails featuring, for example, a request from an online game’s admin server for personal information about your account or an authorization offer under some pretext. Don’t just click on the link right away - it could be a phishing site.

“Next, don’t download unofficial patches from dubious sources - you could easily end up downloading a ‘bonus’ in the form of a Trojan that would then infiltrate your system and start stealing all of your passwords. And I don’t mean just for online games, but also for bank cards, if your bank offers online services. With this in mind, gamers might consider keeping an up-to-date virtual debit card that lets them limit their spending to an amount they choose - with no risk of someone else cleaning out their account.”

All the same, malicious users are just that, and some of them can outsmart even the most cautious user. That is why experts strongly recommend using professional security solutions. For example, Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 contains the most up-to-date technologies available today for detecting and blocking malicious programs - particularly anti-phishing, automatic security against exploits, a virtual keyboard for entering usernames and passwords, and many other functions. Furthermore, it includes a special gaming mode that will run with minimal interference or burden on your system resources and will turn off notifications as soon as the game is launched.

LIMA: Poor kids in the developing world given laptops to help them make big educational leaps may windup doing more household chores and reading less than children without the computers, according to a new study in Peru. The study, which looked at a program that gave 1,000 laptops to underprivileged primary school children in Lima, could temper enthusiasm for investments in laptop distribution as a path to better academic performance.

The working paper by the US -based National Bureau of Economic Research said children may do more chores because the laptops encourage them to spend more time at home - giving their parents more opportunities to nag them into washing clothes and cleaning up. The group also said parents might be rewarding their children with time on their laptops in exchange for completing chores. “The largest effects of computer use seem to be associated with playing computer games and, to some extent, with listening to music on the computer,” wrote lead author Diether Beuermann.

While the authors found children spent more time on computers, improvements in their cognitive skills were “small and

insignificant.” They did not offer an explanation for the reported decline in reading which looked at the children’s total daily reading both online and offline - but said it was consistent with other research.

The authors stressed that their findings were preliminary and the study was not designed to evaluate the One Laptop per Child project started by technology guru Nicholas Negroponte. But the study used One Laptop per Child machines, and its findings seem to contradict the initiative’s key assumptions and back critics who said it is not a magic wand. “When every child has a connected laptop, they have in their hands the key to full development and participation. Limits are erased,” says the website of the group, which now sells laptops to governments in developing countries for about $200 each.

The US-based One Laptop per Child initiative grew in part out of the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has sold about 2.5 million laptops to more than a dozen countries since around 2007. The goal of the program was to develop laptops “inexpensive enough to give to every child in the world.” Previous

Computer in Delhi slum wall leads to TED Prize LONG BEACH: Sugata Mitra on Tuesday was awarded a milliondollar TED Prize to pursue the promise of building schools in the Internet cloud where young minds can learn unfettered by grown-ups. Mitra’s journey to the prestigious TED gathering in the Southern California city of Long Beach began more than a decade ago in Delhi, when he stuck a computer in a hole in a slum wall to see what the children would do. “I left it to the wolves, so to speak, knowing it would be smashed open and sold,” Mitra said of that day in 1999. “Eight hours later I came back to find them browsing the Internet in English,” he recalled. “I realized I had accidentally stumbled onto something universal.” What the physicist-turned-educator seemingly stumbled upon was a way of teaching children better suited for workplaces, cultures and economies increasingly driven by fast-changing technology.

His experiment was reproduced in an array of countries and communities with the same result: children can drive their own educations if provided access to the Internet and nudged by adults

who also stay out of the way.

“They can cluster around the machine, then you sit back and watch,” Mitra said of self-guided learning. “The more you ask them to sit quietly in rows and columns, that is when the fights break out,” he said in a reference to traditional classroom set-ups. Mitra was the first person to receive a TED Prize since the cash award was increased tenfold to a million dollars.

The award also comes with the ability to tap into the abilities, insights and influence of a TED community devoted to the idea of “ideas worth spreading.” TED members include Nobel Prize winners, successful entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and the Google founders; renowned political figures, including former US vice president Al Gore, and film and music stars.

Mitra, a university professor in Britain, said the prize money would fund a learning lab in India devoted to perfecting a formula for the School in the Cloud. Classes will be overseen by a global network of retired teachers who connect with classes by online video chats, but an adult will be on-site to keep watch. —AFP

Wireless connections creep into everyday things BARCELONA: A car that tells your insurance company how you’re driving. A bathroom scale that lets you chart your weight on the Web. And a meter that warns your air conditioner when electricity gets more expensive. Welcome to the next phase of the wireless revolution. The first wave of wireless was all about getting people to talk to each other on cellphones. The second will be getting things to talk to each other, with no humans in between. So-called machine-tomachine communication is getting a lot of buzz at this year’s wireless trade show. Some experts believe these connections will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade.

“I see a whole set of industries, from energy to cars to health to logistics and transportation, being totally redesigned,” said Vittorio Colao, the CEO of Vodafone Group PLC, in a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The British cellphone company has vast international interests, including its 45 percent ownership stake in Verizon Wireless.

Companies are promising that machine-tomachine, or M2M, technology will deliver all manner of services, from the prosaic to the world-changing. At US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.’s booth here at the show, there’s a coffeepot that can be ordered to start brewing from a tablet computer, or an Internet-connected alarm clock.

A former president of Costa Rica is also at the show, talking about how M2M can save massive amounts of greenhouse gases by making energy use more efficient - enough to bring mankind halfway to the goal of halting global warming. The M2M phenomenon is part of the larger drive to create an “Internet of Things” -a global network that not only links computers, tablets and phones but that connects everything from bikes to washing machines to thermostats. Machina Research, a British firm, believes there will be 12.5 billion “smart” con-

nected devices, excluding phones, PCs and tablets, in the world in 2020, up from 1.3 billion today.

But how does this transformation happen, and who stands to profit? First, the devices have to be able to connect. That’s not a trivial undertaking, especially considering that people don’t upgrade washing machines or renovate their homes as often as they change cellphones and PCs. One company at the show, a Los Angelesbased startup named Tethercell, has an ingenious solution for battery-powered devices: a “fake” AA battery that houses a smaller AAA battery in an electronic jacket. It can be placed in a battery compartment with other batteries.

research found that school children in rural Peru who received laptops as part an One Laptop per Child initiative did not perform any better on math and language standardized tests, though they did show improved cognitive skills - unlike the latest study.

The One Laptop Per Child organization has criticized those previous findings for focusing on short-term results, as opposed to long-term improvements the group still expects. The organization declined to specifically comment on Tuesday about the study from the NBER. Many countries Peru especially - have invested heavily in the program, though it has generated considerable debate among local education specialists about whether it is the best way to spend limited funds. Peru, which puts less than 3 percent of gross domestic product toward education each year, has spent $200 million on about a million laptops for its nationwide program, the NBER study said. The NBER study looked at the habits of 2,700 children. They compared pupils in 14 schools in Lima six months after they received the laptops with students in 14 schools that did not receive laptops. — Reuters

Within a distance of 80 feet, some smartphones and tablets can then signal the “battery” to turn the device on or off. For instance, parents whose kids have a lot of noisy toys can turn all of them off with touch of a single button. A fire alarm could send a text-message warning that its battery is running low, rather than blaring an audio signal.

Unfortunately, a Tethercell from the first production run costs $35. Co-founder Kellan O’Connor believes the price can come down to $10, but that’s still a non-trivial cost, and symptomatic of the high price of building out the Internet of Everything. For devices that need to connect at long range over a cellular network,

BARCELONA: A woman looks at her mobile phone as she stands in front of a poster of Mozilla Firefox yesterday at the Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest mobile fair. — AFP

the cost of radio components alone ranges from $10 to $70, according to analyst Dan Shey of ABI Research. That’s not expensive in the context of some big-ticket items, like cars, which have been forerunners when it comes to non-phone wireless connections. General Motors Corp. started equipping cars with OnStar wireless calling and assistance services in the mid-90s. At the show, it announced it is updating the service for faster data connections, enabling services like remote engine diagnostics and upgrades to the control software.

AT&T Inc, which has been aggressive about getting into the M2M business, is ousting Verizon Wireless as the network provider for OnStar. Colao, the CEO of Vodafone, gave an example of another “smart” car application that might seem intrusive to some: the company has been trying out a service in Italy that lets an auto insurance company know how much a car is being used, and charges premiums accordingly.

It can also score the driver based on his or her driving style, and give pointers on how to handle the car more safely. Cellular connections are creeping into smaller, cheaper devices. Ecooltra, which rents out electric scooters by the day in Spain, wants to connect them to the Internet, which would let renters figure out through their phones where there’s a scooter for rent and how much of a charge is in its battery.

The feature is perfect for quick, impromptu rentals by the hour. Adding “smarts” to the scooters in the shape of a cellular modem would turn the company from a conventional rental service to a “scooter-sharing” business, much like carsharing services like Zipcar. Once devices are connected, the next problem is getting them to talk to each other, and making sense of what they’re saying. ABI’s Shey says this is the real business opportunity in M2M, more valuable than making the modems or providing the wireless connections. —AP

BARCELONA: This undated product image provided by the Hewlett-Packard Co shows the company’s new tablet computer announced Sunday. — AP

HP to make $169 Android tablet, eschewing Windows BARCELONA: Hewlett-Packard Co. is making a tablet computer that uses Google’s Android operating system, steering clear of Microsoft’s latest tablet-oriented version of Windows, the company said Sunday. The HP Slate 7 will have a 7-inch screen, making it similar in size to the Amazon Kindle Fire. It will cost $169 when it goes on sale in April in the US. Most tablet makers, including Samsung and Amazon, have chosen Android as the best and cheapest operating system for products that can compete against Apple’s iPad. HP previously made a tablet based on Palm’s WebOS software, but the effort fizzled. The company also makes a more powerful tablet with PC-type components for the corporate market, which runs a PC-style version of Windows 8. It hasn’t produced a tablet using Windows RT, Microsoft’s product for iPad-type tablets.

“When we looked at creating a real killer product for consumers, a very portable, very entertainmentfocused device, we thought that Android was the better choice,” said Alberto Torres, who signed on as head of HP’s mobile devices division five months ago.

Previously, he worked for cellphone maker Nokia Corp.

“Of course, we continue to work closely with Microsoft on other products as well.” Torres didn’t rule out using Windows RT in the future, saying the company plans a broad portfolio of tablets tailored toward different types of buyers. But HP’s choice of Android for a consumer device and Windows 8 for a corporate tablet leaves little room for Windows RT, which Microsoft hopes will expand the reach of Windows beyond corporate tablets.

Torres said the Slate 7 will use a relatively “vanilla” version of Android. The company is avoiding the interface modifications Asian manufacturers apply and the deeper changes imposed by Amazon and Barnes & Noble for their tablets. The Slate 7 will ship with the ability to talk to printers, HP’s forte. At $169 the device is aggressively priced, costing half of what Apple charges for an iPad mini. HP made the announcement on the eve of Mobile World Congress, the wireless industry’s annual trade show, which started Monday in Barcelona, Spain. Competitor Samsung Electronics announced a new tablet earlier Sunday, to launch in the April to June time frame. The Galaxy Note 8.0 will be slightly larger than the Slate 7. It will run Android and accept pen input. — AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Active surveillance: An option for low-risk prostate cancer HARVARD: For some men, the smartest move after diagnosis may be to delay treatment and carefully watch the progression of the cancer.

After a prostate biopsy confirms cancer, the next step might seem obvious: get treatment as soon as possible, either by removing the prostate gland entirely (radical prostatectomy) or zapping it with radiation. But immediate treatment is not the only option or necessarily the best one. Treatment itself can cause more harm in the long run than the cancer.

Some men with early low-risk prostate cancers can choose to hold off on the decision to treat until the disease presents a greater threat. Then the cancer can still be treated effectively. The approach is called active surveillance with delayed intention to treat.

“With active surveillance, we continue to monitor the cancer very closely to get a grasp on its behavior before committing to treatment,” says Dr. Marc Garnick, a prostate cancer specialist at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “For many men, active surveillance makes more sense than immediate treatment. It allows them to avoid the potential harms and uncertain benefits of treating a low-risk cancer.”

For a man in his 70s or 80s with a lowrisk cancer, it may take more than a decade for the tumor to cause symptoms.

In the meantime, treating the cancer with radiation or surgery comes with significant risk of bothersome and potentially permanent side effects, including erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence.

By choosing active surveillance, a man can avoid the risks of treating a cancer that is unlikely to cause him serious harm within his expected lifespan. He may end up dying with the cancer but not from it.

However, certain men at higher risk should probably consider immediate treatment: * Men 50 to 60 years old who have early-stage cancer that looks potentially

aggressive, based on the pathology report from the biopsy, and who have a family history of prostate cancer. * Men who, despite evidence that the cancer is likely to be slow-growing and does not present an immediate threat, are still very worried that the cancer could spread.

Active surveillance is frequently and mistakenly referred to as “watchful waiting.” But there are important differences between the two strategies. The intention of watchful waiting is to spare older adults the harms of treatments that are unlikely to improve their well-being or extend their lives. But watchful waiting does not include intensive follow-up to determine whether a cancer is growing or changing in some way-usually by obtaining repeat prostate biopsies. Instead, the doctor offers treatment only when symptoms arise.

“Men offered watchful waiting are usually elderly and have other health problems,” Dr. Garnick says. “If they were younger, they would probably be offered treatment. But because of the time it will take for the cancer to cause symptoms and the competing causes of death, they choose not to be treated while they have very few or no symptoms from their cancer.”

In contrast, active surveillance is not a passive process. “We meticulously follow the progression of the cancer,” Dr. Garnick says. “In the absence of symptoms, if that cancer is getting worse by any one of a variety of criteria, then treatment is generally recommended. However, we are still uncertain about the benefits that treatments provide, making the decision to get treated that much more difficult.”

The Gleason score is a tool to rank prostate cancer based on how likely it is to grow and spread. Pathologists examine the two most common type of cancerous cells collected during a biopsy and assign each a grade from 1 to 5 based on their appearance. Combining the two grades-

4+3, for example-yields a Gleason score from 2 to 10. The lowest Gleason scores indicate slow-growing cancers that are unlikely to break out of the prostate gland and spread (metastasize).

Who could consider active surveillance?

According to the current expert consensus, men who meet certain criteria may consider active surveillance. The details should be discussed with a doctor, but in general active surveillance is for men with PSA scores and/or biopsy findings that indicate a slow-growing, early stage cancer. These are the technical criteria: PSA score less than 10; a Gleason score less than 7; tumor at stage T2a or lower (T1 is the least advanced tumor type; T3 is the most advanced.); no more than 50% of a biopsy sample showing cancer; a slow PSA doubling time, usually greater than three years.

Age is a critical factor for men considering active surveillance. “Out of 100 men at 75 years old with low-risk prostate cancer, 70% will never have problems with it in their lifetimes,” Dr. Garnick says. The other 30% may eventually develop symptoms of the cancer. But their survival without any treatment could be eight to 23 years after diagnosis, depending on the aggressiveness of the tumor.

Another important consideration is other health conditions the man may already have when he is diagnosed with cancer-heart disease, for example. “The competing causes of death need to be weighed in decision making,” Dr. Garnick says.

How much surveillance?

Expert recommendations vary on the level of monitoring a man should expect under active surveillance. But this strategy is typical: PSA and DRE: After an initial biopsy confirms cancer, the man will be advised to have repeat PSA testing and a digital rectal exam (DRE) every three or four months. During a DRE, the doctor inserts

a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum to feel for irregularities in the prostate.

Biopsy: Active surveillance will require follow-up biopsy every 12 to 18 months or longer. Some doctors may advise follow-ups only every three years if the first round is negative. “The decision about how frequently to biopsy is a shared decision,” Dr. Garnick says. “It’s especially important to consider the side effects the man had from past biopsies.”

In active surveillance, your physician will be looking for signs that the cancer is advancing or has become more aggressive. Possible trouble signs are a sharp rise in your follow-up PSA test results (although this could be from a cause unrelated to cancer, such as an infection, and would require confirmation with a biopsy), a known tumor that now feels larger based on a DRE, or a change in the MRI scan showing that the tumor has enlarged, an increase in the number of biopsy samples containing cancerous cells, or an increase in the actual amount of cancer in each biopsy specimen, a change to a higher number in the Gleason score as determined by a followup biopsy.

Men who choose surgical treatment instead of active surveillance should be aware that treatment can cause harm, including erectile dysfunction and incontinence, which can erode quality of life.

In addition, treatment is by no means a guarantee of cure. Between 15% and 30% of men will have a relapse, and will die from prostate cancer if another disease does not cause death first. But for the average man who has a relapse, death will not occur until about 17 years after the treatment.

“Men often think that if they have no immediate problems during surgery and the post-operative period, then they’re home free,” Dr. Garnick says. “However, every treatment can cause lasting harm, and no treatment is guaranteed to be cur-

ative.”

In men diagnosed with prostate cancer, which choice better reduces the risk of death from cancer: immediate surgery or waiting to treat until symptoms arise-a strategy known as watchful waiting?

Overall, neither approach is superior, according to the Prostate Cancer Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT). The study included 731 men with cancer confined to their prostate glands.

In half the men, the cancer was detected with PSA screening and was still too small to be felt during an exam.

Half of the men were chosen at random to have their prostates removed. The others were monitored and offered surgery if they developed symptoms of advancing prostate cancer. Men in both groups were seen every six months until death.

Survival after diagnosis differed very little between the men who had surgery and those who were offered observation only: 13 years vs. 12.4 years. Over all, there was no difference in the rates of dying from prostate cancer between the groups. But a small percentage of men with higher-risk cancers-as indicated by PSA scores over 10-seemed to benefit more from surgery. Over a 10-year period, for every eight of these higher-risk men who had their prostates removed, one of them survived longer compared with the men in the watchful waiting group.

PIVOT suggests that men with low-risk cancers should not expect a dramatically greater benefit from immediate surgery.

For men with higher-risk cancers, there is also an important message, says Dr. Michael Barry, a clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a researcher on PIVOT starting in 1994.

“We’ve always thought that cancers need to be detected as early as possible,” Dr. Barry says. “But PIVOT suggests they need to be diagnosed as early as necessary. For many men, the necessary point comes at higher PSA levels.” —MCT

Mother’s drinking linked to sudden infant deaths Exposure to alcohol in the womb PERTH: About one in six sudden infant deaths may be linked to heavy alcohol use by their mothers during or soon after pregnancy, according to an Australian study. Researchers writing in Pediatrics found that those deaths may result from babies being exposed to alcohol in the womb and from alcohol-using mothers creating hazardous environments for the babies after birth.

“The results of this study indicate that maternal alcohol-use disorder increases the risk of SIDS and (infant deaths) through direct effects on the fetus and indirectly through environmental risk factors,” wrote researchers led by Colleen O’Lear y from Curtin University in Perth, Australia.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) as the death of a child under one year old with no obvious cause.

Approximately 4,500 infant deaths fall into this category every year in the United States, according to the CDC. Previously, researchers have tied SIDS to parents’ smoking and to unsafe environments, but few studies have looked at whether alcohol

could be involved in some of the deaths.

The study team examined information on 77,895 women who gave birth between 1983 and 2005, comparing the number of SIDS and infant deaths that occurred in children of mothers with a diagnosed drinking problem, to cases among the children of mothers without a diagnosis.

Overall, 171 SIDS cases occurred during that time in children born to the 21,841 women who were diagnosed heavy drinkers. Among the children who were born to 56,054 mothers without a diagnosis, there were 132 SIDS cases.

The researchers found that children born to mothers who drank heavily during pregnancy had a seven-fold increase in the risk of SIDS, compared to children of mothers without a drinking problem.

Babies also had a nine-fold increased risk of SIDS when their mothers drank within the year after birth, compared to babies born to mothers who didn’t drink.

“One of the morals of the story is that parents should be very careful about drinking alcohol, especially if you’re a single parent because there is no other parent to back you up,” said David

Phillips, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied alcoholrelated infant deaths but wasn’t involved in the story. O’Leary and her colleagues, who could not be reached for comment, also report that heavy drinking during pregnancy was tied to a doubled risk of infants dying from a cause unrelated to SIDS, compared to babies of mothers who were not heavy drinkers.

They added that previous research suggests babies exposed to alcohol in the womb may have abnormalities in the brainstem, which could lead to problems regulating basic body functions like breathing.

But Phillips pointed out that the study found a link between infant deaths and a mother’s drinking as long as one year after giving birth.

“So it can’t just be a biological explanation of what’s going on,” he said.

The mothers may be creating unsafe environments for their children, Phillips said, while O’Leary’s team wrote that it found a number of causes for the children’s deaths, including problems related to alcohol exposure in the womb and factors such as smoke inhalation, dehydration, infections and neglect. —Reuters

Study boosts link between flu vaccine, sleep disorder

TOKYO: Japan’s 114-year-old woman Misao Okawa smiles as she is recognized as the world’s oldest woman by the Guinness World Record as her 90year-old son Hiroshi holds her framed certificate in Osaka, western Japan yesterday. —AFP

114-year-old Japanese woman named world’s oldest TOKYO: A 114-year-old Japanese woman was recognised yesterday as the world’s oldest female, making the Asian nation home to the longest-living woman and man on the planet.

Misao Okawa, a descendant of kimono merchants in the city Osaka, said she was “very happy” at receiving the honour-and a certificate to prove her longevity-from Guinness World Records.

“I’m happy. I’m feeling good anyway,” Okawa, sitting in a wheelchair surrounded by relatives, told media as she closes in on her 115th birthday.

Okawa was born on March 5, 1898 and married in 1919. She had three children, two of whom-a son and a daughter-are still alive and in their 90s, Japanese media

reported.

The centenarian, who has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, reportedly never had any major health problems but broke her leg at a comparatively young 102 years old.

Her certificate was issued after a 115year-old Japanese woman, who became the world’s oldest female in December, passed away in January near Tokyo. She claimed the title after the death of an American woman also aged 115.

The world’s oldest living person is a 115-year-old Japanese man who lives in Kyoto, not far from Okawa’s hometown in the western part of the country, which has long been known for the longevity of its citizens. —AFP

PARIS: A study in England has strengthened evidence from Scandinavia that a vaccine used to prevent pandemic flu boosted the risk of sleep disorder among teens and children, doctors said yesterday. Using the Pandemrix vaccine increased the risk of narcolepsy among people aged four to 18 by a factor of 14 compared to those who did not get the jab, they said.

The risk in absolute terms was between one in 52,000 people and one in 57,000, but this figure may be an overestimate, according to the study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Narcolepsy is a chronic disorder of the nervous system that causes excessive drowsiness, often causing people to fall asleep uncontrollably.

It normally occurs among 25-50 of every 100,000 people, although figures are sketchy, the study said. Pandemrix was the main vaccine used to fight the 2009-2010 outbreak of H1N1 “swine” flu, a much-feared pandemic involving a novel strain influenza virus.

The bug turned out to be as dangerous as normal “seasonal” flu, a discovery prompting some accusations that health watchdogs had over-reacted. Last September, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that, on the basis of evidence from sleep centres in Finland and Sweden, vaccination for H1N1 among teenagers and children had led to a narcolepsy risk of one in 20,000.

The new research conducted in England suggests that data from the two Scandinavian countries were not a freak result, the study said. Pandemrix uses an adjuvant, or booster, called AS03, which aims to strengthen the immune response to the H1N1 virus. As H1N1 has largely run its course, further need of the AS03 adjuvant to fight this strain “seems unlikely,” the new study said. An alternative vaccine, Celvepan, exists.

But the findings raise questions as to whether AS03 vaccines should be used against other flu strains, such as H5 and H9 types, it added. Asked to comment on the study, John McCauley at Britain’s National Institute for Medical Research said the increased risk in narcolepsy “is possibly a one-off” as vaccines today had a different formula from Pandemrix. Even so, “surveillance needs to be continued,” he said. The research did not compare the risk of narcolepsy with the risk from contracting H1N1 if unvaccinated.

More than a fifth of the world’s population was infected with the H1N1 virus in the 2009-2010 pandemic, according to estimates published last month. —AFP

Nivea Men teams up with Real Madrid HAMBURG: Nivea Men, the international number one in men’s care and Real Madrid C.F., the most internationally laureate football club, entered into an extensive sponsorship agreement yesterday for the Spanish market. With it the Beiersdorf male skin care brand expands on its successful involvement with international football.

With this new agreement the products of the Nivea Men series will now support the Spanish prestigious football club. Real Madrid’s players won’t only be playing a major role in elite football, but also in the communication activities of Nivea Men in the future. For the launch campaign, the team will be represented by the Spanish World and European Champions Sergio Ramos and ?lvaro Arbeloa, the Brazilian national player Marcelo as well as the Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higua?n.

As host of today’s press conference in the Spanish metropolis, Florentino PÈrez, president of Real Madrid C.F., announced Nivea Men as new official sponsor of the team. The collaboration will last for three years until the end of the 2015/16 season.

Both brands share equal values such as spirit of self-improvement and effort, passion and team spirit.

“We are excited about the new partnership and the related projects. Real Madrid is a great match for Nivea Men because in our marketing strategy the passion for football plays a very important role. This helps us to emotionalize our products,”

said Ralph Gusko, Beiersdorf Executive Board Member for Brands. Successful partnerships do already exist with the German Football League, the German national team coach, Joachim L?w as the Nivea Men “Care Coach” starring in the German TV ads, the national teams of England and the Ukraine as well as Italy’s top club, AC Milan.

With Nivea Men the prestigious Spanish football club not only counts with a new partner, but with a new alliance that goes beyond the playing field. We look forward to share with Real Madrid great moments of success and emotion in the coming years. With the help of our products, the players will be able to face all of their challenges and to unlock their everyday skin potential” said Gusko.

Cosmetics company Beiersdorf AG is based in Hamburg, Germany, and has around 17,000 employees worldwide. Its sales in 2011 amounted to Ä5.633 billion, the company has been listed on the DAX since December 2008, and has the world’s largest skin care brand, NIVEA*. Other names in its successful international brand por tfolio include Eucerin, La Prairie, Labello, 8x4, and Hansaplast/Elastoplast.

Subsidiary tesa SE is one of the world’s leading producers of self-adhesive products and system solutions for industry, craft businesses, and consumers.

Beiersdorf has 130 years of skin care experience and is known for its innovative and high-quality products.

Lack of sleep leads to groggy genes WASHINGTON: Lack of sleep has a potentially harmful effect on gene expression, according to a study out yesterday that sheds light on the link between sleep deficits and a wide range of health conditions. A sleep deficit-even just a week’s worth-can have damaging effects on our genes, researchers said in a new study..

Lack of adequate shut-eye had already been linked to conditions from heart disease and cognitive impairment to obesity.

But sleep researcher Derk-Jan Dijk and his fellow researchers have delved into the molecular mechanisms behind the phenomenon, looking at how missed sleep leads to health problems. They found that a week of sleeping six hours or less a night affects the expression of some 711 genesincluding those involved in inflammation, immunity, and stress responses.

Moreover, compared with test subjects

who were allowed to sleep as long as 10 hours a night, those who lacked sleep had irregularities in their genes’ circadian rhythms, experiencing a sharp reduction in the number of genes that wax and wane throughout the day and a dampened amplitude for many more. At the end of the week, the test subjects were kept awake for 40 hours, with blood tests at regular intervals. The research showed that, for those who had gotten adequate sleep previously, the affects of the sleep deprivation were seven times less than for those already operating under a sleep deficit.

Nearly a third of American workerssome 40.6 million people-average six hours or less of sleep a night, according to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A normal night’s sleep for healthy adults is considered to be between seven and eight hours. —AFP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Cases of advanced breast cancer increasing SEATTLE: More young women are being diagnosed with advanced, metastatic breast cancer than were three decades ago, according to a US study, with the metastatic breast cancer rate in particular rising about two percent each year.

Yet the overall rate of cancers in that group is still small. One in 173 women will develop breast cancer before she turns 40, said researchers whose report appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association - but the prognosis tends to be worse for younger patients.

The study, led by Rebecca Johnson at Seattle Children’s Hospital and University of Washington, found that the rate of metastatic breast cancer in particular rose about

two percent each year between 1976 and 2009 among younger women.

“We think that the likelihood is that since this change has been so marked over just a couple of decades, that it’s something external, a modifiable lifestyle-related risk factor or perhaps an environmental toxic exposure, but we don’t know what,” Johnson said. One possibility is that overeating and lack of exercise are driving up early-life metastatic breast cancer rates, Johnson added. Or, the use of hormonal birth control could play a role, she said.

But Johnson also pushed for more research into the potential effects of hormones in meat or plastic in bottles, for example. Johnson’s team analyzed data

from cancer registries run by the National Cancer Institute. As expected, they found that the number of early breast cancer diagnoses increased among middle-aged and older women during the study period, likely due to widespread screening.

The only other change in cancer incidence was among the youngest women, between ages 25 and 39. In that group, the number of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer - which has spread to the bones, brain or lungs - rose from one in 65,000 in 1976 to one in 34,000 in 2009.

More of the increase appeared to be in cancers that are sensitive to estrogen, which is “comparatively fortunate,” the authors note, because those cancers are somewhat

more responsive to treatment and have longer average survival rates in general.

Still, metastatic cancer is the most dangers kind, with fewer than one-third of women surviving at least five years after diagnosis, Johnson’s team wrote.

But surgeon Julie Margenthaler, who has studied breast cancer in young women at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said the new study was limited by a lack of data on women’s family history, including which ones were carriers of BRCA gene mutations.

Women with those mutations are known to be at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer at a young age.

“It is intriguing data, but I think that it’s

going to have to be validated in some other datasets,” said Margenthaler, who was not involved in the new research.

Both she and Johnson agreed that since the number of women involved is still small, there’s no need for the findings to either cause alarm or change standard mammogram practices.

Johnson said women should still be aware that cancer can happen at an early age, even if screening isn’t recommended.

“Women need to notice changes in their bodies - breast lumps, feeling bad - and promptly seek medical attention for those,” she said. “There’s a tremendous survival improvement associated with diagnosis before the cancer spreads.” —- Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Al Sadu House honors FASTtelco

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ASTtelco, the premier leading internet service provider in Kuwait has recently been honored by Al Sadu House, Kuwait’s nonprofit cultural foundation dedicated to preserving heritage arts and crafts, for its generous support house and museum.

Hamad Al Selmi, FASTtelco Public Relations Manager, proudly announced FASTtelco’s proud commitment to supporting Kuwait’s social responsibilities acts and culture. He went on by saying:”To inspire the development of new possibilities is one of FASTtelco’s core values. This value applies not only to communication solutions and information technology but also to our community

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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aspirations, it is of great honor to be in such support to Al Sadu House activities”. Al Sadu House, in turn, expressed it true appreciation to FASTtelco’s contribution which enhanced its cultural activities through out the past year.

FASTtelco is continuing to lead the way in giving back to the Kuwaiti society with the help of the Al Sadu House.

In this very significant and important alliance between two Kuwaiti institutions, Al Selmi said that the internet leader paves the way for future socially related endeavors to come. As a FASTtelco consumer it can be said that without a doubt, choosing FASTtelco is choosing to be part of the future societal contributions and the development of Kuwait.

OSN strengthens management team

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ay your birthday bring a smile to your face, happiness to your heart and many blessings to your life.

SN, the leading pay-TV network in Middle East and North Africa, has appointed John Vickerman as Senior Vice President of Human Resources (HR) to drive business and people strategies for OSN across the region.

With over 20 years of experience in business operations and the Human Resources industry, John will lead OSN’s HR team which drives the company’s human capital strategy, compensation and benefits, policies and procedures, leadership and talent development programmes.

David Butorac, CEO of OSN said: “This is a significant appointment for OSN and illustrates our commitment to the core of

the business: our people. OSN encourages a performance-based culture and nurtures talent - I look forward to working closely with John to produce tomorrow’s global leaders reinforcing our leadership position in the regions broadcast sector.”

Commenting on his appointment, John said: “OSN makes significant investments in its people and recognises its employees as a key component to its success. I am delighted to join OSN at such an exciting time and to work alongside industry leaders who are bringing about innovation and positive change in the region’s entertainment sector.”

John’s career highlights include his most recent role with Qtel Group (Qatar

Telecommunications) as Advisor to the CEO for Nawras, Oman’s telecommunications provider, where he originated and led the company’s ‘Turnaround Plan’ to reinvigorate the commercial strategy.

Prior to this role, John successfully ran his own company in new media specialising in providing expert support to senior executives on people-centred issues as well as coaching high profile individuals, developing HR strategies and business transformation. He also held the position of HR Director for the BBC from 2008 to 2011, where he was responsible for the organisation’s corporate activities including HR policy, processes, as well as the provision of services to all employees and freelance contractors.

Announcement Musical extravaganza with Dr Yesudas

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rend setter Udupi Restaurant, Kuwait proudly present “Gandharva Nadamritham”, a live classical musical extravaganza featuring the living legend & maestro Padmabooshan Award winner Dr. K.J. Yesudas with his troupe from India, on March 22 at American International School, Maidan Hawally, Kuwait.

Goan Culinary Club

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he Goan Culinary Club - Goa encourages you to log on to their website where you can find a video of Odette and Joe Mascarenhas sharing their thoughts on Goan cuisine. These videos were recorded at the launch of the Goan Culinary Club in Goa on March 3, 2012. Thanks to support from all at the Goan Culinary Club, we have made great progress in six months.

Basketball Academy he new Premier Basketball Academy offers coaching and games every Friday and Saturday from 10 am onwards for 6 to 18 year olds, boys and girls. Located in Bayan Block 7, Masjed Al-Aqsa Street by Abdullah Al-Rujaib High School. Free Basketball and Tee Shirts for all participants, with certificates and special awards on completion of each 6 week course. Qualified and experienced British and American Coaches, Everyone Welcome.

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Kuwait Carnatic Music Forum Thyagaraja program

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J Nandini disciple of Bombay Jayasree who sang the title song in the Oscar nominated movie Life of Pi and winner of Ragarathnam program Amrutha TV classical music competition; accompanying artistes: Kanchi Kamakodi Pitham asthana vidwan Karunagappalli S Balamurali on violin; Kanchi Kamakodi Pitham asthana vidwan Perunna G Harikumar on mridangam; Gireesh Sundareshan on ganchira; Vazhappalli G Anil kumar on ghatam; and Manoj Mavelikkara on morshankh will perform. Full day classical music program on Feb 19 am - 4.30 pm. Participants: music students and devotees. Pancharathna keerthanaalapanam at 5 pm at the Indian Community School Salmiya (senior girls). All are welcome.

Air India Valentine ‘Ladies Special’ offer he Maharaja is pleased to offer the “Ladies Special” on his flights from Kuwait to Indian Gateway Points of Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad and Chennai as a special gesture to kick start the International Women’s day Celebration falling on 8th March 2013, with the following features: You will get a 10% discount on the base fare if you are an adult lady passenger and you are purchasing your ticket in February 2013 for travel between Kuwait/India/Kuwait on AI 975/976/981/982 for destinations Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad and Chennai.

You can avail it for your one way or return journeys.

You may start you travel anytime between now and 31st Mar’13 We welcome all our valued Women passengers on board Air India to fly the Maharani way!

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Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

KNES students visit Kuwait Aquarium

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he Kuwait Aquarium provides an excellent opportunity for children of all ages to investigate, examine and discuss a variety of sea creatures and their environments. The Early Years Pupils of Kuwait National English School recently took advantage of this Kuwaiti treasure to expand their Understanding of the World around them and to build respect for their Earth Home. Our appreciation to the staff of the Kuwait Science Centre for their hospitality and assistance during our visits.

KTMCC elects office bearers

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he 57th Annual General Body Meeting of The Kuwait Town Malayalee Christian Congregation was held at National Evangelical Church in Kuwait (NECK). M. Mathews, president of KTMCC, presided the meeting.

Secretary K.P. Koshypresented the annual report of KTMCC for its 60th Jubilee year 2012 and John M. John; Treasurer presented the Statement of Accounts for the period from January 1, to December 31, 2012.

The General Body elected Babu Varughese as President, K. Yohannan as Secretary and P. John Mathew as Treasurer for the year 2013. Also, the General Body elected K.P. Koshy, John M. John, Thomas John M, Raju C Nianan,

Gibi Varghese Tharakan, Cyriac George, Mathew Chrisostom, Rajan Peter, Abey Mathew, Shaji Cherian John, Abraham CM and Mathew George P as Executive Committee members. Auditors for 2013 are Blesson Varghese, Sunny Andrews and Babu Mathew.

The common council members to NECK for 2013 from KTMCC will be K.P. Kosy, Roy K. Yohannan and Shaji Cherian John.

The newly elected Secretary, Roy K. Yohannan informed KTMCC will have regular worship service at NECK on every Wednesdays at 7.30 pm and welcomes those interested to attend the meeting.

Adv. John Mathew expressed thye vote of thanks.

Arpan elects new office-bearers

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rpan, a socio cultural organization, held its annual general body meeting at Seva Darshan Hall, Salmiya and elected new office-bearers for the year 2013. The meeting approved the annual report of 2012 presented by General Secretary Nagarajan and the financial report presented by the Treasurer. Venkatakrishnan. The general body elected the following office-bearers for the year 2013. K I Mohan as President, Sreekumar Mankuzhyi — Vice-president, Anil Attuva as General Secretary, Sajeevan - Joint Secretary, Venkatakrishnan as Treasurer, Mahadevan as Public Relations officer and Mohammad Rafi Padiyath as Cultural

Secretary. Executive Committee Members are: Mohandas Puduparambil, P A Menon, Sam C Vilanilam , Raghav Pallipuram, Ramamoorthi Ramaswami , Sreenath M Reghunath, Sidharthan Edapal, S P Ganesh, Muralidharan Kayamkulam and Charudethan.

The general body also elected a ninemember Ladies Wing committee headed

by Manju Sreenath as convener, Rathi Ramamoorthy as co-convener. Members are: Sandhya Anil, Latha Mahadevan, Kala Mohan, Soumya Venkat, Jyothi Ganesh, Valsala Pillai and Sheena P S. The meeting elected an advisory board comprising Krishnan K Pillai as chairman, Nagarajan and Suresh K Priyadarshan as members.

W H AT ’ S O N

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

Landmark Group Management along with winners.

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Winners drawings -1

Winners Drawings -2

Saibal Basu -COO Landmark Group

Winners of sixth edition of Landmark Group’s ‘Art Olympiad’ competition

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andmark Group Kuwait announced the winners and awarded their artistic talents for “Art Olympiad 2013” at a prize award ceremony held at Zafran. The winners together with all the representatives of participating schools gathered for the grand event. As with each passing year the competition got an overwhelming response from the sixteen participating schools. Eight lucky students were awarded Laptops, IPod’s, Camera’s and Gift Vouchers.

Saibal Basu, Chief Operating Officer of Landmark Group, Kuwait said, “Over the years the Art Olympiad competition has had a large number of enthusiasts and fans and is committed on giving youth opportunities to express themselves through the various themes while exploring their creative side. At Landmark Group we are always trying to inspire youth’s creativity and innovation and we are extremely pleased by the response we have received for this competition. We are committed to supporting the budding artistic talent and acknowledge the amount of creative young individuals who emerge as winners through the competition.”

The winners for Art Olympiad 2013 from the senior’s

age group are: 1st place: Atesha Onggono - British School of Kuwait 2nd place: Selina Saber-The English School Fahaheel 3rd place: Prasanna Reddy - Fahaheel Al Watanieh Ind Pvt.School Ahmadi The most colorful award was won by Keerthiga Nagarajan - Indian Educational School, Jleeb (Vidya Bhawan) The winners of the Juniors age group are: 1st place: Joe Alex James- Indian English Academy School-Don Bosco 2nd place: Yasmine Al Khudhur-Al Ghanim Bilingual School 3rd place: R.Sreeja- Salmiya Indian Model School The most creative award was won by Kayla De Campor -The English School “I would like to thank Asad Bunashi and Mrs Maha Al Mansoor for being on the judging panel. Our heartfelt congratulations to the winners as well as all the other participants who made this year’s judging challenging as well as exciting. With such an overwhelming response we are definitely looking forward to prepar-

ing for the seventh Art Olympiad next year” further concluded Saibal Now in its sixth year, this year’s competition was the first to be online and has seen a smooth mechanism where all the drawings were collected by Landmark management and then shortlisted for final winner selection. The competition has seen an impressive number of submissions with more than 160 entries from 16 different schools, reflecting the continued interest in art within the community and the role of this initiative for young emerging artists.

The students were provided with themes including Design Your Own Living Room, Graffiti, Your favorite Cartoon Character, Kuwait Liberation Day etc. and the selected ones were judged on the basis of Creativity, Workmanship, Overall impression and Relevance to the theme to enter the online Voting process.

50 shortlisted drawings were put up online on the Landmark Group Facebook page for public to vote for a period of three weeks. Public were encouraged to vote for the best drawing in the respective category The final selection for Winners was based on 50% votes and 50% judge’s views.

Parents’ Day celebration at GIS

McDonald’s, BOCA Juniors Kuwait host Special Needs Sports Day

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ulf Indian School (GIS) conducted the annual Parents’ Day Celebration of its Primary wing on 31st January 2013 (I & II) and 7th February 2013 (III, IV, V) on the themes ‘Festivals of India’ and ‘Children towards World Peace’ respectively. The variety of

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authentic costumes of various countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, Poland, Russia, India etc and the beautiful choreography made the programmes unforgettable events of 2013. Congratulations to all the children and teachers!

MCA Kuwait members receiving The Most Rev Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Valiya Metropolitan at Kuwait International Airport. The Metropolitan is the chief guest of the ‘Global Peace Rally’ organized by YMCA Kuwait, which is to be held today February 28 at 6.30pm at National Evangelical Church, Kuwait City.

cDonald’s Kuwait and BOCA Juniors football academy of Kuwait organized a special needs sports day at the Boca Juniors Football Academy field at the Salmiya Sports Club. Almost 250 children from the special needs community partook in fun and exciting sports activities as their families and friends cheered them on.

Working hand in hand McDonald’s and BOCA Juniors hosted a fun sports day for the kids and encouraged them all to take part in a range of fun sports activities. It was the second event under the Yellow Alliance umbrella following the Yellow League football tournament.

“Every child has to experience and enjoy the fun of playing sports and being part of a team and that is what we are trying to achieve. It would have not been possible without the dedication and devotion of the instructors who kept on encouraging these wonderful children not to give up and to teach them the joy of teamwork.” Stated Ruben Lineiro, Managing Partner of Boca Juniors Academy Kuwait.

Every child who took part in an activity was awarded a gold medal for participating. The children were overwhelmed with joy and smiles running around giving hifives to each other. McDonald’s provided meals to the young champions and their families after a long day of fun filled activities.

“Sports plays an important role in every society. Sports bring individuals, families and communities together in a friendly and active way. Looking at the energy of these kids you were able to see the sense of accomplishment and happiness in their eyes. The children were proud of their medals so were their parents. I can say that today was an unforgettable experience for all of us.” Said George Khawam, Marketing Director of McDonald’s Kuwait.

He also stated: “This is only the beginning. We are looking forward to having more special need activities under the Yellow Alliance umbrella.”

McDonald’s Kuwait continuously supports local youth sports programs, sponsors major sports competitions and focuses on promoting and encouraging an active and balanced lifestyle. McDonald’s has been a proud supporter of the Olympic Movement for the past 40 years and is an official partner of the FIFA World Cup since the 1994 tournament in the United States.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-imenquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei 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 open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

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EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on shortstay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes.

Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database.

Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, firsttime applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com.

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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, Al-Salaam 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.

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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.

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EMBASSY OF TURKEY The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey announces that a new classes of Turkish language for beginners will start at the Embassy’s Tourism, Culture and Information Office on 17 February 2013. The lessons will be two times in a week for six weeks, for further details and registration please contact. Or fill the application form on http://kuveyt.bemfa.gov.tr and send it to the email: embassy.Kuwait@mfa.gov.tr

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:50 Untamed & Uncut 01:45 Tigers Attack 02:35 Animal Cops Philadelphia 03:25 Wildest Latin America 04:15 Untamed China With Nigel Marven 05:05 Sharkman 05:55 Animal Cops Philadelphia 06:45 Wildest Latin America 07:35 Wildlife SOS 08:00 The Really Wild Show 08:25 Bad Dog 09:15 Dogs 101 10:10 Baby Planet 11:05 Wildest Islands 12:00 Animal Cops Philadelphia 12:55 Call Of The Wildman 13:20 Wildlife SOS 13:50 Clinically Wild: Alaska 14:15 Clinically Wild: Alaska 14:45 Animal Precinct 15:40 Wildest Islands 16:35 Animal Battlegrounds 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Dogs 101 18:25 Crocodile Hunter 19:20 Too Cute!

20:15 Monkey Life 20:40 Bondi Vet 21:10 Call Of The Wildman 21:35 Animal Battlegrounds 22:05 Wildest Islands 23:00 Karina: Wild On Safari 23:25 Karina: Wild On Safari 23:55 Bad Dog

00:10 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 01:30 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 02:20 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 03:05 Antiques Roadshow 03:55 Antiques Roadshow 04:45 Antiques Roadshow 05:40 Antiques Roadshow 06:30 Antiques Roadshow 07:20 Antiques Roadshow 08:15 Trish’s Mediterranean Kitchen 08:40 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 09:05 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 09:30 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 09:55 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 10:20 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 10:45 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 11:10 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 11:35 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 11:55 Bargain Hunt 12:40 Antiques Roadshow 13:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 14:10 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 14:35 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 15:05 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 15:50 Bargain Hunt 16:35 Antiques Roadshow 17:25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 18:05 Britain’s Dream Homes 19:00 Trish’s Mediterranean Kitchen 19:25 Trish’s Mediterranean Kitchen 19:50 Rhodes Across Italy 20:35 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 21:30 Vacation Vacation Vacation 21:55 Vacation Vacation Vacation 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30 05:45

BBC World News Horizons BBC World News Our World Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday India Business Report Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today

06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Asia Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 Hardtalk 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 BBC World News 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 BBC World News 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 World Business Report 11:45 BBC World News 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 Hardtalk 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 BBC World News 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:30 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 Hardtalk 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 BBC World News 19:00 BBC World News 19:30 World Business Report 19:45 Sport Today 20:00 BBC World News 20:30 BBC Focus On Africa 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

02:00 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:40 04:00 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:25 07:00 07:30 07:55 08:10 08:35 08:50 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:00 13:15 13:40 13:55 14:20 14:35 14:50 15:20 15:45 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:40 19:05 19:30 19:45 20:00 20:15 20:30

Popeye Wacky Races Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones The Jetsons What’s New Scooby Doo? Taz-Mania The Looney Tunes Show Tom & Jerry Tales Dexter’s Laboratory Moomins Dexter’s Laboratory Dexter’s Laboratory Baby Looney Tunes Jelly Jamm Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Ha Ha Hairies Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Puppy In My Pocket Wacky Races Looney Tunes Duck Dodgers Popeye Top Cat The Flintstones Dastardly And Muttley Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Cartoonito Tales Moomins Dexter’s Laboratory Johnny Bravo Tom & Jerry Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show What’s New Scooby-Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry Tales The Looney Tunes Show Taz-Mania Moomins Pink Panther & Pals The Garfield Show Jelly Jamm Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing

20:55 21:20 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:40

Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show What’s New Scooby-Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry Tales The Looney Tunes Show

00:40 Chowder 01:30 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 01:55 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 02:20 Foster’s Home For...

02:45 Foster’s Home For...

03:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 04:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 04:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 04:50 Adventure Time 05:15 The Powerpuff Girls 05:40 Generator Rex 06:05 Ben 10 06:30 Ben 10 06:55 Angelo Rules 07:00 Casper’s Scare School 07:30 Casper’s Scare School 08:00 Mucha Lucha 08:25 Johnny Test 08:45 Regular Show 09:05 Total Drama Action 09:30 Total Drama Action 09:55 Ben 10: Omniverse 10:20 Young Justice 10:45 Thundercats 11:10 Adventure Time 12:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 12:50 Foster’s Home For...

13:15 Foster’s Home For...

13:40 Courage The Cowardly Dog 14:30 Powerpuff Girls 15:20 Angelo Rules 16:10 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 16:35 Young Justice 17:00 Ben 10: Omniverse 17:20 Johnny Test 18:00 Level Up 18:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 18:50 Adventure Time 19:15 Regular Show 19:40 Mucha Lucha 20:05 Total Drama Action 20:30 Total Drama Action 20:55 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 21:20 Young Justice 21:45 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 22:10 Grim Adventures Of...

23:00 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 23:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 23:50 The Powerpuff Girls

00:00 World Report 00:30 World Sport 01:00 CNN Newsroom Live From Hong Kong 01:30 Open Court 02:00 CNN Newsroom Live From Hong Kong 03:00 World Report 03:30 World Sport 04:00 Backstory 04:30 Talk Asia 05:00 Fareed Zakaria GPS 06:00 CNN Newsroom 07:00 I Report For CNN 07:30 News Special 08:00 World Sport 08:30 Inside Africa 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Report 11:00 World Sport 11:30 News Special 12:00 World Business Today 13:00 Backstory 13:30 African Voices 14:00 World One 15:00 Fareed Zakaria GPS 16:00 News Stream 17:00 World Business Today 18:00 International Desk 19:00 Global Exchange 20:00 World Sport 20:30 African Voices

SANCTUM ON OSN ACTION HD

21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

International Desk Quest Means Business Amanpour CNN Newscenter

00:40 Body Invaders 01:35 Body Invaders 02:30 Body Invaders 03:25 Body Invaders 04:20 Body Invaders 05:15 Body Invaders 06:05 Body Invaders 07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 08:45 You Have Been Warned 09:40 Border Security 10:05 Auction Kings 10:30 Auction Kings 10:55 How Stuff Works 11:25 How It’s Made 11:50 Fast N’ Loud 12:45 One Car Too Far 13:40 Wheeler Dealers 14:35 Border Security 15:05 Auction Kings 15:30 Auction Kings 16:00 Bionic Builders 16:55 You Have Been Warned 17:50 Mythbusters 18:45 Sons Of Guns 19:40 How Stuff Works 20:05 How It’s Made 20:35 Auction Kings 21:00 Auction Kings 21:30 Gold Rush 22:25 Gold Divers 23:20 Around The World In 80 Ways

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:40 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:00 09:25 09:35 09:45 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 14:45 15:00 15:10 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:45 20:20 20:25 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:15 22:30 22:40 22:55 23:20 23:45

Stitch A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck My Babysitter’s A Vampire A.N.T. Farm Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Jessie Good Luck Charlie Doc McStuffins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Mouk Jonas Los Angeles So Random Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Kim Possible Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Austin And Ally Art Attack A.N.T Farm Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up Austin And Ally Jessie A.N.T Farm Good Luck Charlie Gravity Falls Suite Life On Deck Austin And Ally Flubber Toy Story Toons Toy Story Toons That’s So Raven Cory In The House Kim Possible Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana

00:20 Little Einsteins 00:50 Special Agent Oso 01:05 Special Agent Oso 01:15 Lazytown 01:40 Jungle Junction 01:55 Jungle Junction 02:10 Handy Manny 02:20 Handy Manny 02:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:55 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:35 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:15 Handy Manny 04:25 Handy Manny 04:40 Special Agent Oso 04:50 Special Agent Oso 05:00 Timmy Time 05:10 Lazytown 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Imagination Movers 08:45 Handy Manny 09:00 The Hive 09:10 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:05 Doc McStuffins 10:20 Doc McStuffins 10:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:00 Mouk 11:15 Animated Stories 11:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 11:45 Art Attack 12:10 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 12:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

13:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 13:10 Doc McStuffins 13:25 Handy Manny 13:40 Jungle Junction 13:55 Timmy Time 14:05 The Hive 14:15 Mouk 14:30 Little Einsteins 14:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 15:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 16:00 The Little Mermaid 16:25 Art Attack 16:55 Imagination Movers 17:20 Handy Manny 17:35 The Hive 17:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 18:10 Doc McStuffins 18:25 Doc McStuffins 18:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:10 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 19:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:00 Animated Stories 20:05 Timmy Time 20:15 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 The Hive 21:20 Timmy Time 21:30 Mouk 21:45 Handy Manny 22:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 The Hive 22:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 23:00 Timmy Time 23:10 Animated Stories 23:15 A Poem Is...

23:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 23:30 Jungle Junction 23:45 Handy Manny 23:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

VAMPIRES SUCK ON OSN CINEMA 00:30 Dirty Soap 01:30 Chelsea Lately 02:00 Live From The Red Carpet 04:00 Live From The Red Carpet 06:00 Live From The Red Carpet 08:00 Live From The Red Carpet 10:00 E!es 11:00 E!es 12:00 Live From The Red Carpet 14:00 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 14:30 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:30 A-List Listings 17:00 Live From The Red Carpet 19:00 E!es 20:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:00 Opening Act 22:00 Live From The Red Carpet

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:05 03:55 04:45 05:30 06:20 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 Jones 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:40 15:30 Jones 16:20 16:45 17:10 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:05 Jones 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:25 23:50

Deadly Affairs Ghost Lab Dr. G: Medical Examiner Reel Crime/Real Story I Almost Got Away With It Deadly Affairs Ghost Lab Dr. G: Medical Examiner Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

True Crime With Aphrodite Murder Shift Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives True Crime With Aphrodite Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Murder Shift Disappeared Forensic Detectives Street Patrol True Crime With Aphrodite Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill I Married A Mobster I Married A Mobster Blood Relatives

00:15 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 00:45 Ultimate Traveller 01:40 On Hannibal Trail 02:05 The Green Way Up 02:35 Street Food Around The World 03:00 Market Values 03:30 Travel Oz 03:55 Graham’s World 04:25 On The Camino De Santiago 04:50 On The Camino De Santiago 05:20 A World Apart 06:15 Food School 06:40 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 07:10 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 07:35 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 08:05 Ultimate Traveller 09:00 On Hannibal Trail 09:25 The Green Way Up 09:55 Street Food Around The World 10:20 Market Values 10:50 Travel Oz 11:15 Graham’s World 11:45 On The Camino De Santiago 12:10 On The Camino De Santiago 12:40 A World Apart 13:35 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 14:55 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 15:25 Ultimate Traveller 16:20 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 16:45 The Green Way Up 17:15 Roam 17:40 Market Values 18:10 Travel Oz 18:35 Graham’s World 19:05 On The Camino De Santiago 19:30 On The Camino De Santiago

20:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 20:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 21:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 21:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 22:00 A World Apart 22:55 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 2 23:20 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 23:50 One Man & His Campervan

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 PG15 14:00 16:00 18:00 PG15 20:00 22:00

Sanctum-18 Street Kings 2: Motor City-18 Barricade-PG15 Go Fast-PG15 Season Of The Witch-PG15 Restitution-PG15 True Justice: Angel Of DeathSeason Of The Witch-PG15 Unknown-PG15 True Justice: Angel Of DeathCarriers-PG15 The Payback-18

01:00 Marion Jones: Press PausePG15 02:00 Once Brothers-PG15 03:30 Golden Christmas 3-PG15 05:00 Sammy’s Adventure: The Secret Passage-FAM 07:00 Certain Prey-PG15 09:00 Golden Christmas 3-PG15 11:00 Horrid Henry-PG 13:00 Quest For Zhu-PG 15:00 The Third Wave-PG15 17:00 An Invisible Sign Of My OwnPG15 19:00 Vampires Suck-PG15 21:00 Bel Ami-18 23:00 How I Spent My Summer Vacation-PG15

00:00 Breaking In 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Angry Boys 02:00 American Dad 02:30 The Ricky Gervais Show 03:00 Last Man Standing 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 06:00 Samantha Who? 06:30 Seinfeld 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 Last Man Standing 09:30 Samantha Who? 10:00 Two And A Half Men 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Samantha Who? 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Seinfeld 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Last Man Standing 19:00 How I Met Your Mother 20:30 Wilfred 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 Angry Boys 22:30 Unsupervised 23:00 The Ricky Gervais Show

07:00 12:00 16:00 16:30 19:00

00:00 PG15 02:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 PG15 20:00

Emmerdale Emmerdale Emmerdale Coronation Street Breakout Kings

Big Fat Important MovieExtract-PG15 Wayne’s World 2-PG15 Below The Beltway-PG15 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 Rebound-PG 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 It’s Kind Of A Funny StoryAnchorman: The Legend Of

Ron Burgundy-PG15 22:00 Analyze That-PG15

00:45 Anna And The King-PG15 03:15 Bruc-PG15 04:45 Hindenburg-PG15 07:45 Alabama Moon-PG15 09:30 Soldier Love Story-PG15 11:00 George Harrison: Living In The Material World-PG15 14:30 Evita-PG 16:45 Soldier Love Story-PG15 18:30 Seabiscuit-PG15 21:00 Mutum-PG15 22:45 Restless-PG15

01:00 The Romantics-PG15 03:00 Lorenzo’s Oil-PG15 05:15 African Cats: Kingdom Of Courage-PG 06:45 The Way-PG15 09:00 My Girlfriend’s BoyfriendPG15 11:00 Fat Albert-PG 13:00 On Strike For Christmas-PG15 15:00 Pina-PG15 17:00 My Girlfriend’s BoyfriendPG15 19:00 Johnny English Reborn-PG15 21:00 Transformers: Dark Of The Moon-PG15 23:30 A Dangerous Method-18

00:00 Summer Coda-PG15 02:00 Real Steel-PG15 04:15 Rising Stars-PG15 06:00 Another Earth-PG15 08:00 Spud-PG15 09:30 Real Steel-PG15 12:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked-PG 14:00 The Birth Of Big Air-PG15 16:00 Spud-PG15 17:45 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol-PG15 20:00 New Year’s Eve-PG15 22:00 Never Let Me Go-PG15

01:00 Crab Island-FAM 02:45 Turandot-PG 04:30 Mia And The Migoo-PG 06:00 The Adventures Of Scooter The Penguin-FAM 08:00 Blue Elephant 2-FAM 10:00 Snow Day-PG 11:30 Crab Island-FAM 13:00 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville-PG 14:30 Turandot-PG 16:00 Cheaper By The Dozen-PG 18:00 Snow Day-PG 20:00 Little Secrets-PG 21:45 Blue Elephant 2-FAM 23:30 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville-PG

01:00 Live NBC Meet The Press 02:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 02:30 Live NBC Nightly News (SatSun) 03:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 03:30 Live NBC Nightly News (SatSun) 04:00 Live NBC Sunday Today Show 05:00 ABC This Week With G Stephanopoulos 06:00 Live NBC Meet The Press 11:00 ABC World News Now 11:30 Live ABC World News Now 12:00 NBC Early Today 12:30 ABC America This Morning 13:00 ABC America This Morning 13:30 Live ABC America This Morning 14:00 Live ABC America This Morning 14:30 MSNBC First Look 15:00 Live NBC Today Show 19:00 MSNBC News 20:00 MSNBC Now With Alex Wagner 21:00 Live MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports 22:00 MSNBC Newsnation

00:00 Miles From Nowhere-PG 02:00 The Marc Pease ExperiencePG15

04:00 The Hairy Tooth Fairy 2-PG 06:00 Kung Fu Panda 2-PG 08:00 Source Code-PG15 10:00 Take Shelter-PG15 12:00 Thor-PG15 14:00 Rio-FAM 16:00 Source Code-PG15 18:00 Captain America: The First Avenger-PG15 20:15 Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son-PG15 22:00 Home-PG15

04:00 Anglo-Welsh Cup 06:00 Futbol Mundial 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 Cricket Twenty20 10:00 Trans World Sport 11:00 ICC Cricket 360 11:30 Live Cricket Twenty20 14:30 Dubai World Cup Carnival 19:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 20:00 Cricket Twenty20 23:00 PGA European Tour Highlights

00:30 02:30 03:00 06:00 07:00 11:30 12:00 14:00 15:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 21:30 22:00

WWE SmackDown NFL Gameday Live NFL Trans World Sport PGA European Tour Adventure Challenge Top 14 Trans World Sport Cricket T20 Adventure Challenge NFL Gameday NFL UFC 156 Countdown Top 14

00:30 Cricket T20 03:00 PDC World Championship 06:30 Spirit of Yachting 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Top 14 Highlights 08:30 ICC Cricket 360 09:00 World Pool Masters 10:00 World Cup of Pool 11:00 Anglo-Welsh Cup 13:00 Spirit of Golf 14:00 Golfing World 15:00 World Pool Masters 16:00 World Cup of Pool 17:00 Trans World Sport 18:00 Anglo-Welsh Cup 20:00 Top 14 Highlights 20:30 Futbol Mundial 21:00 Golfing World 22:00 World Pool Masters 23:00 World Cup of Pool

Darts

00:00 01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 22:00

UAE National Race Day Series V8 Supercars Highlights UFC Unleashed NHL WWE Bottom Line WWE Experience V8 Supercars Highlights NHL UAE National Race Day Series WWE NXT WWE SmackDown European Le Mans Series UFC UFC Countdown WWE SmackDown

00:35 02:45 04:45 08:00 10:00 11:50 13:50 15:30 18:15 FAM 19:35 21:20 23:00

The Fixer Sweet Bird Of Youth Ben-Hur-PG Little Women-FAM Bachelor In Paradise-PG Silk Stockings-FAM The Wizard Of Oz-PG Raintree County-PG Across The Wide MissouriHigh Society-FAM Casablanca-FAM The Night Of The Iguana

Classifieds THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Kuwait

SITUATION VACANT

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (28/02/2013 TO 06/03/2013) SHARQIA-1 PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED SHARQIA-2 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) NO SUN+ TUE+WED SHARQIA-3 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED MUHALAB-2 MAMA (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:00 PM 11:45 PM

FANAR-1 PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

FANAR-2 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) MAMA (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-1 MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-1 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-2 BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 1:15 PM

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG)

3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

360º- 1 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

360º- 2 MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.1 PARKER (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) PARKER (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) AL-KOUT.2 A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED BAIRAQ-1 BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM 12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:05 AM

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM

3ALA GOSETY (DIG) MAMA (DIG)

9:00 PM 11:30 PM

BAIRAQ-2 SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

PLAZA 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) NO THU 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) NO THU 3ALA GOSETY (DIG)

3:30 PM 5:45 PM 6:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:30 PM 10:00 PM

LAILA SNITCH (DIG) PARKER (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) PARKER (DIG)

4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM

AJIAL.1 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) JABARDASTH (DIG) (TELUGU) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG)

4:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

AJIAL.2 AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL)

4:00 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM

METRO-1 MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU)

3:30 PM 6:30 PM 10:00 PM

METRO-2 AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) JABARDASTH (DIG) (TELUGU)

3:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

Required experienced female cook, knowledge in applying recipes of international and Arabic food, transferable visa. Contact: 99366629. (C 4329) 28-2-2013 CHANGE OF NAME I, Abul Hasansa Duli, holder of Indian Passport No G3925520, issued at Kuwait, on 13.11.2007 permanent resident of 3 81A, Middle Street, SP Pattanam P.O. Ramnad Dist, Tamil Nadu and presently working at Sharq-Kuwait, do hereby change my name to ABUL HASAN with immediate effect. (C 4328) 25-2-2013

MATRIMONIAL Alliance invited for a Marthomite boy, age 29 years/182cms graduate born and bought up in Kuwait, currently working in Kuwait for American Drilling Company as a Logistic Controller. Invites proposal from God fearing well educated/employed girls. Email: proposal1984@ymail.com (C 4326) 23-2-2013

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JAI THY JZR JZR QTR SAI ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR RBG QTR DHX THY JZR JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC IRA IRA KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD IRC IZG GFA FDB JZR MSC MEA MSR UAE SYR KAC ABY FDB KNE KAC KAC SVA QTR KAC KNE JZR JZR

Arrival Flights on Thursday 28/2/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 3555 ALEXANDRIA 138 DOHA 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 354 COCHIN 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 382 DELHI 605 ISFAHAN 617 AHWAZ 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 855 DUBAI 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 6588 SHAHRE KORD 4161 MASHAD 213 BAHRAIN 8055 DUBAI 165 DUBAI 403 ASSIUT 404 BEIRUT 610 CAIRO 871 DUBAI 341 DAMASCUS 284 DHAKA 123 SHARJAH 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 672 DUBAI 546 ALEXANDRIA 500 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 788 JEDDAH 470 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 175 DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:30 1:45 1:50 2:35 2:45 3:05 3:10 3:25 3:45 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:00 6:35 6:40 6:45 7:35 7:40 7:45 7:45 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:15 8:40 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:25 9:35 9:55 10:15 11:20 11:35 11:55 12:45 12:50 12:55 12:55 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:15 14:15 14:30 14:35 14:55 15:05 15:05 15:15

QTR OMA FDB JZR JZR KNE KAC UAE ETD RJA GFA FDB SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC NIA JZR RBG KAC TAR FDB MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB JAI AXB MSC MSR JZR ABY ALK QTR KAC KAC MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JZR FDB DHX THY AIC JZR GFA JZR UAL BBC DLH

134 645 8075 787 535 474 118 857 303 640 215 8063 510 777 144 127 982 542 251 177 3553 786 328 63 405 176 618 104 674 774 647 61 572 393 401 618 189 129 229 146 562 502 402 136 221 307 859 135 59 372 5424 981 239 217 185 981 43 636

DOHA MUSCAT DUBAI RIYADH CAIRO JEDDAH NEW YORK DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO ALEXANDRIA DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH TUNIS DUBAI SOHAG GENEVA DOHA LONDON DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI KOZHIKODE ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA DUBAI SHARJAH COLOMBO DOHA AMMAN BEIRUT BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN ISTANBUL CHENNAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

15:30 15:40 15:45 16:10 16:25 16:30 16:35 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:10 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:35 18:45 19:00 19:15 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:20 20:25 20:30 20:35 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:50 22:00 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:05 23:25 23:45 23:55

Airlines AIC KAC AXB JAI UAL DLH SAI ETH THY FDB UAE ETD RBG MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA KAC THY FDB BAW IRA IRA JZR JZR KAC KAC KAC ABY UAE FDB ETD QTR IRC IZG GFA JZR FDB KAC KAC JZR MSC MEA JZR KAC ABY MSR JZR SYR UAE FDB KAC KNE KAC

Departure Flights on Thursday 28/2/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA 283 DHAKA 390 MANGALORE 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 442 LAHORE 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 3556 ALEXANDRIA 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 771 ISTANBUL 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 606 MASHHAD 616 AHWAZ 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 101 LONDON 787 JEDDAH 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 6589 SHAHRE-KORD 4162 MASHHAD 214 BAHRAIN 174 DUBAI 8056 DUBAI 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 776 JEDDAH 406 SOHAG 405 BEIRUT 786 RIYADH 785 JEDDAH 124 SHARJAH 611 CAIRO 176 DUBAI 342 DAMASCUS 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 501 BEIRUT

Time 0:05 0:10 0:15 1:05 1:10 1:20 2:30 2:45 2:55 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:05 4:10 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:30 7:35 8:25 8:45 8:50 8:55 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:25 9:40 9:45 9:55 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:25 10:35 10:40 10:50 11:00 11:30 11:50 12:15 12:35 12:55 12:55 13:00 13:40 13:45 13:50 13:55 14:15 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:15

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC KAC SVA KNE JZR QTR FDB KAC OMA JZR KNE ETD JZR QTR UAE RJA FDB GFA JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR RBG JZR UAL NIA TAR FDB MSC FDB KAC KAC OMA JAI AXB ABY KAC MSC MSR KAC DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB JZR UAE DHX KAC QTR GFA JZR KAC KAC

561 617 505 471 188 141 8078 773 646 238 475 304 538 135 858 641 8064 216 184 511 128 266 145 3554 134 982 252 328 64 404 62 351 331 648 571 394 120 343 402 619 543 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 554 860 373 205 147 218 528 415 411

AMMAN DOHA JEDDAH JEDDAH DUBAI DOHA DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT AMMAN JEDDAH ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA TUNIS DUBAI ASSIUT DUBAI KOCHI TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT MUMBAI KOZHIKODE SHARJAH CHENNAI ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA CAIRO BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DOHA BAHRAIN ASSIUT KUALA LUMPUR BANGKOK

15:40 15:45 16:00 16:00 16:05 16:15 16:25 16:25 16:40 17:15 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:10 19:25 19:25 20:00 20:40 20:45 20:55 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:50 23:50 23:55 23:55

34

stars CROSSWORD 114

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19)

You may think about your finances today, Aries. It’s never too late to learn about saving and investing, especially if there’s something you really want to do, like travel. Preparing for retirement can seem surreal when you’re young, but it’s important to start early. Regardless of how your affairs have gone to date, change starts now. Write down your goals and meet with your financial adviser.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Take the time today to consider your health, Taurus.

Do you get enough rest, eat the right foods, take vitamins, exercise every day, go to the doctor when you need to, and take time to relax? All these help you have a lifetime of good health.

Living a long, healthy life is something we all want. Start now to take care of your body.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Look with amazement.

5. On a ship, train, plane or other vehicle.

11. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

15. Using speech rather than writing.

16. A storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed.

17. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

18. A former copper coin of Pakistan.

19. Type genus of the Alaudidae.

20. A collection of facts from which conclusions may be drawn.

21. An Italian woman of rank.

23. Skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends.

25. The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.

26. Departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal.

27. Tag the base runner to get him out.

29. The lowest brass wind instrument.

31. A popular island resort in the Netherlands Antilles.

33. A river that rises in northeastern Turkey (near the source of the Euphrates) and flows generally eastward through Armenia to the Caspian Sea. 37. Reduction or lack of an immune response to a specific antigen.

39. A chief of a North American tribe or confederation (especially an Algonquian chief).

41. A gonadotropic hormone that is secreted by the anterior pituitary.

43. A meeting for boat races.

44. A very attractive or seductive looking woman.

48. A unit of magnetomotive force equal to 0.7958 ampere-turns.

49. An unstable meson produced as the result of a high-energy particle collision.

50. Not curled.

52. Of or relating to or causing constriction of the pupil of the eye.

54. A doctor's degree in religion.

55. A ravine or gully in southern Asia.

57. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

59. Typical geese.

62. A cut of pork ribs with much of the meat trimmed off.

66. Relating to of containing or affecting blood.

70. A genus of Malayan tree.

73. A small cake leavened with yeast.

74. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

75. Something of sentimental value.

78. A republic in central Europe.

79. The cry made by sheep.

80. The state of being inactive.

81. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

DOWN 1. A pointed instrument used to prod into motion.

2. A river in central Italy rising in the Apennines and flowing through Florence and Pisa to the Ligurian Sea. 3. An ambitious and aspiring young person.

4. Relating to or occurring on the undersurface

of the foot.

5. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

6. When dried yields a hard substance used e.g. in golf balls.

7. Toward the mouth or oral region.

8. Not having a tail.

9. Make anew.

10. Emptying accomplished by draining.

11. An informal term for a father.

12. The sixth month of the civil year.

13. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

14. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

22. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

24. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that is highly corrosion-resistant.

28. The capital of Mali.

30. Remove the hand from.

32. An aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect.

34. Turn on or around an axis or a center.

35. A former province of northern France near the English Channel (between Picardy and Flanders).

36. A meeting of spiritualists.

38. (Babylonian) God of fire.

40. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

42. German industrialist who was the first in Germany to use an assembly line in manufacturing automobiles (1871-1948).

45. A state in southeastern United States.

46. A vast treeless plain in the arctic regions between the ice cap and the tree line.

47. Any substance that can cause an allergy.

51. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

53. The content of cognition.

56. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

58. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

60. Tall hat.

61. (informal) `johnny' was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War. 63. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

64. (Sumerian) Water god and god of wisdom.

65. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

67. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

68. A United Nations agency created to assist developing nations by loans guaranteed by member governments.

69. An enclosure made or wire or metal bars in which birds or animals are kept.

71. Standard time in the 7th time zone west of Greenwich, reckoned at the 105th meridian west.

72. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan.

76. A small digital computer based on a microprocessor and designed to be used by one person at a time.

77. Half the width of an em.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Today you may emphasize organizing things and managing your life, Gemini. Take a look at your time management. It’s possible to plan every day so you have enough time to do what you have to get done as well as do everything you’d like to do. Set priorities to keep things flowing well. There are many books and websites out there on this subject. Check them out.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

One day, I want to be.... When you were little, how did you finish that sentence, Cancer? See what your memory and imagination come up with. Is your life what you dreamed it would be? If not, consider what you could do to change it.

Maybe you should lie on your back and gaze at the clouds or stars. This childlike activity may spark some ideas for you.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

If you feel cautious today, Leo, don’t be alarmed.

This can be a good thing, Leo, as you can be too trusting at times or forget to take care when going into something new.

Use a little caution in everything you do to keep safe. This is true with relationships, too. Give a little more thought and time to things to help you choose more wisely.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Virgo, personal dignity may be important to you today. This may come about when things go wrong or if you’re accused of something you didn’t do. You always have control over your dignity. Your daily actions affirm this. The key is to hold on tightly to who you are and what you believe in. Defend your dignity if it’s challenged. It’s one thing that no one can take from you no matter what.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Don’t be surprised if someone describes you as conservative, Libra. It may be true. It could indicate that it’s important for you to maintain control over most things - what you say and how much, how you dress, the kinds of people you spend time with, where and how you spend your money - these are all things that conservative people tend to closely monitor. Be proud of who you are.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Your mother may be on your mind today, Scorpio.

Your mother probably affects how you think, act, and feel, both in the past and now. If your mother’s sign is opposite yours, conflict and misunderstanding can happen more easily. Take the time to learn about her sign today to help you understand her and the relationship you have.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Focus on yourself today, Sagittarius. Take note of your health. You probably know that this is something you must take care of always, not just sometimes. Daily routines are important. It’s up to you to stick to them. The little things like taking vitamins, staying active, and relaxing help maintain a healthy body. If you aren’t feeling your best, make your habits more conducive to glowing health.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

No dream is too big or too late to fulfill. You may be thinking about your special dreams today, Capricorn. Perhaps you aspire to do something really great, be a pioneer in some field, or be a prominent figure. Whatever it is can happen if you believe in yourself and work toward it. Don’t let naysayers stop you. If you decide you can, you probably will.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

Chances are good that you will receive a helping hand or comfort from someone many years your senior who cares about you, Aquarius. Don’t hesitate to ask for their thoughts, ideas, and assistance. They will probably enjoy being able to do this for you and be glad that you’ve approached them. Be open and accept the love and support that’s offered.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Today, Pisces, you may think about competition and possible future goals. Imagining and dreaming can serve you well. What did you dream about as a kid? Who did you want to become? Are you close to this in your life now? If not, is this all right for you? Take time to think such things through and, if need be, get back on the right track.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE 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

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya Jabriya

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TAT TE OF KUW K WA AIT

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AVIA V AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP PARTMENT A

Ext.: 262 2627 - 2630

BY Y NIGHT:

Cool with light to moderate south easterly wind, with speed of 12 - 32 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear No Current Waarnings arnin

WARNING A MAX. EXP P.

MIN. REC.

KUW WA AIT CITY

27 °C

15 °C

KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

26 °C

09 °C

NUW WA AISEEB

25 °C

12 °C

WAFRA A

27 °C

10 °C

SALMI

24 °C

11 °C

25746401

ABDAL LY

26 °C

10 °C

25316254

JAL ALIY YA AH

25 °C

10 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

25 °C

12 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

23 °C

15 °C

Mishref

25381200

QARUH ISLAND

20 °C

18 °C

W Hawally

22630786

UMM AL-MARADEM

22 °C

17 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

SFC. CHART

27/02/2013 0000 UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST Temperatures WEA ATHER T

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

New Jahra

24575755

Thursday

28/02

warm + raising dust

27 °C

12 °C

SE

20 - 45 km/h

West Jahra

24772608

Friday

01/03

warm + raising dust

28 °C

14 °C

SE

20 - 45 km/h

South Jahra

24775066

Saturday

02/03

partly cloudy + scattered rain

29 °C

15 °C

SE

12 - 32 km/h

Sunday

03/03

warm + chance for fog

27 °C

14 °C

SE

08 - 30 km/h

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

RA AY YER TIMES PRA

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT 25 °C

Fajr

04:56

MAX. Temp.

24884079

Sunrise

06:15

MIN. Temp.

11 °C

Firdous

24892674

Zuhr

12:01

MAX. RH

62 %

Asr

15:18

MIN. RH

Omariya

24719048

Sunset

17:46

MAX. Wind i

N Khaitan

24710044

Isha

19:03

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

Ardhiya

14 % NW 36 km/h 00 mm

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

Fintas

23900322

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

Partly cloudy with variable wind changing to light south easterly wind, with speed of 06 - 22 km/h

DA ATE T

Al-Shuhada

WWW.MET.GOV V.KW .

BY Y DA AY:

DA AY

22418714

Fax: 24348714

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours

ST TATION T

Al-Madeena

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

LIFESTYLE M o v i e s

&

M u s i c

Film reopens old, long-buried wounds in Indonesia

B

ejo Untung was a 17-year-old Indonesian schoolboy when armed soldiers came to his village in 1965, forcing him on the run for years until he was caught, tortured and jailed. A communist-led coup attempt had just failed, triggering a wave of arrests and killings that ushered in more than three decades of rigid anticommunist education and propaganda. The subject is still so sensitive it is rarely broached in public.

But now a documentary, “The Act of Killing,” made by Texan-born director Joshua Oppenheimer, shines a light on that dark era, focusing on the death squads and torture that seem like a myth to the majority of the Indonesian population. Oppenheimer came up with the idea for the film while working on a different project in North Sumatra and found many relatives of the Indonesians he was talking to had been killed or imprisoned between 1965 and 1966 for trying to form a union.

Most were too afraid to appear on camera to speak with him and suggested he talk to the killers. He took their advice and was horrified by his findings. “I ... encountered the boastful and shocking way that the killers were talking about what they did,” said Oppenheimer in a telephone interview from Denmark. “That was for me the beginning of the journey. I realized, my goodness, how is it possible that the perpetrators of mass murder should talk loudly and boastfully and with smiles and laughter.” The film, which

runs for nearly two hours and won two prizes at this month’s Berlin International Film Festival, re-enacts several murders and features a member of a death squad.

Death squads These death squads were operating systematically across Indonesia mostly in the late 1960s. Estimates put as many as one million people dead in a wave of violence after the aborted coup and purge of communists and alleged sympathizers.

The main character in the film, Anwar Congo, was the one of the most feared death squad leaders in the area around the city of Medan in Sumatra.

“I choke them to death, with steel wire around the neck,” Congo says in the film, demonstrating in front of the camera how it was done. “And then pull it, sometimes with a pole. It’s easier that way and less blood to clean.” Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in October 2012, “The Act of Killing” took the Panorama Audience Award and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the recent 2013 Berlin International Film Festival but there have been no official screenings in the country where it took place.

It has been shown in about 265 underground screenings, with secret invitations among small groups, but there is the fear that police might try to block the screenings. Still, some 10,000 have been to see it. The national police spokesman did not respond to questions asking whether the police would have tried to stop showings

of the film. Young Indonesian had long been taught that communism was sadistic and evil and given no alternative view to that era.

Until 1998 and the end of the iron rule of Suharto, the leader who took power

shortly after the coup, viewing of a violent movie about how six generals and an officer were killed in the coup attempt was compulsory for schoolchildren. Even last year an attempt by Indonesia’s human rights commission to look into the events surrounding the slaughter were effectively blocked by the government.

‘Baby rat was my favourite’ Bejo Untung said the movie reflected accurately what happened to him and many others. Caught and imprisoned in 1970, Untung survived a year of torture beating and electrocution - in prison and then a camp of several hundred men located in Central Jakarta. Three killed themselves while he was there, while others disappeared and were feared to have been killed. He spent eight years in jail without trial, including a stint of brutal forced farm labour.

“Ten of us were forced to stay in a room which can only fit two,” he said of his time in one prison. “We slept like layered cake, my head facing another inmate’s toes so we could breathe while we slept.” Most of the protein in his diet came from “anything that moved” in the fields, including frogs, rats, snakes and snails. “My favorite was the baby rat, it’s easy to swallow it alive,” said Untung. He learned to play guitar and piano and made his own instrument during breaks.

To learn English, he copied a dictionary word for word onto cigarette papers.

It wasn’t until 1979 that political prisoners were released, in order to open the way for Indonesia to receive financial grants from the United States and European nations. Untung was a private music tutor until retiring and now heads YPKP 65, an organization for victims of the brutality. For nearly six years, he marched in front of the State Palace, the seat of Indonesian government, every

Thursday together with other human rights victims, demanding resolution.

Now he and others want Indonesian history to be revised to reflect the truth of that period. Hilmar Farid, a Jakartabased historian at the University of Indonesia, said this was a lesson - not to allow absolute power to take hold. “I doubt that the perpetrators will watch the movie and apologize ... Political interest plays a big part. There is a need to have mass consciousness, mass repentance if necessary.” Oppenheimer said his film, which cost $1 million to make over five years, gave young Indonesians a different chapter to their nation’s history.

“From the history lessons in school, I only remember that they (the communists) killed and oppressed people, that’s it.” said 23 year-old graduate student Frederika Dapamanis after watching the movie. “I was sad and ashamed.”

There were also lessons for those older as well. “For Indonesians old enough to remember the genocide, the film makes it impossible to continue denying what everybody in that generation already knew. They are closer to the perpetrators than they like to believe,” Oppenheimer said. “It’s not because they’re communist or Indonesian, but they are human beings,” he said. “The movie, that’s a hurtful truth. Indonesia has to speak out about this. The government has to apologize and the truth has to come out.” —Reuters

Timberlake works with Mumford on Coen film music

J

ustin Timberlake has brought his movie and music work together by teaming up with British singer Marcus Mumford from Grammy-winning folk band Mumford & Sons on the soundtrack for an upcoming Coen brothers film. Timberlake, 32, said in a British radio interview this week that he and Mumford worked with veteran T-Bone Burnett and folk band The Punch Brothers on the soundtrack for “Inside Llewyn Davis,” a film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan. Mulligan married Mumford in April 2012. “We all kind of worked on the music together and I don’tknow any other world where we would get the opportunity to collaborate like that, but it was so much fun. So not only will it be a great movie, but the music to it will be fantastic,” Timberlake told Britain’s Capital FM radio station. The film, co-starring Timberlake, John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund, follows a singer-songwriter exploring the folk music scene in 1960s New York. It is expected to be released later this year. The “Sexyback” singer, who first gained fame in the 1990s as lead vocalist of the boy band ‘N Sync, stepped away from music five years ago to focus on films such as “The Social Network” and “Friends With Benefits.” But last month he released lead single “Suit & Tie” ahead of his album “The 20/20 Experience” out on March 19.

Timberlake is also starring in upcoming crime drama “Runner, Runner,” alongside Ben Affleck and Gemma Arterton. Mumford & Sons won two Grammy Awards earlier in February, including Album of the Year for “Babel.”

New dad Lachey to release a lullaby album

F

irst-time dad Nick Lachey knows all about rocking a baby to sleep. Now he wants to help other kids get their rest. His new album, “A Father’s Lullaby,” will be released in a few weeks. It features 12 songs, including classics like “You Are My Sunshine” and “Brahms Lullaby.” The album also features four original tracks that Lachey cowrote, inspired by his own baby. The 39-year-old singer and his wife, TV personality Vanessa Lachey, welcomed their son, Camden, last September. “A Father’s Lullaby” will be available on iTunes and Amazon on March 13. It will be in stores in April. Lachey will release a new album, “2.0,” in May with his group, 98 Degrees. “A Father’s Lullaby” is a partnership with Fisher-Price Inc, a subsidiary of Mattel and Mood Entertainment.

Coen Bros teaming with Jolie on ‘Unbroken’

Austrian Natascha Kampusch poses for photographers before the premiere of the film “3096 Days” in Vienna, Austria, Monday. —AP

Film of Austrian girl’s hostage ordeal premieres

T

he story of Natascha Kampusch, who grew from a 10-year old to a young woman as a captive of a sadistic abductor, is now a movie. The film depicting her more than eightyear long ordeal premiered late Monday in Vienna.

Titled “3096 Days,” the English-language film is

based on Kampusch’s biography.

Thure Lindhardt, who played abductor Wolfgang Priklopil, says the role was “challenging,” while Campbell-Hughes describes her portrayal of Kampusch as “a very great responsibility.”

Prominent Austrians in the audience came away

impressed. Former Interior Minister Karl Blecha said the film succeeded in depicting the horrors of Kampusch’s torment. Kampusch was snatched off a Vienna street when she was 10 and held prisoner until she fled in August 2006. Priklopil committed suicide within hours of her escape. —AP

T

he Coen Brothers will rewrite the script for “Unbroken,” a Universal Pictures spokesman told TheWrap. However, Joel and Ethan Coen, the outrÈ minds behind “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” won’t slide behind the director’s chair on the project. Those duties will fall to Angelina Jolie, who previously directed “In The Land of Blood and Honey” (2011), a romantic drama set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War. William Nicholson (“Les MisÈrables”) had turned in an earlier draft of the screenplay to “Unbroken.” The film is an adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 non-fiction account of a former Olympic track star’s astounding quest to survive imprisonment as a prisoner of war after his plane crashes in the Pacific theater during World War II. The book was a bestseller, and Hillenbrand has had great success mining similar true-life tales of uplift in the past. Her book “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” provided the basis for an Oscar-nominated 2003 film starring Tobey Maguire. The Coen Brothers typically are possessive of their screenplays, although they do have another script-for-hire film coming out this year with “Gambit.” The remake of the 1966 heist film stars Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz and was directed by Michael Hoffman (“Soapdish”).

Earlier this month, CBS Films acquired US distribution rights to the brothers’ next film “Inside Llewyn Davis,” which will look at the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s. The film is expected to be released theatrically in the second half of this year. The Coen Brothers are represented by UTA. The Hollywood Reporter first reported their hire for “Unbroken.“

Fisher briefly hospitalized after bipolar episode

C

arrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, was briefly hospitalized due to her bipolar disorder, the actress’ spokeswoman said on Tuesday after video emerged of Fisher giving an unusual stage performance. The video came from a show Fisher gave aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean last week, according to celebrity website TMZ, which posted the clip. The clip shows Fisher, 56, singing “Skylark” and “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” at times appearing to struggle to remember the lyrics. Fisher also appears to use paper to clean up after a small dog that shares the stage with her, and then stuffing the paper into a couch behind her.

“There was a medical incident related to Carrie Fisher’s bipolar disorder,” Fisher’s spokeswoman Carol Marshall said in a statement. “She went to the hospital briefly to adjust her medication and is feeling much better now.” The actress has previously discussed her struggle with bipolar disorder. And in her 2009 memoir “Wishful Drinking,” she also described her alcoholism and drug abuse. Fisher is the daughter of Hollywood stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and, aside from starring in the first three “Star Wars” films, wrote the bestselling novel “Postcards from the Edge” about an actress recovering from drug addiction. She wrote the screenplay for a 1990 movie adaptation. She in recent years had a recurring role on the animated comedy “Family Guy” and has guest starred in a number of other television shows. —Agencies

Spanish singer Miguel Bose performs during the 54th Vina del Mar International Song Festival in Vina del Mar, Chile. —AFP

37

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

LIFESTYLE M o v i e s

&

M u s i c

Bono sings of progress in war on poverty, corruption

R

In this image made from promotional footage for the film “Nuclear Nation” released by the 2012 Documentary Japan, Big River Films, Futaba mayor Katsutaka Idogawa, sixth from left in white jacket, poses with evacuees from Futaba town in front of their shelter, the abandoned Kisai high school, in Kazo, Saitama prefecture, near Tokyo, on March 11, 2012, a year after the tsunami and earthquake hit northern Japan. —AP

Japanese disaster films highlight victims’ stories T

he unnerving clicks of dosimeters are constant as people wearing white protective gear quickly visit the radiated no-go zones of decayed farms and empty storefronts. Evacuees huddle on blankets on gymnasium floors, waiting futilely for word of compensation and relocation. Such scenes fill the flurry of independent films inspired by Japan’s March 2011 catastrophe that tell stories of regular people who became overnight victims - stories the creators feel are being ignored by mainstream media and often silenced by the authorities. Nearly two years after the quake and tsunami disaster, the films are an attempt by the creative minds of Japan’s movie industry not only to confront the horrors of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, but also as a legacy and to empower the victims by telling their story for international audiences.

The impact these films have on the global and Japanese audiences could perhaps even help change Japan, the directors say. What’s striking is that many of the works convey a prevailing message: The political, scientific and regulatory establishment isn’t telling the whole truth about the nuclear disaster. And much of the public had been in the past ignorant and uncaring

decades. Of all Fukushima communities forced to evacuate, Futaba chose the farthest spot from the nuclear plant - an abandoned high school in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo. That choice Funahashi feels highlights a keen awareness of the dangers of radiation and distrust of officials as the town had been repeatedly told the plant was safe.

The outburst of post-disaster filmmaking includes Americans living in or visiting Japan, such as “Surviving Japan,” by Christopher Noland, “Pray for Japan,” by Stuart Levy and “In the Grey Zone” and “A2”

by Ian Thomas Ash. “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” by Lucy Walker, a Briton, was nominated for the 2012 Academy Award in short documentaries.

Both Levy and Noland volunteered in the disaster areas. Ash’s documentaries focus on the plight of the children, who continue to live near the nuclear plant, and the frightened mothers who suspect the medical authorities are lying about the safety of radiation.

“I believe it is time for Japanese citizens to not just rebuild but reinvent their country with new leadership,” said Noland, who like many others worries about the children. “I want the people of Japan to know I stand with them.” Funahashi’s “Nuclear Nation,” shown

In this image made from a scene from the film “Fukushima: Memoriesn of the Lost Landscape” released by Yojyu Matsubayashi, Kyoko Tanaka, a city council member of Minami Soma, patrols in the deserted town after evacuation of the residents, on April 3, 2011. —AP photos about Fukushima. And so the films were needed, the auteurs say. The people leading Japan were too evasive about the true consequences of the multiple meltdowns at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant - minimizing people’s suffering, playing down health risks and shrugging off accountability for past go-go pronuclear government policies.

“Japan’s response is ambiguous and irresponsible.

But, meanwhile, time is passing,” said Atsushi Funahashi, director of “Nuclear Nation,” which documented the story of the residents of Futaba, Fukushima, the town where the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is located. The entire town became a nogo zone - contaminated by radiation in the air, water and ground after the tsunami destroyed the plant’s cooling systems, causing meltdowns in three reactors.

Decommissioning the reactors is expected to take

Indian Bollywood actors Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan pose during the soundtrack launch for the forthcoming Hindi film “3G” in Mumbai on February 26, 2013.—AFP

at film festivals including Berlin, Seoul and Edinburgh, Scotland, intentionally played out its scenes in real time to communicate the helplessness of the days slipping away for displaced people. Camera close-ups show the cold lunches in boxes being handed out, day by day.

Funahashi is outraged that, so many months later, the Japanese government has yet to properly compensate the 160,000 people who had to leave their homes near Fukushima Dai-ichi. The government has set up tiny temporary housing and has doled out aid calculated to approximate the minimum wage. In one moving scene in “Nuclear Nation,” one of the displaced residents, Masayoshi Watanabe, lights up a cigarette in a car and talks directly into the camera, strangely more movie-like than any Hollywood actor. “Our town is gone. It’s just land,” he says pensively.

The movie started with 1,400 people in the school building, but that has dwindled lately to about 100.

Funahashi is determined to keep filming until the last person leaves. “The evacuated people are being forgotten,” said Funahashi. “And criminal responsibility is also being forgotten.” Reputed director Sion Sono has also written and directed the sarcastically titled “The Land of Hope,” departing from his usual ruthlessly violent avant-garde for a soap-operatic account of an elderly couple who commit suicide after a nuclear catastrophe set in the fictitious future. Sono’s “Himizu,” a haunting coming-of-age film set in a surreal Japan hopelessly covered with tsunami debris, is more typical Sono in its raw dark style, criticizing the adult world as irresponsibly cruel and abusive to this nation’s younger generation that must cope with radiation.

Yojyu Matsubayashi took a more standard documentary approach for his “Fukushima: Memories of the Lost Landscape,” interviewing people who were displaced in the Fukushima town of Minami Soma. He followed them into temporary shelters in cluttered gymnasiums and accompanied their harried visits to abandoned homes with the gentle patience of a video journalist. Japanese mainstream media had abandoned the no-go zone, and he felt it was up to freelance reporters like him to tell the true story, especially for the helpless elderly. “I’ve been making documentaries for some time, but when the nuclear accident happened, I felt I had to be there,” he said. “Once I got there, I knew I had to be there for a long time and express the eternal from that one spot.”

His main message? He wouldn’t have made a movie if it were all that simple, Matsubayashi said quietly. “It was human arrogance that led to this disaster, this crisis,” he said. “We thought we could control even nature. And that’s why this happened. Our lives were dependent on electricity from Fukushima. We shouldn’t be making excuses that we didn’t know, that we didn’t care. Maybe that’s why I made this movie.”

Others are finding their work is drawing more attention after Fukushima. Hitomi Kamanaka, who has devoted her life to documenting radiation issues, such as the struggles over a Japanese nuclear reprocessing plant and sicknesses in Iraq suspected of being caused by uranium bullets, is in the spotlight like never before.

Her 2012 film “Living With Internal Exposure” compiled the views from four medical experts, who had studied radiation’s effects in Chernobyl, Hiroshima, Iraq and Fukushima, warning about the health damage that radiation can cause.

Akiyoshi Imazeki began shooting “Kalina’s Apple, Forest of Chernobyl” in 2003, a film about a girl who falls sick by eating the radiated apples grown on her grandmother’s farm. It was a film he believed in, but he had never hoped for massive appeal. His postFukushima 2011 re-edit - with its juxtaposition of pastoral lakes and forests, so much like Fukushima landscapes, with the forlorn faces of children hospitalized for cancer - is striking home with many Japanese. The film was shot quietly like many Japanese classics, and the cast is entirely Belarusian and Russian. But the dozens of screenings in Fukushima are drawing positive reviews. “They all cry,” said Imazeki. Imazeki is convinced the parallels between Fukushima and Chernobyl are striking, and stressed “Kalina’s Apple, Forest of Chernobyl” dramatizes the tragedy of radiation. “The invisibility adds to the turmoil,” he said.

“Families can no longer live normal happy lives.” —AP

ing on less than $1.25 a day, was 21 perock star Bono embraced his inner cent as of 2010, slightly less than half of nerd on Tuesday as he made a what it was in 1990. “The rate is still too case that extreme poverty could high, but it is mind-blowing heart-stopbe eliminated by the year 2030 with the ping stuff,” Bono said, noting that if the help of technology.”Forget the rock trajectory continues the extreme poveropera, forget the bombast,” Bono told a ty rate would hit zero by the year 2030. rapt audience at a prestigious TED gath“We get to the Zero Zone, for number ering in Southern California. “The only crunchers like us that is the erogenous thing singing today is the facts. I have zone. I am sexually aroused by the collattruly embraced my inner nerd.” He playing of data.” He cautioned that the fully put his trademark tinted glasses on momentum could still be lost without upside down to highlight his point. pressure on politicians to continue sup“Exit the rock star,” he said. “Enter the porting programs such as his ONE camevidence-based activist. The factavist.” paign despite economic challenges.

The famed U2 front man was awarded Companies such as big oil are fighting the first TED Prize in 2005 and used the hard against laws that would require “wish” granted by the influential groupmaking public which how much includes they pay to thinkers, extract celebrities, resources from scientists, the ground, entrepreneurs making it and politiharder to tell cians-to help whether monwage war on ey is fairly extreme shared with poverty. The citizens, Bono cash award said. “We with the prize know that the at that time biggest diswas $100,000, This February 26, 2013 handout image ease of all is and the TED courtesy of TED 2013, shows Bono, musi- not a disease, community was essential cian and activist, at TED2013: “The Young, it is corrupto building a The Wise, The Undiscovered” in Long tion,” he said.

“There is a grassroots Beach, California. —AFP cure for that network underpinning efforts of the humanitarian too, it’s called transparency,” he continued. “Technology is really turbo-chargONE campaign Bono co-founded. ing this; it is harder to hide when you TED curator Chris Anderson played a are doing bad stuff.” He referred to the pivotal role in helping get the One.com role mobile technology has played in online address for Bono’s campaign, the Arab Spring and in Uganda, where according to ONE co-founder Jamie an SMS messaging network is used by Drummond. Bono was back on the stage people to expose corruption. “I like to Tuesday to provide an update on his think that the talk I gave was about the efforts. He seized the moment to revel in past as an incentive toward the future,” progress made and urge people not to Bono said after leaving the stage, noting let the momentum stall. Thanks in great part to technology, some of it in the form that the end to measurable extreme poverty didn’t mean all poverty would of medical breakthroughs, more people be gone. Bono joked that payoffs to with AIDS are getting life-saving drugs eliminating extreme poverty would and deaths from malaria have dropped. mean “you won’t have to listen to an The child mortality rate meanwhile has fallen to the tune of 7,256 fewer chil- insufferable jumped-up Jesus like dren dying daily, according to Bono. And myself” and that the year 2030 was so close that it was “only three Rolling the percentage of people living in extreme poverty, as defined by those liv- Stone farewell concerts away.” —AFP

Lindsay Lohan, third from left, her mother Dina Lohan, right, her new attorney Mark Heller, second from left, leave a Los Angeles court, Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013, in a case filed over the actress’ car crash last June. —AP

Lohan’s attorney seeks deal with prosecutors

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indsay Lohan’s attorney has suggested to prosecutors that the actress serve as a motivational speaker and perform non-jail activities to resolve her latest criminal case, according to a letter obtained Tuesday. The letter from lawyer Mark Heller proposed several alternatives for Lohan, who could be sent to jail if a judge determines her actions in a traffic crash violated terms of her probation in a previous theft case. His letter states that Lohan’s turbulent home life has deeply impacted her and requires a different approach in the case.

The actress plans to spend time recording public service announcements and make “periodic visits to schools, hospitals, and other venues where she may provide inspirational talks, encouraging children to pursue positive goals and avoid bad habits,” states the letter filed on Friday and released by the court Tuesday.

Heller also proposed the establishment of a nonprofit foundation in Lohan’s name to benefit young people. The actress “has made a commitment to herself to elevate her life and participate in activities which will advance her desire to lead a model life,” Heller wrote in a motion seeking a delay in the case that returns to court on Friday. Trial is now set for March 18. Lohan is charged with three misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, lying to police and obstructing officers from performing their duties. She has

pleaded not guilty. The actress could face 245 days in jail if she is found to be in violation of her probation.

The star of “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday” was sentenced to psychotherapy in November of 2011 in cases involving theft and drunken driving charges, but she has not been required to attend counseling since being placed on informal probation in March 2012. Those terms were imposed by Judge Stephanie Sautner, who is retiring and will no longer handle Lohan’s case. The crash that prompted the current charges occurred in June on Pacific Coast Highway while Lohan was on the way to a movie shoot. Terry White, chief deputy city attorney in Santa Monica, declined comment on the letter. He said discussions about a possible resolution are scheduled to take place this week.

Lohan, 26, was on her way to a beach shoot with another person for the TV movie “Liz and Dick” when her car crashed into the back of a dump truck. Police allege she lied about being behind the wheel. Heller is also seeking dismissal of the charges against Lohan, arguing that police ignored her when she said she didn’t want to be interviewed without her attorney present. Lohan was at the hospital at the time, not in custody, and showed no signs of impairment when officers gave her a field sobriety test, the lawyer said. —AP

lifestyle

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

F a s h i o n

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ye, New York! Ciao, Milan! And bonjour, Paris. The world’s largest traveling circus of fashion editors, models, buyers and journalists has descended on the French capital, clutching their metro maps and city guides, to cap fashion season for nine days of intensive ready-to-wear. And this fall-winter 2013-14 is the biggest to date, with some 99 “on-calendar” shows that see the week almost tearing at the seams, starting earlier and finishing later than ever. “There are 12 shows a day. Twentytwo different nationalities this season. With new top designers at work,” says Didier Grumbach, president of the French Fashion Federation. “It’s an impressive mix, an energy that sets Paris apart from what’s going on elsewhere.”

Tuesday - day one - saw collections dominated by three up-and-coming Belgian designers: Veronique Branquinho, Cedric Charlier and Anthony Vaccarello, who dressed actress Charlotte Gainsbourg at last Friday’s Cesar film awards. The similarities start and end with their nationalities; all three threw together strong but highly individual collections. If Branquinho was elegance, Charlier was edgy architecture, and Vaccarello was retro sex-appeal. In other shows of the day, Le Moine Tricote spiced up the breadand-butter knitwear with woven fabric.

Models present creations by Anthony Vaccarello during the Fall/Winter 2013-2014 ready-to-wear collection show. — AP /AFP photos

ANTHONY VACCARELLO The no-holds-barred sex appeal for Anthony Vaccarello is not for the faint-hearted. The third Belgian designer to show on Paris fashion week’s first day served up a black-and white ode to the early ‘80s in a show that featured micro skirts, chainmail, a lot of skin and lashings of sensual leather. Strong retro shoulders, asymmetrical, diagonally cut skirts, upturned lapels and cowl collars set the fashion time dial firmly back to

VERONIQUE BRANQUINHO It was the modern bohemian woman on parade.

Veronique Branquinho mixed and matched eclectic references, from wooden African bracelets to Obi-style dresses with belts. The soundtrack included Marilyn Monroe’s sultry “One Silver Dollar” from the Western “River of No Return,” which played as cowboy boots and denim studs peppered the looks. Stetson cowboy hats

in Shetland went too far, but overall it was a strong collection for the up-and-coming designer - reined in only by its feminine silhouette proportions and textural contrasts that unified the show. The graceful, slouchy style, now a Branquinho signature, was seen on several of the dropped waist looks, often in beige and fawn.

the era of the New Romantics. This was fused with the innate sexiness of his variations on the Little Black Dress. The best look was a black kimono-style top, which billowed in great contrast to the tight, bright shiny black mini. Subtle this was not, but then, subtle isn’t glam-loving Vaccarello’s thing.

CEDRIC CHARLIER Architecture, “art brut” and Dutch Master Brueghel were all inspirations behind Cedric Charlier’s diverse show. The first pieces, among the collection’s best, mixed up sharp geometric paneling alongside oversize coats with fluid, rounded shoulders. Ensembles were made up of several layers, like square navy skirts on top of knee-length leggings with a rectangular bib form hanging down. There were also some great structured sheaths in silky navy and black leather. It’s a far cry from the more fluid looks seen in Charlier’s last collection. The designer said medieval painter Brueghel inspired the bright colors of some of the prints and patterns, as did an early 20th century movement called “art brut” that celebrated art from shunned circles, like mental asylums. It was an interesting idea that worked on the more simple silhouettes.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

lifestyle F a s h i o n

LE MOINE TRICOTE Fall-winter sees bright-eyed designer Alice Lemoine brimming with ideas. First of all, in the unique presentation of her Le Moine Tricote collection via three different mediums in three different rooms: there were edgy photos, vintage-looking video projections, and the clothes themselves on mannequins. Second of all, there were new ideas in the direction of the up-andcomer’s knitwear line itself, which saw the repertoire this season spun out to include stricter woven fabrics.

They provided a subtle but welcome contrast to the more feminine thick-knit tailored jackets in black, beige and gray. The strongest piece in the show was a fantastic black mid-length coat dress that had pockets, a lapel and sleeves in billowing wool to imitate fur.

Despite sporty flashes, the collection overall remained thoroughly feminine, thanks to the natural roundness of the thick-knit silhouettes. This season, ladylike is the name of the game. — AP

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lothing worn by Jennifer Lawrence in her Oscar-winning role as an outspoken young widow in comedy “Silver Linings Playbook” went up for auction on Tuesday, just two days after the Academy Awards ceremony. Memorabilia dealer Nate D Sanders put the skin-tight white dance pants, winter coat and sports bra Lawrence wore in the film up for sale in the online auction that will end today. The items are expected to fetch between $500 and $1,500 following the 22-year-old’s Best Actress win on Sunday.

“She’s now on the record for having an Academy Award, which definitely gives it (the items) status now,” said Laura Yntema, spokeswoman for auction house Nate D Sanders. “The Hunger Games” star also won awards from the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild in January for her “Silver Linings Playbook” performance. Five items, either worn by Lawrence or from her wardrobe on the film, are up for auction with starting bids at $100.

They include the custom-tailored skin-tight white pants Lawrence wore during the film’s climactic ballroom dance scene with co-star Bradley Cooper. The black, full-length double-breasted Moda International wool coat is a size six. The teal sports bra by Gap Body will be sold together with an extra-small blue Threads 4 Thought long-sleeved shirt.

The auction also has nine clothing items either worn or from the wardrobe of Cooper, and two items from the wardrobe of supporting actor Chris Tucker. Movie studios often hand off costumes to auction houses, where even small outfits can fetch high prices from fans and collectors.

—Reuters

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roatian designer Damir Doma was back on top form for fall-winter 201314 in a show that saw his slouchy style get an unexpectedly elegant makeover.

“Neo-corporate” was how the Raf Simons alumni described his smarter looks backstage. Although cropped futuristic tunics and zippered shift dresses aren’t exactly runof-the-mill office attire, the sleek long silhouettes were a welcome turn that saw Doma’s vibe get more sophisticated.

Autumnal shades produced a cohesive harmony in most of the wearable 31 looks.

Doma’s repertoire isn’t normally associated with the word harmony. But if there’s any worry that the Antwerp cool-kid is now grown up, mature and boring - fear not. The usual Doma DNA was still here, if muted.

Boxy jackets and classical menswear touches like stacked Chelsea boots as well as masculine fabrics like perforated wool and lacquered leather kept a fashion edge. “Yes, it’s sophisticated,” Doma said. “But she’s a rebel deep inside.”— AP

Damir Doma

KUWAIT: REDTAG Group, the Dubai-based value fashion chain, opened its tenth store in Kuwait on Thursday 21st February, 2013.

Located in Slayil, Jahra, the new store brings the total number of REDTAG locations in the Middle East to 108 outlets. REDTAG has dramatically altered the region’s retail landscape in a short span of time, offering a wide range of quality affordable fashion wear.

On the occasion of the store opening, Ernest J Hosking, CEO of the REDTAG Group, said, “All of us at REDTAG are proud of opening our 108th store at Slayil, Jahra, but we are not stopping here. The opening of our tenth store clearly proves that Kuwait customers welcome our belief that great value can be obtained at an affordable price and we plan to give them even more. The Slayil Jahra store will showcase our best collections, thereby

allowing our esteemed customers to pick up the latest fashion wear at very affordable prices. They can also expect to see new collections in the store regularly and frequently.”

Also commenting on the new store opening, Mohammad Javed Mallick, Country Manager at REDTAG, Kuwait, spoke on the new Spring Collection for 2013, saying, “‘As part of our women’s Spring 2013 collection, we will be boasting a new clothing line focused exclusively on our young women customers, those who are 20 - 28 years old.

This collection promises to bring the latest fashion trends to this customer group at our typically affordable prices.

99 shows, 22 countries: Bonjour Paris fashion week

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Part of the original collage art for the Rolling Stones album “Their Satanic Majesties Request”.

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he story of The Rolling Stones is so huge it takes more than two floors of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to tell. The US-based museum will open “Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction,” an exclusive exhibit celebrating the band, on May 24.

Part of the original collage art for the Rolling Stones album “Their Satanic Majesties Request”.

The exhibit will be open until March 2014 and will include personal and collected items that have never been seen by the public along with film, text and interactive components and periodic lectures on the band’s 50-year career. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and The Stones recently

This April 8, 1964 file photo shows The Rolling Stones during a rehearsal at an unknown location. — AP photos

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assers-by in Tokyo’s busy Akasaka district have started to notice something odd about a 40-floor hotel-it has shrunk to about half its original height. Slowly but surely, and with none of the explosions or dust normally associated with the demolition of skyscrapers, the hotel is being torn down. “In this demolition scheme, the building shrinks and disappears without you noticing,” said Hideki Ichihara, manager of Taisei Corp., the construction firm running the project. The Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka was built in the 1980s, a gleaming 140-metre (460 feet) symbol of a decade of extravagance when people almost had money to burn and Japan’s red-hot economy powered the world.

Now it is shrinking: losing two floors, or 6.4 meters, every 10 days, said Ichihara. The Japanese-developed Taisei Ecological Reproduction System (TECOREP) is a new process designed to contain the noise and dirt of a demolition, and recycle the energy pent up in a tall building. Engineers reinforced the top floor with steel beams and then effectively lopped it off, keeping it in place to be used as an adjustable lid that can be lowered down the building on an external support frame.

Workers at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka have brought in 15 hydraulic jacks on which this “lid” now sits as they remove one floor at a

Matt Seaman, collections assistant, handles the Rolling Stones album “Their Satanic Majesties Request” with the original collage art in the foreground.

held a series of concerts to celebrate their 50th year together, and there have been rumors of more activity. — AP

This Tuesday, Feb 26, 2013 photo shows part of a Charlie Watts drawing from 1966 that was published in a concert program now in the Rock Hall vault in Cleveland.

In this April 22, 1965 file photo, British rock and roll group, The Rolling Stones, arrive at Montreal Airport. They are Mick Jagger, top left, Charlie Watts, top right, Keith Richards, middle left, Brian Jones, middle right, and Bill Wyman.

time, carefully breaking apart the once-luxurious guest rooms. The materials are separated and, where possible, recycled. “By keeping this cap on top of the building, we can contain the noise and the dust significantly,” Ichihara said.

“Dust pollution is cut by more than 90 percent, keeping the environmental impact very small.”

The waste is lowered through a central well on a pulley system that generates the electricity used to power lighting and ventilation systems, said Ichihara, further reducing the environmental impact of the demolition.

The 30-year-old hotel-known locally as “Aka-Puri”, a contraction of the Japanese pronunciation of “Akasaka Prince”-was once a symbol of Tokyo’s glitzy lifestyle. At its height it was the epitome of luxury, with well-heeled guests willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a night in one of its luxury suites, or for its special Christmas Eve packages for lovers. However, the glitter rubbed off Japan’s economy with the bursting of the stock and real estate bubbles at the start of the 1990s. Luxury hotels gradually fell out of favor and some struggled to keep their guest books full. —AFP (From left) This combo picture, taken on November 10, 2012 and February 20, 2013 by Japanese construction company Taisei Corporation, shows a 40 floor luxury hotel Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka in central Tokyo. — AFP

Japanese construction company Taisei Corporation manager Hideki Ichihara displays a scale model of the upper part of the former 40 floor luxury hotel Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka in Tokyo. — AFP