4 Mar 2013

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MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Opposition groups join forces in new alliance Assembly panel approves anti-money laundering bill

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

Stop weeping and wailing over expats

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

L

www.kuwaittimes.net

RABI ALTHANI 22, 1434 AH

ately I noticed in the media a number of voices from amongst the Kuwaitis criticizing the number of expats in the country. This is nothing new. Some writers have exceeded the logic of common sense while whining about the expats. Every country has a right to determine its own demography. But the way many of our writers are portraying the entire issue is entirely wrong.

They are portraying the expats as some sort of invaders who have come and conquered us. They depict them as if these expats have caused unemployment in our country. I laugh my head off at such suggestions.

Which are these jobs, exactly? If we look at the jobs that the expats are doing, 90 percent of them are the ones that we Kuwaitis are not willing to do. Without mentioning the name of a columnist who raised a brouhaha about it, I would like to ask him: Which jobs exactly are the expats taking away from us? Are these the jobs at the Iranian baker’s shop where they have to wake up at 5 am to bake bread? Is it a taxi driver’s job, since he makes merely a few peanuts each month? Are these the jobs with the cleaning companies where they collect garbage morning and night? Is he talking about the jobs of waiters at small eateries or big restaurants? Is it the tailors’ jobs, Indians or Pakistanis living in small 3 x 4 rooms where tailors stitch dishdashas for our men? What about the jobs in the laundry services?

Or is he envious about the cooks working in sophisticated restaurants or small corner shops? Or whether our boys and girls would accept to work in small fast food outlets selling burgers and French fries? Are we jealous of the construction workers laboring at 2 pm in 50 degrees Celsius temperatures? Or should I continue further? The butchers selling meat? Would my son agree to be a butcher, sir, or yours for that matter? I ask this with due respect to all the butchers in the world because I do like meat. Or is it the guy who sits in the co-op for KD 200 a month whose job should be our target? My straightforward answer is that my daughter or son will not take up such a job.

Must we envy the salesmen’s jobs at Grand Avenues in retail shops? Have you checked the salaries of these salespersons in the lavish shops where they work from early in the morning till late at night and go home by bus? And you know how efficient our buses are. They are just like Dubai’s terminal. Or salespeople in retail shops around Kuwait? How much do they make? Would your son or my son take up such a job? Or is sharing such an opinion just your way to prove yourself as a patriot and a hero of the nation, Mr Writer?

Show me one Kuwaiti plumber who shows up when your kitchen sink’s pipe leaks? Who comes to your help when your car breaks down? Where do you take it? Have you visited the industrial area in Shuwaikh? Have you seen the way these boys work in the garages and inquired how much they get paid? It is easy to talk but to face facts is something difficult.

I forgot the gardeners and the drivers and the half a million maids who work in our households.

If you kick out all the expats, to whom will you rent all the buildings? To whom will we sell cars and who will eat in the restaurants where we eat? Be it a sambosa shop or a car dealership, how many are owned by Kuwaitis? Then we might sit at home and the government will give us salaries from the oil money. The day you see an expat carrying a building on his head at the airport, do stop him at the airport. If an expat lives for his social insurance and health insurance, then after 52 years, he will not have anything to stay for. So stop wailing and whining about the dysfunctional state of the country and find good enough reasons why we have high unemployment.

Now let me talk about what jobs we Kuwaitis are doing. We are all employed in ministry jobs. The army and police jobs are all reserved for us. Many of our sons are doctors. We only employ foreigners because the number of doctors that we have is not adequate. Kuwaiti nurses are very few. We have enough pilots in Kuwait Airways. Kuwaitis are in managerial and high posts in many government and private companies. The same applies to banks. Because we do not have enough Kuwaiti teachers, we do not have a Kuwaiti teacher who is unemployed. The kind of jobs that we Kuwaitis do not want, the establishments are often owned by Kuwaitis.

The employees are foreigners.

Please, I can go and on with this article and extend it into a book. Save us the headache and do not use this as an excuse for the corruption and the stalemate in Kuwait.

We need to fix our own house and not throw the blame at the expats’ doors.

Mr Writer mentioned that there was a certain nationality which is outnumbering Kuwaitis. He did not mention it but I will on his behalf. He is clearly talking about the Egyptians. Thanks to the iqama traders, these people sell their cows and all their belongings and give it to the iqama trader to obtain whatever job they can manage. It is not their fault. It is our system that is to be blamed.

The day we are ready to do these menial jobs, I assure you that the expats will leave.

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti opposition groups, trade and student unions and youth groups yesterday officially launched a broad-based alliance called the Opposition Coalition to reinvigorate the protest movement in Kuwait. The announcement was made by former MP Musallam Al-Barrak following a three-hour meeting at his residence. The groups agreed to form a general assembly for the new coalition that will consist of representatives of all the groups taking part in the new alliance.

In the statement, Barrak said that the Opposition Coalition aims at pressing for democratic and political reforms including the formation of an elected government, changing the election system to be based on a party system and to eventually achieve a full parliamentary system in Kuwait.

Other goals of the coalition is to continue to work to dissolve the National Assembly and scrap the single -vote law which triggered the ongoing standoff between the government and opposition groups. The new coalition will also strongly oppose the government’s security crackdown on opposition figures.

The main groups represented in the coalition include the Islamic Constitutional Movement, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Popular Action Bloc, a group of Salafists, the Progressive Movement, trade unions, the Kuwaiti students’ union in addition to a number of civil societies. Opposition groups and activists have been discussing the formation of the coalition for the past several weeks in a bid to form a strong broad-based opposition alliance capable of applying pressure on the government.

The constitutional court meanwhile yesterday postponed until April 1 challenges against the electoral law and several results of the Dec 1 Assembly elections in order to allow lawyers to prepare their final arguments. More than 50 petitions were submitted against the electoral law and results of the polls last year and the constitutional court has been reviewing the cases since then. The court, whose rulings are final, may rule that the amendment to the electoral law was unconstitutional and this will automatically dissolve the Assembly.

The appeals court meanwhile set March 25 the date to issue its verdict against a member of the scrapped 2012 Assembly Obaid Al-Wasmi over charges he allegedly insulted HH the Amir and instigated forces to disobey orders. Wasmi was acquitted by the lower court over the incident which took place at the diwaniya of former MP Jamaan Al-Harbash on Dec 8, 2010 when security forces beat up a number of opposition activists including Wasmi. The court also postponed the case of tweeter Hamed AlKhaledi until March 17.

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Assad defiant as rebels advance

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Chad kills Islamist leader Belmokhtar

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MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

LOCAL

Ministry sponsorship to replace kafeel system Employers should transfer iqamas after one year KUWAIT: The government is working to finalize a mechanism to eliminate the sponsorship system for expatriate workers through a system which allows private sector employees to be employed directly by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Al-Anbaa daily reported yesterday, quoting ministry insiders.

The proposed system reportedly allows workers to transfer their residency from their employer to the ministry instead. The sources who asked not to be named explained that companies can still hire expatriate workers and issue visas for them, but the employer would stamp the residency for one year before it is

transferred to the ministry. They further indicated that employees can still choose to keep their residency registered with their employers after the one-year deadline.

The proposed system is similar to a proposal currently studied by the parliament to establish a state-owned company that oversees recruitment of expatriate labor forces and retain residencies of foreign workers in the Gulf state.

“After the parliament approved amendments to the labor law with regards to article 125 that allowed for the establishment of the Public Authority for Organizing Expatriate

Labor Forces, establishing the recruitment company became unnecessary,” the sources said. The senior officials spoke to Al-Anbas daily on the condition of anonymity because insiders are not authorized to reveal the ministry’s plans to the media without permission or before they are officially announced. They did not provide a timetable for when the authority will be announced, but expected a “comprehensive law” to be released soon for its establishment “which enables it to have an independent administrative structure but remain under the umbrella of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor”.

Kuwait mulls writing off $6 billion in citizens’ debt Proposal could affect tens of thousands

Gulf Bank employees visiting hospitals during National and Liberation days.

Gulf Bank celebrates national days with children in hospital KUWAIT: Gulf Bank staff visited the Children’s Units at Farwaniya, Jahra, Razi and Ibn Sina hospitals to celebrate National and Liberation Day with patients and hospital staff on Feb 20 and 21.

The visits created a celebratory atmosphere for the children with cartoon characters, faces painting, a magic show, and other entertainment along with gift bags containing sweets and national day memorabilia which was distributed to all.

Gulf Bank also celebrated Kuwait’s National Day and Liberation Day by decorating the Head Quarters with the colors of the Kuwait national flag as well as an Instragram competition Gulf Bank has a long term commitment to supporting Kuwait’s community.

National and Liberation Day celebrations are an important part of Kuwait’s heritage and the Bank feels a responsibility to the community to celebrate this memorable occasion together.

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti MPs will this week debate a motion to write-off the interest accrued on Kuwaitis’ loans from local banks taken out prior to the global financial crisis, estimated to cost the government $6billion.

Under a draft law already approved, the government will purchase loans taken out prior to April 1 2008, and then reschedule the repayments while writing off the interest. The proposal could affect tens of thousands of Kuwaitis.

The Kuwait Central Bank estimated the move would cost KD1.7billion.

However, the legislation is yet to be fully approved after some MPs said it was unfair to Kuwaitis who were not affected by the financial crisis.

In a compromise, they suggested the government also pay KWD1,000 to every Kuwaiti who would not benefit from interest write-off. Cabinet so far has indicated it does not support the proposed legislation due to the high cost.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait National Assembly’s Financial and Economic Affairs Committee held yesterday the first discussion of public tender draft law.

The deliberations were attended

by Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah.

In press statements following Sunday’s session, the Committee Chairperson Safaa Al-Hashim said that the Committee members have

thoroughly discussed the bill as well as the state central tender agency and Ministry of Finance’s remarks and reservations.

She noted that one of the most important recommendations of the cancellation of the local agent condition for purchasing public property as well as new mechanism for tender envelops opening.

“To turn Kuwait into an investment-friendly financial and commercial hub, we have to cancel the local agent condition and tackle other conditions which were of major concern for local investors and foreign partners in the past years,” Al-Hashim added.

Meanwhile, Al-Hashim disclosed that the committee will resume discussions with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mustafa AlShimali on a bill to write off interests accrued on citizenry loans in banks during the period from January 2002 to April 2008.

Meanwhile, the council of ministers will finalize at a meeting a new mechanism to finally move towards resolving the housing crisis in Kuwait, ministerial sources said.

Sources said that the Minister of Communication and State Minister for Housing Affairs, Eng. Salem AlOthaina, will present to the cabinet a pragmatic vision plan which will lead to a quantum jump in contracting housing units of all kinds as per a new philosophy of housing care.

The proposal included waiving off

lengthy tendering procedures and prior supervision by the Audit Bureau. Instead, the government will set up a committee that will include representatives of all government stake holders and will be headed by the housing authority to achieve the results in a speedier fashion by avoiding bureaucratic red tape.

In the meantime, sources revealed that His Highness the Prime Minister has issued instructions to speedup the execution of decrees and laws to

Kuwaiti wins Date Palm Award ABU DHABI:Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf, a Kuwaiti date palm planter, won the first place for the category of distinguished producers of date palm trees in Khalifa International Date Palm Award in the United Arab Emirates.

The announcement of his win came during the honoring ceremony for the winners in the fifth edition of the Award in Abu Dhabi.

Al-Mudhaf is the founder and general manager of Al-Baraka international food (Baraka Dates) and achieved the first place for best production of dates.

He was cited for setting up private farms that grow several varieties of palms, establishing a factory for pressing and producing dates, establishing a company whose primary function is spreading palm cultivation and provide special services for amateur farmers.

Al-Mudhaf also set up a marketing company for all types of palm products where he propagates at least 13 products of the best types of palm trees, making them accessible to farmers at affordable prices.

He also contributed in setting up seminars and lectures in cooperation with official authorities and has planted more than 220,000 Palms in Kuwait. In 2004 he established a specialized company in marketing dates (Al-Baraka international Food) which is considered the largest dates marketer in Kuwait. —- KUNA

Drug overdose killed 86 last year He was eventually rescued and taken to a hospital by medical emergency men for treatment.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Eighty-six people died in Kuwait last year as a result of drug overdose, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting official statistics.

Meanwhile, an insider who provided the statistical report to Al-Qabas said there was a “significant increase” in the number of reported drug overdose deaths compared to 2011.

The statistics were released by the Interior Ministr y ’s Criminal Evidence General Department which, according to the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also discovered traces of toxic substances mixed with drugs recovered from traffickers and addicts. The tactics was employed to increase their volume.

The source called for joint efforts “to protect young people from the hazards of drugs,” noting that the number of drug addicts was on the rise according to official statistics. He further indicated that many addicts were being lured towards drugs such as captagon which were projected as “stimulating substances that help improve thinking or for body building.” He said there was a need to launch awareness campaigns.

Child found The Ministry of Interior’s security media appealed to the people to help find the parents or guardians of a four-year-old boy who was found at the Hawally Park. The child was wearing a red t-Shirt, and gave out his name as Jassem.

He is currently in the custody of the Maidan Hawally police who are trying to identify and trace his parents. Security media personnel called upon citizens and expats to help find his parents so that the child can be reunited with his family.

Man stuck in elevator Fire fighters had to breach a Salmiya restaurant’s wall in order to access its service elevator

The child who was found in Hawally yesterday. meant to carry food in order to rescue a man who had gotten stuck inside.

Fire department received a report at midnight last night about the emergency situation at the restaurant in Salmiya’s Salem Al Mubarak Street.

South Salmiya fire center responded to the distress call and sent a rescue team which found that the man was stuck in the elevator meant only for food delivery. The elevator was not compliant with passenger safety norms.

The firefighters found that the first floor could only be accessed through the food elevator and there was no door. The situation forced them to breach the outer wall of the restaurant to create an access route. Firemen found the man’s hands had gotten stuck inside the elevator ropes, a situation that later resulted in the man losing some of his fingers.

Road accidents A motorcycle accident in Al-Shaab area in front of Sheikh Saad Palace left a 33-year-old Kuwaiti man with a fractured left foot and a 24year-old Kuwaiti man with multiple injuries. Both were taken to the Mubarak Hospital.

A car accident on Al-Ghazali Road near the Fourth Ring Road left injured a 27-year-old Indian expat and a 27-year-old Kuwaiti man.

Both were taken to the Al-Sabah Hospital.

A car accident on Al-Nowaiseeb Road, opposite McDonald, left a 27-year-old Kuwaiti man with a fractured collar bone. A 28-year-old Oman expat suffered a head injury in the same accident. Both were taken to the Al-Adan Hospital.

A motorcycle accident on the Arabian Gulf Road opposite Kentucky left a 30-year-old expat with a skull fracture. He was taken to the Mubarak Hospital and admitted to its intensive care unit.

An Egyptian expat, 55, died in a car accident at Al-Nowaiseeb Road near the security check point which also left another 30-year-old compatriot of the deceased with a neck injury. He was taken to the Al-Adan Hospital.

A car accident on Salem Al-Mubarak Street opposite Al-Marina in Salmiya left a 33-year-old Filipina woman with multiple injuries. She was taken to the Mubarak Hospital.

A car accident in Al-Jahra opposite the central telephone exchange left a 21-year-old Saudi man with back pain while another 20-year-old Saudi man sustained multiple injuries. Both were taken to the Al-Jahra Hospital.

A 25-year-old Egyptian expat, who was hit by a passing car at Hawally behind the Al-Qadisiya Club, suffered a fracture in his right thigh. He was taken to the Mubarak Hospital.

KUWAIT: Opposition leaders gather at the diwaniya of former MP Musallam AlBarrak in Andalous yesterday where they agreed to form a broad-based opposition coalition. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Opposition groups join forces...

Continued from Page 1 Khaledi is accused of using Twitter to insult the status of the Amir. The defendant is implicated in other similar cases too.

Separately, the Assembly’s legal and legislative committee yesterday unanimously approved the anti-money laundering and terror funding draft law following a marathon meeting. The bill will be placed on the agenda of tomorrow’s

Assembly session. The legislation aims to close loopholes in an existing law that has failed to handle suspected cases of money laundering and terror funding.

The financial and economic affairs committee will meet today with Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali to finalize the solution over demands by MPs to waive interest on loans taken by Kuwaitis between 2002 and 2008.

Shamali did not attend a meeting scheduled for yesterday.

ensure a luxurious life for the Kuwaiti citizens and help them meet their day to day requirements.

Three decrees and laws were topped the priority list and concerned parties have already reviewed these. Some of them require “regulations” while others require choosing “alternatives” as many years have passed since these were issued and approved by the council of ministers.

A fourth law was also on the drawing board.

KUWAIT: Firemen in action after a man was stuck in the elevator.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

LOCAL

Eating habit, lifestyle in Kuwait must change Diabetes, obesity cases increase

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receiving yesterday at Seif Palace visiting Bhutanese Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck.

GCC delegation attends TRIPS Council meeting in Geneva RIYADH: GCC General Secretariat delegation participates in the next meeting of the TRIPS Council (Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights) in the World Trade Organization WTO to be held in Geneva on March 5 and 6.

The delegation is headed by Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs in the GCC General Secretariat, Abdullah Juma Al-Shibli.

This meeting is the first meeting for the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council after being granted observer status in TRIPS Council, during its last meeting held in Geneva on November 6-7, 2012.

This enables the GCC General Secretariat to participate in the TRIPS Council meetings and interact with latest developments and topics on the Council’s agenda.

It will also contribute to strengthen and

activating the positive role played by the GCC General Secretariat represented by the Office of Patent regarding the protection of intellectual property rights in the GCC countries.

The GCC delegation is scheduled to meet with ambassadors of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries concerned with the World Trade Organization issues in Geneva, on sidelines of their participation in the TRIPS Council meeting, to exchange views on many topics related to the WTO and issues of common interest, as well as to discuss ways to prepare for the next phase of multilateral trade negotiations and ways to strengthen and activate the mechanism of cooperation, coordination and consultation between the GCC countries and the role of the General Secretariat in this field. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Poor eating habits, sloth or simple laziness are not only commonly found but have unfortunately become acceptable ‘lifestyles’ in Kuwait nowadays that need to change, says a Scottish endocrinologist. Speaking to the Kuwait Times, Dr Robert Skelly, consultant endocrinology/diabetes at Taiba Hospital said the lifestyle of people in Kuwait must change before it becomes too late.

“People here stop in front of the baqalas (shops) without getting out of the car and wait for the shopkeeper to take their orders. It is quite common here and I found it unhealthy to some extent. I have never seen such lifestyles in any of the countries. All of us need exercise. We have to do that, especially if you are in the age group of 30-35 or above. As your metabolic patterns decline, the body’s need for exercise increases. Instead, people here are indulging themselves by eating more fatty foods and carbohydrates. The body cannot remain as efficient as it was,” he said.

Dr Skelly has come to Kuwait to deal with the growing incidence of diabetes and obesity with a special attention to lifestyle changes and health checkups. He intends to look for early markers of cardiovascular disease and will be forming a team to deliver high quality bariatric surgery in Kuwait.

“Drugs should only be used if the patient does not respond to diet and only simple drugs in all cases except very serious ones,” he said. Dr Skelly noted that eating habit in Kuwait must undergo a change. “People here are into more and more food, fast-foods and lot of food. You know there is a lot of evidence that suggests that a diet with lesser carbohydrates promotes better lifestyle. Atkins diet is one, and very helpful too. If your diet is high in carbohydrates, then it could be creating too much problem for your pancreas because pancreas are really working hard, thus reducing its lifespan. In such a scenario, blood sugar will be high

too,” he mentioned. The most common diabetes disorder is connected to lifestyle. According to a study, Kuwait has a 24 percent rate of diabetes. Type two diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and 90 percent of diabetic people have this, according to Dr Skelly. Type two diabetes appears late in life, and commonly afflicts obese people.

There are studies that suggest that diabetes was prevalent among people of a certain race. According to Dr Skelly, the reasons for this are not clear but an interesting hypothesis suggests that perhaps more than a 100 years ago, these genetic formulations sur vived when food was scarce in the world.

“Now, food is in plenty and we do not need to fight for food anymore. But as a collateral result, , diabetes is prevalent in many countries. Countries where the disease is most commonly found are in East Asia, the Caribbean, India, and among the Hispanics. In India, which has a population of 1.2 billion, there is about 25 percent type two diabetes that is prevalent.

The affliction has now assumed global proportions and hence prevention is very important. Studies in the US have found some interesting facts. They found that if the mother (conceiving a baby) has blood sugar, there is a high probability that the baby will also inherit diabetes,” Dr Skelly said.

He advised people to reduce their intake of food high on carbo such as pastas, rice, kubos (bread) and potatoes. He said the best method was to increase the intake of vegetables and fruits. “One thing I found here in Kuwait is that people tend to consume a lot of dates. Dates are considered as very rich in sugar. They need to reduce the intake of dates too,” he added.

Dr Skelly who was previously trained in Longwood area medical program and Joslin Diabetes Centre (Har vard, US), St. Bartholomew’s and Royal London Hospital in the UK, said certain common factors bind diabetes patients.

Dr Robert Skelly “Diabetic patients come to us and think they can be cured by the doctors. No, they are cured by their own desire to live and help themselves. That always comes with education. I think one of our missions is to help patients but on the other hand, they also help us with a lot of feedback.”

“It is a challenge for us doctors and educators to bring the message correctly across the board,” he observed. Another challenge he mentioned was the fact that some patients discover their diabetes problem at a much later stage. “So these people will be scared; they don’t want to take insulin because they have heard that people taking insulin will be amputated. We should be really acting much earlier though; so we need to educate and bring the message to everyone at the earliest,” he quipped.

A specialist in pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal disorders, andrology, diabetes and hypertension, Dr. Skelly was brought to Kuwait to create a bariatric surgery center here. Bariatric surgery is a stage in which treatment of obesity would be necessary. Skelly said

Taiba Hospital was in a very good position to come up with bariatric center to treat people with obesity problem.

“We are doing the research in Kuwait because we knew the effect of bariatric surgery. For example we knew that after surgery, there are a number of reported cases of suicides. We are here to support and give adequate advice because people who undergo surgery can believe that they were being deprived of food. If you take away food from them, they become depressed. So we have to act in he patients’ best interest. Taiba Hospital will be ready for this in nine months. There are bariatric surgery centers here in Kuwait but in Taiba Hospital, we will provide more improved and quality services. The bariatric surgery right now in Kuwait is quite unregulated.

There is hope for those afflicted with diabetes through bariatric. So we want to educate the patients more. It is not easy and we want to prevent amputations. But they have to come to the hospital and be treated for the disease,” he explained.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

LOCAL

the column

kuwait digest

Chasing the elusive future!

Al-Khatib plays with wolves

By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed

E

veryone I’ve met has tried to make excuses for Shaikh Moaz Al-Khatib, leader of the Syrian National Coalition, ever since he attempted to swim against the opposition tide by calling for negotiations with the regime, on favorable terms. However, as expected, the regime has responded by manipulating both Al-Khatib and his initiative.

Some have claimed Al-Khatib simply wanted to satisfy the countries insisting on pursuing a peaceful solution, while others believed Al-Khatib actually wanted to embarrass the regime. Some thought AlKhatib, as the newly appointed leader of the coalition, wanted to present a different image of the opposition away from the killing and fighting, in order to reinforce its multidimensional nature. Others suspected that Al-Khatib only launched his negotiations initiative due to pressure from certain funding countries that were under pressure themselves because of their silence and reluctance.

So what is actually wrong with going down the political path and seeking to engage in peaceful negotiations? In theory, nothing, but this approach can only be adopted in one of the following two cases: The first is that the fighters have become convinced that their project for change has failed, and that the revolution has reached a dead end, and thus they will try to cut their losses as much as possible in exchange for surrendering their weapons. However, this is not true.

Although the conflict has been ongoing for many months and although the regime is still standing, the opposition fighters are still making progress. The second case is that fighters on the ground have actually made great strides in the process of overthrowing the regime, and now they believe the bloodshed can come to an end as the regime is ready to leave power under reasonable conditions. But this is also not true

Al-Khatib’s intention was to embarrass the Syrian regime by presenting a political initiative that he knew Assad would turn down. This would also embarrass the Russians in particular, who have been calling for dialogue for over a year. Of course, it was a maneuver and not a frank proposal. But it was a maneuver against a regime that has mastered the art over the past 40 years.

We must also not forget that Iran, the regime’s main ally, has been maneuvering against the West with regard to negotiations on its nuclear program by procrastinating and making empty promises. because the regime is still fighting, and it still controls several important areas.

I believe, as do many of his sympathizers, that AlKhatib’s intention was to embarrass the Syrian regime by presenting a political initiative that he knew Assad would turn down. This would also embarrass the Russians in particular, who have been calling for dialogue for over a year. Of course, it was a maneuver and not a frank proposal. But it was a maneuver against a regime that has mastered the art over the past 40 years.

We must also not forget that Iran, the regime’s main ally, has been maneuvering against the West with regard to negotiations on its nuclear program by procrastinating and making empty promises.

Furthermore, Assad manipulated the Lebanese for years and has betrayed almost all countries in the region. So what experience does the opposition leader have to enter such as wrestling ring?

And just look how Assad responded! He waited for Al-Khatib’s specified deadline to pass and then responded a day later. This was the beginning of Assad’s maneuvers. He wanted to turn the tables on the opposition and so he presented a proposal that was even better: The Syrian minister of information addressed the opposition asking them to return to Damascus, guaranteeing their safety. He called on them to negotiate with the regime in any manner they wished, and if they disliked the outcomes they could leave at any time without the threat of judicial or security pursuit.

Assad was clearly trying to call Al-Khatib’s bluff and embarrass the opposition in front of the world. In this regard, he has many more cards to play. For example, he could release thousands of detainees in exchange for nothing, just to show he has good intentions, or he could issue passports to some opposition figures.

What would Shaikh Moaz do then? Would he go to negotiate? If he did, he would divide the opposition and disrupt any revolutionary momentum. The fighters would immediately think that their coalition had abandoned them and that countries supporting them had sold them out. However, if Al-Khatib rejected the offer to negotiate, he would look like an amateur bluffer in front of the world’s superpowers.

There are currently more questions than answers, but let us consider the following: Is there any factor within the opposition or on the battlefield at present to imply that Assad is really ready to commit to a peaceful solution and end his rule?

This is inconceivable. Therefore, everyone must realize that it is not yet time for a peaceful solution.

The revolution has not been defeated and the regime will not fall within a matter of days. The opposition must redouble their efforts to support the fighters on the ground and unite their leaderships.

They must also insist on a military solution because despite the bloodshed, this is the only way to limit further suffering. Whatever Moaz Al-Khatib and his supporters think, it is no longer possible for the Syrian regime to remain in power in any form, given the deep hatred entrenched among millions of Syrians.

By Fouad Al-Obaid

fouad@kuwaittimes.net Twitter:@fouadalobaid

I kuwait digest

James Bradley’s mentality

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

T

his is a true story that I would like to share. I will ing nor is it an attempt to praise his parents for the narrate it exactly the way it happened. I was way they raised him. His parents certainly had no role with my wife and our grandson James Bradley, in improving a mindset since James obviously was my stepson’s son who was nine-year-old at the time. not born with it. This mentality was created and nurWe had gone to an electronics mega store to buy tured by the American society, and was taken care of some stuff for our computer. As usual, James tagged by the school there.

This is the main difference between their schools along as he knew he can always make us buy him a video game, a rite of passage for him at that age. As and ours. The duty of their schools is to support the we were going to the video games section, a little girl system as well as instill loyalty and a sense of followwho looked a year or two younger than James, literal- ing the law within students. Children in their schools ly ran into us. She was all alone, and seemed of Arab are trained from a young age to be self-reliant, to origin as she sported a headscarf which covered her form their own opinions and to defend those opinentire head, hair and neck. She seemed happy, frolick- ions. They teach and train them to express their point ing about, singing and jumping all over, perhaps of view while at the same time respect others’ opinbecause she momentarily found herself free from her ions and beliefs. And this doesn’t happen by chance or as per the school’s aspirations, but in accordance parents’ supervisory gaze.

My wife, who has a thing against hijab and niqab, with the curricula and classes allocated for this purespecially because at the time the subject was a pose. James defended the Muslim girl’s hijab despite his grandmother’s criticism of major issue in the French society and despite the fact This is the main difference it. Here, our schools work that we are in America - first yelled, “What the hell?” She between their schools and ours. against the system, the state, was reacting to the way the The duty of their schools is to sup- the law and the constitution. even work against childchild was attired, and then let port the system as well as instill They hood and humanity. ‘Haram’ loose a volley of criticism. Of course, my wife was express- loyalty and a sense of following is a common concept in text ing her objection on two the law within students. Children books where students are that the afterlife is the counts: first and foremost in their schools are trained from a taught goal. The child is being was about forcing hijab on a girl of that age, and second young age to be self-reliant, to taught that democracy is prowas the fact that the child form their own opinions and to hibited - This actually hapat the Khaldiya Middle was left alone in the sprawldefend those opinions. They pened School during the tenure of ing store, something considered a major issue in the teach and train them to express the late Ahmad Al-Rab’ei as American society given the their point of view while at the education minister in the earnineties) - while fundamenrisks that a child could be vulsame time respect others’ opin- ly talism is being spread among nerable to. “For Christ sake, students. Each school is she’s only five,” my wife went ions and beliefs. required to make the stuon - tr ying to bolster her argument by portraying the girl as even younger than dents memorize loads of useless information, not for she possibly was - “how could they (her parents) force any other purpose except to divert their attention away from their miserable lives. The children thus are her into this?”

Her grandson, James, then said, and all too sponta- rendered oblivious to the groups that propagate darkness. neously, “So what? Maybe she likes it.”

I am talking about the groups that make sure that Practically speaking, the child liked the situation that she was in. Whether it was her hijab or the fact children’s minds are prevented from practicing any that she was free of her guardian’s gaze, she was form of mental activity. These groups claim ‘revolution’, ‘development’ and ‘Arab Spring’ these days. They clearly happy about it and singing in joy.

There are two morals from this story. The first one are the same people who insolently call for an elected is a message that my fellow citizens calling for an cabinet and accuse the government of confiscating elected Cabinet and a constitutional monarchy must people’s freedoms and rights, yet impudently attack understand. First, give us voters with James Bradley’s the rights of entire communities. It is alright for them mentality, not that of the parents who made sure to to restrict other people’s freedoms; in fact, they can maintain their seven-year-old daughter’s prudery do that while being protected by article 19 of the press law. They use educational textbooks - which while ignoring her safety.

The second is the difference between the nature of cannot be changed in private or public schools by law education that James Bradley received and what chil- - to support their arguments. After that, they come dren in the Kuwaiti society are taught. Before I go on, out and demand freedom, a constitutional state and let me underline that my purpose in sharing this story an elected cabinet while rallying public support is neither to complement James for his way of think- behind them. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

An epidemic of fake sick leaves

By Dr Naji Al-Zaid

H

ad Kuwait been hit by some serious epidemic, say a disease like salmonella, tuberculosis, meningitis or cholera, at least it would have been easier to understand why so many employees reported sick after the National Holidays, as news reports said.

Though I am thankful that no such epidemic actually struck Kuwait, I still feel perplexed by official statistics which indicated that public sector employees availed of nearly 65,000 sick leaves last Wednesday, which was the first day of work after the three-day long holiday. Incidentally, the three days of holidays had followed a two-day weekend. Of course, that is not inclusive of the sick leaves that employees availed of on Thursday, the last day before the weekend and holidays combo.

Is it logical that thousands of people living in a small country like Kuwait could suddenly fall sick on two days? Should we not have noticed if some kind of epidemic had indeed spread? After all, it would most likely have affected a friend, relative or an acquaintance, given that so many reported ‘sick’. To be honest, we are no more surprised by such news reports now.

I wonder though how come there are doctors around who are willing to sign fake sickness certificates in such large numbers? It is neither acceptable

from a professional view point, nor from a moral one for the state departments, including primarily the Civil Service Commission and the Ministry of Health, to overlook such conduct. Apart from the financial component of the problem, the issue also involves questions of social behavior and professionalism. Why have there not been enough efforts to investigate this peculiarly large number of sick leaves that could not have gone unnoticed?

I hope that the health minister would issue orders once he is back from his current trip abroad to investigate the scandal and put in place a strict mechanism that eliminates the epidemic of fake sick leaves. While I do not wish to accuse those in the medical sector, but how do they plan to explain that 65,000 fell sick in the course of a single day, even if a serious outbreak had struck Kuwait?

It would be a huge disaster if the issue were to be ignored. The fact remains that we cannot hold accountable anyone in particular to bear the primary responsibility, nor do we know whose job is to fix this accountability. That is as true about this problem, as about any of the other catastrophes that hit Kuwait from time to time. One can at least hope that this time, we will make an exception and get to the root of the scam. — Al-Qabas

n Kuwait it is not unusual to hear a word almost everywhere you go, and in almost every subject you can think about: ‘Inshallah’. The elusive word that means ‘if God wills’ is thrown here and there casually. Will we meet up tomorrow at 5pm? Answer: ‘Inshallah’. Will you travel tomorrow?

Answer yet again: ‘Inshallah’. Are you planning on getting married? Answer without much surprise: ‘Inshallah’. The word has become so casual that it is used as a ‘non-answer’ to many questions, for who could challenge the will of God! In answering questions with ‘Inshallah’ the local culture has set the tune for perhaps one of our greatest failures: the lack of accountability. If we have collectively learnt as a society to take all of our matters to the will of the divine, we absolve ourselves of any responsibility, which then reduces many of our peers to adult infants with no notion of duty.

At the macro level of the State, the notion of the future is not too dissimilar than that of the least common denominator, the citizen. We have created a Future Reserve Fund with mandatory yearly allocation to be used at a later stage as a rainy day fund that invests surpluses for ‘generation’s to come’ without specifying a timeframe for whom the intended generation is! You could conceptualize this fund as money your parents would take from your hard earned labor telling you that they will invest it on your behalf for when you are older without giving you any specific maturity date!

Sound economics you would be fooled into believing.

Yet such is what our government is attempting to make us believe, worse it won’t disclose publically the details of our investment, the return and the breakdown into what industry and country are we ‘investing’ the money for the generations to come. Then you come to factor uncontrolled events such as the financial crises and the write off of billions that just went to waste with no tangible return on investment.

Investment in itself is an interesting word, it is defined in as such: 1) The action or process of investing money for profit or material result. 2) A thing that is worth buying because it may be profitable or useful in the future. In taking the definition into account, building a new international airport is ‘worth buying because it may be profitable’, a revamped ‘educational system’ may be worth it in the long run delivering a quality workforce to further develop the nation in both the private and public sector. What is not profitable is investments that are not carried out in the country for they do not generate ‘useful’ or meaningful employment for nationals, nor do they encompass technology transfer and acquisition, nor to the best of my knowledge have lead to advanced manufacturing taking places in our country.

In essence we became captive to the whims of the global market where our investments lay, in the hope of one-day recouping our cash investment with profits to then ‘waste’ on one-time expenditures that would defeat the point of the investment in the first place. Hedging our current savings for the future is not in itself a bad thing, investing it in quality infrastructure and sounds economic policy in our country is a million times more profitable in the long run than squandering an elusive future return on cash by cash!

kuwait digest

Race-based discrimination

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

W

henever you see an Arab or a foreign expat flying a Kuwaiti flag in the street or on his car, or proudly sporting the state’s emblem on his chest, you should rest assured that he does so out of love for Kuwait and no other reason.

He loves you and loves your country and considers it as a part of his life. In many cases, he has been seeing Kuwait as a part of his entire life. Yes, the expats came here looking for a better life than the one they had back home. This made them our partners because they found they can get a better shot at life here. By themselves, they comprise an indirect appraisal of our country. Therefore, do not be surprised if they are seen flying our flag as they love it as much as we do.

Our country has been the first choice for many an immigrant. Even before oil was discovered, it used to receive immigrants. Anyone who disagrees either does not understand history or, worse, has no understanding of anything, and we do not know which is worse. The Kuwaiti dialect has absorbed words from many GCC countries, apart from Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian dialects. Expats have been responsible for this linguistic amalgamation.

It is true that we have not been affected to a large extent, but still such influences have been tangible. One can detect these in the many proverbs we use. It is akin to racism if we were to see our country as a closed one; it will be the worst form of racism if we, having opened up our country to the immigrants, were to look down upon those who came here to share our burden in building this country.

Also, when some one comes along and suggests that clinics in hospitals should be open to only Kuwaitis in the morning and to expats in the evening, that is racism. No sane person can advocate such race-based discrimination. Surely, no one who loves his country can do so.

Perhaps the most racist suggestion one hears is about a demand to nationalize all jobs and restrict the expats to jobs that involve cleaning or other lowly vocations. Can any sane person make that suggestion?

Jobs must be open to Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis equally. If it were left to humans to decide who got what jobs, three-fourths of the world population would have died from hunger and poverty. Thankfully, the question of livelihood rests in the hands of the creator. Personally, I also may wish that all jobs were nationalized, but government should have done so 25 years ago. How can anyone snatch the livelihood of expats or others now? If government did not act at the right time, why should we hold the expats responsible for its mistakes? —- Al-Anbaa

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

LOCAL

Airport security alert in anticipation of Abu Ghaith Instructions to detect any traces of plastic surgeries KUWAIT: Kuwait has taken extra measures to search aircrafts arriving from Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates amid information hinting that brother-in-law of former AlQaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, plans to return to the country which stripped him of his citizenship more than a decade ago.

This was reported yesterday by Al-Rai quoting a security source who gave some details about the nature of procedures carried out by the Interior Ministry at the Kuwait International Airport. “Passengers arriving from these countries were being put in buses that take them away as soon as they exit the plane directly to the passports department office to have their identities checked,” said the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Moreover, the source noted that officers

were given instructions to “detect any traces of plastic surgeries conducted to change facial features” and focus on using the iris recognition system.

Al-Rai spoke with a passenger who arrived on a Turkish Airline flight and he described the procedures he had to go through as “extreme” and “frightening.” “After the plane landed, police vehicles and ambulances surrounded it to the point that we felt something really bad must have happened,” said the passenger who requested anonymity.

“We later learnt that the high level of alert was based on information that Abu Ghaith could be coming to Kuwait.”

An Interior Ministry insider quoted in an Al-Anba newspaper report last week had denied rumors hinting that the former AlQaeda spokesman was supposed to arrive from Turkey last Monday. The unnamed

source also confirmed that Abu Ghaith had submitted three official requests to return to Kuwait “which were turned down because he no longer is a Kuwaiti citizen.”

Kuwait had revoked Abu Ghaith’s citizenship in 2001 after he was seen in video footage that appeared after the September 11th attacks, defending these acts of terror and threatening reprisals for the subsequent American invasion of Afghanistan.

Reports had indicated last month that Abu Ghaith reached Turkey after coming from Iran using a forged passport, and then attempted to seek political asylum. Abu Ghaith reportedly arrived in Turkey with his Saudi wife and daughter of the former Al-Qaeda leader, Fatima bin Laden, who was then repatriated to her home country. He had remained at an Ankara hotel until authorities arrested him after uncovering his true identity.—Al-Rai

CDB willing to open office in Kuwait

BRASILIA: Kuwaiti national celebrations in progress at the embassy.

Kuwaiti embassy in Brazil marks national days BRASILIA: The Kuwaiti Embassy in Brasilia marked the 52nd independence and 22nd liberation anniversaries in a grand ceremony hosted by Ambassador Yusuf Abdelsamad, with an impressive guest list.

The ambassador expressed his congratulations to His Highness the Amir and His Highness the Crown Prince and the Kuwaiti people on this occasion, while expressing thanks to the Brazilian Government and people for their hospitality and cooperation with the Kuwaiti diplomats on all issues. The ambassador sought this occasion to stress there is sincere effort on either side to further interaction and cooperation between the two nations, particularly in the fields of economy and trade.

On the Brazilian side and among the many notable guests, Foreign Undersecretary-general for the Middle East and Africa Paulo Cordeiro relayed greetings

and best wishes of President Dilma Rousseff to the Kuwaiti leadership and people on this national occasion. He stressed his country is keen on bolstering relations on a basis of mutual respect and noted, “we are, indeed, working on this with Ambassador Abdelsamad.”

Leading the guests at the celebration were senior representatives of the Brazilian government, Senators and MPs, heads of accredited diplomatic missions, senior state officials, and prominent cultural and media personalities.

As part of this celebration, the embassy organized different pavilions shedding light on aspects of Kuwaiti heritage and advancement, including one for publications and pamphlets offering a snapshot of the country which were distributed among the guests along with mementos related to this national occasion. — KUNA

JEDDAH: The Kuwaiti Consulate in Jeddah held a ceremony for females only late Saturday in celebration of the 52nd National Day and the 22nd Liberation Day of Kuwait. Ceremony supervisor and wife of the Kuwaiti Consul in Jeddah, Elham AlMethen said that this ceremony which is entitled “Kuwaiti Night” comes in celebration of the Kuwaiti national occasions. The ceremony included many traditional and folkloric presentations that reflect the Kuwaiti heritage.

Dashti returns home after Asian tour KUWAIT: Minister of State for Planning and Development and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Rola Dashti returned home Saturday following a tour that had taken her to South Korea and China.

Dashti visited Seoul to represent His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in the inauguration of new South Korean President Park Geunhye.

Dashti delivered a letter from Sheikh Sabah to President Park on the assumption of office, and invited her to visit Kuwait.

During her stay in Seoul, Dashti met with Chairman of Korean Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) which provides total integrated Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and discussed direct investment in Kuwait’s mega development plan.

Dashti also met with Vice-President of the Korean Development Institute (KDI) to discuss cooperation on exchange of knowhow, scientific and technical expertise in development, economic reforms, knowledge and technology development.

In Beijing, Minister Dashti conveyed an official invitation from His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah to China’s Vice-Premier Li Keqiang to visit Kuwait.

Dashti also met with China’s Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping, and Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Ming and discussed economic, political and cultural relations and cooperation.

Dashti also met with executives of Chinese companies and banks to discuss investment opportunities within Kuwait’s development plan. —KUNA

131 women eye prosecutor job KUWAIT: More than a 100 women submitted applications to the Ministry of Justice to work as prosecutors in Kuwait’s judicial system, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting a ministry insider.

“The ministry has so far received 269 applications for the prosecutors’ job, 138 of them submitted by men citizens and 131 by women citizens,” the sources said before noting that the applications have since been referred to the Supreme Judicial

Council for a decision to approve or reject them. Speaking to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity, the source noted that 216 of the applications were submitted by Law School graduates, out of which 125 were submitted by women. Nineteen applications including one from a woman were submitted by Faculty of Sharia graduates, while 34 applications including five forwarded by women citizens were submitted by graduates of foreign universities.

BEIJING: Vice-President of the China Development Bank (CDB) Yuan Li said here yesterday his bank was willing to open a branch in Kuwait.

Speaking at a meeting with visiting Kuwaiti Minister of State for Planning and Development and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Rola Dashti, Yuan said the CDB could have an office in Kuwait in order to work with the Kuwaiti financial sector and to bankroll Chinese companies wishing to work in Kuwait.

He said Chinese and Kuwaiti economies were complementary, noting that both sides had previously signed memos of understanding, especially in energy and transport.

He said his bank seeks to continue working with Kuwait in

energy and infrastructure projects with a view to bolstering and reinforcing bilateral relations.

Yuan lauded Kuwait’s development drive, which he said would surely encourage Chinese companies to join planned projects in the Gulf nation.

He said the CDB boasts long experience in the fields mentioned in the Kuwaiti development plan. He added that Chinese institutions and businesses explore fresh investment openings in other countries.

One of the goals of the bank is to help these companies to work abroad, including Kuwait, the CDB vice-president pointed out.

As Kuwait has investment potential, Chinese businesses will certainly seek to become key investors in the Gulf nation, he

said. However, he regretted that his bank does not have enough information about planned development projects in the State of Kuwait. He vowed to support development fields in Kuwait, mainly in oil industry and infrastructure by means of working with Chinese firms and Kuwaiti financial institutions.

For her part, visiting Kuwaiti Minister of State for Planning and Development and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Rola Dashti reviewed the history of bilateral relations, agreements and bonds, which date back over 50 years.

Kuwaiti-Sino relations are being deepened and developed especially on both economic and cultural levels, she said.

She hailed her country’s ambi-

tious development plan as including several development projects, where the private sector will be allowed to play a key role.

She voiced hope the Kuwaiti government’s partners worldwide, including its strategic partner China, would join the country ’s national development process.

Dashti thanked the Chinese bank for its willingness to open a branch in Kuwait to fund Chinese companies wishing to work there.

She believed that such a move would embolden Chinese companies to go to the Kuwaiti market and open new foreign investments openings. Chinese businesses are interested in economic sectors to be available to the private sector and world companies, she added. —KUNA

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

LOCAL

UN official to follow up Iraq-Kuwait issues UNITED NATIONS: UN official Victor Poliakov, who took care of the missing Kuwaitis and property files in the UN Secretariat since the eighties, will discuss the issues in Kuwait today with government officials. Poliakov was appointed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently to temporarily follow up these two humanitarian files until the Security Council decides by June on how to proceed, after the High-Level Coordinator Gennady Tarasov left his office in late December.

Ban offered the Council in a report last December a number of options to choose from on how to fill until June the vacuum created by Tarasov’s departure.

The options include replacing Tarasov with another full-time coordinator, appointing an interim coordinator, asking someone from the UN to assume the man-

date until the files are closed, or allowing the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to take over the files. When the council met in mid-December, it did not agree on any of the options, and therefore did not allow the mandate to be financed until a final decision is made.

While Russia wanted Tarasov to be replaced by another Russian, Western countries wanted the files to be handled by the UN Secretariat until the files are closed once and for all. Ban had personally wanted UNAMI to handle the files. Since the council remained deadlocked on the way forward, Ban wrote to the council late last month informing its members that he has mandated Poliakov to “temporarily follow up the dossiers” until the council decides on how to proceed when it meets again on the issues next June.—KUNA

Warba Bank employees honoured for campaign success KUWAIT: Warba Bank, the most recently opened Kuwaiti Bank offering Sharia compliant banking experience, honoured its employees for their hard work and commitment that resulted in the success of La T7aty Campaign. The award ceremony comes as a token of appreciation for the employees’ dedication to offer world-class customer service excellence to bank’s customers.

During his speech, Jassar Dakheel AlJassar, Chairman and Managing Director of Warba Bank said: “We celebrate our exceptional employees today and express our gratitude for their continued dedication towards providing high levels of quality service and customer satisfaction. Their positive performance and attention to details have become a common culture among most of our employees.” Al-Jassar expressed his gratitude to the awarded employees for their role in the overall development of the bank and its services, as he presented appreciation certificates and special gifts in recognition of the essential part they played in making the Lat7aty campaign great success.”

Al-Jassar stressed on giving customers full attention of their interests in order to meet their needs. He also urged the employees to work towards enhancing the banking services that it provides in a competing environment.

Jassar Al-Jassar concluded: “At Warba Bank, we appreciate the work of each employee and we also recognize the importance of the role they play. We are pleased to express our appreciation as this will encourage our employees to give more and also to love their work. I especially thank those who contributed to the success of La T7aty cam-

paign for their commitment and efforts and wish them continued success.”

Adnan Al-Salem, Chief Retail Banking Officer of Warba Bank said: “I would like to congratulate everyone on the success that has been achieved. The bank will continue to invest in its employees to keep the highest level of customer services provided and to upgrade their banking skills.”

He added: “This honoring aims at motivating the team to achieve more excellence in productivity and efficiency in an atmosphere dominated by the spirit of good competition to continue the positive results achieved by the bank.”

The distinctive “La t7aty” campaign that took place last year in September and ended in January this year has received a very positive response from customers. Customers who transferred their salaries during the campaign period were given an opportunity to qualify for the draw in order to win 12 Mini Coopers.

Warba Bank, an Islamic bank established by virtue of Amiri Decree, was officially registered in the Central Bank of Kuwait’s list of Islamic banks on the 5th of April, 2010. The state of Kuwait, represented by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), owns 24% shares of the bank while the remaining 76% of shares, fully subscribed by the government, have been equally allocated among all Kuwaiti nationals. Warba Bank offers a range of customized Sharia-compliant services and solutions which are available through the banks three divisions of Retail, Investment and Corporate Banking. Branching out in five strategic locations, Warba Bank has over 150 employees.

Salem Al-Utheina, Scott Gegenheimer

Kuwait Minister of Communications, Salem Al-Utheina with Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer, Zain Kuwait CEO, Omar Al-Omar, and other senior Zain Group executives.

Al-Utheina meets Zain executives at Barcelona Mobile World Congress KUWAIT: Zain, a pioneer in mobile telecommunications in Kuwait, received the Kuwait Minister of Communications, Salem Al-Utheina, at the Zain hospitality booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Scott Gegenheimer, Zain Group CEO and Omar Al-Omar, Zain Kuwait CEO, welcomed the Minister to the stand together with a host of senior Zain executives who were present.

The parties discussed a number of important issues regarding the latest developments in the telecommunications sector in Kuwait and across the globe.

Zain participates annually in the Mobile World Congress, given that it

is the most prominent industrygathering place, and is the assembly point for all significant mobile telecommunications industry players.

Zain Group enjoyed a significant presence at the Mobile World Congress this year, actively participating in discussions and meetings with a wide range of partners and interested parties with respect to the future direction of the mobile telecommunications sector.

Through its presence at and participation in the Mobile World Congress, Zain Kuwait seeks to explore and seize opportunities to help it remain one of the most inno-

vative operators in the country and region. Last year, for example, Zain became the first operator in Kuwait to launch a nationwide LTE network.

On the back of Zain Kuwait ’s advanced network infrastructure which has recently been bolstered by further investment in broadband speed and capacity - the operator looks to continue to reinforce its commercial and marketing prowess as part of its overall growth strategy.

Zain’s successful participation at the Mobile World Congress was also highlighted by its live demonstration of the ‘Cloud Campus’ social media-based learning service, in par tnership with Hamdan Bin

Mohammed e-University (HBMeU) and Global Learning as well as the signing of an agreement between Zain Kuwait and Huawei (a world leading global information and communications technology provider) to launch a first-of-its-kind Joint Innovation Centre which will serve as a research hub for the advancement of communications technology in the Middle East.

Additionally during the congress, Zain Saudi Arabia signed a strategic partnership agreement with Axiom Telecom to provide and distribute Zain products and offers directly via its over 400 branches and selling points throughout the Kingdom.

Husband, brother sought in Asian woman’s death Child molester in police custody KUWAIT: A woman was found dead inside her Farwaniya apartment while preliminary investigations indicated possible involvement of her husband and her brother, both of whom reportedly left the country hours before the body was discovered. Police reached the building on Saturday armed with a warrant after they received an emergency call reporting foul odor emanating from an apartment. The officers broke into the apartment and discovered the woman’s body. Preliminary tests conducted by criminal evidence officers revealed that the Asian woman had died about 72 hours before the body was found. She lived with her husband and brother, who were identified but were found to have left the country two days earlier. While investigations were on to determine the circumstances behind the woman’s death, detectives believed that her husband and brother could be involved since the apartment was locked from the outside before they left for the airport.

In a separate case, an Asian man was found dead at a bus stop in Salmiya on Friday night.

Paramedics and police reached the scene after a person reported finding a man in an unconscious state. The 44-year-old was pronounced dead on the spot and the body was taken to the forensic department to determine the time and cause of death. Investigations were on to determine the circumstances behind the death.

Shopkeeper scammed A trio of two women and a child conned and robbed a shopkeeper recently by first seeking his help to charge a phone and then decamping with his own phone and money. The police report said

the Lebanese man was approached by two young women accompanied by a boy of about 10 or 11 years of age. They sought his help in recharging their iPhone so that they can call their parents to come and pick them up from the mall. He led the boy to his office where his phone’s charger was located, and was then engrossed in a conversation with the women outside the shop. After the three left with a promise to return half an hour later to collect the phone, the man returned to his office only to find that there was no phone connected to his charger. Perplexed, he opened his drawer but was surprised to see that his own cell phone was missing along with his wallet. By then, the trio had already left the mall, leaving the shopkeeper with no other choice but to file a case with the Al-Rai police station. Police obtained surveillance camera footage showing the three thieves.

Greengrocer held A greengrocer was arrested for repeatedly molesting a child, as per a case reported at Khaitan police station recently. A Syrian taxi driver arrived with his 11-year-old son to report the case.

The boy gave a description of the Asian man who he claimed had molested him on different occasions and also told the police where he lived. The man, who was soon arrested, confessed to his crime during preliminary interrogation. He will remain in custody pending legal action.

‘Fowl’ play A man who went to a grocery store in Kabad to buy some frozen chicken found his vehicle, that

he had left for a few fleeting moments with its engine running, stolen. There was also cash in the stolen pick up truck. He was reportedly on his way to his camp when he decided to buy lunch for his camp’s keeper. The brief halt cost him not just the vehicle but also KD2500 lying inside. He reported the case to the Kabad police station.

Armed driver A reckless driver who first ignored orders to pull over was chased and intercepted in Salmiya where officers recovered an unlicensed gun from the vehicle. A patrol vehicle went in pursuit of the Bedoon (stateless) man after he ignored orders to pull over for speeding. He was eventually forced to a halt, and was later arrested when a firearm was found concealed in the car. He was taken to the proper authorities to face multiple charges.

Man run over A man and a woman who suffered minor injuries after a vehicle driven by a woman hit them later discovered that the driver was the injured man’s wife. Police and paramedics reported to a shop in Al-Rai where a hit-and-run accident was reported. After paramedics confirmed that the couple’s injuries were not serious, the man told officers that the person who hit him and his female employee was none other than his wife. He explained that he was in the market with his employee for some shopping at her request, when his wife happened to drive by and the accident happened. Police are now planning to summon the wife to confront her with her husband’s claims.

Indian business delegation visits 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 and Industry, Government of India, has organized a visit of an 11-member Indian business delegation to Kuwait from March 1 to 4. CAPEXIL, a non-profit organization, was setup in March 1958, to promote export of Chemicals and Allied Products from India. CAPEXIL has its headquarters at Kolkata with regional offices at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. It promotes India’s export of a wide spectrum of chemicals and allied products and connects foreign buyers with Indian exporters. It has more than 3500 members across the country. It is an ISO 9001: 2000 certified organization.

CAPEXIL product portfolio consists of 16 product groups, 13 of which are in the NonMineral Sector and 3 in the Mineral Sector.

These include animal bi-products, auto tyres and tubes, books, publications and printing, bulk minerals and ores, cement

and clinkers, ceramics and refractories, glass and glassware, granite, marble, natural stones and products, graphite and explosives, miscellaneous products, ossein and gelatine, paints and allied products, paper and products, plywood and products, processed minerals, rubber products. The share of exports of products under CAPEXIL canopy is 9.5% of India’s total exports.

During the year 2010-11 exports of products under CAPEXIL stood at Rs. 747.038 billion (US$ 16.42 billion approx.) in comparison to Rs. 621.27 billion (US$ 13.14 billion approx.) achieved in the year 2009-10 showing the export growth achieved of more than 20 % in Rupee term and 25% in US Dollar term.

The visiting Indian delegation accompanied by Satish C. Mehta, Ambassador of India interacted with Fahad Yacoub Al Jouaan, Board Member, Rabah A. Al-Rabah, Director General, KCCI and other senior officials of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) and businessmen yesterday.

A presentation was made by the leader of

the visiting delegation L. Rajamannar, Member Secretary (CAPEXIL) and also by the members of the delegation, followed by a question-answer session.

In continuation of the above event, a Buyer-Seller Meet (BSM) was organized at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Exhibition Hall, Ground Floor) on the same day from 11:30 am to 1 pm and

from 3 pm till 8:30 pm which was jointly inaugurated by the Head of the KCCI delegation and Board Member, Fahad Yacoub Al-Jouaan and Ambassador Satish C. Mehta immediately after the business meeting at Al- Boom Hall. The BSM provided an excellent opportunity to Kuwaiti companies to meet Indian manufacturers and exporters of sawn timber, commercial plywoods, marine

plywoods, flush doors, film-faced BWP plywood, garnet sand, ilmentite, rutile, marble, granite, sandstone, limestone, slates, polished granite slabs and 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. The companies which are participating in the BSM include M/s Cauveri Saw Mill; Sri Vijaylakshmi Saw Mill; Bhavani Timber Depot; Neeraj Granites; Victory Plywood Distributors; Shri Prempuriji Granimarbo Pvt. Ltd; Transworld Wood Pvt. Ltd; Vimala Note Book; DC Press Pvt. Ltd; and J.P. Paper Products.

The visiting delegates will also be available for any business query today at Hotel Kuwait Continental. For any further information Commerce Section of the Embassy of India, Kuwait may be contacted at: Tel 22571193 or 22530600 Ext: 211, Fax: 22525811, Email: commercial@indembkwt.org.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Assad refuses to quit, foes advance in north

Bangladesh deploys troops as protest toll hits 73 Page 12

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Bomb kills 25 in Pakistan Bomb explodes outside Shiite mosque KARACHI: A bomb blast killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens of others yesterday in a neighborhood dominated

by Shiite Muslims in the southern city of Karachi, Pakistani officials said.

The bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque as people were leaving evening prayers, said police official Azhar Iqbal.

Men, women and children were among those killed and wounded, he said.

At least 25 people were killed and 50 others were wounded, said a top government official, Taha Farooqi. He said some people are feared trapped in the rubble of buildings that collapsed in the bombing.

No one has claimed responsibility, but Sunni militants linked to al-Qaida and the Taleban have targeted Shiites in the past, claiming they are heretics. Initial reports suggest the bomb was rigged to a motorcycle, although a survey of the damage indicates there could have been additional explosives planted at the scene, the police official said. He said several buildings nearby had caught fire.

Sunni militant groups have stepped up attacks in the past year against Shiite Muslims who make up about 20 percent of Pakistan’s population of 180 million people. Two brazen attacks against a Shiite Hazara community in southwestern city of Quetta killed nearly 200 people since Jan 10. Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the bombings, which ripped through a billiard club and a market in areas populated by Hazaras, which are mostly Muslim Shiites. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies

helped nurture Sunni militant groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in the 1980s and 1990s to counter a perceived threat from neighboring Iran, which is mostly Shiite.

Pakistan banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 2001, but the group continues to attack Shiites.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 400 Shiites were killed last year in targeted attacks across the country, the worst year on record for anti-Shiite violence in Pakistan. The human rights group said more than 125 were killed in Baluchistan province. Most of them belonged to the Hazara community.

Human rights groups have accused the government of not doing enough to protect Shiites. After the Jan 10 bombing, the Hazara community held protests, which spread to other parts of the country. The protesters refused to bury their dead for several days while demanding a militaryled crackdown against the Lashkar-eJhanvi group. Pakistan’s president dismissed the provincial government and assigned a governor to run Baluchistan province.

No operation was launched against the militant group until another bombing in February killed 89 people. The government then ordered a police operation and has said some members of the group have been arrested. One of the founders of the group, Malik Ishaq, was among those detained and officials said he could be questioned to determine if his group’s is linked to the latest violence against Shiites. — AP

KARACHI: People and Pakistani rescuers work on the site of the bomb blast in Karachi yesterday. A bomb attack in Pakistan’s largest city Karachi yesterday killed at least 25. people, including women and children, and wounded 50 others, police said. — AFP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

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

Clashes between rebels and army erupt in central Sudan KHARTOUM/JUBA: Fighting has broken out between government forces and rebels in central Sudan, both sides said yesterday, in a possible escalation of violence that has hitherto been concentrated closer to the African country’s borders.

Rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) from the western region of Darfur said they had launched an attack on the army in North Kordofan state.

JEM and two other Dar fur rebel groups formed an alliance with a rebel group from southern Sudan, the SPLMNorth, in 2011 to try to topple veteran

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Fighting with the army has been so far mainly limited to Darfur as well as South Kordofan and Blue Nile states bordering South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan in 2011.

The state of North Kordofan is closer to the Sudanese capital Khartoum and a large producer of gum arabic, a substance extracted from acacia trees used by the food and drinks industry and an important sources earnings for cashstrapped Sudan.

JEM said it had seized the western area of Wad Bahr in North Kordofan from government forces on Saturday. “We

beat the army and seized many weapons,” JEM spokesman Gibril Adam said.

Authorities confirmed the fighting but said the army and security forces had repelled the rebels who had been trying to “steal from citizens”, according to the state-linked Sudanese Media Center (SMC).

“They suffered heavy losses,” North Kordofan’s governor Muattasim Mirghani told SMC, adding that the army had destroyed 12 rebels vehicles.

Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting the rebel alliance, a claim denied

by Juba. Both countries are locked in a

long list of conflicts over border territory and oil rights that almost led to war between the neighbours last year.

South Sudan’s army accused Sudan of having sent militias into the disputed region of Abyei, where peacekeepers monitor a ceasefire after fighting broke out in 2011.

“Villagers continued to be harassed and attacked by the pro-Khartoum government ... militia,” South Sudan army spokesman Philip Aguer said late on Saturday.

“More than 200 cattle and more than that number of goats have been looted by the same militia,” he said. There was

no immediate comment from Sudan.

In September, the African neighbours agreed to end hostilities and restart cross-border oil flows, the lifeline for both of their battered economies. But neither side has withdrawn their armies from the border as agreed, a legacy of decades of civil war which ended with a peace deal in 2005 and paved the way for southern secession.

Fighters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLMNorth) used to side with the south during the civil war and now complain, like the Darfur rebels, of marginalisation in Sudan. — Reuters

Assad refuses to quit, foes advance in north Accuses Britain of supporting terrorism

CAIRO: US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) gestures as he talks with Egyptian President (unseen) during a meeting at the presidential palace in Cairo yesterday.

Kerry met the Egyptian president as he wrapped up a trip to Cairo, where he urged divided factions to reach a consensus that would pave the way for economic recovery. — AFP

Kerry urges unity as he wraps up Egypt visit CAIRO: US Secretary of State John Kerry met the Egyptian president yesterday as he wrapped up a trip to Cairo, where he urged divided factions to reach a consensus that would pave the way for economic recovery.

Before going into talks with Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the US secretary of state met army chief Abdel Fatah alSisi. A US official travelling with Kerry told reporters the top American diplomat and Morsi met for two hours and discussed “the importance of building a political consensus”, and regional issues.

Kerry flew in to Cairo from Turkey on Saturday and urged a wide range of political and business leaders to reach a consensus, after months of political turmoil and unrest in Egypt. “There must be a willingness on all sides to make meaningful compromises on the issues that matter most to the Egyptian people,” Kerry told reporters after talks on Saturday with his Egyptian counterpart Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr. “We do believe that in this moment of economic challenge that it is important for the Egyptian people to come together around the economic choices and to find some common ground in making those choices.” Kerry’s visit comes with Egypt deeply divided between Morsi’s mainly Islamist allies and a wide-ranging opposition that accuses the president of failing to address the country’s economic needs and political concerns.

Kerry earlier said he would discuss with Morsi yesterday ways in which the United States could help Egypt recover from its economic crisis. “And I emphasise again, as strongly as I can, we’re not here to interfere, I’m here to listen,” Kerry said.

A State Department official told reporters that Kerry would also discuss anti-semitic remarks Morsi made before he was president and has since backtracked from. But “the primary goal here is to encourage his - to encourage his work that he did with Israelis in getting the Gaza ceasefire,” he said, of an Egyptian-mediated truce that ended eight days of fighting in November between Israel and Islamist Hamas. Meeting some of Egypt’s business leaders, Kerry stressed the importance of a

$4.8-billion IMF loan, which is partly conditioned on a measure of agreement between the nation’s divided factions.

“It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy gets stronger, that it gets back on its feet,” he said. “It is clear to us that the IMF arrangement needs to be reached. So we need to give the marketplace the confidence.”

Kerry said Washington was prepared to help Egypt, which has seen its foreign currency reserves slide to a critical level and the Egyptian pound lose around eight percent against the dollar.

On his first tour as secretary of state, Kerry met British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before coming to Cairo.

“All of them are prepared to be helpful but all of them believe that Egypt needs to make some fundamental economic choices,” he said. On Saturday, Kerry began the Cairo leg of his tour by meeting Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi and later held talks with the League’s former chief Amr Mussa. As he began his trip, dozens of protesters burned his pictures outside the foreign ministry and chanted against perceived US support for Morsi.

But Kerry insisted that Washington was not biased towards any party. “I make it particularly clear today on behalf of President Obama and the American people that we come here as friends for the Egyptian people, not for one government, or one person or one party or one ideology but for the Egyptian people.”

On Saturday, Kerry also spoke with Mohamed ElBaradei by telephone.

ElBaradei and opposition figure Hamdeen Sabahi had refused to meet him in person.

The two along with Mussa are leading figures in the National Salvation Front, a coalition of liberal and leftist parties opposed to Morsi, which has announced a boycott of elections that begin next month.

The president has called for staggered parliamentary elections to start on April 22. The NSF said it would boycott the polls, expressing doubts over their transparency. — AFP

Retrial of Mubarak and sons set for April 13 CAIRO: An Egyptian court set the date yesterday for a retrial of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, his sons and top aides, ordering the politically fraught hearings over the killing of protesters to start just nine days before parliamentary elections next month.

Mubarak, who was toppled in a popular revolt in 2011, was jailed for life for ordering the killing of demonstrators, but was later granted a retrial by a Cairo court. The 84-year-old is now being treated in a military hospital.

His sons and other figures have also faced charges of corruption and squandering public funds, due to be reheard.

“Samir Abu el Maati, the head of the Appeals Court has set April 13 as the retrial date for former President Hosni Mubarak, his two sons Gamal and Alaa and his interior minister Habib el-Adly and six of his top aides ... on charges of killing of protesters during the January 25th revolution,” MENA state news agency said.

The retrial could raise tensions at a time of political and economic turmoil in Egypt, which has seen waves of street unrest throughout the two years since Mubarak stepped down. New Islamist President Mohamed Mursi accuses his supporters of fomenting some of the unrest.

The hearings are likely to overlap with

the parliamentary vote, which begins on April 22 and will be held in four stages until late June. Many opposition parties say they will boycott the elections called by Mursi.

Mubarak was ousted in February 2011 after 30 years in power and was the first Arab ruler to be brought to court by his own people.

Businessman Hussein Salem, convicted in absentia in 2011, sentenced to seven years in jail and fined more than $4 billion for money laundering and profiteering, is also due to be retried for selling cheap gas to Israel and squandering public funds. — Reuters

Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak

DAMASCUS: President Bashar al-Assad insisted he will not step down and blasted Britain’s support for his armed foes who reportedly killed dozens of soldiers yesterday in attacks on a police academy in northern Syria.

“We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms,” Assad told Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper, in a rare interview conducted last week at his AlMuhajireen palace in Damascus.

“We can engage in dialogue with the opposition, but we cannot engage in dialogue with terrorists,” he said in the videotaped interview.

His offer of talks was aired as UN chief Ban Kimoon and his Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said they were prepared to broker peace talks between the Assad regime and the opposition.

A joint statement by the pair said the UN would “be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between a strong and representative delegation from the opposition and a credible and empowered delegation from the Syrian government”.

The offer came after both sides in Syria had indicated a “willingness to engage in dialogue”, the UN said. In Iran, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that Assad, a close ally of Tehran, would contest a presidential election next year and it was up to the Syrian people to choose their own leader.

Syria is locked in a two-year-old conflict in which the United Nations estimates more than 70,000 have been killed. But Assad rejected the idea of standing down to end the bloodshed.

“If this argument is correct, then my departure will stop the fighting,” the president told The Sunday Times. “Clearly this is absurd, and other recent precedents in Libya, Yemen and Egypt bear witness to this.”

Assad turned his sights on Britain, accusing London of seeking to arm the rebels. “How can we expect them to make the violence less while they want to send military supplies to the terrorists and don’t try to ease the dialogue between the Syrians?” he asked.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for changes to a European arms embargo on Syria “so that we can provide a broader range of support to the National Coalition”, the opposition umbrella group.

Assad ruled out any mediation role for Britain,

DAMASCUS: In this image taken from video filmed on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 and released Saturday evening, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks during an interview with the Sunday Times, in Damascus, Syria. Iran and Syria condemned a US plan to assist rebels fighting to topple Assad on Saturday and signaled the Syrian leader intends to stay in power at least until 2014 presidential elections. — AP saying: “We don’t expect an arsonist to be a fire- tral prison located in the northern part of the fighter.” On a reported Israeli air strike near provincial capital after clashes that lasted days,” Damascus in January, Assad said his country said the group, which relies on a vast network of would retaliate. “Retaliation does not mean mis- activists on the ground and medics for its inforsile for missile or bullet for bullet. Our own way mation.

The prison takeover came as battles raged does not have to be announced,” he said.

On the ground in the mainly opposition-held Saturday on the outskirts of the city of Raqa north, rebels yesterday killed more than 34 gov- between rebels and Syrian troops, the ernment forces in an attack on a sprawling Observatory said.

Sixteen rebels and 14 soldiers were killed in police academy in Aleppo province, a monitorthe fighting, which the Observatory said was ing group said.

They “seized control at dawn of large parts of “the most violent in the region” since the upristhe police academy” in Khan al-Assal, after eight ing against Assad erupted in March 2011.

In the oil-rich northeastern province of days of fierce fighting for one of the regime’s last bastions in the west of Aleppo province, said the Hassakeh, Kurdish militants captured the towns of Ramilan and Qahtaniyeh from government Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The week-long battle for the town’s police forces, said the group.

A total of 182 people were killed in violence academy had so far claimed almost 200 lives, across Syria on Saturday, including 83 rebels and including those of around 120 soldiers.

The Britain-based Observatory also reported two Palestinians hanged at the Yarmuk refugee that Jihadist fighters seized control of a prison in camp in Damascus on suspicion of aiding the Raqa province on Saturday night, freeing “hun- regime, it said in an updated toll. The Observatory circulated a picture of the hangdreds” of detainees on Saturday night.

“Government forces pulled out of Raqa’s cen- ings. — AFP

Suicide bomber hits Iraq shrine city of Karbala KARBALA: A suicide bomber struck in an area between major shrines in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Karbala yesterday, wounding 10 people, while other attacks left five dead, officials said.

Jamal al-Din Shahristani, an official at the Imam Hussein shrine, said an engineer working on a project between the site and the Imam Abbas shrine blew himself up, causing casualties.

A police colonel and employee of a Karbala hospital put the toll from the bombing in the city south of Baghdad at 10 wounded.

The shrines for the two grandsons of the Prophet Mohammed are among the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, and they are visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Iraq and abroad each year.

Sunni militants frequently target Iraq’s Shiite majority in a bid to increase sectarian tension and undermine the country’s Shiite-led government.

No group claimed responsibility for the latest bombing but suicide attacks are a hallmark of Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq. Also yesterday, three roadside bombs exploded northeast of the Iraqi capital, killing two people and wounding nine, security and medical officials said, while a magnetic “sticky bomb” killed a soldier in Utayfiyah in north Baghdad.

And gunmen attacked a checkpoint west of the north Iraq city of Mosul, killing two soldiers, an army officer and a doctor said. Iraq was wracked by bloody sectarian conflict following the 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, but tensions in the country have since decreased.

Violence has fallen considerably compared to past years, although attacks in Iraq remain common, killing 220 people in February,

according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources.

Meanwhile, Iraq shut a border crossing with Syria yesterday after rebels battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seized the other side of the frontier post from his army, Iraqi military sources said. The Iraqi army fired warning shots into the air late on Friday as Syrian insurgents fought government forces in the Syrian town of Yaarabiya and eventually seized the border post.

The fighting so close to Iraq illustrates how Syria’s near-two-year conflict could spill over its borders, dragging in neighbouring coun-

tries and further destabilising the region.

“Iraqi authorities were ordered to shut off Rabia border crossing until further notice because of the Syrian government’s lack of control over the other side of the post,” police said.

Syria’s insurgents are predominantly Sunni Muslim and are supported by mainly Sunni regional powers such as Turkey and Gulf Arab countries, while Assad belongs to the minority Alawite sect and is backed by Shi’ite Iran.

The conflict has put pressure on the already precarious sectarian and ethnic balance in Iraq. Iraqi

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite Muslim, says his government has a policy of non-interference in Syria, even though his interests are aligned with those of Iran.

Military sources said blast walls now blocked off the border crossing and employees had been evacuated, though both sides of the crossing were calm and there was no sign of Syrian troops or the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces across the border.

More than 20 Syrian soldiers who fled the fighting into Iraq have been handed over to military intelligence and sent to Baghdad, a military official said. — Agencies

GAZA CITY: A Palestinian woman visits a photography exhibition showcasing the life of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in Gaza City yesterday. The exhibition presents a collection of leaked pictures showing Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. The death last week of Palestinian inmate Arafat Jaradat, 30, triggered several days of clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank that left dozens of Palestinians wounded. — AFP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

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

Cardinals meet in shadow of scandal, discord, intrigue

VATICAN: In this April 12, 2005 file photo Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras waits to enter the grottos containing the tomb of Pope John Paul II after a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican. To many, Honduran Cardinal Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga embodies the activist wing of the Roman Catholic Church as an outspoken campaigner of human rights, a watchdog on climate change and advocate of international debt relief for poor nations. — AP

Iran building 3,000 advanced centrifuges Figure in line with projections DUBAI: Iran is building about 3,000 advanced uranium-enrichment centrifuges, Iranian media reported yesterday, in a development likely to add to Western concerns about the Islamic state’s disputed nuclear programme.

Iran said earlier this year that it would install the new-generation centrifuges at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran, but yesterday’s reports in Iranian agencies appeared to be the first time a specific figure had been given. The announcement, which comes after talks between Iran and world powers in Kazakhstan about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, underlines Iran’s continued refusal to bow to Western pressure to curb its nuclear programme.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in February 180 socalled IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been put in

place at the facility near the town of Natanz in central Iran. They were not yet operating.

Iranian media yesterday paraphrased Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, as saying Iran was producing 3,000 new-generation centrifuges. “The final production line of these centrifuges has reached an end and soon the early generations of these centrifuges with low efficiency will be set aside,” Abbasi-Davani said in statements in the Iranian city of Isfahan yesterday, according to the Fars news agency.

An IAEA note informing member states in January about Iran’s plans implied Iran could install up to 3,000 or so of the new centrifuges. Natanz is designed for tens of thousands of the machines.

If launched successfully, such machines could enable Iran to speed up significantly its accumulation of

material that the West fears could be used in a nuclear weapon. Iran says it is refining uranium only for peaceful purposes. Iran has for years been trying to develop centrifuges more efficient than the erratic 1970s IR-1 model it now uses, but their introduction for full-scale production has been dogged by delays and technical hurdles, experts and diplomats say.

In his statements yesterday Abbasi-Davani also addressed problems at the nuclear power plant near the Gulf city of Bushehr. The plant is not considered a major weapons proliferation risk but recent shutdowns there have raised concerns about its safety.

In its latest report on Iran, the IAEA said it had visited the Bushehr plant in mid-February and that Iran then told it the reactor was shut down. No reason was given.

The plant had previously been shut down in October 2012 and fuel

had to be unloaded. A Russian nuclear industry source told Reuters in November the shutdown was due to the discovery of stray bolts beneath the fuel cells.

The 1,000-megawatt plant was originally started in 1975 by German company Siemens, and Russian engineers took over the project in the 1990s.

“In the last year and a half it (the Bushehr plant) has faced problems because of old equipment and hybrid technology from Russia and Germany,” Abbasi-Davani was quoted as saying by Fars.

“In the last year we have had no problem in the nuclear portion of the reactors and the outages have been linked to the generators, because of problems in their Russian design and resulting energy leakage.” Iran has repeatedly said the delays at Bushehr were in part due to the need to ensure safety.— Reuters

VATICAN CITY: Roman Catholic cardinals gathering to choose a successor to “Pope Emeritus Benedict” will be worrying about a Vatican hierarchy hit by scandals, intrigue and betrayals befitting a Renaissance court.

As well as sexual abuse by priests around the world, the scandals closer to home involve the leak of Benedict’s personal papers, media reports of sexual misconduct in the Vatican, wiretapping, bureaucratic bungling and mishaps that many say could have been avoided.

The foreign cardinals who will choose the next pope have been particularly alarmed over the reports and might be inclined to pick someone not connected with the Vatican’s Italian-dominated central administration, Vatican insiders say.

“Our people want a holy man to be the pope,” said Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston. “People are looking for a shepherd,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston.

But in the back of their minds will also be the need to clean up the Curia, the opaque administrative apparatus that runs the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. In the weeks following Benedict’s shock decision to resign, Italian newspapers have run many stories about a secret report prepared for the pope by three cardinals who investigated the so-called “Vatileaks” scandal last year.

Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s butler, was convicted of stealing personal papal documents and leaking them to the media. He was jailed and later pardoned by the pope.

The documents alleged corruption in the Vatican and infighting over the running of its bank, which has been at the heart of a series of scandals in past decades.

According to one unsourced report, the secret report also touched on homosexual activity by some Vatican monsignors, leaving them and the Vatican open to blackmail. The Vatican has accused the Italian media of spreading “false and damaging” reports, condemning some as deplorable attempts to influence the cardinal electors.

But on Thursday, the day the pope resigned, the Vatican acknowledged that some parts of an Italian magazine report about wiretapping in the Vatican were true.

It said “a few” phones had been tapped by magistrates investigating the leaks scandal but that the tapping was not as widespread as the magazine suggested.

The secret report on the leaks was given to Benedict, who decided to make it available only to his successor. But it is expected to be a topic of discussions at pre-conclave meetings that begin on Monday.

One Vatican official said the three elderly cardinals who wrote it “will use their discernment to give any necessary guidance” to fellow cardinals without violating their pact of secrecy about its specific contents.

But cardinals are very curious about the secret dossier, particularly those from outside Italy who have become lightning rods for people in their dioceses asking questions about media reports of corruption, mismanagement and scandal in the Vatican.

“We will talk about the governance of the Church and in that context there may be questions to the persons who made that report,” said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. “They are also under a mandate that has to be respected. I think we will find out enough from a lot of sources to find out what is necessary to govern the church well,” he said.

Apart from the scandals, the Curia has been blamed for not protecting the pope from several mishaps and bad decisions, not foreseeing negative reaction to some of his pronouncements and not giving him enough information to make the right decision. In 2006, it failed to predict the fallout from a papal speech in which Benedict quoted a Byzantine emperor equating Islam with violence. That speech led to violent protests among Muslims around the world. In 2009, the Curia failed to do its homework before the pope let an excommunicated traditionalist bishop, Richard Williamson, be re-admitted to the church.

He was a known Holocaust denier and the episode badly damaged ties with Jews around the world.

In a letter to bishops on the fallout of the Williamson affair, the humiliated pope had to admit that his administration did not use the Internet as much as it should.

A centuries-old bureaucracy, the Curia is essential to the success or failure of any pope who has to run the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.

Its departments deal with everything from the appointment of bishops and marriage annulments to whether parishs thousands of miles away will stay open or close.

Curia officials decide who will be made a saint, which prayers are said at Masses and how contributions coming into the Vatican from the world’s faithful are spent.

Critics such as leading Italian Vatican expert and author Sandro Magister say Benedict put people in positions of administrative power because he knew them and felt comfortable with them rather than for their abilities. — Reuters

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

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

DHS freed over 2,000 immigrants since February WASHINGTON: The Homeland Security Department released from its jails more than 2,000 illegal immigrants facing deportation in recent weeks due to looming budget cuts and planned to release 3,000 more during March, The Associated Press has learned.

The newly disclosed figures, cited in internal budget documents reviewed by the AP, are significantly higher than the “few hundred” illegal immigrants the Obama administration acknowledged this week had been released under the budget-savings process.

The government documents show that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement released roughly 1,000 illegal immigrants from its jails around the U.S. each week since at least Feb. 15. The agency ’s field offices have reported more than 2,000 immigrants released before intense criticism this week led to a temporar y shutdown of the plan, according to the documents.

The states where immigrants were released include Arizona, California, Georgia and Texas. The White House has said it was not consulted about the releases, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has acknowledged they occurred in a manner she regrets. White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday said the government had released “a few hundred” of the roughly 30,000 illegal immigrants

held in federal detention pending deportation proceedings. Carney said the immigrants released were “low-risk, noncriminal detainees,” and the decision was made by career ICE officials.

As of last week, the agency held an average daily population of 30,733 in its jails. The internal budget documents reviewed by the AP show the Obama administration had intended to reduce those figures to 25,748 by March 31.

The White House did not comment immediately Friday on the higher number of immigrants released. ICE spokesman Brian Hale said Friday the numbers of immigration detainees fluctuate daily, but he reiterated only several hundred illegal immigrants had been released. “Beyond that normal movement, and as fiscal uncertainty remains over the continuing resolution and possible sequestration, ICE reviewed its detained population to ensure detention levels stay within ICE’s current budget and placed several hundred individuals on methods of supervision less costly than detention,” Hale said in a statement. “At this point, we don’t anticipate additional releases, but that could change.” The immigrants who were released still eventually face deportation and are required to appear for upcoming court hearings. But they are no longer confined in immigration jails, where advocacy experts say they cost

about $164 per day per person.

Immigrants who are granted supervised release - with conditions that can include mandatory check-ins, home visits and GPS devices - cost the government from 30 cents to $14 a day, according to the National Immigration Forum, a group that advocates on behalf of immigrants.

The release of thousands from immigration jails is consistent with Napolitano’s early warnings on Monday hours before anyone knew publicly that any illegal immigrants had been released - that the pending, automatic budget cuts known as the sequester would limit the government’s ability to maintain enough detention center beds for at least 34,000 immigrants.

“We’re doing our very best to minimize the impacts of sequester, but there’s only so much I can do,” Napolitano said Monday. “You know, I’m supposed to have 34,000 detention beds for immigration. How do I pay for those?” Late Thursday, after intense criticism over what the administration acknowledged was the release this week of several hundred immigrants, Napolitano told ABC News that she had been surprised to learn about the action. “Detainee populations and how that is managed back and forth is really handled by career officials in the field,” Napolitano told ABC. “Do I wish that this

all hadn’t been done all of a sudden and so that people weren’t surprised by it?

Of course.”

The announcement that a few hundred illegal immigrants were being released was among the most significant and direct implications described so far by the automatic budget cuts.

Republicans in Congress quickly criticized the decision and pressed the Homeland Security Department for details, including the number of illegal immigrants released and the nature of any criminal charges they were facing as part of the deportation process.

“Simply blaming budget reductions as a means to turn a blind eye toward the national security of the American people is a dangerous plan, and one that calls into question the department’s preparations for sequestration,” wrote two Republican lawmakers, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who sits on the Senate panel that oversees the Depar tment of Homeland Security, harshly criticized the administration for downplaying the number of immigrants released, adding the revelation “makes it less and less possible for lawmakers to have productive negotiations with the White House over a comprehensive immigration bill.”

The senior Homeland Security Department official in charge of arresting and deporting illegal immigrants announced his retirement to his staff on Tuesday, the same day the administration first openly confirmed the release of what it called several hundred immigrants. The executive associate director over ICE enforcement and removal operations, Gary Mead, told his staff he was leaving his job with mixed emotions. A career law enforcement officer, Mead will leave at the end of April.

After AP reported on Mead’s retirement, ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said his decision was not related to criticism over the jail releases and said Mead had notified the agency’s senior leaders “several weeks ago” that he intended to leave. She also called AP’s reporting about Mead’s departure “inaccurate and misleading.” On Thursday, ICE corrected her statement to say that Mead has notified his bosses “more than a week ago,” not several weeks ago.

The later government statement also criticized AP’s reporting as “illinformed, inaccurate information” and complained that AP had failed to contact the agency before publishing what it called a “misguided headline,” although the AP had noted its unsuccessful efforts to contact Mead directly by telephone and email. —AP

Chad soldiers kill Algeria hostage mastermind in Mali France, leading assault, declines to confirm deaths

RIO DE JANEIRO: Mounted paramilitary police arrive at the Caju shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during a pacification operation early Yesterday morning. Brazilian police yesterday occupied crime-infested slums near Rio de Janeiro’s international airport and seaport as part of efforts to drive out drug traffickers ahead of the 2014 World Cup. — AFP

Rio police occupy slum near airport RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian police yesterday occupied crime-infested slums near Rio de Janeiro’s international airport and seaport as part of efforts to drive out drug traffickers ahead of the 2014 World Cup. The operation, which began at 4:55 am local time (0755 GMT), involved more than 1,300 police and members of the military backed by mechanized units of the Brazilian navy, which entered the favelas of Caju and Barreira do Vasco and seized control of their narrow streets. So far, authorities have not encountered any resistance from residents of the townships whose combined population has reached about 20,000. And they were quick to declare victory.

“The operation has been a success,” military police Colonel Frederico Caldas told O Globo television. “This very important, strategic area was taken without firing a shot.”

For years, the favelas have been a stronghold of drug-trafficking gangs that held sway over the area and terrorized the local population. Now, the local residents have cautiously welcomed the operation that they hope will help restore law and order.

“I think this is all good,” said a 77-year-old woman, who lives in Caju but remains reluctant to reveal her name for fear of retribution on the part of the criminals. “I hope now we will have more security,” she told AFP. According to police, their next target will

be violence-plagued Mare, an area near the airport largely controlled by drug gangs and militia units. The area, home to 75,000 people, is ringed by freeways, including one that provides access to Galeao international airport.

Rio’s feared military police battalion BOPE are to occupy the zone until a specially-trained police force known as UPP can be deployed.

The operation in Caju was part of a government strategy designed to combat crime and reassert full control of the Rio de Janeiro metropolis ahead of the soccer World Cup of 2014 and the Olympic Games two years later.

In 2008, Rio authorities began cleaning up lawless favelas, or slums, one by one, hoping to finish the job before the big sporting events that are likely to bring to Rio millions of tourists.

So far, 30 UPPs, or Police Pacification Units, with more than 8,000 officers have been deployed and are protecting more than half of the two million people who live in local slums. Authorities said their goal is to have 40 UPPs in place by 2014. Violence has receded since police launched operations in the slums, including in Rocinha, Brazil’s largest shantytown.

In the first half of 2012 the murder rate fell to 10.9 per 100,000 residents, far lower than the national average of 26 per 100,000. In 2009, the murder rate in Rio was 36.2 per 100,000 inhabitants.— AFP

Nigeria military base attack kills at least 20 MAIDUGURI: Fighters linked to the radical Islamic terrorist network Boko Haram attacked a military base in Nigeria’s north yesterday, killing at least 20 people, as the network’s leader denied any peace talks with Nigeria’s government.

The attack in the village of Monguno, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Maiduguri, punctuated the video statement by Abubakar Shekau that said Nigeria will remain under attack by the group until the multiethnic nation is ruled under Islamic law. Shekau also threatened the man who in recent months claimed to be a leader of Boko Haram and said that the group wanted to agree to a cease-fire with Nigeria’s security forces.

The attack yesterday, coupled with the recent kidnappings of foreigners claimed by Boko Haram and its affiliates, offered fresh doubts about the ability of Nigeria’s weak central government to stop the bloodshed, despite its deployment of more security forces in the region.

“Whoever kills any of our members should await a grave retaliation from us,” Shekau says in the video in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north. “We will continue waging war against them until we succeeded in establishing an Islamic state in Nigeria.”

The attack on Monguno saw fighters arrive in SUVs and kill a local village leader, witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press said. The fighters later attacked a barracks at Monguno with gunfire and explosives, witnesses said.

In a statement, military spokesman Lt. Col.

Sagir Musa said that 20 “Boko Haram terrorists” were killed, without acknowledging that at least one civilian had been killed. Musa also did not say if any soldiers had been wounded or killed in the attack. Nigeria’s military routinely downplays civilian and soldier casualty figures.

Another security official, who requested anonymity as he could not speak to journalists, confirmed the attack occurred, but acknowledged details remained sketchy about the incident. An AP journalist could not immediately reach the village Sunday.

The attack Sunday comes after the release of the new Shekau video. A journalist in northeast Nigeria received the video Friday from men he said he didn’t know. The journalist began sharing the video with colleagues late Saturday. While the AP could not immediately independently verify the authenticity of the video Sunday, the man on the video looked like Shekau and spoke like the Boko Haram’s leader.

The video carried no date, but Shekau directly referenced the activities and claims of a man who has identified himself as Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz, a self-proclaimed second-in-command in Boko Haram. In November, a man with a similar voice as Abdulaziz told journalists in a telephone conference call that Boko Haram was willing to enter into peace talks if they were held in Saudi Arabia and involved former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. However, Buhari refused to take part and no such talks took place as attacks continued. —AP

N’DJAMENA: Chadian soldiers in Mali have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the al Qaeda commander who masterminded a bloody hostage-taking at an Algerian gas plant in January, Chad’s military said on Saturday.

The death of one of the world’s most wanted jihadists would be a major blow to al Qaeda in the region and to Islamist rebels already forced to flee towns they had seized in northern Mali by an offensive by French and African troops.

“On Saturday, March 2, at noon, Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base. ... The toll included several dead terrorists, including their leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar,” Chad’s armed forces said in a statement read on national television.

On Friday, Chad’s president, Idriss Deby, said his soldiers had killed another al Qaeda commander, Adelhamid Abou Zeid, among 40 militants who died in an operation in the same area as Saturday’s assault - Mali’s Adrar des Ifoghas mountains near the Algerian border.

France - which has used jet strikes against the militants’ mountain hideouts - has declined to confirm the killing of either Abou Zeid or Belmokhtar.

In Washington, an Obama administration said the White House could not confirm the killing of Belmokhtar.

Analysts said the death of two of al Qaeda’s most feared commanders in the Sahara desert would mark a significant blow to Mali’s Islamist rebellion.

“Both men have extensive knowledge of northern Mali and parts of the broader Sahel and deep social and other connections in northern Mali, and the death of both in such a short amount of time will likely have an impact on militant operations,” said Andrew Lebovich, a Dakar-based analyst who follows al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Anne Giudicelli, managing director of security consultancy Terrorisc, said the al Qaeda commanders’ deaths - if confirmed - would temporarily disrupt the Islamist rebel network but would also raise concern over the fate of seven French hostages believed to be held by Islamists in northern Mali.

Chad is one of several African nations that have contributed forces to a French-led military intervention in Mali aimed at ridding its vast northern desert of Islamist rebels who seized the area nearly a year ago following a coup in the capital.

Western and African countries are worried that al Qaeda could use the zone to launch international attacks and strengthen ties with African Islamist groups like al Shabaab in Somalia and Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Belmokhtar, 40, who lost an eye while fighting in Afghanistan in the 1990s, claimed responsibility for the seizure of dozens of foreign hostages at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria in January in which more than 60 people were killed.

That attack put Algeria back on the map of global jihad, 20 years after its civil war, a bloody Islamist struggle for power. It also burnished

An undated grab from a video obtained by ANI Mauritanian news agency reportedly shows former Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) emir Mokhtar Belmokhtar speaking at an undisclosed location. Chad said its troops in northern Mali on March 1, killed the one-eyed Islamist leader who masterminded an assault on an Algerian gas plant that left 37 foreign hostages dead in January. —AFP Belmokhtar’s jihadi credentials by showing that al the assault to retake Mali’s vast desert north from Qaeda remained a potent threat to Western inter- AQIM and other Islamist rebels that began on Jan. ests despite U.S. forces killing Osama bin Laden in 11 was in its final stage and so could not confirm Abou Zeid’s death.

Pakistan in 2011.

A US official and a Western diplomat said, howBefore In Amenas, some intelligence experts had assumed Algerian-born Belmokhtar had drift- ever, the reports about Abou Zeid’s death ed away from jihad in favour of kidnapping and appeared to be credible.

US Representative Ed Royce, Republican chairsmuggling weapons and cigarettes in the Sahara man of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said where he earned the nickname “Marlboro Man”.

In a rare interview with a Mauritanian news the killing of Belmokhtar “would be a hard blow to service in late 2011, Belmokhtar paid homage to the collection of jihadists operating across the bin Laden and his successor, Ayman al-Zawahri. He region that are targeting American diplomats and cited al Qaeda’s traditional global preoccupations, energy workers.”

Washington has said it believes Islamists operatincluding Iraq, Afghanistan and the fate of the Palestinians, and stressed the need to “attack ing in Mali were involved in the killing of the U.S. Western and Jewish economic and military inter- ambassador in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi in ests”. He shared command of field operations for September. After its success in dislodging al Qaeda AQIM - al Qaeda’s North African franchise - with fighters from northern Mali’s towns, France and its Abou Zeid, although there was talk the two did not African allies have faced a mounting wave of suicide bombings and guerrilla-style raids by Islamists get along and were competing for power.

A former smuggler turned jihadi, Algerian-born in northern Malian towns. UN Secretary-General Abou Zeid imposed a violent form of sharia, Islamic Ban Ki-moon said on Friday that a U.N. peacekeeplaw, in the ancient desert town of Timbuktu, includ- ing force to replace French troops in Mali should be ing amputations and the destruction of ancient discussed as soon as possible.

Chad was among the quickest to respond to Sufi shrines.

Robert Fowler, a former Canadian diplomat held Mali’s appeals for help alongside the French, rushhostage by Belmokhtar from 2008 to 2009, told ing in hundreds of troops experienced in desert Reuters, “While I cannot consider reports of the warfare, led by Deby’s son, General Mahamat Deby.

The country’s president may be hoping to poldeath of both Abou Zeid and Mokhtar Belmokhtar as anything but good news ... I must temper my ish his regional and international credentials by enthusiasm by the fact that this is by no means the assisting in this war, while bolstering his own position in power in Chad, which has been threatened first time Belmokhtar’s death has been reported.”

President Francois Hollande said on Friday that in the past by eastern neighbour Sudan. —Reuters

Chavez receiving chemotherapy CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez has been receiving chemotherapy since recovering from a severe respiratory infection in mid-January and “continues his battle for life,” his vice president said late Friday.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro suggested the chemotherapy was continuing in the government’s first mention of it as among treatments that Venezuela’s cancer-stricken president has received since his Dec. 11 cancer surgery in Cuba.

Maduro made the disclosure after a Mass for Chavez in a new chapel outside the military hospital where authorities say the socialist leader has been since being flown back to Caracas on Feb. 18.

The vice president quoted Chavez as saying he decided to return to Venezuela because he was entering “a new phase” of “more intense and tough” treatments and wanted to be in Caracas for them.

Maduro’s offering of the most detailed rundown to date of Chavez’s post-operative struggle came hours after an accusation by opposition leader Henrique Capriles that the government has repeatedly lied about Chavez’s condition.

“We’ll see how they explain to the country in the (coming) days all the lies they’ve been telling about the president’s situation,” Capriles, whom Chavez defeated in Oct. 7 elections, said in a tweet.

Chavez has not been seen nor heard from since going to Cuba for his fourth cancer surgery, except for a set of “proof of life” photos released Feb. 15 while he was still in Havana.

Chavez first revealed an unspecified cancer in the pelvic region in June 2011, and reported undergoing radiation treatment and chemotherapy after earlier operations.

The government has sent mixed signals on Chavez’s condition, although Maduro has said several times that Chavez was battling for his life. He repeated that Friday, and also accused opponents of spreading rumors about Chavez’s health to destabilize the nation.

Maduro, Chavez’s chosen successor, said his boss’ condition was extremely delicate over New Year’s as he battled a respiratory infection that required a tracheal tube. “In mid-January he was improving, the infection could be controlled, but he continued with problems of respiratory insufficiency. Afterward, there was a general improvement, and the doctors along with

President Chavez decided to initiate complementary treatments,” Maduro said.

“You know what the complementary treatments are, right? They are chemotherapy that is applied to patients after operations.” Cancer specialists couldn’t be reached immediately for comment on Maduro’s announcement. But oncologists have said that chemotherapy is sometimes given to slow a cancer’s progression, ease symptoms and extend a patient’s life.

The opposition says Chavez should either be sworn in for the new term he won in the election or declare himself incapable and call a new election. The constitution says he should have been sworn in on Jan. 10, but Venezuela’s Supreme Court said it was OK to wait.

Earlier Friday, Maduro accused the Spanish newspaper ABC and Colombia’s Caracol network of spreading lies about Chavez’s condition. ABC said without specifying its source that Chavez’s cancer had spread to a lung. It said he had been moved to an island compound in the Caribbean.

Chavez’s son-in-law, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, said on state TV that Chavez continues “to fight hard and is in the military hospital, as peaceful as he could be, with his doctors, with his family.” — AP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

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

Australia to crack down on organised crime SYDNEY: Australia will set up an antigang taskforce based on an United States Federal Bureau of Investigation model to combat “the gangs and guns on our streets”, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said yesterday.

Gillard said the Aus$64 million (US$65.3 million) taskforce will be made up of 70 police from national and state forces and include officers from the Australian Crime Commission, Customs and the tax department.

“These are new measures to try and make sure we are combating the gangs and guns on our streets,” Gillard told reporters in Sydney.

The prime minister announced the plan ahead of her five-day stay in western Sydney, scene of a recent spate of shootings. Gillard denied the taskforce was a ploy to win back voters in Sydney’s western suburbs, formerly a stronghold of her Australian Labor Party but now under threat of swinging to the

opposition before September 14 elections.

“This is about a national plan and bringing new national resources to make a difference,” she said. The prime minister said gun crime had dropped in recent years, but there had been an increase in shootings in public places, with these rising from 73 in 2010 to some 130 in 2012 in the most populous state of New South Wales.

The new taskforce will directly inves-

tigate gang members and provide state and federal law inforcement agencies with intelligence on gangs across Australian states and overseas, she said.

It will also work with international law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency and Interpol.

Gillard said the taskforce was based on the FBI’s “violent gang, safe street” model which she said had resulted in more than 55,000 arrests in the United

States since 2001.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare also announced that a new national border targeting centre would be established to crack down on “high-risk international passengers and cargo”.

“Money creates power in the criminal underworld and the more we do to help police seize the cash, seize the houses, seize the cars of these criminals, the more we can shift the balance of power on the street,” he said. — AFP

Five police, two assailants killed in Malaysian siege Security forces clash with clan members

YANGON: A taxi passes a signboard for upcoming party congress of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Saturday in Yangon, Myanmar. In another sign of political reform and reconciliation in Myanmar, the country’s biggest party led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will hold its first-ever congress in the country’s former capital this week. — AP

Filipino Catholics pray for smooth succession MANILA: Filipinos in Asia’s largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation attended Mass yesterday with their church awkwardly having no pope due to Benedict XVI’s resignation - the first in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to lead an embattled institution.

Benedict stunned the world when he announced Feb. 11 that he would resign, citing his age and frail health. His resignation, which took effect Thursday, ushered in a period known as “sede vacante” or “vacant see” - the transition period between papacies when a few Vatican officials take charge of running the church.

All cardinals worldwide have been summoned to the Vatican for a conclave to elect Benedict’s successor, who inherits a church facing a tide of secularism in Europe, as well as clergy sex abuse and corruption scandals that have underscored the need to pick a formidable successor to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

Churchgoers and the clergy in the Philippines said they were not worried by the temporary absence of a pope, but nevertheless felt the vacuum.

“There is something missing more or less in spirit,” said the Rev. Joel Sulse, who celebrated Mass at the Santuario de San Antonio parish in an upscale residential enclave in Manila’s Makati business district.

“It’s also a challenge. It’s like when there is no leader, you really have to stand for your convictions.”

Sulse’s parish and other Catholic

churches across the Southeast Asian nation offered prayers for a hassle-free Vatican conclave of cardinals to elect a new pope.

Although Sulse said a new pontiff from the developing world may have a better grasp of problems such as poverty afflicting Catholics, he said Filipinos should pray for any pope who “can be strong yet loving.”

Churchgoer Miguel Ma. Guerrero said the next pontiff should be a dynamic leader who can lead the church in a modern era beset by long-pestering problems such as poverty.

In another Manila church in the working-class district of Baclaran, Catholics said they yearned for a pope who would be able to lead the younger generation onto the right path. One churchgoer said she wanted somebody like the late Pope John Paul II, who was welcomed by millions when he visited the Philippines in 1995.

“I have been praying for a new pope to be just like Pope John Paul II, who was close to the people and was very humble,” said Charlene Bautista, an insurance broker. For the first time, a Filipino cardinal, Antonio Luis Tagle, has been regarded as among the group of cardinals who have a chance of succeeding Benedict. Although considered a long shot, Tagle’s inclusion among the so-called papabile, or papal candidates, has electrified many in the country, where past pontiffs were welcomed by millions like rock stars. — AP

MANILA: Filipino Catholics pray during a mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in suburban Paranaque, south of Manila, Philippines yesterday. Filipinos in Asia’s largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation yesterday went to church that awkwardly had no pope for the first time in 600 years and prayed for the smooth rise of a successor to Benedict XVI who can lead an embattled church. — AP

S Korea police shoot US soldier after chase SEOUL: An US soldier was shot and injured

by South Korean police after a dramatic car chase through the capital Seoul early yesterday, media reports said.

The 23-year-old Private First Class, who was not named, was shot in the shoulder shortly after midnight, Yonhap news agency said. The agency and several other news outlets cited police in Yongsan district near the huge US military base in central Seoul.

Police in the district declined to comment to AFP. Media reports said police approached two soldiers in the Itaewon entertainment district after receiving complaints that the pair were apparently threatening passers-by with an air gun.

They reportedly fled, crashing into several other cars in a high-speed escape which continued for about 10 kilometres (six miles) before the pair turned into a dead-end street. The soldiers reportedly tried to ram

their car into a police officer, prompting him to fire three shots at the car. They eventually fled to the US base.

The wounded soldier, who was driving the vehicle, was treated at the base and was said to be in stable condition. The Seoul police officer reportedly suffered a minor injury. Video from another car-shown on a local TV station last night-showed the soldiers’ vehicle driving at high speed past police officers.

The US 8th Army in the area reportedly offered an apology and vowed to cooperate in the investigation. About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with a ceasefire instead of a peace treaty. Crimes or disputes involving the US troops are a sensitive subject in South Korea, even though many see their presence as necessary to deter an attack by North Korea. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Gunmen ambushed and killed five Malaysian policemen as fears mounted that armed intruders from the southern Philippines had slipped into at least three coastal districts on Borneo island, officials said yesterday.

Two of the attackers were also fatally shot Saturday night, escalating tensions in eastern Sabah state, where Malaysia’s biggest security crisis in recent years began after about 200 members of a Philippine Muslim royal clan occupied a village last month to claim the territory as their own.

Security forces clashed with the clan members in the coastal area of Lahad Datu on Friday, leaving 12 Filipinos and two Malaysian police commandos dead. The remaining clan members have refused to budge, while concerns have grown that other groups from the Philippines’ restive southern provinces might enter Sabah, which shares a long and porous sea border with the Philippines that’s difficult to patrol. A police team was attacked late Saturday while inspecting a settlement in Semporna town, more than 150 kilometers (90 miles) from Lahad Datu, said national police chief Ismail Omar. Authorities were searching the area for more of the assailants.

Police are also investigating sightings of armed foreigners in military-style clothing in a third Sabah seaside district nearby, Ismail said. It was not clear whether the groups in the three areas had links to each other.

The Filipinos who landed in Lahad Datu on Feb. 9 say ownership documents from the late 1800s prove the territory is theirs. They have rejected repeated calls from both the Malaysian and Philippine governments to leave Sabah, a short boat ride from the southern Philippines.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Saturday that the govern-

TAGUIG: Filipino Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of the southern Philippine province of Sulu, center, answers questions from reporters at his residence in suburban Taguig, south of Manila, Philippines yesterday. Gunmen ambushed and killed five Malaysian policemen as fears mounted that armed intruders from the southern Philippines had slipped into at least three coastal districts on Borneo island, officials said yesterday. — AP ment would offer “no compromise either they surrender or face the consequences if they refuse.” Police dropped leaflets by helicopter over the occupied village Saturday telling the Filipinos to give up, while the navy bolstered patrols in waters between Malaysia and the Philippines.

Three of the intruders tried to escape late Saturday and were caught, Ismail said, without elaborating. Sabah’s chief minister Musa Aman said the federal government has agreed to increase the size of the police and army force in Sabah.

The standoff has raised the Sabah territorial issue, a thorn in Philippine-Malaysian relations for

decades, to a national security concern for both countries.

The crisis erupted during a delicate time in peace talks brokered by Malaysia between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim rebel group in the southern Philippines. Some Malaysians have voiced worries about whether tens of thousands of Philippine migrants living in Sabah, many undocumented workers, might sympathize with the Filipino group and cause unrest if they’re angry with the government’s reaction to the crisis.

The Lahad Datu group is led by a brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III of the southern Philippine province of

Sulu. In Manila, Jamalul Kiram III told reporters that he was worried the violence in Sabah might spread because many Filipinos, especially followers of his sultanate in the southern Philippine, are upset by the killing of their compatriots in Lahad Datu.

His daughter, Jacel, who is a sultanate princess, called on Filipinos to stay calm but stressed the sultanate would never back down from its struggle to reclaim Sabah. “ This concerns honor above life,” she told reporters. “We will not retreat just like that, because we’re fighting for something and our struggle is our right and the truth.” —AP

Old divisions resurface as Bangkok votes for governor BANGKOK: Votes were being tallied after Bangkok residents went to the polls yesterday to elect a governor in a knife-edge fight which has reopened Thailand’s festering political divisions.

Some 4.3 million residents were eligible to vote in an election which could see a shift in power from the royalist Democrat party, which has held the capital for nearly a decade, to the ruling Puea Thai party, which is backed by “Red Shirt” supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Unofficial exit polls soon after the ballot closed gave the Puea Thai candidate, mediafriendly former top policeman Pongsapat Pongcharoen, a slender victory. A winner is expected to be declared later tonight.

A win for Pongsapat would see his party claim a key political foothold in the capital and broaden its hitherto rural and mainly poor support base. With its legions of middle-class voters, Bangkok has long been a stronghold for the proestablishment Democrats. Their candidate Sukhumbhand Paribatra-a former deputy foreign minister was defiant despite the exit polls, saying he had not given up hope of returning to city hall for four more years and will “wait for the results to be counted”.

National politics over recent years has been dominated by the power struggle between the Democrats and Puea Thai, the party of selfexiled tycoon Thaksin whose sister Yingluck is current prime minister. Bangkok has endured several bouts of serious political unrest, the worst ending in the deaths of around 90 people in a series of street clashes between Red Shirt demonstrators and security forces in May 2010.

Sukhumbhand was governor at the time of

BANGKOK: Demcorat party candidate Sukhumbhand Paribatra, center, is mobbed by his supporters as he arrives at the party headquarters after he won his second term as Bangkok governor in a local election at Demcorat Party headquarters yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand.— AP the clashes, which saw parts of the city’s shopping and commercial centre brought to a standstill. But the Election Commission overseeing yesterday’s poll said it was free of controversy so far. “There have been no reports of any violation of election laws... and I’m confident there will be no problems,” said commission member Thaweesak Toochinda.

The leading candidates have wooed voters

with promises to reduce notorious road congestion, improve public transport and introduce more green spaces to the traffic-choked city of 10 million.

Other candidates include former national police chief Sereepisuth Temeeyaves and a onetime singer turned radio DJ Suharit Siamwalla, who has campaigned on environmental issues including boosting cycling in the city. — AFP

Sri Lanka arrests 16 Indian fishermen as tensions rise COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s navy said Sunday it had detained 16 Indian fishermen on a charge of poaching, as tensions rose between India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu and the Colombo government.

The fishermen in three trawlers were arrested Saturday night inside Sri Lankan waters off the west coast and handed over to local police for further investigation, a navy spokesman said. “We had information that they were poaching in that area in the past three days and we sent additional patrol craft to arrest

them,” spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya told AFP. He said another 37 Indians had been arrested in December off the island’s east coast.

The latest arrests came amid rising tensions between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, whose minority Tamils have close cultural and religious ties with Tamils in India.

Tamil Nadu last week asked Sri Lankan Catholic pilgrims to return home as local residents turned hostile towards them. Several other groups of pilgrims had been stoned and forced to leave recently. Tamil Nadu politicians

have also criticised Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese-dominated government for its treatment of ethnic Tamils. Sri Lankan fishermen were barred from operating along the Palk Strait, the narrow strip separating the two countries, for decades during which their country’s troops battled Tamil Tiger rebels.

They have been allowed to return to the strait since the island’s ethnic war ended in May 2009 with the crushing of Tamil Tiger guerrillas, who were once given safe haven in Tamil Nadu.— AFP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

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

India’s Modi lashes out at Congress ‘BJP is with a mission, Congress is for commission’

BEIJING: Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) chats with Vice President Xi Jinping after the opening session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. Thousands of delegates from across China meet this week to seal a power transfer to new leaders whose first months running the Communist Party have pumped up expectations with a deluge of propaganda. — AFP

China’s Xi rides high ahead of presidency LUOTUOWAN VILLAGE: China’s fawning state media, jaded social media commentators and even poor corn and cabbage farmers agree: New Communist Party chief Xi Jinping is off to a good start.

“General Secretary Xi doesn’t put on any airs. He talks like an ordinary person,” said 69-year-old farmer Tang Rongbin.

The new leader visited Tang’s sparse, dimly lit farmhouse in Luotuowan village in December, bearing gifts of cooking oil, flour and a blanket.

Xi has styled himself as an economic reformer, an iron-fisted graft-buster, a staunch nationalist and a no-frills manof-the-people - spurring expectations for change. But as he prepares to be appointed to the largely ceremonial role of president, pressure will be growing on him to deliver.

China faces rising public anger over endemic corruption, a burgeoning richpoor gap and the degradation of the country’s air, soil and waterways. Slower economic growth and territorial disputes, especially with Japan, add to the tension.

Mounting protests over environmental issues, land seizures and high-handed officialdom point to the underlying social discontent. Days before the party conclave that brought Xi to power last year, thousands of protesters in the eastern city of Ningbo faced off against riot police outside government offices, calling on officials to halt a chemical plant expansion.

“I think there has been a revolution of rising expectations,” said Willy Lam, an expert on party politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “People realize they can get away with even demonstrations to make their wills heard.”

Joining the clamor for change this past week were dozens of prominent intellectuals who signed a petition urging the government to ratify an international treaty on protecting human rights and the rule of law. Also, a group of about 100 parents of gays and lesbians urged lawmakers to legalize gay marriage.

The annual session of the national legislature, which opens Tuesday, will complete the once a-decade handover of power that began in November when Xi and his leadership team assumed the top positions in the Communist Party. At the end of the session, Xi will take the title of president from his predecessor as party leader, Hu Jintao.

Deputies to the National People’s Congress will rubber-stamp appointments of senior officials to the State Council, or Cabinet, to run economic and foreign policies; Xi and other party leaders finalized the personnel changes at a closed-door meeting last week. The No. 2 party leader, Li Keqiang, will become premier, the country’s top economic official.

A separate meeting of the government’s top advisory body held its opening session yesterday, with its chairman promising to support the new leadership. The meetings of the legislature and the advisers, which will wrap up in midMarch, give the Xi administration a highprofile platform to lay out policies to build the prosperous, strong and fairer society he has talked about in his public appearances.

Xi came to power in the wake of a scandal that exposed infighting and corruption in the highest reaches of the party. Exuding a confidence and ease lacking in the remote, wooden Hu, Xi has seized on the public’s disgust over graft and its hopes for national greatness to rally support for his leadership.

“He certainly took challenges and made them opportunities,” said Cheng Li, an expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “He turned them around into great expectations for him, and great hope.”

Xi visited an early testing ground for the market reforms that have transformed China into the world’s No. 2 economy to align himself with reform in broad terms, though he has given no indication of the changes he wants to make.

He stopped off at Luotuowan, 350 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Beijing, and other farming villages to show his concern for those struggling to get by. And he has played to nationalist sentiments, taking a hard line against Japan in a long-festering territorial dispute, and touring military units to show his commitment to national defense.

Xi has disappointed some who had hoped for greater political freedom.

Though he has espoused the virtues of constitutional government and the rule of law, dissidents continue to be harassed, and a crackdown on selfimmolation protests in Tibetan areas has only intensified.

It is fighting graft that Xi has made the signature campaign of his first three months - a popular campaign that so far featured more symbolism than action.

He launched a drive to cut out red carpets, motorcades and other official extravagance. State media touted that he preferred simple meals over the usual banquets leaders are given while on inspection tours. He has vowed to target corruption at high and low levels of power - both the “tigers” and the “flies.”

So far, it’s mostly flies that have been swatted. A slew of lower-level officials have been punished after revelations they were keeping mistresses or amassing multiple unaccounted-for properties.

Its highest-level victim has been a deputy provincial party chief suspected of influence peddling and dodgy real estate deals.

Many politically minded Chinese aren’t convinced that Xi will take the painful steps needed to root out deeply embedded corruption. Eliminating graft would require an overhaul of the patronage-based political culture and restraining the party’s unchecked power.

“Will it be like the past when there was great determination expressed in speech, but ultimately no effective efforts followed to control corruption?” said Ren Jianming, an anti-corruption expert at prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing. “We haven’t seen much in terms of specific measures.”

Some Chinese want the party to allow its anti-corruption watchdogs to operate independently, and to require officials to declare assets publicly. A system in place since 2010 requires some officials to report income, real estate holdings and other wealth to their superiors - not the public - but that has done little to stanch graft. A few areas in Guangdong have recently been named as testing grounds for public asset declaration.

Still, resistance to full disclosure is high within the bureaucracy and perhaps even the leadership. Bloomberg News reported in June last year that Xi’s extended family has amassed assets totaling $376 million, though it said none was traced to Xi himself.

“I believe that Xi should take the lead,” said Wang Yukai, an anti-corruption expert at the Chinese Academy of Governance, which trains provincial and ministerial-level civil servants. “Politburo Standing Committee members also need to declare information about their spouses and children. This will pave the way for future declarations.”

Many experts advocated an asset declaration mechanism when they attended a meeting called by Wang Qishan, the party’s new anti-corruption agency chief, in late November, according to Ren, who was one of the participants. Ren said Wang noted that more research needed to be done but otherwise stayed noncommittal. — AP

NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition party rallied behind businessfriendly leader Narendra Modi on the weekend, giving the clearest sign yet the Hindu nationalist party will make the politician tainted by religious riots its candidate for prime minister.

Leader after leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at a three-day national executive meeting, showered praise on Modi, who is chief minister of the western state of Gujarat. They draped him with rose garlands in a sign of respect.

A senior party leader said there was a groundswell of support for Modi as a candidate in elections in Asia’s third largest economy due within a year, when he is likely to face Rahul Gandhi, heir to India’s oldest political dynasty.

“There’s a growing interest in Modi as the PM candidate,” Arun Jaitley, the leader of the opposition in the upper house of parliament said in an interview with the a television network. “And it’s just not because of a media buzz.”

“I think Modi has made a huge mark on the India polity.”

Supporters chanted “Hail Modi” and “Bring Modi” during speeches at the meeting. Party chief Rajnath Singh embraced Modi and heaped praise on his achievements in Gujarat, where the economy has grown at an average of more than 10 percent for several years.

Modi’s reputation for clean governance and clear rules make him popular with the middle class and a favourite of Indian and foreign corporations doing business in his state.

But his political ambitions were dented by 2002 riots that killed more than 1,000 people, according to official figures, most of them Muslim.

NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi, speaks during the partyís National Council meeting in New Delhi, India, yesterday. The two-day long meeting ended yesterday. — AP Detractors accuse Modi of turning a blind eye to the violence. He denies the accusation but many Indians view him with suspicion and even some allies of the BJP oppose his rise.

The riots made him a political pariah, shunned by most Western diplomats and denied a visa to travel to the United States. That is changing, with ambassador-level officials first from Britain, then the European Union meeting him this year for the first time in more than a decade.

His growing popularity among Indians fed up with corruption scandals and a weak economy

under the Congress party-led government, along with his new acceptance overseas, seem to have given the BJP confidence to back him.

“Gujarat has become a symbol of pride for BJP,” said party president Singh in his speech on Saturday.

In December, Modi won a third term in state elections and he since been praised even by an influential conservative Muslim leader, who said Muslims were better off in Gujarat than in some other states.

Under India’s parliamentary system, parties do not always formally announce a candidate before an

election but usually project one figure as the likely person to form the government if the party wins.

The Congress party has not announced a candidate, but Gandhi, whose mother is party president, is a clear favourite.

“The time has come for a comparison between the BJP and the Congress,” Modi said during a speech yesterday.

He criticised the ruling party’s dynastic tendencies and accused the government of being too interested in under-the-table pay-offs.

“BJP is with a mission, Congress is for commission,” he said to loud applause. — Reuters

Bomb kills 3 Posco protesters in India

RAJSHAHI: Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party, block traffic during a nationwide strike called by them in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, yesterday.

Authorities deployed soldiers in a northern Bangladeshi district on Sunday after Islamic party activists clashed with police, leaving five people dead during a nationwide general strike called to denounce war crimes trials. — AP

Bangladesh deploys troops as protest toll hits 73 DHAKA: Bangladesh deployed troops in the north of the country after fresh clashes erupted yesterday, taking the death toll to 73 in recent weeks of violence over the conviction of Islamist leaders for war crimes.

Seventeen people were killed in the latest bout of violence as Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party declared a nationwide strike to denounce the trials over atrocities committed during the nation’s bloody war for independence in 1971.

In the northern district of Bogra more than 10,000 supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami armed with sticks and home-made bombs attacked 12 police stations, torching four of them and two other government offices, police said. “ They came from the villages and attacked the stations at dawn. Eight people were killed in Bogra district including four who were killed in Shahjahanpur (town),” district deputy police chief Syed Abu Sayem told AFP. Troops have been deployed in the worst-affected Shahjahanpur to strengthen security, he said. Four people were shot dead in the northwestern town of Panchbibi after security officials opened fire at about 12,000 protesters, district chief Mohammad Yasin said “The forces fired after they were besieged by the protesters for about two hours. They were armed with sticks, machetes and home-made sharp weapons,” he told AFP. The death toll in the clashes over the war crimes verdicts has risen to 73 since the first was announced on January 21, police said, including 57 killed in the four days since Jamaat’s vice president was sentenced to death.

Delwar Hossain Sayedee was Thursday found guilty of murder, religious persecution and rape during the 1971 war against Pakistan. The sentence triggered violent clashes across the country between rampaging Jamaat supporters and police.

The 73-year-old firebrand preacher was the third person to be convicted by the war

crimes tribunal. Jamaat, the nation’s largest Islamic party, says the process is more about settling scores than delivering justice. The party called for two days of nationwide strikes starting Sunday to protest the verdicts and the killing of its activists by police. Security was tight in the capital Dhaka with around 10,000 policemen on patrol and shops and schools were closed.

Inter-city motorways and roads in Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong were empty. The latest clashes were also fuelled by rumours that images of Sayedee’s face seemed to reflect off the surface of the moon, leading many Islamists to assert that he was innocent, inspector Shamsul Haq of Bogra told AFP. “Some imams have used this rumour to mobilise villagers against police,” he said, with some reports saying the rumours had triggered clashes in several towns.

The United States and United Nations have appealed for calm while the New York-based Human Rights Watch has asked the government and Jamaat to act urgently to stem further acts of violence.

On Saturday minority groups appealed to the government for increased security after a series of attacks on Hindu temples and houses by Jamaat supporters, in which one Hindu man was killed. Jamaat denied they were behind the attacks.

An inter-city train was torched, allegedly by protesters, late Saturday. The war crimes trials of a dozen leaders from Jamaat and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party have opened old wounds and divided the nation, with the opposition accusing the government of staging a witch-hunt.

The government, which says the war claimed three million lives, rejects the claims and accuses Jamaat leaders of being part of pro-Pakistani militias blamed for much of the carnage during the war.

Independent estimates put the death toll from the war in which Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan at between 300,000 and 500,000. — AFP

BHUBANESHWAR: A crude bomb exploded in a village in eastern India, killing three people involved in protests against a $12 billion steel plant project by South Korean giant Posco, police said yesterday.

Police claimed the dead victims were suspected of making bombs themselves when one of them exploded Saturday in Patana village in Orissa state, but a protest group spokesman said they were attacked by supporters of the project. “Three people died and one was crucially injured when the crude bomb went off. We suspect that the protesters were making bombs and one might have accidentally exploded,” district superintendent Satyabrata Bhoi told AFP. The village has been the epicentre of protests since Posco-the world’s fourth-biggest steelmaker by output-signed a pact with the state government in 2005 for the plant on 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of land.

Local residents say the planned steel mill-touted as India’s biggest single foreign direct investment-would interfere with their traditional forest-based livelihoods and uproot them from their homes.

Last month the state government started acquiring land from farmers for the project but halted it midway amid fresh protests from villagers. The land acquisition process was due to begin again on Monday.

“Since the land acquisition process was to start again, the anti-Posco activists could have been making bombs,” the chief district administrator Satya Kumar Mallick told AFP. But a spokesman for one of the protest groups claimed the victims had been attacked by supporters of the contentious project. “The authorities are indulging in false propaganda so that they can unleash more police violence on us,” said Abhay Sahu of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti. “In fact, three of our people died when Posco supporters hurled bombs at our people,” Sahu added.

The Posco deal has been watched as a test case by foreign investors eager to enter India’s fast-growing economy but wary of the potential for environmental and other concerns to derail their plans. —AFP

Karzai condemns NATO killing of two boys KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday condemned a NATO helicopter strike in which two brothers, both under seven years old, were shot dead after being mistaken for Taleban insurgents.

The two boys were tending livestock and collecting firewood in the southern province of Uruzgan when they were killed on Thursday in an incident that drew an abject apology from the NATO-led coalition. Civilian deaths caused by international forces have often triggered outrage in Afghanistan since the Taleban were ousted in 2001, and Karzai said that the latest incident highlighted errors in how the insergents are being tackled.

“The government has repeatedly stressed that the war on terrorism cannot succeed in Afghan villages and homes, but rather in its sanctuaries and safe havens outside our borders,” Karzai said in a clear reference to Pakistan. The president said he was deeply grieved over the deaths and offered his condolences to the boys’ family. Uruzgan governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada had blamed Australian soldiers for the incident but yesterday his spokesman said it was unclear who was responsible.

“We have sent a delegation to investigate and find out what exactly had happened,” Abdullah Hemat told AFP. “The troops called in air support after spotting people they thought were planting roadside bombs.

“They were kids herding their animals and collecting firewood. It is not clear whether they were killed by Australians or Americans.” Australian military chief General David Hurley said he deeply regretted the deaths but added it was too early to say who was responsible. Hurley said Australian special operations soldiers were on the ground conducting a routine liaison patrol when the shooting occurred on February 28.

“Australian personnel immediately reported the incident to Afghan government officials and military leaders in Uruzgan,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The NATO-led coalition, to which Australia contributes close to 1,100 soldiers, has apologised over the children’s deaths, saying its troops had opened fire at what they believed were insurgent forces.—AFP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

14

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

ANALYSIS

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Washington Watch

Vindication!

By Dr James J Zogby ormer Senator Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as Secretary of Defense was important for several reasons, many of which have been exhaustively examined by media commentators. For Arab Americans, there was another reason why we celebrated the final vote: it represented vindication. I have known Chuck Hagel for many years, and while there are areas where we have disagreed, I have always respected the man and valued his insights and his willingness to engage in thoughtful and reasoned discourse. I have also appreciated the fact that he never shied away from appearing before and sharing his views at Arab American community gatherings.

Chuck Hagel is a valued friend. As a result, it was profoundly disturbing to me and members of my community when some of his opponents attempted to make his appearances before Arab Americans an issue in his confirmation process.

Some rightwing groups demanded that we produce copies of his speeches and asked for our IRS filings. Republicans put his confirmation on hold while the search for new Hagel speeches continued looking for signs that he had made more “antiIsrael” comments - proving a pattern of bias. New allegations were made about his ties to “Arabs” and possible “Arab funding”. All of this was nothing more than a “witch hunt” McCarthyism at its worst.

Throughout this entire sordid affair, we remained silent.

We complied with requests, when they were legitimate. But we refused to bite at the bait. It was painful to endure, but we held our fire. Our assessment of the situation was that we couldn’t help Chuck Hagel by striking out at his critics. We knew they would not be swayed by our protestations, nor would his confirmation be aided by our engaging his attackers in a side show fight.

This was, of course, not the first time that a candidate for office has been “Arab-baited”. We have had a difficult history of dealing with this painful targeting of our community. In 1983, then candidate for Philadelphia Mayor, Wilson Goode, came to an Arab American fundraising event. He accepted our money and pledged to be the “Mayor of all Philadelphians”.

After being attacked by his opponent for “going to the Arabs”, Goode returned the money.

Much the same happened with Walter Mondale when his presidential campaign returned contributions from a group of Arab Americans in 1984. Also in the ‘80s, Republicans Senator Chuck Percy and Congressman Ed Zschau and Democrat Dave Dinkins took insulting preventive measures urging us to warn our community not to support their campaigns with nearly identical messages - “if your people give us money, the Jewish community will redouble their efforts to defeat me”. In all these instances, I didn’t know what outraged me more: their deliberate and hurtful insults to my community or their “antiSemitic” assumptions about a monolithic intolerant Jewish community. This practice didn’t die two decades ago. Just last year, when Arab Americans in New Jersey rallied to reelect Congressman Bill Pascrell, a pro-Israel group attempted to make our support an issuing an ominous warning about Arab Americans becoming politically involved!

Fortunately, this has not been the entire story. As we grew in political sophistication, our empowerment has been championed by many smart and courageous politicians. For example, Ron Brown. In 1989 shortly after taking the helm as Chair of the Democratic National Committee, Brown accepted my invitation to address a conference sponsored by the Arab American Institute. He was to be the first national party official to come to an Arab American event. On the day of the conference, as we were about to begin, Ron leaned over to tell me that on his way over he had been intercepted by one of the leading pro-Israel Democratic fundraisers who warned him that should he even walk into the room to speak to our group Jews would stop contributing to the party. Ron, to his credit, knew the threat was nonsense. He ignored it and delivered a wonderful address welcoming Arab Americans into the party. He knew that he could be a friend to both communities and would not accept “either/or” “zero-sum” blackmail.

Much the same could be said of President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore - both of whom rejected efforts to sideline Arab Americans. And there are many more Democrats and Republicans, alike, on the national and local levels who have included and respected our community. But what the attacks on Hagel demonstrated was that “Arab-baiting” is, at least in some quarters, still alive. We can be proud of the fact that that Hagel wouldn’t distance himself from our community. And we have every right to feel vindicated by his confirmation. But while we can hope that this might spell the end of these types of attacks, sadly, we know better. Our opponents have been beaten, but have not been chastened. And we know that there are other still other less courageous politicians out there who will look at this entire affair and learn the wrong lessons. When asked to sign the kinds of “stupid letters” that Chuck Hagel objected to, they will decide that it probably isn’t worth it to object. And when invited to engage with Arab Americans they will look at the attacks on Hagel and they will decline.

We won a battle, but the struggle for respect and inclusion, and for a sane and honest discussion of American foreign policy lives on. We still have much work to do.

F

NOTE: Dr James J Zogby is the President of the Arab American Institute.

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

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

Drones are flying under the radar in US

By Chris Francescani hey hover over Hollywood film sets and professional spor ts events. They track wildfires in Colorado, survey Kansas farm crops and vineyards in California. They inspect miles of industrial pipeline and monitor wildlife, river temperatures and volcanic activity. They also locate marijuana fields, reconstruct crime scenes and spot illegal immigrants breaching US borders. Tens of thousands of domestic drones are zipping through US skies, often flouting tight federal restrictions on drone use that require even the police and the military to get special permits.

Armed with streaming video, swivel cameras and infrared sensors, a new breed of high-tech domestic drones is beginning to change the way Americans see the world - and each other. Powered by the latest microtechnology and driven by billions in defense industr y and commercial research dollars, domestic drones are poised for widespread expansion into US airspace once regulation catches up with reality. That is scheduled to begin in late 2015, when the US government starts issuing commercial drone permits. Veteran aerial photographer Mark Bateson, a consultant to the film and television industry and some police departments, said one reality show producer asked him last year whether his custom-made drone could hover over a desert and use its thermal imaging sensors to spot ghosts for a ghosthunter reality series. Bateson rejected that request. “But I heard they eventually found someone to do it,” he said.

“Commercially, the culture already exists,” said Ben Miller, a Mesa County, Colorado, sheriff ’s deputy who has been flying drones with special authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration since 2009. “Turn on your T V and pay close attention to major sports events. You’ll see that in many cases they are getting aerial

T

shots using a UAS (unmanned aerial system). I would venture to say that if you’ve seen an action movie in the last five years, chances are that a UAS was used.”

Open Skies Federal legislation enacted last year requires the FAA to prepare a plan to open US skies in 2015 to widespread use of unmanned aircraft by public agencies and private industry. Potential markets include agriculture, shipping, oil exploration, commercial fishing, major league sports, film and television production, environmental monitoring, meteorological studies, law enforcement and the news media. The aviation and aerospace industry research firm Teal Group estimated last year that global spending on unmanned aircraft will double over the next 10 years, to nearly $90 billion, with the US accounting for 62 percent of research and development spending and 55 percent of procurement spending.

For decades, model airplane hobbyists have been allowed to fly small, remote-controlled aircraft up to 400 feet and at least a quarter mile from any airport. While public agencies can get permission to use unarmed drones, all commercial use remains banned. “As a hobbyist - I can do whatever I want right now, within remote - control guidelines,” said Bateson, the aerial photographer. “But as soon as you turn it into a business ... the FAA says you are violating the national airspace.”

Bateson said that whether his drone shoots video for fun or for profit, “there is no greater danger to the national airspace”. Last year the National Football League petitioned the FAA to speed the licensing of commercial drones, joining Hollywood’s Motion Picture Association of America, which has been lobbying the agency for several years, an MPAA spokesman told the drone news website UAS Vision. The FAA has issued 1,428 drone permits to universities, law enforcement and other public

agencies since 2007, when the agency formally banned commercial drone use. O f those, 327 permits remain active, said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.

Tough to Enforce Bateson flies a customized 48-inchwide Styrofoam fixed-wing remotecontrolled aircraft that cost about $20,000 - compared with up to $1 million for a helicopter. He said his aircraft has logged 1,800 miles and has recorded 60 hours of high-resolution video.

He said he has never run into trouble with the FAA. Patrick Egan, an unmanned aircraft consultant to the US military and editor of sUAS News, a drone news website, said the FAA’s commercial ban on drones is unenforceable.

“How do you possibly enforce these regulations?” he said. Earlier this year, Connecticut marketing firm ImageMark Strategy and Design launched a dronepowered aerial photo and video service to offer to its existing clients, which include universities, golf resorts and real estate firms. Partner Scott Benton said his company invested about $20,000 in remote-controlled multirotor copters equipped to carry camcorders or SLR digital cameras with swivel tilts. Benton said he wasn’t even aware of FAA restrictions on commercial drone use until after he purchased all the equipment. He said his company plans to charge clients for editing and post-production work, not the drone flights. Many commercial drone operators offer similar arguments. Some say they operate only on private land.

Others say they are selling data, not drone flight time. Still others say they will simply take their chances.

“Honestly?” said one commercial operator, who requested anonymity to protect his business. “My hope is that I’m far afield enough and small enough potatoes to the FAA that I can fly under the radar on this one.”

Privacy Concerns In 2011, News Corp’s tablet news site, the Daily, sent a Microdrone MD4-1000 into the skies over Alabama, Missouri and North Dakota to capture dramatic aerial footage of flood damage. A subsequent FAA investigation resulted in a warning, an FAA spokesman told Reuters. A News Corp spokesman declined to comment. Last fall, a collective shudder rose up from Hollywood when false reports surfaced that the aggressive tabloid news website TMZ was seeking permission to fly its own drone. The report was false, but it raised concerns. “I’m less worried about the police getting a fleet of drones than I am about the news media,” said Egan.

“Imagine what it will be like when the paparazzi can send a fleet of drones into the Hollywood hills.”

The boom in drone use, both private and public, is also raising privacy concerns. Civil liberties groups are urging federal and state legislators to place immediate restrictions on drone use by US law enforcement agencies, which have historically been quick to capitalize on emerging technology like cell phone tracking. At least 15 states have drafted legislation that would restrict drone use.

In Seattle last month, a public outcry prompted the mayor to order the police

chief to return the department’s two new drones to their manufacturer.

Blacksheep Drones An even bigger concern for many is security. The activities of some drone operators are fueling fears about the potential for terrorism or that drones could interfere with manned air traffic and cause an accident.

A group of skilled drone operators using “first person view”, or FPV, technology, has sent Ritewing Zephyr drones that capture high-quality video of visual thrill rides around some of the world’s most famous landmarks. The group, known as Team Blacksheep, has made a series of videos using drones circling the torch on New York City’s Statue of Liberty and London’s Big Ben clock tower. Team Blacksheep’s FPV drones have darted through the arches of the Golden Gate Bridge and buzzed the peak of the Matterhorn. The videos, captured at dizz ying angles, are wildly popular online, but hobbyists and other drone enthusiasts worry that such videos give the industry a bad name. “Those are the people the FAA should be going after,” Bateson said. A Team Blacksheep founder did not respond to requests for comment on security concerns.

Would-be attackers have already tried to exploit drones.

Last fall, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to 17 years in prison for plotting to attack Washington, DC, with three remote-controlled airplanes carrying C-4 explosives.

Drones may also be vulnerable to hacking. Last summer, Depar tment of Homeland Security officials challenged Texas aerospace engineering professor Todd Humphreys and his class to try to “spoof” a DHS drone’s GPS system. GPS “spoofing” is a technique by which a vehicle’s GPS receiver can be tricked and taken over by a slightly more powerful signal that mimics the attributes of the original signal - essentially an airborne hack.

Humphreys and his students succeeded in hacking the drone and took control of its flight path. If a college class “can spoof the GPS, what can other nation states or terrorist groups do?”

Representative Paul Broun (R-Ga.) asked at a recent congressional hearing on domestic drones.

Chinese Clones Some US drone designers worry about the consequences of what they see as a slow US response to a rapidly evolving technology. “The Chinese are going to kill us,” said Texas pilot Gene Robinson, who spent $20,000 designing an innovative fixed-wing drone for search-and-rescue missions. “They have copied every single design, including mine, that they can get their hands on.” Robinson said he installed Web-tracking software on his drone design Web page and then watched last spring as a Chinese design company “spent a month on my Web page ... reverse-engineered my design” and began selling mass-produced copies in December - for $169. Side-by-side pictures of Robinson’s model and the Chinese model that he showed a reporter look virtually identical. Robinson went online and ordered one of Chinese models - to see if he could attach his equipment to the cheaper version. “It was a dog, a pig,” he said. “It didn’t fly worth a damn.” — Reuters

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

S P ORTS Victory snatched from Tigres MEXICO CITY: Substitute Carlos Ochoa struck in added time to snatch a 1-1 draw for Morelia away to unbeaten leaders UANL Tigres in the Mexican championship. Midfielder Lucas Lobos put Tigres ahead in the first half of Saturday’s match when he surprised fellow Argentine Federico Vilar in the Morelia goal by tucking a free kick inside the near post when the goalkeeper was expecting a centre into the crowded box.

Tigres’ lead was cut to one point with second-placed Atlas beating title holders Tijuana 1-0 at home in Guadalajara city with a third-minute goal from striker Omar Bravo. After nine matches, past the halfway stage in the 17-game league phase of the Clausura championship, Tigres have 21 points and Atlas 20.

America, who crushed Cruz Azul 3-0 with a hat-trick from Ecuador striker Cristian Benitez at the Azteca, have 19 points.

“My team came close to perfection. The most important word in football is balance and we managed that,” America’s coach Miguel Herrera told reporters.The teams finishing in the top eight places of the league phase qualify for the knockout rounds. — Reuters

Abril defends WBA belt

Sri Lanka pay row may disrupt Bangladesh tests COLOMBO: A pay dispute between Sri Lanka Cricket and its 23 centrally contracted players threatens to disrupt a two-test series against Bangladesh, which is due to commence at Galle on Friday.

The players’ contracts expired at the end of February and they met Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials to inform them they would not sign new ones

by Saturday’s deadline, said SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga.

“We have clearly explained to the players that we are willing to pay them 67 percent of our total revenue,” Ranatunga told Reuters. “We told them that unless they sign the contracts they would not be selected to play in the series against Bangladesh.”

A similar pay dispute threatened to derail last year’s Sri Lanka Premier League after the players said they would pull out of the tournament.

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage delivered an ultimatum to the players and said the SLC would select a whole new team if they did not sign the contracts. “The players are demanding 75 percent of the total revenue and if that is to be paid Sri Lanka Cricket will have to obtain a loan of 600 million rupees ($4.70 million),” Aluthgamage told Reuters.

“I have asked Sri Lanka Cricket to give the players time till Sunday for them to make up their mind, if they still refuse I have told them to go ahead and pick a new team and play the series.” — Reuters

LAS VEGAS: Cuba’s Richar Abril defended his WBA lightweight title with a unanimous decision against Uganda’s Sharif Bogere on Saturday. Bogere turned the bout into a brawl early, pressing forward to get inside and frustrate the taller Abril. Abril was forced to wrap up Bogere in defense and both fighters tumbled to canvass more than once during the fight. Abril was docked one point in the eighth round for holding and Bogere was penalized one point in the 12th for leading with his head. “I don’t like fighting dirty fighters and I lost my concentration,” Abril said. “I thought I won the fight even though it wasn’t clean.” An accidental head-butt opened up a large gash over the right eye of Abril in the sixth round which seemed to energize both boxers and sway the momentum toward the champion.

“I had confidence in my corner,” Abril said. “The blood didn’t disrupt me, I am trained for situations like this.” Abril’s activity increased and he was able to create the distance needed to use his length. — AP

NHL results/standings Philadelphia 2, Ottawa 1; Boston 3, Tampa Bay 2; Buffalo 4, New Jersey 3 (So); Washington 3, Winnipeg 0; Pittsburgh 7, Montreal 6 (OT); Carolina 6, Florida 2; Phoenix 5, Anaheim 4 (SO); Vancouver 5, Los Angeles 2; San Jose 2, Nashville 1.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTLGF GA Pittsburgh 14 8 0 77 64 New Jersey 10 6 5 52 56 Philadelphia 11 11 1 66 68 NY Rangers 9 8 2 48 49 NY Islanders 8 11 2 61 73

PTS 28 25 23 20 18

Northeast Division Boston 14 2 2 54 38 Montreal 13 4 4 64 50 Ottawa 12 7 3 50 41 Toronto 13 9 0 64 55 Buffalo 9 12 1 58 70

30 30 27 26 19

Southeast Division Carolina 11 8 1 60 57 Winnipeg 10 10 1 55 64 Tampa Bay 9 11 1 73 67 Washington 8 11 1 55 59 Florida 6 10 5 53 79

23 21 19 17 17

VANCOUVER: Los Angeles Kings’ Jordan Nolan (center) celebrates after scoring as Vancouver Canucks’ Andrew Alberts (left) lies on the ice and goalie Cory Schneider (right) watches during the second period of an NHL hockey game. —AP

Penguins edge Canadiens MONTREAL: Brandon Sutter’s second goal of the game 52 seconds into overtime lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a wild 7-6 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Sutter took a pass from Simon Despres on a rush, stepped around Max Pacioretty, and beat goalie Carey Price with a high shot to help Pittsburgh end a two-game skid and avoid being swept on a three-game road trip.

Matt Cooke and Chris Kunitz, both netted two goals, and Sidney Crosby also scored for Pittsburgh (14-8). Brian Gionta had a pair of goals, and Brandon Prust, Pacioretty, David Desharnais and P.K. Subban also scored as Montreal (13-4-4) stretched its string of games without a regulation loss to 10.

The Canadiens failed to get a win for coach Michel Therrien in his first game against the Penguins since he was fired as their coach in 2009. Montreal outshot Pittsburgh 39-26 in a wide-open game with shaky goaltending at both ends.

Bruins 3, Lightning 2 In Boston, Brad Marchand scored a tiebreaking goal on the power play with 2:16 left in the third period, completing Boston’s comeback from a 2-0 deficit to beat Tampa Bay and extend the Bruins’ winning streak to six straight.

Marchand 11th goal of the season came late in a double-minor high sticking penalty to Brendan Mikkelson. It was the second powerplay goal of the game for the Bruins, who had not scored at home with a man advantage entering the game.

Tyler Seguin also scored on the power play for the Bruins 3:22 into the second period, pulling Boston within 2-1 after slow start. Rich Peverley tied it just 1:17 later with an evenstrength goal and the score stood until Patrice Bergeron and Marchand broke free for a 2-on-1 late in the third. Steven Stamkos and Alexander Killorn scored for Tampa Bay, both on power plays in the first period.

Flyers 2, Senators 1 In Philadelphia, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds scored goals and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 33 shots to help Philadelphia defeat Ottawa. The win gave the Flyers a .500 record for the first time this season, at 11-11-1.

Philadelphia has won five of its last seven games.

Marc Methot scored for the Senators, who lost in regulation for the first time since Feb. 16.

Sabres 4, Devils 3 In Buffalo, Jason Pominville scored twice in regulation and added a shootout goal, and Buffalo extended its winning streak to three games by beating New Jersey.

Tyler Ennis also scored in the shootout while Ryan Miller stopped both shootout attempts after making 28 saves in regulation. Cody Hodgson had two assists and Jochen Hecht also scored for Buffalo, which improved to 3-2-0 since Ron Rolston took over as interim coach after Lindy Ruff was fired. The three-game win streak is Buffalo’s longest since the team won five straight from March 19-27 last season. Adam Henrique, Steve Bernier and Andrei Loktionov scored for the Devils.

Capitals 3, Jets 0 In Winnipeg, Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots and Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist and Washington defeated Winnipeg. Matt Hendricks and Todd Brouwer, with his team-leading ninth goal of the season, also scored for Washington.

It was Holtby’s third shutout of the season.

Winnipeg’s Ondrej Pavelec made 18 saves for the Jets, who had a three-game winning streak ended.

Hurricanes 6, Panthers 2 In Raleigh, Jussi Jokinen scored twice and added an assist, and Riley Nash netted his first goal as part of a three-point night in Carolina’s win over Florida. Eric Staal also had two goals for the Hurricanes, Jiri Tlutsy scored his 10th in 11 games, and Alexander Semin had three assists.

Carolina moved into sole possession of first place in the Southeast Division with its first win over a division opponent.

The Hurricanes had been 0 5 against Southeast foes and 10-3-1 against the rest of the Eastern Conference. Cam Ward made 22 saves for the Hurricanes, who won their second straight at home. Carolina had lost six of seven against the Panthers.

Filip Kuba and Shawn Matthias scored for the Panthers, who have only two wins in 11 games.

Florida goalie Jose Theodore left the game 2:22 into the first period after he appeared to injure

his right leg. Scott Clemmensen replaced him and made 27 saves.

Coyotes 5, Ducks 4 In Glendale, Steve Sullivan scored the tying goal with 6:28 remaining in regulation and then netted the lone goal in the shootout to lift Phoenix over Anaheim.

Lauri Korpikoski scored twice, Matthew Lombardi added a goal, and Mike Smith stopped 31 shots through overtime and then all three shootout attempts for the Coyotes, who won for the second time in three games.

Andrew Cogliano had three goals for his second NHL hat trick, and Saku Koivu added a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who lost for just the fifth time in 20 games. The teams were playing the first of three consecutive games against each other.

Sharks 2, Predators 1 In San Jose, Dan Boyle and Joe Pavelski got San Jose’s struggling power-play unit going with goals that helped the Sharks beat Nashville. The Sharks had converted on just three of their past 62 power-play chances heading into the game, a major reason for a February swoon that featured 10 losses in 12 games.

Joe Thornton and Logan Couture assisted on both goals, and Antti Niemi made 18 saves for the Sharks, who moved from a tie for eighth into a tie for fourth in the tightly packed Western Conference, one point ahead of the Predators.

Nashville’s Gabriel Bourque scored a short-handed goal with 5:30 remaining.

Canucks 5, Kings 2 In Vancouver, Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen scored 2:44 apart late in the second period to lead Vancouver over Los Angeles. Dan Hamhuis, Mason Raymond also scored, and Chris Higgins added an empty-net goal for Vancouver, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Justin Williams and Jordan Nolan scored for Los Angeles, which had its five-game winning streak end. Following 8-3 and 4-2 losses to Detroit and Phoenix, and without center Ryan Kesler (fractured foot), the Canucks needed a strong outing to maintain their Northwest Division lead. —AP

Western Conference Central Division Chicago 18 0 3 68 40 St. Louis 11 7 2 59 57 Detroit 10 8 3 60 57 Nashville 9 8 5 46 54 Columbus 5 12 4 47 65

39 24 23 23 14

Northwest Division Vancouver 11 5 4 59 54 Minnesota 10 8 2 45 49 Edmonton 8 8 4 49 54 Colorado 8 8 3 49 58 Calgary 7 8 4 53 66

26 22 20 19 18

Pacific Division Anaheim 15 3 2 71 55 32 San Jose 10 6 4 47 44 24 Phoenix 10 8 3 62 59 23 Los Angeles 10 7 2 49 47 22 Dallas 10 9 2 57 62 22 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

Svindal finally wins at home KVITFJELL: Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal finally won a race in his homeland yesterday, with victory in a super-G that also gave him the World Cup title in the discipline. The downhill world champion, who had been on the lower steps of the podium seven times before on the course of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, made the top spot at last in one minute 29.79 seconds.

Thanks to his fifth win of the Alpine ski season, the super-G Olympic champion also secured the ninth World Cup trophy of his career. “It’s fabulous to win the race and the super-G World Cup in front of my home crowd and my father, who was here to see me,” Svindal told reporters.

“Unlike at the world championships, the number 22 bib brought me luck,” added the Norwegian, who had to settle for the bronze medal at the worlds in Schladming last month. Austria’s Georg

Streitberger was second in the race, 0.52 adrift, ahead of Italian Werner Heel, who was a further 0.05 back.

Svindal, second in Saturday’s downhill behind Frenchman Adrien Theaux, increased the pressure on overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria, whom he trails by 29 points with seven races left.

“Hirscher, the way he is skiing this season, can score 180 points next weekend in Kranjska Gora so he remains the clear favourite,” Svindal said. In 2007, Svindal earned the first of his two overall titles by winning three of the five races at the World Cup finals but he said it would be hard for him to repeat the feat in Lenzerheide two weeks from now.

“I’m not at the same level I was then in the giant slalom but it’s already great fun to remain in contention so close to the end of the season. It will be a nice fight” he said. — Reuters

Japan defeats China in WBC FUKUOKA: Two-time defending champion Japan beat China 5-2 yesterday to improve to 2-0 in Group A of the World Baseball Classic. With Japan up 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth at Fukuoka Dome, Yoshio Itoi broke the game open with a bases-clearing double to center field that made it 5-0 for the hosts.

Japan starter Kenta Maeda picked up the win after striking out six and giving up one hit over five scoreless innings. “Our pitchers did very well tonight,” Japan manager Koji Yamamoto said. “We’ve been a little worried about Maeda coming in but he went out tonight and pitched a very strong game, which will give us confidence.”

Japan would have had a more comfortable win had it not been for a shaky outing by reliever Tetsuya Yamaguchi who surrendered China’s first run on a wild pitch in the ninth and allowed another on a fielder’s choice before recording the final out.

China got two of its three hits in the top of the ninth when it put pressure on Japan for the first time.

“Baseball is new in China and this was just another step,” China manager John McLaren said. “I thought the guys played really hard. We didn’t hit much until the end of the game so we’re just trying to get better with every game.”

Japan took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Sho Tanaka singled to left scoring Itoi from second. Seiichi Uchikawa made it 2-0 in the fourth on a single to right before Itoi’s clutch double.

Cuba beat Brazil 5-2 earlier yesterday in its first game of the tournament. Brazil dropped to 0-2. Two teams from the group will advance to the March 8-12 second round at Tokyo Dome with a chance to move on to the March 17-19 championship round in San Francisco. Japan next faces Cuba on Wednesday. —AP

Sharks outmuscle sloppy Stormers in kicking duel DURBAN: South Africa’s Sharks outmuscled compatriots the Stormers 12-6 in a wet Super Rugby clash in Durban on Saturday that had plenty of bluster but little attacking quality.

There was no score in the opening 40 minutes as both sides coughed up possession through unforced errors which allowed little rhythm in the game. Defensive units on both sides were excellent, with the tackles fierce and the game was settled after the break by penalties - Pat Lambie converting four for the Sharks with Joe Pietersen replying with two for the Stormers. “There wasn’t much to enjoy from the fans point of view in

the first half, but you have to play the conditions and there was a lot of kicking tonight,” said Stormers captain Jean de Villiers.

It was more of the same in the second period, although the difference from the first 40 minutes being the penalties were more in range for the goal-kickers. The Sharks took the lead soon after the restart. Frans Malherbe collected the ball in an offside position after Joe Pietersen had spilled an upand-under and Lambie added the three points.

The visitors levelled when the Sharks were penalised for entering the maul from the side and Pietersen slotted over. But the

Sharks began to assert domination in the forwards after that and they muscled their way into a six-point lead as Lambie added two more penalties.

Pietersen briefly brought the deficit back to three as Louis Ludik was penalised for hands in the ruck, but the home side added their fourth penalty on the hour-mark after a Stormers infringement at the lineout.

The Stormers finally found the continuity to put some phases together and work their way into the Sharks 22, but Deon Fourie knocked the ball on.

That was their final opportunity to get in front in the game, and

Sharks captain Francois Steyn praised his side’s defensive effort.

“We knew it was going to be all about our defence, the guys showed great guts,” Steyn said. A losing bonus point was all the Stormers could take from the game, although de Villiers believes their performance was an improvement on their loss to the Bulls last weekend.

“It was a much better performance for us this week, but it is difficult to play rugby in slippery conditions,” De Villiers said. “We were beaten by a better team and they played the conditions better. Both teams were very solid, but our discipline let us down.” —Reuters

FUKUOKA: Japanís right fielder Yoshio Itoi hits an RBI double in the fifth inning of their World Baseball Classic first round game against China. —AP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

S P ORTS

Bulls get past Nets opened March on a winning note after going 5-8 in February, just their second losing month in 21/2 seasons under coach Tom Thibodeau.

Noah followed up the third triple-double of his career with another terrific performance that also included four blocks. He com-

CHICAGO: Joakim Noah had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Carlos Boozer scored 20 points and the Chicago Bulls beat the Brooklyn Nets 96-85 on Saturday night.

The Bulls went on a 19-0 run that started in the second quarter and stretched into third, giving them an 18-point lead. They

mitted five turnovers, but it sure was an impressive follow-up to Thursday’s gem, when he had 23 points, 21 rebounds and a careerhigh 11 blocks in a win over Philadelphia.

Brook Lopez led Brooklyn with 22 points - 14 in the first quarter but the Nets fell for the fourth time

CHICAGO: Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) chases a loose ball past Brooklyn Nets forward Mirza Teletovic (left) during the second half of an NBA basketball game. —AP

NBA results/standings Philadelphia 104, Golden State 97; Chicago 96, Brooklyn 85; Milwaukee 122, Toronto 114 (OT); Portland 109, Minnesota 94.

NY Knicks Brooklyn Boston Philadelphia Toronto

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L 35 20 34 26 31 27 23 34 23 37

Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland

Central Division 37 22 34 25 29 28 23 38 20 39

Miami Atlanta Washington Orlando Charlotte

Southeast Division 42 14 33 24 18 39 16 43 13 45

PCT .636 .567 .534 .404 .383

.627 .576 .509 .377 .339

.750 .579 .316 .271 .224

GB 3.5 5.5 13 14.5

3 7 15 17

9.5 24.5 27.5 30

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 42 16 Denver 38 22 Utah 32 27 Portland 27 31 Minnesota 20 36

.724 .633 .542 .466 .357

5 10.5 15 21

LA Clippers Golden State LA Lakers Phoenix Sacramento

Pacific Division 43 18 33 27 29 30 21 39 20 40

.705 .550 .492 .350 .333

9.5 13 21.5 22.5

San Antonio Memphis Houston Dallas New Orleans

Southwest Division 46 14 38 19 32 28 26 32 21 39

.767 .667 .533 .448 .350

6.5 14 19 25

in five games. Deron Williams cooled off, finishing with 14 after averaging 27 over the previous three games.

Bucks 122, Raptors 114 In Milwaukee, Monta Ellis scored six of his 23 points in overtime and Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings added five apiece in the extra period to spark the Milwaukee Bucks over the Toronto Raptors.

Ilyasova finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds, while Brandon Jennings had a career-high 19 assists, including one in overtime.

Kyle Lowry had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Alan Anderson scored 21 points off the bench and Amir Johnson added 19 for Toronto, which lost for the fourth consecutive time and fifth in six games since tying a season best with a five-game winning streak. Toronto was without Rudy Gay, the team’s leading scorer at 18 points per game, who was a game-time decision due to back spasms.

76ers 104, Warriors 97 In Philadelphia, Evan Turner had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Jrue Holiday scored 27, and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a seven-game losing streak with a victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Thad Young had 14 points and 16 rebounds and Royal Ivey chipped in with 17 points for the Sixers, who are 51/2 games behind Milwaukee for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 25 games left. Stephen Curry scored 30 and Klay Thompson added 29 for the Warriors, who’ve lost four in a row.

Trail Blazers 109, Timberwolves 96 In Portland, Damian Lillard scored 24 points, J.J. Hickson added 18 points and 16 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves to earn only their second win in nearly a month.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and eight rebounds for Portland, which had six players score in double-figures. The Blazers jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter and led by as many as 18, while the Timberwolves never challenged.

Derrick Williams had 23 points and eight rebounds to lead the Wolves, who have dropped their last five games and 21 of 25. Luke Ridnour added 18 points and six assists, and former Blazer Dante Cunningham had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench. —AP

SINGAPORE: Stacy Lewis of the United States celebrates with the challenge trophy after winning the HSBC Women’s Champions golf tournament. —AP

Stacy wins HSBC Champions SINGAPORE: American Stacy Lewis won the HSBC Women’s Champions yesterday for her sixth career LPGA title, overcoming two bogeys and some shaky putting on the back nine to hold off South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi. Lewis, the 2012 LPGA Player of the Year, shot a 1-under 71 in the final round at Sentosa Golf Club to finish at 15-under 273, one stroke ahead of Choi. “The last four or five holes, I was pretty nervous, I’m not going to lie,” Lewis said. “I just played hard and put my head down and tried to make as many putts as I could and fortunately I came away with the win.”

Choi, who had a 72, was runner-up at the tournament for the second consecutive year.

She lost to Angela Stanford in a four-player playoff last year. Paula Creamer, hampered by a shoulder injury from a car accident last week in Thailand, briefly held a share of the lead early in the day but struggled with her putting on the back nine and faded to a 71 to finish third at 13under. Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot a 74 to finish a disappointing week in a share of 28th place.

Lewis started the day tied with Choi atop the leaderboard, but she was able to gain some distance with a superb shot on the par-5 7th hole.

After a long drive off the tee, Lewis hit a perfectly placed, 200-yard shot toward the pin that stopped about five inches short of going in for an albatross. She tapped it in for eagle, which put her one clear of Choi and two up on Creamer.

“It was probably one of the best shots I’ve ever hit,” Lewis said. “It had to be pretty close. I couldn’t really tell from where I was but it was perfect.” On the back nine, however, the 28-yearold American had to battle nerves and a determined challenge by Choi.

Leading by two shots on the 15th, Lewis hit her tee shot into the water for the second time this week and slammed her club into the turf in frustration. She took a bogey on the hole, allowing Choi to pull within one.

“I hit the fairway (on 15) in the practice rounds, but I did not hit it on any tournament day,” she said. “I had two in the water and two in the bunker.” “Today I was just glad to get out of there with a bogey.”

Then, on the 17th, Lewis hit into the bunker

off the tee and missed a long par putt to card her second bogey of the back nine. That gave Choi one last chance to even the score on the 18th, but she pulled her birdie putt wide by an inch. Lewis exhaled deeply after making her own par putt for the win. “I tried to do my best until the last hole,” Choi said. “Last year, I finished runner-up, too. I went into the playoff and lost. I really wanted to win this week.”

Lewis and Choi had their putting woes, but it was almost worse for the 26-year-old Creamer, who was aiming for her 10th LPGA title. She missed a 20-footer for eagle on No. 12 by inches, covering her mouth in disbelief. Then she barely missed a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 14 and started laughing. Two more near-misses followed on No. 15 and 16, which wiped the smile from her face.

“I had some good, long efforts and they just didn’t fall in. Sometimes it’s your day and sometimes it’s not,” she said. Creamer never dreamed she’d be this close to the title after the car accident on the way to the airport in Bangkok after the LPGA Honda Thailand tournament last week.

She slammed her right shoulder into the dashboard of the car and woke up Thursday morning still numb from the injury. Her caddie, Colin Cann, and fellow golfer Ai Miyazato were also injured. Miyazato withdrew before the tournament began with soreness in her back, neck and head.

Creamer set low expectations for her chances, which may have taken the pressure off.

“This is much more than what I even bargained for. Didn’t even know if I was going to tee it up and taking a third after what Colin and I have been through, it’s pretty good,” she said.

It was a tough week for Tseng, who was never a factor after the first day. The five-time major winner hasn’t won a tournament in nearly a year and could soon lose her top ranking to Choi or Lewis, who moves up to third after this week.

“I didn’t hit the ball very well this week but it’s OK. You know you always have next year to come back here,” she said. “World No. 1, I know it’s good and people like it, but I want to care about myself more and I just want to enjoy (my golf),” she said. “If I lose (it), I’ll get back one day, too.” —AP

Hamilton wraps up testing in style BARCELONA: Lewis Hamilton wrapped up his pre -season testing with Mercedes in eye catching style on Saturday with a lap that was easily the fastest seen so far this year in Barcelona.

The 2008 Formula One world champion, who will make his Mercedes race debut in Melbourne on March 17, lapped a dry Circuit de Catalunya in one minute 20.558 seconds to top the penultimate day’s timesheets.

Germany’s Nico Rosberg will complete testing for the team late yesterday. Although too much should not be read into what happens at the test track, Hamilton’s lap was more than a second quicker than his fastest time in qualifying for last year’s race there (1:21.707).

It was also well inside Kimi Raikkonen’s 2008 race lap record of 1:21.670. Hamilton’s 117 laps on Saturday, equal to 545km, took the Briton’s pre-season total distance covered in the new F1 W04 car to 2,585km with Hamilton setting the fastest time on two of the 13 days so far.

“We were able to get through all the test items that we wanted to achieve by the end of my programme. There’s still a lot of work ahead

of us to get to where we want to be but the team is doing a great job,” he told reporters.

“The reliability, the mileage and the step-bystep improvements that we have achieved during the three tests are all very encouraging.

“Whilst we’ve been focusing on our own performance, we definitely haven’t seen the full potential of our competitors yet, so it’s difficult to predict where we might be,” added the 28-year-old.

His former McLaren team mate Jenson Button took notice on Friday when he said: “The one team that has been consistently quick has been Mercedes more than anyone else.”

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was second on the timesheets, also wrapping up his pre-season testing, in a time of 1:21.266, while Adrian Sutil was third for Force India after an impressive 109 laps by the returning German.

Massa had to stop on track with less than half an hour remaining when the left front wheel came off. The team, whose F138 car has also looked a lot more competitive than the old F2012 this time last year with Fernando Alonso saying it was “200 times better”, blamed a prob-

lem with the suspension.

Frenchman Romain Grosjean made an unexpected return to the Lotus after flying home to Paris on Friday night, thinking his testing work was over, only to be summoned back to Spain when team mate Raikkonen reported sick.

Italian reserve Davide Valsecchi filled in for Raikkonen in the morning. “I certainly didn’t expect to be in the E21 again today so it was an interruption to a day off, but as interruptions go it was a pretty good one,” said Grosjean.

“I was able to assess the new rear front wings; both of which feel improved over the initial versions. We ran with high fuel today so it wasn’t about lap times in the afternoon, but it’s all valuable data we’re getting for the car.”

Australian Mark Webber wrapped up his testing for champions Red Bull before his home race with the seventh fastest time. “We had a few small issues with the car today which delayed us a couple of times and while it wasn’t ideal I think we still learned plenty,” he said. “In terms of the overall feeling at the end of my spell of testing, I think we’ve done well and we have made a step forward.”—Reuters

BARCELONA: Mercedes GP British driver Lewis Hamilton drives his car during a test session at the Montmelo racetrack. —AP

PALM BEACH GARDENS: Luke Guthrie smiles as he watches his tee shot from the seventh tee during the third round of the Honda Classic golf tournament. —AP

Guthrie, Thompson lead but Westwood, Ogilvy threaten PALM BEACH GARDENS: Unfancied Americans Luke Guthrie and Michael Thompson hold the lead at eight-under after the Honda Classic third round on Saturday but England’s Lee Westwood and Australian Geoff Ogilvy are just two back.

American Rickie Fowler finished with a birdie and an eagle to push himself within three shots of the lead, alongside Charles Howell III, but Tiger Woods was tied in 32nd place, eight strokes behind the leading duo, after a third straight round of even-par 70.

Strong winds made low scores difficult.

Guthrie began the day on nine-under par and shot a one-over 71 but remained with a share of the lead as only three of the top 10 players on the leaderboard broke par.

With world number one Rory McIlroy having withdrawn during the second round, citing toothache, and Woods well back, there will be no repeat of last year’s final round showdown between the two most high-profile players in the game.

But a fascinating battle in tough conditions awaits. The 23-year-old Guthrie, a PGA Tour rookie, had three bogeys and two birdies in his round while Thompson, who has never won on the PGA Tour, had four birdies and four bogeys as he shot a 70.

“I’m proud of the way I played,” said Guthrie, who played on the second tier Web.com tour last season while completing his degree in business management at the University of Illinois.

“I played smart, solid golf, stayed away from the trouble. Stayed to the strong side of pins, and if I missed, got it up-and-down.”

Thompson earned his share of the lead with a birdie on the par-five 18th, his 21-

foot putt for an eagle and the outright lead, pulling up just short.

“Hard to believe downwind, downgrain, but today was a struggle obviously,” he said. “My short game saved me; my putting saved me. I just fought through it. Just stayed positive, stayed patient, let things happen, and never got down on myself.”

Ogilvy, who had not made the cut in his last four tournaments, looked far more confident with the putter as he birdied the 18th to finish with an even-par 70 after starting his round with two bogeys.

“It’s hard work when you’re two-over after two. That wasn’t too much fun starting like that. But from five onwards, the par three, I hit it really well. I felt pretty comfortable out there,” said the 2006 US Open winner.

Westwood recovered from a shaky middle of his round, with bogeys on the eighth and ninth, to make his 70 with birdies on the 14th and 17th. The Englishman, who now lives nearby the PGA National course, chipped in from the rough from 48 feet on the 14th hole.

“I normally get a bit of stick for not having a short game but I chipped inside this week and a lot of sand saves and a lot of scrambling like you need to do around this golf course. Maybe I’m turning that around,” said Westwood.

South Korean Y.E. Yang, who won the tournament in 2009, was one of five players four shots off the lead after a superb bogey-free 67. Sweden’s Peter Hanson, American Keegan Bradley, England’s Justin Rose and Canadian Graham DeLaet were all on four-under. —Reuters

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

S P ORTS

Nadal crushes Ferrer to win Mexican Open

PRETORIA: Pakistan’s bowler Umar Gul (second from left) celebrates with teammates after taking the winning wicket of South Africa’s batsman Kyle Abbott (unseen) during the 2nd Twenty20 cricket match.—AP

Hafeez leads Pakistan to big win over S Africa CENTURION: Mohammad Hafeez put a poor Test series behind him when he led Pakistan to a crushing 95-run win in the second and final Twenty20 international against South Africa at SuperSport Park yesterday.

Hafeez hammered 86 and took three wickets for 25 runs, while fast bowler Umar Gul took five for six as South Africa collapsed to 100 all out in reply to Pakistan’s 195 for seven in what was a series decider after the first match in Durban was washed out.

Appointed Pakistan’s captain in the shortest form of the game, Hafeez thrashed four sixes and nine fours off 50 balls. When he was on 73 he became the first Pakistani to reach 1,000 runs in T20 internationals.

His innings was in dramatic contrast to his struggles in a three-match Test series which ended last week in which he could score only 43 runs in six innings at an average of 7.16.

“I knew I was playing well in the nets but just getting good balls in the Tests,” he said. “It was disappointing but the coach (Dav Whatmore) has been working hard with me in the nets.”

Hafeez said he felt criticism of the team after they were beaten 3-0 in the Test series had been

premature. “As a team we knew it was a different format and we have to come out with some good performances. The boys showed a great deal of character and wanted to do something special with the one-day internationals coming up.” South Africa and Pakistan meet in five oneday internationals, starting in Bloemfontein next Sunday. A second wicket partnership of 83 off 48 balls with Ahmed Shehzad (46) set Pakistan on the way, but the innings lost momentum when Hafeez was out hit wicket with the total on 170 off the third ball of the 17th over.

Hafeez slipped as he went back in his crease to hit Rory Kleinveldt to the cover boundary and he dislodged his bails. South Africa made a flying start, with AB de Villiers batting audaciously as the home side reached 48 for one in four overs. But Gul then took four wickets in six balls, spread across two overs, as the match swung in Pakistan’s favor. Three South Africans were out first ball. In between De Villiers was bowled by Mohammad Irfan for 36, made off 22 balls with two sixes and four fours. “The shorter the version of the game, the more one individual can come through and win it,” said South Africa captain Faf du Plessis. —AFP

SCOREBOARD CENTURION, South Africa: Final scores in the second and final Twenty20 international between South Africa and Pakistan at SuperSport Park yesterday.

Pakistan Nasir Jamshed c Ontong b Tsotsobe 13 Ahmed Shehzad run out (Morris) 46 Mohd Hafeez hit wicket b Kleinveldt 86 Umar Akmal c Du Plessis b Morris 11 Shoaib Malik c Miller b Kleinveldt 7 Shahid Afridi not out 19 Kamran Akmal c Ontong b Morris 1 Umar Gul c Behardien b Abbott 1 Saeed Ajmal not out 0 Extras (lb6, w5) 11 Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 195 Fall of wickets: 1-28 ( Jamshed), 2-112 (Shehzad), 3-155 (Umar Akmal), 4-170 (Hafeez), 5-171 (Malik), 6-174 (Kamran Akmal), 7-190 (Gul) Bowling: Abbott 4-0-41-1 (1w), Tsotsobe 40-28-1 (1w), Kleinveldt 4-0-27-2 (1w), Morris 4-0-35-2 (2w), Peterson 2-0-26-0, Ontong 2-0-32-0 Did not bat: Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan

South Africa A. de Villiers b Mohammad Irfan 36 Davids c Saeed Ajmal b Junaid Khan 7 F. du Plessis c Kamran Akmal b Gul 6 C. Morris c Saeed Ajmal b Gul 0 J. Ontong lbw b Umar Gul 0 F. Behardien c Ahmed Shehzad b Gul 0 Miller c Shehzad b Mohd Hafeez 9 R. Peterson c Afridi b Mohd Hafeez 13 R. Kleinveldt c Umar Akmal b Hafeez 22 K. Abbott c Kamran Akmal b Gul 2 L. Tsotsobe not out 0 Extras (lb1, w4) 5 Total (12.2 overs) 100 Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Davids), 2-50 (Du Plessis), 350 (Morris), 4-51 (Ontong), 5-53 (De Villiers), 6-53 (Behardien), 7-67 (Miller), 8-98 (Kleinveldt), 9-98 (Peterson) Bowling: Mohammad Irfan 3-0-27-1 (2w), Junaid Khan 2-0-22-1 (1w), Umar Gul 2.2-0-6-5, Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-25-3 (1w), Saeeed Ajmal 2-0-19-0 Result: Pakistan won by 95 runs

ACAPULCO: A dominant Rafa Nadal dismantled fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 60 6-2 on Saturday to win his second Mexican Open title and continue his successful comeback from a long injury lay-off.

Nadal, ranked fifth in the world, needed just over an hour to dispatch top seed Ferrer and was delighted with his form.

“For me, I played almost perfectly,” said Nadal following the match. “My knee responded well all week.”

Nadal also confirmed he would play in next week’s Indian Wells hard-court tournament, despite speculation he might skip the event to spare his knee.

“My heart tells me I should continue competing, that I need to move on to the next tournament,” he added.

Nadal had been sidelined for more than seven months due to a partially torn tendon in his knee. He made his return early last month at the Chilean Open, losing in the final to Argentine Horacio Zeballos. A week later he claimed the Brazil Open title.

The former world number one charged out of the blocks and won the first eight games against three-time defending champion Ferrer, who saw his 19-match winning streak at the claycourt event come to an end.

“Rafa was just better than me today,” said Ferrer. World No. 4 Ferrer waited 44 minutes to win his first game of the final, the crowd erupting in applause as he put away a service winner to trail 2-1 in the second set.

With Ferrer serving down 3-1, an extended rally in which both players scrambled back and forth from the net ended with a top-spin lob winner by Nadal, bringing the crowd to its feet and the score to 30-30.

Second seed Nadal, the 2005 Mexican Open champion, won the next two points to go up two breaks in the set and virtually put the match away. He pocketed $291,800 in prize money for the win.—Reuters

MEXICO: Wearing a traditional Mexican “sombrero”, Spain’s Rafael Nadal bites the trophy for the cameras after beating Spain’s David Ferrer in the final round match of the Mexico Open tennis tournament.—AP

Pliskova wins maiden title KUALA LUMPUR: Karolina Pliskova shrugged off a first-set thrashing and a 40-minute rain delay to win her first W TA singles crown at the BMW Malaysian Open yesterday.

The Czech, who was playing in her first WTA final, broke American wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands’ heart with a come-from-behind 1-6, 7-5, 63 victory in 106 minutes in Kuala Lumpur. “I was a little nervous at the start and couldn’t get my serves in.

That contributed to the heavy loss,” said Pliskova. Mattek-Sands, fresh from victory with doubles partner

Sania Mirza of India at last week’s Dubai Duty Free Championships, started strongly, breaking the world No. 197 Pliskova three times in the first set to close out an 18-minute 6-1 win.

Pliskova, 20, the 2010 Australian Open junior champion, upped her game in the second set, covering the court better and having success returning Mattek-Sands’ powerful ground strokes. Despite losing serve early on, she broke her opponent twice to win the set in 44 minutes.

“I woke up in the second set and

began to serve better. This helped turn the tide. The third set was even at 1-1 when rain disrupted play for 40 minutes, with Pliskova looking refreshed after the break and prevailing over Mattek-Sands to clinch the biggest payday of her career.

“It was a tough match but I’m delighted to win my first singles title.

I still can’t believe it,” she said. The field was thrown open earlier in the week when top seed and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki-suffering from a high temperature-crashed out in the first

round in a defeat to qualifier Wang Qiang of China. Mattek-Sands, who has 12 doubles titles to her name at the age of 28, will now have to wait longer for a first singles crown. “I’m still happy with the way I played all week. I don’t think the rain delay affected me at all. Just that she played very well,” said Mattek-Sands.

“The beauty of tennis is that there is another tournament next week so I just have to pick myself up and get on with it.” Pliskova received $40,000 for the title while Mattek-Sands pocketed $20,000.—AFP

Suhr sets indoor pole vault record ALBUQUERQUE: Olympic champion Jenn Suhr lit up the US indoor athletics championships on Saturday by leaping 5.02 meters to set a new women’s pole vault world record, while throwing down the gauntlet to Russian great Yelena Isinbayeva.

The 31-year-old American’s stunning vault in Albuquerque, New Mexico, eclipsed Isinbayeva’s indoor mark of 5.01m set in 2012 and is sure to heat up their rivalry ahead of August’s outdoor world championships in Moscow.

“I was in a groove tonight,” Suhr, who set the mark on her first attempt at the height, told reporters. “I knew some big things could happen, I just need to be healthy and come down the runway. “I’m glad that I got 5 meters out of the way, (with the) 5.02, because it is a mental barrier.”

Suhr, who denied Isinbayeva a hat-trick of Olympic gold at the London Games, made three unsuccessful attempts at 5.07m to surpass the Russian’s outdoor world record of 5.06m.

A former basketball player, Suhr had been jousting for years to supplant the seemingly invincible Isinbayeva, training in an under-heated shed during the frigid winters of her native upstate New York.

She was runnerup when Isinbayeva set a world record to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but turned the tables in London as the Russian struggled to a disappointing bronze.

“I knew if I could execute and stay focused and listen to the instructions I had that it could happen,” Suhr said of her record jump. “I guess I knew where I was in my training, I just wasn’t going to let everyone else know.” —Reuters

European Indoor Results SWEDEN: Portugal’s Sara Moreira celebrates winning the Women’s 3000m Final event at the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg.—AFP

GOTHENBURG: Sweden’s Emma Green Tregaro competes in the Women’s High Jump final event at the European Indoor Championships. —AFP

Sara clinches 3,000 meters European indoors GOTEBORG: Sara Moreira of Portugal secured victory in the women’s 3,000 meter race at the European Indoor Athletics Championships yesterday, dominating much of the race.

Moreira took the lead after two laps and held it for four circuits of the track, dogged much of the way by Germany’s Corinna Harrer, then fell back as Belgium’s Almensch Belete moved to the front.

Moreira regained the lead with five laps to go, still pursued by Harrer and a late challenge from Russia’s Yelena Korobkina. Fionnuala Britton of Ireland made a charge of her own and moved ahead of the Russian in the final stretch.

Moreira finished in 8:58.50, two seconds ahead of Harrer, while Britton took bronze. “I am so happy I didn’t come fourth, as it was so close between us,” Britton said.

Perri Shakes-Drayton of Britain won gold in

the women’s 400 meters. Shakes-Drayton ran the course at the Scandinavium arena in Goteborg in 50.85 seconds. She took the lead on the last turn and held off a late challenge from compatriot Eilidh Child, who won silver. Moa Hjelmer of Sweden took bronze.

Adam Kszczot of Poland defended his title in the men’s 800. At the halfway mark in the race, he moved up between Spaniards Kevin Lopez and Luis Alberto Marco, who had been setting the pace. He then moved ahead of Lopez, and the two streaked ahead of the rest of the pack.

Kszczot finished in 1:48.69. Lopez was less than a second behind to take silver and Mukhtar Mohammed of Britain won bronze. “The last lap was very fast, so I had to fight,” Kszczot said.

European outdoor champion Pavel Maslak added the indoor gold to his collection in the men’s 400. Nigel Levine of Britain and Russia’s

Pavel Trenikhin were second and third, respectively.

The women’s 800-meter gold went to Natalya Lupu of Ukraine who finished in a time of 2:00.26, 0.7 seconds ahead of Yelena Kotulskaya of Russia. Marina Arzamasova of Belarus won bronze, while 2011 champion Jennifer Meadows of Britain finished fourth. “I was a little surprised to get the gold,” Lupu admitted. “The last 100 meters came from the power of God.” World champion and Olympic bronze medalist Olha Saladuha of Ukraine won the women’s triple jump, with her leap of 14.88 meters more than half a meter longer than runner-up Irina Gumenyuk of Russia. Italy’s Simona La Mantia won bronze. In women’s shot put, Christina Schwanitz of Germany threw 19.25 meters to beat Russia’s Yevgeniya Kolodko and Alena Kopets of Belarus.—AP

GOTEBORG: Results yesterday from the European Athletics Indoor Championships (all distances in meters): Men 400 meters 1. Pavel Maslak, Czech Republic, 45.66. 2.

Nigel Levine, Britain, 46.21. 3. Pavel Trenikhin, Russia, 46.70. 4. Volodymyr Burakov, Ukraine, 46.79. 5. Michael Bingham, Britain, 46.81. 6.

Richard Strachan, Britain, 47.02.

800 meters 1. Adam Kszczot, Poland, 1:48.69. 2. Kevin Lopez, Spain, 1:49.31. 3. Mukhtar Mohammed, Britain, 1:49.60. 4. Anis Ananenka, Belarus, 1:49.61. 5. Taras Bybyk, Ukraine, 1:50.38. 6.

Luis Alberto Marco, Spain, 1:51.69.

Women 400 meters 1. Perri Shakes-Drayton, Britain, 50.85 seconds.

2. Eilidh Child, Britain, 51.45. 3. Moa Hjelmer, Sweden, 52.04. 4. Zuzana Hejnova, Czech Republic, 52.12. 5. Denisa Rosolova, Czech Republic, 52.71. 6. Shana Cox, Britain, 53.15.

800 meters 1. Natalya Lupu, Ukraine, 2:00.26. 2. Yelena Kotulskaya, Russia, 2:00.98. 3. Marina Arzamasova, Belarus, 2:01.21. 4. Jennifer Meadows, Britain, 2:01.52. 5. Olha Lyakhovaya, Ukraine, 2:02.12. 6. Clara Everard,

Ireland, 2:02.55.

3,000 meters 1. Sara Moreira, Portugal, 8:58.50. 2. Corinna Harrer, Germany, 9:00.50. 3. Fionnuala Britton, Ireland, 9:00.54. 4. Yelena Korobkina, Russia, 9:00.59. 5. Almensch Belete, Belgium, 9:03.89.

6. Lauren Howarth, Britain, 9:04.04. 7.

Christine Bardelle, France, 9:08.62. 8. Polina Jelizarova, Latvia, 9:09.86. 9. Roxana Barca, Romania, 9:10.51. 10. Dudu Karakaya, Turkey, 9:15.07. 11. Ancuta Bobocel, Romania, 9:18.37.

12. Natalya Aristarkhova, Russia, 9;23.28.

Triple Jump 1. Olha Saladuha, Ukraine, 14.88. 2. Irina Gumenyuk, Russia, 14.30. 3. Simona La Mantia, Italy, 14.26. 4. Veronika Mosina, Russia, 14.21. 5. Patricia Sarrapio, Spain, 14.07.

6. Yamile Aldama, Britain, 13.95. 7. Jenny Elbe, Germany, 13.81. 8. Patricia Mamona, Portugal, 13.72.

Shot Put 1. Christina Schwanitz, Germany, 19.25. 2.

Yevgeniya Kolodko, Russia, 19.04. 3. Alena Kopets, Belarus, 18.85. 4. Chiara Rosa, Italy, 18.37. 5. Irina Tarasova, Russia, 18.31. 6.

Josephine Terlecki, Germany, 18.16. 7. Anca Heltne, Romania, 17.64. 8. Ursula Ruiz, Spain, 17.22.—AP

S P ORTS

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Kuwait take big strides in shooting sports

—Photos by Sherif Ismail

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: Information Minister and State Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said the support of HH The Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for the Kuwait Shooting Sport strengthened its sports status at the Olympic and International levels, and made significant contributions in having its shooters win Olympic and International medals.

Sheikh Salman was speaking after the opening ceremony of HH The Amir Second International Shooting Grand Prix Saturday, that was held at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex. Sheikh Salman, who attended the ceremony as representative of HH. The Amir said Kuwait’s organization of the Second International Grand Prix, and the Arab Shotgun Championship reflects the unlimited support Kuwait Shooting is receiving from His Highness The Amir.

He said, he is honored to represent HH The Amir in this championship which witnessed the participation of 45 countries, as Kuwait succeeded in organizing the first championship last year with 32 countries participating.

Sheikh Salman thanked His Highness The Amir for his unlimited support for athletes and youth, as well as the higher organizing committee.

Meanwhile Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee Eng. Duaij AlOtaibi said he was happy for opening HH The Amir International Shooting Grand Prix, and the Arab Shooting Championship.

Al-Otaibi said HH The Amir has many contributions to the sport of shooting including the construction of the Olympic Complex which is considered unique in its design and equipment. He said the complex attracts World Shooting Federation to hold training camps for their shooters in addition to organizing judges and international training course under the patronage of ISSF. He said the complex is the host of the Asian and Arab Shooting Federations.

He said Shooting Sport in Kuwait is witnessing a great development, while Arab and Asian Shooting is witnessing unmatched success, as evident by the achievements of their shooters.

Al-Otaibi said the shooting sport in Kuwait enjoys great popularity by young and youth, besides the support and care of HH The Amir. He spoke about the establishment of the shooting school, which later became Sheikh Saad Shooting Academy.

Al-Otaibi lauded the role of the Chairman of Public Authority for Youth and Sports Faisal Al-Jazzaf, his deputies and the rest of officials at PAYS, in addition to ministries and government establishments, that support the championship. He thanked the media and workers in the Arab and Kuwait Shooting Federation, as well as volunteers for their great efforts.

Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud AlSabah declared the Grand Prix open, then a documentary about Kuwait Shooting was shown. Students from the Ministry of Education performed the ‘In love of Kuwait’ Operate, then a video on the London 2012 medal win-

ners was displayed. Kuwait Shooter Fuhaid Al-Daihani, the trap bronze medal winner in London 2012 Olympics said “I am happy to participate in this championship which carries a dear name to all of us, and enjoys the participation of the best world shooters, including those who made significant achievements in the Olympics. He wished them all success.

Ambassador of Iraq Mohammad Bahr Al-Oloum said the opening ceremony was fantastic and the organizing committee succeeded in proving Kuwait’s ability to host major events.

He said the ceremony is an early announcement about the success of the championship which carries the name of HH The Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad.

He said the first championship succeeded in attracting attention through the good organization and this apply to the current one. Bahr Al-Oloum praised the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex, and thanked Kuwait for the good hospitality. Security General of Jordan’s Shooting Federations Ghassan Shaaban said the ceremony was the best, especially that the higher organizing committee prepared well to make the celebration as a “headline for” the Grand Prix. He said this championship provides good experience for the Jordan team, and gives it the opportunity to add to their achievements. Meanwhile, President of the Egyptian Shooting Federation Hazem Hosni said his country’s participation comes after seven years absence, adding that “Egyptian shooting must return to compete in the championship, as 29 officials and shooters are representing Egypt in the Grand Prix.

Hosni said, the reason for the absence of Egyptian Shooting in the past is due to the lack of previous coordination and contrary to what is being done now. Hosni said the goal behind the current participation is due to providing Egyptian shooters with the opportunity to compete with world caliber shooters, including Kuwaitis who have good international reputation following their outstanding results in the Olympics and world events. He added that the Egyptian team is here to compete.

Hosni said the organization is great, and the organization committee did not leave anything for chance which proves Kuwait’s success in organizing major events.

Meanwhile President of the Tunisian Shooting Federation Sameer Chochan said this is the second time his country is participating in the championship, and the first participation was great, so the Tunisian Federation was keen to compete again, especially that KSF has enough experience to enable it to achieve great success. Chochan said, we are participating to win medals in skeet and trap, adding that this GP will be the best preparation for Tunisian shooters for upcoming events including the African and Arab Championships to be organized by Egypt in May. Chochan thanked KSF officials in general and KSF President in particular for their hospitality afforded to the delegations.

President of the Libyan Shooting Federation: Great reception indicates good organization KUWAIT: President of Libya’s Shooting Federation Taha Fares said participating in HH the Amir International Grand Prix is on top of the Libyan Federationís priorities, as the best shooters around the world are participating.

He said the warm reception at Kuwait airport and accurate organization confirms the championship success, because everything is prepared professionally by experienced people. Fares, thanked HH the Amir for his initiative, care and total support of the championship which shows his love of sports and athletes.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

S P ORTS

Rio police occupy slums near airport and seaport 2014 World Cup clean-up RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian security forces seized control of two crime-ridden slums near Rio de Janeiro’s international airport and seaport yesterday in a new bid to drive out drug traffickers ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.

More than 1,500 police and navy commandos backed by armored vehicles punched their way into the narrow streets of the Caju complex in a dawn operation that lasted about 25 minutes and went off without a hitch.

Some 200 civilian police officers simultaneously occupied the Barreira do Vasco shantytown, the public security secretariat said. Police said they encountered no resistance and no shots were fired in the two shantytowns which have a combined population of about 20,000.

Twelve people were arrested and quantities of weapons and drugs were seized.

Police also said that prior to yesterday’s operation, intelligence work led to the arrests of 284 adults and 36 minors in the area. They urged residents to report criminals as well as drug and arms caches in their communities. The flags of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro state were hoisted at a special ceremony to symbolize the restoration of government control over the area, which for years had been under the sway of drug traffickers. “The operation has been a suc-

cess,” military police Colonel Frederico Caldas told O Globo television. “This very important, strategic area was taken without firing a shot.”

Rio state Governor Sergio Cabral also hailed the successful operation. “It’s a renaissance of the area” and “it frees communities from the power (of criminals),” he said.

Local residents cautiously welcomed the operation that they hope will help restore law and order. “I think this is all good,” said a 77-year-old woman, who lives in Caju but was reluctant to reveal her name for fear of retribution from the criminals. “I hope now we will have more security,” she told AFP. Members of Rio’s feared military police battalion BOPE are to occupy the zone until a specially-trained police force known as UPP can be deployed. The operation in Caju was part of a government strategy to combat crime and reassert full control of the Rio de Janeiro metropolis ahead of the soccer World Cup of 2014 and the summer Olympic Games two years later.

In 2008, Rio authorities began cleaning up lawless favelas, or slums, one by one, hoping to finish the job before the big sporting events that are likely to bring to Rio millions of tourists.

Officials say the next target will be the violence-plagued Mare complex, a major drug trafficking center. — AFP

Lyon held by Brest, Marseille win PARIS: Lyon let slip the perfect chance to pile the pressure on French league leaders Paris Saint-Germain when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Brest yesterday, while Marseille reclaimed third place after beating Troyes 2-1.

With the expensively-assembled Paris outfit losing 1-0 at lowly Reims, Lyon had the chance to draw level on points, but a lacklustre display on a rough-and-ready looking pitch in Brest left them two points adrift in the title race. “ The challenging sur face is not an excuse. It took us time to get into the match, we know that teams fighting to stay in the league rely heavily on their home matches,” said Lyon striker Bafetimbi Gomis.

Teammate Milan Bisevac also emphasised the importance of Remi Garde’s men remaining resilient in their quest for the league crown. “We have to be strong, the title is going to undoubtedly be decided against the smaller teams. We can’t give up, even if Paris are favorites,” said the Serbian.

“It’s a difficult league: we didn’t win today, Paris lost yesterday. It’s difficult for us and Paris. The strongest mentally will win.”

It took Brest only eight minutes to get their heads in front as Moroccan midfielder Kamel Chafni went on a run down the left, exchanged passes with Magaeye Gueye on the edge of the area and strode forward, beating Steed Malbranque to the ball and planting his low shot firmly in the bottom right hand corner beyond Remy Vercoutre’s outstretched hand.

Seven minutes into the second half, Lyon were back on terms as Lisandro Lopez

burst through and Brest defender Tripy Makonda could only watch as the Argentine’s shot ricocheted into the empty net off his chest.

Lyon had a chance to steal all three points with 10 minutes to go as Arnold Mvuemba teed up Lisandro but his shot was cleared off the line by Florian Lejeune with goalkeeper Alexis Thebaux beaten.

Worse was to follow in stoppage time when Gomis volleyed wide with the goal at his mercy for what proved to be the final kick of the match.

Meanwhile, Marseille wrested control of the final Champions League spot back from Saint-Etienne, climbing to within three points of Lyon, and five behind PSG, after grinding out a 2-1 home win over basement club Troyes.

Brazilian striker Marcos capitalised on a defensive lapse from Nicolas N’Koulou to put the visitors ahead on 70 minutes at Stade Velodrome, but two goals in as many minutes provided the perfect tonic for Marseille after successive defeats to bitter rivals PSG. Substitute Modou Sougou sparked the recovery, crossing for N’Koulou to bundle home an equaliser via a deflection off Florian Jarjat nine minutes from the end.

The Senegalese winger was then again instrumental in the winning goal as he teed up Andre-Pierre Gignac to slot home from six yards out after a clever exchange of passes with Mathieu Valbuena. The day’s evening game is a middle-of-the-table clash between two under-per forming sides, Lille and Bordeaux. — AFP

CATANIA: Inter’s Argentinian midfielder Ricardo Alvarez (left) vies with Catania’s defender Marco Biagianti during the Italian Serie A football match. —AFP

Palacio’s brace rescues Inter MILAN: Rodrigo Palacio came off the bench to score a brace including an injury-time winner in a 3-2 win over feisty Catania to push Inter Milan up to fourth in Italy’s Serie A yesterday.

Inter are one of several teams vying for the coveted European places having missed out on the Champions League this season. And the Nerazzurri looked to be heading for yet another setback until Palacio sealed Inter’s 14th win of the campaign with a textbook goal in the second minute of injury time.

“We had a terrible 20 minute period and were punished for our mistake on the first goal,” coach Andrea Stramaccioni told Sky Italia. “Luckily this team has thick skin and managed to fight their way back into the game. “It’s an important victory for us against a team which is in great form.

Thankfully the real Inter emerged after the interval.”

Inter started what was always going to be a tricky away fixture in Sicily Catania sit seventh and have an impressive home record-without striker Antonio Cassano after his recent bust-up with Stramaccioni.

As expected, the visitors were given short shrift by the Sicilians and were left playing catchup inside 10 minutes when Gonzalo Bergessio smashed the ball past ‘keeper Samir Handanovic after a defensive blunder by Brazilian defender Juan Jesus.

Inter were in disarray and went in for the halftime break two goals down after Giovanni Marchese doubled the lead with a header at the back post from Francesco Lodi’s free kick.

Palacio and Dejan Stankovic came on at the restart, which was delayed by several minutes as stewards taped the goal support back together.

Catania were unlucky not to score a third when Bergessio saw his shot parried by Handanovic on a one-on-one.

But when Fredy Guarin’s angled drive flashed past the Catania post it signalled the visitors’ comeback. Minutes later Palacio latched onto

Ezequiel Schelotto’s through ball, took it to the byline and sent over a cross for Ricky Alvarez to beat Mariano Andujar from close range with a diving header.

Inter came close again when Guarin’s header flew over but Catania also missed another great chance when Bergessio failed to beat Handanovic from close range, his efforts sparking a scuffle with the big ‘keeper.

Catania were left lamenting that missed opportunity moments later when Palacio, who was unmarked in the box, rose above Alexis Rolin to head home Alvaro Pereira’s cross from close range.

Schelotto spurned two chances to seal the match eight minutes from time when his first shot from close range went straight to Andujar and, after picking up the rebound, his second was also blocked by the ‘keeper.

Catania’s defence were less tight in the second minute of injury time when Palacio was allowed space on the edge of the area and

found fellow Argentine Esteban Cambiasso.

Cambiasso took the ball to the byline and squeezed the ball to the unmarked Palacio to beat Andujar with ease from yards out.

Juventus, who host Celtic in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday, were held to a 1-1 draw away to Napoli on Friday while AC Milan romped to a 3-0 win over Lazio on Saturday.

Elsewhere Sunday, Fiorentina held onto sixth place, 14 points behind Juventus but only three shy of third-placed Milan, with a 2-1 home win over Chievo thanks to Larrondo’s 78th minute header. Bologna climbed further away from the relegation zone towards mid-table respectability with a 3-0 home rout of Cagliari while Sampdoria had Emanuel Icardi to thank for the 58th minute header which secured a 1-0 win over Parma. At Siena, Giacomo Bonaventura scored a brace for Atalanta to secure a precious 2-0 away win. Today’s early match between Torino and Palermo finished scoreless. —AFP

Italian League results/standings Torino 0 Palermo 0; Bologna 3 (Taider 5, Diamanti 18, Pasquato 90+1) Cagliari 0; Catania 2 (Bergessio 7, Marchese 19) Inter 3 (Alvarez 52, Palacio 70, 90+2); Fiorentina 2 (Pasqual 4, Larrondo 78) Chievo 1 (Cofie 38); Pescara 0 Udinese 1 (Di Natale 8); Sampdoria 1 (Icardi 58) Parma 0; Siena 0 Atalanta 2(Bonaventura 3, 67).

Italian league table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Juventus Napoli AC Milan Inter Milan Lazio Fiorentina Catania Roma Udinese Sampdoria Bologna Torino

27 27 27 27 27 27 27 26 27 27 27 27

18 5 15 8 14 6 14 5 14 5 13 6 12 6 12 4 10 10 10 6 9 5 7 12

4 4 7 8 8 8 9 10 7 11 13 8

54 47 48 44 37 48 36 54 36 34 38 32

18 22 32 36 32 33 34 47 34 30 36 32

59 53 48 47 47 45 42 40 40 35 32 32

Parma 27 8 8 11 32 36 32 Cagliari 27 8 7 12 32 47 31 Atalanta 27 9 5 13 26 38 30 Chievo 27 8 5 14 27 44 29 Genoa 26 6 8 12 26 37 26 Siena 27 7 6 14 27 39 21 Palermo 27 3 12 12 22 39 21 Pescara 27 6 3 18 20 54 21 Note: Sampdoria (one point), Torino (one point), Atalanta (two points) and Siena (six points) all docked points for involvement in the “Calcioscommesse” illegal betting scandal.

Preview

Man City take on Aston Villa FRANCE: Brest’s French midfielder Tripy Makonda (right) and Brest’s French midfielder Benoit Lesoimier vie with Lyon’s Argentinian forward Lisandro Lopez (left) during the French L1 football match. —AFP

United defeat Dundee in Cup derby GLASGOW: Dundee United defeated Dundee 2-1 in a hard-fought Scottish Cup quarter-final derby match at Dens Park yesterday, with all the goals coming in the first half. Dundee had not beaten their city rivals in the Scottish Cup since February 1956, but they were given a boost shortly before kickoff when United’s top-scorer Johnny Russell was ruled out through a leg injury he picked up in midweek.

United started the stronger and they went ahead after just 11 minutes when Brian McLean was gifted what amounted to a free header from a Barry Douglas inswinging free-kick to nod past Rab Douglas. Eight minutes later Dundee were level following a well-worked move from out right which ended in John Baird setting up Jim McAlister to thump in a low strike from 15 yards.

That set up a period of dominance for the home side that almost brought a second goal from Baird, but against the run of play it was United who moved back ahead after 35 minutes.

Moving quickly out of defence, Willo Flood found Stuart Armstrong, who angled

a pass through for Gary Mackay-Steven and the midfielder, cutting in from the right, found the back of the net with a low drive from the edge of the penalty area.

Dundee forced a succession of corners early in the second half, but failed to really threaten the United goal and it was United who came closest after 70 minutes when Armstrong’s cross was just inches beyond the reach of striker Jon Daly with Douglas beaten.

The former Celtic keeper then had to look lively to palm away an ill-advised backheader from Davide Grassi as the Italian centre-back tried to deal with a dangerous inswinging free-kick from Flood.

Dundee remained penned into their own half in the last 10 minutes as United ran down the clock down for a win that keeps them on track for a second Scottish Cup win in three years after their triumph in 2010. In the last of the quarter-finals, Hibs took another step towards a return to Hampden Park after their harrowing 5-1 loss to Hearts in last year’s final by defeating Kilmarnock 42 in a thriller at Rugby Park. — AFP

BIRMINGHAM: Roberto Mancini has called on Manchester City to use last week’s victor y over Chelsea as inspiration to keep the pressure on Manchester United when the champions travel to Aston Villa today.

Mancini’s team kept alive their slim title hopes with a 2-0 victory over Rafael Benitez ’s side last weekend, but United remain firmly in the driving seat after a 4-0 rout of Norwich on Saturday opened up a 15-point lead at the top.

Although Villa are battling against relegation, Mancini feels the clash will be a stiff test of his players’ character because anything less than a victory would effectively end their hopes of retaining the title.

“I think it will be a difficult game. They play for relegation and will be strong. For us, it will be important,” Mancini said. “If we don’t beat Aston Villa, it is like we didn’t do nothing against Chelsea and for this reason it is important to beat Aston Villa and after to continue to go forward.

“The season is not finished. It is impossible we can think it is finished now, 11 games to the finish.

It is our job to play all the games 100 percent and try to win always.”

Mancini has no intention of

Roberto Mancini underestimating Villa and the son they fight for relegation.

Italian admits he is surprised to Probably they don’t deserve to see Paul Lambert’s men struggling stay there.” Mancini does not at the wrong end of the table. Villa expect Vincent Kompany to return have been fighting against the from a calf problem for the game drop all season and while Mancini at Villa Park, but is hopeful that his believes the youth of their squad captain will be back for the FA has led them into trouble, he is Cup quarter-final against Barnsley sure they will not drop into the at the weekend. England midfielder Gareth Barry is ready to return Championship.

“Aston Villa are in a difficult sit- from an ankle injury to face his uation. I don’t know their situation former club and that just leaves very well. For me they have good long-term absentee defender players,” he said. “Maybe they have Micah Richards on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Villa manager young players and this is the rea-

Lambert believes striker Christian Benteke stands a chance of figuring on the PFA Footballer of the Year six-man shortlist after his stunning first season in England.

The Belgium international, signed from Genk for £8 million, has already scored 15 goals this term.

Lambert expects the coveted award to go to Gareth Bale, now odds-on favourite, Robin Van Persie or Luis Suarez but feels Benteke stands a chance of also featuring in the reckoning.

“Everyone is looking at Gareth Bale and quite rightly so,” Lambert said. “Van Persie and Suarez have had brilliant seasons and Michu and Christian have been excellent.

“There’s a few there but I think it (the winner) will come from the first three.” At 22, Benteke is also eligible for the Young Player of the Year award and Lambert believes both he and Andreas Weimann could feature.

The in-form pair could both be in demand at the end of the season, however Lambert has reminded them the grass is not always greener elsewhere. “You have to get into their heads and let them know what you think,” he said. “The thing is, do they want to go to a side where they are sitting in the reserves and don’t get a shot at it?” —AFP

Nadal crushes Ferrer to win Mexican Open

Stacy wins HSBC Champions

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

17

16

Palacio’s brace rescues Inter in Italian League

Page 19

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur’s Jake Livermore (left) is out jumped by Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud during the English Premier League soccer match at White Hart Lane stadium. — AP

Spurs add to Arsenal’s misery TOTTENHAM 2

ARSENAL 1

LONDON: Gareth Bale stole the spotlight yet again as the Tottenham star inspired his side to a crucial 2-1 win over Arsenal that piled on the misery for their north London rivals yesterday.

Bale has been in sublime form of late and the Wales winger produced a typically clinical finish to break the deadlock in the first half at White Hart Lane before Aaron Lennon doubled Tottenham’s lead just moments later.

Per Mertesacker’s goal early in the second half set the stage for a tense finish, but Andre Villas-Boas’s team, now unbeaten in their last 12 league games, held on to move above Chelsea into third place in the Premier League and within two points of second-placed Manchester City.

Spurs have had eight managers since they last finished above Arsenal in 1995, but Villas-Boas could be the one to end that barren stretch as his side sit seven points clear of fifth placed Arsenal, who face a major struggle just to qualify for the Champions League.

Arsenal’s first defeat in six league games left them five points behind Chelsea in the race for a top-four finish and added to the sense of a club in crisis. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had awoken to reports that Arsenal could be the subject of a takeover bid from a Middle East consortium which would place his future under scrutiny after eight years without a trophy and

this was another dispiriting afternoon for the Frenchman.

Arsenal, prompted by Jack Wilshere’s intelligent passing, had been first to settle after a frantic opening and Olivier Giroud’s header brought Hugo Lloris into action.

Bale had few chances to flourish while Spurs struggled to find their rhythm in the opening 30 minutes and his only contribution of note was to dodge a banana thrown from the section filled with Arsenal fans.

But Bale is far too dynamic a talent to be subdued for long and in the 36th minute he demonstrated the cool head and lethal finishing that sets him apart from the rest of the Premier League at present.

So much of the pre-match focus had centred on Bale’s remarkable form, with some pundits even mentioning him in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and here was further evidence to support their case.

Timing his run perfectly to meet Gylfi Sigurdsson’s astute pass, Bale burst into the penalty area before flicking a fine finish past Wojciech Szczesny for his 24th goal of the season for club and country and his 10th in his last eight games.

In an instant, Bale had completely transformed the tone of the match.

Where Arsenal had been relatively comfortable, they now reverted to the nervous group that has struggled for much of the campaign. Spurs took full advantage to double their lead two minutes later. This time it was Scott Parker who delivered the crucial contribution, running unchecked from inside his own half before sliding a perfectly-weighted pass to Lennon, who beat Arsenal’s woeful offside wrap before rounding Szczesny and slotting into the empty net.

With Spurs rampant at that point, Wenger’s side desperately needed a goal early in the second half to restore their belief and Mertesacker delivered in the 51st minute, the German defender glancing a header into the far corner from Theo Walcott’s cross.

Spanish left-back Nacho Monreal lashed a long-range effort just wide as Arsenal poured forward in search of an equaliser. But Bale, scuffing over from Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s cross, wasted a golden chance to restore Tottenham’s two-goal lead before Sigurdsson bizarrely opted not to shoot with only Szczesny to beat.

Ramsey was agonisingly close to equalising in the final minutes, but Spurs survived to ensure the balance of power in north London shifted to White Hart Lane. — AFP

EPL results/standings Tottenham 2 (Bale 37, Lennon 39) Arsenal 1 (Mertesacker 51).

Playing today Aston Villa v Manchester City English Premier League table after yesterday’s match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points) Man United 28 Man City 27 Tottenham 28 Chelsea 28 Arsenal 28 Everton 28 Liverpool 28 Swansea City 28 West Bromwich28 Fulham 28

23 2 16 8 16 6 15 7 13 8 11 12 11 9 10 10 12 4 8 9

3 3 6 6 7 5 8 8 12 11

68 50 49 56 53 44 53 39 38 39

31 24 33 30 32 35 34 34 37 44

71 56 54 52 47 45 42 40 40 33

Stoke City West Ham Norwich City Sunderland Newcastle Southampton Wigan Athletic Aston Villa Reading QPR

28 28 28 28 28 28 28 27 28 28

7 12 9 6 7 11 7 9 8 6 6 9 6 6 5 9 5 8 3 11

9 13 10 12 14 13 16 13 15 14

26 32 27 31 38 39 33 26 34 21

33 41 45 38 49 51 55 52 54 44

33 33 32 30 30 27 24 24 23 20

Bayern labor to 1-0 win BERLIN: Bayern Munich maintained their 17-point lead in the Bundesliga yesterday, racking up their 20th league win from 24 games this season after laboring to a 1-0 win at strugglers Hoffenheim.

Bayern claimed their 10th straight victory thanks to Germany striker Mario Gomez’s first-half winner.

Although 47 points separate the two teams in the table, Hoffenheim, second from bottom, worked hard to contain the off-form league leaders before succumbing to their 16th league defeat of the season.

They have won now only one of their last 14 games, including two draws and suffered 11 defeats and face a relegation dogfight of a duel next weekend against bottom club Greuther Fuerth.

Bayern produced a subdued display, despite knocking holders Borussia Dortmund out of the German Cup last Wednesday, with coach Jupp Heynckes admitting his team were off color. “The game was very difficult because of the opponent’s league predicament,” said Heynckes.

“We had to work hard for the win, it wasn’t brilliant or glamorous, but in return for 90 minutes work, we got three points. “We were a bit superficial, we weren’t direct enough and not lively enough. It took a while to warm up

the engine.”

Heynckes made five changes from the team which beat Dortmund with reserve goalkeeper Tom Stark starting for Manuel Neuer and Gomez starting for Mario Mandzukic.

Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri took Toni Kroos’ place in the centre of midfield, Germany’s Jerome Boateng started at centre-back for Belgium’s Daniel van Buyten.

France star Franck Ribery took his place on the left wing from Arjen Robben, left out of the matchday squad despite scoring Wednesday’s winner. Hoffenheim made a bright start and contained Bayern’s attack until the 38th minute. Midfielder Igor de Camargo’s mistimed pass was snapped up by Bayern’s Boateng, who fired in a cross for Ribery to head back across goal to Gomez, who rolled his shot past goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger clattered the crossbar twice with shots as Bayern pushed for the goal which would have put the game beyond doubt.

On Saturday, hosts Borussia Dortmund warmed up for Tuesday’s Champions League clash at home to Shakhtar Donetsk with a 3-1 win over Hanover 96 to stay second.

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted twice hav-

ing only been allowed to play on Friday after the German Football Association (DFB) reduced his three-match ban.

Bayer Leverkusen remain third, just a point behind Dortmund, after scoring twice in the last eight minutes to come from behind for a 2-1 win at home to VfB Stuttgart.

Schalke, who host Dortmund in next Saturday’s Ruhr derby, are up to sixth after they beat Wolfsburg 4-1 with 19-year-old man-of-the-match Julian Draxler scoring two and setting up one.

The Royal Blues are still in Champions League contention after their last 16, first leg 2-2 draw at Galatasaray with the return in Gelsenkirchen on March 12.

Bremen suffered their third straight defeat, dropping to 13th, after they suffered a 1-0 win at home to Augsburg, who remain third from bottom, while Nuremberg moved up to 12th with a 1-1 draw at home against Freiburg. Hamburg drop to seventh after their 1-1 draw at home against bottom side Fuerth.

On Friday, Moechengladbach picked up their first win in seven games thanks to Dutch striker Luuk de Jong’s goal with a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, who remain fourth despite having now gone five games without scoring. — AFP

Business

Zain demonstrates Cloud Campus online service Page 22 Rise in US factory growth lifts hopes for economy Page 23

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Wary of downgrade, India seeks to balance budget

KIA Quoris luxury sedan dazzles crowd at 360 Mall Page 25 Page 26

MANILA: Shanty houses on the banks of a river in front of buildings from Manila’s financial district. Optimism is soaring that the Philippines is finally becoming an Asian tiger economy, but critics caution a tiny elite that has long dominated is amassing most of the new wealth while the poor miss out. — AFP

Struggling Gulf Air sacks staff Unions reject revamp amid brewing storm clouds DUBAI: Bahrain’s loss-making flag carrier Gulf Air, struggling against competition from other regional carriers, has embarked on a sweeping restructuring plan that has annoyed unions over heavy job cuts. The company said last week it had sacked 15 percent of its staff and closed four more routes in January as it pressed ahead with a restructuring plan that it launched a month earlier.

The carrier, one of the Gulf region’s oldest airlines, has been struggling to cut losses mounted by stiff competition from fast growers like Dubai’s Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad and Qatar Airways, as well as rapidly expanding budget airlines like flydubai and Air Arabia. It has also been hit by the kingdom’s political and security uncertainty that took a heavy toll on the economy due to Shiite-led protests that erupted in February 2011, and continue despite a deadly crackdown in March of the same year.

Gulf Air was established in 1974, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar partnering with Bahrain. By the early 1990s, it had become the largest Middle East carrier.

But its star shone only briefly. By the middle of the decade, it

started to lose ground because of an economic downturn in the oil-producing region and competition from new carriers.

Bahrain’s erstwhile partners divested and focused on building their own airlines, leaving Manama to bear the losses.

A number of chief executives have been successively hired to restructure the carrier, including former Royal Jordanian chief Samir Al-Majali who resigned just months ago after failing to replicate his success in revamping Jordan’s flag carrier.

Precise figures are unavailable, but Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat said last year that it lost 270.6 million dinars ($171.6 million) in 2011, due mainly to Gulf Air. The revamp aims to redraw the airline’s network, focusing on point-to-point routes, as well as resizing the work force.

“In January a total workforce reduction of 6 percent was realized. This to date has increased to 15 percent,” Gulf Air said on Monday. This is being achieved through non-renewal of contracts, restructuring in outstations, natural attrition and a voluntary retirement scheme.

But Gulf Air’s union is not happy, and is in talks with the labor

Blue-chips lift Dubai; most Gulf markets up MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Dubai blue-chips rose yesterday, although the wider index remains range-bound below a key psychological level, while most other Gulf Arab markets also advanced.

Dubai’s Emaar Properties climbed 3.4 percent to a 52-month high. Investor confidence remains upbeat in Emaar, despite fourth-quarter earnings missing estimates, as property prices in the emirate slowly recover. Telecom operator du rose 4.7 percent to 4.69 dirhams, its highest close since October 2008.

“I think it’s trading at a premium to fair value which is justified considering the circa 10 percent growth in net revenues estimated for 2013,” said a Dubai-based trader who asked not to be identified. “I will not be surprised if it moves a little higher before falling back to 4.20 - 4.30 levels.”

Du’s fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as it wrote back tax provisions and its subscriber base rose.

Arabtec tumbled 9.7 percent, its lowest price since Jan. 3, as investors continue to react negatively to the shake-up announced by the developer last week.

Dubai’s measure advanced 0.4 percent to 1,936 points. It has been trading in a tight range just below 2,000 points since hitting a 39-month high on Feb. 24.

In the UAE capital, the Abu Dhabi index declined for a second session, with traders targeting small-cap stocks - a pattern usually seen in a market lacking catalysts.

Eshraq Properties, which rose 1.6 percent, accounted for more than 40 percent of shares traded. Saudi

Arabia’s index gave back gains from the previous two sessions as bluechips weighed.

Banks were the main drag. SABB slipped 1.8 percent, while Banque Saudi Fransi and Samba Financial Group both fell 0.7 percent.

Of the 13 largest stocks on the bourse, ten ended the session lower and the other three were flat.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s benchmark closed 0.2 percent higher, snapping a five-session losing streak.

Orascom Telecom was the main support, climbing 4.3 percent in its largest gain since Jan. 2. In Kuwait, the index extended recent gains, climbing 0.2 percent to its highest close since May 2012.Shares have rallied after Kuwait indicated it would restart long-delayed infrastructure projects.

A government official said on Thursday it plans to choose a winning bid in the first quarter of this year for a 900 million dinars ($3.2 billion) new airport, which is key to the country’s economic development plan.

Qatar’s index rose 0.4 percent, supported by Industries Qatar and Doha Bank, which advanced 1.3 and 1.8 percent respectively. In Oman, the benchmark climbed 0.2 percent, taking its year-to-date gains to 3.5 percent. Bank Sohar and Oman Investment and Finance added 0.5 and 2.3 percent respectively.

Bahrain’s index reversed the previous session’s loss, gaining 0.7 percent, although the number of shares changing hands was at its lowest level in 2013.

Ithmaar Bank jumped 9.1 percent. - Reuters

ministry, but has not said what action it might take. Bahrain is one of few Gulf nations that have strong labor unions that can take industrial action. Union spokesman Mohammed Mahdi said the company aims to dismiss a total of 1,266 employees in the first stage of restructuring — 600 Bahrainis and 666 foreigners.

“That is more than 30 percent of the total workforce of 4,000 employees,” he said. However, very few Bahrainis have accepted the retirement proposal. “Bahrainis have open-ended contracts, while foreigners have fixed-term contracts,” that are easy not to renew, Mohammed Mahdi told AFP. For its part, the company said Bahrainis working at the headquarters now account for a record high of 85 percent. It said earlier that it had increased its initial offer for compensation for retiring Bahraini employee. Mahdi also said “outstations should not be shut down without feasibility studies,” claiming that some of those closed destinations were busy routes. He also complained of a “lack of transparency.” The airline said also it closed down several loss-making destinations as it re-aligns its network with a focus on regional routes instead of the “low-yield transit

traffic,” where big Gulf carriers are making long leaps.

“Gulf Air continues to differentiate itself from its regional competitors and carve a long-term niche in a highly competitive business environment,” it said.

The carrier said it has also begun to “simplify and align” its fleet with its revised network needs, expecting to do so by April.

It currently operates an all Airbus fleet of 26 planes.

In November, Gulf Air said it had cut orders of Airbus A330 and Boeing 787 long-haul planes as it adapts to its new positioning as a regional carrier. It is not the first time that Gulf Air reduces its workforce over the past years in its struggle to cut losses. In 2009, Gulf Air sacked 500 employees, when officials said it had already run up total losses of more than one billion dollars.

Earlier this month, Bahrain’s second carrier, privately held Bahrain Air, announced entering liquidation after going bankrupt. Both airlines have also suffered from the closure of routes to Iraq and Iran over political and security concerns following protests. The routes were reopened in September. — AFP

Troika auditors scrutinize Greek accounts ATHENS: Greece’s bailout lenders yesterday began an audit of the country’s accounts to assess its progress in implementing reforms needed to unlock another loan to help it out of the debt crisis.

Representatives from the so-called troika of Greece’s creditors-the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund held a meeting with Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras

in Athens as part of regular efforts to review the steps Greece has taken to meet its bailout obligations. Thorny issues that Athens still needs to address include shrinking the number of jobs in the public sector, speed up privatization plans and recapitalize four of its main banks.

Under the bailout conditions adopted last year, Greece needs to cut public sector workers by 25,000 in 2013 and a total of

ATHENS: European Central Bank’s (ECB) Klaus Masuch (center) arrives at the Finance Ministry for a meeting with Greek Finance Minister in Athens yesterday. — AFP

150,000 by the end of 2015. In an interview published in the Sunday newspaper To Vima, Stournaras said there would be “no lay-offs.”

“Over the past year and a half, the public sector has been reduced by 75,000 people,” he was quoted as saying. The paper said thousands of people have retired in recent years and that the measures that will be implemented in 2013 will leave the sector with gaping holes. Last year, around 2,000 workers were placed in so-called labor reserve pools-meaning they do not work and their salaries are cut by 40 percent until they are made redundant-and another 1,000 employees, who had violated civil servant rules, will be dismissed in 2013, it said.

The lay-off plans have sparked intense bickering among Greece’s coalition partners. Fotis Kouvelis, leader of the Democratic Left party, has warned against the dismissals, citing the country’s soaring unemployment rate which in November reached a new record high of 27 percent.

Facing a sixth year of continuous recession, the heavily-indebted country has been relying on international rescue packages to avoid bankruptcy and get its economy back on track.

Since 2010, the EU and the IMF have committed 240 billion euros ($312 billion) overall in rescue loans to Greece. The next payment to Greece, of 2.8 billion euros, is due at the end of March. — AFP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Zain demonstrates Cloud Campus online service KUWAIT/BARCELONA: Zain Group, a pioneer in mobile telecommunications in 8 markets across the Middle East and North Africa, yesterday announced the demonstration of an online, social media-based learning service known as Cloud Campus, in partnership with Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University (HBMeU) and Global Learning.

The demonstration, took place at the Zain booth at Mobile World Congress on February 26, showcasing the various components of the service together with a number of courses for different educational levels, collaboration environments, and academic support.

The courses that will be available through Cloud Campus are grouped in three different categories targeting various age groups as follows: 1 Business skills: More than 150 online sessions covering soft skills areas such as Leadership, Communication, Entrepreneurship, Talent Management, Sales and Marketing, Finance, Global Business, Driving Operations, Self-Development, Strategy, and Innovation. The target is working adults, managers, employees, parents and university students.

2 Languages: More than 600 online lessons, categorized into Kids English, Teens English, General English, and Business English. These lessons follow the Cambridge curriculum, and prepare learners for the various levels of Cambridge exams.

3 School Content: More than 1,200 online lessons, covering all math, sciences and IT topics for grades 4 to 12. These target school students, to support and consolidate what they learn in school.

Zain commenced its collaboration with HBMeU and Global Learning in January 2013, making it the first telecom operator in the Middle East to cooperate with the University in such a manner. HBMeU is a first mover in e-learning in the Arab World, being the first accredited e-learning academic institution by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Global Learning is a specialized company in social, online and mobile learning. With more than 15 years’ experience in the Middle East, and a large number of implemented online learning projects, Global Learning brings a wealth of knowhow and expertise in the field.

This innovative Cloud Campus learning platform is the first of its kind in the Middle East and appeals

Global economy needs more domestic demand

By Hayder Tawfik

T

strongly to Zain’s corporate social responsibility priorities to support education and learning.

Zain Group CEO, Mr. Scott Gegenheimer said: “Zain Group is pleased to build on the earlier agreement we established with HBMeU, and we believe Cloud Campus will play an instrumental role in raising education levels across the region.”

Gegenheimercontinued: “This demonstration of the new Cloud Campus service highlights the importance of social media in its ability to influence and to educate. Cloud Campus leverages these abilities in a formalized way, and we expect this initiative to be well-received and adopted across all the markets in which it is introduced.”

Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of HBMeU, said: “Our partnership with Zain is in line with our commitment to constantly strive to enhance our core offerings by taking advantage of innovative learning applications and popular online platforms to cater to a much wider range of target audiences. The launch of Cloud Campus at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona enabled us to optimally demonstrate how this online learning service has opened exciting opportunities to offer more com-

pelling and customized solutions to learners across the region. Looking ahead, we will continue to leverage the latest advances in technology and HBMeU’s strategic relations with other key organisations such as Zain and Global Learning to further reinforce the university’s position as a leader in e-Learning in the Arab World.”

Starting with Zain customers in Kuwait, any user can register to Cloud Campus either by sending an SMS, or online. In both cases, the monthly subscription fee will be charged to his mobile number.

All Zain customers will be given a free month subscription to try the application and the courses, after which they can decide to stay or unsubscribe.

Zain expects to make the service available in Kuwait in April, with other group companies following in due course.

High-level representatives from Zain, HBMeU, and Global Learning, including Scott Gegenheimer, Zain Group CEO, HBMeU Chancellor, Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, HBMeU Assistant Chancellor and Director of IT, Dr. Raed Al Awdeh, and Global Learning Vice Chairman, Paul Zalloua, were present at the demonstration of Cloud Campus at Mobile World Congress.

Dubai firm to manage Islamic endowments DUBAI: Dubai will host a new asset management firm specializing in awqaf (Islamic endowments), as the emirate seeks to become a global centre for the business of sharia-compliant charitable foundations, company officials said yesterday.

Awqaf are believed to control tens of billions of dollars worth of assets around the Muslim world, where people contribute a portion of their wealth, in cash or other forms, to charitable projects such as mosques and schools. Consultancy Ernst & Young estimates awqaf had roughly $105 billion of assets in 2010. But the management of these endowments has often been criticized as inefficient and primitive, leaving money tied up in fixed assets such as real estate where it earns low or zero returns.

NoorAwqaf, which will be owned 60 percent by Noor Investment Group and 40 percent by the Dubai government’s Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF), aims to boost returns for awqaf around the globe.

Noor Investment is an affiliate of

Investment Corp of Dubai, the emirate’s flagship investment vehicle.

In Januar y, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum announced that the emirate wanted to become a global centre for Islamic finance and other businesses based on Islamic principles, in part by encouraging stronger ties among the various sectors. “Our intention is to establish Dubai as a global hub for awqaf, by providing and establishing financial services to Islamic foundations,” said Tayeb Abdel Rahman Al Rayes, AMAF’s secretary general. The new firm, which will have 10 million dirhams ($2.7 million) of paid-up capital, will offer services including due diligence, financial analysis and assisting awqaf to develop their strategic objectives, he added.

Hussain Al Qemzi, group chief executive of Noor Investment, said that by actively managing their funds through the new firm, awqaf could ensure their projects were more selffinancing, reducing their reliance on donations and international aid.

“It is a more liberating concept, which is business-driven,” Al Qemzi said. Some of NoorAwqaf ’s investments will focus on halal or sharia-

compliant companies catering to Muslim consumers in areas such as food, clothing and cosmetics, Al Rayes said. — Reuters

Egypt expects IMF deal before April elections CAIRO: Egypt expects to seal a long-delayed $4.8 billion loan deal before parliamentary elections start next month, the finance minister said yesterday, as the country runs dangerously low on foreign currency reserves and the budget deficit soars. The deal was agreed in principle last November but put on hold at Cairo’s request following unrest on Egyptian streets. Egypt has sent a reform plan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but no dates have yet been set for the resumption of talks.

“We expect that an agreement will happen before the elections,” Finance Minister Al-Morsi Al-Sayed Hegazy told reporters. “I expect and am hopeful this deal can be made before the elections.”

Voting in the four-round process begins on April 22.

Egypt is mired in economic and political crisis two years after the fall of Hosni Mubarak. US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Cairo on Saturday it was “paramount, essential, urgent” that the economy get back on its feet, adding that an IMF deal needed to be reached. Kerry met Islamist President Mohamed Morsi yesterday but no details were released on what they discussed.Egypt’s foreign currency reserves have fallen to not much more than a third of their level before the 2011 overthrow of Mubarak. — Reuters

o have a sustainable global economic growth which can generate employment and wealth for some desperate economies is better to ban factory automation and industrial robots in particular in the emerging economies of China, India and Brazil. The world economy cannot afford and should not allow those countries with highest saving ratios to keep exporting those industrial robots and factory automation equipment to those nations which needs to have economic growth.

Japan, Germany and China have the highest saving ratios in the world but weak domestic demand and at the same time they are the main exporters of industrial robots and factory automation machinery. By exporting these machines and the knowhow to those nations which needs to grow by creating employments they are actually killing any hope of job creation. Just imagine if the textile industry in India becomes fully automated, what will happen to those uneducated, unskilled thousands of workers. Or imagine if the farmers in China get replaced by industrial agricultural machinery. I think the level of the high unemployment around the world demands a ban on any further Industrial robots and workers replacing machineries at least for the next 20 years. I know it is a radical measure and will be opposed by big multinational which produces these robot machineries but the reality demands action before it is too late. The global economy cannot have unemployment keep building up and just waiting for Quantitative Easing to work its way through.

Politicians and central bank officials keep talking and arguing about the impact of Quantitative Easing and the potential threat of inflation but none of them talk about the rising unemployment in particular among the young. High unemployment around the world means capped inflation for years to come. Only the officials at the US Federal Reserve may be more worried than they have let on about the any sudden abandoning of the quantitative Easing on economic growth and job creation. This is an unsettling twist, with global implications. To abandon Quantitative Easing because of potential future inflation threat at a time of high unemployment is a grave mistake and only the European Central Bank officials pushing for stopping the easy money policy and that is because I said in my previous articles the sad story is that the ECB is working in the shadow of the German Bundsbank. Why not live with some inflation for the sake of creating more jobs for the desperate young.

I don’t think there is a right or wrong of what different central bank interpretation is for Quantitative Easing. It is just how they manage it.

Buying short maturity bonds i.e. 3 years might suit some central banks like the bank of Japan but it might not suit the Federal Reserve. The Bond market in Japan is not as s developed as the US market and corporate Japan might not need as much borrowing as the US or the European ones. It is just the fear that if central bank stretches its maturity holding it might suffer the most when interest rates start rising. But interest rates start rising if economic growth or inflation start going up and for the time being neither of them is likely. So, worrying about something which does not exist at present is just like trying to do nothing so not to be blamed in the future.

I hope that Ben Bernanke is not going to even think of an early exit from his aggressive Quantitative Easing policy at the time when the US is embarking on fiscal tightening this year. This is going to be one of the most aggressive budget squeezes seen in this century. I am not sure that the US economy has reached its capacity yet and in fact it shrank in the 4th quarter of last year so the fiscal tightening and the talk of scaling back on Quantitative Easing is a bit alarming. My biggest worry is that the European Central Bank is not even trying to create some balances when the US might be heading towards weaker economic growth this year. The ECB must make sure that bond yields stay above nominal GDP growth in those countries which have very high debt to GDP. The only way to achieve this is to have very easy money policy in place.

All these bring us back to the dilemma facing global economic growth. There is too much industrialization around the world and less demand to take up the supply. Countries with highest saving ratio should work much harder to stimulate domestic demand and rely less on exports. The world needs trade rebalancing now more than ever. The US economy cannot do this difficult task on its own. Some countries such as Germany tightened fiscal policy to achieve a budget surplus, obviously this is untenable in the long run and the weaker euro-zone members are paying the price of what the Germans are doing.

At present we are living in a world of weak demand, high savings and trade imbalances. These cannot last for long. In the long term those countries with deficits will be the winners and countries with high saving will pay the price as Japan learned it the harsh way over the last 20 years.

— Hayder Tawfik - Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah Capital

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 .2828500 GB Pound/KD .4272170 Euro .3694590 Swiss francs .3031780 Canadian dollars .2756550 Danish Kroner .0495470 Swedish Kroner .0437450 Australian dlr .2889600 Hong Kong dlr .0364600 Singapore dlr .2284730 Japanese yen .0030770 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0770390 Bahraini dinars .7505640 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0754470 Omani riyals .7349620 Philippine Peso .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 3.037 5.180 2.890 2.225 3.314 231.060 36.654 3.589 6.972 9.556 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 75.817 78.120 738.470 755.150 77.418

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 42.200 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 41.524 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.326 Tunisian Dinar 181.020 Jordanian Dinar 401.500 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.907 Syrian Lier 3.089 Morocco Dirham 33.955 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 284.200 Euro 373.150 Sterling Pound 430.140 Canadian dollar 279.450 Swiss Franc 304.610 US Dollar Buying 283.000 GOLD 298.000 150.000 77.500

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 284.550 280.580 430.420 373.110 302.160 753.350 77.450 78.105 75.845 401.120 41.542 2.227 5.194 2.893 3.601 6.982 698.015 4.035 9.645 4.020 3.335 91.895

Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY

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

British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Scottish Pound Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar Uganda Shilling Canadian Dollar Colombian Peso US Dollars Bangladesh Taka Cape Vrde Escudo Chinese Yuan Eritrea-Nakfa

BUY Europe 0.4209398 0.0061343 0.0456678 0.3658926 0.0454948 0.4225705 0.0402523 0.2965924

SELL 0.4299398 0.0181343 0.0506678 0.3733926 0.0506948 0.4300705 0.0452523 0.3035924

Australasia 0.2804923 0.2268087 0.0001095

0.2924923 0.2368087 0.0001095

America 0.2700356 0.0001482 0.2824500

0.2790356 0.0001662 0.2846000

Asia 0.0035608 0.0031569 0.0447120 0.0164400

0.0036158 0.0033869 0.0497120 0.0195400

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

0.0000442 0.0341462 0.0051290 0.0000244 0.0028424 0.0029634 0.0032422 0.0879343 0.0031069 0.0028705 0.0065355 0.0000727 0.2254830 0.0019309 0.0091498

0.0000502 0.0372462 0.0051990 0.0000296 0.0038424 0.0031434 0.0034722 0.0949343 0.0033069 0.0029105 0.0070055 0.0000757 0.2314830 0.0022359 0.0097496

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

Arab 0.7484810 0.0396264 0.0129988 0.1481439 0.0000792 0.0001858 0.3958388 1.0000000 0.0001745 0.0219601 0.0012085 0.7282097 0.0775173 0.0753600 0.0499832 0.0031755 0.1797010 0.0760588 0.0012838

0.7569810 0.0416564 0.0194988 0.1499339 0.0000797 0.0002458 0.4033388 1.0000000 0.0001945 0.0459601 0.0018435 0.7392097 0.0783003 O.0760000 0.0505332 0.0033955 0.1857010 0.0775088 0.0013838

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 *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 284.200 374.100 429.850 278.850 3.100 5.190 41.605 2.229 3.590 6.970 2.890 756.850 77.400 75.900

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Japan’s trade deficit hits a new record KCIC WEEKLY ANALYSIS

By Dana Al-Fakir KUWAIT: Japan’s trade deficit widened to a record $17.4 billion in January, as imports outpaced exports yet again. Imports grew by 7.3% year-onyear in January, compared to the previous month’s 1.9% and have been witnessing a growth spurt since the onset of the radical policy reforms put forward by the nation’s new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in November. During the past three months, Mr. Abe’s determination to lift the economy out of deflation has depreciated the yen by more than 13% against the US dollar, and its weakness has in turn driven up the value of energy imports. Having said that, the weakness of the yen did improve Japan’s competitiveness. Exports rebounded, accelerated and grew more-than-expected, by 6.4% year-on-year in January, its first rise in eight months.

The record trade deficit however has sparked some concerns about whether it may prompt the prime minister to back track on his aggressive policy stance, especially if the rise in exports fails to gradually offset the rise in imports. Imports are forecasted to remain high due to the nation’s reliance on energy from abroad, as its nuclear power stations remain idle following the Fukushima disaster back in March of 2011.

The trade balance is the difference in value between a country’s total exports and imports.

When a country is in a trade deficit, then it is a net importer: its imports are outweighing its exports in value. Over ten years up to 2010, half of Japan’s real GDP growth was accounted for by net exports. The trade balance itself is a component of the current account balance. The current account balance

records the purchase and sale of goods and services and is comprised of the trade balance, net income from abroad (repatriated profits, dividends, interest payments) and net current transfers (remittances, pensions, grants, international aid). Japan has been running a current account surplus for decades.

However, if the trade deficit persists, then the fate of the current account surplus will depend on foreign income from abroad. Japan’s trade balance is also

Commodities weekly update

February hurts commodities

By Ole Hansen

A

fter a solid January, most of the major commodities went into reverse during February, triggered by individual events within the different sectors but also some general macro.

Political events also played their part. The USD returned to form and ended a twomonth decline, rising by more than 3 percent against an index of major currencies thereby eroding commodity prices due its adverse relation. The rise was triggered by the continued buying against the JPY, but also a weaker EUR due to the outcome of the Italian election. The lack of a clear winner triggered higher borrowing costs for non-core Euro area countries, such as Spain and Italy, and it rekindled worries about a return of the debt crisis.

Elsewhere, China showed willingness to tighten liquidity to put a break on galloping property prices, which ultimately could lead to higher inflation and, at the same time, see its manufacturing activity expand at a slower pace than expected. This leaves China’s new government with limited room to manoeuvre as it takes over the leadership later this month. In the US, growth continues at a moderate pace after some headwind was created by tax hikes at the beginning of the year, seasonal high gasoline prices and automatic spending cuts beginning from March 1.

Improved growing conditions and ample supply first made an impact on soft commodities such as sugar, Arabica coffee and cocoa before also triggering weakness across the major crops, especially corn and wheat. After this, the weakness and investor selling spread to precious metals, which were already struggling after several months of weakness, so much that gold has not seen a similar bad run of monthly losses since 1997. Finally, the growth dependent commodities such as industrial metals and the energy also began to correct lower as future expectations of growth and demand had run too far ahead of current fundamentals and reality. The two major commodity indexes both show similar losses during February despite a big difference in underlying exposure. Losses were seen across all the sectors, including the agriculture sub-sectors, in particular precious and industrial metals suffering the biggest losses.

Only three commodities managed a positive return during February. Natural gas was the strongest as it found support from colder than normal US weather and general strong demand that helped to ease the surplus inventories ahead of the new injection season, which starts in a few weeks’ time. Cotton found support from increased demand for US supplies at a time when output is expected to drop as farmers switch to more profitable crops.

Silver was the worst performer, losing more than 10 percent as it got caught out by the general weakness both in precious and industrial metals. This resulted in the relative cost compared with gold falling to the lowest level since December.

Interestingly, it did not, like gold, suffer any reduction in positions held through Exchange Traded Products (ETPs). In fact, net flows into ETPs has been positive for the past four months as the expected pickup in global growth has continued to attract new investors looking at silver with a longer investment horizon.

Gold struggles February was another testing month for gold as the price dropped for a fifth month in a row. Such a string of negative performances has not been seen since 1997.

Money managers have been scaling back their net-long exposure for months now and recently we saw the gross short portion of this number rise to its highest level since 1999 - a time when European central banks were busy selling gold from their reserves. Despite some soothing words from Ben Bernanke , the US Federal Reserve chairman, to continued quantitative easing, gold failed to move back above resistance, currently at $1,620 /oz. This continued weakness is now being driven by investors in ETPs scaling back their exposure to gold. Until recently, this investor segment had been very resilient and continued to buy despite the lack of price performance. This changed during the second half of February and it led to an almost 110 metric ton reduction in total holdings, according to Bloomberg, the biggest monthly reduction seen during the relative short history of ETPs. The combination of a rising dollar and strong US economic data has been something that gold has not been able to respond to so far and it raises the risk that the key support levels at $1,555 /oz and $1,525/oz could be tested once again. As mentioned above, the US economy is growing at a steady pace but several factors, such as tax hikes at the beginning of the year, a period of seasonal record high gasoline prices and additional spending cuts from March 1, may eventually provide some headwind for the economy and return some support to gold. The Italian election also carries the risk of re-igniting the focus on the political risk and debt crisis in Europe and could potentially lead to a test of the ECB’s resolve. With the speculative short positioning rising, a strong driver could emerge from short covering should the market eventually find a catalyst for taking gold and silver higher.

Crude oil lower Both crude oils continued to retrace their January gains, with the WTI dropping to its lowest level this year as domestic production and inventory levels continue to rise. Brent crude, the global benchmark, has begun to realign forward expectations of higher prices due to an expected pickup in growth with current fundamentals.

Chinese manufacturing PMI rose less than expected, according to the latest reading.

This will bring some focus to the 12thNational People’s Congress next week given, on the one hand, Beijing is fighting rising inflation while trying to stimulate manufacturing and consumption. With China expected to represent a big chunk of the expected growth in demand this year, any change in outlook there could have a major impact on fundamentals and prices.

The sell-off has, to a certain extent, been driven by investors needing to reduce their speculative net-long positions, which at one stage reached levels that once again, just like 2011 and 2012, proved to be unsustainable. Brent crude has now moved back down to familiar territory, which should trigger some support towards $109/barrel, the 200-day moving average, while resistance can be found towards $112.50/barrel.

relevant as a leading indicator of the global economy. Case in point, Goldman Sachs highlighted a 90% correlation between its Global Leading Indicator (GLI) and Japan’s trade balance, with a three month lead. In other words, a deteriorating trade balance in Japan could be indicative of a further decline in global momentum in the medium term.

The record trade deficit should not lead to doubts about Abe’s radical monetary policies just

yet. The trade balance typically tends to worsen around the Lunar New Year holiday, which slows production and sales, yet the export sector has undeniably improved, and better than expected at that. Whether the export sector will continue to improve will be determined by three key factors: the health of the European Union (EU), the nation’s tensions with China and the strength of the yen. Taking each of these factors in turn: the EU is still one of Japan’s biggest export markets. Mired with debt, demand for Japanese exports will remain low. But the recovery, albeit fragile, in the US economy, is helping to offset Europe’s lackluster demand.

Although exports to China have been dire over the territorial dispute in the East China Sea, both nations are beginning to resolve their differences and tensions appear to be subsiding. Thirdly, the strength of the yen will ultimately depend on whether Mr. Abe will maintain his aggressive stance on the policy front. Under growing pressure from Mr. Abe to beat deflation, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) agreed to double its inflation target to 2% and commit to an openended asset purchase program from 2014 onwards.

Deflation has plagued the economy for years on end that consumer expectations of falling prices have become deeply embedded, discouraging consumption. Thus, if the prime minister remains determined to overcome it, expect the yen to stay weak. Whilst there are lingering worries about whether the next BOJ governor may take a less aggressive stance on the monetary policy front, it is unlikely that the prime minister will take on someone with less radical reforms in mind. All in all, Japan will go through a very policy-active year in 2013.

— Dana Al-Fakir is an economist at KCIC.

Rise in US factory growth lifts hopes for economy Consumers get more optimistic WASHINGTON: Busier factories and growing optimism among consumers could help the US economy withstand the drag from government spending cuts and tax increases this year.

Manufacturing grew in February at the fastest pace in 20 months, according to a report Friday from the Institute for Supply Management. And a survey from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment rose last month to its highest level since November.

The two reports follow other data that show strength in job growth and the housing market.

Americans even spent a bit more in January compared with December, despite a sharp drop in income that partly reflected higher taxes.

“Consumers are spending, confidence is rising and manufacturing activity is accelerating,” Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, said in a note to clients. “Just about all of today’s reports point to an economy on the rise.”

Businesses and consumers appear to be shrugging off changes in federal policy that will likely slow the still-weak economy.

In January, Congress and the White House struck a deal that allowed Social Security taxes to rise on most Americans. The deal also raised income taxes for the nation’s top earners.

And across-the-board spending cuts are set to

begin Friday. The cuts could reduce government purchases and lead to temporary layoffs of government employees and contractors. They’re expected to shave about a half-percentage point from economic growth this year.

“Many Americans are tired of the political wrangling and bickering,” Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight, said. “A certain level of political crisis fatigue has set in.”

The economic data Friday was mostly positive: The Institute for Supply Management said its index of factory activity rose last month to 54.2, the highest since June 2011. Any reading above 50 indicates growth. The report showed a jump in new orders, higher production and more hiring at factories. Manufacturing has grown for three straight months, indicating that factories could help the economy after slumping through most of 2012. The University of Michigan measure of consumer sentiment rose to 77.6, the second straight monthly increase. The rebound in consumer confidence, seen in both the Michigan survey and another survey from Conference Board, suggests that some consumers have begun to adjust to smaller paychecks.

Consumers increased spending 0.2 percent in January from December but cut back on major purchases such as autos and appliances. Income

plunged 3.6 percent, though it followed a jump in December driven by dividends and bonuses paid early to avoid higher income taxes. The increase in Social Security taxes also lowered after-tax income. Spending on US construction projects fell in January by the largest amount in 18 months, the Commerce Department said. Still, that the decline followed a nearly 10 percent increase in construction spending in 2012, the first annual gain after five years of declines.

Investors seemed to focus Friday on the gains in manufacturing. Stocks rebounded after the ISM survey was released. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 35 points, overcoming an early loss of 116 points. One reason for optimism is that the job market is looking better. Employers have added an average of 200,000 jobs a month from November through January. That was up from about 150,000 in the previous three months. And a drop in weekly applications for unemployment benefits suggests that employers have stepped up hiring further in February.

Some employers are even willing to pay more: After stagnating since the recession ended, hourly pay has been rising faster than inflation for the past three months. If such pay increases continue, they will help blunt the impact of the higher Social Security taxes. — AP

Long haul ahead for UK’s struggling economy

KARACHI: Pakistani employees prepare food at a Fatburger outlet in Karachi. American fast-food and Western fashion outlets are taking Pakistan’s growing middle class by storm, defying stereotypes about a conservative country. — AFP

Political impasse sparks alarm on Tunisia economy TUNIS: Tunisia’s political crisis is taking its toll on the economy of a country that is also facing growing social unrest, with credit ratings downgrades and talks with the IMF on a $1.78billion loan still in limbo. The north African nation fell into recession following the revolution two years ago that toppled a decades-old dictatorship, but the ruling Islamist party Ennahda boasted of an economic recovery after its rise to power in December 2011.

Ennahda hailed the 3.6 percent growth posted by Tunisia in 2012 — 0.1 of a percentage point higher than had been expected. But the murder on February 6 of leftist politician Chokri Belaid has plunged the country into turmoil, prompting the resignation of Ennahda prime minister Hamadi Jebali after his efforts to form a new government of technocrats failed.

Standard and Poor’s was the first credit ratings agency to respond to the crisis, cutting Tunisia’s sovereign rating from BB to BB- with a negative outlook, citing “the risk of seeing the political situation deteriorate further.”

Moody’s followed suit 10 days later, downgrading its sovereign rating from Baa3 to Ba1, citing the “increase in political risk” following Belaid’s murder and “continued deterioration in Tunisia’s credit fundamentals” since the revolution that ousted former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

It highlighted “further delays in adopting the new constitution and organising elections,” which it said were “prerequisites for any sustainable economic recovery.”

Lacking agreement on a new constitution and therefore on new elections, Tunisia has for two years been in a phase of “post-revolution transition,” offering no incentives to investors.

The central bank echoed similar analysis this week, estimating that the “firming of positive sentiment from a gradual recovery... was threatened.” “Recent negative trends observed nationally could prolong amid sustained low visibility, and a wait-and-see approach could affect economic activity, exacerbating both internal and external financial pressures,” the bank said.—AFP

LONDON: When the financial crisis began to spread five years ago, British coffee machine-maker Fracino raced to get ahead of it. From the firm’s base in Birmingham, it carved out new markets in the Middle East, Asia and even Italy for its cappuccino and espresso machines which it proudly stamps with the British flag. Last year Fracino generated 25 percent of its turnover abroad, up from just 2 percent before the crisis. That is the kind of transformation the Conservative-led government promised for the broader UK economy as it took office in 2010, after the near collapse of the country’s huge banking sector and the plunge in housing prices.

But in the last few months, things have taken a worrying turn at Fracino. Clients at home and abroad have started to demand its cheaper machines, shunning the more expensive models and slowing the company’s revenue growth.

“They are just buying the machines that will do the job,” said managing director Adrian Maxwell.

“Until something happens for people to take their foot off the brake and feel a little bit more relaxed about spending again, it’s long going to be a long, hard haul.”

Nearly three years after Britain’s Conservative-led government vowed to restore the country to financial health with a round of deep spending cuts, the economy looks stuck in a rut and could already be in its third recession since 2008.

Public debt is set to carry on rising for another three years, a blow to the ruling coalition facing parliamentary elections in 2015 and which has made austerity the centrepiece of its economic policy. The creation of more than 1 million jobs in the last two years has surprised economists. But paltry wage growth for most wage-earners has been the price of higher employment.

And the ambitious-sounding plans of 2010 to rebalance the economy with a focus on exports as a new driver of growth have so far come to little, hampered by the economic crisis that has hammered Britain’s main trading partners in Europe. Even with a 20 percent slide in the value of the British pound since the onset of the financial crisis in 2007, Britain’s share of world exports has fallen by about 6 percent since then, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“What is really striking about the UK is that it has had a quite important depreciation of the pound and still it hasn’t had a big increase in exports,” said Christophe Andre, an economist with the OECD. Only Italy had worse overall growth among the industrialised Group of Seven nations in the same period, he said. The Feb. 22 downgrade of Britain’s triple-A rating underscored how long the economic gloom will probably last. Moody’s said it expected sluggish growth would stretch into the second half of the decade, offering the coalition government little hope of a pickup before the elections. Forecasts used by the government predict the economy will grow by 1.2 percent in 2013 and 2 percent next year.—Reuters

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Algeria reels from tales of oil sector corruption Plenty at stake in energy sector ALGIERS: Corrupt and gorging itself at the trough of Algeria’s vast oil wealth - that’s how most Algerians privately view the elites running the country. Yet few have been willing to say so publicly, until now.

New corruption scandals are shining a

new spotlight on state oil company Sonatrach, which jointly with BP and Norway’s Statoil runs the desert gas plant that was the scene of a bloody hostage standoff in January. A recent anguished public plea by a former Sonatrach official

shocked Algerians and raised hopes that the leadership will try to clean up the oil and gas sector in Africa’s largest country.

There’s plenty at stake: Algeria is also one of the continent’s richest countries, as the No 3 supplier of natural gas to Europe, with

$190 billion in reserves, up $8 billion in the last year alone.

The Feb. 18 letter by former Sonatrach vice president Hocine Malti in the Frenchlanguage Algerian daily El Watan broke the silence around the company. Addressing the shadowy leader of Algeria’s intelligence service, it asks if he is really serious about investigating new bribery scandals involving Sonatrach and Italian and Canadian companies. When Italian prosecutors in January announced an investigation into oil company ENI and subsidiary SAIPEM for allegedly paying 197 million euros ($256.1 million) in bribes to secure an 11 billion euros contract with Sonatrach, it provoked a firestorm in the Algerian media, until the North African country’s justice system finally announced its own inquiry Feb 10.

Malti, author of the “Secret History of Algerian Oil,” scoffed that Algerian authorities were only following the lead of international investigators and wondered if Mohammed “Tewfik” Mediene, the feared head of the Department of Research and Security, would allow the real sources of corruption to be tried in court.

“Is it too much to dream that some of your fellow generals, certain ministers or corrupt businessmen - members of the pyramid that you are on top of - members of this fraternity, might also end up in front of justice?” he asked in the letter. “Or will it be like always, just the small fry are targeted by this new investigation?”

“Will we have to continue to listen for news from the Milan prosecutor to know the sad reality of our country, to discover how certain people, whom you know quite well, people you have come across in your long professional career, have gorged themselves on millions of dollars and euros of the country’s oil revenues?” he added.

since most of those fired were his close associates.

Algeria ranks 105 out of 176 in Transparency International’s 2012 corruption index, and the occasional corruption investigation often just seems to be how the elites settle their scores, such as a string of revelations about prominent politicians in November, which observers said were linked to next year’s presidential elections.

“I realize that people might be shocked by what is happening at Sonatrach - these scandals are terrible and we condemn them as individual acts,” Sonatrach head Abdelhamid Zerguine said on the radio Sunday, the anniversary of Algeria’s 1971 nationalization of its oil industry from the French. He promised to fight further corruption “with utmost vigor,” even while denying it was systemic.

The scale of the scandals is staggering.

Nearly €200 million ($260 million) was paid out by the Italians, according to the Milan prosecutor. ENI has pledged full cooperation with prosecutors in their investigations.

Meanwhile, according to a joint investigation by Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper and an Italian business paper published Feb. 22, Canadian company SNC-Lavalin paid a series of bribes of its own to secure a $1 billion engineering contract. Company spokeswoman Lilly Nguyen responded to queries about the case saying “to the best of our knowledge, SNC-Lavalin is not specifically under investigation in the Sonatrach matter.”

With commissions on deals like this going to the highest levels of power, the Algerian press rarely reports about it - until the subject is broached by the foreign media. Malti, who was there at the founding of Sonatrach in 1963, estimated that the country was losing between $3 and 6 billion

A part of the gas plant in Ain Amenas seen during a visit for news media organized by the Algerian authorities. New corruption scandals are shining a fresh spotlight on Sonatrach, which jointly with BP and Norway’s Statoil runs the desert gas plant that was the scene of a bloody hostage standoff last month. —AP The response to the letter was swift.

Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi promised that once an investigation was complete “we will take all necessary measures” against those harming the interests of the nation.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who rarely appears in public, said in a written statement, “these revelations provoke our disgust and condemnation, but I trust the justice system of our country to bring clarity to the web of accusations and discover who is responsible.”

Malti told The Associated Press by telephone from his home in France that he wrote the letter partly out of anger that Algeria had to rely on foreign prosecutors to reveal the extent of its own corruption and addressed it to the head of intelligence to shock people.

“It made a lot of noise because with this letter, I broke a taboo,” he said. “The head of the DRS is an unapproachable figure in Algeria, at times we can’t even pronounce (say) his name.”

It is not the first time the state-owned hydrocarbon company, which provides Algeria with 97 percent of its hard currency earnings, has been enmeshed in scandal.

In 2010, its head, three of its vice presidents and the minister of energy were all fired in a corruption investigation run by Mediene’s intelligence agency. However, rather than restore faith in the country’s corruption-fighting mechanism, the 2010 purge was widely seen as a chance to settle scores between the DRS and Bouteflika,

annually to corruption in the oil sector alone.

“If a judge says that an inquiry has opened or even a minister promises to take measures against ‘people working against Algeria’s interests,’ I don’t believe them,” Mohammed Saidj, a professor of international relations at Algiers University, told the AP. “It’s just words to appease a public opinion shocked when it hears about the corruption and billions of dollars stolen by high-level political and military officials, including those close to the president.”

The chances of this situation changing are dim, considering how much the country relies on a single company. In a chapter on Sonatrach in the 2012 book “Oil and Governance,” John Entelis, an Algeria expert at New York’s Fordham University, described the importance of a company established just a year after Algeria won its independence from France, and wrote, “Algeria’s governing elite rely upon Sonatrach for revenue from which they gain power, patronage, and privileges.”

Entelis told AP that the letter in El Watan shows that Algerians are increasingly able to complain about this system, even if that won’t necessarily change things.

“This is the heart of the Algerian political system - Sonatrach, the DRS, civil society in the form of ... willingness to make these things public. Some say this is what enables it to maintain itself instead of collapse,” he said. — AP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

BUSINESS

Land Rover Kuwait sales up 38% in 2012 Ali Alghanim & Sons posts best-ever sales performance KUWAIT: Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive importer for Land Rover in Kuwait, has recorded its strongest ever sales performance in 2012, with sales up 38%.

The announcement echoes Land Rover’s recently announced regional retail sales growth of 34% in 2012, with global retail sales for Land Rover also up by 30%, the best global sales performance in the company’s history.

Land Rover was also the recipient of a number of regional and global awards in 2012, with the Range Rover Evoque winning “Best Premium Midsize SUV”, the All-New Range Rover hailed as “Luxury Car of The Year 2012” and Land Rover winning the MacRobert Award.

The Kuwait results were achieved due to a strong product line-up and update programs across the key Land Rover nameplates, supported by exceptional customer service

offered by Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive to its Kuwaiti customers.

The increase was driven by key nameplates including the Range Rover Sport, which delivered over half of the total sales for Land Rover in Kuwait in 2012, followed by the Range Rover Evoque which achieved a 20% share of sales. Demand on the cars grew steadily throughout the year however some models witnessed stronger growth than others, notably the Range Rover Sport which saw an increase of 17%, and the Land Rover LR4 with sales up by 21% in 2012.

Commenting on the achievement, Youssef Al-Qatami, General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive said: “We are extremely proud to announce what is our best ever sales performance for Land Rover in Kuwait. Our focus in 2012 has been to enhance our customer service offering in Kuwait, whilst invest-

Another test for European politics NBK MONEY MARKETS REPORT

D

epending which side of the world you look at last week, you will see different scenarios dominating global markets. While the US equity markets continue to be supported, commodities as well as high yielding currencies have suffered a risk off mode this week.

Indeed, although Merkel made a statement that Germany would support the new Italian government, as well as Bernanke sounded sufficiently dovish in his testimony, the better housing data in the US was only able to support the US equity markets while European markets took a stumble after the uncertainty created by the Italian elections.

In the currency market, the underperformer remains the Sterling Pound, which dropped to a new cycle lows of 1.4986 before rebounding slightly to close the week at 1.5038. The Sterling Pounds continue to suffer from disappointing economic figures, especially this week, the worse than expected Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index indicating that the UK economy is going into a period of contraction.

The Euro also saw a large wave of selling, which pushed it to a new low of 1.2967. The uncertainty in the Euro zone continued to pressure as results from a stalemate election in Italy.

In Asia, the Yen continues to trade in a volatile manner reaching a high of 94.76 early in the week then dropping sharply and marking a low of 90.89 only to recover at the end of the week and close at 93.59. As widely expected by markets, Prime Minister Abe officially nominated Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda to be the next governor of the BOJ. The Japanese verbal intervention over the past couple of months has been very effective in pressuring down the Yen; however, it seems that the market is ready to test Mr. Kuroda in the next weeks. Indeed, although the newly appointed Bank of Japan Governor has yet to be even confirmed by the Japanese parliament, his plans to stimulate the Japanese economy now appear harder to achieve that they did just a few days ago as economic data continue to show a much more sticky deflation.

In the commodity complex, gold prices plummeted this week to reach a low of $1,569, while Oil prices continued sliding to reach a low of 90.04 on Friday.

US consumer confidence US consumer confidence rebounded in February as Americans shrugged off earlier worries over fiscal cliff uncertainties and payroll cuts .The Conference Board, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 69.6, from a downwardly revised 58.4 in January topping economists’ expectations for 61. Consumers were more optimistic about the shortterm outlook. Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 18.9 % from 15.6 % while consumers’ outlook for the labor market was more positive. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead improved to 16.7% from 14.4%.

Sales of new homes jumped to their highest level since July 2008 while the monthly supply of houses on the market was the smallest in 7-1/2 years, further evidence that the housing sector recov-

ery is gaining momentum. The Commerce Department said sales jumped 15.6% to an annual rate of 437,000 units. In another separate report, the National Association of Realtors said the pending home sales index increased 4.5% to its highest level since April 2010, just before the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit.

Orders for US durable goods excluding transportation increased 1.9%, the largest gain since December 2011, after increasing 1% in December also the nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, jumped 6.3%, the biggest rise since December 2011.However, overall orders for durable goods dropped 5.2% in January, as demand for civilian and defense aircraft fell sharply.

Europe & UK Italy’s borrowing costs rose sharply at its latest auction last week. Indeed, the new 10-year government bonds sold at 4.83%, up from 4.17% at its last sale in January. In addition, the new 5-year bonds sold at a yield of 3.59%, up from 2.94% in January. The higher borrowing costs were expected as yields rose after the parliamentary election revealed no clear winner in both houses. A split parliament would make it difficult for one group to push through their plans to revive Italy’s ailing economy.

Draghi Speaks President Draghi’s speech covered the policy and the role of the European Central Bank during the crisis on the Euro Area. He focused on the role of the ECB to ensure price stability, as it is a foundation of functioning economy. He also said that preserving price stability today requires different actions than it did in the past , as it requires new tools to ensure that ECB’s monetary policy decisions are able to reach firms and households .

Germany’s consumers are getting more optimistic amid an improving economic outlook and they even plan to spend more money over the coming months. Consumer sentiment indicator rose to 5.9 going into March from 5.8 in February. The reading was the strongest since November and was in line with market forecasts. The GfK survey adds to the increasingly positive mood in Germany, where other surveys have shown morale among German businesses, investors and analysts improving in February.

Spanish manufacturing contracted at its slowest rate since a 1-1/2 years, in a sign the country may be over the worst of its long industrial downturn. Spain’s Purchasing Managers’ Index for the manufacturing, which accounts for about 12% of Spain’s economy, rose to 46.8 in February from 46.1 in January.

United Kingdom manufacturing unexpectedly dropped in February and new orders decreased. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 47.9 from a downwardly revised 50.5 in January, marking the first reading since November below the 50 line that separates growth from contraction.

Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar at 0.28395 The USDKWD opened at 0.28395 yesterday morning.

ing in supporting new product launches including the 13MY line-up.

We look forward to continuing this success in 2013, driven by the introduction of new models including the All-New Range Rover which has already attracted significant interest from Kuwait customers following our recent launch.”

Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive endeavors to meet its customer’s needs in Kuwait by always providing a distinctive level of service.

Its high level of performance was recently recognized when the company received the “Customer Service Performance Program 2011” award by Land Rover MENAP. Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive is now offering a special promotion on the Range Rover Sport Black Edition in Kuwait that includes a 5-year warranty and service deal as well as free registration for the car.

Wary of downgrade, India seeks to balance budget FM vows to cut fiscal deficit NEW DELHI: India’s finance minister pledged in his budget to cut a gaping fiscal deficit in a bid to avert a damaging credit ratings downgrade, but economists remain skeptical he can meet his goal. In last week’s budget P. Chidambaram also hiked spending by a hefty 16 percent in an effort to woo India’s electorally-crucial rural masses in the countdown to general elections early next year. But analysts fear his plans are overly ambitious in the face of India’s tepid economic growth.

Wary of ratings agencies which have threatened to lower the country’s credit rating to junk, the minister promised to slice the fiscal deficit to 4.8 percent of GDP in the fiscal year to March 2014, down from 5.2 percent currently. The deficit goal is a “signal to the world” that India is “following a fiscally prudent path”, declared Chidambaram, now increasingly touted as a potential prime ministerial candidate in next year’s elections.

Reigniting foreign confidence in India-once a global investment star-has been a key aim of Chidambaram since returning to the ministry in 2012 with India needing $75 billion in annual inflows to fund its huge trade deficit.

Chidambaram, presenting his eighth budget of a two-decade political career, insisted his deficitcutting numbers were “credible” in the face of financial markets’ alarm at the scale of his spending increases.

He raised outlays on education by 17 percent, health by 24 percent, agriculture by 22 percent and rural development by 46 percent. He also earmarked $1.8 billion for a flagship food security bill intended to provide cheap grain to India’s poor that is central to the Congress government’s bid to restore its flagging fortunes with polls looming.

Analysts, however, say Chidambaram, despite his reputation as a hard-headed pragmatist, may be relying on overly optimistic revenue projections to pay for his spending promises.

Expansion is officially projected to be 6.1 to 6.7 percent next year-far below the near doubledigit rates clocked up in earlier years-but most private economists expect it to be in the neighborhood of 5.0 to 5.5 percent.

In the current year to March growth is expected to clock 5.0 percent-the weakest in a decade.

“These headline (deficit-cutting) numbers will come as a relief to the rating agencies,” said Credit Suisse economist Robert PriorWandesforde, but added there may be disappointment when they look at the underlying

numbers. The challenges are formidable.

Chidambaram outlined spending plans totalling 16.7 trillion rupees ($310 billion) and he is assuming strong revenue growth to pay for it, including sales of state assets in a widely acknowledged tough market, and the auction of telecom spectrum even though a recent offering bombed.

Chidambaram’s tax collection assumptions are also under question, said Surjit Bhalla, chairman of Indian emerging markets investment firm Oxus. “Tax revenue is projected to gallop by a voodoo 19 percent,” Bhalla commented in the Indian Express daily, adding “such a swelling is most unlikely, given the slow growth of the Indian economy”.

For the moment, though, it looks like

Chidambaram is getting the benefit of the doubt. Both Fitch and Standard and Poor’s, which had warned they might strip India of its prized investment grade credit status, say they are leaving their ratings untouched but have warned of a risk of a spending overshoot. The government’s commitment towards fiscal discipline will “become more challenging as the elections approach”, said CLSA economist Rajeev Malik. On Sunday, Chidambaram dismissed criticism of his budget and said he was satisfied with the steps he had taken.

“I am not perturbed by the criticism. What the people want is small, critical steps that will restart the growth engine. The objective is to promote growth,” he told the Press Trust of India news agency. — AFP

NEW DELHI: An Indian laborer hangs from a rope as he hammers cement plaster from the wall of a building in New Delhi yesterday. India’s finance minister P Chidambaram pledged in his budget to cut a gaping fiscal deficit in a bid to avert a damaging credit ratings downgrade, but economists remain skeptical he can meet his goal. — AFP

EU economy commissioner warns over Cyprus euro exit BERLIN: European Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has warned that debt-riven Cyprus could exit the euro-zone without a bailout in an interview with a German news weekly published yesterday.

“Even if you come from a big EU country, you should be aware that every euro member is systemically relevant,” Rehn told Spiegel magazine when asked why Cyprus needed a rescue program.

“If Cyprus became bankrupt in a disorderly way, the result would be

almost certainly an exit from the euro-zone,” he said in the edition due to hit newsstands today.

He added that a pledge by the members of the single currency to preser ve the euro’s unity had calmed the financial markets. “We should not endanger this success,” he warned.

New Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has vowed to save the nearly bankrupt Mediterranean island from financial meltdown saying he will seek to secure an “earliest possible” bailout. Euro finance

ministers are due to resume discussions on a Cyprus bailout package today.

Cyprus wants a 17-billion-euro ($22.3 billion) loan from its eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund, equal to the size of its economy. But the EU and IMF want guarantees on the viability of Cypriot debt after learning the hard way from their bailout of Greece that began in 2010 and was restructured in 2012.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told yester-

day’s Tagesspiegel newspaper that the Cypriot problem was “not easy to solve” but insisted an “appropriate” solution would be found.

Asked if Cyprus was systemically relevant for Europe, he said the EU’s firewall for helping struggling eurozone members, the European Stability Mechanism, required a “clear and resilient” justification as a condition for helping a country.

“We are waiting for that. There are arguments in favour of classifying Cyprus as systemically relevant,” he added. — AFP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

BUSINESS

KIA Quoris luxury sedan dazzles crowd at 360 Mall KIA Motors continued to impress the public last month when it displayed the “new luxury” KIA Quorisfull-sized sedan, attracting crowds of shoppers and automotive spectators at the Auto Moto automotive expo at 360 Mall. The Quoris is praised as a modern-day automotive marvel that combines stunning exterior & interior design, VIP-grade comfort and high-tech features that are considered rare not just for KIA, but for the entire luxury segment.

“Our successful participation at the Auto Moto expo at 360 Mall demon strates that luxury car buyers recognize KIA’s ability to produce automotive masterpieces of design, technology and comfort,” explained Ms. Nadia Gobran, KIA Kuwait Business Development & Marketing Manager.

Spectacular Design The exterior design of the Quoris is

centered around elegant simplicity, balanced proportions and simple surfaces.

The class-leading long wheelbase, the prestige distance, large wheels, sharply upright short overhangs and a long sweeping shoulder line all work together in harmony to give the Quoris a sporty, athletic proportion and a confident stance quintessential to a premium large rear-wheel drive vehicle.

VIPComfort & Technology The Quoris comes with a 12.3-inch wide HD LCD cluster, which displays with outstanding clarity. Additionally, a HUD (head-up display) discreetly appears on the driver’s sight line on the windshield to presents a variety of information. To assist night driving, an impressive new technology called Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFLS) delivers optimal visibility by automatically adjusting the

headlights according to the nature of the road and driving speed. The new sedan is also equipped with PGS (parking guide system), featuring automatic steering control by an on-board computer to safely perform parallel parking.

A special ‘VIP’ option offers twin heated and ventilated rear seats with a reclining backrest, sliding cushion and lower leg support for the ‘nearside’ seat. Highdefinition 9.2-inch monitors are mounted in the back of each front seat. The folding center armrest for the rear seats incorporates a complete set of controls for the multi-media system.

The Quoris also features a premium audio system from Lexicon by Harman that includes a 12-channel digital amplifier, two speakers in each front door, three in each rear door, four in the dashboard center, two surround-sound speakers and an inverted sub-woofer.

Other impressive features include KIA’s first radar-based Advanced Smart Cruise Control (ASCC), which continuously monitors traffic conditions and speed to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead; an Advanced Vehicle Safety Management (AVSM) system, integrating Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and Multiple Warning Systems to alert the driver of a collision risk; Blind Spot Detection (BSD) and Lane Change Assistance (LCA). Perhaps one of the most stunning features on the KIA Quoris is the Around View Monitor system which provides a true 360-degree all-around view in eight different viewing modes, displayed on the Audio Video Navigation (AVN) monitor. It provides a virtual ‘top’ view in motion, so the driver can easily have a full grasp of all his or her surroundings, maximizing safety for the car occupants as well as pedestrians.

Outstanding Performance Under the hood of the Quoris is a reengineered Lambda V6 gasoline engine featuring several power-boosting improvements and technologies such as CVVT (Continuous Variable Valve Timing). The engine produces a robust 294 HP @ 6,200 rpm with maximum torque of 36.5 kg.m @ 4,500 rpm.

Every KIA Quoris comes with KIA’s allnew eight-speed automatic transmission. The wide spread of gear ratios guarantees brisk acceleration and highspeed refinement, while Shift-By-Wire (SBW) technology with a joystick control delivers fast, smooth gear changes.

Three driving modes (Eco, Normal and Sport) enable the driver to choose a preferred set-up of suspension, steering, engine and transmission that is ideal for various road conditions or driving styles.

CFC distributes 24% cash dividend to shareholders Net profit up 12% to KD15.9 million KUWAIT: Commercial Facilities Company (CFC) yesterday announced that its Board of Directors has recommended the distribution of a cash dividend of 24fils per share for the year ending December 31, 2012. This recommendation is subject to the approval of shareholders and regulatory authorities.

Earlier last month, CFC announced its 2012 financial results. For the 12 months ending December 31, 2012, CFC achieved a net profit of KD15.9m compared to KD14.2m in 2011, an increase of 12 per cent. In 2012, shareholders’ equity reached KD169.5 million, while profit per share reached 31fils compared to 27fils last year.

Commenting on the company’s performance, Abdullah Saud AlHumaidhi, Chairman and Managing Director, CFC, said: “The positive financial results achieved by the company in 2012 are a clear indication of the economic stability and the growth of customer confidence in the market. It is a clear indication CFC stands out and the work model applied has a clear vision for the future of consumer financing sector parallel to using creative strategies that are focused on providing auto financial services which resulted in achieving a growth in the annual returns and market share.”

He also added: “We will sustain our efforts to maintain the leading status

and position as one of the leading financial companies in Kuwait. This is done through gaining customer confidence and satisfaction and providing them with the needed services and effective promotions which will also contribute to enhancing the company’s role in the economic growth of Kuwait.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out the hard work of the management and employees who always follow the ‘one team’ strategy to work together.”

The success of ‘Tayhna Wahda’, which was launched in 2012, has positively impacted the company’s profit, particularly during the last quarter of the year. CFC’s share of the consumer loans market in Kuwait is 18 per cent and the company’s share in the financing company market is more than 75 per cent.

Established in 1977, CFC is one of the oldest financing companies in the GCC and has occupied a leading position in the financing sector in Kuwait for more than three decades. CFC has strengthened its market position due to the high level of customer service, quick transaction processing and ease of convenience. The company today has five branches in strategic locations and representation offices located in all major car dealerships across Kuwait.

Air Arabia adds second Sri Lanka route with launch of Mattala SHARJAH: Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, today announced that it has added its second destination in Sri Lanka with the launch of non-stop flights to Mattala. The new route marks Air Arabia’s 84th destination worldwide. The inaugural flight G9508 will take off to Mattala on March 18, 2013.

The low-cost pioneer will operate two weekly services between Sharjah and Mattala, to be increased to four times weekly starting May 19 2013. On Thursdays and Sundays, flights depart from Sharjah International Airport at 21:30 and arrives Mattala Hambantota International Airport at 03:45. Return flights on the will depart next day from Mattala at 04:25 and arrive in Sharjah at 07:35 (local time).

Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia, said: “Today’s announcement is a continuation of Air Arabia’s longstanding commitment to expand our presence in the Indian Subcontinent. Just a few months after our inception in 2003, we launched a direct service to Colombo, which was our first destination in the Subcontinent, and we are delighted to now add a second route to the country. Our new service to Mattala is in direct response to passenger demand, and while contribute to the trade and tourism ties between UAE and Sri Lanka.”

The launch of services to Mattala will complement Air Arabia’s existing nine weekly flights from Sharjah to Colombo.

The airline currently offers daily flights to the capital city, and twice daily on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Nissan launches new era for Nismo Global performance road car and motorsport brand YOKOHAMA: Nissan Motor Co, Ltd yesterday kicked off a new era for Nismo, confirming it as Nissan’s exclusive global performance road car and motorsport brand and officially opening the new Nismo global headquarters and development center in Yokohama, Japan.

Nismo is already well-known to motorsports and performance car enthusiasts in Japan and to millions of global gaming enthusiasts.

Now, Nismo is poised for accelerated global impact, enhancing Nissan’s reputation for innovation and excitement with a new lineup of sporty Nissan road cars.

In a special ceremony today, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn declared the new headquarters open and explained how Nismo will play an even more prominent role for the company’s performance car and motorsport activities.

“Nismo will democratize performance and bring new excitement to the Nissan portfolio with a broader range of affordable and innovative performance models for more markets and more people,” said Mr. Ghosn. “Whether it’s a small car or a sports car, if it’s wearing the Nismo badge it offers something special quality, functionality, and efficiency, with Nismo’s distinctive styling, sporty handling and dynamic performance capabilities.”

The first new Nissan road car to get the Nismo treatment, the Juke Nismo, is already on sale in Europe and Japan and launches in the US in the second quarter of this year.

A new version of the 370Z Nismo for European markets is the next Nismo road car, which made its world debut earlier this month and builds on the platform of Nissan’s most popular and accessible sports car.

Nissan is promising a rapid pace of introduction of even more Nismo models, at least one model every year during the Nissan Power88 period, encompassing the breadth of the Nissan road car range. This will include the flagship of Nissan’s performance and technology, the GT-R. “It would be unthinkable for us to develop a range of Nismo road cars without including the GT-R,” said Mr. Ghosn. “The standard road car is a global supercar and the GT-R’s performance on track reflects the passion and talents of the Nismo team. The GT-R Nismo will be special and I can’t wait to drive it.”

New home for Nismo Nissan has invested in an entirely new facility for Nismo’s operations, redeveloping a former production site to give it the resources for expanding beyond motorsport engineering to encompass performance road car development alongside Nissan. The new headquarters facility allows the Nismo team to be co-located in one place, bringing together the functional areas for Nismo’s key activities and technical and competition expertise under one roof.

The 180-strong team is now located inside Nissan’s Powertrain Engineering complex. The workshop, engine shop, rooms for fabrication, grinding and carbon composite processes are consolidated into the same floor space along with the parts warehouse. A new larger showroom allows up to eight vehicles to be displayed, while the retail area is now almost twice the size of the previous store in the Omori factory. “This is a great

move for Nismo as we can now shift gears to operate more efficiently and expand the brand globally,” explained Nismo President, Shoichi Miyatani.

“Nismo is a key element in Nissan’s future global road car and motorsports strategy and we will quickly establish it as Nissan’s exclusive performance brand,” added Mr. Miyatani.

“This is the first time that all of our team has been located together, and the entire facility will become a hothouse of passion and performance.”

The Nismo spirit At the heart of each new Nismo road car will be a consistent DNA focused on delivering quality, functionality, and efficiency in every day driving with Nismo’s distinctive styling, sporty handling and dynamic performance capabilities. Nissan’s new range of Nismo performance road cars will be built on the same production lines as their standard counterparts, which combined with inspiration taken from decades of racing and tuning expertise means that the Nismo brand ensures fully integrated performance enhancements. Every modification Nismo makes to a road car will be functional and targeted to improve on-road performance and presence. The spirit of Nismo relies on its proud motorsport heritage and a maverick engineering philosophy. This spirit will be reflected in every new Nismo model with efficient performance, accessible and advanced technology, and bold, smart design, all of which embody Nissan’s philosophy of innovation that excites.

Connecting the virtual with the real Nismo is known around the world by millions through the virtual world of driving simulation games. In fact, the first opportunity to drive a Nissan Juke Nismo was provided virtually through Gameloft’s Asphalt 7: Heat. Now, at the same time as Nismo is moving from race track to road, it is also moving from the virtual world to the real world as, for the first time in many markets around the world, a range of affordable Nismo-badged cars will be available from Nissan dealers. “For many would-be Nismo customers, the only way to experience a Nismo performance road car has been through a game like Sony’s Gran Turismo(r) series,” said Simon Sproule, Nissan’s corporate vice president for Marketing and Communications. “Now we can bring them into the family of Nissan owners with an exciting, real Nismo car created by a dedicated and experienced team that is fully linked to the digital world and well aware of what these new customers are looking for in a performance road car.”

Performance for the road and track The spirit and inspiration for Nismo started with a group of maverick Nissan engineers almost fifty years ago. In their efforts to boost car sales through racing success, they shoehorned a powerful engine into an ordinary Nissan saloon to create the first of a legendary line of sporty road cars with the Nissan Skyline 2000GT. What came next was a run of highly successful competition and performance road cars in Japan, culminating in the birth of Nismo itself in 1984.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

technology

Top 10 tips when choosing a multifunction printer

T

o make an informed decision about what multifunction printer is right for you, you need to ask the right questions. Here are the ten things you must know before you buy a multifunction printer: 1. Know your requirements Understand what you need the multifunction printer to do for you and your end users. Beyond printing and copying, how do you want to use the MFP to help manage documents, reduce paper, simplify workflow, manage forms, etc? How many copy, print, fax, scan, and email jobs will you run each day? How many users will share the device? Will you need it to be color capable? There are a number of requirements to consider.

2. Know the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and cost/value benefits When evaluating a multifunction printer, beware of looking only at the cost of the initial hardware. Once factors such as ink costs are taken into consideration,

inkjet multifunction printers, initially perceived as being low cost, often turn out to have an equivalent or higher TCO than the higher performing laser and solid ink multifunction printers.

3. Know what third parties have to say Compare the data on the actual performance and management and support issues promoted on the vendor’s spec sheets with data from independent testing agencies. What are experienced people in the industry saying about the quality and performance of the product you are considering?

4. Know how easy it is to connect to an existing network Consider how easily the system will integrate with your existing network. Is it easy to deploy? Does it require minimal start-up training? Does it come with software or wizards to guide you through installation, troubleshooting, and upgrading?

5. Know how easy it is to use Prevent bottlenecks and costly employee down time by finding a multifunction printer that’s easy to operate. Check for intuitive user interfaces, minimal training requirements, and easily accessible online help and documentation. If you do need support, check that the product is backed by manufacturer-provided service and support coverage.

6. Know its multitasking abilities Look for a multifunction printer that can truly multifunction. Can users access each function they need, even if other functions are already in use? Be aware that some products, such as All-in-Ones (AiOs), offer multiple functions all in one device, but can’t multi-task, so they cannot deliver all the functions of a multifunction printer concurrently so you may risk downtime due to bottlenecks.

7. Know its bi-directional communication capabilities A failure to communicate timely and

Dan Smith

accurate information to users and IT administrators on the status of jobs, queues, and devices will result in more intervention by you and your staff to solve, prevent or anticipate problems. Solid bidirectional communication, both at the device and across the network is essential to keeping a product running consistently.

Look for print job and device status capabilities from the desktop and the ability to view all job queues at the device and across the network.

8. Know the available device management, remote intelligence, and support Consider the vendor’s commitment to providing robust device and fleet management tools and utilities. This is something you may want now or in the future. Look for device relationship management software that optimizes the device’s availability and uptime. Does the vendor provide superior response time and provide consistent quality of service? You want to trust your multifunction printer will stay up and running to ensure you have an efficient and productive office.

9. Know whether it provides the level of security and confidentiality you need Does the device offer the appropriate level of security for your business? Is it scaleable to provide more security if your needs change?

10. Know what software and solutions are available Understand what compatible software and solutions are available from the vendor, as well as their solution partners.

World’s top tech fair pins hopes on Asia, social media 4,000 exhibitors from 70 countries to showcase

MUMBAI: In this photograph, an Indian pedestrian speaks on her mobile as she walks on a street in Mumbai. — AFP

smartphones used to ‘pin the creeps’ in India MUMBAI: With virtual bodyguards, panic buttons and maps to pinpoint harassment blackspots, women in urban India are using their smartphones for protection after a notorious gang-rape in New Delhi. Interest in safety apps and websites has surged since the fatal December attack, in which a 23-year-old student was set upon by a drunken gang on her way home from a cinema in the Indian capital.

After outrage and protests erupted, four businesswomen set up Safecity.in, a website for victims of harassment to channel their anger. The site encourages them to “Pin the Creeps” by reporting incidents of harassment and abuse-ranging from catcalling to rape-which are added to an online map and sent to those requesting alerts.

Mumbai-based Elsa D’Silva, a founder of the site, said social media had allowed women to speak out and warn others of dangerous areas, even if they are reluctant to give their name or make a complaint to the police. “Now you feel more empowered to do something about it, even if it’s just sharing your experience,” said D’Silva.

“We’re not going to keep quiet anymore.”

The website has linked up with new mobile app SafeTrac, developed by tech firm KritiLabs and downloadable for free, which has an SOS button to alert emergency contacts and lets relatives or friends track the user’s journey. It joins a host of similar apps designed to reassure women, especially those working late and travelling alone-that is, if they can afford mobile Internet access. The first such Indian app was FightBack, launched by non-profit trust Whypoll a year before the Delhi attack, since when it has gone free of charge and seen a flurry of downloads. Whypoll founder Hindol Sengupta said they were now working on a “next generation” app that will include guidance for reporting abuse. “Women often don’t know their legal rights when they go to the police station and they can be further violated there,”

he said. “The kind of people who have reached out to us for information has astounded me.” Such developments are being encouraged. India’s IT trade body NASSCOM has opened a contest to find the best app for women’s safety. Separately, free app Stipator (Latin for “bodyguard”) won an award for social innovation last month from NASSCOM. A government commission, set up to prevent sex crimes after the Delhi attack, recommended the development of mobile phone apps for sending distress signals to the police. Even in Mumbai, considered one of India’s safest cities, police launched their own ICE (In Case of Emergency) app in January and say they have seen thousands of downloads, although its practicality has been criticised. A piece in the DNA newspaper pointed out that many women in India cannot afford a basic mobile phone, let alone the Android device required. “Also, when in distress, how often do we get time to take the phone out of our bag, unlock it and open an application to let people know we are in trouble?” it asked.

Technology clearly has its limits: it cannot fulfil the need for decent law enforcement, or change attitudes towards women.

And while the Indian smartphone market is rising rapidly-expected to soon become the world’s third largest-it still accounts for a fraction of about 700 million active mobile subscriptions in the country.

Most safety apps require GPS capabilities that standard mobile phones do not have, although some developers offer emergency texting services. The creators of Stipator, Ratnesh Desai and three fellow Microsoft employees in Hyderabad city, are also working on a “lipstick-sized” safety device for women without phones.

Techies and activists hope that if their tools catch on, they might one day act as a deterrent to abuse. “If word gets out there are such apps, people wanting to molest someone will have to be more careful,” said Desai. —AFP

Facebook buying Atlas ad business from Microsoft SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is buying a set of online advertising tools called Atlas from Microsoft in its latest attempt to build a more effective marketing system around its social network. In making the deal announced Thursday, Facebook is betting the acquired technology will be more fruitful under new ownership than it was during the past five-and-half years under Microsoft’s control. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Atlas is part of an online advertising service called aQuantive, which Microsoft Corp. bought for $6.3 billion in 2007.

Aquantive didn’t bring in as much online ad revenue as Microsoft envisioned, prompting the software maker to absorb a $6.2 billion charge last year that resulted in its first quarterly loss in its 26-year history as a public company. Given the magnitude of that writedown, Facebook probably didn’t have to pay much to take Atlas off Microsoft’s hands. The undisclosed purchase price is a sign that the amount isn’t substantial enough to leave a big dent in the company’s finances.

Atlas provides monitoring tools that help advertisers assess how their online marketing tools are faring. It helps marketers make

adjustments needed to connect people more likely to buy their products and services. Facebook Inc. already analyzes the interests that people share on its social network to target ads at certain audiences.

Those insights helped Facebook sell $4.3 billion in advertising last year, a 36 percent increase from 2011. But that wasn’t enough to satisfy investors who want Facebook to grow at a faster rate.

Wall Street’s disappointment with Facebook’s performance, particularly in the growing mobile advertising market, has left the company’s stock price below the $38 price paid in its initial public offering last May. The shares dipped four cents to $27.21 in extended trading after Facebook announced its acquisition.

Atlas could help Facebook do a better job of using its knowledge about more than 1 billion users to place ads on sites that tether their services to Facebook’s social network, according to Forrester Research analyst Nate Elliott. “The question now is how quickly and successfully Facebook can integrate its data with Atlas’ tools, and whether they can avoid a privacy backlash as they do so,” Elliott wrote Thursday in a blog post. — AP

BERLIN: The world’s biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT, kicks off tomorrow, pinning its hopes on growing tech regions Asia and Africa and the hot topic of social media to beat competition from other high-profile fairs. More than 4,000 exhibitors from some 70 countries are expected to set up shop in the northern German city of Hanover, about the same number as last year despite the weak economic environment, organisers said.

“CeBIT is becoming increasingly international as we see countries in Asia and Africa developing more and more into IT nations,” said Hartwig von Sass, a spokesman for organisers Deutsche Messe. However, even with stable exhibitor numbers, the CeBIT is a far cry from its glory days at the height of the dot-com boom, when 8,000 firms would scrap for places in the hangerlike halls of the sprawling fair grounds.

CeBIT is battling competition from the swanky Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the just-finished Mobile World Congress in Barcelona but Sass insisted that Hanover was still top of the tree. “No matter what other fair you look at, they’re all half as big as us,” said Sass, who said 350,000 visitors swarmed through the stands last year.

CeBIT is also the only fair catering to the whole IT sector rather than a specific part, he added, announcing that tech giants like IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Google would be present at this year’s event. The IT industry enters the CeBIT in relatively bullish mood, with German industry group BITKOM forecasting in the run-up to the fair that global tech spending was poised to rise by 5.1 percent to 2.7 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion) this year.

This year’s CeBIT theme is “shareconomy”, the increasing trend of users sharing data and things, with examples being “carsharing” and of course social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Several exhibits will be devoted to shifting the way office communications are run, moving from email-which some experts see as increasingly obsolete to internal social media

HANOVER: A file photo shows people crowding the IBM exhibition in hall 2 at the CeBIT IT fair in Hanover. — AFP platforms. Innovative ways to process vast amounts of data as well as the perennial issues of cloud computing-storing data remotely-and Internet security will also be major topics at this year’s event.

But as ever with the CeBIT, it is not all work and no play as there will be the usual display of head-spinning gadgets and pointless but fun applications to entertain the punters. For those who despair of finding the right items in massive supermarkets, a firm has developed a trolley that communicates with the shelves, points the hapless shopper in the right direction and ticks things off the list.

And for the strains of daily life, a communications firm has created an app that gives you a

read-out on your stress levels just from testing your voice. Another firm has pioneered the must-have piece of furniture for those accused of being couch potatoes. The chair measures weight, heart rate, blood pressure and other important health data and, if it doesn’t like what it sees, transforms into a rowing machine so you can shift a few pounds while you watch your favourite programme. While the fair officially throws open its doors tomorrow, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will give the opening speech the night before along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Poland is this year’s “partner country”, with around 150 Polish exhibitors expected to make the trip over the border. — AFP

Mystery of the Chinese zombie Yalies BEIJING: US universities have responded to China’s exploding demand for American higher education with branch campuses and aggressive recruiting. Now, some are trying to boost their brands by casting photos and other snippets of campus life out into the confounding sea of Chinese social media. How confounding? Consider the mystery of the Chinese Yale zombies. That’s “zombies” as in “zombie followers” on Sina Weibo the hugely popular “weibo,” or microblogging, site that’s roughly akin to Twitter and has attracted more than 500 million followers since debuting in 2009. A common feature on Chinese social media, these zombie accounts could represent actual users who lurk inactively online. But often they’re fake, mass-produced accounts that mindlessly follow (hence the name “zombie”) and artificially boost another account’s follower numbers - and thus prestige. Since its debut in December, Yale’s new Sina Weibo account - sharing photos and other assorted items from its

Ivy-covered Connecticut campus has exploded in popularity, apparently far faster than any other US institution’s.

While other prominent universities have patiently accumulated at most a few thousand followers in more than a year of operation, Yale’s been adding nearly that many daily, and has passed 140,000. The only other foreign university even remotely close to that figure is, oddly, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

Yale’s Weibo account is ranked 30th in popularity among educational institutions overall, better even than several well-known domestic institutions like Nanjing and Zhejiang universities. True, Ivy League Yale does have a famous name, longtime ties to China (it graduated the first Chinese person to earn a degree from a US college in 1854) and 1,000-plus Chinese students and scholars currently on campus. That likely explains some of the growth. But Yale also appears to have attracted a mysteriously large battalion of walking

CONNECTICUT: In this file photo, future graduates wait for the procession to begin for commencement at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. — AP

dead accounts, with pages and pages of followers that rarely if ever post themselves and have few if any followers. Analytic software also points to some geographic oddities that could also raise suspicions of fake accounts, and many followers have disabled the feature allowing them to receive private messages.

Whence these zombie Yalies?

After inquiries from The Associated Press, a Yale spokesman acknowledged some of the followers could be fake, but says that’s not Yale’s doing. He says the university isn’t buying followers, which can be purchased for a few cents each online. “We don’t do it, we don’t promote it, we don’t encourage it, we don’t like it,” university spokesman Michael Morand said, adding: “Not to be cheeky about it, but it’s sort of like ‘Newsflash: Spam is inherent on the Internet.’”

Zinch, the marketing company that works with hundreds of overseas institutions in China and runs Yale’s Sina Weibo feed, also denies purchasing followers. It too says it’s mystified by Yale’s growth.

Sina, the company that operates Sina Weibo, has promoted Yale on its campus page and recommended it to new users, spokesman Mao Taotao said. But that wouldn’t explain why Yale has so many inactive followers. And he denied Sina adds followers to any account. “To provide netizens with a clean online environment, Sina Weibo eliminates rubbish users in a timely manner,” he said in a written statement.

Another possibility: Companies that specialize in selling zombie followers may be signing their zombies up to follow Yale and other accounts to make them appear more real, said Cao Di, an analyst for the Shanghai-based Internet consulting firm iResearch. In short,

the bottom of the zombie Yalie mystery may be unreachable. And the whole matter could fairly be called a harmless curiosity. Still, it offers a glimpse of just how swampy the new landscape of Chinese social media can be, and highlights some risks for overseas universities and companies.

Accusations of inflated Twitter accounts have embarrassed politicians and corporations. In academia, concerns have been raised on many campuses - including Yale about the dangers as universities expand their reach into foreign cultures.

Yale could lose face in China if it’s believed to be artificially inflating its numbers there, said Jason Lane, a State University of New York at Albany expert on internationalization efforts by US universities.

But more broadly, he said, the issue highlights how U.S. universities risk losing control of their brands and reputations in unfamiliar environments. Those risks are compounded by outsourcing the communications work to companies like Zinch or other local experts due to language barriers.

“Given the criticality of the Chinese market to the international dimensions of these institutions, I think it’s even more alarming that you’re releasing control of this aspect of your brand,” Lane said.

“Part of oversight is knowing what they’re saying but it’s also a cultural issue of not really knowing how it’s playing.” “This is part of the learning curve,” he added. “There are bound to be some hiccups along the way.”

There are nearly 200,000 Chinese students on U.S. campuses - up 25 percent just since last year, and the most of any foreign country, according to the Institute of International Education. But Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other sites are banned in China. — AP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Technology for diagnosing joint, muscle imbalance at New Mowasat Hospital KUWAIT: New Mowasat Hospital is pleased to announce the arrival of the latest and most advanced device Functional Capacity Tech in the Rheumatology and Physical Medicine Department used for the diagnosing of joints and muscles functions.

Dr Samer Abdullah, Head of the Rheumatology and Physical Medicine Department, explained that the Functional Capacity Tech is the latest advancement in the field of rheumatology and rehabilitation for the scientific study of joints. The device screens joint/muscu-

lar imbalance and predict ligaments injury at early stages, which is crucial for timely and successful treatment. The Functional Capacity Tech is also used for evaluating shoulders stiffness as well as arthritis, especially in diabetic patients.

Additionally, it plays an important role in the screening of the joint stability, especially in sports-related injuries and walking abnormalities. It is also a very effective tool in detecting osteoarthritis.

The Functional Capacity Tech delivers all examinations and tests for the kinetic chain and the muscles surrounding the

joint calves through isotonic, isometric and isokinetic readings, which measure changes in the muscle when it moves or is put under physical stress. A treatment program is also integrated in the device to improve the performance of the joints movements and to strengthen the surrounding muscles; it also helps in gaining back the sensory feel of the joints (proprioception).

This device is currently in use in many rheumatology and rehabilitation centers around the world, especially in the United States where participating patients are

able to see the results immediately on the screen, encouraging them to reach the desired results.

Joint disorders are very common worldwide, and especially in the Middle East added Dr Samer where there is a high rate of obesity, diabetes and lack of physical activity which contribute to muscle atrophy, unstable joints and early development of arthritis. Working out and keeping the joints fit are important pillars to maintaining good joint health, thus reducing the chances of motor impairment incidents.

Dr Samer Abdullah

Tuna collapse fears fail to curb Japan’s appetite Japan consumes 80% of world’s bluefin tuna

BANGKOK: Thai activists hold posters urging people to stop the trading of tigers during the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES yesterday. — AP

UN wants clampdown on illegal wildlife trade BANGKOK: The world must clamp down hard on the illegal global wildlife trade, the head of the United Nations environment agency warned yesterday, calling it a multibillion-dollar criminal business that is threatening to wipe out some of the planet’s most iconic species. Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, made the call during the opening meeting of the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, in Bangkok.

He cited the massive upsurge in poaching of Africa’s endangered elephants and rhinos, whose slaughter - the worst in two decades - is being driven by rising demand in Asia for their tusks and horns.

“The backdrop against which this meeting takes place should be a very serious wakeup call for all of us,” Steiner told some 2,000 delegates assembled at a convention center in the Thai capital. Wildlife trafficking “in a terrible way has become a trade and a business of enormous proportions - a billion-dollar trade in wildlife species that is analogous to that of the trade in drugs and arms,” Steiner said. “This is not a small matter. It is driven by a conglomerate of crime syndicates across borders.”

Slowing the slaughter of African elephants and curbing the trade in “blood ivory” will be at the top of the agenda during the global biodiversity conference, which lasts two weeks. Around 70 proposals are on the table, most of which will decide whether member nations increase or lower the level of protection on various species. These include polar bears, rays and sharks that are heavily fished for shark fin soup.

There are proposals, too, to regulate 200 commercially valuable timber species - half from Madagascar - and ban their trade unless it can be shown they were harvested

legally and sustainably. Steiner said up to 90 percent of the world’s timber trade is illegal, a business worth at least $30 billion per year. Prior to the establishment of CITES in 1973, there was no international regulation of the cross border trade in wildlife.

Most of the agreements regulating the 35,000 animals under CITES’ purview aim not to outlaw trade, but to ensure it remains sustainable.

One of the convention’s success stories since then has been the African rhino, which numbered just 2,000 four decades ago. The population swelled to 25,000, but over the last five years poaching has skyrocketed again. Last year, 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone. As with the elephant crisis, the culprit is largely demand from Asia, where their horns are highly desired because they are believed to have medicinal properties.

CITES Director-General John Scanlon said the slaughter of African elephants and rhinos was at its worst in decades, a level that “could threaten the survival of the species themselves.” He blamed poachers, rebel militias and mafia-like crime syndicates that smuggle animal parts across borders.

“This criminal activity poses a serious threat to the stability and economies of these countries. It also robs these countries of their natural heritage, their culture heritage, and it undermines good governance and the rule of law,” Scanlon said. “These criminals must be stopped, and we need to prepare to deploy the sorts of techniques that are used to combat the trade in narcotics to do so.”

“We know the way. We now need the collective will,” Scanlon said. “Right here, right now in Bangkok is when we must come together to turn the tables on serious wildlife crime.” — AP

Tamed Dragon supply ship arrives at space station CAPE CANAVERAL: A privately owned Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station yesterday, delivering a ton of supplies with high-flying finesse after a shaky start to the mission. The Dragon’s arrival was one day late but especially sweet - and not because of the fresh fruit on board for the station astronauts who snared the capsule. SpaceX, the Californiabased company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, had to struggle with the Dragon following its launch Friday from Cape Canaveral. A clogged pressure line or stuck valve prevented thrusters from working, and it took flight controllers several hours to gain control and salvage the mission.

In the end, the Dragon approached the orbiting lab with its 1-ton load about as smoothly as could be expected, with all of its thrusters, or little maneuvering rockets, operating perfectly. The capture occurred as the two spacecraft zoomed 250 miles above Ukraine. “As they say, it’s not where you start, but where you finish that counts,” said space station commander Kevin Ford, “and you guys really finished this one on the mark.”

He added: “We’ve got lots of science on there to bring aboard and get done. So congratulations to all of you.” Among the items on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stem cells, food and clothes for the six men on board

the space station, trash bags, computer equipment, air purifiers, spacewalking tools and batteries. The company also tucked away apples and other fresh treats from an employee’s family orchard. — AP

TOKYO: It is the king of sushi, one of the most expensive fish in the world - and dwindling so rapidly that some fear it could vanish from restaurant menus within a generation. Yet there is little alarm in Japan, the country that consumes about 80 percent of the world’s bluefin tuna. Japanese fisheries experts blame cozy ties between regulators and fishermen and a complacent media for failing to raise public awareness.

“Nobody really knows the bad state bluefin tuna is in,” veteran sushi chef Kazuo Nagayama said from his snug, top-end sushi bar in Tokyo’s Shimbashi district, a popular area for after-work socializing. “I don’t think it’ll disappear, but we might not be able to catch any. It’s obvious we need to set quotas.” Catching bluefin tuna, called “hon-maguro” here, is a lucrative business. A single full-grown specimen can sell for 2 million yen, or $22,000, at Tokyo’s sprawling Tsukiji fish market. Japanese fishermen are vying with Korean, Taiwanese and Mexican counterparts for a piece of a $900 million a year wholesale market.

Fish dealers at Tsukiji market say the number of bluefin sold at early morning auctions has fallen over the past 10 to 15 years, but most are confident the supply will never run out. Sushi bars and supermarkets still readily sell the fish, which is considered a special treat that families might splurge on once every month or two. There’s no government campaign to encourage people to rein in their appetites for the iconic Japanese food. “I have seen some reports on TV about their numbers falling, but I really haven’t thought about cutting back on eating hon-maguro,” said Sumire Baba, a Tokyo homemaker. “I guess I’m optimistic they’ll recover.”

A scientific assessment released in January found that Pacific bluefin spawning stocks - a key measure of adults that can reproduce - have plummeted by about three-quarters over the past 15 years to match historic lows last seen in the early 1980s. It estimated that the species has dwindled to just 3.6 percent of its original population, and that more than 90 percent of fish caught were juveniles between the ages of 0 and 3, before they reach reproductive maturity.

The report, compiled by the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the Northern Pacific and based on data through 2010, received only scant coverage in the Japanese press. The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper, ran a brief story that ignored the drop in numbers and focused on a projection offered by the report’s authors that Pacific stocks could triple by 2030 if current “effort limits” were fully enforced - coverage that a senior Fisheries Agency official blasted as “misleading.”

News reports earlier this year about the record 155.4 million yen ($1.76 million) auction sale of a Pacific bluefin at the Tsukiji market focused mostly on the exorbitant price and the buyer - the owner of a sushi chain - with little context about the species’ falling numbers. The drop follows similar plunges in the other two bluefin species, the Atlantic and the southern, which are now protected by catch quotas that experts say need to be applied to their Pacific cousins as well.

Without stricter caps, “there is a high likelihood that Pacific bluefin will become less available to Japanese consumers,” said Masayuki Komatsu, a former senior Fisheries Agency official. Japan faces two choices, he said: immediately impose catch quotas or “stop eating the bluefin to protect it.” Overfishing of the Atlantic bluefin, much of it shipped to Japan, got so bad

that an export ban was proposed in 2010 at a meeting of the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The proposal was rejected, and Atlantic bluefin stocks recovered slightly last year after quotas were imposed, although environmental groups say the population remains fragile.

While the media plays a role, the Fisheries Agency, domestic scientists and fishing industry are mainly responsible for failing to address the problem and keeping the public in the dark, Komatsu and other critics say.

During his tenure at the agency until 2005, regulators were often more intent on protecting fishermen than marine resources, he said, and they were also reluctant to publicize information about declining fish stocks or impose catch limits for fear of upsetting fishermen or politicians.

“Government officials don’t want to accept the facts,” Komatsu said. “Their constituents are fishermen. In order to be successful as a government official, you have to listen to the fishermen

quarter. Japan also has joined 2011 “effort limits” - such as limiting the number of vessels - called for by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the regional fisheries body that monitors the western two-thirds of the Pacific Ocean.

The commission will meet in Tokyo in September to consider whether to strengthen catch restrictions. Japan also has placed caps on the number of tuna farms, which take young tuna caught at sea and raise them in coastal waters, and is registering its 13,000 independent fishermen to better monitor their catch, Miyahara said.

But conservation groups say the measures are full of loopholes and not well enforced, while Japanese fishermen complain that South Korean boats are not similarly constrained. “We wonder what the point is if others can catch the fish we can’t,” said Makoto Hotai, head of the Japan Purse Seiners Association, based in the southern city of Fukuoka. While Japanese consumers are very

TOKYO: In this photo, a prospective buyer inspects the quality of tuna before the first auction of the year at the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. — AP because they are closely connected to the politicians. It’s all very short-sighted.” Toshio Katsukawa, a fisheries professor at Mie University in western Japan, said the industry has been allowed to pursue indiscriminate fishing for years. “This is undermining Japan’s own national interests,” he said.

“We have an international responsibility in this matter. It’s a problem if we are not able to responsibly catch and consume these fish.” That may have been a valid criticism in the past, acknowledged Masanori Miyahara, the deputy director-general of the Japan Fisheries Agency.

But over the past five or six years “our policy has changed,” he said in an interview in his Tokyo office. “Now we are in the driver’s seat.”

“Previously, there was almost no control over the bluefin catch because so many fishermen were catching them. The JFA just gave up,” Miyahara said. “But now we are in a position of control.

We are serious about fishing management.”

He noted that limits imposed in 2011 on domestic fishermen using large, encircling “purse seine” nets - which scoop up vast amounts of fish, including many young ones - during the summer spawning season in the Sea of Japan have reduced the catch of juveniles by more than a

sensitive about food safety and quality, awareness about resource management is still not very prevalent.

Major retailer Aeon Co. has a lineup of 50 products with a special blue label from the Marine Stewardship Council, which certifies sustainable marine foods. However, MSC-labeled products account for only 3 percent of Aeon’s total fish sales. “Eating fish is a fundamental part of Japanese culture,” said Kozo Ishii, the program director for MSC in Japan. “That fish is readily available is taken for granted.”

A handful of US and European sushi restaurants have removed bluefin from their menus, but Nagayama, the sushi chef, hasn’t heard of that happening in Japan. He tries to minimize the amount of the fish he uses, but says he needs to have it on hand because customers request it. A single piece of pink “o-toro” fatty tuna goes for 2,000 yen, or $21, at his shop, although customers visiting “conveyor belt” sushi shops can grab much lower quality bluefin for 100 yen, or just over a dollar. “We’re a top-end sushi bar, so we need to have it,” said the 71-year-old sushi chef, who has written three books about fish. “If we don’t, we can’t really do business.” — AP

37-pound tubby tabby in need of home

CAPE CANAVERAL: This NASA photo shows the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with its Dragon spacecraft onboard, seen shortly after it was erected at Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. — AFP

ST CHARLES: At 37 pounds, Biscuit is about the right weight for a 4year-old - human, that is. A St Louisarea animal shelter is trying to find a new home for the sweet tabby with a sweet tooth. Biscuit’s salad days were spent pigging out, and now at roughly three times the weight of a healthy adult cat, he’s restricted to about a cup of diet food per day.

His first owner, a disabled woman who fed him lots of treats, brought him to the St. Charles Animal Control shelter about a year ago because she could no longer care for him, Teresa Gilley, the shelter’s lead animal control officer, told the St. Louis PostDispatch (http://bit.ly/15VQRvf ).

“She didn’t mean the cat any harm,” Gilley said. “I just think she didn’t know any better.” Another woman

took him in but had to return him about a week ago because her new apartment doesn’t allow pets, she said. Gilley said the tubby tabby isn’t crazy about his new low-calorie diet, but he has begun adjusting to it.

When he arrived, Biscuit could only take a few steps before lying down and panting, but now he’s showing increased energy.

“The other day I went into the office, and he was up in the chair,” Gilley said. “So he was able to jump pretty high.” Biscuit is neutered and is believed to be about 4.

Gilley said he’s easygoing and loves being petted. “He’s sweet and loving, and if you talk to him, he’ll talk back,” Gilley said. Any prospective owner would need to keep Biscuit away from the gravy and on a strict diet. — AP

ST CHARLES: Biscuit, a 37-pound cat, looks at his cage in the shelter in St Charles, Mo. —AP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Buzz off: Honeybee colony getting new home DURYEA: They say home is where the hive is. Or something like that. A colony of troublesome honeybees will settle into new digs in northeastern Pennsylvania after being removed Friday from a back alley in Duryea, where the queen and thousands of her loyal subjects had taken up residence in an old tree several years ago. They were such a nuisance that neighbors say they couldn’t stand to be outside in the summertime. The bees got into garbage and recycling bins, disrupted barbecues and buzzed anyone who got too close. “It was a big safety issue for us,” said Joe Roscioli, 32, who is allergic

to bees and whose house is only a few feet from the tree.

Years ago, an annoyed human might’ve eliminated the problem with a can of insecticide. But with a mysterious affliction called colony collapse disorder decimating hives around the nation, Duryea’s streets supervisor got a bee in his bonnet to save the colony and its 10,000 to 20,000 occupants. So on Friday, PPL Electric Utilities, a tree-trimming crew and several bee experts converged on the alley for a rescue operation.

With a small crowd looking on, licensed apiarist Bill Fisher and other

experts drilled several holes in the tree, then inserted probes to establish the lower and upper limits of the hive.

“It’s a lot like a colonoscopy for bees,” Fisher joked. Once the 60-foot northern catalpa tree was cut down to size, a crane lifted a 15-foot section of trunk onto a trailer destined for the Hershey area, where Fisher has a small farm. When it gets warmer, Fisher will try to extract the queen, slice out the comb, and transfer the colony to a bee box. Its ultimate destination, if all goes well, is a community garden in Drums, about 30 miles southwest of Duryea. Such rescues are becoming more common. The

state Department of Agriculture said it’s seen an increase in calls from exterminators, residents and business owners who want to avoid destroying inconvenient hives and are seeking help. “Colony collapse disorder has really increased awareness of the importance of honeybees,” said Karen Roccasecca, Pennsylvania’s state apiarist. Gino Marriggi, the Duryea streets supervisor who launched Friday’s rescue mission, said he couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”The neighbors are happy the bees are going to be gone, and I’m happy nobody’s going to destroy them,” he said. “It’s a win-win.” —AP

ILLINOIS: The photo provided by amateur Illinois bee spotter Johanna James-Heinz, shows a rusty-patched bumblebee. —AP

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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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

Birthday Greetings

Kuwait Marriott Hotels hold National festivities’ celebrations

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mile as much as you can, because today is your special day. Happy, happy birthday to our sweet angel Malu. Best wishes from Acha, Amma and Chaee.

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mongst friends and family, William Hadi Fayyadh recently celebrated his birthday. A very happy birthday William and many happy returns of the day.

Announcements St Patrick Day Kuwait Irish Society presents our St Patrick’s Day celebration at Hilton Hotel, Al-Dorra Ballroom, Friday March 15, 2013. Dress Code: Black tie.

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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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

n lieu of the Kuwait National Day and Liberation Day, the JW Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott Kuwait Hotels recently held a carnival at the Salam Garden, in front of the palace of His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed AlAhmed Al-Sabah. Commemorating the seventh year of reign of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s and His Highness the Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during this special time held great prominence this year.

Every year’s February celebrations are part of Marriott’s “Spirit to Serve” initiative and are aimed at celebrating the country’s national festivities with Marriott’s associates and their family members along with the public. The carnival like atmosphere was filled with entertaining games and activities for the young children from 2 pm onwards while three giant flags - the Kuwaiti flag, Marriott flag, and a flag with a picture of the Kuwaiti leadership were hand painted. The three flags, when completed, were lifted onto a giant crane, and a large cake was cut to express the happi-

ness of the nationwide celebrations. A large stage served as a backdrop with red,

Al-Mulla Exchange to hold seminar on Indian budget

A

l-Mulla Exchange along with the Kuwait Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is arranging a seminar on the Indian Budget 20132014 at 5:30 pm today, at the Pearl Tent of Safir International Hotel in Bneid Al-Gar. Eminent tax lawyer and Chartered Accountant, Homi Ranina will be the key note speaker at the event.

With over three decades of experience in matters related to taxation, finance and corporate management, Ranina will be presenting his thought-provoking insights on Indian Budget 2013.

Homi Ranina The other key note speaker at the seminar will be Dhinal Shah, a partner of Ernst & Young, Tax & Regulatory Services practice. A Chartered Accountant and lawyer by qualification, Shah has more than 20 years of experience in advising clients on taxation, exchange control and regulatory issues.

The contemporary nature of the seminar, coming as it does in the immediate wake of Budget presentation in the Indian Parliament on February 28, will make the event all the more interesting and informative for attendees.

Considering the immense value of that this event will be for the non resident Indians in Kuwait, Al-Mulla Exchange is conducting this event as a “free for all” walk in event for everyone irrespective of whether our customer or not.

Archbishop calls for integration, reforms

By Sunil Cherian

A

rchbishop Dr Kuriakose Bharanikulangara hailed the importance of partaking in the culture that one lives in. The Archbishop of Faridabad diocese was in Kuwait last week to inaugurate the concluding ceremony of the 40th anniversary celebration of Kuwait Malayalee Catholic Association (KMCA). “We should not try to create another Kerala in Kuwait”, the Syro-Malabarees catholic leader said, ‘but to integrate with the culture that the diaspora is in’. The archbishop who lives in Carolbagh, New Delhi is the head of the 1.5 million Catholics who live under the diocese of Faridabad consisting of the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir.

The 54-year old archbishop also praised the religious freedom that Kuwait ensures to its residents. “The lesson of tolerance is very important here. The diaspora in Kuwait shares similarities with the migrants of Delhi”, the bishop said. Whether migration is internal or international, mobility is part of today’s culture, said Bharanikulangara who was ordained as bishop of Faridabad last year.

Well-disposed of the decadence of religious faith among the Christian youth today, the archbishop called for new hermeneutics (methodology) from the side of the Church to help rediscover the losing faith. “The Catholic Church celebrates the 50th year of Vatican Council II this year - the year of faith - and it is time for more openness and acceptance”, the bishop said.

black, green and white balloons and decorations symbolizing the national flag, to

add to the country’s festive mood. This year’s flying bike show revved up the crowd with an even bigger performance while some associates received flight tickets in a raffle draw while many other surprises awaiting all the attendees, along with performances by several popular Kuwaiti artists.

George Aoun, General Manager of JW Marriott Hotel Kuwait and the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel Kuwait said, “It is an exciting experience sharing in the pride and patriotism for their country with our associates, children and the general public on this auspicious occasion. We are proud to add to the people’s spirit of community engagement, which is one of Marriott’s bedrock corporate social responsibility pillars.”

Yacoub Al-Shatti, Director of Government Relations said, “On this joyous occasion, we heartily wish all of the people of Kuwait, a country that has progressed safely and prospered under the umbrella of the reign of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s and His Highness the Crown Prince Nawaf AlAhmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.”

Rasha Kashkoush re-joins H+K Strategies

H

ill+Knowlton Strategies announces the appointment of Rasha Kashkoush in the newly created role of Regional Director for Government Communications and Public Affairs.

Kashkoush, of Palestinian/Kuwaiti descent, re-joins the consultancy after a previous six year stint with H+K in the Middle East to build H+K Strategies’ government and public sector practice. She will be reporting to Sconaid McGeachin, President & CEO India, Middle East, Africa & Turkey.

With almost a decade of experience in public relations, Rasha Kashkoush’s professional expertise lies in strategic communications, messaging, and reputation management programs for organizations in both the private and public sector.

She started her career at Manning, Selvage and Lee (MS&L) in Kuwait before joining H+K Strategies in

Dubai in 2004 as an account executive. In 2010 Kashkoush took a two year sabbatical to pursue a Masters

in International Affairs from Columbia University.

“Rasha’s understanding of the

Middle East coupled with her experience working on public sector clients at H+K Strategies gives her a unique edge,” says McGeachin. “As the demand for more complex government communications programs increases, Rasha is well placed to understand local needs and cater them to global markets. She will expand our government practice across the region.”

Rasha’s private sector experience ranges from multinationals like Boeing and Shell to regional leaders such as Dubai Holding and Zain. Her public sector clients have included the UAE government, the Queen Rania Foundation, the International Monetary Fund, Injaz Al-Arab, the Federal National Council of the UAE, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Fluent in English, Arabic and French, her experience in the communications industry takes on a regional perspective.

IKEA Kuwait’s Bedroom Campaign offers added comfort, for breathtaking prices

I

KEA Kuwait recently launched its new bedroom collection that offers visitors looking for style, functionality and quality and the opportunity to choose from a variety of bedroom furniture to suit every taste, need and budget.

The bedroom campaign that started on March 1 till and April 23, 2013 , showcases an exciting collection of textiles,beds and wardrobes with appealing styles to ultimately promote the exquisite quality of relaxation at affordable prices. These include double/single beds, mattresses, wardrobes, chest of drawers, bedside tables and many more.

Shoppers are gifted the option to choose from an array of new colorful variations of bed linens, pillow and quilt covers, bed frames, new door styles curtains and blinds, lights, painting and deco, as well as cushions amongst many others.

The IKEA (PAX) storage solution collection that can be customised based on personal taste and creativity, comes with 10 years guarantee. While understanding that people have different sleeping patterns, IKEA mattresses range

comes with 25 years garauntee and in a variety of shapes to suit all sizes and sleeping habits from

styles, colors and functionalities to help them design their bedroom of choice. IKEA Kuwait urges

soft, medium to firm mattresses.

The ulitmate goal of the IKEA bedroom collection is to offer all customers a large variety of bedroom furniture and accessory

everyone to avail of this once in a year promotion to maximize on the stores disctinct collection at premium quality for your bedroom.

Blessen George volleyball tournament

B

lessen George Foundation, Kuwait is to hold the second Blessen George Memorial Ever Rolling Trophy Volleyball Tournament in Kuwait from April 25 till May 3 2013 at Abbassiya Indian Central School Court involving Indian and Nepali Clubs in Kuwait, and School Volleyball Teams for Boys and Girls from among Indian Schools in Kuwait. The Tournament for Clubs will be on League cum Knock-out

format and the Tournament for Schools Teams will be on Knock-out format. The League matches for the Clubs and the matches for the School Teams will be held on 25th, 26th and 27th April, Semi-Finals on 2nd May, which will be on knock-out basis, and the Final on 3rd May. The Blessen George Memorial Volleyball Tournament is held in memory of late Blessen George, who was one

of the greatest all rounders in the Volleyball game and who played for Kerala University Team, Kerala State Team, Kerala Electricity Board Team, Kerala Police Team, Indian National Team and Abu Dhabi Police Team in the seventies and eighties as well as to revive the interest in the once most popular game of Volleyball among Indian expatriates and their children residing in Kuwait.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information

—Photos by Joseph Shagra

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.

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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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IWG hosts lecture on textiles

By Nawara Fattahova

T

he International Women’s Group (IWG) held its monthly meeting yesterday morning at the Radisson Blu Hotel. This meeting was attended by most of the IWG’s members, and included a lecture on textile titled ‘Indigo Magical Dye’.

The idea of this meeting was organized by Preeti Mehta, the spouse of the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait. “The IWG asked me to organize this meeting. I had different ideas as most of the subjects were already discussed. I noticed that most IWG members talk about fabrics and they are interested in this subject, so I have chosen this theme about indigo color and its history,” she told the Kuwait Times.

The event started with an Indian solo dance performance presented by young lady. This was followed by the ‘Indigo Magical Dye’ lecture presented by Anjana, who is currently visiting Kuwait.

“Indigo is a color that came with the

Preeti Mehta

Anjana

British colonization to India and is also part of the Arabian culture, as many fabrics have this color. Anjana is presenting different forms of art on fabrics from painting, embroidery and others. We see indigo everywhere, especially on jeans, so I thought that this issue is something different and interesting,” explained Preeti Mehta.

Working with textiles is a passion for Anjana rather than business. “She gives her ideas and designs for those working in this field with fabrics and textiles.

Anjana talked about the history of indigo

and how its used as living art. She also mentioned the importance of indigo and that it was traded with gold. This color is also used in many Arab and western countries,” concluded Preeti Mahta.

The members meet regularly and hold different events and activities.

“These activities include different celebrations and event such as visiting traditional places, and others. In addition, it includes other cultural activities such as those presented by the diplomatic women from their country,” Narjis AlShatti, Member of IWG and the PR and

Media told the Kuwait Times.

“At the beginning of each season, we review the program of the group including all different activities. We also take in to consideration the suggestions and opinions of the members regarding the activities and programs. Every month a different member prepares a program that represents her country,” she added.

Al-Shatti stressed that this month it’s an Indian program prepared by the spouse of the Indian ambassador, and it was interesting for the members especially as the relations between Kuwait and India is very old.

Al-Shatti also said that the IWG Kuwait chapter is a branch of the International Women’s Association residing in Denmark and has branches all over the world, where they organize similar programs and activities. “Here in Kuwait the new wives of ambassadors will meet with the other members to exchange information about their country, tradition, food, culture and others,” she stated.

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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Response Media hosts open day

R

esponse Media Group held an exclusive open-day for members of the diplomatic corps and its business associates at their farm in Wafra on Friday, February 15.

Enthusiastic and active participation by the guests in the entertaining and lively activities lined up for the day, kept the fun pace moving steadily throughout the event. A sumptuous buffet comprising of traditional Kuwaiti dishes and choice Indian food catered by Mughal Mahal restaurant ensured that everyone had an enjoyable day of wonderful company, great fun and good food.

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

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Into The Lion’s Den 01:35 Untamed & Uncut 02:25 Wildest Latin America 03:15 Mutant Planet 04:05 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 04:55 Animal Cops Houston 05:45 Wildest Latin America 06:35 The Really Wild Show 07:00 Dogs 101 07:50 Pandamonium 08:40 Bad Dog 09:35 Monkey Life 10:05 Wild Africa Rescue 10:30 Rescue Vet 11:00 Escape To Chimp Eden 11:25 Wildest Latin America 12:20 Deadly Waters 13:15 Great Animal Escapes 13:45 Great Animal Escapes 14:10 Animal Cops Houston 15:05 Animal Precinct 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Dogs 101 17:25 Crocodile Hunter 18:20 Too Cute!

19:15 Monkey Life 19:40 Wild Africa Rescue 20:10 Rescue Vet 20:35 Escape To Chimp Eden 21:05 Wildest Islands 22:00 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 22:25 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 22:55 My Cat From Hell 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 01:10 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 01:55 Gok’s Fashion Fix 02:40 Design Rules 03:05 Design Rules 03:30 MasterChef 04:25 MasterChef 04:55 MasterChef 05:50 MasterChef 06:45 Design Rules 07:10 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 08:00 Bargain Hunt 08:45 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 09:30 Homes Under The Hammer 10:20 Bargain Hunt 11:05 Bargain Hunt 11:50 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:35 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 14:10 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 15:05 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 15:50 Bargain Hunt 16:35 Bargain Hunt 17:20 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:00 Homes Under The Hammer 18:50 The Hairy Bikers USA 19:15 Rick Stein’s Spain 20:10 New Scandinavian Cooking 20:35 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 21:35 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 22:20 Bargain Hunt 23:10 Bargain Hunt

00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 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

Yogi’s Treasure Hunt Duck Dodgers Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Dastardly And Muttley 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 Bananas In Pyjamas Jelly Jamm Ha Ha Hairies

07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:05 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:15 13:40 14:00 14:25 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 20:20 20:45 21:10 21:20 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:40

Bananas In Pyjamas Lazy Town Krypto The Superdog Jelly Jamm Gerald McBoing Boing Cartoonito Tales Bananas In Pyjamas Ha Ha Hairies Lazy Town Krypto The Superdog Baby Looney Tunes Jelly Jamm Gerald McBoing Boing Cartoonito Tales Krypto The Superdog Lazy Town A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Tom And Jerry Tales Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Johnny Bravo Tiny Toons 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo The Garfield Show What’s New Scooby-Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom And Jerry Tales The Looney Tunes Show Tiny Toons 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Moomins The Garfield Show Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom And Jerry Tales Moomins Dexters Laboratory Johnny Bravo Puppy In My Pocket The Garfield Show What’s New Scooby-Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry Tales The Looney Tunes Show

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 04:00 04:30 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

World Sport Backstory Talk Asia Fareed Zakaria GPS CNN Newsroom I Report For CNN News Special World Sport Inside Africa World Report World Report World Sport News Special World Business Today World One African Voices Backstory CNN Newscenter Fareed Zakaria GPS News Stream World Business Today International Desk Global Exchange World Sport African Voices International Desk Quest Means Business Amanpour CNN Newscenter

00:15 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:05 02:30 03:00 03:25 03:55 04:20 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:05

Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Magic Of Science

06:30 Magic Of Science 07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 Mythbusters 08:45 Wheeler Dealers 09:40 Border Security 10:05 Auction Kings 10:30 Auction Hunters 10:55 Factory Line 11:25 How It’s Made 11:50 Fast N’ Loud 12:45 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 13:40 American Chopper 14:35 Border Security 15:05 Auction Kings 15:30 Auction Hunters 16:00 Life On A Wire 16:55 Wheeler Dealers 17:50 Mythbusters 18:45 American Guns 19:40 Factory Line 20:05 How It’s Made 20:35 Auction Kings 21:00 Auction Hunters 21:30 Gold Rush 22:25 Gold Divers 23:20 Around The World In 80 Ways

00:40 01:35 02:25 03:15 03:45 04:35 05:25 05:50 06:15 06:40 07:05 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:30 11:25 11:50 12:15 13:10 14:00 14:50 15:20 15:45 16:10 17:00 17:25 17:55 18:45 19:35 20:30 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:25 23:50

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 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:35 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15

Finding Bigfoot Weird Or What?

Dark Matters: Twisted But True Mean Green Machines Engineering Ground Zero Da Vinci’s Machines Tech Toys 360 Tech Toys 360 Food Factory Food Factory Bad Universe Meteorite Men Mega Builders Prototype This Sci-Trek The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Cosmic Collisions Mega Builders Scrapheap Challenge Mean Green Machines Tech Toys 360 Tech Toys 360 Weird Or What?

The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Sci-Trek Kings Of Construction How The Universe Works Things That Move Things That Move Oddities Oddities Gadget Show - World Tour How Tech Works Things That Move Things That Move Oddities

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 Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck My Babysitter’s A Vampire A.N.T Farm Austin And Ally Jessie Good Luck Charlie Doc McStuffins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse A.N.T Farm Jonas So Random Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance

CHAIN LETTER ON OSN ACTION HD

11:40 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:30 22:55 23:20 23:45

Kim Possible Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place That’s So Raven Austin And Ally Art Attack A.N.T. Farm Suite Life On Deck My Babysitter’s A Vampire Shake It Up Austin And Ally Jessie A.N.T Farm Good Luck Charlie Gravity Falls Suite Life On Deck Jessie Jessie Shake It Up Shake It Up Jessie That’s So Raven Cory In The House Phil Of The Future Hannah Montana Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie 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 03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:40 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:20 Handy Manny 04:30 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 06:50 Special Agent Oso 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Lazytown 08:45 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:10 Timmy Time 09:20 Handy Manny 09:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:05 Doc McStuffins 10:20 Doc McStuffins 10:35 Zou 10:50 Zou 11:00 Lilo And Stitch 11:30 Cars Toons 11:35 Mouk 11:45 Art Attack 12:10 Imagination Movers 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 Lilo And Stitch 16:55 Imagination Movers 17:20 Mouk 17:35 Mouk 17:45 Lilo And Stitch 18:10 The Hive 18:20 Cars Toons 18:25 Handy Manny 18:40 Doc McStuffins 18:55 Doc McStuffins 19:10 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:25 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:35 Zou 19:50 Zou 20:05 Timmy Time 20:15 Pajanimals 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 21:20 The Hive 21:30 Pajanimals 21:45 Handy Manny 22:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 Pajanimals 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

00:30 Scouted 01:25 E! Investigates 03:15 E! Investigates 04:10 THS 05:05 Extreme Close-Up 05:30 Extreme Close-Up 06:00 E!es 07:50 Style Star 08:20 E! News 09:15 Married To Jonas 09:45 Married To Jonas 10:15 THS 12:05 Ice Loves Coco 12:35 Ice Loves Coco 13:05 Giuliana & Bill 14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:30 Fashion Police: The 2013 Academy Awards 18:00 E! News 19:00 E!es 20:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:00 Opening Act 22:00 Ice Loves Coco 22:30 E! News Special 23:00 E! Investigates

00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Outrageous Food 02:20 Unwrapped 02:45 Iron Chef America 03:35 Iron Chef America 04:25 Unique Eats 04:50 Food Crafters 05:15 Charly’s Cake Angels 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Unwrapped 07:35 Unwrapped 08:00 Unwrapped 08:25 Unwrapped 08:50 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 09:15 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 09:40 Symon’s Suppers 10:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:30 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 10:55 Cooking For Real 11:20 Cooking For Real 11:45 Unique Eats 12:10 Food Crafters 12:35 Charly’s Cake Angels 13:00 Iron Chef America 13:50 Symon’s Suppers 14:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 15:05 United Tastes Of America 15:30 Food Crafters 15:55 Guy’s Big Bite 16:20 Guy’s Big Bite 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:15 Unique Sweets 19:40 Charly’s Cake Angels 20:05 Guy’s Big Bite 20:30 Chopped 21:20 Chopped 22:10 Iron Chef America 23:00 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 23:25 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 23:50 Andy Bates Street Feasts

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:05 03:30

Most Evil A Haunting Dr G: Medical Examiner Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Who On Earth Did I Marry?

03:55 04:45 05:30 06:20 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:40 15:30 16:20 16:45 17:10 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Fatal Encounters Most Evil A Haunting Dr G: Medical Examiner Disappeared Killer Outbreaks Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn FBI Case Files Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Disappeared FBI Case Files Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Deadly Sins Who On Earth Did I Marry?

00:15 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway 00:45 Ultimate Traveller 01:40 Walking The World 02:35 Roam 03:00 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 03:30 The Green Way Up 03:55 Geo Sessions 04:25 Reverse Exploration 05:20 Ultimate Traveller 06:15 One Man & His Campervan 06:40 Food School 07:10 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway 07:35 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway 08:05 Ultimate Traveller 09:00 Walking The World 09:55 Roam 10:20 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 10:50 The Green Way Up 11:15 Geo Sessions 11:45 Reverse Exploration 12:40 Ultimate Traveller 13:35 One Man & His Campervan 14:00 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 14:30 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway 14:55 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway 15:25 Ultimate Traveller 16:20 Walking The World 17:15 Roam 17:40 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 18:10 The Green Way Up 18:35 Geo Sessions 19:05 Reverse Exploration 20:00 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway 20:30 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway 21:00 One Man & His Campervan 21:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 22:00 Ultimate Traveller 22:55 One Man & His Campervan 23:20 Food School 23:50 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 PG15 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 PG15 18:00 20:00 22:00

Exorcismus-18 Street Kings 2: Motor City-18 Barricade-PG15 Charlie’s Angels: Full ThrottleGo Fast-PG15 Do No Harm-PG15 Rage Of The Yeti-PG15 Go Fast-PG15 True Justice: Dark VengeanceRage Of The Yeti-PG15 Constantine-PG15 Chain Letter-R

RETURN ON OSN CINEMA

01:00 Ip Man 2-PG15 03:00 Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown-PG 05:00 Second Chances-PG15 07:00 Hidden Crimes-PG15 09:00 Ip Man 2-PG15 11:00 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-PG 13:15 Ike: Countdown To D-DayPG15 15:00 Golden Christmas 3-PG15 17:00 Blank Slate-PG15 19:00 Return-PG15 21:00 MacGruber-18 23:00 The Sitter-18

00:00 Breaking In 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 Family Guy 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Raising Hope 04:00 Gary Unmarried 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Brothers 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 Less Than Perfect 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Gary Unmarried 08:30 Brothers 09:00 The Simpsons 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:30 Last Man Standing 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 12:30 Gary Unmarried 13:00 Brothers 13:30 Less Than Perfect 14:00 Raising Hope 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 The Simpsons 18:30 Malibu Country 19:00 How I Met Your Mother 19:30 Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 20:00 The Cleveland Show 20:30 Wilfred 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 Girls 22:30 Unsupervised 23:00 Family Guy 23:30 The Cleveland Show

00:00 01:00 02:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Royal Pains Scandal Grimm Royal Pains Emmerdale Coronation Street Perception Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Perception Royal Pains Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Perception Alphas Revenge Once Upon A Time Banshee Boardwalk Empire

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Exorcismus Street Kings 2: Motor City Barricade Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle Go Fast Do No Harm Rage Of The Yeti Go Fast True Justice: Dark Vengeance Rage Of The Yeti Constantine Chain Letter

00:00 Submarine-PG15 01:45 Bridesmaids-18 04:00 Desperately Seeking SantaPG15 06:00 The Breakfast Club-PG15 08:00 Cheaper By The Dozen 2-PG 10:00 It Could Happen To You-PG 12:00 Desperately Seeking SantaPG15 14:00 Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son-PG15 16:00 It Could Happen To You-PG 18:00 Wayne’s World 2-PG15 20:00 Hard Breakers-18 22:00 Submarine-PG15

01:00 Talhotblond-18 03:00 Fear-18 05:00 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter-PG15 07:00 The LXD: Secrets Of The RaPG15 09:00 Oceans-FAM 10:45 Gandhi-PG 13:45 The Natural-PG 16:00 Oceans-FAM 17:45 Uncorked-PG15 19:15 Walk The Line-PG15 21:15 Ripley’s Game-PG15 23:15 Route Irish-PG15

01:00 PG15 03:00 05:00 07:15 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

HappythankyoumorepleaseMean Girls 2-PG15 Courageous-PG15 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2-PG A Better Life-PG15 33 Postcards-PG15 Dead Lines-PG15 Lord Of The Dance-PG A Better Life-PG15 Tower Heist-PG15 Contraband-18 The Devil Inside-18

01:00 Tommy & Oscar 02:45 Marco Macaco 04:30 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville 06:00 Adventures Of Sharkboy And Lavagirl 08:00 The Adventures Of Don Quixote 10:00 The Wild Thornberrys Movie 11:30 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville 13:00 Return To Halloweentown 14:30 Marco Macaco 16:00 The Nimbols: Part I 18:00 The Wild Thornberrys Movie 20:00 Arrietty 22:00 Return To Halloweentown 23:30 The Nimbols: Part I

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 07:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 07:30 Live NBC Nightly News (SatSun) 08:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 08:30 Live NBC Nightly News (SatSun) 09:00 ABC This Week With G Stephanopoulos 10:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 10:30 Live NBC Nightly News (SatSun) 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 23:00 MSNBC The Cycle

00:00 Evan Almighty-PG15 02:00 A Mother’s Choice-PG15 04:00 Kuffs-PG 06:00 The Birth Of Big Air-PG15 07:00 Tim Richmond: To The LimitPG15 08:00 Alpha And Omega-PG 10:00 For Richer Or Poorer-PG 12:00 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt.2-PG15 14:30 The 16th Man-PG15 15:45 Alpha And Omega-PG 17:30 The Avengers-PG15 20:00 Wuthering Heights-18 22:15 Pretty Bird-18

02:00 Trans World Sport 03:00 Super Rugby 05:00 Top 14 07:00 PGA Tour 12:30 PGA European Tour 17:00 Trans World Sport 18:00 PGA Tour Highlights 19:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 20:00 Super Rugby Highlights 21:00 ICC Cricket 360 21:30 Super League 23:00 Futbol Mundial 23:30 Premier League Darts

00:00 Dubai World Cup Carnival 04:00 Super Rugby 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Super League 10:00 Trans World Sport 11:00 Futbol Mundial 11:30 ICC Cricket 360 12:00 Premier League Darts 15:30 Dubai World Cup Carnival 19:00 Trans World Sport 20:00 ICC Cricket 360 20:30 Futbol Mundial 21:00 Super Rugby 23:00 PGA European Tour Highlights

01:00 02:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Super League Premier League Darts Total Rugby ICC Cricket 360 Golfing World Top 14 Highlights ICC Cricket 360 World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool PRO 12 Trans World Sport Golfing World World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool PRO 12 Top 14 Highlights ICC Cricket 360 Golfing World Total Rugby Futbol Mundial World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool

00:00 UFC Prelims 02:00 UFC 05:00 NHL 07:00 WWE Bottom Line 08:00 WWE Experience 09:00 Ping Pong World Championships 10:00 US Bass Fishing 11:00 NHL 13:00 UAE National Race Day Series 14:00 WWE NXT 15:00 WWE SmackDown 17:00 Ping Pong World Championships 18:00 US Bass Fishing 19:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 20:00 UFC Prelims 22:00 UFC

Classifieds MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-2 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-3 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) 12:30 PM FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) 2:15 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 4:15 PM VEHICLE 19 (DIG) 6:15 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 8:00 PM A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) 10:15 PM VEHICLE 19 (DIG) 12:15 AM NO SUN+ TUE+WED MUHALAB-1 PARKER (DIG) 12:45 PM PARKER (DIG) 3:00 PM PARKER (DIG) 2:00 PM MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) 4:15 PM PARKER (DIG) 5:15 PM 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 7:30 PM PARKER (DIG) 9:45 PM PARKER (DIG) 12:05 AM 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 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

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (28/02/2013 TO 06/03/2013)

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) 1:45 PM 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3:45 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 6:00 PM 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 8:00 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 10:15 PM A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) 12:15 AM NO SUN+ TUE+WED 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) 3:30 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 5:45 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 8:00 PM PARKER (DIG) 6:00 PM PARKER (DIG) 8:15 PM PARKER (DIG) 10:30 PM PARKER (DIG) 12:45 AM 360ยบ- 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

360ยบ- 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)

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

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

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:05 AM

BAIRAQ-1 BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 12:45 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 2:45 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 4:45 PM BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 6:45 PM 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 9:00 PM MAMA (DIG) 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) 3:30 PM FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) 5:45 PM MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) 6:30 PM NO THU 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 7:45 PM MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) 9:30 PM NO THU 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 10:00 PM LAILA SNITCH (DIG) PARKER (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) PARKER (DIG) AJIAL.1 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) JABARDASTH (DIG) (TELUGU) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG)

4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM

4:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

AJIAL.2 AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) 4:00 PM AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) 7:00 PM AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) 10:00 PM METRO-1 MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) 3:30 PM MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) 6:30 PM MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) 10:00 PM METRO-2 AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) 3:45 PM AADHIBHAGAVAN (DIG) (TAMIL) 6:45 PM JABARDASTH (DIG) (TELUGU) 9:45 PM

Contact: 66417504.

(C 4331) 4-3-2013

FOR SALE Mitsubishi Galant 2009, black color (4 clr) excellent condition, 33000 km, KD 2,250/-. Contact: 66729295.

(C 4334) Lancer - car for sale 2010 model, GLX, 1600 cc, beige color, 4 cylinder, engine, gear, chassis ver y good condition, interior & exterior neat and clean, 105,000 km run, price KD 2,200/-.

Broker excuse. Contact: 99072651. (C 4335) 4-3-2013

Required cook for local family, know both international and local dishes, transferable residence, males only, full time.

Contact: 94088822.

(C 4332) A lady maid is needed to work for 2 to 3 days a week in a flat located in Salmiya.

Working hours is between 12 pm to 6 pm and the salary is negotiable. Please call 66417504. (C 4330) 2-3-2013

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for a RC boy 32/180 cm, graduate, Pala Diocese, currently working in an Insurance Company in Kuwait. Invites proposals from girls working in Kuwait. Email: proposalskwt81@gmail.com (C 4333) 3-3-2013 SITUATION VACANT A lady maid is needed to work for 2 to 3 days a week in flat located in Salmiya.

Working hour is between 12 pm to 6 pm and the salar y is negotiable.

CHANGE OF NAME I, Mrs. Annie Cristine Kuriakose, holder of Indian Passport No. F5417121 changing the name to Mrs. Annie Cristine Pinto.

(C 4336) 4-3-2013 I Patricia GEORGINA NGOZI CHALOKWU, holder of Nigerian passport number A00889231, do hereby change name to PATRICIA GEORGINA NGOZI WILLIAMS. 3-3-2013

Prayer timings Fajr:

04:52

Shorook

06:11

Duhr:

12:00

Asr:

15:20

Maghrib:

17:49

Isha:

19:06

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JAI PIA THY JZR JZR QTR ETH QTR GFA UAE ETD AFG FDB MSR QTR JZR DHX THY JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD KAC GFA KAC JZR MSC IRC MPH MEA KNE MSR UAE KAC FDB KAC KNE SVA KAC QTR JZR KAC

Arrival Flights on Monday 4/3/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 205 LAHORE 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 6130 DOHA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 416 JEDDAH 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 855 DUBAI 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 352 COCHIN 213 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 165 DUBAI 403 ASSIUT 6521 LAMERD 97 AMSTERDAM 404 BEIRUT 482 TAIF 610 CAIRO 871 DUBAI 284 DHAKA 57 DUBAI 672 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 500 JEDDAH 546 ALEXANDRIA 140 DOHA 561 SOHAG 788 JEDDAH

Time 0:05 0:15 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:45 1:50 1:50 2:35 2:45 2:55 3:05 3:10 3:45 5:10 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:55 8:40 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:50 9:55 10:40 11:20 11:30 11:45 11:50 11:55 12:00 12:45 12:50 12:55 13:50 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:50 14:55

JZR QTR OMA JZR KAC UAE IAW ETD RJA GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC JZR KAC FDB MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB JAI AXB MSR ABY QTR MSC ALK MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JZR DHX FDB AIC TAR JZR GFA PIA JZR UAL BBC DLH

257 134 645 535 118 857 155 303 640 215 510 777 144 127 982 542 177 786 63 405 618 742 104 674 774 647 61 572 389 618 129 146 401 229 402 136 221 307 859 135 372 59 975 327 239 217 205 185 981 43 636

BEIRUT DOHA MUSCAT CAIRO NEW YORK DUBAI BAGHDAD ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO DUBAI JEDDAH DUBAI SOHAG DOHA DAMMAM LONDON DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI MANGALORE ALEXANDRIA SHARJAH DOHA ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI CHENNAI TUNIS AMMAN BAHRAIN LAHORE DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

15:05 15:30 15:40 16:25 16:35 16:40 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:30 18:45 19:15 19:20 19:30 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:50 22:00 22:00 22:30 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:25 23:45 23:55

Airlines AIC KAC JAI UAL DLH PIA ETH THY FDB UAE ETD AFG MSR QTR QTR QTR JZR GFA THY KAC JZR FDB BAW JZR JZR KAC KAC ABY UAE FDB ETD QTR GFA KAC KAC JZR KAC MSC IRC MEA KAC MPH KNE MSR JZR UAE FDB

Departure Flights on Monday 4/3/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 283 DHAKA 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 206 PESHAWAR 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 416 JEDDAH 613 CAIRO 6131 DOHA 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 560 SOHAG 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 787 JEDDAH 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 6522 LAMERD 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 97 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL 483 TAIF 611 CAIRO 176 DUBAI 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:10 1:05 1:10 1:20 1:35 2:45 2:55 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:00 4:10 4:20 4:50 6:05 6:55 7:00 7:35 7:45 8:15 8:25 8:45 9:05 9:15 9:25 9:35 9:45 9:55 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:40 11:30 11:50 12:15 12:20 12:30 12:35 12:55 13:00 13:20 13:40 13:45 13:50 14:15 14:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC KNE SVA KAC QTR KAC KAC OMA JZR ETD JZR IAW QTR UAE RJA GFA JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR JZR UAL FDB MSC FDB OMA KAC KAC JAI KAC ABY MSR MSC DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB UAE DHX KAC QTR JZR TAR GFA KAC

673 473 501 617 141 773 741 646 238 304 538 156 135 858 641 216 184 511 128 266 145 134 982 64 404 62 648 331 361 571 351 120 619 402 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 860 373 205 147 502 328 218 411

DUBAI JEDDAH JEDDAH DOHA DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM MUSCAT AMMAN ABU DHABI CAIRO BAGHDAD DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI ASSIUT DUBAI MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM COLOMBO MUMBAI KOCHI SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DOHA LUXOR DUBAI BAHRAIN BANGKOK

15:05 15:10 15:45 15:45 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:40 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:05 19:10 19:25 20:15 20:40 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:10 21:10 21:15 21:25 21:50 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:35 23:45 23:50 23:55

34

stars CROSSWORD 118

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) A goal or vision you have been working toward comes into fruition now, or gains momentum and positive recognition from others.

You feel expansive and inclined to take risks, and you may be overly extravagant now. Release from restrictive circumstances and pressures is the main issue at this time with regards to your love life. Obligations and responsibilities are not so demanding now, and you are able to enjoy a greater level of freedom in your daily life.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Friendship and cooperative endeavors flourish now. You achieve a harmonious balance of giving and receiving, of talking and listening, and any social or joint activity will benefit. Though you feel wonderful now, you’re likely to regret your actions later if you don’t curtail your impulses to overindulge, overspend, and enjoy too much of a good thing. You feel especially attractive or friendly, and the warmth you radiate is noticed and appreciated today. Love, relationships, beauty, and pleasure are emphasized now for you now. A new romance or friendship may come about today or an old or current one may take a turn for the better.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. A committee in the executive branch of government that advises the president on foreign and military and national security.

4. In a sparse manner.

12. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

15. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

16. A dicot family of the order Urticales including.

17. A human limb.

18. A Chadic language spoken in Chad.

20. A board game in which players try to move their pieces into their opponent's bases.

21. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

22. Of or relating to apnea.

23. The capital and largest city of Mongolia.

25. An addition that extends a main building.

26. The amount of money needed to purchase something.

28. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

30. A doctor's degree in education.

31. (law) The privilege of using something that is not your own (as using another's land as a right of way to your own land).

35. The sacred city of Lamaism.

37. At a previous time.

38. (Scottish) Bluish-black or gray-blue.

39. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

43. Type genus of the Anatidae.

44. A small cake leavened with yeast.

47. Understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something.

48. Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc..

50. A very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk.

52. The starting place for each hole on a golf course.

53. A state in the southeastern United States on the Gulf of Mexico.

57. Be compatible or in accordance with.

60. Spread or diffuse through.

62. Look at with amorous intentions.

63. The mast nearest the bow in vessels with two or more masts.

66. In an unnatural eery manner.

70. (Zoroastrianism) Title for benevolent deities.

71. (physics) A deformation of an object in which parallel planes remain parallel but are shifted in a direction parallel to themselves.

74. Type genus of the Majidae.

75. (computer science) A kind of computer architecture that has a relatively small set of computer instructions that it can perform.

77. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

78. British informal.

79. Any opinions or doctrines at variance with the official or orthodox position.

80. The middle of the day.

DOWN 1. A quantity of no importance.

2. A blow from a flat object (as an open hand).

3. Any plant of the genus Canna having large

sheathing leaves and clusters of large showy flowers.

4. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (trade name Clinoril).

5. Situated in a particular spot or position.

6. Before noon.

7. A demon who swallows the sun causing eclipses.

8. Escape or flee.

9. Submerged marine plant with very long narrow leaves found in abundance along North Atlantic coasts.

10. An adherent of Lamaism ( Tibetan Buddhism).

11. An affirmative.

12. Any wingless blood-sucking parasitic insect noted for ability to leap.

13. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

14. A city in northern India.

19. An event that is a beginning.

24. One of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participates in a group organization).

27. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

29. Of or relating to the palm of the hand or to the area at the base of the thumb.

32. A liquid solution that results from elution.

33. Egyptian statesman who nationalized the Suez Canal (1918-1870).

34. A native American tent.

36. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

40. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

41. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

42. 1/1000 gram.

45. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun.

46. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

49. The 3rd letter of the Greek alphabet.

51. With eagerness.

54. United States writer of caustic wit (18421914).

55. A master's degree in business.

56. A native or inhabitant of Australia.

58. A chronic skin disease occurring primarily in women between the ages of 20 and 40.

59. United States jazz musician and bandleader (1913-1987).

61. A colorless volatile highly inflammable liquid used as an inhalation anesthetic.

64. A midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region.

65. Slice of sweet raised bread baked again until it is brown and hard and crisp.

67. The villain in William Shakespeare's tragedy who tricked Othello into murdering his wife.

68. The dynasty that ruled much of Manchuria and northeastern China from 947 to 1125.

69. An account describing incidents or events.

72. The compass point midway between northeast and east.

73. An associate degree in applied science.

76. A gonadotropic hormone that is secreted by the anterior pituitary.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Illusions and delusions can wear the mask of true inspiration, so thread your way among them to the truth and don’t fall for the first fantasy that comes to mind. Possibilities may evaporate as quickly as they appear, and that is for the best — better to let them go than seize on what will not support you. A chance encounter today possibly leading to an intense emotional or sexual attraction when you are least it could happen. Try to keep your head and your heart together as this could be overwhelming, the love at first site thundering of your heart moment.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Getting maximum reward for minimum risk or effort is your style now, and it should pay off very well. You don’t work harder, you work smarter and you get a boost from what may seem like a lot of good luck, which can put you in the right place at the right time. Just be sure to share your gratitude if you hit the big one today. Personal acceptance is a step beyond the norm for you, but at this time it can really gives you a boost of self confidence to go after someone you really want in your life. If a commitment backs off, let them go as it’s not someone you can keep tied down if they choose to flee. Better luck next time.

Leo (July 23-August 22) The essence of success is to sell what you are promoting as progressive but not radical, needed change not revolution. By proceeding stepwise, you can preserve the connection of the new (the future) with the old (the past) and allow one to gracefully transform into the other. You will find surprisingly little resistance using this approach, and expected roadblocks will likely fade away. Your relationships have a very competitive, aggressive quality at this time, and conflicts over power and dominance may erupt. You won’t compromise yourself to please anyone. You may begin a relationship now, boldly taking the initiative to pursue someone you want to be with. You will come on strong to this person, but he or she might just love it!

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You have excellent opportunities to develop your mental faculties, and therefore enhance your communication skills. This will be twofold. One, you’ll be able to better adapt and secure professional positions which come your way. On the other hand, your personal relationships will be able to flourish under the auspices of clearer expression of your feelings. Your life takes on a mystical quality at the emotional and instinctive levels now. Dreams and illusions, forgiveness, and understanding of human frailties, these are the things that arouse deep feelings. The past and the future intermingle, and the barriers between people dissolve, this is the energy to the sensitivity you feel now.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) A yearning for new ideas and ideals is emphasized for you at this time.

Others may see the world as it is and ask why, but you can imagine the world as it could be. If you feel the energy to go for it maybe you can change some of the why’s into YES I can change this. New friends and an involvement in a new social group may take on greater importance for you now. Socializing and having a good time with others is the energy you may feel now. You may meet people of that will have importance or influence in your domestic life. So if you get invited to socialize, party or just spend some quiet time with someone then you might make the effort to find the time and say yes.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Your job and career advance very nicely now. This is a positive time when you feel excited by the developments in your career. You are able to pour more of your creativity and your originality into what you do.

Be subtle today, letting others know in a low key way how you feel about things will get you farther than if you try to force an issue. Ideas slipped into the conversation may have more impact than trying to force your point of view. Subtle exchanges will snowball into a general consensus if you follow your intuition.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Differences with a friend or colleague shouldn’t escalate to unmanageable proportions. Someone may well be getting to you right now, but it’s best to remember that friendships should be transparent and that we should accept other people’s faults as part of those friendships. Let it slide and don’t hang onto grudges. What occurs now makes you more aware of what you need, feel and want in your relationships. If you are unhappy in your personal life, this is brought out now, and you’ll need to face what is causing your dissatisfaction. You also feel more passionate and loving, and if your personal life is going well, this is a time to really enjoy and appreciate it.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A good day to get rid of whatever is unnecessary and outworn in your life, from clutter and disorder in your environment, to a long held attitude or belief which keeps you from going after what you really want in life. It’s time for a change, and that takes a bit of courage, but is well worth the challenge.

Subtle feelings and relying on your intuition allow for an increasing buildup of emotional communication, as plans feel like they are coming ever closer to goals and dreams. Taking things slow and easy is the best way to keep a handle as try to pace yourself. The emotions you are looking for will come in their own time.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Suppressed feelings can be transformed into compulsive actions all around, so it may be a good time to question motives, both your own and others’. If you just have to do or say it, perhaps you shouldn’t. Force plays are favored, just make sure you’re not on the wrong end of one. Think deep before you push hard. You are likely to distance yourself from others now, feeling the need to withdraw and reflect. Your thoughts are inclined to be heavy and pessimistic at this time, so it would be good to realize that you are only seeing part of the picture. This can also be a time of leaving, separating from relationships and choosing a new way.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) For the person who has everything, it could be a hard job trying to work out what to buy. Take into account the special needs of someone older than yourself when considering a residential move. You need to thoroughly concentrate on an intricate problem if you want good and immediate results. Uncertainty and shifting attitudes can mark the day’s outcomes in you relationships, and your confidence may retreat in the face of a challenge. Confrontation is the wrong game to play, but pulling out entirely is equally unsuitable. Make some thoughtful compromises now and the resulting situation will improve, but don’t run after a losing proposition.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 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

Sabhan

24742838

24575518 24566622

Al-Helaly

22434853

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Al-Faiha

22545051

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

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

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Hawally

ST TAT TE OF KUW K WA AIT

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AV VIA ATION T PARTMENT A METEOROLOGICAL DEP DA AY Y: Sunday

Ext.: 262 2627 - 2630

Fax: 24348714 WWW.MET.GOV V.KW .

03/03/2013

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

07:00

Issue Time

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours BY Y DA AY:

Visibility isibil i will improve gradually with light to moderate north easterly becoming south easterly wind, with speed of 10 - 32 km/h

BY Y NIGHT:

Fair with light to moderate south easterly to easterly wind, with speed of 08 - 26 km/h with a chance for fog forming at night No Current Waarnings arnin

WARNING A

18 °C

NUW WAISEEB A

27 °C

19 °C

WAFRA A

29 °C

18 °C

SALMI

29 °C

14 °C

25746401

ABDAL LY

28 °C

13 °C

25316254

JAL ALIY YA AH

27 °C

15 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

23 °C

18 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

21 °C

19 °C

Mishref

25381200

QARUH ISLAND

20 °C

19 °C

W Hawally

22630786

UMM AL-MARADEM

20 °C

19 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

ST TATION T

SFC. CHART

03/03/2013 0000 UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA ATHER T

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

18 °C

SE-S

15 - 40 km/h

19 °C

SE-NW

08 - 30 km/h

27 °C

18 °C

N-NE

15 - 40 km/h

26 °C

16 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

MAX.

MIN.

New Jahra

24575755

Monday

04/03

sunny + raising dust

29 °C

West Jahra

24772608

Tuesday

05/03

clouds to increase

30 °C

South Jahra

24775066

Wednesday e

06/03

partly cloudy + scattered rain

Thursday

07/03

sunny + blowing dust

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

PRA RA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT

Fajr

04:52

MAX. Temp.

29 °C

Ardhiya

24884079

Sunrise

06:11

MIN. Temp.

19 °C

Firdous

24892674

Zuhr

12:00

MAX. RH

75 %

Asr

15:20

MIN. RH

Sunset

17:48

MAX. Wind

Isha

19:05

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

20 % SE 57 km/h 00 mm

03/03/13 02:08 UTC

V1.00

T1.06

23900322

PRIVATE CLINICS 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

Dr. Salem soso 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

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

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

22545171

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

27 °C

Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Al-Nuzha

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

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

24810598

Jahra

19 °C

Fintas

Al-Shuwaikh

23915883 23715414 23726558

26 °C

24710044

22545171

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

KUW WAIT A CITY

N Khaitan

Al-Shuhada Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

MIN. REC.

24719048

22418714

Ahmadi

MAX. EXP P.

Omariya

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

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

LIFESTYLE M o v i e s

&

M u s i c

Review

Sub drama ‘Phantom’ remains submerged

S

Singer Norah Jones performs during her concert at A Summer’s Day festival in Mumbai yesterday. Jones, who is the daughter of legendary Indian sitar player, the late Ravi Shankar, performed for the first time in the country. —AFP

Cinderella’s slipper: The ultimate must-have shoe

ubmarine thrillers such as “Run Silent, Run Deep,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Crimson Tide” and the classic “Das Boot” have long been a cinematic staple. “Phantom,” the latest entry in this venerable genre, doesn’t exactly rise to the level of its predecessors. Inspired by the true story of the mysterious 1968 sinking of a Russian sub, it’s even more claustrophobic than its setting would suggest. The tense Cold War-era storyline concerns a final voyage undertaken by veteran Soviet captain Demi (Ed Harris), still physically and emotionally scarred by a previous mission that went awry. Although he’s previously commanded nuclear subs, he’s now put in charge of a dilapidated vessel that’s about to be sold to the Chinese navy.

In addition to Demi’s regular crew, who include his loyal right-hand man Alex (William Fichtner), several “technicians,” led by the mysterious Bruni (David Duchovny), are also aboard. It soon turns out that they’re actually KGB agents with orders to take over the sub and - under the cover of a new stealth device called “The Phantom” - fire on a US ship and make it look like it came from the Chinese, thereby starting World War III between Russia’s biggest rivals. The resulting conflict between the vulnerable Demi - he suffers from epilepsy as a result of an injury sustained on his military mishap - and the ruthless Bruni forms the heart of the drama, which

offers as much confusing, technical jargon-laden talk as action. The verbiage is fast and furious, only occasionally interrupted by such violent interludes as when Bruni shoots several members of the crew to make a point.

Although the story is told entirely from a Russian perspective, writer/director Todd Robinson disconcertingly employs an all-American cast speaking without accents. The results make it rather hard to suspend disbelief - after all, in “Hunt for Red October,” even Sean Connery used an accent to play his Russian character, even if it was the wrong one. Clearly shot on a low budget, “Phantom” has the look and feel of a gussied-up television movie, reinforced by the presence of a supporting cast that includes such familiar small-screen faces as Sean Patrick Flanery, Lance Henriksen, Johnathon Schaech and Jason Beghe.

And while Harris has the world-weary gravitas to make his characterization credible, Duchovny seems utterly miscast as the villainous KKB spy. Despite the world-changing ramifications inherent to the plot, the results are more tedious than thrilling. And the film makes a serious misstep with its mystical coda that seems more appropriate to an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” only minus the portentous narration by Rod Serling. “Phantom,” an RCR Distribution release, is rated R for violence. 97 minutes. —AP

T

here would be no “happily ever after” for Cinderella without her glitzy glass slippers, so careful attention was paid to the shoes for the princess-to-be’s Broadway opening this weekend. For “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” which officially opens Sunday at the Broadway Theatre, costume designer William Ivey Long and footwear designer Stuart Weitzman created a pair of pumps so sparkly they “light up the upper balcony,” Weitzman says.

“The shoe is its own character in the show, and it will inspire the dream for so many other women.” Shoe shopaholics and Carrie Bradshaw types surely have been inspired by the Cinderella fashion fantasy, muses Weitzman, a 26-year industry veteran. How could they not?

After all, he says, Cinderella gets the shoes-flattering, delicate and powerful all at once-and then gets her Prince Charming. When people describe the stunning bride or the prettiest redcarpet starlet, the comparison rarely-if ever-is made to Sleeping Beauty or Snow White.

It’s always Cinderella, belle of the ball.

“Cinderella is the gold standard for aspiration,” Long said. “The slippers are so iconic, and they are recognized worldwide.” He says their only rival might be Dorothy’s red ruby slippers in “The Wizard of Oz.” Because the shoes are so famous, the designers had to work with a certain set of expectations: The shoes had to be romantic and sexy, have a sparkly fairy-dust touch-and they had to be seen by everyone in the theater.

Actress Laura Osnes of Eagan, Minn, who plays Cinderella, couldn’t risk shards and splinters from real glass, so the designers used Plexiglas instead. Weitzman employed a welded-construction technique that uses no screws, normally used in high heels, so Cinderella could have a seamless look. “This is the most magical world I’ve been asked to conjure up,” says Long, whose 60-plus show credits include costumes for “Chicago,” “Hairspray” and “The Boy From Oz.” Instead of going all Disney or using the famous

This film image released by RCR Media Group shows a scene from “Phantom.” —AP

Review

French illustrations that came a century before (Cinderella-style folk tales are hundreds of years older than that) as inspiration, Long decided to weave nature-with an emphasis on butterflies and vines-into his visual picture instead of a particular time or place.

The idea that Cinderella had to be the most beautiful woman in the room, with the most gorgeous dress and coveted shoes, is what guided him and Weitzman, Long says. They had to walk a fine line to avoid anything too gimmicky, even working on the giant Broadway stage, so they decided against threading lights through the heel of the shoe or other special effects.

Weitzman knows how to create shoes that light up a room. For years, he made “million-dollar Oscar shoes,” diamond-covered footwear that a celebrity would wear to the Academy Awards.

He gave that up at the height of the recession, but says he can do pretty much the same dazzling look with crystals.

The designer says he could imagine his typical customer wearing a version of the Cinderella slipper at a summer party, a night at the opera or a night on the town. He adds: “It would be one sexy shoe with cool jeans.” Yes, his Clearly Timeless collection based on the fairy-tale footwear is being shipped to stores. —AP

‘Lincoln’ film spurs interest in his foot doctor The Black Keys lead Beale Street music fest lineup

T H

e may just be a footnote to history, but Dr Isachar Zacharie is having a posthumous mini-moment, thanks to the Hollywood-sparked surge of interest in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Zacharie was buried in London’s famed Highgate Cemetery in 1900, but he is only being added to the cemetery guide Friday, joining such notables as communist philosopher Karl Marx, novelist George Eliot and punk pioneer Malcolm McLaren as a likely draw for visitors to the north London landmark. Zacharie’s claim to fame? He was Lincoln’s foot doctor. And a good one at that, if the president’s signed endorsement can be taken at face value.

“Dr Zacharie has operated on my feet with great success, and considerable addition to my comfort,” the 16th president of the United States wrote in 1862, when the United States was gripped by civil war. Zacharie’s connection to Lincoln has long been known to historians, but Ian Dungavell, the cemetery’s chief executive, said the cemetery’s management only

‘Last Exorcism’

This theater image released by Sam Rudy Media Relations shows Laura Osnes as Cinderella, slipping on glass slippers designed by Stuart Weitzman, during a performance of “Rodgers Hammerstein’s Cinderella on Broadway.” —AP

learned of it recently. He said details about Zacharie’s grave have been added to the new guide coming out Friday because of the current high interest in Lincoln, subject of a critically acclaimed film directed by Steven Spielberg.

“He’s a very interesting character,” Dungavell said of the doctor. “He was British, went to the US as a young man, and came back after the Civil War. There was some sort of a dispute about payment.” Historical accounts suggest that Zacharie fell out of favor with American politicians when he presented a bill for having treated thousands of Union soldiers during the Civil War. Some accounts suggest he was used

by Lincoln for an unsuccessful peace mission to Richmond, Virginia - the Confederate capital in 1863. “We’ve got all sorts of famous people here,” Dungavell said. “He was eminent among chiropodists.” Zacharie is not the only Briton whose profile has been raised by the success of the “Lincoln” film - English actor Daniel DayLewis this week won an Oscar for his portrayal of the president. —AP

he Black Keys, Sheryl Crow and Public Enemy are among the musical acts scheduled to perform at the Beale Street Music Festival in May. The eclectic list of performers was announced Tuesday on the website for Memphis in May, the month-long tourism event that includes the three-day music festival. Other scheduled performers include Jerry Lee Lewis, Alice in Chains, Bassnectar, The Smashing Pumpkins, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Flaming Lips, Dwight Yoakam, The Roots, The Black Crowes, Patti Smith and ZZ Top. The music festival takes place at Tom Lee Park, which sits alongside the Mississippi River. It runs from May 3 through May 5. Memphis in May also features the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the Sunset Symphony. —AP

lacks genuine scares

T

his sequel to the breakout horrorfilm hit finds its young heroine once again undergoing the titular ritual.

Instantly rendering the title of its first installment moot, “The Last Exorcism Part II” proves yet again that you can’t keep a good demon down. Yes, Abalam is back to torture Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell), the innocent, deeply religious young woman who went through both spiritual and physical contortions in the 2010 breakout hit. After a brief recap featuring scenes from the original film, Nell - who somehow survived its fiery climax - is seen terrorizing a young couple in their home, after which she is promptly whisked off to a New Orleans halfway house for troubled girls. There, she’s introduced to such joys as hard-rock music on an iPod, the exotic spectacle of Mardi Gras and a burgeoning attraction to a nice young man who returns her interest.

But it isn’t long before creepy things begin happening, including ominous visits from her father’s ghost, warning her that she’s in danger; her newfound friends suddenly being possessed by a vengeful spirit; and an unsettling encounter with a stranger in a church that’s followed by an attack by suicidal birds. (That last scene, incidentally, represents the second such episode in a horror film in a week, following quickly on the heels of “Dark Skies.”)

Forgoing the faux found-footage technique that the original employed, this sequel takes a more classical narrative approach. Unfortunately, while directorco-writer Ed Gass-Donnelly displays an admirable restraint in his general eschewing of gratuitous gore, quick editing and flashy visuals, the results have a generally

soporific feel. Although there are several moments that are undeniably creepy, such as Nell’s encounter with a motionless mime or her experiencing an episode of airborne solo sexual ecstasy, the general tedium is only alleviated by the obligatory shock scares for which the sound mixer has dutifully cranked up the volume to 11.

It all culminates in - what else? - another exorcism, this time of the voodoo variety. But the scene barely registers, and the explosive finale featuring unimpressive CGI fire effects is a further letdown.

Reprising her role, Bell again is the film’s chief asset, delivering a memorable, unsettling performance that easily can be compared to Sissy Spacek’s Carrie. Vividly conveying her character’s complex emotions with a minimum of histrionics, she actually comes across as a real person, unlike so many glam horror film heroines who look like they’ve just stepped out of a photo shoot. Although the actress doesn’t perform nearly as many of the memorable physical contortions as she did in the first film, she remains a vital presence throughout and clearly is headed for bigger and better things.

Of course, before that she might be headed to a third installment of this series, the seeds of which are planted in an open-ended climax demonstrating that this edition should have probably been titled “The Penultimate Exorcism.”.”The Last Exorcism Part II,” a CBS Films release, is rated PG-13 for 88 minutes. Motion Picture Association of America rating definition for horror, violence, terror and brief language. PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. —AP

37

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

Harrods Gold Bullion offers fine gold bars celebrating the Year of the Snake

H

arrods continues to astonish and intrigue customers from around the world with firstclass service, retail theatre and product quality, not to mention an unmatched international brand selection. From its humble beginnings as a grocer and tea merchant in 1834, to the Terracotta Palace filled with luxury merchandise, Harrods continues to go from strength to strength, guided by its philosophy ‘anything is possible’.

Recently Harrods celebrated the Chinese New Year in style with a host of spectacular displays and special events. The first time the luxury retailer has hosted Chinese-themed displays.

The Chinese customers felt at home from the moment they arrived at the Knightsbridge store, where its iconic Brompton Road windows house vibrant displays paying tribute to China’s symbolic Year of the Snake.

Since February 1st, traditional Chinese lucky red envelopes were given to customers within Harrods’ famous White Hall, with each one containing a complimentary offer including beauty products, treatments, make-up consultations and more, provided by brands including Estee Lauder and Créme de la Mer. A range of luxury products have been available, with Harrods’ Watch & Fine Jewellery department offering Chinese-inspired pieces from luxury designers including Vacheron Constantin and Richard Mille. Leading accessory brand MCM has created stylish, exclusive backpacks to mark the occasion - available from Designer Accessories. Additionally, the Luxury Jewellery Room have hosted a series of themed afternoon tea parties, putting a British twist on the ancient Chinese tea drinking tradition to delight and entice customers. Each party was hosted by the designers of the brands carried within the room creating ‘Meet the Designer’ experiences for clients.

Furthermore, Harrods Gold Bullion is offering fine gold bars celebrating the Year of the Snake. With their exqui-

site design, these collectible Swissmade ingots work both as a unique gift or stable investment.

A Harrods spokesperson said: “Chinese shoppers represent the most significant, and rapidly growing, proportion of our international customer base. We attribute this performance to our continued drive to provide these visitors with a tailored shopping expe-

rience unrivalled by any other store.

Chinese New Year affords us an exciting opportunity to give something back to these customers by paying tribute to their country’s rich tradition.”

Harrods provides a number of services to cater for the needs of its Chinese customers. This includes UnionPay acceptance with over 75 point-of-sale terminals, Mandarin speaking staff, a Mandarin-translated phone app, and an official Sina Weibo account.

At Harrod’s From haute couture to pet accessories, the finest luxury merchandise

is showcased in the lavish setting of the Knightsbridge store, stretching across seven floors and 330 departments. There are over 27 eateries to satisfy every taste, and a selection of premier services from By Appointment Personal Shopping to Harrods Bank and Gold Bullion. The Brompton Road store truly has it all.

The last year has seen considerable

investment both in-store and in the digital arena as Harrods continues to offer world-class shopping experience.

The Ground Floor has seen notable additions including the new Beauty Apothecary, featuring boutiques with the best wellbeing products, niche fragrances, specialized bath and body products, and hi-tech skincare. The Color Room, an exciting color emporium with a fresh and fast-paced environment, houses the most sought after color collections and make-up trends.

The new women’s Shoe Salon on the First Floor has collections from the

most desirable designers and bespoke styles from the world’s leading luxury brands including Giuseppe Zanotti, Christian Louboutin and Charlotte Olympia. Ensuring that our male customers are equally enthralled, Harrods created the largest men’s Shoe department in Europe. Located on the Lower Ground Floor The Men’s Show Salon houses over 70 brands of shoes

from Jimmy Choo to Tom Ford and Kurt Geiger as well as bespoke services.

A vast, entirely new Fine Watch Room has been unveiled featuring 12 walk-in boutiques for some of the world’s most prestigious brands. Over 35 brands are represented and the UK’s first dedicated salesrooms for Vacheron Constantin, IWC, Schaffhausen and Richard Mille can be found in this luxurious space.

Harrods has continued to build its reputation for launching exclusives from the best brands across the globe.

World-famous designer Tom Ford chose Harrods to launch his first

Ready-to-Wear women’s collection for Autumn/Winter 2011.

In September, in the first promotion of its kind, Chanel took over Harrods adorning the Brompton Road windows, hosting fashion and beauty pop-up boutiques in-store and creating a stunning installation entitled ‘Une Promenade’, all paying homage to the iconic French brand. The store

also saw a number of restaurant launches including the Pizzeria, Ice Cream Parlour, Juice Bar and The Tea Room.

In addition, for 10 days in October, Harrods hosted a pop-up of The French Laundry in the store’s Georgian restaurant offering customers the chance to enjoy Thomas Keller’s Napa Valley experience. Harrods continues to build on its impressive digital offering. A/W Fashion Week saw the launch of harrods.com’s first monthly magazine, offering fashion fanatics the latest content from fashion week including catwalk reviews, backstage gossip and exclusive video diaries.

With over 100,000 followers on Facebook and over 50,000 on Twitter, Social Media has become a core element of Harrods’ marketing strategy.

Harrods continues to successfully engage customers with competitions, exclusive news, events and store updates. Harrods also became the first luxury store to launch an iPhone App. Cirque Harrods’ world-famous Winter Sale, in association with Macmillan Cancer Support opened with a bang with a special performance by Cirque du Soleil. This is the first time in Harrods’ history that a performance act declared the Sale officially open, and marked the 25th anniversary of the official Harrods Sale openings.

This special performance came in advance of Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA January tour. The gymnastic, dance and musical extravaganza entertained queues of eager shoppers before the doors opened to the world’s best luxury bargains. An array of discounted gems from luxury brands and designers were waiting to be uncovered, including a Chloé Silk Blouse reduced from £459 to £225, a Diane von Furstenberg clutch reduced from £315 to £219 and a Balmain Pearl Trim Jacket reduced from £3,999 to £1,975.

Also invited to watch the performance will be a number of families who have benefitted from Macmillan’s unique care in supporting children and adults suffering from all forms of cancer.

Macmillan Cancer Support is Harrods’ corporate charity for 2012 to 2014.

Katharine Witty, Group Director of Corporate Affairs, comments: “We are very excited that Cirque du Soleil is opening the Harrods Sale. There is only one Harrods, and only one Cirque du Soleil, so it is a fitting collaboration and one that we are sure will entertain the crowds on Boxing Day.” Previous Harrods Sale acts have included Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Pierce Brosnan, Cher, Victoria Beckham, Eva Longoria and Florence Welch.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

lifestyle F a s h i o n

I

t’s going to be a black and white Christmas this winter, judging by the lack of color on the Paris catwalk Saturday. Fall-winter 2013-14 shows saw several houses chose a more muted color palette among them Viktor & Rolf, Comme des Garcons, Jean Paul Gaultier as well as Madrid-based Loewe. Belgian designer Veronique Leroy, who

also used black, added to the one of the other stories of the season: large rounded shoulders - in what was an inventive, off-kilter show which will add to her reputation as a skillful surrealist.

Predictably, the British master of unorthodoxy Vivienne Westwood bucked the trend with panache, in a display of tailored pointed shoul-

ders. One of the highlights of Paris’s fifth day of collections, Westwood’s show was an inventive tour de force, inspired by the rich fabrics and draped silks brought to Europe by the medieval crusaders.

Models wear creations by designer Vivienne Westwood for her Fall/Winter 2013-2014 ready to wear collection.

— AP photos

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD Medieval references were interpreted with signature zest in Saturday’s show, in flowing feminine silk silhouettes.

Sublime silk-wool jacquards with medieval images of birds, flowers and strawberries mixed with capes and puffed Juliette sleeves. “I have a book of reproduced medieval illuminated manuscripts,” explained Westwood backstage, provoking smiles from some journalists. Patterns such as rings, polka dots, interrupted lines and squares were aimed to evoke the decorative patterns on the handmade manuscript borders. But perennial eccentric Westwood, who

turns 72 next month, loves mixing up her eras. Here the anachronism saw some great contrasting modern, even futurist, suits with tiny waists and provocative peaked shoulders. Some of the shows best looks combined both time periods: like one voluminous white knee length skirt with medieval motifs in ultramarine blue and rose pink.

Without sacrificing any of her usual flamboyance, Westwood has achieved the feat of producing a supremely wearable collection.

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER Clothes as body armor was the concept behind Jean Paul Gaultier’s rather dizzying Paris show. A play on voluminous layers of leather, fur, silks, chiffon and even knits - both hanging and enveloping the body- constructed a protective silhouette over models. It all made for a varied collection with some great looks, but one that was frustratingly hard to pin down. Graphic ‘80s elements, such as Polaroid-type prints, followed a long sheer chiffon dress in eggplant with ‘70s

pleats. Long stripy scarves accompanied a tartan dress. And studded leather bustier tops with ‘50s peplums could easily have come from another collection altogether. Gaultier explained backstage: “It was also the idea of patchwork.” Indeed, patchwork - the mixing up of contrasting styles or fabric - did show there was a method in the madness. When interpreted literally, it made for one of the show’s high points: a sumptuous patchwork fur coat in panels, with a stylish cinched waist-strap. But the collection remained elusive.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

lifestyle F a s h i o n

VERONIQUE LEROY Veronique Leroy’s fall-winter show was inspired by a disturbing Claude Chabrol movie called “The Ceremony.” It produced a strong, subversive collection with broad and surrealistic downslope shoulders; with oversized pockets and exaggerated cuffs adding to the off-kilter feel. Fabrics expressed what the program notes call “schizophrenia” style with plays on matt wool versus shiny satin; and two-colored graphic toes and heels. Great colors included copper kaki, gold, burgundy and pop geranium - with stand-out streaks of optical white, and as well as navy and lots of black. But the show was really about the coats. Boxy blousons, graphic Ottomans, and uber-cool robe styles all make this Belgian designer one to watch. — AP

VIKTOR & ROLF Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are taking no risks this season. Following the trend to de-clutter the catwalk, the Dutch duo replaced their normally inventive art-infused style in Saturday’s Paris with simpler silhouettes and a muted palette of black and white. Horsting described the collection backstage as “slightly rebellious.” “Slightly” was the key word here. There were some subtle nods to rebellion, like dropped waist lines and short flared minis (a clever play on peplums.) But at times it felt like

the boundary-pushing quirkiness that made them famous in the ‘90s was in hibernation this winter.

Perhaps they are tapping into their commercial potential? Elsewhere, beautiful three-dimensional effects in fabric were sometimes hard to make out because of the flat black and white. As ever, though, there were some great abstractions, like their signature bows blown up in leather smothering the torso.

K

enzo travelled to India for yesterday’s delightful fall-winter 2013-14 homage to Asian temples. Taking the flatness of Far Eastern silhouettes, grosgrain ribbon from housefounder Kenzo Takada’s former haberdashery was used to reimagine the temples’ lavish decorations in golds, rich reds, cobalt blues and black. “We loved the Hindu temples, and we took the crown moldings and symbols and rebuilt them,” said designer Humberto Leon, one half of the design duo. Rounded shoulders and funky boxy (or oval) shapes ensured that Leon and his creative partner Carol Lim lived up to their cool-kid reputation - while temple guard sleeves and wrap fastenings added a ferocity that the program notes say evoke “ancient Asian warriors.”

But, above all, the opulent fabrics - like gold silk jacquard and rich printed lame - made this surely the most elegant collection seen since they joined the design helm in July 2011. The show was also about the texture. Tectonic serpent skin style, which Leon said evoked the temples’ bricks and serpent motif, looked great on boxy jackets or flat tulip skirts. Texture was also evoked in busy patterns with myriad eyes, a common Indian symbol. But the eyes also reminded us of their real spiritual home: the US “It’s from Stanley Kubrick,” Lim said. “He’s always obsessed with the eyes and the gaze back, for us the eye is a big symbol.” It was eastmeets-west at its best. — AP

Models present creations of Kenzo during the Fall/Winter 2013-2014 ready-to-wear collection show, yesterday in Paris. — AFP photos

Westwood, Gaultier, Viktor & Rolf play on style

38

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

The dancing fountains, Al-Kout Mall Ahmadi-Kuwait at night. — Photo by Sherif Ismail

A class act: Manoj 25 years on

By Sajeev K Peter

M

anoj K Jayan, one of the versatile Malayalam actors, has come a long way. Over the last 25 years of his film career, he has tackled his fair share of high-profile and challenging roles. As Manoj would say, the life as an actor in the world of glitz and glamour has not been easy-going.

“Many of the characters you can easily relate to. But, most of the characters I played were not the kind of people you bump into every day or shake hands with in social circles. This was the challenge I faced as an actor,” said Manoj in an interview with Kuwait Times.

Manoj joined Southern Film Institute, Trivandrum to learn acting. His training under Prof Adam Ayub altered his perception of cinema and polished his acting prowess. His first television serial ‘Kumilakal’ was a big hit in which he played double roles. The phenomenal success of the serial virtually catapulted Manoj into filmdom.

However, his maiden movie ‘Mamalakalkappurathu,’ produced by his classmates from the film institute, was never released. “The real break came with ‘Perunthachan’. It was a stepping stone for me and I never looked back ever since,” says Manoj referring to the Malayalam movie scripted by M T Vasudevan Nair. Manoj acted in a series of mega hits after the big success of ‘Perunthachan’. Impressed by his performance in ‘Perunthachan,’ renowned south Indian director Hariharan cast him in ‘Sargam.’ Similarly, celebrated filmmaker Maniratnam picked Manoj for a key role in his multi-starrer

‘Thalapathi’. “If I had not done the role in ‘Perunthachan’, I would not have played the character ‘Kuttan Thampuran’ in Sargam (1992) or many other successful movies,” Manoj recalls. The acting in ‘Sargam’ as ‘Kuttan Thampuran’ brought him many accolades including second best actor in the state film awards. Manoj also secured two more Kerala State Second Best Actor awards, respectively for his characters ‘Thalakkal Chandu’ in ‘Pazhassi Raja’ (2009) and ‘Kunjiraman’ in Farook Abdul Rahiman’s ‘Kaliyachan’.

The full potential of Manoj as a multifaceted actor comes to play in ‘Ananthbhadram’ as ‘Digambaran,’ a mythical character that continued to intrigue the sensibilities of film connoisseurs. ‘Digambaran’ is the central character of the movie and according to many critics, without him ‘Ananthabhadram’ would have been empty.

Manoj has acted in more than 150 films in four languages.

He has played a diverse array of characters, most of them successful and some of them blockbusters. Most of the characters he has played over the years have been prone with challenges. He has given life to scores of evergreen characters on celluloid. His most notable films include ‘Chamyam’, ‘Sallapam’, ‘Sopanam,’ ‘Mallu Singh’, ‘Seniors’, ‘David Billa’,’ Raja Manikkam,’’ Madhya Venal’, ‘Kukkiliar’, Lok Pal’,’Orma Mathram’ and ‘Cleopatra,’ to mention a few.

“My great challenge was that some of those characters were either mythical or historical who cannot be found around you. It was impossible to find a ‘Kuttan Thampuran’ or ‘Digambaran’ today. Similarly, a character like ‘Thalackal

Manoj K Jayan talks during the interview.

—Photo by Sajeev K Peter Chandu’ in movie ‘Pazhashi Raja’ can be found only in history books. These are the characters who really put an actor to test.

There is no alternative, but to perform,” Manoj explains.

‘Kaliyachan’ depicts the character of a Kathakali artist and narrates the story of the great Malayalam poet P Kunjiraman Nair. “It has been quite heartening to win an award for ‘Kaliyachan’. Despite being a small film, it competed with a

Prithviraj movie and came second in the list,” Manoj says. He said he has no qualms for not being chosen for the best actor award yet by the government.

His recent movie ‘Ardhanari’ depicts the story of transgender community in India. In the film, Manoj plays the protagonist Manjulan who has to live with the mind of a woman. A distinct character, Manjulan offered Manoj fresh challenges and avenues to prove his brilliance.

Manoj’s new movies in the pipeline include ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’, ‘Son of Alexander’ and ‘Six B Paradise’. Work will begin on another movie ‘Iyer in Paris’ soon.

“More than the improvement of standard in contemporary Malayalam movies, what is interesting me today is the renewed interest of people to go to theatre. I think, we are bringing the theatre culture back to Kerala. Today, people support all kinds of movies, a trend that is quite positive,” Manoj mentions. Son of a legendary musician Jayan, Manoj is also a good singer who has sung for a few movies. He rates his association with genius-directors like Hariharan, Bharathan, Manirathnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Sibi Malayil and I V Sasi as his great fortune.

Manoj K Jayan arrived in Kuwait to attend the mega cultural event ‘Souhrudam’ organized by Asianet TV.

Hawaii Sign Language found to be distinct language

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People throw paint powder in the air during the holi one color Festival held in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Saturday, March 2, 2013. Thousands of people are taking part in the festival by throwing colored paint powder at each other to express freedom and the color of everyday life. — AP

inguists say they have determined that a unique sign language, possibly dating back to the 1800s or earlier, is being used in Hawaii, marking the first time in 80 years a previously unknown language - spoken or signed - has been documented in the US Researchers will formally announce their findings this weekend showing it’s not a dialect of American Sign Language, as many long believed, but an unrelated language with unique vocabulary and grammar. Only about 40 people, most in their 80s, are known to currently use Hawaii Sign Language, meaning the discovery comes just as the language is on the cusp of disappearing.

“I think that everyone in the room is aware of how Hawaiian, the indigenous language of this state, has been brought back from the brink of extinction,” William O’Grady, linguistics professor at the University of Hawaii, said at a news conference. “But what we didn’t know until very recently is that Hawaii is home to a second highly endangered language that is found nowhere else in the world.” Researchers said they interviewed and videotaped 21 users of Hawaii Sign Language - 19 elderly deaf people and two adult children of deaf parents - for their study. They documented how Hawaii and American sign languages have different grammar. In Hawaii Sign Language, adjectives come after nouns, like “dog black” instead of “black dog” in American Sign Language.

They found words for father, mother, dog and pig are all different in Hawaii and American sign languages. In fact, only 20 words on a list of 100 key words are significantly similar in both languages. “It’s clearly a separate language and it clearly developed independently,” said James Woodward, a University of Hawaii, Manoa, linguistics adjunct professor and co-director of the Center for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Languages are considered dialects when they share more than 80 percent of the words on the list, said Woodward who has documented distinct sign languages in Thailand, Vietnam and other parts of Asia.

Languages are considered related if 36 to 80 percent of the words on the list are significantly similar. Four scholars involved in the research plan to present their study at the 3rd International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation in Honolulu on Sunday.

Academics became aware of Hawaii Sign Language’s unique characteristics because of Linda Lambrecht, an American Sign Language instructor at Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu. She grew up learning Hawaii Sign Language from her brothers, and it was her first language. —AP