7 Mar 2013

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THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

Venezuela bids farewell to Chavez as an era ends

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www.kuwaittimes.net

PSG, Juve end long wait for CL quarter-finals

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RABI ALTHANI 25, 1434 AH

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MoH seeks to increase medical fees for expats Govt believes current charges do not reflect quality of services

Max 25º Min 15º High Tide 07:01 & 17:16 Low Tide 00:12 & 11:42

By A Saleh

Former MPs name representatives in oppn coalition KUWAIT: The bloc of former opposition MPs yesterday named five representatives to the newly established Opposition Coalition and another representative to another opposition body. Former MP and opposition figure Ahmad Al-Saadoun said after a meeting of the former parliamentarians that former lawmakers Musallam Al-Barrak, Adel Al-Damkhi, Faisal Al-Mislem, Bader Al-Dahoum and Mubarak AlWaalan were selected to represent the bloc in the Opposition Coalition. The coalition was announced last week following several weeks of discussions between various opposition groups and activists.

Other seats to the coalition’s political bureau will be filled by representatives of trade and student unions, political groups and individual activists.

Saadoun also said the bloc of former MPs also selected ex-MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei to represent the bloc in the coordination committee of the Protest Movement, another opposition body that decided to stay outside the coalition. During the announcement, Saadoun strongly lashed out at the government for failing to curb the smuggling of heavily-subsidized diesel to neighbouring countries, saying the value of the smuggled fuel is more than $2 million daily.

Continued on Page 2

KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah takes a picture during a lunch banquet held by Capital Governor Sheikh Ali Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah at the Azayez farm in Abdali. — KUNA (See Page 3)

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health is studying the possibility of reconsidering the fees collected from expatriates for medical services as part of its attempts to increase its revenues and reduce pressure on overcrowded public medical facilities, said sources with knowledge of the case.

The study calls for increasing fees collected for services that include medical checkups, surgeries, x-rays and others. “There is a belief within the ministry that the fees are currently inadequate to the quality of services given,” said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They added that a mechanism prepared for this project is set to be sent to Health Minister Mohammad Al-Haifi “before he refers it to the Cabinet to be enforced”. The sources did not provide a timeline for when the referral might happen, or when the study is going to be finished.

In other news, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is set to study a memo to allow domestic workers to transfer their visas to the private sector (Article 18) as long as the same employer is retained. According to sources with knowledge of the case, the memorandum was recently finalized by the labor department in the ministry, which then sent it to the ministry’s council of undersecretaries to study it in its meeting next week. If approved, the decision will go into effect on April 1, the sources added.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

LOCAL

Dreams of Kuwaiti youth on display in Mishref Proud To Be Kuwaiti

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The sixth edition of the popular event Proud To Be Kuwaiti (P2BK) was launched on Tuesday at the Kuwait International Fair Ground in Mishref. Due to heavy demand for participating in this huge event, the organizers this year decided to build an entire village on a 20,000 square meter area instead of holding it in a hall as they used to do earlier.

Also, the event will now remain open for 14 days as its duration has been extended. People can visit the fair between 10am and 10pm. The fair was officially opened for the public yesterday as the first night was meant for the VIPs and special guests only. It was held under the aegis of the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, who attended the opening ceremony along with some VIPs and praised the great event. This year’s version coincides with the 400th anniversary of establishment of Kuwait in 1613.

More than 447 projects are featured in this forum and about 800 volunteers are involved.

Young Kuwaitis are showcasing their own small businesses and products which are unique than the ones available in Kuwait all through the year.

The visitor will find all kinds of activities from food and beverage, outfits, photography, perfumes, accessories, books, toys, home accessories etc. Also different musical and theatre performances take place every evening.

P2BK is a non-profit national organization established by a group of independent Kuwaiti youth inspired by love, devotion, and patriotic feelings for their beloved country. It sponsors and supports small and medium enterprises in Kuwait. The Proud to Be Kuwaiti team strives to develop and enhance the skill sets, achievements and abilities of the youth in all fields, while embracing and catering to the small and medium enterprises through continuous support and guidance from their stage of infancy through their progress that can go on till infinity.

P2BK is the pioneer in this area. It aims to support and highlight Kuwaiti youth’s energies by organizing activities, events, and national contributions. It helps them face and overcome any obstacles during inception of any venture and in the initial stages. It was established as an umbrella body for all youthful innovations at the national level, and to highlight the Kuwaiti youth’s achievements and small projects.

P2BK is the biggest event for youth projects and it is many Kuwaitis’ dream to participate at.

Photon Media House is a new small project of a group of Kuwaitis participating for the first time in this forum. “We thought of investing our hobbies in workshops that we organize for our group. We also provide this service for the public. These workshops include photography, cine-

KUWAIT: Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak (middle) with the organizers and some participants. ma, arts, outdoor photography, event management, multimedia, and more. We just started two months ago, but all members are working in the field already,” Bader Al-Muhanna told the Kuwait Times.

Cookie Pizza is another young project. “Since most people love sweets and chocolates, I came up with this innovative idea of making sweets in the shape and size of pizza. Our product is for those madly in love with chocolate. We started our project two years ago with three kinds of pizzas only. Today we are offering nine different flavors of cookie pizzas. We are systematically improving and enlarging our selection, and we also prepare special products for occasions like Mother’s Day, Valentines Day, and Christmas etc.

Currently, we only have home delivery, but we are now working on launching a store,” said Abdulaziz Al-Banwan.

Talabat.com is one of the sponsors of the P2BK that backs the event every year. This year, they are participating as well. “We are the first ebusiness in Kuwait and the GCC. Our concept is that people can order their meal online from their favorite restaurant. We have 200 restaurants registered with our website. Till March 16, we will have a special promotion running and if the customer placed an order worth KD 2 from their favorite restaurant through Talabaat.com, he will enter a weekly draw for valuable prizes including phones and electronics, besides becoming eligible for a final draw for a Ford Mustang 2013,” said Rabih Asmar, Head of Marketing, Talabaat.com.

Activists’ case adjourned

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: The Appeals Court yesterday adjourned the case of an activist who faces charges that he instigated illegal demonstrations of stateless citizens, and set the next hearing for March 20.

The Criminal Court had sentenced Abdul-Hakeem Al-Fadhli to two years in prison on charges that included organizing illegal demonstrations, instigating stateless residents to protest and confronting police officers on duty. The Appeals Court is set to deliver its ruling at the next hearing.

Transportation authority Sources revealed that National Assembly council will next month approve a law to set up a transportation authority since the final draft has been prepared by services and utilities committee. The project execution has already reached 60 percent.

Sources added that once the law was approved, it will be sent to the council of ministers for approval. They said this project was part of the priority list sent by the cabinet to the NA council.

Sources said that the project aimed at organizing the transportation authority by laying down rules and regulations for

cargo and passengers transport companies and organizing inspection at the border points and ports. It will also set rules for activating and operating scales that weigh the trailers on the Abdaly Road and along other roads to keep the roads protected ensure compliance with regulations.

Cabinet Reshuffle Sources revealed that His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak intends to move ahead along the path of reform and achievement in cooperation with the National Assembly Council.

His Highness has decided to allocate the months of March, April, May and June as last chance for ministers to work and show achievements after MPs were convinced to give the government a similar opportunity.

Sources added that the Prime Minister will soon reshuffle his cabinet to include ministers who were unable to ride the cooperation train for one reason or another.

Sources said that the start of the second term will also present a new look and translate into some real joint work happening between both, the government as well as the NA Council.

Seven injured in accidents

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti woman suffered an injury in her right leg and possibly also a minor fracture in the leg when she was hit by a car in Salwa area near Al Aqsa Street.

She was taken to the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital.

A car accident at King Abdul Aziz road opposite Salwa left a 26-year-old Saudi woman with a shoulder injury apart from injuries all over her body. She was taken to the Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital.

A car accident at Fahaheel Expressway

opposite Salwa area resulted in multiple injuries for a 20-year-old Kuwaiti woman and pain in the back for a 17-year-old Kuwaiti girl. Both were taken to the Mubarak Al Kabeer Hospital.

A 26-year-old Kuwaiti woman suffered a head injury in a car accident that occurred between Al Waha and Al Mayer internal streets. She was taken to the Jahra Hospital.

A car accident at the Coastal Road resulted in a 52-year old-Kuwaiti man suffering a head injury. It also left a 36-year-old Kuwaiti man with a fracture in the right hand. Both were taken to the Amiri Hospital.

No change in school timings

KUWAIT: Abdulaziz Al-Banwan at his booth of Cookie Pizza.

KUWAIT: Senior officials of the Ministry of Education decided not to effect any change in the school timings, a move proposed as a solution to the problem of traffic jams, insisting that it was a “state issue” that required cooperation from different state departments.

The idea was reportedly pitched during a meeting of the directors of the ministry’s six educational directorates on Tuesday, which was chaired by Undersecretary Assistant of Public Education Mohammad Al-Kandari. It

suggested changes in the daily timings of opening and closing of schools. Currently, schools, colleges and public sector offices in Kuwait have working hours that coincide.

“Al-Kandari explained that the move will create problems for parents who drop their children at school before going off to work,” said a source privy to the meeting. He added that an agreement was reached to ask the Interior Ministry’s Traffic General Department to conduct a comprehensive review of the problem. — Al-Rai

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

LOCAL

Amir attends banquet at Abdali farm

HH the Amir (right) with HH the Crown Prince.

HH the Amir with host Ali Al-Jaber and other family members.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah attended yesterday a lunch banquet held by Asema Governor Sheikh Ali Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the Azayez farm in Abdali. The banquet was also attended by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed AlSabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah, senior sheikhs and Al-Sabah family members. — KUNA

HH the Amir taking a photo of the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak and Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Duaij.

Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad with a Sabah family member.

HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Defence Minister Ahmad Khalid Al-Sabah, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdallah, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Abdallah

Sheikh Jaber Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, Sheikh Salem Abdelaziz Al-Salem

Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Duaij, Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad

A group photo of sheikhs at Azayez.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

LOCAL

VIVA honors legal collection agents KUWAIT: Kuwait’s fastest-growing telecom operator, VIVA held an honoring ceremony on Feb 17 to reward its top performing legal collection agents at Le Notre restaurant Attending the ceremony were Essam Al-Assoussi - Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Dany Doueik Chief Commercial Officer and senior managers from VIVA’s legal department.

VIVA honoured the agents for their consistent support for VIVA’s legal department in the collection process. In appreciation of their efforts, VIVA awarded and recognized the companies to reflect the strong relationship and cooperation as business partners. First place, for the largest amount of debt recovered, was awarded to Al Twaijri and Partners Law Firm, second was Fawaz Al-Mekhled and Abdel Aziz Al-Banwan lawyers, and third place went to Al-Rai Group Law firm.

Further awards were made to the International Collections Company, AlMarkaz Legal, Consulting Group (Esteshara Group), Saad Al-Khana Law Firm, MMI Company, Habib Manawer Legal Office, Fahad Al-Bassam Legal office, Consulting Group (Al Esteshariya Group).

VIVA’s Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Essam Al Assoussi emphasized the close and important relationship VIVA has with its partners and agents, who play a crucial role in helping the company operate effectively and efficiently. Al-Assoussi said: “VIVA takes a very considerate and responsible view towards its customers and we will do all it can to work with them and help them if they have difficulty or cannot

maintain their contractual commitments.

Where appropriate, we enlist the additional help of specialist companies, such as the ones we are honouring today, who have the experience and skills to help us in debt collection. The assistance they provide helps us to fulfill our own responsibilities as a company to our shareholders and to our customers. “ VIVA, like many companies, routinely employs the services of professional and legal organisations to assist it with debt issues. Collection services are used if all other ways to contact and discuss debts with the client have been exhausted.

VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait. Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach.

VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling. VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service. VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

Kuwait donates $1 million to UNHCR GENEVA: Kuwait handed yesterday the United Nation Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) a $1 million in contribution to the UN agency refugees relief efforts, Head of Kuwait Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva Ambassador Dharar A.Razzooqi has announced.

“The Kuwaiti donation coincided with the UNHCR announcement that the number of Syrians who fled their country to escape violence has exceeded one million, “ Razzooqi said.

He reiterated Kuwait’s support to the UNHCR and particular the much-appreciated role in helping Syrian refugees and their host countries. For his part, the United Nations Higher Commissioner for

Refugees Antonio Guterres thanked Kuwaiti leadership for their commitment to support UNHCR efforts to help all people in distress across the world.

He lauded Kuwait for successfully organizing the first international conference for Syria donors which resulted in $1.5 billion in aid pledges.

Guterres described Kuwait as a role model in world nations’ solidarity and positive interaction with the crisis in Syria.

He also urged international donors to fulfill their aid pledges to Syrian refugees to help the UNCHR alleviate some of their sufferings.

According to the UN, the two-year civil war Syria has killed at least 70, 000 people.— KUNA

KUWAIT: Viva collection agents pose for a photo with the officials.

Three expats injured in Hawally mall fight Man hospitalized after overdose KUWAIT: Three people were injured when a fight broke out in Hawally on Tuesday involving at least ten men. Police reached a location near a mall where Egyptian and Syrian nationals indulged in the scuffle. Police were accompanied by paramedics as some sustained injuries inflicted by pocketknives. One man was rushed to the Mubarak AlKabeer hospital with stab wounds, while the police report indicated that two others wounded in the brawl fled the scene along with other suspects. A case was filed for investigations while a security source indicated that detectives managed to identify the persons involved in the fight.

Drug addicts A youth was hospitalized in a state of unconsciousness induced by a drug overdose as per a case reported in Mubarak Al-Kabeer recently. Police and paramedics reached a spot following an emergency call about a person collapsing all of a sudden.

Preliminary examination revealed that the young man suffered complications from a drug overdose.

He was rushed to the Adan Hospital and admitted to its intensive care unit. A case was filed for investigations.

Meanwhile, a drug addict was arrested after he was found in an impaired state in his car in AlSulaibiya. The man started regaining consciousness gradually as a patrol officer kept knocking on his car’s window. After finding drug paraphernalia and what seemed to be drugs in his car, the officer arrested the man and transferred him to the

Criminal Investigations General Department.

country with the stolen cash.

Search for kidnapper A man tried to kidnap a teenaged boy who resisted and managed to escape, but was then run over by the vehicle driven by the suspect when he tried to escape in Fahad Al-Ahmad recently. According to the police report, a man driving a vehicle first approached the boy asking if he could use his phone to make an urgent call. He then grabbed the boy by his arm, forced him into his vehicle and then attempted to drive away. The teenager managed to jump from the vehicle as soon as it moved, but fell under its rare wheels as the suspect drove away with his phone. The boy was hospitalized. His father reported the incident to the local police.

Jahra thieves Jahra detectives hope to identify and arrest three suspects, who broke into an apartment in the area recently, through a cell phone they apparently left behind while making good their escape. The suspects had gained entry into the Pakistani man’s apartment by impersonating as police detectives.

They physically assaulted the man and ransacked the apartment apparently looking for something to steal. However, they ran away since the neighbors were alerted by the ruckus they created, leaving behind a black cell phone that detectives later found at the crime scene. Investigations are on.

Thief caught A domestic worker allegedly stole KD35,000 from her employer’s safe and planned to leave Kuwait with the booty but Kuwait City police managed to arrest her in time. Da’iya police station officers were approached by a Kuwaiti man who reported that the sum was stolen from a safe in his bedroom, the incident coinciding with the disappearance of his Asian housemaid. Detectives were soon able to arrest the woman who was found in possession of the stolen cash. She admitted to opening the safe after entering the correct lock code and stealing the money when her employer’s family was not at home. She also indicated that the she was in the process of leaving for her home

Thieves held Sulaibikhat police arrested two men responsible for seven robbery cases reported by car owners, and also found three vehicles in a burnt state in AlAbdaly desert. The vehicles were used in the muggings that were reported in the past. The first suspect, a bedoon (stateless) man, was arrested after being identified and found in possession of drugs.

The suspect gave identity of his accomplice, a Kuwaiti man, who was soon arrested. The two they dismantle the body parts of four vehicles they had stolen and sold them in the local market. They also led the officers to the locations where they had left the three stolen vehicles which they had burnt after using them to commit crimes. They were referred to the proper authorities to face charges.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

LOCAL

Govt supports ‘workable’ debt relief: Al-Shamali Focus on rights of citizens

KUWAIT: The ambassador of the Republic of Korea Kim Kyung sik visited Kuwait Times and discussed matters of mutual concern with Editor-in- Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan.

Top official trying to suppress facts in diesel fire probe KUWAIT: Well-informed sources learnt that a high-ranking government official was exerting a lot of pressure on commanders at the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate (KFSD) and the Ministry of Interior’s criminal investigations directorate to cover up a report about the recent fire in Amghra.

The official wanted them to discard the fact that large quantities of diesel and unrefined oils were stored at the site.

The sources added that the official wanted them to state that only a limited amount of diesel was found at the site of the mishap, and also that it was being used for operational purposes.

Further, the sources stressed that the KFSD leaders were under so much pressure that they were forced to classify the fire as ‘medium’ and state that the fire spread due to wind and the lack of isolators between the warehouses.

Moreover, the sources said that the senior official tried to strike a bargain with fire chiefs in a bid to make them yield to his demands. He even offered to provide them all firefighters with a full health

insurance cover.

The sources also said that an initial detailed report along with photographic documentation compiled by the KFSD stressed that large amounts of diesel and oil were stored at the site in barrels. The report also referred to the fact that the criminal investigations department demanded to examine specimens from the site’s soil to determine how much diesel and oils had been absorbed.

Moreover, the sources expressed surprise at such huge quantities of diesel and oil being stored in Amghra and wondered if some kind of corruption was involved, especially since the area was not among those designated to store these hazardous substances that could have endangered the lives of residents nearby.

Meanwhile, KFSD director, Maj Gen Yousif Al-Ansari highly commended the gesture of HH the PM who asked the Civil Services Commission to examine the feasibility of providing all firefighters with a full health insurance cover and revert to him at the earliest.

Farmland returns to sponsor Horeca KUWAIT: Farmland Company, the exclusive provider of ‘President’ dairy products in Kuwait, reached an agreement with organizers of the 2012 Horeca Kuwait exhibition to participate as a golden sponsor for the event which is set to take place later this month at the Arraya Ball Room of Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

It will be the second consecutive year that Farmland will be participating in Horeca Kuwait as a golden sponsor, a decision that General Manager Antoine Obaid said “was made in recognition of the success that the event accomplished and the important status it achieved in the catering business.” “ The event meets a pressing need of Kuwait which is currently witnessing a developmental boom in various projects as it aspires to Antoine Obaid achieve international status in the financial and commercial world,” he added. Obaid also announced that various President Cheese products will be offered for use during cooking competitions that will be held as part of the exhibition. The 2013 Horeca Kuwait, a comprehensive event covering the hospitality, catering and food industry sectors in Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is organized by the Leaders Group for Consulting and Development in cooperation with Hospitality Services of Lebanon.

Health Ministry receives 48 new ambulances KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Health Ministry has received 48 new ambulances, the first batch of vehicle purchases to support the emergency service across the nation, Health Minister Mohammad Dr Barrak Al-Haifi announced yesterday.

The Minister said the final batch of ambulances will be delivered to Kuwait before the end of March. “The new purchases will take the number of ambulances of the Ministry’s Emergency Department up to 193,” Al-Haifi said.

He pointed out that the new ambulances are equipped with the latest technologies that provide maximum safety for patients. The minister added that the vehicles will be distributed to various areas across the nation according to their needs and the rate of emergency case.

He also revealed that the ministry is planning to increase the number of emergency centers in residential areas as well as on highways. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali said that he supported a debt relief proposal that would be “practicable” and “would not lead to wastage of public funds while at the same time guarantees the rights of the largest section of citizens.” AlShamali’s statements came on Tuesday, coinciding with the parliament’s decision to allow postponement of a debate on a grilling motion about the loans issue.

Meanwhile, the minister commented on his absence from the latest meeting of the parliamentary financial committee which was supposed to discuss a parliamentary proposal calling for waiving off the interests on loans availed of by Kuwaitis between January 2002 and April 2008. The proposal also included a provision to pay KD1000 to every citizen not covered by the debt relief.

“The meeting was held simultaneously along with the cabinet’s weekly meeting, and ultimately I had to choose between the two,” Al-

Shamali told Al-Rai, adding that a government representative attended the panel’s meeting in any case. The same newspaper also spoke with Minister of Oil Hani Husain who had his own grilling motion delayed during Tuesday’s session. “The K-Dow fine file is being studied by a ministerial committee that is being provided with all information upon request as well as technical, professional, financial and legal support they need,” he said.

The International Arbitration Court recently raised the compensation to Dow Chemical from the original $2.16 billion to $2.48 billion, after adding $318 million in costs and interest. The Arbitration Court had ordered Kuwait to pay the compensation in May last year, almost four years after the Cabinet scrapped the $17.4 billion joint venture between Kuwait ’s Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC) and Dow Chemical.

Moreover, Minister Husain insisted that his ministry was going by the recommendations of

the ministerial committee, as well as those made by another committee which examined the allegations about irregularities in promoting and hiring staff at the oil sector. “If we find any error, we are not going to deny it but will instead work to rectify it,” he said.

In other news, Minister of Planning and Development Rula Dashty said that nearly KD7.5 billion have so far been spent on the fiveyear development plan which the parliament approved in 2009. The minister further indicated that the government was still working on executing the first phase of the plan, and added that the Ministry of Planning and Development “is set within a couple of weeks to explain the mechanism by which the funds had been used so far.”

Dashty recently came back from China where she held talks for opening more channels for cooperation with regards to executing developmental projects, as well as utilize the latest Chinese technologies.

TEC at ‘Proud to be Kuwaiti’ KUWAIT: The Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) is taking part in the sixth annual Proud to be Kuwaiti exhibition which was inaugurated recently under the patronage of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah.

“The TEC makes sure to participate in the annual event in order to provide support to young people and contribute to the success of this national project that reflects the modern side of Kuwait,” said Public Relations and Marketing Manager, Saqr Al-Badr, in a statement yesterday.

The TEC’s pavilion is manned by a team from the public relations and marketing department which will be welcoming visitors every day until March 19 from 10am to 10pm to present a preview about the company’s touristic services and special offers presented exclusively as part of the event.

TEC officials at the ward of the company

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

Letters to Badrya

No place for the efficient

An eye opener

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

T

he problem of the main opposition political groups is that they tend to commit the same mistakes that they accuse the government of making. At times one feels as if the opposition is copying and then mirroring the wrongs committed by the government. Just as the government makes most of the appointments on the basis of vested interests and judging people through a narrow prism of loyalty, the political opposition groups are doing the same today.

It seems as if the extreme left fringe of the opposition and the extreme right wingers in the government are telling us in unison that there is no place for the efficient among us. Let efficient and meritorious go to hell, they seem to be saying.

Well, let me say this in a brief and simple way that neither the government nor the opposition will succeed as long as their yardstick was mere loyalty and not merit or efficiency.

Both sides set too much in store by loyalty and want people who can blindly execute their orders.

That is not the way to build any country. That is not how countries are administered. That is not how an opposition functions. Those who do not care about the country go in for loyalty as the touchstone because they are insecure.

We agree with most of the goals that the opposition is professing, but we refuse to approve of the manner in which it has been choosing its leaders to carry forward the cause.

The opposition has a historic chance to play its role, but it seems to be spoiling it given the way it has announced certain choices as per a peculiar loyalty index. It ignored other youth activists who seemed to have a rather independent approach.

These young people do not shy away from discussing issues and raising objections; no wonder they were ignored and replaced by less efficient people.

In such a paradigm, how does the style of the political opposition groups differ from the government’s approach? It is a strategy doomed to fail, something I do not wish to happen but those in authority and positions of influence certainly do.

Opposition has to rearrange its house and prove to the street that it is more democratic. It is for the opposition to take the initiative to rejuvenate itself with new blood and push the youth to the frontline leadership positions, and not merely at the front to bear the brunt. The opposition only stands to gain more legitimacy and become more acceptable to the people.

NOTE: When you take cover behind religion to attack your political opponents, it means you have nothing to bring to the table in real terms and did not achieve any fruitful thing for the public. — Al-Anbaa

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

kuwait digest

Real radical solution

By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadhari

C

ertain problems in Kuwait have been debated, discussed and studied ad nauseam and ad infinitum to a point that a mere mention of them drives people to boredom now. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that a large majority of readers will ignore any column addressing these intractable issues the moment they see the title.

Among such issues are the ones connected to the Ministry of Health in Kuwait. From the overseas treatment program to the overcrowded hospitals and lack of bed capacity, not to forget the grueling feuds in the administrative and technical fields, all issues have been discussed for years either within the ministry or through the media. Some of them even provided gristmill for political debates though only attaining limited results in improving the quality of medical care available.

But where exactly does the problem lie? Is it a matter of shortage of trained staff or financial resources? I can almost say for certain that this could not be the reason because an adequate number of competent Kuwaiti and expatriate staffers are available in the ministry, notwithstanding some aberrations committed at an individual level. The fact of the matter is that the main problem pertains to an inefficient administrative structure and a wrong approach in managing the medical sector.

Kuwait is one of few rich countries where the

health ministry puts into place medical policies and standards for providing health care, makes these policies applicable on its own and then assumes the responsibility to assess their quality at the point of delivery.

In a framework which is so flawed that the same department plans, executes and assesses all decision making and output, it is almost impossible to achieve any improvement in the level of medical services.

Coupled with deeply-entrenched centralization which characterizes all administrative and supervisory functioning and a top-down hierarchical approach, improvement becomes a next to impossible goal.

Often, officials are assigned to posts for terms so short that they are unable to carry out any developmental project in a true sense.

The real radical solution that nobody talks about lies in making autonomous the institutions that provide the medical services, be these the hospitals or the medical centers. The ministry is required to formulate the regulations and assess the quality of the services, while each facility needs to act as a semiindependent entity with its own administrative and technical framework, as well as budget, to execute the process of providing medical services.

That may sound like a very difficult project to carry out, and may be it really is, but then it is the only solution - at least in my opinion. — Al-Rai

the column

Is it ever justifiable to lie?

By Fouad Al-Obaid

fouad@kuwaittimes.net Twitter:@fouadalobaid

W

hite lies, black lies, rainbow lies, lies of all natures seem to be an integral part of our human predicament. As much as we would want to be honest all the time, I believe that many will share with me the reality that it is, at times, convenient, and useful, to perhaps withhold information; or, to spin it, towards a particular angle, in order to help-and or hurt, other human beings. Philosophers have pondered on this matter for millenniums. An explanation by Robert Feldman, a psychologist, suggests that people lie as a mechanism to protect their self-esteem. “We find that as soon as people feel that their selfesteem is threatened, they immediately begin to lie at higher levels.” I would agree that lies stem for our inherent desire to be more than what we are. We want to tell others and ourselves that we are much better than we know - and at times what other know about us - to be!

I am sure many of you reading have come across an animated movie Pinocchio that has as main character a young ‘wooden’ boy that has a bad habit; lying! He lies not because he is unable to tell the truth; rather he is induced to believe that he can get away with a small lie. Incidentally, every time he starts to lie his wooden nose grows a bit depending on the gravity of the lie he professes to people during the story!

Each lie grows and has a life of its own, slowly, growing into a web of lies he cannot pull himself from, and with each lie his nose grows hence people come to see him more clearly as a liar.

The moral of the story is that regardless of what you may believe, all lies have a way of being exposed. In life some may take years, decades, or millenniums but, ultimately, they are exposed; and at times in the most disrespectful of manners tarnishing your name and hurting loved ones.

Lies are not linked to private people in our globalized world.

Integrity and honesty are key attributes anyone willing to become prominent in the world of business needs to bear in mind. Recently, many scandals involving both lies and deceits have tarnished not merely business but entire industries as people come to lose their confidence in the industry’s products. A prime example, the ‘horse meat’ scandal that rocked Europe the last few weeks as news spread that horse meat was found mixed in products that were labeled as ‘beef meet’. As a direct effect of the scandal a drop of 43% in frozen burgers was noted as well as a global decrease of 13% in frozen meals in the UK alone. Bigger than companies, States from time immemorial reserved - and still do - the right to be less than truthful for purposes of ‘national security’. Paradoxally, a green card to lie is not the best of strategies in times such as the ones we are living in where technology allows for greater protection of vital information and yet at times end up being hacked and exposed. An example could be found in the Wikileak ‘Cablegate’, where classified documents have been leaked to the public on the Internet for the perusal of all.

Nordic countries seem to have found an equation that works; they rank the highest in global transparency of government indexes, and seem to score high in many global indicators.

The moral of the story, a lie may seem like a good idea in the beginning, however, once it grows out of control, more harm than benefits will be reaped.

Dear Ms. Badrya, It was really nice to read your article yesterday. I wanted to email you the ver y moment I finished reading it, but got busy. It is very true what you have pointed out. In fact, I being an Indian born and brought up here failed to understand what has been happening behind the scenes. Thank you so much for the enlightenment.

As of now, I face a situation which is the exact opposite. I have been a TV and radio host for the last six years in India, and later joined UFM 98.4 here in Kuwait.

But because of the high license fee that has to be paid monthly (KD 1,00,000), UFM had to be put to sleep. After that I realized that to get into any other line of media was going to be very difficult as long as I happen to be a non-Kuwaiti. In a way, that’s the irony in your article, though it applies to very few people like me. My mother has been working here for the last 32 years in Air India, so she is pretty much happy here.

Anyway, I am still trying and will surely let you know if I succeed to continue in my line of work here in Kuwait which I know is going to be a little tough since people from some places are given priority here, as you mentioned. M y dream has always been SuperStation 99.7.

I wish you a great day, and my mother and I look forward to reading more brilliant articles from your side.

Once again, take care, RJ Rakesh

Ms. Badrya I t was the best ever ar ticle and, Ms. Badrya, you make me proud by your understanding of the pleas of the expats trying to make a life here and raise their families back home.

Kuwait was the second country where I grew up, one where I spent my years as a youth (1977-1996). Those times were awesome.

I loved Kuwait and am today living in Canada, raising a Kuwait- born daughter (22) and a son born in Canada (19). Thanks to our savings that we as husband and wife could make from money earned from the rich Kuwaiti soil, we could own our own house.

Long live Ku wait and we pray that Kuwaitis learn to look after their own country rather than leaving it to be looked after by the expats.

Ms Badrya, good luck for all your future endeavors and hope to see you grow in the land of plenty. “Kullu Sanaa Tayeb.”

God Bless you and your family Pinto Family ex Riggaei

Madam Badrya, I commend you on your ar ticle “Stop Weeping and Wailing over Expats.”

It was spot on and clearly took a lot of courage on your part. I look forward to reading more of your articles.

Keith Fernandes Mississauga, Canada.

Good Day Badrya, I just read your article in the newspaper Kuwait Times.

Khalas Red Tape!

Your title was so true and the article was a real eye opener. Hope the authorities will read your ar ticle and have all licenses checked initially and then periodically. They should also make the procedures easier for the common man and the small aspiring businessmen and women.

Keep up your column writing.

(On a lighter note, in the picture adjacent to your column, the late Hugo Chavez appears to be saluting you.)

Gaspar

Hi Badrya, I am really surprised to read your articles about the expats. I really appreciate your courage to write about these issues while living in the Middle East.

I spent three years in Kuwait for a project and have some first hand knowledge about the experiences that expats go through while living abroad.

Please keep writing about these issues.

Regards Saeed Ahmad Pakistan

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

Russian ballet star admits being behind acid attack

One million flee Syria war Page 8

Page 8

Venezuela bids adios to Chavez Venezuelans grieve, prepare for election Armed fighters seize 20 peacekeepers in Golan UNITED NATIONS: Armed fighters yesterday detained about 20 UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel, a UN spokesman said. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said the peacekeepers were from the Philippines.

But the United Nations did not give the nationalities of the UN Disengagement Force (UNDOF) troops taken in the latest incident in the tense Golan zone.

UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters the UN force had “reported that earlier

CARACAS: The hearse carrying the coffin of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez makes its way to the Military Academy amid thousands of supporters, yesterday, in Caracas. The flag-draped coffin of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was borne through throngs of weeping supporters yesterday as a nation bade farewell to the firebrand leftist who led them for 14 years. —AFP CARACAS: The flag-draped coffin of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was borne through throngs of weeping supporters on Wednesday as a nation bade farewell to the firebrand leftist who led them for 14 years. His mother Elena wept over his wooden casket as a band played the national anthem outside his military hospital. Presidential guards with red berets then placed his remains on top of a black hearse, surrounded by flowers. Chavez’s handpicked successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, walked alongside the car through dense crowds, wearing a somber expression and a striking outfit in the color of the national flag.

Chavez’ death after a two-year struggle with cancer was a blow to his adoring supporters and the alliance of left-wing Latin American powers, and plunged his oil-rich country into uncertainty as an election is organized. His body, surrounded by soldiers, was being taken to the military academy that the former paratrooper colonel once called a second home, where he will lie in state until an official ceremony with foreign dignitaries on Friday.

People watched from their apartment windows, others climbed fences to get a better view of the hearse, many held or wore iconic images of Chavez. The 58-year-old leader succumbed to a respiratory infection on Tuesday. A new election is due to be called within what are sure to be 30 tense days. Maduro, who tearfully broke the news to the nation that his mentor had lost his battle with cancer, was poised to take over as interim president and to campaign for election as Chavez’s chosen successor. The death brought thousands of Venezuelans to public squares across the nation, weeping and celebrating the life of a divisive figure whose oilfunded socialist revolution delighted the poor and infuriated the wealthy.

Hundreds of people spent the night in front of his hospital, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting “we are all Chavez!” A banner was hung on the hospital fence, reading “Chavez lives, the battle continues!” “I love him,” said Iris Dicuro, 62, who came from the northeastern city of Puerto La Cruz and wore a shirt with the words “Forward Comandante.” “I want to bid farewell because he was a good man who gave everything to the poor.” But not everyone in a country divided by Chavez’s populist style agreed, with opposition supporters in better off neighborhoods still angry. “Hate and division was the only thing that he spread,” 28-year-old computer programmer Jose Mendoza told AFP in an eastern Caracas opposition bastion. “They want to make him a martyr. It made me laugh.

“He did a lot of social things, but he could have done much more. He also did a lot of harm because there are no institutions, there is no justice. He mistreated everyone who disagreed

with his government.”

The armed forces were to fire a 21-gun salute and “there will be a salvo every hour until his burial,” Defense Minister Diego Molero said.

Some of Chavez’s closest allies had already arrived Wednesday ahead of the state funeral, including Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner, Uruguay’s Jose Mujica and Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

Maduro said the nation’s security forces had been deployed but Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said calm reigned in Venezuela, which was rocked by a short-lived coup against Chavez in 2002. Venezuela’s closest ally, communist Cuba, declared its own mourning period for a leader who helped prop up the island’s economy with cheap fuel and cash transfers, and dubbed Chavez a “true son” of revolutionary icon Fidel Castro. But US President Barack Obama-often a target of Chavez’s anti-American scorn-was circumspect, pledging the United States would support the “Venezuelan people” and describing Chavez’s passing as a “challenging time.”

Shortly before Chavez’s death was announced, Maduro expelled two US military attaches and accused Venezuela’s enemies of somehow afflicting the leftist with the cancer that eventually killed him.

Chavez was showered with tributes from Latin American leaders and Russia, China and Iran also paid tribute to a man who had cultivated close ties with the bugbears of the West as a way of thumbing his nose at Washington.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Chavez had fallen “martyr” to a “suspect illness,” while hailing his close ally for “serving the people of Venezuela and defending human and revolutionary values.” And beleaguered Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad took time off from attempting to crush a revolt against his brutal rule to dub Chavez’s death “a great loss for me personally and the Syrian people.”

Chavez had checked into the hospital on February 18 for a course of chemotherapy after spending two months in Cuba, where in December he had undergone his fourth round of cancer surgery since June 2011. A new election could offer another shot at the presidency to Henrique Capriles, the opposition leader who lost to Chavez in October but insisted Tuesday that the two men were “adversaries, but never enemies.” Luis Vicente Leon, director of the polling group Datanalisis, said the government will likely want to hold elections as early as possible “to take advantage electorally of the emotion generated by the president’s death.” Chavez died five months after winning re-election, overcoming public frustration over a rising murder rate, regular blackouts and soaring inflation.

He missed his swearing-in for a new six-year term on January 10, but the Supreme Court approved an indefinite delay. —AFP

Peru plane crashes with nine on board LIMA: A plane chartered by a small Peruvian gold mining company with nine people on board crashed yesterday in northern Peru, the company, Retamas, said. Locals in the region told the Peruvian radio program RPP that the plane had crashed and burned after hitting power lines near an airport and that they had found the charred remains of the plane and those on board.

The company could not confirm that anyone had died and did not say what caused the crash. Seven of those aboard the plane were Retamas employees.

“A team of rescue workers has been dispatched to the area to attend to the emergency. The reasons for the accident are still unknown,” the company said in a statement.

The plane left Lima early Wednesday for the La Libertad region in northwestern Peru, the local airports administrator CORPAC said.

Retamas is among Peru’s top ten gold producers. Peru, the sixth largest gold producer in the world, exported more than 160 tonnes of gold last year. —Reuters

today approximately 30 armed fighters stopped and detained about 20 peacekeepers within the area of limitation.”

“The UN observers were on a regular supply mission and were stopped near observation post 58, which had sustained damage and was evacuated this past weekend following heavy combat in close proximity, at Al Jamlah,” he added.

“The mission is dispatching a team to assess the situation and attempt a resolution,” the spokesman said. The United Nations has reported a growing number of incidents in the Golan zone, where it

has had peacekeepers since 1974 observing a truce accord between Syria and Israel.

The Britain-based Observatory distributed two amateur videos that carried statements by the rebel Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade claiming the peacekeepers’ capture. In one, a man identified as Abu Kaid al-Faleh, a spokesman for the brigade, said the peacekeepers would not be freed until Syrian regime forces pull out from the area.

“We call on them to withdraw all their troops to their bases. If they do not withdraw, these men (UN troops) will be treated as prisoners,” he said. —AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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

One million flee Syria war Exodus has intensified this year: UNHCR DAMASCUS: One million Syrians have fled their homeland since a revolt erupted two years ago, the UN said yesterday, as fighting between rebels and loyalists raged across central and northern battlefields.

“With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing

tered refugees and those awaiting registration, and that the count was based on fresh data received from its offices in the Middle East.

Only a year ago, the UN agency had only registered 33,000 refugees.

The exodus has intensified this year, the UNHCR said, with 400,000 Syrians fleeing their country since January 1.

down on dissent.

Guterres’ announcement came as UN emergency relief coordinator, Valerie Amos, said that in Syria four million people are in need of assistance and more than $1.4 billion in aid is required to assist them for the next four months.

“We and our humanitarian part-

TRIPOLI: A Syrian family who fled their home from Aleppo register, at the UNHCR center in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, yesterday. The number of Syrians who have fled their war-ravaged country and are seeking assistance has now topped the one million mark, the United Nationsí refugee agency said yesterday warning that Syria is heading towards a “full-scale disaster.” —AP to cross the border every day, Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement issued in Geneva.

“We are doing everything we can to help, but the international humanitarian response capacity is dangerously stretched. This tragedy has to be stopped.” The UNHCR said the one million figure comprised both regis-

The refugees have fled primarily to Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, but increasingly they are trying to reach North Africa and Europe, the UNHCR said.

The UN’s announcement comes nearly two years after the eruption of what started as a peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad but which escalated into civil war when the army launched a brutal crack-

ners are seeking $10.4 billion this year to help more than 57 million people in 24 countries with some of the world’s most pressing crises,” among them Syria, Amos said during a visit to Brazil. Guterres underlined the impact of the numbers, with Lebanon’s population having increased by as much as 10 per cent and Jordan’s energy, water, health and education services being strained to the limit.

Turkey has spent over $600 million setting up 17 refugee camps, with more under construction. Iraq, already struggling with a million internally displaced people, has received over one hundred thousand Syrian refugees in the past year.

Syrian refugees complain of difficult living conditions. “Being a refugee I feel my dignity is compromised.

People treat me badly just because I am Syrian,” said 20-year-old Abu Huzeifa, who is living in a crowded apartment in Beirut along with fellow refugees.

“Thankfully I have a job, but I am underpaid. Sometimes, I think it might be better to go back to Homs,” in central Syria, said Abu Huzeifa, who fled the fighting in his country for neighbouring Lebanon. On the battlefront, the army used warplanes and helicopters Wednesday to press a fierce four-day assault on rebel zones in the centre of Homs, eight months into a suffocating army siege of parts of the central city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The army used helicopters to strafe the Old City district of Homs... and warplanes and rocket fire to strike the district of Khaldiyeh,” the Observatory said.

Activists said there had also been fierce early morning ground clashes between troops and rebels defending positions on the outskirts of the neighbourhoods still under their control. In Syria’s northeast, fighter jets struck the city of Raqa, two days after rebels overran most of the strategic provincial capital in their biggest victory since the start of the revolt, the Observatory said.

The new fighting came after at least 159 people were killed in violence nationwide on Tuesday, among them 70 rebels, 47 civilians and 42 soldiers, according to the Observatory’s figures.

The United Nations says in all at least 70,000 people have been killed since the start of the uprising. —AFP

10 years after war, Blix warns from repeating Iraq scenario DUBAI: Ten years after the US-led invasion on Iraq, ex-UN inspector Hans Blix has urged world powers to avoid committing the same error by going to war against Iran based on fears it is developing nuclear weapons.

World “memories are short,” the now 82year-old Swedish ex-diplomat told a small group of journalists, including AFP, at a press gathering in Dubai.

“Memories of the failure and tragic mistakes in Iraq are not taken sufficiently seriously,” he said.

“In the case of Iraq, there was an attempt made by some states to eradicate weapons of mass destruction that did not exist, and today there is talk of going on Iran to eradicate intentions that may not exist. I hope that will not happen.”

Blix, former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), led the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq from March 2000 to June 2003, charged with finding the WMD that London and Washington were convinced former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was concealing.

Such weapons were never found, undermining the entire rationale for a conflict that left thousands of Iraqis and foreign soldiers dead. Author of the book “Disarming Iraq”, Blix had repeatedly called for further inspections before launching a war on Iraq.

Following the 2003 invasion, the White House dispatched a team of 1,000 inspectors who failed to find any prohibited weapons. Today, Blix believes that the international community has even less evidence of the existence of atomic weapons in Iran, which is facing international pressures over its controversial nuclear programme.

“It is true that diplomatic negotiations have dragged over the years with little results so far... Some people assume that a war action will solve the problem,” said Blix.

“I think others should examine what is the merit of that and find that there is much more demerit,” he said, adding that “a war could develop into a terrible conflagration in the region.”

“If Iran has not made up its mind to make weapons of mass destruction before a war, I think they will come to that conclusion after a war,” said Blix, who wants international pressure on Iran to be eased.

“Threats can back up diplomacy but threats can also undermine diplomacy,” he said. The United States and Israel accuse Tehran of masking a weapons programme under the guise of a civilian atomic drive, charges Iran denies.

US President Barack Obama’s policy on Iran has stressed sanctions and covert sabotage while playing down possible military

action. However Israel, the region’s sole if undeclared nuclear power, has repeatedly warned it cannot rule out a military strike to prevent Tehran gaining the ability to produce a nuclear weapon.

Blix believes Iran gave “positive signals” during last week’s meetings with world powers-the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany, known as the P5+1. During the talks in Kazakhstan, the world powers put forward a proposal to ease biting sanctions if Tehran halts the sensitive work of enriching uranium.

Michael Elleman, senior fellow for regional security cooperation at the

DUBAI: Former UN inspector Hans Blix talks to a small group of journalists at a press gathering in Dubai yesterday. Ten years after the US-led invasion on Iraq, accused at the time of hiding weapons of mass destruction, the now 82-year-old Swedish exdiplomat urges world powers to avoid committing the same error in launching a war against Iran. —AFP International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), says the Islamic republic has taken a “very positive step ... by converting the 20 percent uranium into fuel plates for the research reactors.”

According to him, the Iranians have not yet taken any “substantive steps to weaponise the uranium they are enriching now or to militarise the programme.” But “they are building more and more capacity to do it and do it relatively quickly,” said Elleman.

Nevertheless, with the talks in Kazakhstan’s financial capital Almaty, “there is some reason to be slightly optimistic, more than six months ago.” —AFP

Iran declares day of mourning for Chavez DUBAI: Iran declared a day of national mourning yesterday after the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who shared the Islamic Republic’s loathing for US “imperialism”.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had forged a public friendship with Chavez characterised by lavish mutual praise, hugs and light-hearted moments, may attend Chavez’s funeral on Friday, state news agency IRNA reported.

The two men had sought closer

ties between their geographically distant countries, although action on joint social and military projects announced in recent years has often lagged behind the rhetoric.

“Hugo Chavez is a name known to all nations. His name is a reminder of cleanliness and kindness, bravery ... dedication and tireless efforts to serve the people, especially the poor and those scarred by colonialism and imperialism,” Ahmadinejad said.

“I offer my condolences to all

nations, the great nation of Venezuela and his respected family over this tragic event,” he said in statement published on his official website.

Chavez died on Tuesday after a twoyear battle with cancer. He suffered multiple complications after his latest operation in December and had not made a public appearance since.

The news of Chavez’s death dominated many Iranian news websites, which carried obituaries and photo galleries of him. —Reuters

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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

Kenya: Ballot count begins NAIROBI: Election officials in Kenya began counting ballots by hand yesterday after the early returns electronic system broke down, while a top presidential candidate levied charges against Britain’s high commissioner that the U.K. is meddling in the vote.

The party of Deputy Prime Minster Uhuru Kenyatta - the candidate that faces charges at the International Criminal Court and is the son of Kenya’s founding president - accused the British high commissioner of “shadowy, suspicious and rather animated involvement” in efforts to get the election commission to make a decision on how rejected ballots should be counted in the overall vote total.

Kenyatta’s party also asked the high commissioner, Christian Turner, to explain what it called “the sudden upsure of British military personnel” in Kenya.

British troops attend a six-week training course near Mount Kenya before deploying to Afghanistan. A new battle group arrived the week before Kenyans voted.

Kenyans on Monday held their first presidential vote since the nation’s disputed election in 2007 spawned violence that killed more than 1,000 people. Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Kenyatta are considered the top two contenders.

Election observers from around the world said Wednesday that Kenya carried out a credible election on Monday, but the groups reserved final judgments until the counting process is completed.

Kenyans were growing increasingly frustrated that the announcements of public vote tallies have ceased close to 48 hours after polls closed. Kenya’s election commission was forced to abandon its electronic tallying system after it broke down.

The breakdown of the electronic vote system has meant less than half of results have been released, and officials - who

have been working to ensure violence doesn’t break out this election - are calling on the public to remain patient.

Late Tuesday, the election commission chairman announced that hundreds of thousands of ballots that were rejected for not following the rules, would be counted in the overall vote total. That makes it very difficult, given the tight race, for either top candidate to reach the 50 percent mark needed to win outright.

Partial results on Tuesday had shown an early lead for Kenyatta, though his percentage will drop when the rejected votes are counted in the total. Odinga’s camp also told supporters that the votes from his strongholds had not yet all been tallied. An April runoff election between the two candidates is expected.

The statement from Kenyatta’s party yesterday implied that the British high commissioner pressured the commission to make the decision on the spoiled ballots, thus ensuring a runoff.

The Kenyatta statement said his party awaits answers to such questions, and it called on supporters “and the nation at large” to remain calm and peaceful.

William Ruto, Kenyatta’s running mate, on Tuesday had also blamed “foreign missions” for swaying the electoral commission on its ballot decision. The decision “is meant to deny us a first-round win,” Ruto was quoted as saying by The Standard newspaper.

Kenya is the lynchpin of East Africa’s economy and plays a vital security role in the fight against Somali militants. The US Embassy in Kenya is the largest in Africa, indicating this country’s importance to U.S. foreign policy.

The US has warned of “consequences” if Kenyatta is to win, as have several European countries. Because Kenyatta is an ICC indictee, the US and Europe have said they might have to limit contact with him, even if he is president.— AP

Dancer admits being behind acid attack MOSCOW: A Russian ballet star who most recently played the title role in “Ivan the Terrible” at the famed Bolshoi Theater has confessed that he organized the acid attack on the theater’s ballet chief, Moscow police said yesterday.

Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet, suffered severe burns to his eyes and face on Jan. 17 when a masked attacker threw a jar of sulfuric acid in his face as he returned home late at night. The 42-year-old former dancer is undergoing treatment in Germany.

Star dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, 29, confessed to masterminding the attack, and two other men confessed to being accomplices, police said in a statement. “I organized that attack but not to the extent that it occurred,” a bleary-eyed Dmitrichenko said in footage released by Russian police.

The Associated Press could not immediately verify whether that confession was made under duress. Moscow police official Svetlana Kokotova told The Associated Press that investigators believe that Dmitrichenko harbored “personal enmity (against Filin) based on his professional activity.”

Bolshoi spokeswoman Katerina Novikova told AP that Filin had been informed about Dmitrichenko’s detention,

MOSCOW: A video grab taken from video released yesterday by Moscow Police Department shows Yuri Zarutsky, who confessed to be the assailant who flung acid at Bolshoi ballet’s artistic director, Sergei Filin.

Bolshoi Ballet soloist, Pavel Dmitrichenko, and two other detained suspects, including Yuri Zarutsky, have confessed to their involvement in the acid attack on the artistic director of world famous dance company Sergei Filin, Moscow police said. — AFP but said the theater would not comment until after the trial.

Dmitrichenko, who comes from a family of dancers and joined the Bolshoi in 2002, has danced several major parts in recent years, including the villain in “Swan Lake.”

Novikova said on Tuesday that management was unaware of any conflict between him and Filin. However, Channel One state television reported that Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend, Anzhelina Vorontsova, also a Bolshoi soloist, was known to have been at odds with Filin.

Dmitrichenko remained in police custody pending a court hearing on Thursday in which prosecutors will ask the court to have the men arrested. It was unclear whether the three men had lawyers, or when the prosecutors will move for formal charges against them.

The Bolshoi Theater is one of Russia’s premier cultural institutions, best known

for “Swan Lake” and the other grand classical ballets that grace its stage. Backstage, the ballet company has been troubled by deep intrigue and infighting that have led to the departure of several artistic directors over recent years.

Filin’s colleagues have said the attack could be in retaliation for his selection of certain dancers over others for prized roles.

Filin told state television before he checked out of a Moscow hospital in January that he knew who ordered the attack but would not name the person.

The alleged perpetrator, 35-year-old Yuri Zarutsky, was arrested on Tuesday in the Tver region north of Moscow, police said.

Police had also detained and questioned another suspected accomplice, identified as Andrei Lipatov, who is believed to have driven Zarutsky to the scene of the crime.

Russian news agencies reported that Lipatov had been detained in Stupino, a sprawling Moscow suburb where the Bolshoi owns summer houses used by its dancers and management. Dmitrichenko said in a recent interview that he was managing the Bolshoi dachas in his spare time.

The Bolshoi’s general director, Anatoly Iksanov, accused longtime principal dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze of inspiring the attack.

Tsiskaridze, a long-time critic of the theater’s management, has denied the allegation and accused Iksanov and his allies of fueling the dispute.

Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend was coached

by Tsiskaridze. When contacted by The Associated Press Tsiskaridze texted back: “I have nothing to say...” Filin is the sixth artistic director at the Bolshoi since the legendary Yuri Grigorovich, who led the dance company for three decades, resigned in 1995 after losing a protracted dispute with theater management.

Successive artistic directors have been unable to overcome the resistance from dancers and teachers still loyal to Grigorovich, but Filin was seen as capable of bridging that gap.

The Izvestia daily yesterday quoted ballet teacher Marina Kondratyeva as saying that Dmitrichenko had a brilliant career and would not have needed to seek revenge on Filin.

Kondratyeva admitted that his girlfriend Vorontsova had not been given leading parts lately but for a good reason: “How could Filin ‘elbow her out’? Tsiskaridze is mentoring and coaching her - but she was just plain fat.”

Vorontsova danced for Filin when he worked at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, Moscow’s second ballet company. Russian newspapers said that Filin expected Vorontsova to stay at the theater when she finished doing her apprenticeship but she went to Bolshoi instead - before Filin was hired to work there.

Russian newspapers quoted unidentified ballet dancers saying that Dmitrichenko had a fiery temper. In a rare public outburst, Dmitrichenko posted an angry comment in November responding to a newspaper review which said his “artistic scope is limited not to mention his physical potential.”

Dmitrichenko on the website of the Kommersant daily accused the journalist of bias, calling the writer “a failed performer.”

Kommersant later took down his comment.

One of the screenshots of the detailed remarks read: “I’m happy, I’m accomplished, I work with the genius of a teacher, I work with Genius, Grigorovich himself!!! What about you??” Dmitrichenko was due to appear at the Bolshoi in “Sleeping Beauty” on March 16 where he played Bluebird. — AP

DAVEYTON: Friends, family and supporters of Mido Macia, a Mozambican man who died in custody after being dragged behind a South African police van, hold a memorial service for him in Daveyton yesterday. Some one thousand mourners gathered at the sports stadium in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg, to remember Macia. — AFP

S Africa holds memorial for Mozambican dead in custody

DAVEYTON: Friends, family and supporters of a Mozambican man who died in custody after being dragged behind a South African police van held a memorial service for him yesterday. Around a thousand mourners gathered at the sports stadium in Daveyton, the town east of Johannesburg where 27-year-old Mido Macia died on Tuesday last week.

The noisy remembrance was tinged with anger, the singing intermixed with shouts while the crowd, a mix of Mozambicans, South Africans and other immigrants, angrily booed police representatives out of the stadium.

Footage showed the Mozambican taxi driver being manhandled, handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged hundreds of metres to a local police station. Just over two hours later he was found dead in his cell.

A post-mortem found he died from head injuries and internal bleeding. The bail hearing for the eight police officers charged with his murder will start Friday. Mourners at the memorial sang and held posters of Macia while several people carried a woman by her arms and legs, imitating the now infamous images of his abuse.

One man held a poster with the words “Police stop promoting xenophobia. Justice must take its course”. At one point the crowd broke out singing “Umshimi wami” (Bring me my machine gun), a Zulu struggle song known to the many Mozambicans who have lived as migrant workers in South Africa.

“I’m here because they took away my brother,” said Mandla Ncube, a 29-year-old immigrant from neighbouring Zimbabwe.

“Police tell themselves they’ve got power,” he told AFP. “They treat us badly,” he added, bemoaning violence against foreigners in Africa’s largest economy. The crowd echoed his feeling, loudly cheering a local schoolgirl who slammed police violence in a poem. “This isn’t the first time they killed,” she said. Several members of Macia’s family and friends who had travelled from Mozambique sat with officials on the pitch of the football field.

His father, Jossefa, was expected later.

One of Macia’s neighbours said his death had “devastated” his father. “As family and friends we just want justice,” Gugu Gumede, 25, told AFP. Thinking of her friend, Gumede would miss “the

jokes we used to have, his smile,” she said in a soft voice. Representatives of South Africa’s ruling ANC party, Mozambique’s ambassador and members of its ruling party Frelimo also attended the memorial, as did Nelson Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, who was cheered by the crowd.

Mozambicans revere Machel as widow of their liberation hero and first president Samora Machel.

“Mama Graca” said the “level of anger and aggression in South Africans is far deeper than we realised.” “It’s an expression of trouble from the past that hasn’t been dealt with,” Machel told journalists.

“We have big trouble that we must deal with and we must deal with it now,” she said. South Africa had to find a way to heal “a society that is bleeding and breathing in pain,” she added.

Local minibus taxi associations also sent delegations. News of Macia’s death spread quickly online and sent shockwaves throughout the country, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa’s much maligned police force. South African authorities pledged to help repatriate his body to Mozambique. He will be buried outside the capital Maputo on Saturday. —AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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

Sarkozy may return to politics ‘out of duty’ PARIS: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has given his strongest hint yet that he might make a comeback bid in 2017, telling a magazine a sense of duty to fix the economy might oblige him to run.

Sarkozy’s remarks in the right-leaning weekly Valeurs Actuelles, due out tosday, will increase speculation he could return to politics - talk that has not abated since the conservative was ousted by Socialist Francois Hollande last May. Despite promising then to quit politics for good, the 58-year-old was quoted last October as telling a friend he may have no choice but to run in the next election, causing a stir among his fans who see Hollande as anti-business.

The near-collapse of his centre-right UMP party which has split into two factions unable to decide on a leader, and a slump in Hollande’s ratings as unemployment surges, have fuelled hopes on the right that Sarkozy could try for another term.

The former president said a lack of fresh ideas on how to fix France’s problems from either the ruling Socialists or the UMP as it stands today could force his hand. “Politics, that’s over,” Sarkozy was quoted as saying by the magazine.

He said he would, however, be forced to act were France “caught between the extremism of the left and that of the right”. “There will unfortunately come a time when the question will no longer

Suspect in deadly NYC crash yet to surrender NEW YORK: Police worked through the night searching for a man suspected of driving the car that killed a pregnant woman, her husband and ultimately their child in a wreckage-strewn crash as a $15,000 reward was offered for information.

Police on Tuesday said they’d had no contact with Julio Acevedo, 44, and early Wednesday he’d still not turned himself in although a friend said he planned to surrender. “We are still looking to apprehend him,” police spokesman Paul Browne said.

“We have no information that he is going to surrender.”

Acevedo told the Daily News of New York Tuesday that he was speeding away from a gunman who was trying to shoot at him early Sunday when the accident with a hired car happened in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The car was carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21. They died Sunday and their premature son died on Monday.

Members of the couple’s Hasidic Jewish community have offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to Acevedo’s capture and called for murder charges to be filed. Acevedo told the Daily News that he fled the scene because he was worried he’d be killed and didn’t know the couple had died until he saw it in newspapers.

“My heart goes out to them,” Acevedo told the newspaper Tuesday in a phone call arranged by a friend, Derrick Hamilton. “I didn’t know they died until I saw the news.”

Hamilton said Acevedo was running for his life after the crash, and called it a terrible accident. He told The Associated Press that Acevedo was meeting with a lawyer and that they were going to arrange for Acevedo to turn himself in.

Police said Acevedo was in a BMW going at least 60 mph when he crashed. The hired car had a stop sign; it’s not clear if the driver stopped.

Acevedo was arrested last month on a charge of driving while under the influence, and the case is pending. He was stopped by police after they said he was driving erratically around 3 a.m. Feb. 17. He had a blood-alcohol level of .13, over the limit of .08, police said.

Acevedo served about a decade in prison in the 1990s for manslaughter after he was convicted of shooting Kelvin Martin, a Brooklyn criminal whose moniker “50 Cent” was the inspiration for rapper Curtis Jackson’s current stage name.

Neighbors said his mother lived in the same building, but she did not answer her door. Shortly after midnight Sunday, Raizy Glauber, who was seven months pregnant, wasn’t feeling well, so the couple decided to go to the hospital, said Sara Glauber, Nachman Glauber’s cousin. They called a livery cab, a hired car that is arranged via telephone, not hailed off the street like a yellow cab.

Angela Merkel at the height of the euro zone crisis.

He also suggested Hollande had made an irresponsible choice to intervene militarily in Mali, where France is helping Malian forces drive back al Qaeda-linked insurgents.

Sarkozy questioned the wisdom of trying to “control a territory that’s three times the size of France with 4,000 men”.

“The rule is that you never go into a country that doesn’t have a government,” he said.

One of the defining moments of Sarkozy’s presidency was his 2011 decision to spearhead the West’s military campaign in Libya which culminated in the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s dictator-

ship. Last August, Sarkozy made a rare return to the media limelight to call for urgent international action to end the diplomatic stalemate in Syria. Regarding France - where Hollande’s ratings have been dragged down by a surge in jobless claims to a 15-year high as the economy stagnates - Sarkozy said the public’s patience was wearing thin. “ We’re heading towards serious events,” Sarkozy said, citing a dearth of job creation and the decline of the auto industry. “There will be a social crisis.

Then we’ll be caught with a financial crisis of an uncommon violence and it will end in political trouble,” he said. “You know, the French are not so much angry as scared.” — Reuters

Obama’s CIA nominee on fast track for confirmation Feinstein calling for approval of Brennan’s nomination

BROOKLYN: This undated photo, provided by the New York City Police Department on Monday March 4, 2013, shows Julio Acevedo, 44, who police are looking for in connection with the death of an expectant couple. — AP The crash with the BMW reduced the cab to a crumpled heap, and Raizy Glauber was thrown from the wreck. The engine ended up in the back seat. The driver of the livery cab was knocked unconscious but was not seriously hurt.

The couple belonged to a close-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, which is home to the largest community of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000. They were members of the Satmar Hasidic sect. Raizy Glauber grew up in a prominent rabbinical family. Her husband was studying at a rabbinical college; his family founded a line of clothing for Orthodox Jews.

The child was delivered by cesarean section after his parents were killed. The baby weighed only about 4 pounds when he was delivered, neighbors and friends said.

He died of extreme prematurity, the city medical examiner’s office said.

The baby was buried Monday near his parents’ graves, according to Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the Hasidic Jewish community. About a thousand community members turned out for the young couple’s funeral a day earlier.

How Acevedo came to possess the BMW is under investigation. The registered owner, Takia Walker, was arrested Sunday on insurance fraud charges in a scam involving the car, police said, but the Bronx district attorney’s office said Tuesday that the case was deferred. Walker was not involved in the crash. A telephone number listed for her rang unanswered. — AP

American charged with helping bomber in Pakistan PORTLAND: FBI agents arrested a Portland city worker on allegations that he provided support to a suicide bomber who participated in a 2009 attack in Pakistan that killed about 30 people and injured another 300.

Reaz Qadir Khan, 48, was arrested at his home on Tuesday and charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, US Attorney Amanda Marshall said. He pleaded not guilty later in the day in federal court, The Oregonian reported.

Khan is a wastewater treatment plant operator for the city of Portland. The arrest “brings home the reality that worldwide headlines can resonate right here in Portland,” Mayor Charlie Hales said in a statement. The mayor urged people to remember that charges are only allegations and that Khan is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

Khan was jailed pending a detention hearing scheduled for yesterday afternoon. If convicted, Khan faces a potential sentence of life in prison. An indictment unsealed Tuesday alleges the naturalized US citizen provided advice and financial help to Ali Jaleel, one of three people who carried out the attack at Pakistan’s intelligence headquarters in Lahore. Jaleel died in the attack. He took responsibility for the bombing in a video released by al-Qaida, and was shown at a training camp, Marshall said.

“The events of May 27, 2009, remind us that terrorism is not defined by

be ‘Do you want to?’ but ‘Do you have the choice?’” Sarkozy said. “In that case, actually, I will be obliged to take it on.

Not out of desire. Out of duty. Only because it’s about France.”

Since his defeat, Sarkozy has kept a low media profile, filling his time by vacationing and doing the rounds of the international conference circuit.

An Ifop poll yesterday found 56 percent of UMP voters rated Sarkozy as their top choice for a 2017 presidential run.

Among French voters as a whole, 35 percent hope for Sarkozy’s return to politics, a BVA poll found last month.

In the inter view, Sarkozy said Hollande had undone “everything I managed to build” with German Chancellor

Muslims targeting non Muslims, but is defined by violent extremists targeting anyone they perceive as a threat to their oppressive agenda,” Marshall said.

Khan’s attorney, Larr y Matasar, declined to discuss the case. “We just have to take this one step at a time,” he said. “We’re going to first try to get him released from custody (Wednesday).”

According to the indictment, Khan conspired with Jaleel and others starting in December 2005. Jaleel allegedly emailed Khan in 2008 about his plan to travel to Pakistan. Two years earlier, Jaleel had been part of a small group from the Maldives that tried to enter Pakistan for training, but was detained, returned home and placed under house arrest.

Khan, the indictment states, instructed Jaleel on how to avoid detection and offered to help with financial arrangements.

In October 2008, Jaleel wrote that he needed $2,500. According to the indictment, Khan contacted someone in Los Angeles who arranged to have the money waiting for Jaleel in Karachi, Pakistan.

Jaleel wrote to Khan the following month, saying he was about to enter a training camp and did not need all the money. Khan allegedly told Jaleel to keep the money so it could be sent to Jaleel’s two wives in the Maldives.

Shortly after the suicide attack, Khan wired almost $750 from an Oregon store to one of Jaleel’s wives, the indictment states. — AP

WASHINGTON: After lagging for weeks, John Brennan’s nomination to be CIA director is on the fast track to Senate confirmation after the White House agreed to give lawmakers access to top-secret legal opinions justifying the use of lethal drone strikes against terror suspects.

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved President Barack Obama’s pick to lead the spy agency, clearing the way for the full Senate to confirm Brennan as early as Thursday. The tally was 12-3, with four Republicans on the committee siding with the eight Democrats on the panel.

The committee’s chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is calling for swift approval of Brennan’s nomination. If confirmed, Brennan would replace Michael Morell, the CIA’s deputy director who has been acting director since David Petraeus resigned in November after acknowledging an affair with his biographer.

“He’s got a whole chain of duties as the No. 2 and it’s hard to be No. 1 at the same time,” Feinstein said Tuesday of Morell. “ This is an agency that most of us think needs oversight, needs supervision and needs direction. It needs a director.”

The Republican vice chairman of the committee, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican, voted against the nomination because he didn’t think Brennan would create the type of “trust relationship” that needs to exist between the agency and Congress.

But Chambliss said he would not encourage his Republican colleagues to tr y and hold up Brennan’s installation at the CIA. Republicans had threatened to delay a vote unless the White House also delivered more detailed records about the Sept. 11 attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

“I don’t intend to encourage a

filibuster of Mr. Brennan,” Chambliss said following the committee’s vote. “I think it will run its normal course and he’ll probably be confirmed.”

Brennan so far has escaped the harsh treatment that former Sen. Chuck Hagel, the president’s choice to lead the Defense Department, received from Senate Republicans.

But Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have said they will oppose Brennan’s nomination on the Senate floor if they don’t get classified information, including emails among top US national security officials, detailing the Obama administration’s actions immediately following the attack last September in Benghazi that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Feinstein said the White House has supplied the “great bulk” of the Benghazi records, and lawmakers are awaiting just “a few odds and ends that need to come.”

Brennan currently ser ves as Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser in the White House. He was nominated by the president in early Januar y and the Intelligence Committee held his confirmation hearing on Feb. 7. But action on the appointment stalled as committee members wrangled with the White House over the classified legal opinions prepared by the Justice Department that outline the use of unmanned spy planes to kill alQaeda suspects overseas, including American citizens.

The White House released two of 11 legal opinions to the Intelligence Committee just hours before Brennan’s confirmation hearing. Two other memos had already been released to the committee.

Intelligence Committee members had argued they can’t perform adequate oversight without reviewing the contents of the opinions, but the White House had resisted requests for full disclosure. Just

WASHINGTON: In this Feb. 7, 2013 photo, CIA Director nominee John Brennan testifies on Capitol Hill during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Brennan’s nomination to be director of the CIA is on the fast track to Senate confirmation after the White House broke the impasse by agreeing to give lawmakers access to top-secret legal opinions that justify the use of lethal drone strikes against terror suspects. — AP hours before voting on Brennan’s ing banned shortly after taking nomination, Feinstein announced office. Drone strikes are employed the White House had agreed to only as a “last resort,” Brennan told the committee. But he also said he provide all the opinions.

Feinstein attributed the White had no qualms about going after House’s resistance to providing the US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in memos to a difference of opinion September 2011. A drone strike in between lawmakers and the Yemen killed al-Awlaki and Samir Obama administration over what Khan, both US citizens. A drone strike two weeks later killed althe documents represented.

“The White House tends to look Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, a Denver at this as advice to the president, native.

Brennan spent 25 years at the and therefore that advice is protected,” she said. But the committee CIA before moving in 2003 from his viewed the opinions as the legal job as deputy executive director of advice that underwrites possible the agency to run the Terrorist actions by US intelligence agencies Threat Integration Center. He later that Congress is charged with over- worked as interim director of the seeing. “So there are different views center’s successor organization, the National Counterterrorism Center. of this,” Feinstein said.

When Bush’s second term began Brennan vigorously defended the use of drone strikes during his in 2005, Brennan left government confirmation hearing. He declined to work for a company that proto say whether he believes water- vides counterterror analysis to fedboarding, which simulates drown- eral agencies. After Obama took ing, amounted to torture. But he office in 2009, he returned to the called the practice “reprehensible” federal payroll as the president’s and said it should never be done top counterterrorism adviser in the again. Obama ordered waterboard- White House. — AP

Suspense over conclave date as cardinals speak out VATICAN CITY: Suspense over the date of the conclave to elect a new pope intensified yesterday as some cardinals called for more time for debate and seized the chance to speak out about the problems facing the Church and what the future holds. “ We need a new way of governing the Church. A more horizontal government. The Curia must be revolutionised,” German Cardinal Walter Kasper said in an interview with La Repubblica daily, referring to the Vatican’s bickering governing body.

The Curia has become one of the key issues of debates surrounding the future of the Church after secret papal documents leaked to the press last year in a scandal dubbed “Vatileaks” alleged

corruption and intrigue in the administration and infighting many hope the new pope will tackle.

“I think the Curia in general, beyond whatever emerges from Vatileaks, needs to be revolutionised. And as well as the word reform, there must be a second: transparency. The Curia must begin to open up, and not fear transparency,” Kasper said. Though the centuries-old bureaucracy should serve the papacy, it has the power to block or water down papal decisions and has been criticised for playing politics under Benedict. There have been calls for details of an in-house investigative report about “Vatileaks”, and some electors have been openly reluctant about speeding up the vote without knowing all

VATICAN: (From left), Cardinals Miloslav Vlk, of the Czech Republic, Walter Kasper, of Germany, Giuseppe Betori, of Italy, and Dominik Duka, also of the Czech Republic, arrive for a cardinals’ meeting, at the Vatican, yesterday, 2013. Cardinals from around the world have gathered inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope. — AP

the facts. “This is time for a long reflection. This conclave needs to be prepared calmly. There is no hurry,” Kasper said, while US cardinal Francis George simply said: “We are not ready yet.”

“I’m not saying Vatileaks will be a determining factor but I do want to know all pertinent aspects,” said US Cardinal Sean O’Malley. “We have to take all the time we need.”

The Vatican has said it wants a new pope in place by Easter, and before he retired Benedict XVI authorised cardinals to move the date of the conclave forward from the traditional 15 to 20 days following his departure, since they are not mourning a dead pope.

On Tuesday, spokesman Federico Lombardi said it was not necessary for all of the 115 cardinal electors-cardinals below the age of 80 — to be present in Rome for the date to be set, though there seemed to be some confusion among cardinals as to whether they had to wait for three colleagues still missing to arrive.

“It’s not a question of rules. Even if all the cardinal electors were here in Rome I would still not want to go into the conclave now,” George said in an interview with La Stampa daily.

“We need the necessary information to be able to make the right choice. What went wrong, to create this break in trust within the government of the Holy See? It is a concern, and one we’ve not had a formal report about,” he added. Rumours continued to swirl over who is the most likely candidate to occupy St Peter’s chair after Benedict’s surprise resignation, though analysts have said the field is still wide open. “I can tell you that the list of papal contenders is growing rather than shrinking,” George said. “The names bandied around in the newspapers make sense, but we are also talking about candidates which have not been mentioned so far,” he said.

Meanwhile “Pope Emeritus” Benedict, who retired last week to the papal summer home of Castel Gandolfo near Rome, found himself back in the media on Wednesday as paparazzi photographs of the 85-year old in a baseball cap strolling in the garden were splashed all over the newspapers. — AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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

Philippines to accuse police, soldiers in killings MANILA: Philippine investigators will file a murder case against 35 police officers and soldiers for allegedly executing 13 people at a road checkpoint in a plan by a police colonel to eliminate a rival in an illegal gambling operation, the justice secretary said yesterday.

An investigation ordered by President Benigno Aquino III into the killings concluded that the victims were summarily executed and there was no shootout as

claimed by the security personnel.

Presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said Aquino directed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to file a criminal and administrative complaint after reading the report by the National Bureau of Investigation. “The conclusion is that no shootout occurred,” de Lima said. “The victims were summarily executed and all indications point to a rubout.”She said the NBI will file a criminal complaint with state

prosecutors, who will decide whether there is enough evidence against the 21 police and 14 soldiers before filing the case in court.

The investigation found that the killings were a plan by the police colonel who led the security force at the checkpoint, Hansel Marantan, to eliminate his rival in the illegal gambling operation.

Local newspapers have reported that Marantan was a protector of an illegal

numbers game called “jueteng.”

Marantan has denied any wrongdoing.

De Lima said the police and soldiers also face charges of obstruction of justice for tampering with evidence, including repositioning the weapons of the victims and submitting guns that were not used in the killings for forensic analysis, in an attempt to show there was a shootout when investigators found none.The 13 victims were in two SUVs that were peppered with bullets

at the checkpoint in Quezon province’s Atimonan township, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Manila. Some victims, including three police officers and two air force personnel, were armed but were not able to fire their weapons, investigators said.

Police corruption has long been a major problem in the Philippines, hampering the justice system and undermining confidence in authorities. — AP

Seoul vows to retaliate if provoked by North China calls for restraint

MANILA: Filipino Muslims are joined by other protesters as they march towards the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines yesterday during a rally to protest the military assault by Malaysian forces on nearly 200 Filipinos occupying a Borneo coastal village. — AP

Malaysia hunts for invaders as ‘more fighters join’ FELDA SAHABAT: Malaysia yesterday expanded its hunt for armed Filipino invaders who dodged a military assault meant to crush them, as a Philippine guerrilla said more Islamic fighters had arrived.

Malaysia’s police chief said followers of a self-styled Muslim sultan had scattered after an air and ground attack the day before in eastern Sabah state, aimed at ending a three-week stand-off, the country’s worst security crisis in years.

Indicating authorities were struggling to corral the slippery gunmen, they “expanded the operations area” yesrterday to a wider swathe of Borneo island farm country, Ismail Omar told reporters in a village near the battlezone.

For the first time, authorities also released evidence of militant deaths, handing out grisly photos of corpses and saying 13 bodies had been found. But the latest announcements meant the government continued to have little proof that the assault on the estimated 100-300 militants pinned down amid vast oil palm plantations had hit the mark.

Officials said nine of the discovered corpses were believed to have died in an earlier shootout and one was shot in mopup operations Wednesday, while it remained unclear when the others died.

Officials did not offer an updated death toll for the overall incursion. Previous reports before Tuesday’s crackdown have said 19 militants and eight police had been killed in clashes.

The invaders landed from the nearby southern Philippines on February 12, claiming Sabah for their Manila-based “sultan” Jamalul Kiram III, tearing open a long-dormant territorial row and causing residents to flee nearby towns and villages.

The elderly Kiram appeared to thumb his nose at Malaysia Wednesday, saying he had just chatted by phone with his younger brother, one of the incursion’s purported leaders. “He was telling me they are eating good food, but the hard thing is they are being chased. So where will they go?” he said, declining to specify their location but adding that they would not surrender.

Kiram, 74, claims to be heir of the former sultanate of Sulu, which once controlled part of the southern Philippines and claimed sovereignty over Sabah. The intruders are attempting to reassert his

claim to the remote area.

A leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which waged a past insurgency against the Philippine government, warned of more trouble ahead, saying hardened fighters from his Muslim group had arrived to support the militants.

“Many have slipped through the security forces” in recent days, Muhajab Hashim told AFP in Manila, adding more were expected to join the fray, but declining to reveal numbers.

“They know the area like the back of their hands because they trained there in the past,” he said, referring to long-standing allegations that Malaysia helped trained MNLF leaders for their insurgency against Manila.

Muslim-majority Malaysia, accustomed to watching neighbours Thailand and the Philippines grapple with Islamic insurgents, has been shocked by the drama.

The government, which faces closely fought elections in coming months, has been harshly criticised by the opposition over the breach. The news that militants had escaped destruction stoked the fears of local residents already on edge over the stunning incursion into the quiet region, covered by huge expanses of oil palm trees and pockets of jungle.

“If there are no more negotiations I think more people on both sides will die,” local resident Shamsul Bahari said. “I am scared to even go to work in the palm oil estate.”

An AFP reporter saw security forces including soldiers in full battle gear and armoured personnel carriers continuing to head toward the military operations zone centred on the village of Tanduo yesterday.

Authorities have not explained how the intruders were able to slip through a security cordon built up over the course of the three-week standoff. Britain, the United States and Australia issued advisories warning against travel to affected areas.

Some suspect the MNLF orchestrated the offensive because they feared a peace deal being finalised between the Philippine government and another Muslim separatist group would marginalise them.

Philippine presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said its navy intercepted 70 people trying to join the insurgents last month but added Manila had no knowledge of the claim of MNLF fighters heading to the conflict. — AFP

OKUMA: A radiation monitor indicates 114.00 microsieverts per hour near the No.4 reactor (behind C) and it’s foundation construction (behind R) for storage of melted fuel rods at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma, Fukushima prefecture yesterday. The visit by the media was organised ahead of the second anniversary of the March 11, 2011 tsunami and earthquake. — AFP

SEOUL: South Korea warned yesterday that it would retaliate against any provocation from North Korea, a day after the North threatened to tear up the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.

“If North Korea carries out provocations that threaten the lives and safety of South Koreans, our military will carry out strong and resolute retaliations,” Army General Kim Yong-Hyun told reporters.

Kim’s briefing followed North Korea’s announcement on Tuesday that it would “completely declare invalid” the armistice agreement in response to moves to toughen UN sanctions after its recent nuclear test.

The announcement, attributed to the supreme command spokesman, also threatened an undefined “strike of justice” against a target of the North’s choosing.

Because the armistice ending the 1950-53 conflict was not followed by a peace treaty, the two Koreas remain technically at war, with the ceasefire agreement theoretically the only barrier to a resumption of full hostilities.

The North has previously threatened to rip up the agreement and the truce has not prevented several bloody land and sea border clashes. But the latest threat comes at a time of particularly heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, following the North’s successful launch of a long range rocket in December and its nuclear test last month.

Tuesday’s army statement included a pointed mention of North Korea possessing “lighter and smaller nukes” than before. The UN Security Council is expected to adopt tougher sanctions against the North this week-a move likely to provoke a response from Pyongyang, which is also angry about joint US-South Korean military drills. China called for restraint and said the armistice agreement played an important role in safeguarding peace on the peninsula.

A UN resolution was “still being discussed”, its foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, adding Beijing supports the UN Security Council in making a “necessary and proportionate” response.

“At the same time we hope such action can be conducive to peace and stability and nonproliferation of the Korean peninsula,” she said.

General Kim, the director general of operations

of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said South Korean retaliation would not only target the “origin of provocation” but also the North’s commanding forces.

Last month the South’s military released video footage of a newly deployed cruise missile that it could carry out high precision strikes on command centres anywhere in North Korea.

An annual US-South Korea exercise known as Foal Eagle began on March 1 and will run until April 30, involving more than 10,000 US troops along with a far greater number of South Korean personnel. And a largely computer-simulated joint exercise called Key Resolve will be held from March 11-21.

The North’s statement denounced the drills as the “most dangerous nuclear war manoeuvres... and the most undisguised military provocation”. “This land is neither the Balkans nor Iraq and Libya,” the statement said, warning of the

North’s ability to launch “diversified precision nuclear strikes” in response. South Korea’s defence ministry says the North is expected next week to launch its own large-scale military exercise involving the three main branches of its armed forces.

The tension will be further ramped up if the UN Security Council goes ahead as expected this week and places North Korea under one of the toughest sanctions regimes ever ordered as a punishment for its nuclear test.

The sanctions, hammered out between the United States and the North’s only major ally China, are believed to target the illicit activities of North Korean diplomats, banking relationships and bulk crash transfers. They would also make searches of suspect ships compulsory and order UN members to refuse access to planes suspected of carrying banned material to or from North Korea. — AFP

PYONGYANG: Soldiers of Kim Il Sung Military University perform military training yesterday, in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea’s military is vowing to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War, straining already frayed ties between Washington and Pyongyang as the United Nations moves to impose punishing sanctions over the North’s recent nuclear test. — AP

Khmer Rouge defendant in ‘critical condition’ PHNOM PENH: A former Khmer Rouge leader on trial for genocide is in critical condition in hospital, his lawyer said yesterday, stoking fears that top figures in the murderous regime may never face justice.

Ieng Sary, who at 87 years old is the oldest defendant at Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court, was hospitalised on Monday with stomach problems-the latest in a string of ailments. “His situation is critical now,” Ieng Sary’s Cambodian lawyer Ang Udom told AFP. The former student radical, who later emerged as one of the few public faces of the Khmer Rouge during its brutal rule in the late 1970s, has difficulty eating and has been vomiting, he said.

The three most senior surviving leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge stand accused of some of the gravest crimes in modern history for their roles in up to two million deaths during the “Killing Fields” era.

Ieng Sary, along with “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, 86, and one-time head of state Khieu Samphan, 81, deny charges including war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Health fears have long hung over the court with the octogenarian defendants all suffering a variety of ailments. “If they die the process of finding justice will end in the middle of the river and it will be meaningless for us,” said Chum Mey, 82, a prominent survivor of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh.

“I want them to admit their mistakes-that’s all. I think they are cowards,” he told AFP. A court official declined to comment on the latest health condition of Ieng Sary, who also suffers from heart and back problems. The one-time minister, who was born to a poor ethnic Khmer family in south Vietnam, has repeatedly denied knowledge of the mass executions that came to define the Khmer Rouge regime, and claimed he had no powers of arrest.

His wife Ieng Thirith, the regime’s former social affairs minister, was supposed to be in the dock with him, but she was deemed unfit for trial last year after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Led by “Brother Number One” Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population through starvation, overwork or execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia during their rule.

Cambodia’s war crimes court has so far achieved one conviction, sentencing former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav to life in jail for overseeing the deaths of some 15,000 people.

In another setback, the tribunal was forced to suspend the trial of the three leaders Monday because of a strike over unpaid wages. — AFP

Vietnam to ban fat, short traffic police HANOI: Short, pot-bellied policemen will be banned from traffic duty in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi and given office jobs in a bid to improve the force’s public image, police said yesterday.

Details of the new height and weight restrictions were not available but the head of Hanoi’s traffic police said they were working on a list of cops who didn’t measure up and would be redeployed out of sight.

“Police with pot-bellies, or who are too small, will be moved to office work to avoid their coming into contact with the public,” Colonel Dao Vinh Thang told AFP. “This is one of the strategies to build up the image of Hanoi’s traffic police in 2013,” he added. Vietnam’s traffic police-which were voted the “most corrupt” institution in

the communist country according to a recent World Bank-funded survey-have long been dogged by a poor public image.

In 2011, authorities banned traffic police from wearing sunglasses on duty and warned them not to hide behind trees to ambush motorists to extract fines.

Earlier this year, authorities introduced specially-trained female officers on busy corners during rush hour in a bid to “cast a friendly light” onto the force, state media reported at the time.

The move to weed out fat, short policemen is a good initiative which may help improve public perceptions of the force, policeman Nguyen Trong Thai told state media yesterday. “It is necessary for officers to undergo regular physical training,” he said. — AFP

BEIJING: A Chinese honor guard marches during a daily flag-lowering ceremony in Beijing yesterday. China announced a further double-digit rise in its defence budget on March 5, underlining its military ambitions with Beijing embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with its neighbours. — AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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

Australia confirms ‘Prisoner X’ worked for Israel SYDNEY: Australia yesterday admitted for the first time that a man found hanged in a Tel Aviv jail worked for the Israeli government, but stopped short of confirming he was a Mossad spy.

Dual Australian-Israeli citizen Ben Zygier, known as “Prisoner X”, died in 2010 in an allegedly suicide-proof cell with Israel going to extreme lengths to cover it up, sparking claims by Australian media that he worked for Mossad.

In releasing a report into his department’s handling of Zygier’s imprisonment, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said it was a complicated case.

“Mr Zygier went off to live in another country, for 10 years, took out citizenship of that country, worked for its government,” he said.

“And if reports are to be believed, he

worked for one of its intelligence services. That’s not something I can deny or confirm. You can draw your own conclusions.” That Zygier, held in a high security prison under continuous surveillance, managed to hang himself has fed conspiracy theories. Last month, ABC television said Zygier, 34, was arrested after giving Australian intelligence officials a comprehensive account of a number of Mossad operations, which Israel denied.

Australian intelligence was first advised of Zygier’s arrest in February 2010, around the time Dubai police accused Mossad agents of carrying out a hit on a top Hamas militant using western passports-four of them Australian.

Carr said there was no evidence of a link between Zygier and the Dubai case.

“The advice that I got is that nothing in

the Zygier file, nothing in the Zygier record, has him working in Dubai,” Carr told journalists.

But he said he was awaiting the outcome of Israeli inquiries, saying they could shed light on the unanswered question of whether Australian passports were used by dual nationals in their work for foreign governments.

Reports have suggested that spy agencies favour recruits holding Australian passports because they arouse little suspicion.

“Certainly if Australian passports were misused here, that’s something we are forced to take very seriously because no country can live with any erosion of the integrity of its passport system,” Carr said. “If the world thinks that Australian passports are routinely debauched by

another country, then Australians presenting their passport somewhere in the world could well face their lives in danger. We can’t live with that.

“If that’s confirmed, we’ll be registering the strongest protest.” In Australia’s report into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) handling of the case, Carr criticised a lack of clarity in government decision-making over consular responsibilities.

“As for our relations with Israel in this matter, Israel did provide the family access and visits by his legal representation. There were no complaints from his family or lawyer about access,” he said. “ We did seek details about the charges against him but the Israeli government declined to provide this. It was covered by a gag order in Israel.

“We await the outcome of, apparently, several inquiries being carried out in Israel. We reserve our right to seek further information from Israel,” Carr added.

Carr said Australia’s prime minister at the time, Kevin Rudd, and then foreign minister Stephen Smith, were not briefed on Zygier’s arrest, and DFAT failed to follow-up on the case.

The report recommended any Australian agency that becomes aware of the detention of an Australian citizen tell the relevant ambassador or high commissioner, unless the foreign minister grants an exemption. Zygier, who also went by the names Ben Alon, Allen and Burrows, was raised in Melbourne but moved to Israel about a decade before his death. After he died, his body was returned to Australia. — AFP

US to transfer last Afghan prisoners from Bagram jail US seeking immunity from local prosecution for troops

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) delivers a speech on the opening session of the Parliament in Kabul yesterday. Karzai said the final handover of a US-run prison to local control would take place within days, signalling a breakthrough in a long-running dispute with Washington. — AFP

Karzai calls on troops to clean up own act KABUL: The Afghan president yesterday called on his security forces to end incidents of torture and abuse of the Afghan people, a shift from past speeches that have solely blamed NATO troops for the violations in the country.

In an address to parliament, Hamid Karzai said Afghan forces are also violating their own people’s rights, making it harder for him to raise the issue when abuses are carried out by foreigners.

“It’s not forgivable ... Our Afghan people are not safe in their houses,” because of Afghan troops’ treatment, he said. “Why should I blame foreigners?”

The Afghan leader said he did not initially want to believe reports that his own security forces had tortured prisoners, for instance, but that now he was calling on Afghan forces to respect human rights.

An Afghan government investigation last month found widespread cases of abuse at government-run prisons, backing up the results of a UN investigation that Karzai had initially repudiated.

Karzai’s speech is likely to be welcomed by diplomats who have called on him to acknowledge his own troops’ responsibility for incidents of abuse. But with the remarks, the Afghan leader is also making a veiled reference to his recent calls for the

withdrawal of US special operations forces from Wardak province, neighboring Kabul, because of alleged incidents of abuse by US and Afghan forces there. US officials have said they are investigating the allegations. Karzai also called on the Afghan Taleban to acknowledge his offer to open negotiations with them through an official Taleban office, which is due to open in Qatar. The senior Taleban leadership has not responded to the offer.

And in a possibly troubling statement for the international community, Karzai criticized the cost of the last presidential elections, saying that paying for international advisers and enablers drove up the price of each vote to between $30 and $40.

He said elections next time around should be run solely by the Afghans, calling into question whether his government would welcome international monitoring.

The last round of elections was widely criticized for incidents of fraud.

“Our election must be an Afghan-led election without the interference of foreigners,” Karzai said, adding that although the law prohibits him from running for another term, he wants to ensure a free and fair election. “A good election would bring to Afghanistan more stability and prosperity,” he said. — AP

Rahul Gandhi hints he may not marry NEW DELHI: The scion of India’s NehruGandhi political dynasty, Rahul Gandhi, who is seen as a leading contender to be the country’s next prime minister, has suggested he may not marry or have children.

Gandhi, a 42-year-old bachelor, was recently named to the number two post in the ruling Congress party, which is headed by his mother, Sonia Gandhi.

His famous surname and youthful image make him the party’s main hope for elections due next year, but he has been reluctant to take positions of power and has criticised the dynastic politics to which he owes his ascent. On Tuesday, Gandhi suggested he may not tie the knot or start a family because doing so could lead him to push his children forward. “If I get married and have children, I will be status-quoist and will like my children to take my place,” he told party members in New Delhi.

Over the past two years, he has projected himself as a man of the people and considers his main mission to democratise the Congress party and promote youth leaders.

Gandhi again dodged questions about his own aspirations, saying he was not focused on becoming prime minister in remarks likely to worry party leaders who are betting on his star power a year ahead of polls.

“Asking me whether I want to be prime minister is a wrong question,” he told party members in New Delhi. Some analysts interpreted the comment as signalling that Rahul would seek to follow his mother’s example by nominating a prime ministerial candidate while wielding power behind the scenes. Sonia Gandhi named Manmohan Singh as prime minister after elections in 2004. Gandhi is heir to a dynasty that began with India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. His father Rajiv and grandmother Indira were both prime ministers and were both assassinated.

Gandhi’s private life is a tightly guarded secret and little appears in the local press, although he said in 2004 he was dating a Spanish woman called Veronique, an architect who grew up in Venezuela. — AFP

Rahul Gandhi

KABUL: President Hamid Karzai said yesterday the United States would hand over a final group of Afghan prisoners held at a controversial jail, signalling a breakthrough in a long-running dispute with Washington.

Last September the United States gave Afghan authorities control of more than 3,000 detainees at Bagram, a sprawling detention centre north of Kabul which has in the past been dubbed the Guantanamo Bay of Afghanistan.

But the Americans continued to guard 50 foreigners not covered by the agreement as well as hundreds of Afghans arrested since the transfer deal was signed in March 2012. In November Karzai accused the United States of breaching the deal, saying prisoners found innocent by courts were still being held and more people had been captured by American forces against the provisions of the agreement.

Kabul made control over the prison a condition for signing a long-term agreement that would allow some US troops to remain in the country after the bulk of Western combat forces withdraw next year.

The US is seeking immunity from local prosecution for any troops that remain. But implementation of the transfer has been beset by disagreements, and negotiations over the fate of detainees have often ground to a halt.

“Our efforts for the transfer of the US-run prison, years-long efforts, have eventually paid off and... the transfer will at last take place,” Karzai told the opening of a new parliamentary session. “This transfer of prison will take place on Saturday,” he added.

Details of the final agreement have not been released. The US-led military coalition in Kabul declined to comment, except to confirm that the final handover would take place on Saturday.

The Afghanistan Analysts Network think-tank said this week that disputes over Bagram had led to “rocky times” for Afghan-US relations but now “both sides appear determined to come to some kind of agreement”.

It quoted Afghan prison officials as saying that a final group of 400-500 detainees were due

to be transferred, but that about 50 foreign prisoners-mainly Pakistanis-were not covered by the negotiations. Karzai said he would order the release of all “innocent” detainees.

“We understand that there are some innocent people in these jails. I will order their release, no matter if there is criticism. “Those who have been involved in killing people or setting off bombs will serve their punishment,” he said.

January pledged to place all detainees under the “sovereignty and control of Afghanistan, while ensuring that dangerous fighters remain off the battlefield”.

Human rights campaigners have regularly criticised Bagram prison, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kabul. They say it fails to comply with international norms because some inmates are detained without trial or knowledge of the

KABUL: German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere (L) shakes hands with his Afghan counterpart Bismullah Khan during a meeting in Kabul yesterday. De Maiziere announced on March 5, that the German army Bundeswehr will clear the base in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan in the upcoming weeks. — AFP US officials have suggested that some released detainees have returned to the insurgency’s fighting ranks, and there are fears that the government is freeing suspected militants to help kick-start peace talks with the Taliban.

Karzai and President Barack Obama in

Indian teen goes on trial for rape, murder NEW DELHI: An Indian teenager went on trial yesterday charged with taking part in the gang rape and murder of a young physiotherapist, a case which has sparked soul-searching about whether the country is too soft on young offenders.

Police say the juvenile and five men lured the 23year-old woman and her male friend on to a New Delhi bus where they repeatedly raped her and beat them both before tossing them on to a road.

The woman died of internal injuries in Singapore two weeks after the Dec. 16 attack in a case that sparked violent protests and turned a global spotlight on the treatment of women in India.

The 17-year-old defendant, who cannot be named under Indian law, has been charged with the same 13 offences as his co-accused, including rape, murder and robbery, but is being tried separately by the juvenile court. He pleaded not guilty to all charges last week.

If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of three years in juvenile detention, while his adult coaccused, whose trial began last month, could face the death penalty.

That has infuriated many Indians, including some police and political leaders, who have called for tougher punishments for minors and lowering the age at which people can be tried as adults to 16 from 18.

“The boy appeared in court and heard the proceedings with a quiet and calm composure,” a lawyer at Delhi’s Juvenile Justice Board, which comprises a magistrate and two others, said.

The next hearing was set for March 15. The lawyer, who asked not to be identified because of legal restrictions on reporting cases involving minors, said the trial was likely to last two to three months. The victim also cannot be named.

A magistrate who recorded the rape victim’s statement while she was in hospital appeared in court as a prosecution witness, the lawyer said.

The government has ruled out lowering the age at which a defendant can be tried as an adult. India’s juvenile justice laws have evolved over the past decade and are now in line with UN norms focused on humane treatment of minors.

The teenager is being held at a juvenile detention unit reserved for violent offenders, where he is kept in isolation for his own safety.

The other accused are being tried in a special fast-track court opposite the shopping mall where the victim and her friend went to watch the film “Life of Pi” before boarding the bus. — Reuters

charges against them. There have also been repeated concerns about alleged torture in prisons run by the Afghanistan’s NDS intelligence service and police force. A UN report said in January that prisoners were frequently abused and tortured in the Afghan jail system. — AFP

S Lankan police accused of blocking protesters COLOMBO: Police stopped about 1,000 ethnic minority Tamils from traveling to a protest to demand justice for relatives who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war or have been detained since the end of the conflict, causing the protest’s cancellation, an organizer said yesterday.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people took part in a pro-government protest Wednesday outside the country’s United Nations office in the capital, Colombo, calling for investigations into thousands of killings blamed on the Tamil Tiger rebels, who were defeated in the war.

Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war ended in 2009 after government forces crushed the Tamil Tigers, who had been fighting for a separate state for Tamils in the island’s north and east regions. Tamils and rights groups have said that thousands went missing during the war, allegedly at the hands of government security forces. They are demanding a UN-led international probe into alleged human rights abuses during the war, but the government has rejected the calls.

Mano Ganeshan, an opposition leader who heads the commission that campaigns against the disappearances, said buses packed with about 1,000 Tamils were prevented from leaving the northern town of

Vavuniya on Tuesday to make the 210-kilometer (130-mile) journey to Colombo for Wednesday’s protest.

He said government forces and police intimidated and warned the bus drivers not to proceed with the journey. “As the protesters were not allowed to participate, we decided to cancel the protest,” Ganeshan said.

Militar y spokesman Brig. Ruwan Wanigasooriya rejected the allegations and said police stopped the buses to prevent possible clashes in Vavuniya. He said complaints were made to police earlier Tuesday saying people had thrown stones at the buses. Police stopped the buses from moving “in order to prevent a clash between the people in the buses and the people in the area,” Wanigasooriya said.

Separately yesterday, hundreds of people marched across Colombo and demonstrated opposite the UN office, demanding the world body probe atrocities and crimes allegedly committed by the Tamil Tiger rebels. Ananda Perera, a spokesman for the Dead and Missing Persons’ Parents Front, which organized the protest, said demonstrators handed a letter to the UN containing the details of 6,000 people, including civilians, government troops and politicians, killed by the rebels. — AP

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil women hold portraits of their missing relatives during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, yesterday. Parents of missing and detained ethnic Tamils backed by the Tamil political group Civil Monitoring Group organized the protest to demand the UN human rights body pressure the Sri Lankan government to find the whereabouts of their family members. — AP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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Issues

Venezuela-US ties unlikely to thaw soon

By Jo Biddle he US has long hoped that a post-Chavez era could herald a new era in ties with Venezuela, but allegations of a US plot to kill the leftist leader show any rapprochement is still far off. After a long battle with cancer, President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday, aged 58, throwing his country’s immediate political future into doubt and leaving Washington wondering what lies ahead for the Latin American nation. “I think the hardest days for our relationship with Venezuela are not behind us, they are ahead of us,” warned Carl Meacham, director of the Americas program with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The willingness is there” from America, he told AFP, “I just don’t think it’s in the Chavista group’s interests to make nice with the United States.”

Within hours of Chavez’s death, US President Barack Obama said Washington hoping for “constructive” future ties with the major oil-producing nation. But he added: “As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.” Caracas and Washington have been operating embassies in each country without an ambassador since a diplomatic spat in 2010.

And analysts said it would be business as usual, particularly after Chavez’s anointed heir, Vice President Nicolas Maduro blamed Washington of a conspiracy to kill his mentor and expelled two US Air Force attaches. “I think it was a sign the Chavez brand of accusing the United States of every possible crime will continue,” Ted Piccone, deputy director of foreign policy for the Brookings Institution, told AFP. “The US approach for these many years has been to lay fairly low, don’t make the United States the story, don’t give Chavez even more ammunition.”

US officials have denounced Maduro’s allegation as absurd, but Piccone said it highlighted the “very strong ideological affinity for an anti-US agenda” in Venezuela.

CSIS expert Meacham agreed, saying Maduro now had to shore up his base within the Chavismo movement, with some intense political jockeying likely in the coming days ahead of elections. “The question you have to ask yourself is, how does a Chavista benefit from making friends with its arch enemy? We believe in capitalism, we believe in free markets, we believe in things that are completely contrary to the Chavista system,” he said.

Maduro took over as interim president and elections will be called within 30 days, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua told state news channel Telesur. “It is the mandate that comandante President Hugo Chavez gave us,” Jaua said, but worryingly adding there was an “absolute absence” over the constitutional procedure to replace Chavez.

Former assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roger Noriega, told AFP “the international community should press Venezuelan authorities to respect the constitution”. “I think there’s a division within Chavismo right now, everyone has to be very prepared for unrest, instability,” he warned.

“Hugo Chavez’s death is a game changer in Venezuela and will inevitably imply a reorganization of the political order,” agreed IHS Latin America analyst Diego Moya-Ocampos in a written note. He warned though of a power vacuum and fears of political instability. While others cautioned violence could erupt, stressing the military role will be key. “Imagine the folks that are very impassioned supporters grieving for Mr Chavez and imagine the students that are demanding elections and feel betrayed, feel they were lied to about Chavez’s health... You put all that together and you have a pretty potent, toxic mix,” said Meacham.

Assistant Secretary for Latin America Roberta Jacobson in a statement offered sympathies to Chavez’s family and friends, adding “we stand ready to support Venezuela during this period”. In late November, when it was already known that Chavez was ill, she had reached out to Maduro to talk by telephone, and US officials say Washington has proposed some ideas on how to improve ties step-by-step. With Chavez’s funeral now set for Friday, a key indicator of US-Venezuelan ties will be who, in the absence of an ambassador, Washington sends to a ceremony likely to be packed with other leftleaning anti-US leaders. “Would the US respond by actually sending someone higher level than Roberta Jacobson? I think they would be smart to do it. I think they will be looking around to see who else goes,” Piccone said. —AFP

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Brazil’s ex-presidents grind axes

By Paulo Prada wo decades ago, two rivals offered competing visions for the future of Latin America’s biggest democracy.

Both men succeeded - each serving two terms as president over a sixteen-year period during which Brazil was transformed from an economic misfit into one of the world’s most promising markets. Their success made Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva models for two types of contemporary South American leader: Cardoso was the reformist, pro-business intellectual and Lula the fiery, but market-friendly, populist.

It would be a mistake, though, to think that common triumphs have fostered much love between the two former presidents. In fact, Brazilians in recent weeks have experienced more than a little sense of deja vu as the two elder statesmen slug it out over their legacies and preferred candidates in next year’s presidential election. In competing speeches, videos and other public statements, Cardoso and Lula, aged 81 and 67 respectively, have been trading barbs as if their eyes were still on the prize they first fought over as much younger men, first in 1994 and again in 1998.

But the bickering is very much about the future, especially at a time when the leftist Workers’ Party, in power since 2003, is increasingly vulnerable because of a twoyear-long halt in Brazil’s once-booming economy. Though the 2014 campaign has yet to formally begin, the still-popular party is on guard as Cardoso and others begin to sharpen their knives. “Fernando Henrique Cardoso, at the minimum, should keep quiet,” Lula said last week after his longtime rival criticized a series of rallies in which Lula and President Dilma Rousseff, his protegee and successor, celebrated a decade of Workers’ Party rule.

Cardoso, a centrist, says the Workers’ Party’s long rule,

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and its control of everything from public lenders to regulatory agencies to state-run energy company Petrobras, form a powerful, one-sided “propaganda barrier” that “few voices are able to penetrate.” “It’s suffocating,” he told Reuters in an interview. “As a person with political and intellectual responsibility in Brazil, I cannot just be quiet.”

That two senior citizens are duking it out over an office they both left long ago says a lot about a Brazilian political landscape desperate for renewal, even though over 60 percent of the electorate is younger than 45 years old. Cardoso and Lula both molded that landscape as leaders of the first wave of democratic parties that governed Brazil following a two-decade military dictatorship that ended in 1985. But both their parties have struggled to find compelling new voices to replace them. “There is no one else yet able to fill the space that those two occupy,” said Alexandre Barros, a political consultant in Brasilia, the capital.

Rousseff, a 65-year-old former bureaucrat and minister in Lula’s government, was elected in 2010 largely because the ex-president, still Brazil’s most popular politician, picked her to succeed him as candidate. Faced with a constitutional term limit that prevented him seeking a third consecutive term, Lula campaigned tirelessly on Rousseff’s behalf and cast her as the leader best poised to protect Brazil’s then red-hot economy. Cardoso’s Social Democratic Party remains the chief opposition, but Lula and Rousseff have trounced its candidates three elections running. Jose Serra, a two-time presidential election loser and a contemporary of Cardoso, is expected to make way next year for Aecio Neves, a senator and former governor who has tiptoed toward a candidacy but has not yet made a formal announcement. “By default we have these two older voices out there who continue to own the political debate,” said David Fleischer, a political analyst at the University of

Brasilia. Though Rousseff has grown into the presidency, she still meets with Lula regularly and heeds his advice ahead of her planned re-election bid. The former president remains Rousseff’s most visible advocate, attacking anyone who dare criticize her. Jose Chrispiniano, a spokesman for Lula, said the former president was not available for an interview.

The renewed bickering between Cardoso and Lula started last month, when Lula and Rousseff began celebrating a decade in power. The commemoration featured rallies, backdropped by a Soviet-style poster with images of the two leaders, in which Lula and Rousseff enumerated triumphs while minimizing, even denigrating, any achievements by Cardoso. Cardoso, in a video, then mocked what he saw as revisionism. His administration has been widely lauded by economists and business leaders for taming inflation, stabilizing the currency, and enabling the growth that marked much of the Lula era. Long critical of Cardoso’s policies as an opposition candidate, Lula eventually embraced them during his first successful campaign and throughout his own presidency.

Even so, he and Rousseff frequently claim Brazil’s success for themselves. “We didn’t inherit anything,” Rousseff said at one of the recent rallies. “We built.” In response, Cardoso upped his tone. During a seminar last week, he called Rousseff an “ingrate”, saying “she spits in the plate from which she ate”. Lula then weighed back in, telling Cardoso to shut up and “let the woman work”.

Rousseff’s work at the moment faces growing criticism.

While she still enjoys personal approval ratings approaching a towering 80 percent, many Brazilians are increasingly worried about an economy that has stalled because of slowing investment, credit concerns, and uncompetitive manufacturers. —Reuters

Contrite McIlroy hoping to find fun again

By Simon Evans f one thing was clear from Rory McIlroy’s meeting with the media yesterday it was that five days of constant criticism and speculation have not embittered the 23-year-old Northern Irishman. McIlroy’s appeal, alongside his outstanding talent on the golf course, has been his genuine and open approach and what admirers might call a boyish charm, or those less generous would term naivety. Facing questions in public for the first time since his walk-out, McIlroy kept his cool, made his apology and promises and did so in his usual open and sincere manner.

The only indication that the fallout from his midround walk-off at the Honda Classic last week had angered McIlroy was a twitter exchange with Irish pop singer Ronan Keating on Tuesday. McIlroy used the abbreviation ‘FTB’ in a tweet which was taken by many as a reference to a Keating tattoo which states ‘F- The Begrudgers’. “It’s a little private joke between friends, and something I probably can’t divulge on live TV,” said McIlroy when asked yesterday about the tweet.

Of course, it was hardly private when posted to his 1.5 million followers on the social media site and the fact that the Northern Irishman deleted the reference indicates that this, like his withdrawal at PGA National, was something that would have benefited from a few minute’s calm reflection. But, as McIlroy’s many friends on the PGA tour have been quick to point out, the world number one is only 23 and he certainly is not the only young man to have posted something inappropriate on the internet.

Young as he is, McIlroy knows though that his behaviour is scrutinised more as the world’s number one golfer and that, whatever the debates about the value of athletes as role models in life, he certainly is expected to set an example on the course. “There’s no excuse for quitting and it doesn’t set a good example for the kids watching me, trying to emulate what I do,” he said. “It wasn’t good for a whole lot of reasons, for the tournaments, the people coming out watching me. I feel like I let a lot of people down with what I did last week, and you know, for that, I am very sorry.”

His apology will surely be accepted by the golfing world, including a media which McIlroy, tweeted barbs aside, says he is keen to maintain a good relationship with. “I don’t want it to be that way where there is friction between me and the press because at the end of the day, you guys are here because you’re reporting

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what we do on the golf course all over the world. “So it’s not like I want that to be a strained relationship, because it’s going to be a long one, I hope,” he said.

Now that the storm has blown over, the attention on McIlroy will turn to whether he can get out of his minirut in form and the broader issue of whether he becomes better able to cope with pressure. McIlroy said his walk-off had much to do with a culmination of his swing troubles and feeling the pressure of living up to his outstanding season last year where he won five tournaments, including his second major at the PGA Championship.

“I think it was a buildup of everything. I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform and I’ve been working so hard and not really getting much out of it,” he said. “It was a buildup of high expectations from myself coming off the back of such a great year last year, and wanting to continue that form into this year and not being able to do it. I just sort of let it all get to me.”

The attention and pressure is not, however, going to dissipate. On Thursday, in the first round of the elite WGCCadillac Championship tournament at Doral, McIlroy is paired with Tiger Woods. So forget any ideal, quiet, solid first round, working away at his swing. However, the Northern Irishman is hoping that having let all his problems into the public arena, he will now at least be able to play with some freedom. “I actually

think in the long run, Friday will be a blessing in disguise. It just sort of released a valve and all that pressure that I’ve been putting on myself just went away. “I was like, just go out and have fun. It’s not life or death out there. It’s only a game. I had sort of forgotten that this year.” — Reuters

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

S P ORT S Chapchai, Joshi lead in Delhi

Barca’s Valdes banned MADRID: Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has been suspended for four games after being sent-off for remonstrating with referee Miguel Perez Lasa after his side’s 2-1 league defeat against Real Madrid on Saturday.

Valdes rushed from his goal after the final whistle to confront Perez Lasa after he had not awarded a penalty to the Catalans when Sergio Ramos appeared to have tripped Adriano in stoppage time. The Spanish international was given a yellow card by the referee for his outburst but continued to argue which pushed the referee into showing a straight red. The official later stated in his post-match report the Valdes repeatedly shouted ‘you have no shame.’ The club confirmed their intention to appeal the suspension on Wednesday but if the decision is not overturned or reduced, the 31-year-old will miss the next four league games against Deportivo la Coruna, Rayo Vallecano, Mallorca and Celta Vigo. However, Valdes will be available to play against AC Milan in their crucial Champions League last-16 second-leg next Tuesday at the Nou Camp as they attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit.

NEW DELHI: Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat shot a six-underpar 66 to share the first round lead with India’s Khalin Joshi at the SAIL-SBI Open in New Delhi yesterday.

Chapchai, who has gone without a win for four years, fired eight birdies and two bogeys at the Delhi Golf Club while the 20-year-old local hope Joshi carded nine birdies on his professional debut. The pair hold a one-shot lead over Chan Kim of the United States, while India’s Chiragh Kumar and Bangladesh’s Siddikur made 68s at the $300,000 event. Chapchai is hoping to add to his four

Serie A’s youngest coach

Asian Tour wins, the last of which came in 2009. “My putting was very good. I made a lot of one putts, probably took 27 or 28 putts,” the 29-year-old said according to a press release by tournament organizers. “I stuck to my game plan. It’s a tough course as the fairways are narrow. But if you hit fairways, you can make birdies.” For professional debutant Joshi, victory on Saturday would mean a stunning start to his career. “It will mean the world to me if I can win my first Asian Tour tournament as a pro. I’m looking forward to it,” said the slim player from Bangalore. — AFP

MILAN: Serie A strugglers Pescara on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Christian Bucchi as coach following the sacking of Cristiano Bergodi last week. At 36 years old Bucchi, formerly coach with the club’s youth side, becomes the youngest coach in Serie A ahead of 37-year-old Andrea Stramaccioni of Inter Milan. He is also Pescara’s third coach of the season.

Bergodi was sacked after a 1-0 defeat to Udinese sent the league new boys to the foot of the table. He had taken over at the helm when Giovanni Stroppa resigned in late November following a poor start, but failed to stop the rot. Pescara have lost 18 times in 27 games so far in a campaign which has left them bottom on 21 points, the same number as fellow strugglers Palermo and Siena. Bucchi’s appointment is the 12th to be made in Serie A since the campaign began in late August. Fellow strugglers Palermo have already seen three changes, beginning the season with Giuseppe Sannino, who was replaced by Gian Piero Gasperini after only a few games.

Gasperini was then replaced by Alberto Malesani, only to be recently reappointed by Palermo’s trigger-happy president Maurizio Zamparini.

Blackhawks set a franchise record Rangers down Flyers

TOKYO: International Olympic Committee Vice President Craig Reedie of Britain (third from left) is greeted by schoolchildren upon arrival to inspect the Big Sight in Tokyo yesterday. The IOC’s evaluation commission is currently on a four-day inspection of Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics. — AP

Wrestlers promote Tokyo’s Olympic bid TOKYO: Two Japanese wrestling gold medalists helped promote Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Olympics on yesterday even though the sport may be dropped from the games. Saori Yoshida and Kaori Icho, both three-time Olympic wrestling champions, greeted the IOC evaluation commission on the third day of a four-day inspection of Tokyo’s bid plans. IOC vice president Craig Reedie is leading the visit, which will be followed by trips this month to Madrid and Istanbul, the other two cities vying to host the games. The IOC will select the host city by secret ballot at its session in Buenos Aires on Sept 7.

Yoshida and Icho are hoping wrestling will remain in the Olympics after it was dropped from the program of the 2020 Games by the IOC executive board last month. Wrestling will bid to remain on the Olympic program at an IOC meeting in St Petersburg, Russia, in May. The IOC assembly will have the final say in Buenos Aires. “I don’t have a vote, but I would at least like to go to the presentation,” said Yoshida, who won gold in Athens, Beijing and London.

“ The only thing I can do is pray that wrestling stays in.”

The IOC commission was greeted by Yoshida and Icho at the Tokyo Big Sight, the sprawling complex next to Tokyo Bay that would play host to wrestling, fencing and taekwondo if Japan wins the bid. The proposed elimination of wrestling came as a big surprise to the Japanese wrestling community. Tomoaki Fukuda, president of the Japan wrestling federation, is already looking at how wrestling can regain its spot as one of the IOC’s core Olympic sports. “FILA wants to follow the standards set by the IOC for the May presentation,” Fukuda said, referring to the sport’s governing body. “There are other sports that are on the block. We will discuss our options with experts and give a strong presentation.” Fencer Yuki Ota, a silver medalist in London in the team foil event, spoke to the commission and reiterated the commitment of his fellow Japanese athletes to bring the Summer Games back to Japan for the first time since 1964. “We stand united in the effort to bring the 2020 Games to Tokyo,” Ota said. — AP

Japan sumo wrestlers grapple with tradition TOKYO: As the sun rises over Tokyo, six men, naked apart from loincloths, stand on sand and stamp their feet repeatedly. Six trunk-like thighs are heaved into the air, pausing for a second before crashing down, the topknots on each wrestler’s head wobbling with the impact.

Monotonous it may be. But no one ever said training to be a sumo supremo was supposed to be fun.

“Shift your weight!” “Don’t raise your hips too fast!” shouts a retired wrestler now working as a caretaker and coach. The routine, called “shiko”, builds strength and bulk in the lower body and lasts half an hour on sand-covered clay in the gym of a sumo stable in downtown Tokyo. Three hours of exercises, including leg splits and an

TOKYO: Sumo wrestlers Osunaarashi of Egypt (right) and Genkaiho clash during a training session at a sumo stable in Tokyo. — AFP elaborate foot shuffling routine, culminate in one-on-one clashes in a circular combat ring, a tradition-steeped form of wrestling practised in Japan for hundreds of years.

Man-mountains grapple and thrust against each other, trying to throw down or force their opponent out of the ring, watched over from a raised wooden platform by stablemaster Tadahiro Otake, who sits cross-legged in front of a small altar. The sand is raked by bamboo brooms, sprayed with water and sprinkled with salt for purification while the combatants wipe sweat from their bulging bodies. A few weeks earlier, the wrestlers had performed their daily exercises in front of the body of stable founder Koki Naya-better known by his ring name of “Taiho” (Great Phoenix) — after his January 19 death.

The former yokozuna (grand champion) established the stable in 1971 on his retirement from the ring. A similar morning training regimen was taking place at Japan’s 43 other profes-

sional sumo stables, as wrestlers geared up for the next bi-monthly tournament, opening on March 10 in Osaka. The caretaker-coach, Masataka Yuho, said the practice had not changed in the four decades since he joined the stable, even as it struggled through some of the scandals that have savaged the sport in recent years-marijuana use and illegal betting.

“The atmosphere is totally different, though,” said Yuho, 56, noting a rule change that allowed live-in wrestlers to own electronic gadgets. “We were banned from owning even a transistor radio when I started.” Most of the 610 wrestlers who come under the aegis of the venerable Japan Sumo Association are lodged in stables like this one; living, eating and sleeping together in facilities that allow for little personal space.

Privacy, like respect, must be earned. Only the 70 wrestlers in the top two divisions are permitted to live by themselves.

HEAVYWEIGHT SCANDALS Japan’s declining birthrate and the growing popularity of other better-paid sports in Japan such as baseball have made it increasingly difficult to recruit wrestlers. Fewer young Japanese want to endure the privations of a whole way of life to earn 150,000 yen ($1,600) every other month, half of what new high-school graduates earn. It is different for those at the top of a sport dominated by foreigners. Mongolian grand champion Hakuho was estimated to have earned more than 150 million yen last year in monthly wages, special allowances, sponsors’ prize money and endorsements. “Every part of sumo life is very tough,” said Egyptian Abdelrahman Ahmed Shaalan, the highest ranked among Otake’s eight wrestlers, who needs to climb 23 ranks to crack into the second division.

“The only joy I have is the feeling that I’m coming close to my dream” of being yokozuna, said the 21-year-old, the first professional sumo wrestler from either Africa or the Arab world.

With the ring name of “Osunaarashi” (Great Sandstorm), Shaalan - 189 centimeters and 145 kilograms - has lost only five of his 35 regular matches since his debut in March last year. After their morning workout, the wrestlers bathe and eat their first meal of the day. As in many areas of Japanese life, the younger wrestlers must wait for the older ones. The men, aged between 19 and 32 with careers ranging from less than 12 months to 17 years, are served a heavy stew, called “chankonabe”, as they sit on the floor around a small table in the dining room-kitchen.

On the day that AFP spent with the stable, the stew was a calorie-packed mix of chicken, vegetables and deep-fried tofu. —AFP

CHICAGO: The Chicago Blackhawks set a franchise record with their 10th consecutive victory and extended their points streak to 29 games with a 5-3 win against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. Bryan Bickell scored twice in the first period and Patrick Kane added a big goal in the third as Chicago (20-03) remained the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss. It also snapped a tie with the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens for the secondlongest points streak in league history. Ryan Suter scored his first goal with Minnesota, sending a power-play slap shot past a screened Corey Crawford in the third period. Kyle Brodziak then poked his own rebound to get the Wild within one at 10:32. But Kane beat Darcy Kuemper just 61 seconds later. Brandon Saad had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who host the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.

CAPITALS 4, BRUINS 3, OT Eric Fehr scored 37 seconds into overtime, and the Washington Capitals rallied from a three-goal, first-period deficit to beat the Boston Bruins. Pinched by two defenders, Fehr was falling forward as he got off the shot that hit the upper right post and went in, giving the Capitals their seventh win in 10 games as they attempt to climb out of the lower echelons of the NHL standings. Wojtek Wolski and Mike Ribeiro also scored, and Tomas Kundratek got his first NHL goal for the Bruins. A short-handed penalty shot by Brad Marchand, an evenstrength goal by Zdeno Chara and a powerplay tally from Dougie Hamilton gave Boston a 3-0 lead in the first period.

RANGERS 4, FLYERS 2 Rick Nash snapped a third-period tie and then added an insurance goal as the New York Rangers held on to beat the Philadelphia Flyers for their third win in a row. Nash fired a shot that sneaked under the right arm of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov 2:50 into the third to give New York its second lead of the game. He doubled the advantage to 4-2 with 8:18 left. Ryan Callahan scored two first-period goals and assisted on Nash’s second, and Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves for the Rangers, who played without Brad Richards. New York lost key defenseman Marc Staal 5:45 into the third when a shot by Kimmo Timonen from the blue line clipped the stick of forward Jake Voracek and caromed up into Staal’s right eye, causing a cut. Staal, who wasn’t wearing a visor, squirmed on the ice and held his face before skating off. Wayne Simmonds and Voracek both scored powerplay goals in the first period for Philadelphia.

Bryzgalov stopped 16 shots.

LIGHTNING 5, DEVILS 2 Nate Thompson scored twice and Martin St Louis and rookie Alexander Killorn each had a goal and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a five -game losing streak. Cory Conacher and Vincent Lecavalier each had two assists as the Lightning won for only the second time in eight games and extended the Devils’ winless streak to six games (0-5-1).

Anders Lindback had 25 saves for the Lightning, surrendering late goals to Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias. Steven Stamkos’ 10game point streak ended for Tampa Bay. ISLANDERS 6, CANADIENS 3 Radek Martinek scored the tiebreaking goal eight minutes into the third period and the New York Islanders handed Montreal its first regulation loss in nearly a month. Martinek’s shot from the left point on a pass from Kyle Okposo eluded goaltender Carey Price at 7:56.

It was the first goal of the season for Martinek, who hadn’t scored since Oct. 12, 2011, while with Columbus. John Tavares scored his teamleading 14th goal with 1:07 left before Colin McDonald closed the scoring with an emptynetter. Brian Gionta’s power-play goal at 6:07 of the third - the 20,000th goal for the Canadiens since the NHL was formed in 1917 - tied the game at 3.

HURRICANES 4, SABRES 3 Alexander Semin had a goal and two assists, linemate Eric Staal added three assists and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres. Jiri Tlusty, Joe Corvo and Jussi Jokinen also scored for Carolina, which was playing for the first time since goalie Cam Ward went on injured reserve following a torn MCL that will require a recovery of 6-to-8 weeks. The Hurricanes won their fourth straight and completed a three-

NEW YORK: New York Rangers’ Dan Girardi (5) checks on teammate Marc Staal (18) who was hit by a puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. — AP

game season sweep of the Sabres. Staal picked up his 600th NHL point with the first of his two assists on the night on Tlusty’s goal in the first period. Justin Peters, recalled from Charlotte of the AHL, had 37 saves in his first start of the season for the Hurricanes. Ryan Miller had 24 saves for Buffalo, which got two goals from Cody Hodgson and one from TJ Brennan.

BLUE JACKETS 4, OILERS 3, SO Sergei Bobrovsky, replacing an ineffective Steve Mason, made two spectacular shorthanded saves in overtime and stopped both shots he faced in the shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Edmonton Oilers. Vinny Prospal had a goal and an assist, and Derek MacKenzie and Jack Johnson also scored in regulation. Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu scored in the shootout for Columbus, which extended its points streak to four games and is the last team to win back-to-games in the NHL this season. Jeff Petry, Ryan Whitney and Magnus Paajarvi tallied for Edmonton, who couldn’t hold a 3-2 lead and fell to 1-3-1 on season-high nine-game, 17-day road trip in which they’ve been outshot 111-67.

PANTHERS 4, JETS 1 Tomas Kopecky, Shawn Matthias and Mike Santorelli scored for Florida and Jonathan Huberdeau converted a penalty shot in the Panthers’ victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots for his first win of the season for Florida, which won at home for just the fourth time this season. The Panthers have been plagued by injuries this season including Stephen Weiss’ season-ending wrist injury. Kyle Wellwood scored for Winnipeg and Ondrej Pavelec finished with 22 saves while falling to 8-11-1 this season.

RED WINGS 2, AVALANCHE 1 Niklas Kronwall scored in the second period thanks to a fluky bounce, and the Detroit Red

Wings held on to beat the Colorado Avalanche.

Detroit opened the scoring with 13:00 to go in the second on a breakaway goal by Johan Franzen, and Kronwall added to the lead when his shot from the point went wide, bounced back off the boards and went in off the right skate of goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The Red Wings needed that second goal, because Colorado’s Paul Stastny spoiled Jimmy Howard’s bid for a shutout when he scored with 1:30 to play in the third. Detroit has gone four straight games without allowing a goal in the first or second period.

SHARKS 3, CANUCKS 2, SO Scott Gomez and Adam Burish ended long goal droughts and Joe Pavelski scored the shootout winner as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks. Brad Stuart added two assists and Antti Niemi made 36 saves for San Jose, which won its second straight game after a stretch in which it went 2-6-4. Gomez’s goal was his first of the season and just his 10th in his last 133 NHL games, while Burish scored his first goal in 45 games. Henrik Sedin and Jannik Hansen scored for Vancouver, which dropped to 3-5-2 in its past 10 games after starting the season 8-2-2.

KINGS 6, BLUES 4 Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 13:51 to play, and the Los Angeles Kings roared back from a three-goal deficit for their seventh win in eight games. Jake Muzzin tied it early in the third period with his second goal for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who have won six straight home games while surging up the Western Conference standings after a slow start to the season. Los Angeles has won nine of 11 overall. Mike Richards and Muzzin scored 59 seconds apart to tie it for the Kings, who trailed 4-1 midway through the second period. Alex Pietrangelo, David Perron and Chris Stewart each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who have lost five of seven. — AP

NHL results/standings Tampa Bay 5, New Jersey 2; NY Islanders 6, Montreal 3; Washington 4, Boston 3 (OT); Carolina 4, Buffalo 3; Columbus 4, Edmonton 3 (SO); NY Rangers 4, Philadelphia 2; Florida 4, Winnipeg 1; Detroit 2, Colorado 1; Chicago 5, Minnesota 3; San Jose 3, Vancouver 2 (SO).

Western Conference Eastern Conference Central Division Atlantic Division 20 0 3 75 44 43 W L OTLGF GA PTS Chicago Detroit 11 8 4 63 60 26 Pittsburgh 15 8 0 81 67 30 St. Louis 11 9 2 64 67 24 New Jersey 10 8 5 56 65 25 Nashville 9 9 5 47 59 23 NY Rangers 11 8 2 55 53 24 Columbus 7 12 4 53 69 18 Philadelphia 11 12 1 68 72 23 Northwest Division NY Islanders 10 11 2 70 78 22 Vancouver 11 6 5 63 61 27 Northeast Division Minnesota 11 9 2 52 56 24 Montreal 14 5 4 71 59 32 Edmonton 8 9 5 54 62 21 Boston 14 3 3 60 46 31 Calgary 8 8 4 57 68 20 Colorado 8 9 4 51 62 20 Toronto 14 9 0 68 57 28 Pacific Division Ottawa 12 7 4 52 44 28 Anaheim 15 3 3 75 60 33 Buffalo 9 13 2 63 77 20 Los Angeles 12 7 2 60 52 26 Southeast Division San Jose 11 6 4 50 46 26 Carolina 13 8 1 67 62 27 Phoenix 11 8 3 67 63 25 Winnipeg 10 11 1 56 68 21 Dallas 11 9 2 61 63 24 Tampa Bay 10 12 1 81 73 21 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Washington 9 11 1 59 62 19 point in the standings and are not included Florida 7 11 5 59 83 19 in the loss column (L)

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

S P ORT S

Australia’s NRL season opens under doping shadow SYDNEY: South Sydney and Sydney Roosters kick off Australia’s 2013 National Rugby League season today against a backdrop of six clubs under investigation for alleged doping and potential links with organized crime. NRL officials will be relieved to finally get the season underway after a series of unwanted headlines, further tarnished by the suspension of poster boy Ben Barba by his Canterbury club over behavioral issues.

Last month, the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) published an explosive report after a yearlong probe with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and six NRL clubs were identified along with other sports. Those clubs named in the ACC report were Manly, Canberra, Newcastle, North Queensland, Penrith and Cronulla. A meeting of

club chief executives have pledged to work with the new NRL integrity unit in an across-the-board fight against drugs in the sport.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Barba, who won the Dally M medal as the player of the 2012 season and was to be a key figure in the promotion of the code leading into this season, was stood down by the Bulldogs. The Canterbury fullback’s career is at the crossroads as medical experts work on a course of action that will get his life back on track amid reports of alcohol, gambling and domestic problems and a loss of interest in the game. On the field there will be keen interest in the rugby league return of Sonny Bill Williams after a spell in rugby union where he became a World Cup winner with the All Blacks in 2011.

Williams has had plenty on his plate ahead of this season, winning a World Boxing Association (WBA) title fight last month as well as overcoming knee injury concerns and a surgically repaired pectoral muscle to make his debut for the Roosters after playing with the Bulldogs from 2004-08. He will take his place on the interchange bench in today’s season opener against the Russell Crowe coowned Rabbitohs, who have one of the game’s superstars in fullback Greg Inglis.

Apart from the signing of Williams, the Roosters have built up considerably in the off-season with the recruitment of NSW Origin centre Michael Jennings from Penrith and representative forward Luke O’Donnell from the Cowboys. Newly-crowned World Club champions Melbourne Storm are

favorites to defend their NRL title and launch their season against St George Illawarra Dragons at home on Sunday.

The Storm’s international triumvirate of skipper Cameron Smith, fullback Billy Slater and scrum-half Cooper Cronk will again be influential this season as Melbourne seek their third official NRL title. Des Hasler’s Canterbury Bulldogs, although missing the mercurial Barba, have one of the biggest forward packs in the competition following the acquisition of explosive backrower Tony Williams from coach Hasler’s former club Manly. Manly, the 2011 champions, Brisbane Broncos, bolstered by the signing of scrum-half Scott Prince, and Wayne Bennett’s Newcastle Knights are other clubs expected to be in the running for the title. — AFP

Celtics down slumping 76ers Thunder overwhelm Lakers 122 -105

MARCOUSSIS: France’s rugby union national team player Mathieu Bastareaud is seen during an indoor training session in Marcoussis, south of Paris, as part of the preparation for the Six Nations rugby union tournament. — AFP

Parisse cleared to face England in Six Nations PARIS: Influential Italy captain Sergio Parisse was yesterday cleared to face England in the Six Nations on Sunday.

Parisse had his ban imposed by the French Rugby Federation (FFR) reduced from 30 days, plus 10 suspended, to just 20. It means his suspension will end on Friday, freeing him for Sunday’s clash at Twickenham. “Parisse will be re-activated as of Saturday so he’ll be able to play against England,” FFR Appeals Commission president Gilbert Chevrier said.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel immediately restored Parisse to his squad, with the No.8 expected to join up with his teammates on Wednesday night. “We’re satisfied to discover that Sergio Parisse’s suspension has been reduced to 20 days and therefore he will be available for the next two Six Nations matches,” said Italy team manager Luigi Troiani. “Sergio is an important element in this group and we cannot be anything but delighted that he will be available to the coach Brunel, for the matches against England and Ireland.”

The 29-year-old back rower had been banned after he was dismissed while playing for club side Stade Francais against Bordeaux-Begles on February 16.

The referee for that encounter Laurent Cardona accused the Argentine-born Azzurri star of insulting him in English, a charge that multi-lingual Parisse has vehemently denied. He missed the Six Nations defeat to Wales in Rome on February 23 but will now be able to play

in his country’s last two fixtures, which he would otherwise have been banned for.

His charge has been reduced from ‘insulting a referee’ to ‘failing in his captain’s duties’-Parisse was captain of Stade Francais that day. As well as a 20-day ban he has also been given community service to perform. Parisse has been capped 93 times by his countr y, scoring 53 points, and is widely considered one of the best No.8s in the world. And this status was confirmed when, in a separate announcement Wednesday, the Barbarians revealed Parisse had been included as one of their five global stars recruited to play the British and Irish Lions in Hong Kong on June 1.

As well as Parisse, the initial calls-ups also included Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni and France back-row forward Imanol Harinordoquy, with the Barbarians’ backs set to include Samoa scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i and Springbok centre Jaque Fourie.

The Hong Kong match will be the launchpad for the Lions’ tour of Australia, with the Barbarians first playing England at Twickenham on May 26 before heading to the Far East.

The squad will be coached by Wasps director of rugby Dai Young. The Barbarians are rugby union’s most famous invitational side and selection to wear their black-and-white hooped jersey is considered one of the greatest honors in the game outside of a full international. — AFP

OKLAHOMA CITY: Paul Pierce had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Avery Bradley scored 22 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 109-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Kevin Garnett scored 18 points to help the Celtics continued their push up the Eastern Conference standings.

The Celtics entered in seventh, but were no more than two games behind the next three teams ahead in the standings. Led by Pierce, the Celtics controlled the game and used a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to seal the win. Last May, these two teams went to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. On Wednesday, the Sixers lost for the ninth time in 10 games and are well out of the playoff race. Jrue Holiday had 18 points and 10 assists for the Sixers, and Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Thunder 122, Lakers 105 Russell Westbrook had 37 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Durant scored 26 and the Thunder held off a secondhalf charge. The Thunder led from start to finish, but had their 18-point lead whittled down to five midway through the fourth quarter. Serge Ibaka, who dodged a suspension after delivering a low blow against Blake Griffin in Oklahoma City’s previous game, hit a 3-pointer and Westbrook had a two-handed slam as the Thunder scored the last 12 points. Kobe Bryant ended up with 30 points after leaving the game with a right elbow injury in the first quarter. Steve Nash matched his season best with 20 points as the Lakers fell back below .500 after reaching the mark for the first time since December. Oklahoma City tied an NBA record with two turnovers. Milwaukee set the record in a game against Indiana on April 1, 2006, and Cleveland tied it in an overtime game against Portland on March 19, 2009.

Nuggets 120, Kings 113 Ty Lawson had 24 points and Danilo Gallinari added 23 for the Nuggets as they won their sixth straight game. The deep and talented Nuggets used a 36-point third quarter to build a lead against the Kings that they never relinquished in winning their season-best third straight road game. They scored 70 second-half points when they shot nearly 64 percent. The streaking Nuggets have won seven of eight games, including 11 in a row at home, where they own a 26-3 record, which ties Miami for the best mark in the NBA. Kenneth Faried had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Andre Miller scored 16 and Kosta Koufos had 15 points and eight rebounds for Denver. Marcus Thornton continued his torrid scoring of late, making five 3-pointers and getting in 32 points for the Kings. — AP

OKLAHOMA CITY: Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shoots behind Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace (15) in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. — AP

NBA results/standings Boston 109, Philadelphia 101; Oklahoma City 122, LA Lakers 105; Denver 120, Sacramento 113.

NY Knicks Brooklyn Boston Philadelphia Toronto Indiana Chicago Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland Miami Atlanta Washington Orlando Charlotte

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT 36 21 .632 34 26 .567 32 27 .542 23 36 .390 23 38 .377 Central Division 38 22 .633 34 26 .567 30 28 .517 23 39 .371 20 40 .333 southeast division 44 14 .759 33 26 .559 19 39 .328 17 44 .279 13 47 .217

GB 3.5 5 14 15 4 7 16 18 11.5 25 28.5 32

Oklahoma City Denver Utah Portland Minnesota LA Clippers Golden State LA Lakers Phoenix Sacramento San Antonio Memphis Houston Dallas New Orleans

Western Conference Northwest Division 44 16 .733 40 22 .645 32 28 .533 28 31 .475 20 37 .351 Pacific Division 43 19 .694 34 27 .557 30 31 .492 21 39 .350 21 41 .339 Nouthwest Division 47 14 .770 39 19 .672 33 28 .541 26 33 .441 21 40 .344

5 12 15.5 22.5 8.5 12.5 21 22 6.5 14 20 26

Rain spoils Dunedin ‘arrival’ on the international stage COLOMBO: Sri Lankan cricketer Thilan Samaraweera speaks during a press conference in Colombo yesterday. — AFP

Samaraweera retires COLOMBO: Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Samaraweera retired from international cricket yesterday after selectors dropped him from the opening Test against Bangladesh which starts in Galle later this week. A key figure in Sri Lanka’s batting line-up for more than a decade, Samaraweera, 36, rebuilt his career after being shot in a militant attack on his team bus in Pakistan in 2009. “I was shocked with my omission from the squad against Bangladesh,” he told reporters, adding he had been told by the selectors that they may need him for the tour of Pakistan later this year.

“There was no point in waiting for nine months. I respect the decision of the selectors to go with young players and decided it was the right time for me to retire.” Samaraweera will, however, play for Worcestershire in English county cricket this year. He compiled 5,462 runs

in 81 Tests at an average of 48.76 with 14 centuries. He also played 53 one-day internationals, scoring 862 runs at 27.80 with two hundreds. Samaraweera was hit by a bullet in the left thigh when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team bus which was on way to the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore for a Test match. The attack left eight people dead.

It was a tribute to his mental toughness that he returned to Test cricket in July the same year after undergoing surgery. Samaraweera scored an unbeaten century on Test debut against India in Colombo in 2001. His hundred in Durban in 2011 helped Sri Lanka win their maiden Test in South Africa. His form dipped on a recent tour of Australia where he managed just 79 runs in six Test innings, the dismal performance eventually leading to his ouster from the squad against Bangladesh and his retirement. — AFP

DUNEDIN: Otago Cricket Chief Executive Ross Dykes was left disappointed and frustrated yesterday after bad weather washed out the opening day of the first test between New Zealand and England and rained on University Oval’s parade.

The match has been billed as the ground’s arrival as a true international cricket venue and the culmination of more than a decade of strategic planning, which included a lengthy battle with the local preservation society and massive upgrades of drainage, wicket block and playing facilities.

Thousands of fans were reportedly flooding into town for the match, while there was intense local and international media interest.

Expectations were, putting it mildly, high. But then the rain came. And it rained. And rained. And rained. The first day was washed out without a ball being bowled and more than 4,000 fans who had flooded into the picture-postcard ground across the road from the new Otago Regional Stadium were forced to slosh their way back into the bars, restaurants and hotels of downtown Dunedin.

“I suppose the real disappointment was everything was set,” Dykes told Reuters in his office in a modern addition linked to the back of the old grandstand. “The ground looked immaculate. The stands were filling up. You saw the toss and ... everything was building towards a great climax ... then you saw the rain and it was just a damp squib. “I know there are four more days and the weather forecast is going to perk up but you gear yourself for day one really and the expectation was pretty high.”

ARRIVAL PARTY The England test was supposed to be University Oval’s ‘arrival’ party, Dykes said. It is the match Otago Cricket had been targeting to host ever since the ground was awarded its first testagainst Bangladesh in early 2008. The local cricket association, in conjunction with Dunedin City Council and Otago University, began refurbishing the ground, increasing the size of the wicket block from five to eight pitches.

Poor drainage facilities that blighted the ground’s second test involving West Indies in December 2008 meant the council helped fund a new porous base underneath the playing surface and major drainage works. Another major problem for the redevelopment was an 80-year-old former art gallery at one end of the ground, which meant the straight boundaries were only 50 metres away. Otago Cricket had sought to demolish the building but the New Zealand Historic Places Trust stepped in and placed a protection order on it.

Lengthy negotiations resulted in the demolition of a small portion of the building and its refurbishment into a function centre and hub for sports education and programs. The partial demolition allowed the boundaries to be stretched to 66 meters, and Dykes said it was one of the final pillars they needed to transform the ground into an international cricket venue. “I think we have a ground now in terms of the surface, playing facilities, we have got it pretty right. We have got all the things cricketers need. All things that television and the media needs,” he said.

“Where we are lacking is spectator room.

Where do you put people?” The ground can hold about 5,400 people with two temporary stands, which are used at the Otago Regional Stadium when it hosts rugby test matches, installed.

Dykes, however, said there were plans to close off a road adjacent to the ground and build a terraced bank that would provide greater capacity.

“Given the ambience of this ground that’s a pretty good idea, though the temporary seats don’t look too out of place,” he said.

BOUTIQUE GROUND The decision to develop a boutique, cricketonly ground for Dunedin had been made in the late 1990s when cricket administrators realized the incursion of Super Rugby into the summer months would create a battle for facilities. The 30,000 capacity Carisbrook, with its stark terraces which gave rise to a tradition of students bringing down sofas to sit on before setting them on fire at the conclusion of a match, was also becoming a less attractive venue for cricket.

A return to a more traditional, village green style atmosphere was envisaged, which would better suit Dunedin’s small population of just over 100,000 permanent residents. “We knew that we are not going to fill a 30,000 stadium so we figured why not fulfill a niche with test cricket. “Everything that is around this ground lends itself to test cricket. This place does hum.

Everyone is so close to the play. It’s a good cricket atmosphere. “You look at the ground and you think cricket.” — Reuters

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

S P ORT S

Leyton Orient launch Olympic Stadium legal fight LONDON: Leyton Orient have started a legal fight against the decision to allow fellow football club West Ham United to move into the Olympic Stadium, it was announced yesterday. Orient, who play in England’s third tier League One, are geographically the nearest football club to the Olympic Stadium, which is in the east London borough of Stratford, and have long been concerned about the potential impact of Premier League West Ham moving to the site from their existing Upton Park ground.

Orient signalled their willingness to ground share at the £429 million ($648 million) venue but the club’s owner, Barry Hearn, the leading British sports promoter, has become alarmed by the prospect of West Ham

becoming the sole football side based at the stadium.

Now Hearn, also the World Snooker chairman, has asked for a judicial review of the bid process. “The rules of the bidding process created by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) we do not believe provided for teaming, which is for all parties to share the stadium,” Hearn said yesterday.

“It is our legal opinion that this is a fundamental flaw of the bidding process. “We have gone to the High Court to have the decision struck out.” The LLDC board, the body which has the responsibility for securing the stadium’s future, in December named West Ham as the number one choice to move into the Olympic Stadium.

“We have been notified that Leyton Orient have made

the decision to issue proceedings for judicial review,” said an LLDC spokesman. “Whilst this is disappointing, we believe that our processes have been robust, fair and transparent and that the challenge is misconceived.”

Hearn argues the process did not allow Leyton Orient to make a case for a ground-share. “We have to protect ourselves,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to protect Leyton Orient Football Club, which is endangered by West Ham moving to the stadium.”

Ground-sharing, while common in Europe, with the likes of Italian giants AC Milan and Inter Milan both playing at the city’s San Siro stadium, is a rarity in England. The original deal for West Ham to take over

the stadium collapsed in 2011 due to legal challenges from both north London side Tottenham Hotspur and Orient.

However, the LLDC’s decision to rank the Hammers as the preferred bidder means they are in pole position to move to the stadium, but will not be able to take up residency until the 2016/17 season at the earliest. Final commercial terms have yet to be concluded between the LLDC and West Ham. Whatever the football future of the 60,000-seater stadium, something regarded as vital if the venue is not to become an expensive ‘white elephant’, pop concerts and the 2017 World Athletics Championship are also scheduled to take place there. — AFP

Baseball: Chang ‘biggest hit’ resounding in China FUKUOKA: Ray Chang hailed the biggest hit of his life after his two-run single secured China’s win over Brazil and a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, a result which looks set to boost the sport in the giant country. Shortstop Chang, who also starred at the tournament’s last edition in 2009, stepped up with China trailing 1-2 in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded, and fired left to make it 3-2.

China eventually won the game late on Tuesday 5-2. “No doubt, that was the biggest hit of my life,” said the Kansas Cityborn minor leaguer. “I’ve played seven or eight years of professional baseball. I’ve had some clutch hits in my career, but nothing like this. This is not just for a Single-A, Double-A team. This is for an entire country,” said Chang.

The win propelled China to third place in Pool A and a guaranteed berth in 2017, even though they failed to join Japan, Cuba, Taiwan and the Netherlands in the second round. The final round will be played in San Francisco later this month.

Kansas City-born Chang, 29, was also the hero in 2009, killing a Japanese third-base runner with a disguised throw to home base, and scoring a homer and two more runs in China’s first ever Classic victory, a 41 win over Taiwan. “ They both were big games for the country. You can’t really say one was bigger than the other. This was just now. It seems a lot bigger now, just because it’s in the

moment,” Chang said. China’s head coach John McLaren said the upset win over Brazil was “just a great feeling”. “I’ve worked with these kids since September in 2011, and just how far we’ve come is incredible. I congratulated the team and I told them to go home and tell everybody in China what a great feeling it is to play baseball and spread the word.”

Major League Baseball (MLB) Asia vice president Jim Small has previously called for a player who can increase the sport’s popularity in China, where it was banned during the Cultural Revolution. Former LA Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo ignited the MLB for Japanese fans in 1995, a trend followed by Ichiro Suzuki and Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish. Japan are two-time defending champions of the World Baseball Classic.

In China, successful athletes have also made a huge difference for their sports. Li Na’s 2011 French Open win was the trigger for a push for tennis events in the country, with five on the Women’s Tennis Association schedule for next year. Despite his success, Chang was unsure if he’d be selected again in 2017. “I hope they ask me back. I would be honored and blessed to play for team China once again,” said Chang. McLaren said: “Ray, I’m sure you’re going to be on the team, you’ve won the last two (Classic victories for China). I don’t know about me, but I’m pretty sure you’re a lock.” — AFP

Defiant Thai football boss defends AFC bid BANGKOK: Thailand’s controversial football chief Worawi Makudi said yesterday he had no fear that his bid to lead the Asian game would be hurt by past graft allegationsnone of which were proven. Worawi, who will contest the May election for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) presidency, was cleared of allegations of corruption including claims by former English FA chairman Lord Triesman implicating him in a bribery scandal. He said a series of inquiries had proved his innocence and left him free to prepare his campaign to lead the AFC, which is seeking a replacement for its scandal-hit former boss Mohamed bin Hammam.

“I’ve cleared my name so I’m not afraid,” a defiant Worawi-who is a powerful figure in Asian football-told AFP. “But if people try to bring cases back, I’ll respond very strongly, with legal action.” In September Worawi denied fraud allegations made by a South Korean firm in connection with the early cancellation of a multi-million-dollar deal for broadcast rights to Thai football. Worawi, 61, was cleared in 2011 of accusations that funds meant for the Thai FA to build facilities were instead spent on building assets

on land he owned in Bangkok.

He was also previously accused by Lord Triesman of involvement in a scandal concerning bribes for officials from world governing body FIFA in return for backing England’s World Cup bid. The 46-member AFC will elect a new leader on May 2, trying to draw a line under two years of allegations of wrongdoing including bribery by bin Hammam. The Qatari denies the claim.

FIFA executive committee member Worawi faces three rivals: Hafez Ibrahim alMedlej of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa of Bahrain and Yousuf AlSerkal of the United Arab Emirates.

But he is a strong candidate after securing the unanimous support of Southeast Asia’s football bodies. “I have a lot of respect for every candidate... I can’t underestimate anybody in this race,” he said, restating his desire to unite member nations over “Asia’s football development and not non-football related issues”. The AFC’s current caretaker chief Zhang Jilong of China last week disappointed many observers by revealing he would not contest the election, having earned plaudits for pushing for a new era of “transparency” during his tenure. —AFP

Indian Strikers lift KIFF trophy KUWAIT: A large weekend crowd witnessed Indian Strikers edge AVC Sports & Cultural Association in the tie breaker 3-2 after normal time had ended goalless, to win the annual Veterans 7-A-Side soccer tournament organized by Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) and played at the MOH Grounds (Shuwaikh) on 1st March 2013.

This popular tournament conducted annually for players above the age of 35, who are not registered with affiliated clubs, featured 16 teams and was played on a knock out basis. Pool A had Santos Football Club, DHL, United Friends Club, Kuwait Goan Association, Indian Strikers, Santos United, Malabar United and CRC Chinchinim, while Pool B was made up of Curtorcares United, Kerala Challengers, United Goans Centre, Skynet Raiders, KGA Red, AVC, Youth Recreation Centre and Don Bosco Oratory. Indian Strikers led by the charismatic senior veteran Robert got the better of Santos FC, Malabar and KGA on their way to the final

while AVC fielding the likes of Romel, Damian and Milagres had to beat KGA, Don Bosco Oratory and Kerala Challengers to reach the final.

Before the start of the final, KIFF President Fidelis Fernandes appreciated the participation of the veteran players in this unique tournament, saying ‘Sports keep the mind and body active’. He thanked the sponsors and various other people who

supported the tournament and then led the guests made up of his managing committee, ex-presidents, club presidents, sponsors, and IFRA President to be introduced to the two finalist.

During the prize distribution ceremony, gifts were given to IFRA referees by Fidelis Fernandes. Cosme Viegas who played at the age of 67 was awarded the oldest player by

Seby Dias the KIFF Reliever, Fair Play trophy was won by Kerala Challengers and given by Francis Fernandes, IFRA President. Man of the Match was won by Latif, the goalkeeper of Indian Strikers and given by Kevin Vaz the sport secretary, and Adly D’Lima KIFF treasurer gave away the runners up individual trophies to AVC Sports & Cultural Association.

The runner up trophy was given

by Derick Gomindes, V. President of KIFF. Individual winner trophies were given by Praveen Kumar, Gen. Secretary while the winner’s trophy was given by Fidelis Fernandes, KIFF President.

The tournament was sponsored

by Xavier Furtado, Clifford Pinto, Tony Dias, V K Vohra, Bosco Leitao, Tony Correia, Vinay Kumar, B M Viegas, Agnelo Fernandes, Pascoal Afonso, Damian Druz and Fidelis Fernandes. All the matches were officiated by Indian Football Referees Association (IFRA) and the entire event was compered by Kevin Vaz and Julio Cardoso.

Cuba record first WBC win over champs Japan FUKUOKA: Cuba saw off a ninth-inning fightback by two-time defending champions Japan to win 6-3 and stay unbeaten heading into the World Baseball Classic’s second round yesterday. In a repeat of the tournament’s first final in 2006, Alfredo Despaigne fired a three-run homer for a 6-0 lead and it proved critical as Japan clawed back to 6-3 before finally succumbing to their first defeat to Cuba in the global event. With Cuba and Japan already through from Pool A, the game’s main significance was to provide pointers for round two, and both teams will claim to have gained a psychological boost as the round-robin phase concluded in Fukuoka.

Cuba will play Pool B runners-up the Netherlands when the second round gets underway in Tokyo on Friday, while Japan will take on fellow co-hosts Taiwan. The top two teams will advance to the final round later

this month in San Francisco. After the first six batters were shut out by Japanese starter Kenji Otonari in the first two innings, Cuba took a 1-0 lead when Yasmany Tomas hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning.

In the fourth inning, Jose Fernandez hit a single and then slugger Frederich Cepeda unleashed a double to get him home and enlarge the lead to 2-0, before ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out the next three batters. The Japanese, roared on by a partisan home crowd, had their chances when they took second base three times in the second, third and fourth innings, but they were never able to cash in. Japan missed another chance in the sixth inning with the first and third bases loaded at one down, only to see Atsunori Inaba ground out for a double play. —AFP

FUKUOKA: Cuban players celebrate their team’s win over Japan after their firstround Pool A game in the World Baseball Classic tournament in Fukuoka yesterday.

Cuba beat Japan 6-3. — AFP

World-beater Bale plots fresh Inter nightmares LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale will be out to repeat his torment of Inter Milan when the sides renew acquaintance at White Hart Lane today in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie. The Welshman rose to global prominence in October 2010 when he scored a stunning second-half hat-trick as Spurs rallied from 4-0 down in a 4-3 loss to Inter at San Siro in the Champions League group phase.

He then mastermined Tottenham’s revenge in the return fixture, destroying Brazil rightback Maicon in one of the great displays of modern wing play and teeing up goals for Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko in a 31 win. Two seasons on, the 23-year-old forward is in breath-taking form, having opened the scoring in a 2-1 win at Arsenal on Sunday that took Spurs up to third place in the Premier League.

It was his ninth goal in his last seven appearances in all competitions and teammate Michael Dawson believes he now stands comparison with the very best players in the world. “Gaz is up there with (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi in terms of ability,” said the English centre-back. “He’s one of the best players in the world at the moment, and probably the best in the world for me right now. “Some of the things he does would have Ronaldo blush. His goal this season against Norwich, where he picked the ball up in his own half and dribbled past all those players before having the calm and composure to put it in the bottom corner... He’s been brilliant and credit to him.”

Inter stalwart Javier Zanetti played in both Champions League encounters in 2010 and has not forgotten the damage inflicted by Bale. “Bale is a great player and will be difficult to deal with,” he told Tuttosport earlier this week. “We must be brave. But being on the front foot in a game like this will not be easy.” Inter climbed to fourth place in Serie A on Sunday after rallying from two goals down at half-time to win 3-2 at Catania thanks to a stoppage -time winner from substitute Rodrigo Palacio.

However, preparations for the game were over-shadowed by a training-ground bust-up

involving coach Andrea Stramaccioni and temperamental striker Antonio Cassano. The Italy forward was omitted from the squad for the trip to Sicily and has reportedly been fined 40,000 euros (£34,400, $52,200) by his club. Cassano is nonetheless expected to be named in the squad for the trip to London, but Diego Milito, Walter Samuel, Yuto Nagatomo and Joel Obi all feature on a lengthy injury list. Spurs duo Emmanuel Adebayor and Mousa Dembele were forced off during Sunday’s derby win over Arsenal, but manager Andre Villas-Boas says both players will be fit for today’s game. — AFP

Arsenal ready for Vietnam friendly HANOI: Arsenal is set to become the first English Premier League club to play a friendly match in Vietnam with a game in July during a pre-season tour of Asia, an official said yesterday. Arsenal executives are currently in Hanoi meeting officials from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to negotiate a fixture against the national team, VFF spokesman Nguyen Lan Trung said.

“The VFF and Arsenal Club have agreed to organize a friendly match at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on July 17,” he said, adding that no formal deal had yet been signed. VFF said the match would be partly sponsored by Hoang Anh-Gia Lai-one of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerates which owns an epony-

mous team in the domestic V-league and runs a football academy in the Central Highlands.

The exclusive academy is designed to pre pare boys to play professionally in footballmad Vietnam, a communist country of about 80 million people, and perhaps elsewhere in Asia or even Europe. It has a partnership with Arsenal, where some academy graduates could potentially end up on trials. Arsenal sends a manager to monitor students’ development once a year. “Initial negotiations have gone very well,” the club’s chief commercial officer Tom Fox told Arsenal’s official website, referring to the possible friendly match. “We are all looking forward to bringing the team to this region again this year,” he added. — AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

S P ORT S Sarah Al-Hawal in action.

— Photos by Sherif Ismail

Kuwaitis shine, grab more gold medals International Shooting Grand Prix enters 5th day

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: HH the Amir second International Shooting Grand Prix entered its fourth day yesterday as the competitions get hotter and more exciting. Kuwaiti shooter Hamad AlAfasi won the gold medal in Double Trap Event, leaving his Russian counterpart behind while UAE’s Juma AlMaktoom claimed third place.

Swedish Hakan Dhalby did not live up to his expectation as three Kuwaitis were able to enter the qualifications round while Al-Afasi finally won a gold medal. Fuhaid Al-Daihani made up for his loss by winning the first place in the Arab championship defeating Rashid Al-Athba and his rival Hamad Al-Afasi.

Fuhaid Al-Daihani said the competition in the Arab championship was very difficult as it became more challenging due to the unstable weather conditions, coupled some changes.

He said he was exhausted during the Double Trap Event in the Amir Grand Prix and did not get enough time to relax. Meanwhile, Hamad Al-Afasi said he was happy with his gold medal in HH Grand Prix, especially after the fierce competition. UAE’s Jumaa AlMaktoom said this GP gives him a great opportunity to get acquainted with the new shooting rules being implemented for the first time.

Meanwhile, Sheikha Fareeha AlAhmad thanked the shooters for coming to Kuwait to participate in the Amir’s second International Grand Prix, and the Arab shotgun shooting championship. She expressed her joy over the outstanding performance by Kuwaiti female shooters. The president of Bahrain Shooting Federation Sheikh Ahmad bin Hamad Al-Khalifa said the championship and its organizers have made the Gulf and Arab citizens proud. He congratulated the shooters, adding that the Sheikh

Faces from the championship

and Kuwait Federations, vice-president of ISSF Sheikh Salman AlHumoud and the people of Kuwait.

Results of HH the Amir second shooting Grand Prix on its fourth day were as follows:

In the trap women event: 1. Delphine Reau (Fra) 2. Hui Yong Pak (PRK) 3. Soli Yang (PRK)

In the 10m air rifle women event: 1. Andrea Arsovic (Srb) 2. Ziva Dvorsak (Slo) 3. Pooja Ghatkar (Ind)

Meanwhile the results of the Arab shotgun shooting championship were as follows:

In the 50m prone rifle men: 1. Rajmon Debevec (Slo) 2. Alexander Yermakov (Kaz) 3. Nemanja Mirosavjev (Srb) Sheikha Fareeha Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber at KSSC. Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic shooting prepared well for the championship complex is the best around the world. and vowed to defend her title. AlKuwaiti shooter Sarah Al-Hawal Hawal dedicated her medal to HH the who won the gold medal in the Arab Amir, HH the Crown Prince, HH the championship Trap Event said she Premier, and to the President of Asian

2. Reau Delphine (Fra) 3. Yong Hui Pak (PRK)

In the 25m rapid fire event: 1. Said Al-Hashmi (Oma) 2. Hasli Izwan Amir Hassan (Mas) 3. Sasa Spirelja (Cro) In the trap women event: 1. Amnah Al-Abdullah (Qat)

In the trap women event: 1. Sarah Al-Hawal (Kwt) 2. Yasmina Meshfioui (Mar) 3. Yasmine Marirhi (Mar).

In the trap team women event: Qatar: Amnah Al-Abdullah, Khloud Al-Khalal, Nora Al-Ali. Morocco: Yasmina Meshfioui, Yasmine Marirhi, Hind Amani.

Kuwait: Sarah Al-Hawal, Shahad Al-Hawal, Rasha Al-Fares.

19

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

sp orts

Underdogs Dortmund working up European BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund’s sparkling Champions League run this season has seen them advance to the last eight but the underdogs’ hunger for European recognition has yet to be stilled. Their first quarter-final spot in 15 years was sealed on Tuesday with a 3-0 win over Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk, giving them a 5-2 aggregate victory.

It was a return to the big time for a club that almost went bust less than a decade ago but has turned its for-

tunes around, becoming arguably the most entertaining team to watch in the tournament this season. “Now that we have made the quarter-finals it is only normal to want to advance another step to the semis,” said a beaming coach Juergen Klopp, who took over in 2008 and led them to domestic league titles in 2011 and 2012.

“But obviously that is difficult to do.” Dortmund failed to get out of the group stages last year after years in

the football wilderness, but they have been formidable second time around.

The 1997 European champions swept aside Ajax Amsterdam, Real Madrid and Manchester City at home to top their pool in the group stage. Their displays have been highly impressive but Klopp does not want to hear about his team suddenly being tipped for the trophy.

“We have nothing to do with these estimations of being among the favorites,” said Klopp. “A number of

teams that played really well have already been eliminated in the competition. “Those left are all tough opponents and there are no lucky draws left here. “But we showed we have matured and we have become very consistent in our game.” Dortmund’s win on Tuesday was also the best remedy after playing second fiddle to Bayern Munich in Germany this season. They trail Bayern by 17 points in the league and lost to the Bavarians in the German Cup last week.

Klopp’s attack-minded players, who outclassed Shakhtar with yet another display of their now trademark positive style, could be forgiven for eyeing the next round and their only chance left for silverware this season. “I do not think we belong to the group of top favourites but the group is getting smaller and our greed is getting bigger,” said Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl. “All the teams left in the competition will be hard to play against but so will we,” he said. — Reuters

Messi confident of Milan miracle Solid gold Messi’ s foot on sale in J ap an

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic (center), Manchester United’s English forward Wayne Rooney (left) and Manchester United’s English midfielder Tom Cleverley attend a training session at the Carrington training complex in Manchester, north-west England. — AFP

Alarm bells ring for dropped Rooney MANCHESTER: When the raw pain of their Champions League exit subsides and Manchester United look forward to the trophies they can still win this season, one player who may find the gloom harder to shift is out-of-favour Wayne Rooney. The shock omission from the starting line-up for United’s biggest game of the season in the second leg of their last 16 tie against Real Madrid was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Nani’s red card and Ronaldo’s Old Trafford return. Before the game, manager Alex Ferguson said the England forward was on the bench because he had not had enough match action after injury but afterwards, with Ferguson too upset to talk, assistant Mike Phelan said the move had been tactical.

“In that dressing room, everyone was fit,” Phelan told a news conference after United went out 3-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 defeat on the night. “But big decisions have to be made.” Alarm bells might be ringing for Rooney when he considers the fate of previously key United players who have been dropped for huge games. Take David Beckham who started on the bench for Real’s 2003 trip to Old Trafford before leaving the club that summer or Ruud van Nistelrooy who was benched for the 2006 League Cup final and a series of other games before departing that year.

With striker Robin van Persie enjoying prolific form in his first United season with 19 league goals to his name and Rooney sidelined with a knee injury, the English player has not been grabbing as many headlines as he might. He has, nevertheless, netted 11 league goals including one against Norwich City last weekend and might therefore have expected a bigger role against Real Madrid than coming on as a 73rd minute substitute when his team were behind.

“Maybe the writing is on the wall for him,” former United midfielder Roy Keane said in the ITV studio before the game.

The demotion of Rooney is a far cry from his surprise inclusion in the starting lineup in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in 2010 when he played despite an injury. Once branded a “genius” by Ferguson, who persuaded him to stay at the club when he wanted to quit in October 2010, Rooney has been given a message he is no longer the main man.

He had a good chance to score after coming on against Real but sent his effort over, while players who were picked ahead of him were some of United’s best performers with Danny Welbeck and Ryan Giggs at the heart of their best attacking moves.

Real manager Jose Mourinho said Ferguson’s judgment over his line-up should not even be being questioned.

“Sir Alex has won the right for every decision to be correct and never have a question mark against them,” he told a news conference. “He is the best. He is the top.

“You are nobody, I am nobody (to question his decisions). He did a great job.”

United’s next team sheets will be scrutinized for further clues about Rooney, starting on Sunday when they host Chelsea for a place in the FA Cup semifinals.

They will then turn their attention to making sure the 12-point lead they hold at the top of the Premier League translates into a 20th league title come the end of the season. Picking themselves up from their European despair will not be a problem, according to Phelan.

“Disappointment in football is a part of the game,” he said. “For us as a football club, we’ve been here before and we shall bring the players together again, possibly today. We’ll look at certain things and we will kick on now. “It’s very important now that we finish the season well, we’re in the FA Cup still, we’ve got a great opportunity in the league and I’m sure that will drive the players forward in order to achieve something.”— Reuters

Mourinho and Madrid march on towards elusive 10th title MADRID: Jose Mourinho has been on the ropes at times this season as Real Madrid’s La Liga title defense stumbled but the Portuguese coach delivered knockout blows to heavyweight opponents this week that kept the Spanish club’s hopes of silverware very much alive. Real have upped their game at exactly the right moment and Tuesday’s 2-1 comeback victory at 10-man Manchester United sent them through to the last eight of the Champions League 32 on aggregate and put them a step closer to a 10th European crown. Success at Old Trafford came hard on the heels of last Tuesday’s 4-2 aggregate victory against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the King’s Cup and Real followed that up with a 2-1 win at home to their arch rivals in La Liga on Saturday.

“Three victories, what a week!” Real’s Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil wrote on his Twitter feed. Real are 13 points behind leaders Barca in third in La Liga and have written off their chances of closing the gap over the remaining 12 matches, leav-

ing Europe’s elite club competition as the overwhelming priority. Winning a third Champions League with a third different club is a personal obsession for Mourinho and it is widely thought that if Real lift the trophy at Wembley in May he will feel his job in Madrid is done and move on.

The 50-year-old former Chelsea manager left Inter Milan to join Real in 2010 after leading the Italian club to their first European crown in 45 years. He also won the competition with Porto in 2004.

Mourinho certainly rode his luck against United as Real were trailing 2-1 on aggregate until Nani’s harsh dismissal in the 56 minute transformed the game. He immediately sent on Luka Modric and the Croatia midfielder cracked in the equaliser seven minutes after replacing fullback Alvaro Arbeloa. Mourinho was then poised to replace Gonzalo Higuain with strike partner Karim Benzema but Cristiano Ronaldo’s 69th-minute goal against his former club edged Real in front and defender Pepe was deployed instead. — Reuters

MADRID: World Player of the Year Lionel Messi still believes Barcelona can overcome a 2-0 deficit against AC Milan in the Champions League next week despite their recent poor form. The Catalans have lost three of their last four games, including two defeats to Real Madrid in the past week, but Messi is confident they can regain their best form when they need it most against the Italians on Tuesday. “It is obvious that we have to do a little more. Lately we have come from a run of defeats and we are aware of what we need to do to change that,” he told reporters at a promotional event on Wednesday.

“There is a key game coming up for us to react and make this change. “To come back is what we all want. We know it will be very difficult, but we believe it’s possible. If they can do it there, then we can do it here. “We know that if they score a goal it will be more difficult and that Milan have very good players, but we will have our chances.” Messi also acknowledged that the ongoing absence of coach Tito Vilanova as he undergoes cancer treatment in New York has impacted on the squad, but refused to blame the loss of Vilanova as a reason for their recent dip in form.

“It has affected us a lot and I think it has taken its toll when it comes to preparing for each competition, but we have a strong dressing room and I don’t think we can put the blame on this situation.”

The Argentina captain also reflected on Madrid’s 2-1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday night and admits that Los Blancos are now a serious candidate to win the Champions League. “Madrid are demonstrating that they are very strong. They knocked us out of the Cup and they are now in the quarters of the Champions League.

“The are candidate to win the Champions League, just as United were.”

MESSI’S FOOT ON SALE In another development, a solid gold replica of footballer Lionel Messi’s left foot, complete with blood vessels and the swirls of skin on the bottom of the toes, is to go on sale in Japan, a jeweler said yesterday. The 25-kilogramme (55-pound) statue, worth $5.25 million, was created from a mould of the star striker’s foot by Ginza Tanaka to mark Messi’s record-breaking fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or award.

The company said the golden foot is due to go on sale today, along with a number of

TOKYO: An employee of Ginza Tanaka poses beside the golden replica of football star Lionel Messi of Argentine’s left foot during its press preview in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Real Madrid’s wonderful week keeps season alive MADRID: Their 2-1 Champions League victory over Manchester United may have been controversial but it topped a fantastic eight days for Real Madrid that have potentially saved their season. Just over a week ago Jose Mourinho’s Spanish champions looked set to end the current campaign without a major trophy.

Lagging 16 points behind bitter rivals Barcelona in the league, they also faced an uphill task against Barca and United after only managing 1-1 draws in the home legs of their Copa del Rey and Champions League ties respectively.

But back-to-back wins over a belowpar Barca secured progress to the Copa final and closed the gap in La Liga to boost morale before the most important date of all on Tuesday at Old Trafford.

Mourinho’s relationship with many of his senior players has been far from ideal this season and remains so unstable that the Portuguese still seems certain to leave at the end of the season. Yet for now the club have been galvanized by a common goal-European glory.

For over a decade Madrid have chased “La Decima”-their 10th European Cup whilst Mourinho himself is after the per-

miniature versions and a solid gold plate of the Barcelona FC frontman’s footprint, the company said.

Part of the profits from the sale will go to help people affected by the quake and tsunami that hit Japan two years ago next Monday, through the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity run by the Messi family. Argentinean Messi won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or at a FIFA gala in Zurich in January, adding yet another record to his stellar list of achievements as the top scorer in Spain’s La Liga. — Agencies

sonal glory of becoming the first man to lead three different clubs to European football’s top prize. However, his uncertain future in Madrid also left many cynical when analysing his post-match conclusions in Manchester that “the best team had lost”. British newspapers, when not picking over Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir highly disputed decision to sendoff United winger Nani, certainly interpreted his modesty as a sign that he has an eye on Alex Ferguson’s job when the veteran manager retires.

A return to England would appear to be former Chelsea boss Mourinho’s most likely destination and for all the deference and respect he continues to show Ferguson, he has given the impression that being the Scot’s successor is the job he most craves.

Forgetting the touchline antics, mind games and media posturing, though, it is on the field that Mourinho has again proved himself in the past week. His gameplans against Barcelona exposed the Catalans’ weaknesses in the most efficient manner and even accounting for their one-man advantage, his decision to introduce Modric after the red card swung the game decisively in Real’s favour. — AFP

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s French defender Patrice Evra (left) is challenged by Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match between Manchester United and Real Madrid at Old Trafford in Manchesteron March 5, 2013. — AFP

Chelsea and Tottenham dream of higher plane PARIS: They could both be forgiven for dreaming of more lucrative adventures in the Champions League come next season, but today Chelsea and Tottenham will have their eyes focused on a place in Europa League semi-finals. Both must put thoughts of the Champions League aside at least for 90 minutes as they prepare to meet Steaua Bucharest and Inter Milan respectively.

Spurs, twice winners of Europa League predecessor tournament the UEFA Cup, would have been competing in the Champions League this season, had Chelsea’s triumph in the final over Bayern Munich not torpedoed those ambitions. However, the Blues themselves suffered the heartache of being dumped into the Europa melting pot when they became the first Champions League winners to exit the group stage.

Much water has flowed under Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge since they saw off Bayern, with Champions League-winning coach Roberto Di Matteo unceremoniously sacked and Rafa Benitez installed as an interim measure - to the dismay of many of the club’s supporters.

Yet Benitez, while recognising that Champions League qualification is the overriding goal, would happily lift a trophy which would enable Chelsea to complete the set of European Cup, the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup and also UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League. To date, only Bayern, Ajax and Juventus have managed to win all three.

Benitez has to juggle with the additional burden of a top four league finish with next weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United also looming. “We have to go to Bucharest before we can concentrate on (the United) game,” he insisted. Benitez has a selection dilemma regarding skipper John Terry, who is returning from a knee injury, while Gary Cahill is getting over a virus, leaving Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz as central defensive partners. The former Liverpool boss, who won the Champions League at Anfield and the UEFA Cup with Valencia, said of Terry: “He’s training. Match fitness and training sessions are two different things and he’s improving.”

Spurs counterpart Andre Villas-Boas can be satisfied that his side are on a roll after beating Arsenal to move third. The tie will have a job to reach the thrill levels of the Champions League group matches agasint Inter two seasons ago, when Gareth Bale hit a hattrick in the San Siro only to finish on the losing side before Spurs won the return. Team-mate Michael Dawson says with Bale around anything is possible. “He’s one of the best players in the world at the moment, and probably the best in the world for me right now.”

Villas-Boas has already won the tournament with Porto, two years ago before his ill-fated spell at Stamford Bridge. Spurs have twice lifted the UEFA Cup, which Inter have themselves won on three occasions, and the hosts will beware of a side which can boast five wins in six matches on their European travels this term. — AFP

Celtics trounce slumping 76ers

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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Solid gold Messi’s foot on sale in Japan

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Real’s wonderful week keeps season alive

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TURIN: Juventus players celebrate their 2-0 win over Celtic, at the end of their Champions League, round of 16, return-leg soccer match at the Juventus stadium in Turin yesterday. — AP

Juventus end 7-year wait Juve book Champions League quarter-final spot MILAN: Strikes in either half from Alessandro Matri and Fabio Quagliarella earned Juventus a comfortable 2-0 win over Celtic in their Champions League last 16 second leg and a place in the quarter finals for the first time in seven years yesterday. Trailing 3-0 from a disastrous first leg at Celtic Park last month, the Scottish champions were left needing a “minor miracle”, in the words of manager Neil Lennon, if they were to cause a huge upset at Juventus Stadium. But despite a positive Celtic performance and several clear-cut chances in the opening half, the Hoops never posed a real threat to the Italian champions, who will now relish a first appearance in the last eight since their exit to Arsenal in 2006.

After a nervous start, Juve showed the first threatening signs on 13 minutes when Celtic ‘keeper Fraser Forster was forced out to block as Fabio Quagliarella threatened to pounce on midfielder Paul Pogba’s superb through ball. Celtic were pressing high up the park and forcing Juve to defend in numbers, however the visitors were often found wanting in a midfield marshalled by 19-year-old Pogba and veteran Andrea Pirlo.

Celtic’s first real chance came on 22 minutes when Kris Commons found Joe Ledley in space but the midfielder’s shot was wide.

Two minutes later Federico Peluso robbed striker Gary Hooper and fed Quagliarella to the left of goal. When Forster failed to hold the

United ‘cheated’ by referee LONDON: British newspapers were unanimous yesterday that Manchester United had been cheated out of victory in their Champions League tie against Real Madrid after Nani was sent off for catching Alvaro Arbeloa in the chest. Many also focused on comments from Real manager Jose Mourinho that the “best team lost”, with The Times saying his humble reaction was essentially an “audition” to succeed Alex Ferguson as United manager.

In a match which raised many questions, the papers also speculated that the decision to leave Wayne Rooney on the bench at the start of the match left a huge question mark over his future at Old Trafford. The Daily Telegraph headlined its coverage “Cheated”,

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s midfielder Nani (right) holds his head as Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir sends him off after a challenge against Real Madrid’s defender Alvaro Arbeloa (left). — AFP

focusing on Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir’s decision to send off Nani when most observers had expected a yellow card at worst. “This was a good game ruined by a bad referee,” wrote the Telegraph, saying it was a “terrible decision”.

The Times said the sending-off had seemed “extremely harsh” because it came after United had taken a 1-0 lead and a 2-1 lead overall in the tie. “For a time, this had seemed to be shaping into one of Ferguson’s great triumphs, but it ended up as an addition to a litany of Champions League hard-luck stories-Borussia Dortmund in 1997, Bayer Leverkusen in 2002, Porto in 2004 and Bayern Munich in 2010 — and this one seemed to bring a genuine cause for grievance.” Under a photograph of Ferguson jabbing an angry finger in the referee’s direction, The Sun’s headline was “Broken - Fergie distraught after Nani red card KO’s Utd”.

All the papers highlighted that Ferguson had been too incensed by the decision to speak to reporters afterwards.

Mourinho’s performance in his press conference, when he refused to question Ferguson’s team selection and insisted that his side were inferior despite the result, “was more saccharin than a Hollywood teen movie”, according to The Times. The Times also speculated that his low-key gesture of consoling Ferguson before walking off the pitch with two minutes of the match remaining was designed to appeal to United directors. — AFP

Italian’s shot, Matri ran in to sweep the ball home.

Celtic regrouped and minutes later Juve were indebted to Gianluigi Buffon’s reflexes after the ‘keeper dived to palm away a Commons shot which had deflected off Hooper’s boot. At the other end Arturo Vidal wasted a great chance to double Juve’s lead, striking Quagliarella’s crossfield ball first-time when he had time to control and shoot.

Celtic were pouring forward at every possible opportunity but Hooper missed the chance of the match for the visitors when he failed to toepoke Samaras’s shot across goal past a beaten Buffon. Lennon replaced right-back Adam Matthews with Efe Ambrose-blamed as the cul-

prit for two of Juve’s first leg goals-at half-time, but it was Juve who moved up a gear. On 49 minutes Celtic’s defence was static when a Pogba through ball to Matri was laid off for Quagliarella, whose shot was well saved by Forster.

Juve were finally starting to play and only a timely intervention from centre-back Kelvin Wilson stopped Quagliarella and Matri combining for the hosts’ second goal. At the other end Samaras’s probing header from the back post back into the area found no takers and then an Ambrose header from a corner bounced down and over the bar. When Juve’s second goal came, it exposed Celtic’s defence all too easily. A long

ball from midfield was flighted in for Vidal, who sneaked in behind Emilio Izaguirre to collect and square for the unmarked Quagliarella to slot home past Forster at the back post.

If Celtic’s heads went down, they didn’t show it, but the likelihood of piercing Juve’s impenetrable backline did not increase as the match wore on. In a rare slip, Pogba lost possession to Commons on 72 minutes but the forward’s strike was blocked. Seven minutes from time Samaras had time and space to pick his spot after Ledley’s lay-off, but the Greek sent a rising shot over bar.

Juve almost made it 3-0 in the final minutes only for Quagliarella to send a spectacular bicycle kick shot just wide of Forster’s upright. — AFP

PSG overcome Valencia scare PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League yesterday after a 1-1 draw with Valencia at the Parc des Princes allowed them to progress 3-2 on aggregate. They had to survive something of a scare, however, with Jonas putting the visitors in front on the night 10 minutes into the second half. Valencia had looked very much out of it when they were 2-0 down going into the final minute of the first leg last month, but after pulling a late goal back there, Jonas’ strike left them needing just one more to complete a remarkable turnaround.

Alas, it was not to be for the Spaniards, as Ezequiel Lavezzi-who had also scored at the Mestalla-levelled on the night in the 66th minute and PSG held out to secure their place in the last eight for the first time since 1995. Given the ambitions of the French capital side’s mega-rich Qatari owners, failing to make it through would have been nothing short of a disaster, especially given the way they played for most of the first leg.

Just as in that game, Carlo Ancelotti’s side seemed happy for Valencia to have most of the possession, but they lacked the same punch on the breakaway this time and almost paid dearly for inviting Valencia on to them. Despite being deprived of Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to suspension following his sendingoff at the Mestalla, Ancelotti opted not to hand a first Champions League start of the season to Kevin Gameiro, and PSG lacked any kind of reference point in attack as a result. David Beckham, meanwhile, started on the bench and that was where he stayed for the night.

The first real chance of the game fell the Spanish side’s way, with Roberto Soldado testing goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu quarter of an hour in. PSG were struggling to find any rhythm, and were disrupted even more when Christophe Jallet was forced off before

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Lucas (left) vies with Valencia’s Argentinean midfielder Ever Banega during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match yesterday. — AFP the half-hour mark, seemingly due to an injury, with Gregory Van der Wiel taking his place. But for all their dominance of possession, Valencia could not seriously trouble Sirigu, with Jonas and Tino Costa both missing the target before the Brazilian had a powerful shot beaten away by the ‘keeper just before the interval. For PSG, that served as a warning of what was to come, with Valencia coach Ernesto Valverde signalling his intent by throwing on creator Ever Banega for midfield destroyer David Albelda. He was rewarded for his positivity when Jonas struck soon after the restart, his powerful strike from 20 yards surprising Sirigu at his near post. Suddenly a tie that had appeared to be limping towards a tame stalemate

had come to life, and Ancelotti finally turned to Gameiro.

The striker, who Valencia had wanted to sign in 2011 when PSG lured him from Lorient, looked lively as soon as he was thrown on for Motta in the 58th minute, and he made PSG’s equaliser on the night just before the midway point in the second half. After driving through middle of the Valencia defense, he got the break of the ball, but it was Lavezzi who shot, and then converted at the second attempt after Vicente Guaita had blocked his initial effort. It was Lavezzi’s fifth goal in the Champions League this season, confirming that PSG do not solely rely on Ibrahimovic to score when it really matters.— AFP

Business

European carmakers go big on minis Page 23 Kuwait real estate activity declines Page 25

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

NBK ranked 35 in Global Finance list for 2013 Page 26 Page 22

Mindshare honored at MENA Cristal Festival

SYDNEY: People cross a road during a busy morning hours to reach their offices in central business district of Sydney yesterday. Australia’s central bank kept interest rates steady at 3.00 percent, saying downside risks in the global economy appeared to have eased while there were signs previous cuts were working. — AFP

Euro-zone recession deepens Germany shrinks 0.6%, France 03% in Q4 BRUSSELS: The 17-nation euro-zone sank further into recession in the last three months of 2012 as the debt crisis continued to exact a heavy price, official data showed yesterday. The eurozone economy shrank 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the third quarter when it contracted 0.1 percent, the Eurostat data agency said, confirming initial estimates given in February.

For the full 27-member European Union, the economy was 0.5 percent smaller in the fourth quarter after a marginal gain of 0.1 percent in the third, Eurostat said. A recession is counted as two consecutive quarterly economic contractions. Compared

with fourth quarter 2011, the euro-zone economy was down 0.9 percent and the EU 27 off 0.6 percent. Among the major economies, European powerhouse Germany shrank 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter after a gain of 0.2 percent in the third and France slipped 0.3 percent after growth of 0.1 percent. Noneuro Britain lost 0.3 percent after sharp growth of 1.0 percent in the third quarter, boosted by the London Olympics.

Among the fourth quarter best performers were Estonia, which grew 0.9 percent and Lithuania, up 0.7 percent, while bailed-out Portugal was the weakest, with its economy shrinking 1.8 percent. Falling investment and consumers’ reluctance

Egypt recovers, Gulf markets up MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Egypt’s bourse lifted from an 11week low yesterday as bargain hunters returned after two sessions of heavy selling, while UAE markets fell in an otherwise regional uptrend. Cairo’s bluechips recovered with Orascom Construction Industries rising 0.3 percent. OCI received a notification from the Egyptian Tax Authority to discuss an alleged tax claim next Sunday, sources said. Egypt’s public prosecutor earlier this week barred OCI’s chief executive Nassef Sawiris from leaving the country, as part of an investigation into tax evasion.

Commercial International Bank climbed 1.5 percent and Egypt Kuwait Holding rose 4.6 percent. Cairo’s index gained 0.4 percent, helped by buying from regional investors that were net buyers for the day.

“The index had a strong support near 5,200 and we might see a minor rebound towards 5,350 after the strong selling,” said Mohabeldeen Agena, head of technical analysis at Cairo’s Beltone Financial. “The rebound is normal but the support doesn’t look like it will hold in the medium-term.”

Elsewhere, global gains helped lift sentiment in Saudi Arabia. The index advanced 0.7 percent, edging up from a two-month low.

Large-caps led the climb. Al Rajhi Bank gained 0.8 percent and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), the world’s largest chemicals company, added 0.3 percent, helping the sector’s index climbs 0.9 percent. Brent crude futures rose towards $112 a barrel on Wednesday, tracking a rally in equity markets and expectations of a revival in demand growth following positive economic data from the United States and China.

Saudi petrochemical stocks tend to track oil prices, with crude impacting their bottom line.

“The rallies seen in global markets point to higher demand for petrochemical products and this is what supported the Saudi market,” said Turki Fadaak, Head of Research at Al Bilad Investment.

Elsewhere, Kuwait’s index climbed 0.3 percent and Qatar added 0.2 percent.

UAE markets however, bucked the regional trend. Dubai’s bourse slumped to a four-week closing low after Mashreq’s share price tumbles in a single trade.

Shares in Mashreq, Dubai’s second largest listed lender by market value, lost 10 percent on a single trade of 1,168 shares. The bank trades sporadically and has a free float of just 8 percent, exaggerating share price moves. Builder Arabtec fell 2.9 percent. It has plunged 31 percent in the five sessions since the company announced plans to raise $1.8 billion in capital that would be dilutive to shareholders.

Dubai’s index slipped 0.1 percent and Abu Dhabi’s benchmark declined 0.6 percent, down for a fifth session since last week’s 39-month high.

First Gulf Bank dipped 2.2 percent to 13.25 dirhams, trimming 2013 gains to 12.8 percent. The stock rallied 51.6 percent last year, backed by strong earnings growth that beat estimates in the last three quarters. The bank’s shares will reach ex-dividend today, with the lender poised to pay out 0.83 dirhams per share. Commercial Bank International and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank declined 9.7 percent and 0.5 percent respectively. — Reuters

to spend even at Christmas were behind the Euro-zone’s slide deep into recession in the last three months of 2012, according to a second official estimate yesterday.

Economic output from the 17 nations sharing the euro fell 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, EU statistics agency Eurostat said, confirming an earlier reading and giving a more detailed breakdown. “This was the worse quarter in the recessionary cycle,” said Mads Koefoed, an economist at Saxobank.

“The outcome of the Italian election increases uncertainty, but euro zone growth should come back towards the end of this year,” he said.

The data pointed to the vicious circle at the centre of the Euro-zone’s economic malaise. Governments are cutting spending, prompting businesses to freeze investment and lay off staff, in turn leaving households in no state to spend or provide the growth needed to reduce debt.While backward-looking, the numbers may also influence a monthly meeting of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council today. The bank is not expected to cut rates this week to below 0.75 percent, but a growing number of economists see a reduction in the cost of borrowing at some point this year, partly because inflation is no longer a threat in the euro-zone. — Agencies

Global Markets keep rising after Dow hits record high LONDON: The Dow’s new all-time high and better economic data from the United States propelled world markets yesterday, with European stocks hitting a four-year high. Investors are cheered by major central banks’ commitments to keep supporting growth in the world biggest economies - the US, China, the 17-country euro-zone, Japan and Britain.

That has helped them look past political trouble in Washington, where automatic government budget cuts took effect last week after President Barack Obama and Congress failed to reach a budget deal.

The $85 billion in cuts are expected to hurt US economic growth, but for now investors seem happy to buy further into the market rally.

European shares added to gains reaped a day

earlier, when the Dow posted a new record.

Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 6,455.63 while Germany’s DAX advanced 1.1 percent to 7,959.10. France’s CAC-40 added 0.2 percent to 3,795.17. A broader measure of European stocks, the Stoxx Europe 600, rose to its highest level since June 2008. Wall Street also showed no signs of slowing, with the Dow rising another 0.3 percent on the open, to 14,293.76 and the broader S&P 500 adding 0.3 percent to 1,544.13.

The new gains were fueled by a strong hiring survey by private payrolls company ADP. It showed hiring in the private sector continued in February at a strong pace of 198,000, suggesting the official monthly figure, due Friday, will meet market hopes.

Economists expect the US economy added 152,000 jobs in February. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark index reached a multi-year closing high, capping a day of positive trade in the region. The Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1 percent to close at 11,932.27, the highest finish since September 2008.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1 percent to 22,777.84. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2 percent to 2,020.74. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.8 percent to 5,116.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and mainland China rose.

Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said the new highs reached on Wall Street provided a psychological boost to investors but that such gains can go into reverse pretty quickly.—AP

Jordan energy crisis poses reform challenge: IMF

GENEVA: The new French Renault Captur model car is displayed as world premiere at the Geneva International Motor Show yesterday. — AFP (See Page 23)

AMMAN: Jordan must tackle a soaring energy import bill by reducing power subsidies to get its economy back on track, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.

IMF deputy head Nemat Shafik said Jordan’s aid-dependent economy was hit hard by “several external shocks at the same time” when the Arab Spring revolts against autocratic rule spread across the Middle East, but the major challenge now was energy imports.

“Energy is the Achilles heel of the Jordanian economy, it’s a huge vulnerability for Jordan ... the biggest drain on the economy,” Shafik told reporters at the end of an IMF mission to review progress in last year’s standby arrangement. Jordan imports 97 percent of its energy. A sharp reduction in supplies of the Egyptian gas it uses to generate most of its electricity has forced it to pay an extra $2 billion a year since 2011 for diesel and fuel bought in global markets.

The cost of accommodating over 300,000 refugees from its northern neighbor Syria has added to Jordan’s economic woes.

Combined with a drop in foreign aid and soaring welfare payments, the kingdom went through an acute financial crisis that forced it to take a $2 billion IMF loan last July. That was conditional on a budget tightening plan that includes reducing hefty subsidies on fuel and raising electricity tariffs.

Jordan’s decision last November to cut subsidies on most fuel products sparked violent protests but had steered the country away from the “very inefficient” subsidy system in place in most Middle Eastern countries, Shafik said. —Reuters

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

BUSINESS

Yemen CB ponders further rate cuts DUBAI: Yemen’s central bank will assess in a few months whether it needs to lower interest rates again, and any move will depend on how the economy reacts to its recent cuts, its vice governor Mohammed Assyani told Reuters yesterday. The central bank slashed its main interest rate by 3 percentage points to a three-year low of 15 percent last month, helped by a plunge in inflation, as it seeks to support an economic revival in the volatile Arab state.

Asked if the deposit rate, the main rate used to adjust monetary policy, has reached the bottom yet, Assyani said: “Not the bottom, we have reached the right level now.”

“In a few months, we will go through the reports and see what the impact of this reduction is and if we still need to do something like that. It depends on the situation,” he told

Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a financial forum.

Last month’s rate cut was the first since October, when the central bank began an easing cycle shaving by 2 percentage points off the main rate as inflation came down to single digits and the Yemeni rial stabilised as political turmoil eased.

The International Monetary Fund, which expects Yemen’s economy to grow 4 percent this year, said in January that the bank had room to gradually reduce interest rates to support economic growth.

It warned however that the political transition following the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in February 2012, and security concerns - particularly attacks on key oil and electricity facilities - posed risks to the econom-

said. Last year, wealthy Gulf Arab states, Western governments and other donors pledged $7.9 billion in aid over several years to Yemen, but only a small fraction has so far arrived. The donors are due to meet in London today to assess the situation. Yemen’s economy improved last year but the recovery remains fragile in the second-poorest Arab state after Mauritania. A third of Yemen’s 25 million people live on less than $2 a day and unemployment is estimated at around 35 percent.

Assyani said economic growth last year was “not that bad,” but he did not give details and said he was unable to give a forecast for this year. “Actually the situation is not very clear now. The politics is still very cloudy, so you cannot estimate it.”

The central bank’s foreign currency reserves

ic outlook. An oil industry source said yesterday that unknown assailants had blown up Yemen’s main oil pipeline again on Tuesday night.

Pipelines have been repeatedly sabotaged since anti-government protests created a power vacuum in 2011, leading to fuel shortages and slashing Yemen’s export earnings. Inflation in Yemen, torn by widespread poverty, unrest and clashes with Islamic insurgents linked to al Qaeda, dived to 5.8 percent in the final quarter of 2012 from a peak of 25 percent in October 2011.

Assyani said consumer price inflation, currently about 6 percent, may climb this year when aid from foreign donors start to trickle in.

“We believe when the money come from donors...it (inflation) will go a little bit higher than last year. Something like 8 percent,” he

are currently at $6.2 billion, Assyani said, adding that this was an appropriate level but that depended on whether or not Yemen will continue to see bombings of oil pipelines. Assyani also said he was happy with the level of the rial, which has stabilized at around 214 to the dollar.

The currency sank to about 243 in 2011, when the unrest caused fuel and electricity shortages in the $36 billion economy that lies near major oil shipping routes.

Yemen’s government, which depends on oil receipts for 60-70 percent of its budget income, pencilled in a 682 billion rial ($3.2 billion) fiscal deficit for 2013 and Assyani said the finance ministry promised to keep the gap below the plan. “They are trying to squeeze it (deficit) as much as they can,” he said without giving details. —Reuters

Emirates plans another benchmark bond sale Airline hires 6 banks for benchmark bond DUBAI: Emirates airline, Dubai’s flagship carrier, has hired six banks to arrange a potential dollar-denominated, benchmark sukuk sale, lead arrangers said yesterday in what would be its second bond sale this year. Emirates, owned by the government of Dubai, picked Citigroup Inc, Standard Chartered, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and ENBD Capital for the planned sale.

Dubai, which is recovering from a property-led crisis in 2009, is taking

week, another state-owned entity, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, returned to global debt markets after an absence of more than two years. Its $1 billion Islamic debt deal attracted order books of $5 billion and the bulk of it, about 65 percent, was allocated to the Middle East. The utility printed the five-year paper at par at a profit rate of 3 percent.

Emirates airline will hold investor meetings in the United Arab Emirates and Europe commencing March 7, according to lead arrangers. The meet-

advantage of improved investor sentiment and strong liquidity in the Islamic bond market to raise financing for its state entities at relatively cheaper rates. Investment Corporation of Dubai, the emirate’s main financial vehicle, is in talks with banks to launch its first Islamic bond issue, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week.

Dubai itself raised $1.25 billion in January in an oversubscribed dualtranche bond sale, which included a $750 million Islamic tranche. Last

Egypt’s GB Auto sees home market shrinking CAIRO: Egyptian vehicle assembler and distributor GB Auto said yesterday its net income grew 74.2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, but forecast the local car market would shrink in the coming year.

Fourth-quarter net income rose to 75.90 million Egyptian pounds ($11.3 million), despite what Chief Executive Raouf Ghabbour said was a “truly volatile environment”, while revenue was up 25.4 percent to 2.35 billion. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) reached 205.2 million pounds, a 55.5 percent increase. GB Auto ended the year with 28.9 percent of the Egyptian passenger car market, down slightly from a year earlier.

Egypt is beset by a political and economic crisis, with foreign exchange in increasingly short supply.

“Egypt’s foreign exchange environment and the expected deterioration of the macro (economic) climate in a high-inflation environment will see the Egyptian passenger car market shrinking in the coming year,” Ghabbour said in a statement.

However, he added that new North African business should make an immediate positive contribution. “We are confident that our strategy for this year will see us post bottom-line growth and improve our margins in Egypt, while seeing both Algeria and Libya making positive contributions to profitability from year one, essentially providing buffers to challenges in our home market.” —Reuters

ings will kick-off in Dubai and neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi on March 7, followed by Geneva and Zurich on March 8th and closing in London on the 11th.

Benchmark-sized transactions are at least $500 million. Emirates launched a $750 million, 12-year amortizing bond in late January but received a tepid response compared to its last issue in June 2011. Market players said at the time that the unusual amortizing structure had kept regional investors away. —Reuters

AirAsia’s India entry wins panel approval NEW DELHI: Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia won approval from India’s foreign investment panel yesterday to set up an airline in a joint venture with the giant Tata group, a government official said.

AirAsia, one of the pioneers of low-cost air travel in Asia, already connects Southeast Asia with some Indian cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Kolkata through its operations in Thailand and Malaysia. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has “approved Air Asia’s proposal to enter the civil aviation sector”, an Indian finance ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

AirAsia group chief executive Tony Fernandes, a former record industry executive who took over insolvent AirAsia in 2001 and turned it into one of the aviation sector’s biggest success sto-

ries, tweeted the news was “exciting.”

“Thank you all,” he said, adding: “People and companies with good intentions to create jobs and make life of the average man better will always win.” AirAsia, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, will have a 49 percent stake while India’s Tata Group will hold 30 percent. The remainder will be held by entrepreneur Arun Bhatia’s Telstra Tradeplace. The venture now has to obtain a flying license from India’s aviation regulator, among other steps, and is aiming to start operations in May-June, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday.

AirAsia’s entry would mark the first by a foreign carrier in the Indian aviation sector since the government last September relaxed rules to let overseas airlines take up to 49 percent stakes in domestic carriers. —AFP

UK consumer body threatens to shut down payday lenders LONDON: Britain’s consumer watchdog has given the UK’s biggest 50 payday lenders 12 weeks to change their business practices or risk losing their licenses, after finding evidence of widespread irresponsible lending. So-called payday lenders offer short-term loans, which are intended to be paid back when borrowers receive their wages.

Critics say they charge excessively high rates of interest and take advantage of the vulnerable in a weak British economy where mainstream banks have cut back on short-term consumer lending.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) also said it

proposed to refer the payday lending market to the Competition Commission after finding “deep-rooted” problems within an industry where annual interest rates on some loans topped 4,000 percent.

“We have found fundamental problems with the way the payday market works and widespread breaches of the law and regulations, causing misery and hardship for many borrowers,” said Clive Maxwell, the OFT’s Chief Executive. Wonga, one of the biggest payday lenders in Britain, more than trebled its earnings last year. —Reuters

NBK ranked 35 in Global Finance list for 2013 Kuwait bank among 50 safest banks in the world KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), for the seventh consecutive time, has been listed among the 50 safest banks in the world.

NBK ranked 35 in the list, illustrating the success of the bank’s conservative strategy, prudent risk management and dedication to service excellence.

The rankings, compiled by international finance magazine, Global Finance, are based on evaluations of long-term credit ratings-from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings-and total assets of the 500 largest banks worldwide. NBK ranked above several international financial heavyweights including Wells Fargo and Standard Chartered Bank, as well as being the only bank from Kuwait.

“Counterparty creditworthiness has seldom been of more concern to companies

and investors worldwide,” said Global Finance publisher Joseph D. Giarraputo in a press release announcing the World’s 50 Safest Banks: April 2013. “Knowing how their counterparties are faring in the face of global economic uncertainty is key. This ranking helps companies and investors to get a view on the relative strength of their counterparties-and global financial institutions.” NBK has consistently been awarded the highest credit ratings of all banks in the region by the major international rating agencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

Global Finance’s annual ranking of World’s 50 Safest Banks has been a recognized and trusted standard of creditworthiness for the entire financial world for more than 20 years.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2760000 .426000 .3670000 .2980000 .2740000 .2890000 .0040000 .0020000 .0768670 .7488890 .3920000 .0720000 .7341540 .0420000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2831500 .4285620 .3697510 .3007280 .2757330 .0495950 .0443950 .2910070 .0365090 .2274850 .0030380 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0771210 .7513600 .0000000 .0755270 .7357410 .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.055 5.192 2.896 2.230 3.255 229.030 36.690 3.593 6.992

.2860000 .4410000 .3810000 .3130000 .2880000 .2990000 .0067500 .0035000 .0776390 .7564160 .4100000 .0770000 .7415320 .0480000 .2852500 .4317400 .3724940 .3029580 .2777780 .0499620 .0447250 .2931660 .0367790 .2391720 .0030610 .0052460 .0022460 .0029170 .0036340 .0776930 .7569320 .4034650 .0760870 .7411980 .0070660

Thai Baht Irani Riyal - transfer Irani Riyal - cash

Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

9.571 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 75.910 78.216 739.380 756.080 77.513

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 284.550 Euro 373.190 Sterling Pound 432.230 Canadian dollar 278.420 Swiss Franc 303.520 US Dollar Buying 283.350 GOLD 298.000 150.000 77.500

SELL DRAFT 293.00 280.88 306.65 373.05 284.20 431.06 3.11 3.618 5.171 2.231 3.242 2.900 77.45 756.72 41.59 404.88

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

Selling Rate 284.400 280.705 431.045 372.770 302.865 752.955 77.410 78.065 75.805 400.910 41.588 2.227 5.197 2.893 3.599 6.970 697.645 4.050 9.615 4.020 3.340 91.690

Bahrain Exchange Company

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar

738.000 78.500 76.500

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 41.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 41.550 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.328 Tunisian Dinar 180.780 Jordanian Dinar 401.990 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.910 Syrian Lier 3.092 Morocco Dirham 33.875

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

739.65 78.48 75.99

SELL CASH 293.000 280.000 307.000 372.000 285.000 430.500 3.300 3.740 5.350 2.500 3.450 2.870 78.000 755.500 42.000 415.000

COUNTRY 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

SELL CASH 0.4236005 0.0061219 0.0457983 0.3665029 0.0458858 0.4221943 0.0405604 0.2976119 Australasia 0.2826494 0.2288728 0.0001092 America 0.2701973 0.0001480 0.2822000 Asia 0.0035622 0.0031540 0.0446718 0.0164233

SELLDRAFT 0.4326005 0.0181219 0.0507983 0.3740029 0.0510858 0.4296943 0.0455604 0.3046119 0.2946494 0.2388728 0.0001092 0.2791973 0.0001660 0.28443500 0.0036172 0.0033840 0.0496718 0.0195233

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 Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Ethiopeanbirr Ghanaian Cedi Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Sudanese Pounds Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.0000441 0.0341140 0.0051387 0.0000244 0.0028394 0.0029722 0.0032393 0.0878525 0.0030985 0.0028679 0.0065362 0.0000726 0.2245427 0.0019294 0.0091572 Arab 0.7478179 0.0395593 0.0129851 0.1480126 0.0000791 0.0001856 0.3954852 1.0000000 0.0001744 0.0218360 0.0012069 0.7275601 0.0774487 0.0752933 0.0499389 0.0031726 0.1789551 0.0759907 0.0012826

0.0000501 0.0372140 0.0052087 0.0000295 0.0038394 0.0031522 0.0034693 0.0948525 0.0032985 0.0029079 0.0070062 0.0000756 0.2305427 0.0022344 0.0097572 0.7563179 0.0415893 0.0194851 0.1498026 0.0000796 0.0002456 0.4029852 1.0000000 0.0001944 0.0458360 0.0018419 0.7385601 0.0782317 O.0759333 0.0504889 0.0033926 0.1849551 0.0774407 0.0013826

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) 284.100 373.900 432.400 279.000 3.080 5.187 41.550 2.228 3.595 6.980 2.899 756.150 77.350 75.850

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

BUSINESS GENEVA MOTOR SHOW

European carmakers go big on minis PARIS: In the gloom of Europe’s bottomless auto slump shines a relative bright spot, the mini-SUV - and beleaguered mass-market carmakers are piling in like excited joyriders.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, Ford and Renault joined the stampede on Tuesday, showing new subcompact crossovers at the Geneva car show, with Fiat and others close on their heels.

Despite austerity and unemployment weighing heavily on sentiment and car registrations in freefall - now approaching a 20year low - city dwellers are queuing to pay a 3,000 euro ($3,900) premium for a slightly higher-riding runaround. “It’s not very rational,” said Francois Bancon, the Nissan upstream development chief behind the best-selling Juke. “But we’re not complaining.”

The Japanese automaker, which unleashed the Juke’s muscle-bound physique upon the world in 2010 and logged more than 97,000 European sales in each of the next two years, is soon to be upstaged by French parent Renault.

The curvaceous Captur, a Renault Clio hatchback with more body, and Peugeot’s more obviously named 208 derivative, the 2008, will bump the Juke down to No 3 in the category next year, according to forecasting house IHS Automotive. Overall, cashstrapped Europeans will snap up nearly 290,000 mini-SUVs this year, IHS Automotive’s projections suggest. That’s a gravity-defying 88 percent advance on last year’s

GENEVA: The booth of German car maker Volkswagen is seen at the Geneva International Motor Show yesterday. —AFP photos total and triple the number sold expense of other small-car verin 2009, the year before the Juke’s sions, with traditional hatchback sales in 2013 expected to drop by arrival.

Volkswagen and South Korea’s a third from their 2009 level, but Hyundai , which clawed European the price mark-up makes it a clear business from mass-market rivals net win.

While the 2008’s production last year, have been caught off guard and are two years behind costs are close to those of the 208 it is based on, Peugeot’s crossover with their own offerings.

All of this is welcome news for SUV starts at about 15,000 euros, Peugeot, Renault, Ford, Fiat and compared with 12,000 for the General Motors’ Opel brand as hatchback.

The Ford Ecosport and Fiat they struggle to halt regional losses and declining market 500X are both due later in 2013, shares. “They can underpin these as the Italian car maker’s chief vehicles with the same architec- executive, Sergio Marchionne, tures they have in the hatches bets on variants of the retroand charge a damn sight more, styled 500 model to make up for just because customers want drooping sales of the ageing something a bit different,” IHS Punto hatchback.

Besides the Juke, the new senior analyst Ian Fletcher said.

The surge comes at the models join Opel’s Mokka,

A general view of international carmakers’ booths during the 83rd Geneva Motor Show in Geneva. launched in Europe last year and that they stand to lose business. concerned about the arrival of designed from the same GM plat- “We may be a bit late,” a senior new rivals to the timely 2008.

“The fewer competitors there form as the Chevrolet Trax, also VW executive conceded. “We’ve been attacking SUVs from the are the better, obviously,” said about to go on sale.

London-based UBS analyst upper end, but the compact and Peugeot brands chief Frederic Philippe Houchois says that car- subcompact segments have great Saint-Geours. “This market segment will begin to have more and buying customers gain clear ben- potential.”

Hyundai and Honda are more competitors, but we’re conefits for their extra outlay. “People the world over seem to like a expected to introduce subcom- vinced it will continue to grow.”

The forecasters agree, predictpact crossovers in 2015, the year higher driving position,” he said.

The front-wheel-drive power- VW launches the Taigun, a smaller ing a steady expansion to a peak trains that the new vehicles share version (and anagram) of its of almost 550,000 vehicles in with ordinary minis enable them Tiguan SUV. A Toyota competitor 2016, with little risk of the cutthroat price competition that has to combine 4x4 roominess with is slated for the following year.

“We’ve been asking to launch savaged carmakers’ margins in small-engine fuel efficiency, he as soon as possible,” Honda the rest of the market. added.

“The earliest entries will obviFor carmakers, the demand Europe President Manabu shift between vehicle types deliv- Nishimae told Reuters, adding ously have the best stab at it,” ers “more of a boost for pricing that his Tokyo bosses wanted the IHS’s Fletcher said. “But in 2013 I and mix than market share”, United States and Japan to get don’t think anyone moving into that segment will have many worHouchois added. Nonetheless, the vehicle first.

Peugeot does not seem overly ries.” — Reuters the stragglers are keenly aware

Private survey shows steady US job gains Employers add 1,98,000 jobs in Feb

SHANGHAI: A worker walks past a property development billboard in Shanghai yesterday. China set an unchanged growth target of 7.5 percent for 2013, Premier Wen Jiabao said on March 5, as officials seek to nurture recovery while revamping the model of the world’s second-largest economy. — AFP

China pushes urbanization as main growth driver BEIJING: China’s planned urbanization drive will be main engine of growth for domestic economic activity in the years ahead, giving the government scope to boost domestic demand and infrastructure investment, a senior planning official said yesterday.

China plans to spend 40 trillion yuan ($6.4 trillion) to bring 400 million people to cities over the next decade as the government tries to turn the country into a wealthy world power with economic growth generated by an affluent consumer class. “Urbanisation is the biggest potential force driving China’s domestic demand in the years ahead,” Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning agency, told reporters.

Sources told Reuters on Friday that China plans major bond market reforms to help fund the 40 trillion plan.

Guidelines for urbanization would be launched during the first half of this year, Zhang told a news conference on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament. “We need to pay more attention to the quality of urbanization and align the process with China’s environmental capability and resources,” Zhang said.

The government hopes 60 percent of the population of almost 1.4 billion will be urban residents by 2020 and will build homes, roads, hospitals and schools for them.

The NDRC’s annual report to the NPC, published on Tuesday, said China’s urbanization rate would climb to 53.37 percent this year, up from 52.57 percent in 2012.

Outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday that consumption was the key to unlocking the full potential of domestic demand in the economy and would reduce excess, inefficiency and inequality.

It would also help deliver growth of 7.5 percent in 2013 - a level China barely beat in 2012 when growth eased to its slowest pace in 13 years, expanding by 7.8 percent.

Urbanization is a policy priority for China’s government which wants to create a true consumer class that will help rebalance growth drivers away from the investment-heavy, export-oriented model it has followed for three decades.

The factory-fuelled, breakneck economic expansion that has lifted hundreds of millions from rural poverty so far has also led to mis-allocation of resources, massive industrial inefficiency and exacerbated pollution.

Widespread public anger and rare media criticism over pollution was trigged recently after smog enveloped swathes of the north of the country, grounding flights, forcing people indoors and forcing measures such as factory closures.

Zhang said China would continue to push forward with economic reforms to better clarify the different roles that the government and markets played in the economy.

He restated government pledges to carry out reforms in the years ahead, including fiscal, financial, pricing and income distribution reform, but gave no further details.

Zhang said China’s longer-term strategy remained focused on boosting domestic consumption in the economy. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: A private survey shows US businesses added a solid number of jobs in February, indicating higher taxes and looming government spending cuts have yet to slow hiring.

Employers added 198,000 jobs in February, according to data released Wednesday by payroll processor ADP. And the survey revised January’s hiring figures to show companies added 215,000 jobs that month, 23,000 more than what had initially been reported. The ADP report is derived from actual payroll data and tracks total nonfarm private employment each month. The hiring suggests that higher taxes and looming government spending cuts didn’t discourage employers from adding jobs.

The report suggests that the government’s February jobs report, to be issued Friday, may come in above economists’ forecasts. Analysts expect it will show the economy added 152,000

jobs and the unemployment rate dipped to 7.8 percent from 7.9 percent in January.

“Despite the ongoing fiscal uncertainty and the payroll tax hike, the recovery is picking up momentum,” Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.

Social Security taxes rose 2 percentage points Jan. 1 as part of a deal between the White House and Congress to avert larger tax increases. And about $85 billion in spending cuts took effect March 1, which economists expect will lower growth in the summer and fall. Even so, hiring was broad-based in February across most industries and business sizes.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said one encouraging sign is that small businesses are starting to hire more.

Earlier in the economic recovery, which began in June 2009, larger companies with 500 or more

employees did most of the hiring. Moody’s helps compile the report with ADP. Small companies with fewer than 50 employees added 77,000 jobs in February. That followed a gain of 123,000 in January for that category, the largest in nearly a year.

The housing recovery is helping drive hiring at smaller firms, Zandi said, such as construction companies, landscaping firms, and plumbers and electricians. Banks are also more willing to lend to small and medium-sized companies compared with several years ago.

Medium-sized companies with 50 to 499 workers added 65,000 jobs in February, and large businesses with more than 500 employees added 57,000. Construction firms continued a healthy string of hiring, adding 21,000 positions, the ADP report said. Manufacturers added 9,000 jobs. —AP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

BUSINESS

BOE chief blasts RBS ‘nonsense’ Bank to decide over stimulus LONDON: The head of the Bank of England urged a deep restructuring of the Royal Bank of Scotland as he delivered his most stinging criticism to date of the way it has been run since its rescue by the government.

RBS needs to split off bad assets still on its books and build up new capital in order to improve its financial health and its ability to lend, Mervyn King said yesterday, just weeks before the BoE takes on new powers to oversee banks. King said it was “nonsense” that the government bailed out RBS but did not have more direct control.

“The whole idea of a bank being 82 percent owned by the taxpayer, run at arms’ length from the government, is a nonsense,” King told a parliamentary committee. “The arguments for restructuring sooner rather

than later are powerful ones.”

Shares in RBS fell after King’s comments and were trading at 313 pence at 1125, up 0.2 percent on the day. RBS declined to comment on King’s criticisms. The bank, once Britain’s biggest but now its fourth-largest, has already undergone a massive restructuring since the government pumped in 45.5 billion pounds ($68.8 billion) in 2008 to keep it afloat. The bank has shed around 900 billion pounds worth of assets and says it is focusing on lending to British households and small businesses. The bank is in the fifth and final year of Chief Executive Stephen Hester’s plan to restore it to health. Hester has said the bank will then be in a position for the government to start selling shares prior to the next election in 2015. King said Hester had “struggled man-

fully” to fix the bank but more aggressive action was needed.

King added it should not take more than a year to a carry out a much more decisive restructuring of RBS and the hit to public finances of such a move was a price which had to be paid. The BOE has taken an increasingly tough line on the amount of capital banks hold in order to protect them against the kind of shocks that triggered the financial crisis. The government has chosen Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, a leader of the global push for stronger banking regulation, to succeed King at the BoE in July. King, making one of his last appearances to lawmakers before he retires, also criticized the ability of bankers to speak to the government’s top officials, even after the financial crisis. “I was sur-

prised at the degree of access of bank executives to people at the very top. It was certainly easier access to people at the very top than the regulators had,” King said. “(Before 2007, regulators) knew that if they were tough on a bank the chief executive could go straight to Number 10 (the prime minister’s residence) ... over time this has changed clearly since then, but the access probably hasn’t.”

The Bank of England must decide this week whether to pump out more cash stimulus to boost a British economy at risk of its third recession since the 2008 global financial crisis. BOE policymakers holding a regular monthly meeting that concludes today will also vote on whether to change the level of its main interest rate, which has remained at a

record-low 0.5 percent for four years.

Minutes of the central bank’s meeting in February showed that its outgoing governor Mervyn King unsuccessfully advocated for more stimulus, known as quantitative easing.

“The outcome of the March meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) looks to be balanced on a knife edge,” said Howard Archer, chief UK & European economist at the IHS Global Insight research group.

“There is certainly a very real possibility that the MPC could go for more stimulative action to try and help the long-suffering economy. This would most likely take the form of another £25 billion of quantitative easing, which would take the stock up to £400 billion” ($604 billion, 464 billion euros).— Agencies

HANOI: Women selling cheap smuggled Chinese-made shoes on the outskirts of Hanoi. The local market is flooded with cheap Chinese-made consumer goods which are a big challenge for local Vietnamese businesses. — AFP

Brent near $112, tracking equities SINGAPORE: Brent futures rose towards $112 a barrel yesterday, tracking a rally in equity markets and expectations of a revival in demand growth following positive economic data from the United States and China.

Signs of a strengthening US economy and continued support from the Federal Reserve pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to a record closing high on Tuesday. Oil was also supported by China’s pledge to keep growing at 7.5 percent, countering worries about its growth, and by North Sea supply disruptions. Brent crude gained 6 cents to $111.67 a barrel by 0745 GMT, off an earlier high of $112.23. It settled up $1.52 on Tuesday and snapped a fiveday losing streak, the longest since early December. US oil gained 2 cents to $90.84.

“Commodity prices are catching up,” said Tetsu Emori, a commodities fund manager at Astmax Investments in Tokyo. “China’s statement on GDP growth is very positive for oil demand, and recent data suggests the growth outlook in the United States is good.

These should support prices.”

The encouraging economic outlook may push Brent to at least $120 a barrel and US oil to $100 by summer, Emori said. Wall Street’s record close encouraged investors to take more risk, boosting Asian shares, base metals and other commodity-linked currencies, while the US dollar eased 0.1 percent against a basket of currencies.

The surge in US equities was driven, in part, by data showing the US services sector accelerated to its fastest pace in a year in February, helped by a rise in new orders and demand for exports.

“The positive tone was supported by ongoing policy support and solid economic data from the US and Europe,” analysts at ANZ said in a report. “The US ISM non-manufacturing index surprised on the upside at 56.0 in February, suggesting strong growth in this part of the

US economy that is a big employer.”

Markets were now awaiting US nonfarm payrolls data due this week for more clues on the health of the economy. Brent got additional support from supply disruption in the North Sea. The operator of the Brent pipeline said it was still studying whether it would be safe to reopen the oil link after a leak at a platform forced a shutdown as a precaution.

The oil market is also watching developments in Venezuela, following the death of President Hugo Chavez after a two-year battle with cancer. Investors are on the lookout for a succession plan in the OPEC nation. The country’s oil industry was operating normally and no disruption was expected, state oil company PDVSA said.

“His death is not likely to have any major impact on the oil market,” Emori of Astmax Investments said. “But investors are waiting and watching.”

Brent is expected to keep rising to $113.22 per barrel, as it has cleared a resistance at $111.83, while a rebound target at $91.40 remains unchanged for US oil, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Yet gains were capped by mediumterm concerns such as rising US crude supply and the country’s fiscal crisis, which have pushed Brent down about $8 a barrel since a high of $119.17 touched in mid-February. Weekly US inventor y data released by the American Petroleum Institute showed a steep build of 5.6 million barrels in domestic crude stockpiles for the week to March 1, including a 259,000-barrel build at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for the US oil contract.

Product stockpiles fell slightly more than analysts’ expectations, however.

Traders will now be watching for weekly stock pile data from the US Energy Information Administration, due out yesterday, for further insight into inventories. — Reuters

ICBC keen to be yuan clearing bank in UK BEIJING: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC ), the world ’s biggest bank by market value, aims to become the clearing bank for offshore yuan business in London, the bank’s President Yang Kaisheng said yesterday. “We are striving to be the clearing bank in London, but whether we can succeed will hinge on the decision of regulators and central banks of the both countries,” Yang told reporters on the sidelines of China’s annual parliament meeting.

“London is a famous international financial centre and it intends to become an offshore yuan trading centre,” he said. London and other global financial centres like Singapore are seek ing to capitalise on the rapid growth of the off-shore yuan bond market, which is dominated by Hong Kong.

The Bank of England said last month

it would discuss setting up a reciprocal three-year yuan-sterling swap line with the People’s Bank of China to finance bilateral trade and investment.

Britain, always anxious to bolster London’s status as Europe’s biggest financial centre, launched an offshore yuan currency and bond market, and a swap deal would cement its role as the leading centre in the Group of Seven industrialized nations for offshore yuan trade.

China’s central bank has named ICBC as the clearing bank for offshore yuan business in Singapore and Bank of China as the clearing bank in Hong Kong. “We (both banks) will cooperate, but there will be some competition,” Yang said. ICBC will see steady profit growth in 2013 as China’s economy is likely to grow around 7.5 percent in line with the official target, Yang said without giving specifics. —Reuters

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

BUSINESS

Kuwait real estate activity declines NBK ECONOMIC REPORT KUWAIT: Real estate sales during January totaled KD 254 million, down 20% year-on-year. Both the residential and investment segments saw activity slow y/y, while sales in the commercial sector were up compared to January 2012. While the overall decline may reflect market sluggishness, timing issues may have driven at least part of the decrease, as the first few days of January were included in the December 2012 data. Residential sector sales stood at KD 145 million in January, down by KD 25 million y/y, but similar to the overall 2012 average. The drop in sales came from a lower number of transactions (with the average transaction size being up y/y). About two-thirds of these transactions were for buying plots of land, with the remainder for already-constructed homes.

The 3-month average (November - January) price for residential plots was 349 KD/m2, while prices of residential homes recorded 634 KD/m2.

These prices are aggregated across different governorates, as well as different specifications, and therefore only serve as a general indicator.

The investment sector - which is made up mostly of apartments and buildings intended for rental - saw sales reach KD 75 million in January, KD 52 million less than January 2012. The underperformance in January was due to both a lower number of transactions as well as a smaller aver-

age transaction size, which were down 33% and 13%, respectively. These transactions were close to a 3-way split in January between the purchase of individual apartments, whole buildings, and empty plots of land. Typically, buildings make up about half of all investment transactions.

As for the 3-month average price, apartments reached 642 KD/m2, while whole buildings recorded 1,307 KD/m2.

Commercial sector sales totaled KD 34 million, up KD 14 million y/y. This was the third consecutive month of y/y increases. While this could possibly reflect an underlying improvement, recent months have seen exceptionally large single transactions that have boosted the figures.

For January, this was in the form of a KD 15.1 million plot of land purchased in the Hawalli governorate. The commercial sector has traditionally been more volatile than the other two major segments, and separating its trends from outliers can be difficult.

The Savings and Credit Bank (SCB) approved 293 loans in January, totaling KD 15 million. About half of the loans were to fund new constructions, while the rest were split equally between purchases of existing homes and the funding of additions and renovations. Additionally, little more than KD 10 million of loans were disbursed. Overall, SCB activity was soft compared to recent months.

Pakistan in BOP crisis, may need $9bn: ADB Lack of political will hurts economic reforms

HYDERABAD: An Indian employee walks past tractors at a new Mahindra Mahindra (MM) manufacturing plant at Zaheerabad in Medak District, around 126 kilometers from Hyderabad yesterday. — AFP

Thomas Cook to cut 2,500 jobs in UK LONDON: Travel firm Thomas Cook said it would cut 2,500 UK jobs and close 195 stores in Britain as the euro crisis, high fuel costs and unrest in key destinations like Egypt and Greece take their toll on the holiday business. The 172-year-old group has struggled over the last two years with a slump in sales that has forced it to renegotiate bank loans and sell off planes and stores to lighten its debt load while facing a string of profit warnings.

Most of the job losses would be in its retail network and back-office positions and would involve the closure of 195 of its 1,069 UK stores, said the world’s oldest travel group, which has a total workforce of 15,500 in the UK and Ireland. Thomas Cook said jobs at its head offices at Peterborough in eastern England and Preston in the northwest were at risk, while its Accrington office, also in the northwest, would be shut. It also plans to change the terms and conditions of some employees.

“We firmly believe these proposals will mean a better, more profitable, Thomas Cook that continues to be a major employer in the UK,” said the group’s UK and Ireland chief executive Peter Fankhauser in a statement.

“Thomas Cook needs to make the proposed changes to secure our future,” he said. Travel firms and airlines across Europe have seen bookings fall over the last two years, hit by the euro zone debt crisis, high fuel costs and social and political turmoil in popular holiday destinations such as Greece, Egypt and Tunisia. Thomas Cook has been hit particularly hard by tough trading conditions in Britain where its core customer base of families with young chil-

dren has been affected by the economic downturn. Since travel industry outsider Harriet Green took over as CEO last May, the company has seen a steady improvement in its finances following a series of disposals to slash its 1.5 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) debt pile, including the sale of its Indian business and several Spanish hotels.

“We were well aware of the challenges that Thomas Cook have been facing in turning their UK business around, but the scale and severity of these redundancies come as a real shock,” said Sharon Ainsworth, an officer at the Usdaw shopworkers’ union.

Usdaw said Thomas Cook planned to replace store managers with cluster bosses, while also removing a layer of management at its larger branches.

This week Thomas Cook said it had decided not to sell its under-performing French business and would instead kick off a restructuring program to turn the unit around. Thomas Cook last month reported reduced first-quarter operating losses and said its turnaround plan was on track.

Shares in Thomas Cook, which have risen 78 percent so far this year, were 1.5 percent up at 86.7 pence by 1410 GMT, valuing the business at around 780 million pounds ($1.18 billion).

Peel Hunt analyst Nick Batram said the move provided clarity to the company’s turnaround plan and would be welcomed by investors. Britain’s unemployment rate stood at 7.8 percent in the three months to the end of December 2012, with 2.5 million people jobless, official data showed. — Reuters

JAKARTA: A couple test products during a products expo in Jakarta yesterday.

Indonesia said that growth in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy slowed to 6.23 percent in 2012 owing to global headwinds, but was supported by strong domestic consumption and investment. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reached a critical balance of payments situation and will need another package from the International Monetary Fund before the end of the year to avert a crisis, one of the biggest lenders to the country said yesterday.

The Asian Development Bank’s country director, Werner Liepach, also told Reuters in an interview Pakistan will need up to $9 billion from the IMF to shield the economy. Pakistan currently has enough hard currency to cover only about two months of imports. Asked if the nucleararmed country, a key U.S. ally, was in a balance of payments crisis, Liepach said: “It depends how you define a crisis. Maybe we are already in a crisis.” A fragile economy is just one of Pakistan’s myriad problems as it heads into an election expected in May. The government is facing a stubborn Taliban insurgency and a worsening sectarian conflict in which hundreds have been killed in recent months. Chronic power cuts have undermined industries and held back economic development. In 2008, Pakistan averted a balance of payments problem by securing an $11 billion IMF loan package, but the IMF suspended the program in 2011 after economic and reform targets were missed. Some analysts have since warned about the prospect of a new balance of payments crisis.

Asked if Pakistan could avoid going back to the IMF, Liepach said: “I don’t see that happening. It’s a question of time. They need to do this before the end of this calendar year.”

“It needs to be $6 billion to $9 billion.” So far, remittances from Pakistanis working overseas of about $1 billion a month have helped keep Pakistan afloat, but by a thin margin.

“We are now at less than three months of imports. The current outlook is for a further decline in foreign exchange reserves,” said Liepach. The ADB, along with the IMF, has been encouraging Pakistan’s unpopular government to carry out politically-sensitive reforms to strengthen the economy and widen the country’s revenue base.

There are no signs Pakistani leaders, who are often consumed by rivalries and political crises, will carry out reforms such as a reduction of sub-

sidies in the troubled energy sector and stateowned enterprises ahead of the national election.

Past decisions to raise fuel prices, for instance, have triggered street protests, prompting allies of the Pakistan People’s Party to leave the governing coalition and handing political ammunition to the country’s highly vocal opposition parties. “Certainly there are political considerations currently. There are many, many exemptions that are given to special interest groups,” said Liepach.

“They have their ways of influencing to protect these exemptions. Some industries have special concessions on the tax base.”

Pakistan has one of the smallest tax bases in the world. About 0.5 percent of the population of 180 million pay income tax in a country which receives billions of dollars in financial support from the United States and other Western allies.

“We don’t have much of a reform effort at the moment,” said Liepach. “We have elections coming up and traditionally that is not the right time for reforms, which is a big concern because every day that passes by without reforms is a

day lost. The economic situation is not improving.”

But the IMF has said it will not consider rescheduling repayments of the $6.2 billion Pakistan still owes without a comprehensive plan for reform agreed on by all political parties.

“There are many payments that need to be made to international organizations, most importantly the IMF. There is a big chunk in payments to be done over the next two years that is not matched by inflows,” Liepach said. The Pakistani rupee has eased 0.8 percent against the dollar so far this year after losing 7.6 percent in 2012. Last year’s slide was more severe than the fall of the Indonesian rupiah, which was the worst performing currency among the top traded regional units, according to Thomson Reuters data. On Dec. 1, the rupee hit a record low of 98.24 to the greenback.

“The saving grace at this moment in time is the relatively high remittances that continue to come. About a billion dollars plus a month,” said Liepach. “That provides some cushion but that is not something that is resolving or addressing the issue at heart.” — Reuters

LAHORE: A Pakistani worker dries fabric that was dyed at a factory in Lahore yesterday.

Pakistan is the world’s fourth-largest producer of cloth, and the industry accounts for 60 percent of export revenue according to official data. —AFP

Hopes low for UBS bankers awaiting bonus awards LONDON: Swiss bank UBS AG will tell its employees yesterday what bonus, if any, they will be receiving for 2012, a year in which staff endured a radical restructuring and the conviction of a rogue trader that has left expectations low.

UBS, one of the last major European banks to dish out bonuses for the past year, sank to a net loss of 1.89 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion)in the fourth quarter and has already said it will cap the cash it pays to any individual at 1 million francs from the previous year’s 2 million. Staff in UBS’s investment bank waiting to be told by their boss what they have earned expect to be particularly hard hit, given the series of controversies that have affected the unit, such as a $1.5 billion fine for rigging interbank lending rates.

UBS, which declined comment on this year’s individual payouts, has cut its overall bonus pool for 2012 by 7 percent to 2.5 billion francs and introduced a scheme under which bankers can be paid in a form of deferred financial instruments which are revoked if the bank’s capital targets are not met.

This year’s bonus pool will also take into account the fine levied on UBS for its part in the Libor scandal, which resulted in the punishment of a number of top banks.

“The overall 7 percent cut doesn’t tell what’s going on in the investment bank,” said a banker directly concerned by the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Here (in the investment bank), the cut is likely to be 30 to 40 percent as a result of Libor”.

UBS investment bank boss Andrea Orcel hosted a “townhall” meeting of his bankers on Feb. 4 at which he told his 16,000 staff that half of them would be paid no bonus for the year. In fixed income, for instance, where the bank is winding down operations, 65 percent of teams can expect nothing on top of their base salary, a second banker who wished to remain anonymous told Reuters. — Reuters

Canada criticized for tying foreign aid to commerce MONTREAL: Once held up as a model global citizen, Canada is facing growing criticism from aid groups over moves to tie foreign assistance to trade through partnerships with mining and other firms.

Plenty of nations use foreign aid to further their political and economic interests, and Ottawa has insisted that in tough economic times a market-based approach involving private firms will insure that aid is used efficiently. But aid groups counter that in tying assistance to economic gains Canada neglects its obligation to fight poverty, and Ottawa has even earned a rare rebuke from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In January, Canada’s International Cooperation Minister Julian Fantino announced the suspension of new aid to Haiti over concerns about mismanagement of funds in the impoverished Caribbean nation, ravaged by a 2010 earthquake.

“Are we going to continue doing things the same way in Haiti? I don’t think so.

Because we’re not seeing the kind of progress that Canadians should expect,” Fantino told the French-language daily La Presse. “Will we have to continue dealing with Haiti’s problems forever? They too have to step up,” he added.

Canada is a leading backer of international efforts to rebuild Haiti, and the announcement drew immediate criticism from aid groups. “It was a blow below the belt!” said Katleen Felix, director of Kanpe, a Haiti aid foundation co-founded by the rock group Arcade Fire. She accuses Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Tory government of “not understanding” the dire reality in Haiti and of ignoring progress there. She sees the move as part of a larger effort to link aid to com-

mercial interests. During a recent visit to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Foreign Minister John Baird said Canadian firms should play a “greater role” in the country.

“We must determine if we have gotten a good return on our investments,” he added, in reference to aid monies.

Bonnie Campbell, a politics professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, said the changes began in 2009, when the Canadian government axed funding for eight African countries.

Colombia and Peru, two nations that had recently signed free trade agreements with Canada, were meanwhile added to Ottawa’s list of top aid beneficiaries.

“Those picks are worrying,” said Campbell.

“We’re choosing targets for aid based on Canada’s commercial interests and we’re distancing ourselves from our international obligations to reduce poverty.” “Foreign aid should not be used to promote Canadian companies,” said Chantal Harvard, spokeswoman for Canada’s Coalition to End Global Poverty, which represents more than 100 non-governmental aid agencies.

The latest changes even drew criticism from the OECD, which last year deemed unfortunate a five-percent reduction in Canada’s foreign aid budget, saying its “new approach to foreign aid is neither sufficient nor transparent.”

In a response to AFP, Fantino touted the private sector as “absolutely essential for job creation and durable economic growth, without which developing nations cannot break the cycle of poverty.” He said Ottawa has obtained positive results by focusing aid on the “social, economic and health needs” of people in poorer nations and defended its partnerships with mining and other firms. — AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

BUSINESS

Al Mulla Exchange holds Indian budget seminar by Homi Ranina KUWAIT: Al Mulla Exchange along with the Kuwait Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India hosted on March 4 a seminar on the Indian budget 2013-2014.

Eminent tax lawyer and Chartered Accountant, Homi Ranina was the key note speaker at the event presenting details and insights on the latest Indian Budget presented on February 28. With over three

decades of experience in matters related to taxation, finance and corporate management, Ranina was ideally placed to generate further discussion on this crucial topic within the community.

Giving his professional assessment, Ranina delivered a wealth of information and issues related to the annual budget in terms understandable to both laymen and professionals. According to the

expert, India’s Finance Minister Chidambaram has exercised fine balance between the need for fiscal consolidation and promoting growth, and was complimented for having brought down the fiscal deficit to 5.2 percent of GDP for the current fiscal year.

Covering a wide range of topics that fall under the umbrella of the Indian budget, including FDIs,

growth, provisions, interest and tax among others, Ranina praised the finance minister for putting the country back on the path of fiscal consolidation.

Considering the value this event posed for the non-resident Indian community in Kuwait, Al Mulla Exchange hosted it as an open walk-in event for everyone irrespective of whether they were their customers or not.

Mindshare honored at MENA Cristal Festival Agency wins ‘Media Agency of Year,’ ‘Network of the Year’

flydubai adds Salalah to its GCC portfolio KUWAIT: flydubai, Dubai’s innovative airline, yesterday announced the start of its new route to Salalah, expanding its presence in the Sultanate of Oman.

Flights to Salalah will begin on 21 May 2013 and operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. flydubai started operations to the capital, Muscat, in 2010. The new route expands flydubai’s GCC network to 14 destinations, underlining the carrier’s commitment to supporting business ties and leisure traffic between Dubai and the neighboring region.

Commenting on the launch of the new route, flydubai’s CEO, Ghaith Al-Ghaith, said: “Oman was flydubai’s third GCC destination, and we look forward to strengthening the relationship between the UAE and Oman by offering passengers a quality, affordable travel option.”

Salalah, located on the Indian Ocean, is the second largest city in Oman. It is well known for its natural diversity as the vast coastline blends with the rocky mountains, offering a perfect location for the outdoor enthusiast. The annual Salalah Tourism Festival, which is held between July and August, welcomes more than 1.8 million visitors from all over the world. During

these months, visitors enjoy cooler climates which sets it apart from the neighboring countries. “ We are very excited about adding Salalah to our network. The two hour flight makes this popular city even more accessible and thanks to our convenient flight schedule, the new route will offer passengers a less stressful way to get to a perfect weekend getaway spot without the need for a long commute by car,” added Ghaith Al-Ghaith.

Flight information Flights to Salalah will operate three times a week and will commence on 21 May 2013. FZ093 departs Dubai Terminal 2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 1620hrs, landing in Salalah Airport at 1820hrs local time. The return flight, FZ040, departs at 1920hrs, arriving in Dubai at 2130hrs local time.

Round trip fares from Dubai to Salalah start at AED 1000 and fares from Salalah to Dubai start at OMR 105. Fares include one piece of hand luggage weighing up to 7kg and one small laptop bag or hand bag.

Checked baggage starts at AED 50 ($14) for 20kgs. A seat with extra legroom costs AED100 ($28) extra.

DUBAI: Mindshare, an agency dedicated to innovative brand development for its clients, was recognized at MENA Cristal Festival for outstanding achievement in several creative campaigns. The festival, which was founded in 2005, is respected as one of the region’s most celebrated awards shows and is dedicated to commending agencies for excellence in advertising and communications. In addition to receiving seven awards in multiple categories at the show on February 6th, Mindshare was awarded the two most prestigious titles: “Media Agency of the Year” and “Media Network of the Year.”

The awards list included Gold and Silver awards for the “Speed Personified” campaign for Nissan, Silver and Bronze awards for the Infiniti and its BCI campaigns, two Bronze awards for the campaign featuring LG’s washing machine, and a Silver award for the Nike “Sticker Wall” campaign.

“I am proud of our agency’s achievements at 2012- 2013’s MENA Cristal Festival,” commented Samir Ayoub, CEO of Mindshare in the Middle East and North Africa region. “We were honored to receive commendation for our work on the Nissan, Infiniti, LG, and Nike campaigns; however, we are especially excited to receive the awards for ‘Media Agency of the Year’ and ‘Network of the Year.’ I would like to express our gratitude to our clients and our diligent team - without them, this achievement would not have been possible.”

Held at the luxurious Mzaar Mountain Resort and Spa near the snow-capped peaks of Mt Lebanon, the MENA Cristal Festival draws in large crowds of notable agency representatives each year. This year’s theme, “The Future is Now,” was inspired by Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian skydiver who became the first man the break the sound barrier in a free-fall parachute jump in October 2012. The video of the historic event broke the world record for most-watched live-video event on YouTube at the time and was part of a groundbreaking Redbull campaign; this is commonly used

as an exceptional example of innovative and effective branding, making Baumgartner the perfect representative for the show. Among the show’s approximately 650 attendees, notable representatives in advertising spoke on topics such as connecting in a meaningful way with customers, finding consumers on YouTube, trends in branded content, among others. A heavily-attended networking cocktail event, offered by Mindshare, allowed guests to mingle and exchange ideas and contact info for future collaborations.

From the festival’s inception in 2005, the show has aimed to recognize innovative players in the field of communications, including survey companies, television producers, directors, members of the print media, and ad agencies. MENA Cristal Festival distinguishes itself from other award shows

by creating a platform for recognizing creative Arabic-language advertising and the best minds of the MENA region, including Mindshare’s dynamic and innovative team.

Mindshare, part of the WPP global communications group, was launched in 1997 and now has over 100 offices around the world. In October 1999, Mindshare MENA was the first independent agency launched in the region. Today Mindshare has over 13 offices in 10 countries across the GCC, Levant and North Africa.

Mindshare works collaboratively with clients to increase brand awareness among consumers. The goal is to heighten brand recognition and exposure -thereby increasing profits - by creating unique solutions for clients’ communications challenges.

Burgan Bank provides services for students studying abroad KUWAIT: Students studying abroad can now take advantage of Burgan Bank’s multi-currency X-Change Card.

The new X-Change card provides an easy and cost-effective method for parents to transfer funds instantly to their children studying abroad in the currency of their choice.

Customers are given a selection of the top currencies when using the card, including the US dollar, Euro, British Pound, Saudi Riyal, UAE Dirhams, Egyptian Pound as well as the Filipino Peso. The card holds the value of the exchange rate at which it was bought to enable customers to capitalize on their preferred currency rates. Cardholders wishing to reload their X-Change cards could do so online or at any of the bank’s branches and ATMs. To find out more about Burgan Bank’s latest X-Change card, or any of its products and services, customers are urged to visit any of the bank’s branches, or contact the call center on 1804080. Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is the youngest commercial Bank and third largest by assets in Kuwait, with a significant focus on the corporate and financial institutions sectors, as well as having a growing retail and private bank customer base.

Burgan Bank has five majority owned subsidiaries, which include Gulf Bank Algeria - AGB (Algeria), Bank of Baghdad - BOB (Iraq & Lebanon), Jordan Kuwait Bank - JKB (Jordan) Tunis International Bank TIB (Tunisia), and fully owned Burgan

Bank - Turkey, (collectively known as the “Burgan Bank Group”).

The Bank has continuously improved its performance over the years through an expanded revenue structure, diversified funding sources, and a strong capital base.

The adoption of state-of-the-art services and technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market and within the MENA region.

Burgan Bank’s brand has been created on a foundation of real values - of trust, commitment, excellence and progression, to remind us of the high standards to which we aspire. ‘People come first’ is the foundation on which its products and services are developed. Earlier this year, ‘Brand Finance’ - the international brand valuation company- rated Burgan Bank brand as AA with positive outlook. The rating places Burgan Bank Brand at 2nd amongst the most valuable banking brands in Kuwait.

Excellence is one of the Bank’s four key values and Burgan Bank continually strives to maintain the highest standards in the industry.

The Bank was re-certified in 2010 with the ISO 9001:2008 certification in all its banking businesses, making it the first bank in the GCC, and the only bank in Kuwait to receive such accreditation. The Bank also has to its credit the distinction of being the only Bank in Kuwait to have won the JP Morgan Chase Quality Recognition Award for twelve consecutive years.

Qatar Airways CEO meets Barcelona officials BARCELNONA: Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker held talks with Barcelona officials to boost business links. The high-level meetings between Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al-Baker and senior offi-

cials of Catalonia took place in Barcelona following an announcement that the airline is to be a strategic partner of football giants FC Barcelona.

Gulf Bank sponsors fourth season of Green Caravan Film Festival KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has announced that it will sponsor, for the fourth consecutive year, the Green Caravan Film Festival (GCFF) which will take place on March 9-15 between Kuwait and Dubai. The festival which is organized by Equilibrium, an environmental services Kuwait based company will include a selection of films from the region and worldwide which highlights the importance of environmental issues such as: If a Tree Falls, The Island

President, Chasing Ice and many other award winning movies.

The Green Caravan is the first film festival of its kind in Kuwait and one of a small handful of film festivals worldwide dedicated solely to shed light on important environmental issues. This year’s festival is back for its fourth season with a larger number of films to appeal to a wider audience, and a greater variety of venues. The Green

Caravan initiative is a mobile series of events that ties together the arts, culture and the environment in a way that is both enriching and educational.

Gulf Bank believes strongly in the importance of environmental initiatives that have a direct impact on the community. The Bank encourages organizations and individuals to take part in these eco-friendly causes, helping to increase the level of awareness amongst society.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

technology

Apple’s Cook, music mogul Iovine discuss new music service SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES: Apple Inc has held talks with Beats Electronics LLC, the audio technology firm co-founded by influential hip-hop producer Dr Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine, on a potential partnership involving Beats’ planned musicstreaming service, three people familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook met with Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine during a visit to Los Angeles in late February to find out more about Beats’ “Project Daisy”, a music subscription service the company announced in January but with scant detail, the sources said.

Apple’s Internet products chief Eddy Cue, a key player in setting up its iTunes Music Store, also joined the meeting, at which Cook expressed interest in Daisy’s business model and its rollout plans, although the two did not discuss specifics of a deal, the sources said.

The meeting between Cook and Iovine, who is also chairman of music company Interscope-GeffenA&M, was “informational” and covered a broad range of music-related topics, the sources said.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr and Beats declined to comment. The iPhone maker has been widely reported to be considering a music-streaming service to complement iTunes, the largest repository of music for sale.

Beats, known for its stylistic, distinctive headphones, has a partnership with Taiwanese handset maker HTC Corp, an Apple rival.

In a boost for the company, Beats said on Tuesday it had secured $60 million in funding for Daisy from a group of investors including Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik, Fort Worth billionaire Lee M. Bass, and Australian financier James Packer. The funding will bankroll the music service’s launch in late 2013.

Beats reportedly named the project “Daisy” in

honor of what it called the first digital, computerized song. At the time, it said in a press release that the service would “bring an emotional connection back to the act of music discovery,” referring to the process through which users find, buy and consume music.

The music recording industry has languished through more than a decade of declining revenues and sputtering growth. Industry sources say many of the largest companies are beginning to warm to the idea of collecting fees on music streamed over the Internet, as the use of smartphones and tablets explodes around the world.

It remains a nascent market, dwarfed by music sales via outlets such as iTunes, but one that is attracting investment. The meeting between Apple and Iovine was set up in January, immediately after Beats announced Daisy without explaining the upcoming project’s business model or how it plans

to differentiate itself from existing services such as Spotify and Pandora, one of the sources said.

Other players reportedly looking at expanding into music-streaming-whether fee-based or by paid subscription- include Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc. Iovine, a music producer and “mentor” to contestants on Fox’s “American Idol” show, has a long association with Apple and was one of the first music industry executives to sign onto what was then Apple’s nascent iTunes initiative, announced in 2001.

In a January interview with technology website AllThingsD, Iovine said he subsequently pitched a subscription service to Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs in 2003, but the mercurial Silicon Valley icon was not keen on it right away.

Iovine said Jobs didn’t want to pay the record companies enough, and thought the price would come down eventually. — Reuters

Kaspersky Lab announces start of Kaspersky 7 volcanoes expedition DUBAI: Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, announced the start of an adventurous new project: the Kaspersky 7 Volcanoes Expedition.

Renowned mountaineer Olga Rumyantseva will become the first woman to solo-ascend the Volcanic Seven Summits, the seven highest volcanoes on each continent, within one year.

Supported by Kaspersky Lab, Olga will solo-climb Mt. Sidley (Antarctica), Kilimanjaro ( Tanzania), Mt. Giluwe (PapuaNew Guinea), Damavand (Iran), Elbrus (Russia), Pico de Orizaba (Mexico) and Ojos del Salado (Chile/Argentina).

Summiting these volcanoes is considered one of the toughest mountaineering challenges in the world, and the fact that Olga will be the first in history to ascend them alone in less than 12 months merely adds to the challenge.

Although Olga is going to set a record, the expedition is more about testing the spirit and personal achievement. Olga commented: “This has been my dream for a long time. I’m an adventurer; I like to explore and do things that have never been done before. The difficulty of this challenge makes it even more interesting for me! I’m so grateful Kaspersky Lab has helped me turn this plan into reality, and given me the chance to fulfill my dream.”

Kaspersky Lab CEO and co-founder Eugene Kaspersky said: “In our company, the notion of personal achievement, of the will to win is one of the most important. We believe one person can do a lot if he or she is truly committed to the goal

and to the dream. People like Olga are real winners. She is capable of following her dream and moving forward no matter what obstacles are in her way. That’s what unites us with Olga and I believe that her achievements will inspire our whole team around the world! We’ll be following her progress closely throughout 2013.”

The Kaspersky 7 Volcanoes Expedition startedon 11 January 2013 with the ascent of the highest volcano in Antarctica: Mount Sidley with a summit elevation of 4,181-4,285 meters (13,71714,058 ft.). It is a massive, mainly snowcovered shield volcano which is the highest and most imposing of the five volcanic mountains that comprise the Executive Committee Range of Marie Byrd Land.

The Kaspersky 7 Volcanoes Expedition is a new step for the brand in collaborating with the world’s highly recognized explorers. At the beginning of 2012, with the support of Kaspersky Lab, British explorer Felicity Aston became the first woman in history to cross Antarctica alone, having set a new world record.

Another expedition dating back to November 2009 saw the company sponsor the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition. This project brought together women from Brunei, Cyprus, Ghana, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom who skied more than 900 km from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole to mark the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth.

Olga Rumyantseva

Green Tips from Xerox DUBAI: Dan Smith, Head of Integrated Marketing for the Middle East and Africa region of Xerox’s Developing Markets Operations.

7 steps to create a green office 1. Use software to simplify the way you use documents. Cut back the time and energy spent on manual paperbased processes with workflow management software and collaboration tools. Xerox DocuShare, combined with scan-enabled MFPs, can eliminate the costs of producing, storing and shipping paper documents.

2. Use paper wisely. Print on both sides of the page-also called “duplexing.” Print multiple images per page and print only the quantity you need at the time you need it. Use environmentally friendly paper - one that is certified to sustainable forestry standards or use paper with recycled content.

3. Recycle the paper you use. Install

bins around the office to collect paper for recycling or reuse. Paper manufacturers avoid the use of 3.5 tons of virgin fiber for every ton of recycled material used.

4. Reach for the ENERGY STAR(r).

Upgrade old products with new, more efficient systems and the savings add up.

5. Replace copiers or printers with MFPs that do it all. One multifunction printer that copies, prints, scans, and faxes can use half the energy of all those separate devices.

6. Don’t throw away empty toner cartridges. Return your cartridges to us for reuse and recycling with prepaid postage. Or consider a cartridge-free solid ink printer or MFP, which generates about 90% less waste than a comparable colour laser printer.

7. Seek office equipment designed for remanufacturing or recycling.

Xerox devices are designed with recycling and reuse in mind.

NEW DELHI: Indian Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif and Kenichiro Hibi (R), managing director of Sony India, pose with a newly launched smart phone at a function in New Delhi yesterday. Sony plans to triple its investment to $54.8 million for marketing the Xperia mobile device through March 2014, Hibi said, as part of Sony’s push for a greater market presence in mobile devices. — AFP

Sharp announces $111m tie-up with Samsung TOKYO: Sharp yesterday announced a $111 million capital tie-up deal with South Korean rival Samsung, in a rare move for a Japanese firm that underscores the fading fortunes of its electronics giants.

Sharp, which is scrambling to repair its battered balance sheet, said Samsung would buy 10.4 billion yen of new shares, or a three-percent stake in the Japanese firm, making the smartphone and tablet maker its biggest foreign shareholder.

Reports of the deal yesterday sent Sharp shares soaring more than 17 percent in early trade before ending 14.04 percent higher.

Samsung was up 0.65 percent. The pact was announced after the Tokyo and Seoul markets had closed.

The Japanese firm said the deal would help shore up its troubled finances while boosting “mutual trust” as the firms look to benefit from Sharp’s leading liquid-crystal display technology for mobile phones and tablets.

In contrast to its Japanese rival, Samsung has powered ahead to become the world’s largest technology firm and top smartphone maker, posting a record 7.04 trillion won ($6.5 billion) profit in the last quarter of 2012.

Yesterday, Samsung said the Sharp investment “would lay a firm foundation... to secure a steady supply of LCD panels from diversified sources”. Sharp, which has announced a separate 4.94 billion yen capital injection deal by US chipmaker Qualcomm, is also major panel supplier to Samsung rival Apple.

Last month, reports said an expected investment in Sharp by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision, which makes Apple gadgets in China, had been shelved although a company spokesman Wednesday said negotiations were still ongoing.

The decision to accept a capital injection from foreign firms marks a major comedown for both Sharp and Japan’s manufacturers, said Hiroshi Sakai, chief economist with SMBC Friend Research Centre.

“For Japan, it is symbolic and shocking news as Sharp, which used to be a frontrunner in the panel industry, is struggling while its rival Samsung has raced past it,” he said.

He added that the news “should not be any surprise” given Samsung’s leading position in the global electronics market.

However, the deal will not solve all of Sharp’s woes, he added, as the firm cuts jobs and overhauls its business after saying in February its loss in the nine months to December had doubled to about $4.6 billion.

Given the sector’s struggles, deals between Japanese and foreign rivals are likely to increase, Sakai said. “Many other Japanese electronics makers are struggling to survive.

But they still have attractive technologies and some foreign rivals are quite interested in them,” he said.

Japan’s electronics giants have suffered myriad problems including a strong yen, weak demand in key export markets, fierce competition especially in their struggling TV divisions and strategic mistakes that ruined their finances. Sharp-which last year warned over its own survival and put up its Osaka headquarters as collateral to clinch crucial bank loans-has been hammered by lower-cost rivals in its liquid-crystal display business.

Rival Sony, meanwhile, is selling off its headquarters in Manhattan and a major building in Tokyo to raise cash, while Panasonic is undergoing a similar painful restructuring after losing about $6.77 billion in the nine months to December.

The Samsung-Sharp deal gives the South Korean company more access to the market without investing in new production plants, analysts said.

Investors cheered reports of the deal on expectations it would usher in higher output at Sharp’s flat-panel manufacturing plants, said Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex Inc. “Investors are expecting that Samsung’s significant sales force would contribute to Sharp plants’ operation rates, as demand from Apple is declining,” he said. Sharp expects to close its fiscal year to March with a net loss of 450 billion yen, but has backed off earlier warnings over its ability to survive. — AFP

TOKYO: This file photo taken on November 1, 2012 shows a customer checking LCD television sets made by Japanese electronics maker Sharp at a Tokyo electronics shop. Shares in embattled Sharp soared yesterday after reports that South Korean rival Samsung would become its biggest foreign shareholder, highlighting the fading fortunes of Japan’s electronics giants.— AFP

EMC to highlight technology services at IT Expo 2013

Dan Smith

DUBAI: EMC announced yesterday its participation at the inaugural Gartner Symposium IT/ Expo 2013 to be held at the Madinat Jumeirah Convention facility in Dubai, UAE from the 5th through till the 7th of March, 2013.Slated to be one of the world’s largest ICT focused events spanning three days, the Gartner Symposium IT/ Expo 2013 is expected to bring together more than 500 senior business and IT decision makers to share insights and acquire relevant research to accelerate enterprise growth in the

Middle East.

Participating as a Premium Sponsor, EMC will leverage this event as a platform to highlight emerging technologies that can help enterprises drive business growth, enable IT efficiency and visibility in addition to reinforcing business agility.At their stand, EMC will highlight the role of its Advanced Storage Division in helping IT departments attain greater efficiencies at lower costs through fully automated storage tiering (FAST), virtual

provisioning, and deep virtualization integration.

EMC will also shed light on itsGlobal Services as an essential tool to minimize the challenges associated withIT Transformation aiding enterprises in their journey. Other topics EMC will cover include services associated with cloud advisory, enterprise application virtualization, converged networking in addition to cloud and big data education and certifications.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Scientists focus on another Sandy loss - lab mice NEW YORK: It was one of the most dramatic stories from Superstorm Sandy: more than 300 patients including tiny babies safely removed from a flooded New York hospital that lost power.

But in a research building at the complex, where thousands of lab mice were kept, the story had a sadder ending. A storm surge into the basement swamped some 7,000 cages of mice used for studying cancer, diabetes, brain development and other health issues. Each cage held up to five of the little rodents, and even four months later, nobody knows exactly how many perished.

Now, about 50 scientists at the NYU Langone Medical Center are going through the slow process of replacing them. What they lost in a few minutes one terrible night in October will take more than a year to recover, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. That’s because, for the most part, they can’t simply buy the mice off the shelf. Most were tailor-made,

engineered to carry specific genetic mutations to mimic human diseases and conditions like autism. Some breeds can be found only in a few labs worldwide. Others were too new to have been shared yet with researchers elsewhere and will take many months or even two years to recreate.

Besides the mice, researchers lost precious specimens and suffered damage to sensitive equipment from the blackouts and flooding from the nearby East River. The 700-bed hospital closed for almost two months; the emergency room is still shut down. For researcher Sergei Koralov, the flooding meant the loss of about 600 mice. Gone, for example, were his animals that helped illuminate how genetic changes in white blood cells lead to lymphoma and those he used to study what triggers chronic lung inflammation in asthma. An experiment for improving lung function was also washed away. “I

was devastated,” he recalls.

Koralov has contacted scientists in the US, Switzerland and

comes in handy at a time like this.

But it’s not as easy as just shipping mice to New York. The mice at

NEW YORK: In this Jan 18, 2013 photo, a researcher holds a laboratory mouse in a research building at the NYU Langone Medical Centerís complex. —AP Germany in an effort to rebuild his mouse colonies. Scientists often share mice with other labs, which

NYU live in a super-clean environment, and those imported from other labs carry a risk of contami-

Millions of Indians facing worst drought in decades Crisis blamed on poor monsoons, public policy failure MUMBAI: Millions of people in western India are suffering their worst drought in more than four decades, with critics blaming official ineptitude and corruption for exacerbating the natural water shortage. Central areas of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, are facing a

responsible. Nearly 2,000 tanker trucks are being used to transport drinking water to the needy, while hundreds of cattle camps have been set up to keep livestock alive until the monsoon, which usually arrives in June. “With every passing day, the tankers have to travel a greater distance. It’s a huge

wither. “This is a famine. Villagers have nothing to eat, they are scraping literally the bottom of their pot,” Moses told AFP by telephone from Jalna.

“Water-related diseases are on the up, starvation will start coming up, malnutrition will start coming up now,” he said. He said the crisis may force him

NATWARGADH, India: In this photo taken on June 6, 2003, Indian villagers gather around a well to fill their pots with water during a drought in this village some 110 km from Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state. —AFP water shortage worse than the severe drought in 1972, the state’s chief minister Prithviraj Chavan told AFP. “In recorded history the reservoirs have never been so low in central Maharashtra,” he said. “With every passing day the reservoirs are drying up.” Chavan blamed the crisis on two successive poor monsoons, although others say a public policy failure is also

logistical issue,” Chavan said.

The chief minister’s office could not put an exact figure on the population in the 10,000 villages affected, but said it ran into millions.

Christopher Moses runs a charitable hospital in Jalna, one of the worstaffected districts. He said many people had lost their livelihoods as companies shut down and farmers’ crops

to shut down parts of his Jalna Mission Hospital for the first time in its 117-year history. It has not yet seen any emergency water supplies from the government. With nearly threequarters of Indians dependent on rural incomes, the yearly monsoon is a lifeline - especially given that about two-thirds of farmland is not irrigated and depends entirely on rain.

‘Nightmare bacteria’ shrug off antibiotics NEW YORK: “Nightmare bacteria” that have become increasingly resistant to even the strongest antibiotics infected patients in 3.9 percent of all US hospitals in the first half of 2012, including 17.8 percent of specialty hospitals, public health officials said on Tuesday.

“Our strongest antibiotics don’t work and patients are left with potentially untreatable infections,” Dr Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement. He said doctors, hospitals and public health officials must work together to “stop these infections from spreading.” At a news conference, he added, “it’s not often that our scientists come to me and say we have to sound the alarm, but that’s what we are doing today.”

Over the past decade more and more hospitalized patients have been incurably infected with the bugs, CarbapenemResistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which kill up to half of patients who get bloodstream infections from them, according to a new CDC report. The report did not say how many patients were killed by the bacteria.

Enterobacteriaceae bacteria include more than 70 species that normally live in the water, soil and human digestive system, such as the well-known E. coli. Over the years, some Enterobacteriaceae have become resistant to all or almost all antibiotics, including last-resort drugs known as carbapenems. Present in one US state in 2001, the superbugs have now spread to 42, Frieden said at the news conference.

Over the past decade, the proportion of Enterobacteriaceae that are resistant to the last-ditch antibiotics rose to 4.2 percent from 1.2 percent. Almost all CRE infections occur in patients receiving medical care for serious conditions in hospitals, long-term acute-care facilities (such as those providing wound

care or ventilation) or nursing homes. These patients often have catheters or ventilators, which can allow bacteria “to get deeply into a patient’s body,” Frieden said. In addition, such seriously ill patients are often receiving antibiotics. When the antibiotics wipe out susceptible bacteria, the coast is clear for CRE to proliferate.

In one of the worst outbreaks, 18 patients at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, contracted a CRE strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae in 2011. Seven patients, including a 16year-old boy, died. The outbreak began when a patient unknowingly infected with CRE was transferred from a New York City hospital. Northeastern states report the most cases of CRE, which “is prevalent in a number of hospitals in the New York area,” said Dr Arjun Srinivasan, CDC’s associate director for healthcare-associated infection prevention programs. He said patients and their families should ask a hospital or nursing home if it was monitoring for CRE and if it had any cases.

Only six states require healthcare providers to report cases of CRE to public health authorities. Last month, CDC reported that unusual forms of CRE - with such exotic names as New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase and Verona Integron-mediated Metallo-betalactamase - are becoming more common in the United States. Of the 37 unusual forms ever identified, the last 15 have been reported since July. The germs themselves spread from person to person, often on the hands of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. They can easily pass their antibiotic resistance - contained in a speck of genetic material - to other kinds of germs, making additional kinds of bacteria potentially untreatable as well, CDC said. —Reuters

The 1972 drought led to a massive shortage of food grains and prices of all commodities rocketed, forcing India’s government to increase imports, while another widespread drought in 2009 also inflated prices and hardship. While last year’s monsoon picked up late in western parts of India, low rainfall in the crucial month of June led to water deficiency throughout the season, according to Medha Khole at the India Meteorological Department. Chavan warned there would a “very serious problem” if the rains fail this year.

An alleged irrigation scam has been blamed for worsening Maharashtra’s crisis, with politicians and bureaucrats accused of wasting vast public funds on unfinished projects in the state through corruption and nepotism. Maharashtra’s proportion of irrigated land grew by just 0.1 percentage points between 2000 and 2010, an official economic survey said, despite billions of dollars being spent on it. A controversial government white paper has disputed the statistics and Chavan declined to comment on graft allegations involving other ministers because the courts are investigating. He acknowledged that the government “could have planned better” on irrigation schemes and was now trying to complete projects meant for agriculture to provide drinking water in deficient areas.

Professor HM Desarda, an economist in the drought-hit region, said corruption was a “very significant part of the problem”, but a lack of understanding of how best to harvest rainwater was also to blame. He believes better water management is needed and a shift of focus from expensive projects, such as giant dams, to smaller and more efficient community-level methods for storing water. Regulations on groundwater extraction, which is exacerbating the water scarcity, also need to be more stringently enforced.

“It’s not a failure of rain, it’s a failure of public policies,” said Desarda. —AFP

Menstruation forgotten issue: UN body GENEVA: Aid agencies and governments must tackle the taboos surrounding menstruation as sidelining the issue undermines the quality of life of women and girls, chiefly in poor nations, a UN body said yesterday. Poor education about menstruation, lack of access to sanitary napkins and painkillers for cramps, and inadequate washing and disposal facilities have a far-reaching impact on schooling, work and health, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council said. “From the moment a girl has her first period, she then menstruates for almost 3,500 days throughout her lifetime, every month,” program manager Archana Patkar said. “This is the unspoken, silent hygiene and sanitation issue,” she told reporters. A major concern is that a lack of sanitary napkins and washing facilities means girls miss school because of their bleeding, she said. “This has a huge fall-out, and many implications. Not only for schools, but also in the workplace, in markets,” she said. “This is an issue that cuts across health, education, livelihoods and all development outcomes. It’s centre-stage.”

The Council pointed to research in India showing that only 12 percent of girls and women have access to and use sanitary napkins, that many have a poor understanding of menstrual hygiene, and that 23 percent of girls drop out of school after puberty. “There are two billion women worldwide in the menstruating age group, between 12 and 50. At any given moment, 340 million women and girls are menstruating. So the scale of this is pretty huge,” Patkar said. In developed countries women and girls have better access to products and materials, and facilities were also more widely available, she said. She criticised beliefs in some societies -notably male-dominated ones - that menstruation is “impure”. “Menstruation is a biological phenomenon which is responsible for future generations. We wouldn’t be here without it. So it’s really strange that we have all this silence, shame, secrecy and taboos around it,” she said. “This has huge psychosocial implications for a young girl which carry right through to old age. It’s part of the disempowerment and disenfranchisement of women and girls.” The Council groups UN agencies, governments and professionals, and focuses on improving the lot of the 2.5 billion people worldwide without access to basic sanitation. —AFP

nation. So scientists use them to create a new generation of animals that are quarantined and checked for germs before they enter their NYU home.

Not all the mice in the basement died in the flood; those in about 600 cages were rescued about a week afterward. Their handlers had put extra food in their cages just in case before the storm. But because of contamination, new generations have to be created from them, too, in sterile surroundings. When no mice with the right genetic makeup are available, researchers have to start from scratch. Koralov works with mice that have many genetic modifications, perhaps as many as seven per mouse, and recreating such animals can require breeding over half a dozen generations.

In all, he figures it will take two years to recover the most complicated ones. But the storm has given him the chance to take a new look at his research. “The silver lin-

ing of the whole storm, what little there is, is the fact it allows me to refocus myself,” he said. Now he can “go after what is interesting to me now, not what was interesting to me two years ago.” Much of the effort to replace the mice is taking place elsewhere. The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, which distributes more than 6,000 kinds of modified mice to labs around the world, is working on at least 200 types for the New York researchers, said the lab’s Stephen Linnell.

So what can be done to prepare for the next big storm? At NYU Langone, officials will consider waterproofing strategies for one building that houses mice underground and they are working on “an aggressive evacuation plan,” said Dafna Bar-Sagi, the center’s vice dean for science. A new science building is due to open in 2016, with one feature planned even before the storm: It will keep mice on the third floor. —AP

Your chances of dying by 2023? Test offers clue CHICAGO: Want to know your chances of dying in the next 10 years? Here are some bad signs: getting winded walking several blocks, smoking, and having trouble pushing a chair across the room. That’s according to a “mortality index” developed by US researchers for people older than 50. The test scores may satisfy people’s morbid curiosity, but the researchers say their 12item index is mostly for use by doctors. It can help them decide whether costly health screenings or medical procedures are worth the risk for patients unlikely to live 10 more years. It’s best to take the test with a doctor, who can discuss what the score means in the context of patients’ own medical history, the study authors say. The index “wasn’t meant as guidance about how to alter your lifestyle,” said lead author Dr Marisa Cruz of the University of California, San Francisco.

Instead, doctors can use the results to help patients understand the pros and cons of such things as rigorous diabetes treatment, colon cancer screening and tests for cervical cancer. Those may not be safe or appropriate for very sick, old people likely to die before cancer ever develops.

The 12 items on the index are assigned points; fewer total points means better odds. Men automatically get 2 points. In addition to that, men and women ages 60 to 64 get 1 point; ages 70 to 74 get 3 points; and 85 or over get 7 points. Two points each: a current or previous cancer diagnosis, excluding minor skin cancers; lung disease limiting activity or requiring oxygen; heart failure; smoking; difficulty bathing; difficulty managing money because of health or memory problem; difficulty walking several blocks. One point each: diabetes or high blood sugar; difficulty pushing large objects, such as a heavy chair; being thin or normal weight.

The highest, or worst, score is a 26, with a 95 percent chance of dying within 10 years.

To get that, you’d have to be a man at least 85 years old with all the above conditions.

For a score of zero, which means a 3 percent chance of dying within 10 years, you’d have to be a woman younger than 60 without any of those infirmities - but at least slightly overweight.

It’s hardly surprising that a sick, older person would have a much higher chance of dying than someone younger and more

vigorous, and it’s well known that women generally live longer than men. But why would being overweight be less risky than being of normal weight or slim? One possible reason is that thinness in older age could be a sign of illness, Cruz said. Other factors could also play a role, so the index should be seen as providing clues but not the

Dr Marisa Cruz gospel truth, the research suggests.

The findings were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Grants from the National Institute on Aging and the American Federation for Aging Research helped pay for the study. The researchers created the index by analyzing data on almost 20,000 Americans over 50 who took part in a national health survey in 1998. They tracked the participants for 10 years. Nearly 6,000 participants died during that time.

They previously used the test to predict the risk of dying within four years. They said their new effort shows the same index can be used to predict 10-year mortality. Dr Stephan Fihn, a University of Washington professor of medicine, said the index seems valid and “methodologically sound”.

But he said it probably would be most accurate for the oldest patients, who don’t need a scientific crystal ball to figure out their days are numbered. —AP

African elephants face ‘alarming declines’ BANGKOK: African elephants face the worst crisis since global trade in ivory was banned almost a quarter-century ago, with the risk of extinction rising in worst-hit nations, conservationists said yesterday. Illicit trade in ivory - driven by organised crime rings - has doubled since 2007 and more than tripled over the past 15 years, experts warned on the sidelines of a major conference on e nd a nge re d s p e c i e s i n B a ngkok .

“Current population estimates suggest alarming declines in elephant numbers in parts of Central and West Africa, as well as an increasing risk of the local ex tinc tion of some populations,” according to the repor t by the UN Environment Programme and other wildlife groups. “Previously secure populations in Eastern and Southern Africa are under growing threat, as a wave of poaching seems to be spreading east and southwards across the African continent.”

The plight of Africa’s elephants and rhinos is top of the agenda at a meeting of 178 member nations of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in the Thai capital this week. Conservationists fear that 2012 was an even deadlier year for African elephants than 2011, when an estimated 25,000 of the animals perished. Only about 420,000 to 650,000 elephants are thought to remain in Africa, the report said. “This is the work

of organised crime. You don’t invest in hundreds and hundreds of tusks as a frivolous pastime,” said Tom Milliken of wildlife trade protection group Traffic which co-produced the report. “Unless CITES really scales up and takes this issue seriously, we are not going to win this thing,” he said, calling for wildlife trade sanctions against countries which fail to tackle the problem.

Three African nations - Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya - have been identified as not doing enough to tackle the illegal trade, along with transit countries Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines and top markets China and Thailand, said CITES coordinator Tom De Meulenaer. They have been asked to present credible action plans on March 14 to the convention’s permanent committee, which has the power to impose the trade sanctions against offender countries for the 35,000 species under CITES protection. Such a step is “not unlikely”, De Meulenaer said. “Can you imagine what it would mean for countries like Vietnam, or China, or Thailand for that matter, if all wildlife trade - its orchid trade, its massive crocodile product trade - would be stopped?” he added. Speaking at the opening of the meeting on Sunday, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pledged to work towards “an end to the ivory trade” in the kingdom but provided few details such as a timetable for such a move. —AFP

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Positive outlook linked to healthier cholesterol NEW YORK: Always look on the bright side of life - it may even help your cholesterol. US researchers writing in The American Journal of Cardiology have found better levels of “good cholesterol ” and other markers of hear t health in the blood of middle-aged study subjects with a sunny outlook on life. At least some of the connection between optimism and blood lipids in the new study appeared to result from the optimists’ tendenc y to have a healthy body weight and a “prudent” diet, according to researchers.

“It is one additional piece of evidence suggesting that our psychological health and physical health are

inter t wined, and that viewing the world optimistically may have some tangible benefits for our health,” said lead author Julia Boehm, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. Previous research by Boehm and her colleagues had shown a link between optimism and lowered heart attack risk, so they decided to look at whether there was an independent connection between optimistic or pessimistic outlooks and cholesterol, which is known to play a role in heart attack risk.

The group analyzed data from the Midlife in the United States study, which included phone interviews and

lab tests for 990 people aged 40 to 70.

Based on the interviews, participants’ levels of optimism were rated on a scale from 6 to 30 depending on their agreement or disagreement with statements like “in uncertain times I usually expect the best”. People with higher optimism scores also had more highdensity lipoprotein (HDL), the desirable form of cholesterol that is believed to protect against heart disease. They also had lower levels of triglycerides, the fatt y molecules involved in hardening of the arteries.

There was no connection between optimism and total cholesterol levels, or to low-density lipoproteins (LDL),

the “ bad ” cholesterol. Fore ever y increase of 5 points on the optimism scale, however, HDL in the blood increased by 1 milligram per deciliter.

That same HDL increase would translated to a three percent reduction in the risk for heart disease, experts said.

For comparison, regular exercise can decrease heart disease risk by six percent. “Honestly, I’m not surprised, this is what I expect,” said Franz Messerli, a cardiologist at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, who was not involved in the study.

It’s still impossible to say whether optimism causes a change in cholesterol, or cholesterol influences outlook,

or both are subject to some third variable, Messerli said. Boehm’s group did try to account for other influences, and when they factored in lifestyles, including diet and alcohol consumption, and body weight - the link between optimism and blood fats became weaker.

That suggests that optimists’ tendency to have healthier lifestyles and weight may explain “in part” the differences in their blood lipids, researchers said.

Conversely, the risk of heart attack and stroke goes up in depressed people, Messerli said. “But nobody has shown the opposite, that all of a sudden if you go from a pessimist to an optimist your risk goes down,” he added. —Reuters

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

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SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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

Greetings

ALLANASONS - IFFCO at Gulfood 2013

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ongratulations Lolo for your success. From uncle Sherif Ismail.

KIFF to host Blood Donation Camp and launch Blood Donors Network

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he Kuwait India Fraternity Forum, a socio cultural organization of Indians residing in Kuwait continues its effort to increase awareness on the importance of blood donation aiming to foster lifelong blood donors with a kick-off blood donation camp and inauguration of KIFF Blood donors Network. Aims to promote “Donate Blood, Save Life”, the Mass Voluntary Blood Donation Camp will be held on Friday, 15th March 2013 at Ministry of Education for private schools Hall, Salmiya, Kuwait.

The KIFF with its co-organizer Kuwait Central Blood Bank and event sponsor Noor Clinic, a first of its kind polyclinic located in Al-Ahmadi governorate which provides services dedicated to women and their family in the field of Dermatology, Dental Care & lab services are pleased to organize this event, a noble cause in aid of the Kuwait Central Blood Bank.

“The Need for blood in Kuwait is increasing day by day. To meet this demand, KIFF with its co-organizers realize that, this camp is essential because the blood cannot be manufactured; it can only come as a voluntary donation by the people.

As many as three people’s lives can be saved as a result of just one donation” said Shamsheer Aman, President of KIFF Karnataka Chapter. KIFF encourages young people above the age of 18 to donate blood. The organizers hope to welcome more than 200 on that day. The event is open for Blood donations from 2.00PM to 7.00PM

ullfood exhibition is more than a show, it’s one of the world’s largest meeting place for businessmen to showcase their products and get into deal with thousands of prospective global business clients. The Gulfood 2013 during the 25-28 February reiterated its significance by the participation of more than 4500 exhibitors & 70000 trade visitors from various segments in the food and beverage industry. The ALLANASONS and its Family owned International Foodstuffs Company (IFFCO) is one of the major exhibitors from the inception of Gulfood.

ALLANASONS Ltd is world’s largest producer and exporter of frozen halal boneless buffalo meat, as well the India’s largest exporter of frozen meat, processed or frozen fruits, coffee, fruit concentrates and purees. ALLANASONS is also a leading exporter of frozen marine products and cereals from India.

International Foodstuffs Company (IFFCO) is owned by the same family, based in United Arab Emirates, which manufactures and markets a well-integrated range of mass-market food products, related derivatives, intermediates and services with a broad segment of Impulse Foods, Agri-Business, Oils and

Fats,Packaging and Sales &Distribution.

Over the last three decades from its establishment in 1975, IFFCO has grown

pany to a dynamic group of international companies with operation and manufacturing facilities in UAE, Pakistan,

consistently by building complimentary businesses supported by acquisitions in the UAE and internationally as well. This model of sustainable growth has seen IFFCO’s transformation from a local com-

Malaysia, Tunisia, South Africa, Turkey, Indonesia, China and Australia etc. IFFCO continues invest in brands that build value for the consumer. The brands like Allana, IFFCO, London Dairy, Tiffany,

Noor, Rahma, Igloo and Al Baker enjoy the confidence of consumers all over the world.

With a well-defined vision of being “The preferred provider of essential and value added food to everyone, everyday & everywhere” the Group has been making substantial investments in creating world-class integrated food processing facilities as well in developing a wide range of value added products and brands.

Due to the diversity of products, facilities, brands and innovations, they are always keen to showcase all their products under one roof and communicating the mass line of products and services it can provide to the Global customers.

Therefore it is no surprise that they have been consistently exhibiting their products at Gulfood with a well-integrated stand with a large stand amply supported with advertisements to capture the attention of every visitor to the exhibition. Over the years Gulfood has proved as an important marketing platform for ALLANASONS and IFFCO to “Step Forward” to their strategic vision of being the preferred provider of essential and value added products to everyone, everyday & everywhere.

India Master chef Tarla Dalal to conduct live cookery show

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oted Indian food writer, chef, best-selling cookbook author and host of cooking shows like “Tarla Dalal show” and “Cook It up with Tarla Dalal”, Tarla Dalal, is conducting a live cookery show for the first time in Kuwait.

The show, organized by Indian Women In Kuwait (IWIK) under the aegis of popular community portal IndiansinKuwait.com

will be held on the International Women’s Day on March 8th at Live Theater, Alsoor St, Discovery Mall, Kuwait City. Tarla Dalal, today is one of the top 5 best-selling cookery authors in the world with over 6 million cook books sold to date. She has written a total of 170 titles, several of which have been translated in various languages like Hindi, Gujarati,

Marathi, Bengali and even Dutch and Russian!

Get a chance to sharpen your skills with the help of internationally renowned culinary expert. Learn to make simple, nutritious and delicious dishes.

Indian Women In Kuwait (IWIK) is an unifying place for the Indian women residing in Kuwait under the aegis of popular community portal IndiansinKuwait.com, wherein the members shall learn a bit; gain a bit; have a little fun; and express themselves and their skills. Earlier the IWIK Team successfully organized a series of offline events such as the Rangoli Competition, X-Mas Tree Contest and a range of other competitions and programs.

Prior to the main event IWIK in association with Gulfmart is conducting The Best VegBiriyani Contest at the same venue. The chef from Indian Restaurant Jamawar at Crowne Plaza will select 10 finalists and Tarla Dalal will judge the best Biriyani Dish from the finalists and announce the winner during the Live Cookery Show. The Gold Sponsor for the event is Crowne Plaza, Silver Sponsor Is IFFCO - Noor Oil, Shama and Al Baker and Associate Sponsor is Gulfmart.

Soorya India Festival

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he prestigious ‘Soorya India Festival’ will be held on Thursday, March 14, 2013, at the American International School, Maidan Hawally. A Bharatanatyam recital by Rama Vaidyanathan and a Khatak performance by Rani Khanam will be main attractions of the show. Another

highlight of the show will be ‘Speaking Shadow’, a shadow art by Prahlad Acharya. Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta will be chief guest of the show. The doors will open at 06.30 pm and the program will start at 7pm. The entry is restricted by invitations.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

GUST Professor becomes new editor of international journal

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ulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) Professor, Dr Robert Kirkpatrick, from the university English Department recently became the editor of a prestigious international journal entitled: Language Testing in Asia. Dr Kirkpatrick commented on the international nature of the journal, stating that the co-editor, Yan Jin, is a professor at one of the best universities in China, and is the Director of the university entrance English exam in China.

The production assistant is from Myanmar and lives in Thailand while the main editorial advisor, Professor Fred Davidson, is at the University of Illinois in the USA, and the rest

of the editorial board comes from a dozen other nations.

Even the expert staffs of the publisher, Springer, work in different countries: the Producing Editor, JolandaVoogd, is based in Germany while the coordinator, Sam Woodbridge is in London and manager Bin Walters lives in Singapore. The academics who contribute come from all over Asia and the Middle East.

Dr Kirkpatrick, who has been working in second language learning field for about 20 years, including 12 in Japan and 5 in Thailand, came to Kuwait and joined the GUST family in 2012 as an Assistant Professor in the English Department. He has described his experience at GUST as

excellent, “I have been surprised by the high level of English of most students, and the faculty is world-class.”

When asked about how his new role at the journal came about, Dr Kirkpatrick notes that the journal started 2 years ago with him at the helm of a high profile editorial board. At the same time, he was in discussions with the academic publisher Springerabout a new book - which is also underway and they suggested that they audit the journal with a view to taking over. After a long process, involving many reviews and suggestions from international academics it came to fruition in November 2012 and the full Springer version of the journal was launched.

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ating unique recipes to surprise and inspire you. The bold flavors and signature drinks will satisfy any appetite.

And for those who wish to relax and unwind, there is no better setting than the waterfront at Ruby Tuesday Sharq,

next to Kuwait Towers. The waterfront offers breathtaking views over the sea and ample seating to choose from. You can come and chill out with your friends and family and relax for the evening under the starry sky.

Ruby Tuesday Sharq waterfront next to Kuwait Towers is now open providing a great atmosphere for guests with the ideal spot to enjoy themselves with friends and family, and is set to

once again draw in the crowds with variety of flavors on Shisha with a plethora of fruit mocktails and dining choices that are bold and complex in flavor packing a tasty punch.

Bill Robinson, Vice President, National Arabic Company, Kuwait said: “The waterfront offers impeccable service as well as beautiful views of Kuwait’s skyline lit up in all its glory.

Following the popularity of the place earlier, we are very excited to reopen it.

Now that the evenings have cooled, it is great to see Kuwait residents enjoying the gorgeous weather. Ruby Tuesday with its new menu speaks volumes in terms of its portions, flavors & tastes complemented with great service and Shisha, offering the perfect spot for relaxation and fun.”

Kuwait future leaders present Seven Ideas to Reform Kuwait

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even Campaigns for Change for the benefit of Kuwaiti Society will be presented by members of the Kuwait Leadership Mastery (KLM) on Wednesday 13 March at 5:30 pm at Gulf University for Science and Technology. KLM is a year-long program that’s designed to “inspire Kuwait’s future leaders.” The program teaches leadership skills to Kuwaiti

youth between the ages of 17 and 24.

More than 60 people participate in the program.

Last November, the participants were divided into seven teams, and each team was requested to develop a plan to resolve a problem currently existing in Kuwait. The teams were organized around these themes: Sports & Health, Environment, National

Message from the Venezuela embassy

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he Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the State of Kuwait presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait and all Diplomatic and Consular Missions and International Organizations and with great sadness regrets to inform the passing away of HE. Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, who passed away on Tuesday 05/03/2013.

The Embassy further would like to inform that a condolence book will be

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opened at the Embassy located in Surra, Block 5 St No 7 House No 32 on Thursday 07/03/2013. Sunday 10/03/2013 and on Monday 11/03/2013, from 09.30 am till 01.30 pm. The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait and all Diplomatic and Consular Missions and International Organizations accredited to the State of Kuwait the assurances of its highest consideration.

New Indian business forum to be launched

ntroducing a new world of business networking and commercial synergy, a world all set to open fresh contours in the emerging global economic scenario. A forum comprising of Indian businessmen and professionals will soon be launched in Kuwait to promote business and trade. The forum will primarily aim to provide an interactive platform of networking for Indian businessmen and professionals with their Kuwaiti counterparts through regular interface, meetings and even workshops. The new forum, which plans to engage with all trade and commerce bodies across India and also in Kuwait, intends to act as a unified forum for exchange of information related to current

or expected business or professional opportunities in India and Kuwait. Not merely confined to business exchanges, this forum will also enable Indian businessmen and professionals to make suggestions to the government on matters of policy matters, procedures pertaining to the business activities.

The forum plans to promote Indian businesses in Kuwait by providing several opportunities between businesses, dissemination of information through seminars and interaction with local and government counterparts. In brief, the Forum intends to revolutionise and develop new business and professional relationships while consolidating existing ties.

Unity, Social Responsibility, Leadership Development, Business/Entrepreneurial Development, and Education Reform.

A group of judges will evaluate the campaigns when they are presented at the Kuwait Leadership Mastery. The judges will select three winning campaigns. Audience members will also vote on the winning campaigns and

Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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Relaxing waterfront, authentic Shisha flavors at Ruby Tuesday t Ruby Tuesday, our chefs share a common passion: they love combining bold flavors and cre-

Embassy

the audience will select the “most creative” campaign. The event is open to the public. The winning teams will be recognized at the KLM graduation ceremony on 3 April at GUST. KLM was developed by Dr John P Hayes, head of Business Administration at GUST. The program is funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the US State Department.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-imenquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

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EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on shortstay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes.

Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database.

Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, firsttime applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com.

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EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk.

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EMBASSY OF TURKEY The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey announces that a new classes of Turkish language for beginners will start at the Embassy’s Tourism, Culture and Information Office on 17 February 2013. The lessons will be two times in a week for six weeks, for further details and registration please contact. Or fill the application form on http://kuveyt.bemfa.gov.tr and send it to the email: embassy.Kuwait@mfa.gov.tr

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Great Animal Escapes 01:10 Great Animal Escapes 01:35 Untamed & Uncut 02:25 Wildest Islands 03:15 Mutant Planet 04:05 Wild France 04:55 Rescue Vet 05:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 05:45 Animal Precinct 06:35 The Really Wild Show 07:00 Dogs 101 07:50 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Breed All About It 09:35 Monkey Life 10:05 Wild Africa Rescue 10:30 Rescue Vet 11:00 Escape To Chimp Eden 11:25 Wildest Islands 12:20 Mutant Planet 13:15 Wild France 14:10 Animal Cops Houston 15:05 Animal Precinct 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Dogs 101 17:25 Animal Crackers 17:50 Animal Crackers 18:20 Cats Of Claw Hill 18:45 Cats Of Claw Hill 19:15 Monkey Life 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Rescue Vet 20:35 Escape To Chimp Eden 21:05 Wildest Islands 22:00 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 22:55 Ray Mears’ Wild Britain 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:00 Homes Under The Hammer 00:50 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 01:35 Come Dine With Me 02:25 Holmes On Homes 03:10 MasterChef 03:35 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 04:25 Bargain Hunt 05:05 Bargain Hunt 05:50 Bargain Hunt 06:35 James Martin’s Brittany 07:00 James Martin’s Brittany 07:25 Come Dine With Me 08:15 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 09:00 Homes Under The Hammer 09:50 Bargain Hunt 10:35 Antiques Roadshow 11:25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:10 MasterChef 13:05 Come Dine With Me 13:55 Rick Stein’s Spain 14:50 Holmes On Homes 15:40 Bargain Hunt 16:25 Antiques Roadshow 17:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:00 Homes Under The Hammer 18:50 The Hairy Bikers USA 19:15 The Hairy Bikers USA 19:45 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 20:10 French Food At Home 20:35 Come Dine With Me 21:30 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:00 04:30 04:55

Taz-Mania Pink Panther And Pals Moomins Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Puppy In My Pocket Wacky Races Looney Tunes Duck Dodgers Dastardly And Muttley Dexter’s Laboratory Wacky Races Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries

05:20 05:45 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:00 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

Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Bananas In Pyjamas Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Ha Ha Hairies 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 Connect The World With Becky Anderson 01:00 Amanpour 01:30 World Sport 02:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 03:00 World Report 03:30 World Sport 04:00 Anderson Cooper 360 05:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 06:00 Quest Means Business 07:00 The Situation Room 08:00 World Sport 08:30 Talk Asia 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Report 11:00 World Sport 11:30 Eco Solutions 12:00 World Business Today 13:00 World One 13:30 Living Golf 14:00 Amanpour 14:30 CNN Newscenter 15:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 16:00 News Stream 17:00 World Business Today 18:00 International Desk 19:00 Global Exchange 19:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 20:00 World Sport 20:30 Living Golf 21:00 International Desk 22:00 Quest Means Business 22:45 CNN Marketplace Europe 23:00 Amanpour 23:30 CNN Newscenter

00:15 01:10 02:05 03:00 03:55 04:20 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:05

James May’s Man Lab Superhuman Showdown Mythbusters Mythbusters How Stuff’s Made Auction Kings Auction Hunters Factory Line How Stuff’s Made American Guns

07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 11:50 12:45 13:40 14:35 15:05 15:30 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Mythbusters Unchained Reaction Wheeler Dealers Border Security Auction Kings Auction Hunters Factory Line How It’s Made James May’s Man Lab Superhuman Showdown Mythbusters Border Security Auction Kings Auction Hunters Desert Car Kings Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters American Guns Factory Line How It’s Made Auction Kings Auction Hunters Sons Of Guns Inside The Gangsters’ Code Ross Kemp On Gangs

00:40 Gadget Show - World Tour 01:05 How Tech Works 01:35 Scrapheap Challenge 02:25 NASA’s Unexplained Files 03:15 Bang Goes The Theory 03:45 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 04:35 Investigation X 05:25 Kings Of Construction 06:15 Sci-Trek 07:05 How The Universe Works 08:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 08:50 Mega World 09:40 Prototype This 10:30 Sci-Trek 11:25 Gadget Show - World Tour 11:50 How Tech Works 12:15 Alien Planet 13:10 Mega World 14:00 Scrapheap Challenge 14:50 Bang Goes The Theory 15:20 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 16:10 NASA’s Unexplained Files 17:00 Gadget Show - World Tour 17:25 How Tech Works 17:55 Sci-Trek 18:45 Kings Of Construction 19:35 How The Universe Works 20:30 Food Factory 20:55 Food Factory 21:20 Finding Bigfoot 22:10 Gadget Show - World Tour 22:35 How Tech Works 23:00 Food Factory 23:25 Food Factory 23:50 Finding Bigfoot

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 11:40 12:05

Hannah Montana Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers 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 Kim Possible Shake It Up

TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN ON OSN ACTION HD

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

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 Austin And Ally My Babysitter’s A Vampire A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie 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 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:20 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 06:30 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

00:00 Scouted 00:55 Style Star 01:25 THS 02:20 THS 03:15 Style Star 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 THS 05:05 THS 06:00 THS 07:50 Style Star 08:20 E! News 09:15 Ice Loves Coco 09:45 Ice Loves Coco 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Opening Act 14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 14:30 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star 15:30 E!es 16:30 Extreme Close-Up 17:00 Married To Jonas 17:30 E! News Special 18:00 E! News 19:00 THS 20:00 Giuliana & Bill 21:00 Fashion Police: The 2013 Academy Awards 22:30 E! News 23:30 Chelsea Lately

00:15 Unique Sweets 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 Charly’s Cake Angels 03:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 03:35 Unique Sweets 04:00 Unique Sweets 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 10:30 Barefoot Contessa 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 18:00 Barefoot Contessa 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 Unwrapped 23:25 Unwrapped 23:50 Unique Eats

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:05 03:30 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

I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted Evil, I Evil, I I Almost Got Away With It I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted FBI Case Files Mystery Diagnosis 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 On The Case With Paula Zahn Killer Kids

00:15 00:45 01:40 02:35 03:00 03:30 03:55 04:25 04:50 05:20 06:15 06:40 07:10 07:35 08:05 09:00 09:55 10:20 10:50 11:15 11:45 12:10 12:40 13:35 14:00 14:30 14:55 15:25 16:20 17:15 17:40 18:10 18:35 19:05 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:55 23:20 23:50

Making Tracks Living With The Amish Meet The Amish Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Oz Travel Oz Ultimate Traveller One Man & His Campervan Food School Making Tracks Making Tracks Living With The Amish Meet The Amish Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Oz Travel Oz Around The World For Free Kimchi Chronicles David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 Making Tracks Making Tracks Living With The Amish Meet The Amish Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Oz Travel Oz Making Tracks Making Tracks Kimchi Chronicles David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 Ultimate Traveller One Man & His Campervan Food School Maverick Chef

01:00 A Dangerous Man-18 03:00 Covert One: The Hades Factor18 06:00 True Justice: Street Wars-PG15 08:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began-PG15 10:00 Biker Boyz-PG15 12:00 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 14:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began-PG15 16:00 X-Men: First Class-PG15 18:15 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 20:00 Intruders-18 22:00 The Killing Room-18

HENRYʼS CRIME ON OSN CINEMA

01:45 Ceremony-PG15 03:30 The National Tree-PG15 05:15 Garfield’s Pet Force-FAM 07:00 Ceremony-PG15 09:00 The National Tree-PG15 11:00 B-Girl-PG15 13:00 Blackthorn-PG15 15:00 Henry’s Crime-PG15 17:00 Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer-PG 19:00 The Lincoln Lawyer-PG15 21:00 Dirty Girl-18 23:00 Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The Ricky Gervais Show 02:00 Louie 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 Modern Family 09:00 The Simpsons 10:00 The Mindy Project 10:30 Last Man Standing 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 10 Items Or Less 12:30 Gary Unmarried 13:00 Hope & Faith 13:30 Less Than Perfect 14:00 Raising Hope 14:30 The Mindy Project 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 10 Items Or Less 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 The Simpsons 18:30 2 Broke Girls 19:30 Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Big C 22:30 Louie 23:00 Family Guy 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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 22:00 23:00

Royal Pains The Carrie Diaries Awake Royal Pains Emmerdale Coronation Street Perception Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Perception Royal Pains Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Perception Drop Dead Diva American Idol Downton Abbey Boardwalk Empire

01:00 A Dangerous Man 03:00 Covert One: The Hades Factor 06:00 True Justice: Street Wars 08:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began 10:00 Biker Boyz 12:00 And Soon The Darkness 14:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began 16:00 X-Men: First Class 18:15 And Soon The Darkness 20:00 Intruders 22:00 The Killing Room

00:00 Big Fat Important MoviePG15 02:00 Bad Teacher-18 04:00 Nacho Libre-PG 06:00 Mrs. Miracle-PG15 08:00 The Perfect Catch-PG15 10:00 It’s Kind Of A Funny StoryPG15 12:00 Nacho Libre-PG 14:00 Best In Show-PG15 16:00 It’s Kind Of A Funny StoryPG15 18:00 The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom-PG 20:00 The Switch-18 22:00 Big Fat Important MoviePG15

00:30 Ironclad-18 02:30 Vincere-18 04:30 Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid-PG 06:30 The Great Gatsby-PG 09:00 Paws-PG 10:30 The Art Of Getting By-PG15 12:00 Would Be Kings-PG15 13:30 The Insider-PG15 16:15 The Art Of Getting By-PG15 17:45 Espions-PG15 19:30 Cruel Intentions-PG15 21:15 The Company Men-PG15 23:00 Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man-18

01:00 Hanna-PG15 03:00 Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows-PG15 05:15 Three Inches-PG15 07:00 Marley & Me: The Puppy Years-PG 09:00 New Year’s Eve-PG15 11:00 Fat Albert-PG 12:45 Michael Jackson: The Life Of An Icon-PG15 15:15 The Artist-PG 17:00 New Year’s Eve-PG15 19:00 Larry Crowne-PG15 21:00 Wanderlust-R 23:00 The Debt-18

01:00 Snow Day 02:45 A Very Fairy Christmas 04:15 The Ugly Duckling In The Enchanted Forest 06:00 Dragon Hunters 08:00 Rainbow Valley Heroes 10:00 Cats Don’t Dance 11:30 Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate 13:15 The Three Bears: Dreadful Dangers 14:45 Dragon Hunters 16:15 Spooky Buddies 18:00 Cats Don’t Dance 20:00 Three Investigators And The Secret Of Terror...

22:00 The Three Bears: Dreadful Dangers 23:30 Rainbow Valley Heroes

00:00 MSNBC Martin Bashir 01:00 MSNBC Hardball With Chris Matthews 02:00 MSNBC Politicsnation 03:00 Live NBC Nightly News 03:30 ABC World News With Diane Sawyer 04:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 05:00 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 06:00 MSNBC The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell 07:00 NBC Nightly News 07:30 ABC World News With Diane Sawyer 08:00 NBC Nightly News 08:39 ABC Nightline 09:06 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 10:00 MSNBC The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell 11:00 ABC World News Now 11:30 Live ABC World News Now 12:00 NBC Early Today 12:30 ABC America This Morning 13:30 Live ABC America This Morning 14:30 MSNBC First Look 15:00 Live NBC Today Show

18:57 Live MSNBC Hardball With Chris Matthews 19:38 Live MSNBC The Ed Show 20:19 Live MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 21:00 Live MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports 22:00 MSNBC Newsnation 23:00 MSNBC The Cycle

00:00 Sleeping Beauty-18 02:00 Extract-PG15 04:00 Monte Carlo-PG15 06:00 Kung Fu Panda 2-PG 08:00 The Muppets-PG 10:00 Melinda And Melinda-PG15 12:00 X-Men: First Class-PG15 14:15 Last Holiday-PG15 16:15 The Muppets-PG 18:00 Source Code-PG15 20:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 22:00 Blind Revenge-18

00:00 00:30 08:30 09:00 12:00 14:00 14:30 15:30 16:30 20:00 22:00

ICC Cricket 360 Live Cricket Test Match Futbol Mundial HSBC Sevens World Series Live NRL Premiership ICC Cricket 360 Trans World Sport Super Rugby Highlights Dubai World Cup Carnival NRL Premiership NHL

02:30 European Tour Weekly 03:00 Inside The PGA Tour 03:30 Super Rugby 05:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 Trans World Sport 08:00 Super Rugby 09:00 Super Rugby 11:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 12:00 Premier League Darts 15:30 ICC Cricket 360 16:00 NRL Premiership 18:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 19:00 WWE NXT 20:00 Super Rugby 21:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 22:00 Live Premier League Darts

00:30 World Pool Masters 01:30 World Cup Of Pool 02:30 Super League 04:00 Adventure Challenge 05:00 Futbol Mundial 05:30 Top 14 Highlights 06:00 Golfing World 08:00 Total Rugby 08:30 Asian Tour Highlights 09:00 World Pool Masters 10:00 World Cup Of Pool 11:00 Dubai World Cup Carnival 14:30 Golfing World 15:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 16:30 Total Rugby 17:00 World Pool Masters 18:00 World Cup Of Pool 19:00 HSBC Sevens World Series 22:00 Golfing World 23:00 PGA European Tour Highlights

00:00 WWE Vintage Collection 01:00 NHL 03:00 Ping Pong World Championships 04:00 US Bass Fishing 05:00 NHL 07:00 WWE SmackDown 09:00 Ping Pong World Championships 10:00 US Bass Fishing 11:00 NHL 13:00 WWE Vintage Collection 14:00 WWE Bottom Line 15:00 UAE National Race Day Series 16:00 Prizefighter 19:00 Adventure Challenge 20:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 21:00 UFC

Classifieds THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 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) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

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MUHALAB-1 PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) 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) MUHALAB-3 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) FANAR-1 PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:00 PM 11:45 PM

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

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)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:30 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (28/02/2013 TO 06/03/2013)

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

10:30 PM 12:30 AM

FANAR-3 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-1 MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG)

1:30 PM 1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED MARINA-3 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG)

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG)

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) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-3 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

360ยบ- 1 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM

SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

10:45 PM 1:00 AM

360ยบ- 2 MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

360ยบ- 3 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (DIG) BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

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)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.3 SNITCH (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-1 BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) MAMA (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:30 PM

BAIRAQ-2 SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

BAIRAQ-3 PARKER (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

FOR SALE

Email: kmat077@gmail.com (C 4340) 6-3-2013

Maxima car model 2000, navy blue for sale, single hand driven, ver y good condition, all new tires, owner leaving Kuwait, registration up to Dec., 2013.

Serious buyers contact 66772656, Khaitan.

(C 4339) 6-3-2013

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)

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

holder of Indian Passport No. H5961214 converted to the Islam do hereby change my name to P. Zareena Begum. (C 4338) 5-3-2013 I, Mrs. Annie Cristine Kuriakose, holder of Indian Passport No. F5417121 changing the name to Mrs. Annie Cristine Pinto.

(C 4336) 4-3-2013

SITUATION VACANT

Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

A decent housemaid urgently needed for a family in Mangaf. Please call 60055305.

6-3-2013 A family is looking to hire a cook who can prepare dishes from the Arabic and Chinese Cuisines. Contact: 99006777. (C 4337) 5-3-2013

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw Prayer timings

CHANGE OF NAME MATRIMONIAL Keralite Christian Orthodox parents invite proposals for their daughter 27/150, MSc Nurse, b/b, in Kuwait, from parents of god fearing professionally qualified Orthodox boys (preferably B.Tech). Contact

Fajr:

04:50

I, Ayub Khan Abdul Shakur Khan, holder of Passport No. E5265742, issued at Pune, have changed my name to Ayub Shakoor Khan for all purposes.

(C 4341) 7-3-2013

Shorook

06:09

Duhr:

11:59

Asr:

15:20

Maghrib:

17:50

I, Posina Lakshmi Prasanna D/o Posina Venkata Ratnam

Isha:

19:07

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JAI THY JZR JZR QTR SAI ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR RBG QTR DHX THY JZR JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC IRA IRA KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD IRC IZG GFA JZR MSC MEA MSR UAE SYR KAC FDB KNE KAC KAC SVA QTR KAC JZR

Arrival Flights on Thursday 7/3/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 3555 ALEXANDRIA 138 DOHA 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 354 COCHIN 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 382 DELHI 605 ISFAHAN 617 AHWAZ 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 855 DUBAI 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 6588 SHAHRE KORD 4161 MASHAD 213 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 403 ASSIUT 404 BEIRUT 610 CAIRO 871 DUBAI 341 DAMASCUS 284 DHAKA 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 672 DUBAI 546 ALEXANDRIA 500 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT

Time 00:05 00:35 00:45 00:50 01:00 01:30 01:45 01:50 02:35 02:45 03:05 03:10 03:25 03:45 05:15 05:30 05:55 06:00 06:35 06:40 06:45 07:35 07:40 07:45 07:45 07:50 07:55 07:55 08:15 08:40 09:05 09:10 09:15 09:20 09:25 09:35 09:55 11:20 11:35 11:55 12:45 12:50 12:55 12:55 13:50 14:15 14:15 14:15 14:30 14:35 14:55 15:05

KNE QTR OMA JZR JZR KNE KAC UAE ETD RJA GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC NIA JZR RBG KAC FDB MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA FDB JAI AXB MSC MSR JZR ABY QTR ALK KAC MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE JZR FDB DHX KAC AIC JZR GFA JZR UAL BBC DLH

470 134 645 787 535 474 118 857 303 640 215 510 777 144 127 982 542 251 177 3553 786 63 405 176 618 104 674 774 647 61 572 393 401 618 189 129 146 229 562 402 136 221 307 859 135 59 372 502 981 239 217 185 981 43 636

JEDDAH DOHA MUSCAT RIYADH CAIRO JEDDAH NEW YORK DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO ALEXANDRIA DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH DUBAI SOHAG GENEVA/FRANKFURT DOHA LONDON DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT DUBAI MUMBAI KOZHIKODE ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA COLOMBO AMMAN BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN BEIRUT CHENNAI/HYDERABAD/AHMEDABAD AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

15:05 15:30 15:40 16:10 16:25 16:30 16:35 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:10 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:45 19:00 19:15 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:20 20:25 20:30 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:05 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:50 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:05 23:25 23:45 23:55

Airlines AIC KAC AXB JAI UAL DLH SAI ETH THY FDB UAE ETD RBG MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA KAC THY FDB BAW IRA IRA JZR JZR KAC KAC KAC ABY UAE FDB ETD QTR IRC IZG GFA KAC KAC JZR MSC MEA JZR KAC MSR JZR SYR UAE FDB KAC KNE KAC

Departure Flights on Thursday 7/3/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 283 DHAKA 390 MANGALORE 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 442 LAHORE 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 3556 ALEXANDRIA 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 771 ISTANBUL 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 606 MASHAD 616 AHWAZ 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 101 LONDON/NEW YORK 787 JEDDAH 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 6589 SHAHRE KORD 4162 MASHAD 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME/PARIS 776 JEDDAH 406 SOHAG 405 BEIRUT 786 RIYADH 785 JEDDAH 611 CAIRO 176 DUBAI 342 DAMASCUS 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 561 AMMAN

Time 00:05 00:10 00:15 01:05 01:10 01:20 02:30 02:45 02:55 03:45 03:50 04:00 04:05 04:10 04:50 06:05 06:55 07:00 07:30 07:35 08:25 08:45 08:50 08:55 09:05 09:15 09:20 09:25 09:40 09:45 09:55 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:25 10:35 10:40 11:30 11:50 12:15 12:35 12:55 12:55 13:00 13:45 13:50 13:55 14:15 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:40

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC SVA KNE JZR KAC QTR KAC OMA JZR KNE ETD QTR UAE RJA GFA JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR RBG JZR NIA UAL FDB MSC FDB KAC OMA KAC JAI AXB KAC ABY MSC MSR KAC DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB JZR UAE KAC DHX QTR JZR GFA KAC KAC

617 505 471 188 501 141 773 646 238 475 304 135 858 641 216 184 511 128 266 145 3554 134 252 982 64 404 62 351 648 331 571 394 343 120 402 619 543 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 554 860 205 373 147 528 218 411 415

DOHA JEDDAH JEDDAH DUBAI BEIRUT DOHA RIYADH MUSCAT AMMAN JEDDAH ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI ASSIUT DUBAI COCHIN MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM MUMBAI KOZHIKODE CHENNAI SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA CAIRO BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN DOHA ASSIUT BAHRAIN BANGKOK/MANILA KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA

15:45 16:00 16:00 16:05 16:10 16:15 16:25 16:40 17:15 17:25 17:35 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:10 19:25 20:00 20:40 20:45 20:55 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:40 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:50 23:50 23:55 23:55

34

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

stars CROSSWORD 121

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) Getting uptight about revamping something and going over old ground is not the correct attitude. By going over and correcting your work, only improvements can be expected and this is good. If it’s not right, delivery will be rejected. This will end up costing you more than you anticipated. Try to see this as a cycle of self improvement and perfection. An urge to change and try new things may challenge and upset your domestic life or support system. Your tendency to follow your heart more than your head acts at cross purposes to those who care for you.

This could be a no win situation that requires walking a fine line on your part and calls for you to be a bit more patient and taking the time to think things through.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You may feel an urgent need to move ahead and in the process will discard work which is not functional or useful to your future directions and goals. On the other hand, this period can bring about zealous involvement with humanitarian or social organizations. It may be difficult to decide whether to make your own moves or wait to react to someone else before you let out your feelings today. In fact you may consider a little of both the ideal.

Enthusiastic give and take in your relationship can really lead you up to full fledged interaction on many levels.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. (computer science) A measure of how densely information is packed on a storage medium.

4. Of or involving or caused by or being microbes.

12. Time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis.

15. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

16. A plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the curve.

17. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

18. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

19. Japanese ornamental tree with fragrant white or pink blossoms and small yellow fruits.

20. Model of excellence or perfection of a kind.

22. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

23. (chemistry and physics) Held with another element, substance or material in chemical or physical union.

25. Port city in the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf.

26. Of or relating to a speaker of the Tamil language or the language itself.

29. Bourbon and sugar and mint over crushed ice.

31. A public promotion of some product or service.

33. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

34. A musical instrument consisting of graduated steel plates that are struck by hammers activated by a keyboard.

38. A Buddhist who has attained nirvana.

42. Dark brownish to purplish red.

43. A yellow pungent volatile oil (trade name Agene) formerly used for bleaching and aging flour.

45. A genus of Mustelidae.

46. The inner and longer of the two bones of the human forearm.

50. The habitation of wild animals.

53. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

55. A small cavity or space within an organ or in a plant or animal.

57. (Greek mythology) The winged goddess of the dawn in ancient mythology.

58. Type genus of the family Arcidae.

59. State in northeastern India.

61. (botany) Of or relating to the axil.

64. Joint capital (with Riyadh) of Saudi Arabia.

65. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

69. When dried yields a hard substance used e.g. in golf balls.

72. The character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall.

74. A cgs unit of work or energy.

75. A cut of pork ribs with much of the meat trimmed off.

78. A legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body.

79. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix.

80. Neuralgia along the sciatic nerve.

81. A widely distributed system consisting of all the cells able to ingest bacteria or colloidal particles etc, except for certain white blood cells.

DOWN 1. Serving as or forming a base.

2. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

3. A self-funded retirement plan that allows you to contribute a limited yearly sum toward your retirement.

4. A member of the military police who polices soldiers and guards prisoners.

5. (prosody) Of or consisting of iambs.

6. Of or relating to a language that arises from contact between two other languages and has features of both.

7. Radioactive iodine test that measures the amount of radioactive iodine taken up by the thyroid gland.

8. A Russian river.

9. Handsome tree of central and eastern North America having large bipinnate leaves and green-white flowers followed by large woody brown pods whose seeds are used as a coffee substitute.

10. The United Nations agency concerned with the interests of labor.

11. The basic unit of luminous intensity adopted under the System International d'Unites.

12. Material used to daub walls.

13. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

14. A member of an extinct North American Indian people who lived in the Pit river valley in northern California.

21. (psychoanalysis) That part of the unconscious mind that acts as a conscience.

24. A Mid-Atlantic state on the Atlantic.

27. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

28. Long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck.

30. A spacecraft that carries astronauts from the command module to the surface of the moon and back.

32. Angle that resembles the hind leg of a dog.

35. Polished and well-groomed.

36. Capital city of the Piemonte region of northwestern Italy.

37. A genus of tropical American plants have sword-shaped leaves and a fleshy compound fruits composed of the fruits of several flowers (such as pineapples).

39. A reddish brown dye used especially on hair.

40. Someone who is morally reprehensible.

41. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

44. A state of extreme confusion and disorder.

47. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

48. Of or relating to or containing balsam.

49. The content of cognition.

51. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.

52. Sometimes placed in family Hyacinthaceae.

54. God of death.

56. An indication of approved or superior status.

60. The month following February and preceding April.

62. Acquire or gain knowledge or skills.

63. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

66. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

67. Grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished.

68. Informal terms for a meal.

70. Syndrome resulting from a serious acute (sometimes fatal) infection associated with the presence of staphylococcus.

71. A drug combination found in some over-thecounter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

73. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

76. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

77. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

You may be simply busying yourself for the sake of being busy today.

Taking on an endless string of little tasks allows you to avoid thinking about what it is you want to do with your life right now. Possibly a break from deep thought is just what you need, but sooner or later you’re going to have to make some changes in your life to achieve fulfillment. The sooner you think things out the better off you will be. Your emotions are sensitized now. Your intuitive, feeling nature is very strong. You will find yourself gripped by feelings of nostalgia and compassion. Memories of feelings and situations long forgotten come to the surface. See if you can find some resolution.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) This is one of the most opportune periods for financial, business, and social affairs. Use a positive and constructive approach with this trend, commencing all new undertakings that promise good fortune and opportunities. Do all you can to improve personal conditions. Opportunities for friendship, pleasant associations and enjoyable social interactions occur now. Personal relationships are harmonious and rewarding. Take some time today to let someone know how much you appreciate them, it’s a good bet they’ll want to show you just how much they appreciate you to.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Consolidate your finances as the stars are not creating the right sort of energy for you in terms of speculating. Just wait, listen and trust your intuition as to the appropriate moment to swoop. This relates to new job offers or investment opportunities. Shortly things will be much clearer to you. Resist the temptation to go overboard emotionally, to the point of burning yourself or someone else out. It’s easy to get carried away today so watch your step. Your initial assumption will require refinement, so don’t expect to understand everything that’s going on with your first attempt.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) It is impossible for you to be content with superficial answers now, and you are impatient with people who avoid looking candidly and honestly at root causes and hidden reasons for any problem or situation. You can become obsessed with an idea or problem until you have figured it out. Now is a good time for you to take a step back and give a good look at your personal relationships. Determine what’s working and what’s not. If things are moving along great don’t try to effect any changes. If you feel a bit dissatisfied have an honest talk with those involved and try to set the appropriate changes in motion.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) You can gain a great deal of satisfaction through what you produce and how creative you are in that process just now. You’re tapping into a new level of creativity which should be integrated into not only your working life but social and domestic experiences as well. This is a great couple of days for you. You will be alert and on your toes now and it’s a good thing as the pace is likely to be fast, even hectic. You are restless and eager to meet your partner halfway, to converse, exchange information, and make deeper connections. Nervousness or irritability due to aggravations and the stress of increased demands in relationships are possible.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This is a time for withdrawing your energy, attention, and efforts from the outside world and external goals in order to replenish yourself. Quiet reflection and attention to your inner world, your family, and the foundation that supports all of your outside activities, is called for. This is a time to “lie low”. You are feeling sober and realistic about love at this time, and are interested in being with people you respect and can depend upon. They make you feel safe and at this time that may be what’s most important to you. Also, reaching out to an older relative or another mature, experienced person can mean a lot to you and be mutually beneficial now.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Sudden realization of overall requirements and dimensions can give you a better handle on what’s really going on today. Clear demands are more easily met and you know where you stand when the possible and impossible are sorted out. Limitations become clear, so they become easier to work around. This is a favorable time to take a short vacation or pleasure trip, even if it’s only in your mind as a fantasy. You could read a book or see a movie. Positive connections are made with others, and you may meet a new romantic partner, perhaps even share the fantasy of the day. You may also want to call or email someone you love, simply to cheer them up or tell them you love them.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) A long-term project is favored today. A financial commitment could need some attention in the process, and you really need to consider where you want to be in a few months time. A health problem takes a hike.

Thoughts of love, an appreciation for beauty, and enjoyment of your surroundings are the energy of the day. It’s more mental and emotional than physical.

This is a good time to schedule social activities where tact and friendliness would be a plus.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You’ve spread yourself pretty thin today in your work area. Your heart’s in the right place but you may simply not have the energy to support the workload you’ve planned today. Don’t over do it—tomorrow is another day, and unrushed work is usually far better than work done under pressure anyway. Personal relationships challenge you during this period. What you want and what those close to you want are very different at the moment. Your tastes are running towards the unconventional and you thirst for a bit of adventure. Discuss your desires with your lover and they are likely to be met.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) This is a time when new information tends to come to light which makes it clear that a change in plans or outlook is needed to preserve your security. Keep your eyes open, and your ear to the ground. You’re in a learning phase now, which may require adapting to changing circumstances. Failure to do so can thwart your ambitions and set you back in one way or another. Courage and determination to move forward will bring you great rewards. This is probably a good time for all parties to back off a bit and make sure that what looks like a great idea isn’t actually a hidden misunderstanding. What feels right may be impractical or misleading, so a second look is in order to avoid having to rework through all this later. Don’t believe all you hear, or all you say as it’s easy to just make assumptions at this time.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya Jabriya

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TATE T OF KUW K WAIT A

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AV VIA ATION T PARTMENT A METEOROLOGICAL DEP DA AY Y: Weednesday

Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630

BY Y DA AY:

Clouds will decrease gradually with moderate freshening at times north westerly to northerly wind, with speed of 20 - 40 km/h with a slight chance for scattered rain

BY Y NIGHT:

Cool with moderate freshening at times north westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 45 km/h with a chance for blowing dust No Current Waarnings arnin

WA ARNING MIN. REC.

KUW WAIT A CITY

26 °C

19 °C

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

27 °C

20 °C

NUW WAISEEB A

26 °C

20 °C

WAFRA A

28 °C

18 °C

SALMI

25 °C

17 °C

25746401

ABDAL LY

26 °C

19 °C

25316254

JAL ALIY YAH A

26 °C

18 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FA AILAKA

24 °C

19 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

21 °C

19 °C

Mishref

25381200

QARUH ISLAND

21 °C

20 °C

W Hawally

22630786

UMM AL-MARADEM

21 °C

20 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

SFC. CHART

06/03/2013 0000 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA ATE T

WEA ATHER T

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

New Jahra

24575755

Thursday

07/03

temperature will decrease + blowing sand

21 °C

15 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

West Jahra

24772608

Friday

08/03

sunny

22 °C

10 °C

NW

06 - 26 km/h

South Jahra

24775066

Saturday

09/03

sunny + scattered clouds

23 °C

09 °C

VRB-SE

08 - 30 km/h

Sunday

10/03

partly cloudy + scattered rain

28 °C

15 °C

SE

20 - 45 km/h

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Firdous

PRA RA AYER Y TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT

Fajr

04:50

MAX. Temp.

34 °C

24884079

Sunrise

06:09

MIN. Temp.

20 °C

24892674

Zuhr

11:59

MAX. RH

48 %

Asr

15:20

MIN. RH

Sunset

17:50

MAX. Wind

Isha

19:07

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

11 % SW 53 km/h .07 mm V1.00

06/03/13 02:49 UTC

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

Fintas

T1.06

23900322

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

07:00

Issue Time

MAX. EXP P.

Ardhiya

Al-Shuhada

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

Expected Weather e for the Next 24 Hours

DA AY

22418714

Fax: 24348714

06/03/2013

ST TAT TION

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

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

lifestyle M U S I C

&

M O V I E S

A ‘wounded’ film producer, a wise bishop, and a story that lives on Bishop integrates global mission with expat’s movie 75-year old mother. I told him, ‘How long will your mother live? Did you use your brain? The man replied, ‘I did not use my brain. But Your Grace did not ask me if I used my heart.’ I then told the young man, ‘Bless me!’”

He did bless Bobby by praising his efforts in spreading goodness. “I am happy to make this movie about com-

By Sunil Cherian

A

t 95, Philipose Mar Chrysostom, the metropolitan bishop of the Mar Thoma Church, daily receives people with a variety of needs, prayers and intercessions. In Kuwait too, last week, His Grace had visitors of various kinds. The metropolitan bishop was here as part of his Kanyakumari to Chicago global peace rally which made a stopover in Kuwait last weekend.

Among the many that came to see him, one visitor, Bobby Avagama, stood apart. His need - the metropolitan’s introductory message for a film he produced - turned out to be a decisive one for the bishop on the move. After the message was recorded, Chrysostom said: “The global peace rally will be meaningful only when there are elements of religious harmony in it. This film upholds that value.”

The film, ‘Thanichalla Njan’ (I’m Not Alone), tells the true story of a Muslim woman who shelters a Hindu woman in the face of frowns and furor of the local community. The real story that occurred 12 years earlier has it that Raziya Beevi, the vice president of her village in central Kerala, had met then 75-year old Chellamma Antharjanam, an upper caste Hindu woman at the railway track. The Hindu woman was on her way to end her life after she was left alone by her relatives. Raziya helped the elderly woman put her life back on track only to be ‘left alone’ by her own people who saw a clash of cultures under the same roof. Raziya and her husband did not give in. They built a house for Chellamma. (In the film there is a shot where both women can be seen praying; one by a lighted lamp and the other doing the salat).

When director Babu Thiruvalla planned early last year to make a movie out of the Raziya-Chellamma story, Bobby Avagama joined the project as the producer. A resident of Mahboula, Bobby juggled his business needs in Kuwait and producer ’s responsibilities back home. The movie

Philipose Mar Chrysostom, Mar Thoma Metropolitan Bishop blesses Bobby Avagama, Mahboula based film producer of I Am Not Alone, a feature film based on a true story of an Indian Muslim woman sheltering an elderly Hindu woman against all odds. The meeting was at a Jabriya residence last weekend. project was the talk of the town for a long time. Popular Malayalam actresses Kalpana and KPAC Lalitha performed as Raziya and Chellamma respectively.

The film crew had great expectations that it would grab some state awards.

They were greatly disappointed when the awards were declared last week with the film not winning in any category.

“I want to show this movie to the people”, said Bobby when he came to meet the metropolitan. “I produced this movie not to make money but to spread a good message”, said Bobby, a diploma holder in film making from New York University. The 60-year old producer took Avagama - Sanskrit for return - as his second name a couple of years ago. Last weekend, he helped the organizers of the metropolitan’s peace rally - Global Christian Ecumenical Association - return to its core motto: United action for global justice, peace and social integration. The year-long

journey of the metropolitan is on track from April last year until it culminates in Chicago next month.

“Global peace is a big word for me,” said the nonagenarian metropolitan bishop jokingly when visitors swarmed around him. He cheered Bobby and others by sharing his own ‘cinematic’ experience. “Once actor Innocent’s wife Alice complained that he was hugging ladies in movies. The actor comforted his wife by saying ‘I hug you too; one is real, the other is mere acting.’ Alice then said: Which one is real?”

Stories and anecdotes flowed from the bishop who could not resist cracking a joke about his global peace journey. “At 95, visiting Kuwait and other places is easy for me. I can sit for a long time. But when I go back, I may have to use a coffin.”

When Bobby requested His Grace to bless him, the metropolitan bishop said: “Once I came to know of a 35-year old man who donated his kidney to his

munal harmony as part of my global peace journey,” the metropolitan said.

Two days ago, Bobby was informed that his film has been shortlisted in India’s National Film Award committee in the category of national integration.

“Considering a work for an award is equivalent to winning one,” a jubilant Bobby said.

Actresses Kalpana as Raziya Beevi and KPAC Lalitha as Chellamma Antharjanam in the movie Thanichalla Njan (I Am Not Alone). The film is shortlisted by the Indian national film award committee to compete in the category of films that promote national integration.

Chellamma Antharjanam and Razia Beevi, the real heroes of the movie on communal harmony.

Promoters sue over cancelled Gaga Indonesia show C

oncert promoters are suing insurers in the United States for breach of contract over an Indonesian concert by Lady Gaga canceled last year due to a threat by Islamic hardliners. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles by Live Nation LGTours, Mermaid Touring and The Atom Factory against three Lloyds of London insurance syndicates, claiming at least $75,000 in damages, according to documents published Tuesday.

The flamboyant US pop diva, known for her outrageous outfits and wigs, canceled the concert in Jakarta last June after Islamic hardliners promised “ chaos” if she entered the Muslim nation. In the lawsuit, a copy of which was published by the Hollywood Reporter, the promoters accuse the insurers of failing

Jimi Hendrix

to pay out on a terrorism policy taken out in advance of the tour. Specifically it accused them of “despicable conduct that subjected Plaintiffs to cruel and unjust hardship ...with the intent to vex, injure or annoy the Plaintiffs, such as to constitute oppression, fraud or malice...”

The Lloyds of London syndicates named in the lawsuit-filed on March 3 at the US District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles-are Beazley Syndicate 623, Beazley Syndicate 2623 and Talbot Syndicate 1183. Jakarta police refused approval for the June 3 Lady Gaga show after the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) threatened violence if she performed, calling her a “devil’s messenger” who wears only a “bra and panties”.

Local promoters Big Daddy said it was “unfortunate” that the show, part of Lady Gaga’s tour of Asia that drew protests from Christian groups in the Philippines and South Korea, had to be called off.

More than 50,000 tickets had been sold for the event at the Bung Karno Stadium, but FPI Jakarta chairman Habib Salim Alatas said the cancellation was “good news” for Muslims in Indonesia. Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 240 million people identify themselves as Muslim, making it the world’s largest Islamic-majority nation, but the vast majority practise a moderate form of the religion. In the past, pop stars including Beyonce and The Pussycat Dolls have been allowed to perform in the country on condition they wore more conservative dress than usual. — AFP

Bryan, Clarkson, Strait to perform at ACM Awards

New album showcases Jimi Hendrix innovations

M

ore than 42 years after his death, Jimi Hendrix is making a comeback with a new album that brings together a dozen innovative studio recordings from 1968 and 1969. “‘People, Hell and Angels’ showcases the legendary guitarist working outside of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience trio,” said Experience Hendrix, which oversees his estate, and Legacy Recordings, a Sony music unit.

“These 12 recordings encompass a variety of unique sounds and styles incorporating many of the elements-horns, keyboards, percussion and second guitar-Jimi wanted to incorporate within his new music.”

Co-producing the project are the musician’s sister Janie Hendrix and Eddie Kramer, who served as Hendrix’s recording engineer throughout his career, which ended when he died in September 1970 at the age of 27. Hendrix recorded three albums in his lifetime, two of which reached the Top 10 in the United States as the Experience became rock music’s largest grossing concert act of its time. —AFP

File photo shows Kelly Clarkson performs on stage at the 55th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

— AP

A

lready busy co-hosts Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan also will perform during this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards. The countr y cut-ups are among the first round of per formers announced yesterday for the annual awards show in Las Vegas. They’ll be joined by Shelton’s wife, Miranda Lambert, George Strait, Hunter Hayes and The Band Perry.

Pop star and former “American Idol” champion Kelly Clarkson, a twotime ACM winner in 2012 and a nominee this year; also will perform as she continues to increase her country profile since moving to Nashville. The ACM Awards will air live April 7 on CBS from the MGM Grand. Eric Church is this year’s top nominee with seven nominations. Hayes is next with six.More performers and presenters will be announced later. —AP

I

In this 1970 file photo, Jimi Hendrix performs on the Isle of Wight in England.

J

‘Daily Show’ host to helm Iran-themed movie

on Stewart is taking time off from “The Daily Show” to direct a film based on an Iranian-Canadian journalist’s nightmare in a Tehran jail, the Comedy Channel cable network said Tuesday. The feature film, “Rosewater,” grew out of interviews that Maziar Bahari gave “The Daily Show” after he was detained in solitary confinement and subjected to torture for 118 days during the post-election protests that gripped Iran in 2009.

Stewart-one of America’s mostwatched political comedians and host of “The Daily Show” for 14 years-adapted a script from Bahari’s best-selling account of his ordeal, “Then They Came for Me.” On its website, the Hollywood Reporter said Stewart would be taking 12 weeks off, starting from June, to direct the film, with John Oliver taking his place in the anchor’s chair. “Rosewater” will mark Stewart’s directorial debut. — AFP

Tom Cruise tabloid lawsuit moves to private mediation

f you were hoping to watch Tom Cruise’s legal battle against “In Touch” and “Life & Style” publishers Bauer Publishing Company play out in public, you’re out of luck. Cruise’s lawsuit against Bauer has been moved to private mediation, according to papers filed in US District Court in Central California on Friday. The move was expected; a motion filed last month indicated that the case would move to private mediation if the suit wasn’t settled 45 days prior to the final

pretrial conference. And judging from comments issued by Cruise’s attorney Bert Fields since the suit was filed, the “Top Gun” actor doesn’t seem to be much in a settling mood on this one.

Cruise filed his $50 million defamation lawsuit against Bauer in October, claiming that Life & Style and In Touch said he had abandoned his daughter, Suri, following his split from wife Katie Holmes. Fields has adamantly denied the tabloids’ reports, call-

ing them “a disgusting, vicious lie.” He’s also characterized Bauer as “serial defamers.”

Bauer has countered that its claims about Cruise are “substantially true.” As reported last month by TheWrap, Cruise’s legal team said that it expected to seek discovery relating to Bauer’s alleged “history of bigotry and hatred toward minority religious groups and their members” - presumably, in reference to Cruise’s membership in the Church of Tom Cruise Scientology. —Reuters

37

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

The Philbrook Museum of Art, 10 minutes south of downtown Tulsa, Okla.

By Hillary Speed s an Oklahoma transplant - a native New Englander who moved here for love - I’ve had fun getting to know the Sooner State. I also host the occasional out-of-town visitor, so I’m always on the hunt for colorful history, interesting art, quirky shopping and a great meal. I have found it all, plus some surprises, in Oklahoma’s second-largest city: Tulsa. Tulsa was initially occupied by Native American tribes forced to relocate here from their home territories by the Indian Removal Act of 1830. But the modern city was built from oil money in the early 20th century.

A

&

M o v i e s

The Gilcrease Museum.

tle rugged at the edges. But if you know where to go and you practice the art of looking up at the buildings instead of down at your feet, you’ll find a great display of art deco architecture and other turn-of-the-century styles. Tulsa was a “young city ... experiencing unprecedented growth and prosperity in the Roaring Twenties, just as the Art Deco movement came into vogue,” according to the Tulsa Preservation Commission’s website. “Flush with oil money, prominent Tulsans started building the skyscrapers that would spur one of the pre-eminent Art Deco collections in the United States.”

The most striking example of Tulsa’s art deco treasures might be the Boston Avenue Methodist Church, 1301 S

The two-storey columns at the entrance to the Mayo Hotel.

building, 509 S Boston Ave The building facades are only the beginning: On a weekday afternoon, it’s fun to wander into the lobbies for stunning views of ceilings and chandeliers. For more information, visit http://www.tulsapreservationcommission.org .

In search of fine art In addition to its architectural gems, Tulsa boasts two wonderful major art museums. Ten minutes northwest from downtown, Gilcrease Museum, 1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Road, houses an expansive collection of art from the American West (the largest worldwide, they say) and an array of Native American artifacts such as glass-beaded

The Philtower Building in Tulsa, Okla.

The Boston Avenue Methodist Church.

This undated photo provided by the Tulsa Regional Chamber shows Cain’s Ballroom, built in 1924 and known as the regular performing venue of Bob Wills, the “King of Western Swing.”— AP photos

There was already a railroad station here serving the cattle industry when oil was discovered in nearby Red Fork in 1901, so Tulsa became the logical place for oilmen - from tycoons to middlemen to so-called wildcatters looking for the next big well- to settle with their families. What you find here now is an eclectic mix of new and old: artsy hangouts that show off Tulsa’s thriving hipster culture as well as well-preserved historic gems that harken back to the oil boom of the early 1900s. As somebody who seeks out both highbrow art and underground subculture, I love this about Tulsa.

Boston Ave. You can’t miss its 258-foot (79-meter) tower, holding court at the city’s southeastern edge. Somehow the building, erected in 1929, manages to look like a church and a skyscraper all at once. Straight down Boston Avenue from the church sits another beauty: the Philtower Building, 427 S Boston Ave, which was commissioned by prominent oilman Waite Phillips and opened in 1928. Look for the gargoyles above the Boston Avenue entrance, and look way up to see the colorful tiled roof, a splash of strange, almost lovably outdated hues that floats above the city as a relic of the past.

Also worth a look are the Atlas Life Building, 415 S Boston Ave.; the Mayo Hotel (where you can book a room or grab a gourmet meal), 115 W. Fifth St; and the Philcade

moccasins, feather headdresses and leather clothing.

Grown out of the private collection of Tulsa oilman Thomas Gilcrease, the museum is now home to more than 10,000 paintings, prints and sculptures from prominent American artists such as Frederic Remington and Thomas Moran.

Meanwhile, 10 minutes south of downtown, the Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Road, houses an equally magnificent collection in what was once the 72room private villa of Waite Phillips’ family. Perhaps even more impressive than the fine artwork displayed at this renowned Tulsa attraction is the sprawling 23-acre (9hectare) garden behind the museum. I attended a wedding last summer that embodied the romantic European spirit of this Italian-style estate.

Downtown architecture At first glance, downtown Tulsa can seem quiet and a lit-

he Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has an addition to its famous gem collection: It’s a butterfly brooch made of 2,300 gems. The “Royal Butterfly Brooch” was created in 2009 by Taiwanese jewelry artist Cindy Chao. She is donating the piece to the museum, making it the first Taiwanese-designed item in the National Gem Collection. It went on display yesterday.

The Royal Butterfly is composed of 2,328 gems, totaling 77 carats. It includes colored and color-changing sapphires and diamonds, rubies and tsavorite garnets. The centerpieces of the butterfly’s wings are four largefaceted diamond slices. Curators say it sparkles in daylight but under ultraviolet light in the dark, it glows. Chao put its value at $680,000. The butterfly joins the Hope Diamond and Marie Antoinette earrings on display. — AP

Shopping, music and food The shopping in Tulsa, like everything else, can be fancy or casual, depending on your whim. I always like to browse through the luxury home-goods store TA Lorton, 1343 E 15th St, on a bustling street known locally as Cherry Street.

It’s quite expensive, but you are guaranteed to find items you’ve never seen before, from indulgent children’s gifts to high-end linens to unique lamps, tables and dinnerware.

For a store with lower prices and an edgier flair, I recommend Dwelling Spaces, 119 S Detroit Ave, in the Blue Dome District. The neighborhood, named after the bluepainted dome of an old gas station that originally served motorists on historic Route 66, is a small but bustling corner of downtown that attracts artists and others with a bohemian bent. Dwelling Spaces sells quirky handmade items such as T-shirts, decorative pillows and posters that tend to feature offbeat Oklahoma- and Tulsa-centric designs. It’s where you can buy all your Flaming Lips merchandise (the world-famous rock band started in Oklahoma) and the latest copy of the popular bimonthly broadsheet magazine, “This Land Press.” Read it over a freshly brewed cup of Joe at the coffee bar.

My favorite casual spot for eating is El Rio Verde, 38 NTrenton Ave, an authentic Mexican restaurant in the otherwise unassuming region northeast of downtown. Like many good hole-in-the-walls, this place seems a bit shady from the outside. But step inside and order a wet burrito (served with sauce on top) and a glass of horchata (a traditional rice drink) and you won’t care where you are. For higher-end fare, I’ve been twice blown away by the new but amazing Juniper Restaurant and Martini Lounge downtown, 324 E. Third St Chef Justin Thompson is getting a lot of buzz for his local-focused, seasonal menus featuring items such as bison burgers and pork belly eggs benedict.

I like the sweet carrot soup and roasted vegetable and goat cheese sandwich. And, while I’ve never had a Juniper cocktail myself, who wouldn’t be intrigued by concoctions using house-made green tea and lemon vodka and roasted peanut bourbon? For a great non-alcoholic pick-me-up, try the Coffee House on Cherry Street (1502 E 15th St). A community oasis for artists and musicians, full of mismatched furniture and a constant stream of regular customers, the cafe makes all its own baked goods, including gluten-free and vegan items that look just as enticing as their bad-foryou counterparts. I never leave Tulsa without a slice of peanut butter pie from CHOCS (as the locals call it).

Tulsa is home to a great music scene as well. The historic Cain’s Ballroom, built in 1924 and known as the regular performing venue of Bob Willis, the “King of Western Swing,” now draws a steady stream of big acts across all genres, 423 N Main St, or http://bradytheater.com/. The Brady Theater, likewise, has been around since the early 1900s 105 W Brady St, http://bradytheater.com/ - and continues to draw the hottest performers. — AP

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Gap ap’s Spring season is all about colour, with a strong focus on denim and khakis. For denim, its everything from a fashion forward ankle grazer new style called Skimmer to an amazing garment dyed canvas, indigo skinnies and printed jeans to everyday denim. The broken-in khakis are available in a variety of pastel colors and will help complete any stylish look of the season.

The women’s collection draws inspiration from the casual New York female. Key items include the legging jean skimmer, essential crew sweaters infused with a print or offered in solid, bar stripe in knits and sweaters and iconic dot print available in both woven and knits. A sporty and athletic influ-

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ence comes through a range of khaki skinny in solid and prints, reversible woven knit hoodies, neon parka, colour block dolman sleeve sweaters and striped tee’s and tanks. The theme of ‘smart casual’ brings along polka dots and stripes presented across dresses and cardigans. The anchoring bottom continues to be the slim crop seen in solids and geometric print coupled with the ‘Tailored Shirt’ for the ‘cool’ and modern look.

And for those looking for a sporty and preppy look, there is continuation of the roll-up shorts and coloured blazers to mix and match with striped and solid tees with an assortment of feminine dresses to complement the look.

For Men, the season’s essential pieces include core pique polos in pop colours, lived in flat front shorts, solid oxfords in washed out pastel colours and slim canvas coloured denims. Essential crews, lived in plaids and washed out checks and patterns complement the look with the Chino story to lend that casual, easy feel. Gap Logo Polo and classic V sweaters are the other must-haves for the season.

The new collection is now available across all Gap stores.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

lifestyle F a s h i o n

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hundred years ago, the legendary Coco Chanel opened her first boutique in the Normandy seaside town of Deauville. Today, the boutiques number 300 and Chanel spans the globe. Karl Lagerfeld celebrated this century’s skirt-suited success story Tuesday with an incredible Paris collection that had journalists gawping at an enormous globe right under the Grand Palais exhibition hall’s glass roof. Dotting the sphere were 300 Chanel flags, each

representing a boutique. “The spirit of the show was Chanel’s globalization,” Lagerfeld said. But was the fall-winter 2013-14 show also a celebration of the German-born designer? He celebrates three decades at the creative helm this year, during which he’s overseen the transformation of Chanel into a truly global empire.

“I can be very happy... When I started we had three or four (boutiques) 30 years ago,” Lagerfeld said. “But

it’s not an ego trip. Psychoanalysis kills creativity.” At a combined age of around 180 years old, it looks like there’s no stopping either Lagerfeld or Chanel. “Look,” he said pointing at an empty part of the globe. “There is still space left.”

Models present creations for Alexander McQueen during the Fall/Winter 2013-2014 ready-to-wear collection show in Paris. — AFP photos

HERMES Hermes pared down the energy of last season for fall-winter 2013-14 in what was a more classical, intimate ready-to-wear affair. High waists and furs gave proceedings a glamorous edge, with models sporting Greta Garbo waves in their hair. Long tan coats thrown nonchalantly over shoulders and rich capes slightly alluded to a mystery - evoked also in the show setting. Guests were led up wonky stairs into a sprawling wooden library. Initially, it felt like an Hercule Poirot murder mystery.

Models in the 38 looks in mainly gray, brown and black snaked in and out of the guests, who sat comfortably drinking old-school spritzers. As ever, Hermes is synonymous with luxury - seen here in full-grain leather, cashmeres, and sumptuous linens. But somehow the vibrancy of last season seemed muted.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Rebelling against the age of austerity, Alexander McQueen turned to the embellished excess of England’s Elizabeth I. Held in the marble interiors of Paris’ Opera Comique, this show was an intimate presentation owing to designer Sarah Burton’s maternity leave, with just 10 looks. But when it’s delivered with the fastidious density of Alexander McQueen, 10 creations are more than enough to have an impact. The black-and-white dresses had regal pearl visors, and ruffs and Elizabethan furbelows and played with the hard, severe structures and cinched waists of last season’s accomplished homage to the queen bee, as well as some softer voluminous ensembles. Tuesday’s show showed that Burton had read into her fashion history, with the black looks referencing the Spanish renaissance’s royal infanta- and then subverting it, making pearls look like metal rocker studs. Other pearl patterns were designed to the form of gothic stained glass windows. But for all the excellent workmanship, much of the collection looked like costume design and sometimes lost its subversive message through sheer theatrical excess.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

lifestyle F a s h i o n

VALENTINO It was the white collars and sublime colors of Vermeer’s masterpiece “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” on the mood board for Valentino. Using the Flemish masters as a starting point, designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli delivered a more varied silhouette than last season in vase, trapeze, tulip and column-shaped. It was a welcome change. Short-skirts and some sporty looks with a cool circular edge pattern in red, pale pink, green and blue signaled a slight relaxing for the house known for its austere edge. But this is Valentino, and the high white Flemish-style collar and frequent fulllength sleeves ensured this was not forgotten. Still, not all the looks worked. A red dress with white fur collar looked overly theatrical - but this was unimportant, given the show’s rich pickings.

— AP

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ate Moss yesterday took to the catwalk at friend Marc Jacobs’ Louis Vuitton show on the last day of Paris fashion week. A cheer greeted the British model-sporting, like all the show’s models, a short black wig-as she stepped out of one of dozens of doors in Jacobs’ hotelinspired set. In a show celebrating what US designer Jacobs called “decadent glamour”, gold and silver embroidery covered dresses with a retro feel were finished with fur trims and shimmered on the catwalk.

Silk and satin dresses were covered in what looked like lace but were in fact tiny cut feathers, while purple and green silk check coats and a backless trouser suit made liberal use of ostrich feathers. Handbags, meanwhile, went without the house’s famous monogram or Damier canvas.

Instead three iconic bag shapes-the Pochette Accessoire, Lockit and the Speedy-were given makeovers using tex-

British model Kate Moss presents a creation for Louis Vuitton.

tures such as marabou, curled goose feather and waxed crocodile.

“All the classic signs of a Vuitton bag were reinterpreted in materials that were more exotic or more hand-treated or just more feminine,” Jacobs said. Asked about Moss, Jacobs added: “She means a lot to me personally. She’s a very dear friend and she’s closed many Vuitton shows,” he said. Paris has hosted scores of autumn/winter 2013/14 shows over the past nine days with the fashion event. — AFP

Chanel turns 100, as McQueen turns Elizabethan

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013

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This comic book image released by Marvel shows an illustration from”Age of Ultron,” Book One.—AP

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arvel Entertainment’s renowned heroes find themselves in an unfamiliar and unsettling position in the pages of the just-released “Age of Ultron” series: defeated, demoralized and desperate. After years of well-placed warnings that have gone unheeded, the everadaptive artificial intelligence that is Ultron - a creation of Avengers co-founder Henry Pym - has finally realized his potential as conquering villain. He has turned the planet into a dystopian landscape that is wrecked beyond compare with technology at the top of the food chain and humanity on the extinction trail. In short, said Brian Michael Bendis, who wrote the series that debuted yester-

day, Ultron has lived up to his promise.

“Ultron is one of the big villains of the Marvel universe, up there with Dr Doom and Magneto,” he said this week.

“He’s been a threat - a constant threat - and they’ve never been able to defeat him because of the nature of his being.” Now, with Ultron’s ability to adapt, react and learn, his promise has gone global and what was once a vibrant planet is nothing more than piles of debris with androids and mechanized robots running roughshod across the surface and heroes like Iron Man, the Sensational Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Invisible Woman and Hawkeye in the shadows.

It is, Bendis said, a reckoning of sorts with the Marvel universe “destroyed” and “half the heroes dead and half the world is dead.” Those that are left - remnants of the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Hulks - are living in the shadows, fighting back, Bendis said, and they aim to stop what happened from ever happening again.

“It’s not an imaginary story. It’s happening in Marvel continuity,” he said of the tale, which has the first three issues out this month, followed by issues 4,5 and 6 in April, all illustrated by Bryan Hitch.

The heroes “are going to break some rules with the space-time continuum.” The 10-issue story is illustrated by

By Nawara Fattahova

sweets, beauty treatments and products, house decoration and accessories, ceramics, gifts, online arrangements, and many others. The guest of honor at this fair was Silvia Winston, an internationally famous cake designer currently visiting Kuwait. She presented a narrative about her life, company, and wedding industry. Many other cake and bakery designers are participating in this event and appreciated Silvia’s achievements and skills. They said there was a lot to learn from her.

The beauty, hair, skin and body care are also part of bridal preparations. “Our spa is offering four different bridal packages including massages, skin care, organic hair treatment, body scrub, massages and other services. In fact, we advise women to always treat themselves as brides. We also offer home service, which was our original area before we launched our spa in 2011 on customers’ demand. We also sell some products such as organic perfumes and body oils,” Nouf Talal Al-Musalam, owner of Le Cocon Spa told the Kuwait Times.

Horizon Travel and Tourism has also prepared special honeymoon travel packages at this fair for newly married couples.

They are offering 11different destinations across all continents.

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he soon-to-be-married can avail of a wonderful opportunity to buy all that they need for this momentous occasion in their life at the Wedding and Design Exhibition titled ‘Celebrate’ being held at the Al Baraka Grand Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Farwaniya from March 5-7, 2013. The event is being organized by the November Company.

Kuwait’s top vendors for luxury designs, decor, and event requirements are participating in this exhibition. This fair follows close on the heels of another one held last September.

“We noticed that it was important to continue exhibiting the creations and activities of the designers of different wedding related items. We decided to hold this event frequently as we noticed an increasing demand. Through this fair, the customers have a chance to meet the sellers and companies providing these services,” said Haitham Safia, Finance Manager of November Company.

Celebrate Exhibition includes a wide range of services and products related to the occasion of wedding such as dress designs, travel packages for honeymoon couples, cakes and

Hitch, Brandon Petersen and Carlos Pacheco, with a fourth artist that Marvel is keeping secret. Tom Brevoort, senior vice president for publishing at Marvel and editor for “Age of Ultron,” called the series one that will leave readers confused and, possibly, upset, too. “Part of the ethos we’re trying to adopt, as part of Marvel Now, is the idea that really, anything can happen and the sky is the limit,” he said. “‘Age of Ultron’ is the exemplar of that. It’s supposed to make people feel edgy and uncomfortable.” — AP

— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat