8 Mar 2013

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Local FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Local Spotlight

Conspiracy Theories

Are you annoyed?

The art of shopping in Kuwait

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I

believe that there are ways to help anyone shop in such a way that one saves time, money and above all escapes a nervous breakdown. Shopping is an art that not everyone knows. It involves spending money instead of wasting it on stuff that may remain unused or was not needed in the first place.

I think that there is a huge variance among people when it comes to weekly shopping. There are people like me who prepare a list of all that they need and stick to it all the way, bearing in mind the price and quality. I prefer

shopping at the local coop. Most of the materials there are of good quality and the prices are reasonable and affordable for middle class families.

Those who prefer to go for a brand not available at regular markets do not mind paying an extra KD for their favorite food. Frozen food can be a hot sale. Even the frozen pancake is fresh at these places, though it could be a little expensive.

Good shopping requires peace of mind - so no children involved. Sometimes big families go shopping with spoilt brats who fight and shout. This turns the coop into a circus.

Some kids carry along the little trolleys carelessly like motor cycles. Little children do not belong to the coop.

Why not one parent babysit while the other shops.

If you find an item that is open any good shopper should report this to the management. Learning these tips will be worth the effort since shopping is a weekly chore.

After all, good shopping is an art.

Kuwait’s my business

Why are these Kuwaiti men so unhappy?

By John P Hayes

local@kuwaittimes.net

K

uwaiti men, aged 30 to 40, are the most dissatisfied customers in Kuwait, according to Faten AbuGhazaleh, president of Service Hero, a company that tracks local customer satisfaction. Last year, more than 10,000 local customers voiced their opinions about customer satisfaction during a 90-day voting period, and the results were released a couple of weeks ago. So why are these men so unhappy about customer service in Kuwait?

They want more for their money!

There are no hard facts to explain the phenomenon, but I suspect it’s because of their education, worldly experiences, and either plenty of money or easy access to money. I know many of these men - they include my landlord, several of my faculty colleagues and administrators at GUST, MBA students, and local businessmen who I’ve helped with a variety of projects. Dissatisfaction seems to be a keyword among these men - all good men, by the way, but men who want more for their money.

All of them have traveled extensively outside of Kuwait, which is not unusual for young people today.

Many of my undergraduate students spend the summers outside of Kuwait. All of these men have at least earned a bachelor’s degree, often times from a university in America or Canada.

They want the good life!

“I know what it’s like to live in America and Europe,” one of these men recently told me, “and with all the money and advantages that we have in Kuwait, it frustrates me that we have so few options to spend our money in ways that I find to be satisfying.”

What is satisfying?

Of course, the word “satisfying” is itself a problem.

What satisfies one consumer dissatisfies another. For example, again according to the Service Hero results, the happiest consumer in Kuwait is the Arabic woman over the age of 50. What do these women know that the men don’t? Surely the women are also educated, they have travelled, and they have money to spend. Do they expect less because they’re older? Or are they finding satisfaction elsewhere - perhaps by shopping online, or shopping outside of the country? One of my savvy female students

recently admitted, “Sir, I’m an Internet shopaholic. I don’t spend my money in Kuwait because the prices are unreasonable. I buy everything online.” She also pointed out that she’s “broke” within three days of receiving her salary, but fortunately her father is a “soft touch” and he provides extra cash.

Price is an issue Price is another issue that impacts customer satisfaction. This issue was explored in depth by Abdul Latif Sultan who wrote a master’s thesis in 2011 about the impact of customer relationship marketing in Kuwait’s luxury retail market. “In Kuwait,” wrote Sultan, “consumers are largely treated as an audience and businesses have the upper hand. Consumers have no choice but to choose from the very few retailers or choose a brand from a sole retailer in the market.” As one luxury market analyst told Sultan, “Businesses have more influence in Kuwait than the consumers.”

Ah, there’s the rub. The 30-something male, who is likely to be married with a couple of children, wants the “good life” for himself and his family, and he wants it on his terms. In the not-so-distant past he probably lived that life in Canada, London, or the US. Now he wants to spend his money in Kuwait, but he doesn’t feel he gets his money’s worth and consequently he’s unhappy.

Why lose these customers?

When consumers are unhappy a couple of things occur. They spend less money locally, which doesn’t help Kuwait’s businesses or the economy, and/or they seek new businesses that will satisfy them. Local businesses should keep in mind that it’s easy to buy online and ship products into Kuwait. Yes, shipping rates have increased dramatically, but money to spend isn’t an obstacle for this consumer group, or for Kuwaitis in general.

If I owned a business in Kuwait I’d turn my attention to these unhappy men - they’ve got plenty of money to spend, and I wouldn’t mind them spending a good share of it in my business. Plus, they are an expanding market, and through relationship marketing they can be identified and their loyalty cultivated. Of course, as I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, this way of thinking only matters to businesses that value profit - and some do not in Kuwait.

Dr. John P. Hayes is the head of Business Administration at GUST where he teaches marketing and directs the Kuwait Leadership Mastery program. He has helped dozens of franchised brands expand internationally. Contact him at questions@hayesworldwide.com, or via Twitter @drjohnhayes.

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

F

olks, please do not misunderstand me. I am not here to preach. I am not perfect myself but I have noticed that many people behave differently if they think nobody is watching them.

For instance, when you walk into a public toilet where some good companies keep rolls of tissue, these often vanish. The other day, a woman came and started taking off the paper from the roll. It went on and on, and finally the roll was almost finished. She ended up using 10 or 15 meters of paper strip just to dry her hands and then dumped half of it in the basket and the other half on the floor. I was super angry and I wanted to say something. What if she had shouted rudely and said it was none of my business? What do you call this? Do these people have no conscience? There is a thin line between good and ill manners. The behavior of people in such trivial things can force you to judge them.

One encounters a similar situation in restaurants where people start overusing tissues just because these are free. When I was writing another article, my friend told me to go and see what happens in mosques. Some mosques keep small items like bottles of water and perfume. He said some men empty the entire contents of the perfume bottle on their dishdasha or clothes. They also empty the tissue box. If this happens in a mosque, how do you think they behave in other places?

In gathering or conferences where food is laid out in a buffet, people tend to pile on their plates huge quantity of food which then goes waste. At the end of the day, they cannot eat even a quarter of it and rest goes waste as leftovers. Sometimes you enter a restaurant or a coffee shop and see a man sitting on a chair but when you ask for one of the chairs lying around spare, he would claim them as occupied. After one hour, you would see no one joining the one-man party and the chairs remaining unused.

The people’s conduct on the road is better left unsaid. There are so many stories about how people do not give way to each other. You would often see people rolling down the window and spitting on the street or others who throw tissues or empty fast food boxes out on the road. Some empty their ashtrays straight from the window.

Do they confuse the street for a giant dustbin? Is that how they behave at home also?

How many times have you found that the car in front of you does not give you the right of way? I can talk all night about our conscience. Have you not faced these things? Do they annoy you? #BadryaD

Local FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

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Local FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

By Ben Garcia

A

l-Hamra Tower, the tallest building in Kuwait, is hosting Australian Chris McDougall, the renowned extreme adventure base jumper. McDougall will perform a base jump today from atop the tallest building in Kuwait City. Base jumping is a sport in which a parachutist jumps from a building, rather than an airplane. Base jumping, also written as B.A.S.E. jumping, spells an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs). During yesterday’s press conference to announce the first base jump in Kuwait, held in the sky lobby (AlHamra), McDougall was introduced, along with Kuwaiti skydiver Mohammad Al-Refai. Al-Refai has skydived more than 400 times in various locations around the world. He will be witnessing the base jump, along with many Kuwaitis, while also promoting skydiving.

McDougall also plans on training Al-Refai in base jumping. McDougall will be jumping twice during today’s event.

The jump kicks off at 1 pm. “Base jumping is a very dangerous and serious sport, a single mistake means death, but whether I have sponsors or not, I like it a lot and I want people to see why I like the sports,” he said. “I like the feelings of freedom, happiness and satisfaction, especially if you get what you like; that is priceless and the most beautiful feeling. You know the feeling among people who can fly. I am one of them, and I have signed a waiver in that context, and if I die, it is because of my passion, it’s my fate and because I like it,” he added. “It’s beautiful sports, an exhilarating event. The risk in jumping here is lessened since we have a beautiful structure, only we need to check the weather; we will have good weather in Kuwait, as far as we know at this point in time. It will only take eight seconds during the freefall, then 20-30 seconds in the parachuting,” he explained.

Al-Hamra Tower is 414 meter above sea-level and is Kuwait’s tallest tower, which has become a landmark.

McDougall holds the record for trouble-free jumps, with 2,600 base jumps and 10,000 sky jumps. “I am setting a record in Kuwait, there is no record for base-jumps as yet, so I am here to set the record and not to break anybody’s record.” McDougall has been training people in some 40 countries for more than 15 years. The event is being sponsored by Zain, Gulf Bank, Dominos Pizza, Go Sports, Torino Lamborghini and Camco Global Events.

Local FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Ordering food online?

Do it @ your own risk

By Nawara Fattahova

I

nstagram Kuwait has turned into a cyber market where millions of products are exchanging hands. Buying food, however, carries a risk because there are no regulations or law to supervise online vendors. Shopping online via social sites or Instagram is always at shopper’s risk. Buying food, fashion products, skincare products, electronics, accessories or other items, always carries a risk.

Sellers who advertise their food from home are not licensed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and lack the necessary certificates from other authorities. The market is big and expanding in keeping with the demand.

Amongst the pool of responsible sellers, there are also certain unscrupulous tradesmen. If a customer becomes a victim of a poor purchase, is cheated by some non-serious seller, or comes to some harm by a bad product that he bought online from individuals running businesses from home, his rights are neither protected by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry nor by the Municipality.

If a customer comes to any harm due to stuff purchased online or through social media, the only place for him/her to complain is the police station. “We are in charge of receiving the complaints of customers against restaurants. Our team of inspectors can go directly to a restaurant. In case they find any violation, the restaurant will be penalized and may even be closed,”

Bader Dashti, Head of the Complaints Department of the Kuwait Municipality, told the Kuwait Times.

Things are not as simple when it comes to buying food or other stuff from an online vendor. “If this seller was found selling the products from his house, then we are not allowed to enter the premises because it is a private property. Some of our inspectors landed in trouble earlier since they went with the complainant to the house of the seller who had sold them bad food but the seller filed a case against them for entering his house and breaching his privacy,” added Dashti.

Why being cheated online may be hard to digest Those who are concerned about safety of the food items sold on the street can contact the police. “If the seller is in an open area or on a road, then it is possible for our inspectors to catch him,” Dashti said. He narrated a story about a woman who had bought a wedding dress for KD 800 from a woman seller online.

She complained she was cheated as the dress was not as the seller had described and was also of poor quality. The seller refused to return the money and the customer came to complain to us. We directed her to the police station because we cannot enter the residential property. In this case, the seller knew there was no strict law against such activities and did not care even if a complaint was filed,” he further said.

But the inspectors proved effective in another similar case in which a customer complained he was cheated by a tailor who was doing unlicensed work from a room built between houses.

“We warned him to halt this illegal activity and snapped the electricity connection of his room,” Dashti said. He explained that in another case, the inspectors laid a trap to catch a man selling medicines and health products by convincing

him to deliver his wares. “We caught him in his car,” he said. “Sometimes these sellers have a courier to deliver their products, and if this courier was caught, he will have to own responsibility,” Dashti added.

He also lamented about the new residential area Sa’ad Abdullah, where all kinds of illegal activities happen. “There is even an unlicensed nursery being run, besides other unlicensed vendors in the vicinity,” he said.

He explained that a customer in this area also complained about a seller who sold him an expensive mobile phone which was supposed to be original but turned out to be a fake. When he called him, the mobile responded as switched off. Dashti advised people to be careful while making online purchases or from unlicensed places. “People should not buy things advertised in the press, especially the health and skincare products. Our inspectors as well as the Customer Protection department, both, tell the customer that it is his fault if he bought from unlicensed sellers,” he noted.

An employee from the Consumer Protection Department of the Ministry of Commerce stressed that his department was not in charge of food. Regarding other goods, he said they only receive complaints from consumers if the products or services were bought a licensed store, shop, garage, or other place.

Mariyam, a lady selling chocolate and vanilla cupcakes on Instagram for KD 10 per box including 67 pieces, assured that all her stuff is 100 percent clean and tasty. “I prepare my food stuff fresh. I bake the cupcakes only after receiving the order so that these are ready within an hour.

I never sell any stale products. I also do the vine leaf within two hours. All the material used in my cooking is also new and fresh, and since I receive frequent orders, I do not keep any materials past their expiry date. Also, since I am preparing the food at home, I make sure that everything is clean. Definitely, home cooked food is cleaner than that cooked at a restaurant kitchen. In the end, the customer can read the comments and feedbacks posted on my account on Instagram instead of me vouching for myself,” stressed Mariyam.

Local FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Or at least that’s what a Kuwaiti girl’s boyfriend must have thought when he raped her recently. A Kuwaiti girl was reported to have accompanied her boyfriend to a desert camp to celebrate his birthday. On the way, she asked to stop the car and got out to shop something. She forgot her mobile phone behind and as the phone rang, the caller ID read ‘Sweetheart’. Her boyfriend saw this and was overcome by rage. On her returning, he questioned her and she revealed that it was someone she used to know earlier. He

By Priyanka Saligram and Sahar Moussa

‘D

on’t tell your daughters what to wear, teach your sons not to rape’; ‘My clothes aren’t an invitation for you to rape me’; ‘Hand over the rapists to the public for justice’; ‘Rape is not about sex, it’s about power’ - These were some of the placards that the enraged public held in India after the heinous gang-rape of a 23-year-old medical student by six men which resulted in her death in Singapore after she was flown there for medical treatment in December last year. The brutality inflicted on her body with a rusted iron rod shocked the whole nation and sparked vigils, protests, and marches calling for changes in the law. Even though the incident took place in India, the whole world was aware of the viciousness of the episode and everyone felt their blood run cold. Why? Because they knew that it could happen to anyone in any country and is happening now, even as this article is being read.

According to the US Department of Justice, a woman is raped every two minutes somewhere in America. Closer home in Kuwait, most of the rape cases go unreported and unregistered even though it is known to be one of the most violent crimes. Rape cases of women and sometimes even men, mostly young boys, can be read about in the crime section on a daily basis which is indicative of the rising incidence of sexual assaults taking place in Kuwait.

When it is clear that the numbers haven’t fallen, why don’t we have certified figures? Official statistics issued by the General Department for Criminal Evidences stated that 4,664 theft crimes including 3,097 felony offenses and 1,570 misdemeanors were committed in 2012, according to a local daily. When there are official numbers available for theft crimes, why isn’t something as violent as rape recorded for reference? A Ministry of Interior official on the condition of anonymity said that statistics haven’t been recorded and not only single women but also married women have filed rape cases against their husbands, apart from homosexuals who have filed charges against other men. He also added that if a victim comes to file a complaint, they are referred to the General Prosecutor for further action. An unofficial source revealed on the condition of anonymity that money usually exchanges hands and rape cases tend to either go unregistered or are “settled” between the parties involved and never make it to the files, in the process.

‘Children affected the most’ Dr Khaled Al-Muhanadi, a psychiatrist in Kuwait, reveals that some women in the Gulf choose to stay silent after being sexually assaulted fearing societal stigma, even if they are raped by their own husbands. “They fear being accused of participating in this crime and giving their ‘consent’”, he says. Al-Muhanadi further

decided to “avenge the betrayal” and called three of his friends to the desert camp after they reached there and together they gang-raped her. Security sources said that they also robbed her of her belongings and threw her out. Investigations are ongoing, according to reports.

Local FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

reveals that rape cases in the Gulf society have increased as women have reservations about reporting them to the authorities, which only encourages the offenders to attack more women, secure in the knowledge that they can get away scot-free. It’s not just women, Al-Muhanadi says, “Children from negligent families who get raped are the most affected of the lot”.

Rape cases aren’t treated with the same severity as murder cases as the common ideology is that a murder results in the loss of life whereas rape is a sexual crime with no fatality involved. The fact that rape isn’t purely limited to a physical attack but extends to have severe repercussions on the mental, emotional, and psychological health of the individual is often overlooked. The National Women’s Study reports that almost one-third of all rape victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a severely debilitating disorder which occurs after a highly traumatic event, such as military combat or violent crime. Common symptoms of PTSD include depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety attacks, sleeplessness, nervous breakdowns, guilt or shame and selfblame, substance abuse and physical aches and pains.

Faisal Al-Bader, a 26-year-old Kuwaiti says that instances of rape and molestation are rising as the perpetrators have ‘wasta’ and know that they can get away with it. Al-Bader said that when someone has ‘wasta’, they know they have the power to get away with anything, including murder. When people know that they can’t expect justice, they won’t go through the trouble of reporting to the authorities. He says that though the laws are in place, they aren’t implemented effectively and most of the rape cases go unreported because of the society here. “They don’t report it because they feel ashamed as the society doesn’t treat them as victims but rather as someone who brought it upon themselves.

When crimes aren’t reported, there is no fear of consequences for the criminals”. Al-Bader admits that the rape victim and family, in fact, can expect isolation and this is the reason many families choose to hush it up. “In Kuwait, nobody will want to marry a rape victim as virginity is seen as a big deal”.

A Ministry of Interior official said that statistics haven’t been recorded and not only single women but also married women have filed rape cases against their husbands, apart from homosexuals who have filed charges against other men.

‘Reflection of repressed society’ Rape or sexual assaults happen all over the world but some countries report a higher number of statistics than others. Until recently, many people believed that South Africa lead the world in rape cases and has even earned the chilling moniker ‘Rape Capital of the World’ but according to recent reports, Sweden is catching up. According to WND World, Sweden now has the second highest number of rapes in the world and statistics suggest that 1 out of every 4 Swedish women will be raped.

Rapists can be found all over the world at any given point in time, depending on who is at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It has nothing to do with whether the country is a super power or an under-developed one. From time immemorial, it has been used as the cheapest and most potent weapon during wars.

Nisreen Hamadeh, a 40-year-old Lebanese expat in Kuwait thinks that sexual violence reflects a repressed society, which can be divided based on literacy. “Educated people sympathize and help a victim get back on her feet and get over the trauma whereas the ignorant and uneducated ones hate them and blame them for getting sexually violated”. She says that there are people who actually believe that a woman cannot be raped and if she did get raped, it was “because she wanted it” and slams it as one of the most ridiculous and uninformed ideas. Hamadeh opines that one of the reasons rape victims do not report the crime to the authorities is because that’s the only way they have a second shot at settling down in life. “It’s possible for a woman to get married even after the attack - provided nobody knows about it”.

Khaled Al-Kindari, a 26-year-old Kuwaiti says that he considers rape a major crime and if the law didn’t provide him with justice, he wouldn’t “hesitate to take the law into his own hands” if it involved a family member. Al-Kindari might be an icon of the progressive-thinking Kuwaiti generation as he said that if he personally knows the woman, he would consider marrying her and that awareness and education is the key to stop attacks. “It will only stop when men develop more respect for women”.

‘Being an expat is not easy’ Being an expatriate woman in any country can fill one with a sense of heightened responsibility for one’s safety. The language can pose as much a barrier as every taxi driver who could pose a potential threat. Western expats experience a cultural shock and it takes a while for them to get a grip on how society in the Middle East works. While making friends with boys and having an easy conversation over coffee back home wouldn’t have raised a second thought, here in Kuwait, it could be seen as openly invit-

ing trouble. Janet, a 24-year-old American expat, says her hackles rise when she gets mistaken to be “easy” because of her blonde hair. “Many men here think that an expat Western woman is easy game and openly hit on me or make sexually suggestive remarks or behave in an inappropriate way. There’s a lot of bias against certain nationalities in Kuwait where many think ‘Okay, I can have fun with her because she also wants it’. At this point, it’s not just sexual harassment anymore; it’s racial harassment!”

If Western expats think it’s hard to fend off unwarranted attention, Asian expats don’t believe they have it easy either. Liza, a 42year-old Filipina expat has a harrowing time when she has to get back home a little late from work. Dealing with teenage boys, and

sometimes even men, who stop their cars and honk at her or wave two or three KD 20 bills outside the window at night as she waits for public transport to get home is a regular ordeal.

Standing at just 5 feet, she says she used to fear for her life earlier but has now got used to it. “Here, they think that we are only maids or they can buy us with money and make us do anything.

When I was young, I used to think that only young and pretty girls were at risk of being attacked but now at 42, I know that age has nothing to do with rape... I feel very scared but what can I do? I have to get out of the house every day and work”.

When a woman complains of sexual harassment or molestation, the first question that she’s asked is: “What were you wearing?” Lubna (name changed on request) a 24-year-old Pakistani expat says that it’s the most ridiculous argument that she’s ever come across. She says that she can’t wrap her head around how people link clothes to the crime and argues that it is just another way of making women feel emasculated and victimized further.

Lubna says “Let’s assume for a minute that clothes indeed invite rape. How will that explain why Afghani women - who are covered in such a way that even their family members can’t recognize them - get raped in Afghanistan? What about young children, young boys who get sodomized? Or what about camels or goats, for that matter - or should they have been wearing clothes?”

‘Enjoying the act’?

Lawmakers who take the biggest decisions for the nation can sometimes make the women question the ones in power.

Recently in Jakarta, Indonesia, a senior Indonesian judge was dismissed for saying rape victims “enjoyed the act”. High Court judge Daming Sunusi made the remarks in answering a question on whether death penalty should be introduced for convicted rapists, saying capital punishment should not be applied because “the one raped and the rapist both enjoy it”. Interestingly, other lawmakers who were present during this meeting found this hilarious and burst into laughter, according to the Jakarta Globe newspaper.

Ultimately after everything is said and done, progress of a country can be gauged by equality between the sexes. Women’s liberation and female empowerment take a beating when the law not only refuses to give adequate protection but society also questions a woman’s morals, ethics and intentions when she is violated, instead of offering support and empathy. The economic growth of a nation can be hampered if women are forced to give up their jobs in lieu of safety. A major shift in attitude and perspective is required, opines Nehmat Dhillon, a 24-year-old Indian.

“Once a person rapes and gets away with it, it becomes a habit and wherever they see an easy target, they attack just like a hungry animal”. Dhillon says that “the hunger” needs to be channelized and everyone needs to stop controlling others to create a society which works on health and well-being. priyankasaligram@kuwaittimes.net sahar@kuwaittimes.net

Local FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Al-Shamali denies plans to tax expats KUWAIT: Following news reports about health ministry planning to increase medical fees for expats, deputy PM and the finance minister, Mustafa Al-Shamali reiterated his earlier denial about any plans to impose such taxes on expatriates or on their money transfers abroad.

“Anything related to taxes must go through the ministry of finance and we have no such plans and no intention to do so,” Al-Shamali stressed, noting that the press often reports many unconfirmed stories and not all reports have to be true. Notably, news reports had talked about the Ministry of Health conducting studies to increase the medical fees collected from expats in a bid to increase the ministry’s revenues and reduce pressure on overcrowded public medical facilities.— Al-Rai

MoI suggests more fees on expats KUWAIT: Even as Ministry of Interior’s assistant undersecretary for traffic affairs, Major General Mustafa Al-Za’abi, conceded that Kuwait was facing a complex traffic problem, the traffic department assistant director, Brigadier Saleh Al-Najem, said that a package of proposed ministerial proposals was prepared and submitted for further discussion. Once approval was granted, it would help achieve the ultimate goal of ending traffic congestion, he said. AlNajem said the proposals included stricter penalties for those violating traffic norms, cancelling of driver’s licenses, and action against Mandoubs if they cancelled the driver’s residency visa, shift sponsorship or change their profession. He also stressed that they would not receive new licenses before two years from the date of cancellation. He also noted that the new measures included an increase in the fees collected from expats for issuing or renewing car registrations or driver’s licenses. —Al-Rai

Kuwaiti citizen robbed, attacked in London KUWAIT: Four Arab nationals recently stabbed a 25-year-old Kuwaiti man in London and also tore his passport before decamping with his money and mobile phone, security sources said. According to the victim’s testimony, he was about to leave for Manchester to watch a soccer match and had withdrawn some money from a bank. Just as he was putting his credit card back into his wallet, the four assailants attacked him with knives and snatched £1,050 and a mobile phone. All of it happened in broad daylight.

Arab reneges on promise An Arab filed a complaint against a compatriot of hers for damaging her car in a road accident and later reneging on a promise to make good the damage if she dropped charges.

She said she did drop the charges after the man promised to pay for repair of car on that condition. However, once the charges were dropped, he started avoiding her and stopped responding to her calls. “Do not call me again,” he told her in her last phone call to him, prompting her to file the complaint.

Citizen robbed A citizen reported that unidentified robbers attacked his camp guard, stole goods from two tents and an ATV. A case was filed and further investigations were in progress.

Mother turns monster At his wit’s end after failing to resolve a family dispute where his own mother disproved of his marriage and continuously castigated his wife and in-laws, a newly-wedded doctor ended up seeking advice from the police about how to deal with the situation. However, he said he did not wish to press any charges, said security sources. According to the young doctor, his mother had been texting him insulting messages and had been calling on his in-laws, cursing and insulting them.

Fight over football A waiter at a Sharq cafe was injured when some customers who had an argument over a football match broke into a scuffle. The police were called and the nuisance makers were arrested.

KUWAIT: The first Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmed Al-Humoud safely returned home late Wednesday after a medical treatment trip abroad. Al-Humoud was received by HH the PM Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, his deputy and defense minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Khaled, FM Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled, Deputy Speaker, Mubarak AlKhurainej and other top-ranking officials and members of the ruling family and citizens.

2 Tweeters sentenced to jail for insulting Amir Government to build 174,000 houses by 2020

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The criminal court yesterday sentenced Tweeter Sager Al-Hashash to two years in jail with immediate effect and handed Nasser Al-Deehani a 20-month term but asked him to pay a bail of KD 200 to suspend the sentence until the court of appeals reviews it.

Leading opposition figure and former MP Mussallam Al-Barrak described the verdict as political and said on his Twitter account that “it is clear that a series of political verdicts are still going on.”

The two opposition activists were tried on charges of publishing Twitter posts deemed offensive to His Highness the Amir. The two verdicts, however, are not final as they can be challenged before the courts of appeals and cassation.

On February 13, the criminal court acquitted five Tweeters of the same charges but over the past few weeks, sev-

eral opposition activists and former MPs were sentenced to various jail terms over similar charges and for taking part in unlicensed demonstrations.

Dozens of activists and former MPs are still on trial and face the prospect of spending several years in jail either for allegedly insulting the Amir and undermining his authority, or for taking part in protests. The press watchdog Reporters Without Border yesterday expressed concern over the trial of two announcers working with the pro-opposition Al-Youm television for having read out a statement by the opposition in October. The announcers - Rima Al-Baghdadi and Ahmad Al-Enezi - face up to five years in jail if convicted for insulting the Amir’s authority. The next session is on April 10.

In another development, the state minister for housing Salem Al-Othaina said yesterday that the ministry expects to complete the construction of 174,000

housing units by 2020, but did not provide any estimates of the cost. The minister said that the ministry currently has over 100,000 housing applications pending and plans to complete over 14,000 units by 2014. He said the ministry plans to build three new cities - Al-Kheiran on the border with Saudi Arabia in the south, the Metla and North Subbiya, both in the north near the borders with Iraq. The three cities will have a capacity for 108,000 houses, said the minister and added that the plan also stipulated building a total of 52,000 additional units in new and existing residential areas. The minister said the private sector will be involved in the massive projects and expected that by 2020, the ministry will have resolved the housing crisis. At present, Kuwaiti couples have to wait for around 15 years to move into a government house for which they pay for in easy installments stretched over periods as long as 30 years.

Arabs busted with drugs

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Four Arab expatriates were arrested for the possession of and trading in drugs, said security sources. Case papers indicate that narcotic department detectives had been tipped off concerning an Aran selling Hashish.

The suspect was ambushed and arrested. On searching his residence, further drugs were found and this led the police to the second suspect and his supplier who was arrested along with the third and fourth suspects in an animal farm where they were hiding.

Security sources said that the suspects resisted arrest using knives with which they managed to injure a policeman before they were controlled and referred to relevant authorities.

KUWAIT: Four Arab expatriates who were arrested for the possession of and trading in drugs are pictured.

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Rebels want troop pullback before they free UN men

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Vatican: No date set for conclave to elect pope

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Thousands of mourners bid farewell to Chavez

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PYONGYANG: North Koreans attend a rally to support a statement given on Tuesday by a spokesman for the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army vowing to cancel the 1953 ceasefire that ended the Korean War as well as boasting of the North’s ownership of “lighter and smaller nukes” and its ability to execute “surgical strikes” meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula, at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang yesterday. —AP

Furious N Korea vows to nuke US Threat of preemptive strike ahead of UN sanctions vote SEOUL: North Korea vowed yesterday to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States, amplifying its threatening rhetoric hours ahead of a vote by UN diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for “a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors” because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.

Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.

Such inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea, and especially so in recent days.

North Korea is angry over the possible sanctions and over upcoming US-South Korean military drills.

At a mass rally in Pyongyang yesterday, tens of thousands of North Koreans protested the US-South

Korean war drills and sanctions. Army Gen Kang Pyo Yong told the crowd that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear armed missiles at Washington.

“Intercontinental ballistic missiles and various other missiles, which have already set their striking targets, are now armed with lighter, smaller and diversified nuclear warheads and are placed on a standby status,” Kang said. “When we shell (the missiles), Washington, which is the stronghold of evils, .... will be engulfed in a sea of fire.”

The UN Security Council is set to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, said the council would vote on the draft sanctions resolution Thursday morning.

The resolution was drafted by the United States and China, North Korea’s closest ally. The council’s agreement to put the resolution to a vote just 48 hours later signaled that it would almost certainly have the support of all 15 council members.

The statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

It accused the US of leading efforts to slap sanctions on North Korea. The statement said the new sanctions would only advance the timing for North Korea to fulfill previous vows to take “powerful second and third countermeasures” against its enemies.

It hasn’t elaborated on those measures.

The statement said North Korea “strongly warns the UN Security Council not to make another big blunder like the one in the past when it earned the inveterate grudge of the Korean nation by acting as a war servant for the US in 1950.”

North Korea demanded the UN Security Council immediately dismantle the American-led UN Command that’s based in Seoul and move to end the state of war that exists on the Korean Peninsula, which continues six decades after fighting stopped because an armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the war. In anticipation of the resolution’s adoption, North Korea earlier in the week threatened to cancel

the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War. North Korean threats have become more common as tensions have escalated following a rocket launch by Pyongyang in December and its third nuclear test on Feb. 12.

Both acts defied three Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programs.

US UN Ambassador Susan Rice said the proposed resolution, to be voted on at 10 am. EST (1500 GMT), would impose some of the strongest sanctions ever ordered by the United Nations.

The final version of the draft resolution, released Wednesday, identified three individuals, one corporation and one organization that would be added to the UN sanctions list if the measure is approved. The targets include top officials at a company that is the country’s primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organization responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons. —AP

International FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Rebels want troop pullback before they free UN men Philippines slams capture, expects quick release

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) yesterday shows rocks used to “camouflage” surveillance cameras found on the Syrian coast, which Syrian authorities said were “Israeli spy gear”. — AFP

Syria TV shows ‘Israeli spy gear’ DAMASCUS: State television yesterday broadcast pictures of “Israeli spy gear” unearthed in Syria, in what it said was proof of Israel’s involvement in the armed revolt against President Bashar Al-Assad.

The broadcaster showed footage of rocks used to “camouflage” surveillance cameras found on the Syrian coast, as well as recording and video devices to transmit pictures and audio “in real time” from “sensitive locations”. “This is proof of Israel’s role in events in Syria,” an unidentified officer said in the broadcast. “Terrorists benefit from the information gathered thanks to this system, and at the same time the Zionist entity’s own interests are served,” the officer added. Damascus blames foreignbacked terrorists for the deadly uprising against Assad that broke out in March 2011.

Assad’s regime insists that it is the target of a US-led plot aimed at destroying Syria because of its support for anti-Israeli militant groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. — AFP

World powers gave no ground in Almaty: Iran TEHRAN: World powers gave no ground to Iran at negotiations in Almaty last month and only recognized some of Tehran’s rights, the Islamic republic’s supreme leader said yesterday.

“At the (February 26-27) meeting, the Westerners did nothing of importance that could be termed a gesture,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in speech reported on his website. “All they did was recognize a part of the rights of Iran” to develop nuclear energy, he said, adding that the next meeting, due to take place on April 5-6 in the Kazakh city, would “help gauge the sincerity” of world powers.

Khamenei also condemned the international sanctions slapped on Iran over its controversial nuclear program as a ploy “to push the people to oppose the Islamic regime.” Iran held talks with the five UN Security Council permanent members-the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France-plus Germany on its nuclear ambitions.

The meeting saw the group offer Iran a softening of non-oil or financial sector-related sanctions in exchange for concessions over the country’s uranium enrichment operations.

“Some of the points raised in their (the world powers’) response were more realistic, compared to what they said in the past,” chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili said at the time.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later added that “negotiations are better than confrontation,” while Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said “things are taking a turning point.”

Western powers suspect Iran’s nuclear program to be a cover for building an atomic weapons capability, a charge which Tehran strongly denies. — AFP

BEIRUT: Rebels holding 21 UN peacekeepers near the Golan Heights in southern Syria say government forces must leave the area before they free their “guests”, an activist in touch with the fighters said yesterday.

Rami Abdelrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted a spokesman for the “Martyrs of Yarmouk” rebel brigade as saying the peacekeepers were being held as “guests” in the village of Jamla, about a mile (1.6 km) from a ceasefire line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“He said they will not be harmed. But the rebels want the Syrian army and tanks to pull back from the area,” Abdelrahman said after speaking to the rebel spokesman yesterday morning.

The capture of the UN peacekeepers close to Israeli-held territory was another sign that Syria’s conflict, nearing its second anniversary, could spill over to neighboring countries.

Israel has said it will not “stand idle” if violence spreads to the Golan, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. But a senior Defence Ministry official voiced confidence yesterday that the United Nations could secure the peacekeepers’ release, signalling that Israel would not intervene.

Suspected Sunni Muslim insurgents killed 48 Syrian troops inside Iraq on Monday and cross-border artillery fired from Syria has killed people in Lebanon and Turkey in recent months.

Wednesday’s detention of the peacekeepers by around 30 gunmen will also reinforce Western concerns that any weapons supplied to rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Al-Assad could end up being turned against Western interests.

Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch said rebels from the Martyrs of Yarmouk have been seen in other videos carrying a grenade launcher that appears to be Croatian. Media reports last month quoted US officials saying Saudi Arabia was sending Croatian arms to Syrian rebels.

The United Nations says around 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising

Two Indian UN peacekeepers check a UN car after it crossed from Syria at the Quneitra Crossing between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights yesterday. Clashes between Syrian troops and rebel fighters flared yesterday near an area where armed fighters linked to the opposition abducted 21 UN peacekeepers a day earlier. — AP which erupted in March 2011 with mainly peaceful protests against Assad and has spiralled into an increasingly sectarian conflict. The Philippine government condemned the capture of the peacekeepers three officers and 18 enlisted men - which it called a “gross violation of international law”.

President Benigno Aquino told reporters the peacekeepers were being well treated and that the United Nations was in touch with the rebels to ensure their safety. “By tomorrow they expect all of these 21 to be released,” he said, adding their release might occur as early yesterday.

Aquino said both sides in the Syrian conflict considered the United Nations a “benign presence” in the country - a view not shared by many Syrian rebels, who hold the organization at least partly responsible for a lack of international support. In a video released to announce the capture of the UN convoy on Wednesday, a member of the Yarmouk Martyrs’ Brigade accused the peacekeepers of col-

laborating with Assad’s forces to try to push them out of village of Jamla which the rebels seized on Sunday after heavy fighting.

A Facebook statement issued later in the name of the Yarmouk Martyrs denied the UN soldiers had been detained and said they were being protected from bombardment by Assad’s forces.

That statement appeared at odds not only with the original rebel statement but with the footage showing the convoy halted in the middle of a road, with UN personnel stuck inside their vehicles, exposed to any artillery shells that might fall.

Human Rights Watch said it was investigating the Yarmouk Martyrs for involvement in past executions, including a videotaped killing of Syrian soldiers which was posted on the Internet on Tuesday.

One video showed rebels with several men in army fatigues they said were captured at a Syrian army base near Jamla.

Another video showed 10 dead men, including some of the captives filmed alive in the earlier video. — Reuters

Tunisia in last-minute talks to form new govt

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Premier Nouri Al-Maliki (center) shaking hands with the new patriarch of the Iraq-based Chaldean Church Archbishop Louis Sako (right) during his enthronement ceremony at the Mar Yussef (St Joseph) Cathedral in the Karrada district of central Baghdad on Wednesday. —AFP

TUNIS: Prime minister-designate Ali Larayedh yesterday was to hold tense, last-minute negotiations on forming a new coalition government to defuse Tunisia’s political crisis.

With less than 48 hours before a constitutional deadline, Larayedh, an Islamist and the outgoing administration’s interior minister, left open the possibility of failure as he prepared to meet party leaders. “We have held talks with the parties individually and then in groups. Now we are going to discuss the makeup of the government. Much of it is agreed but some points remain,” he told Mosaique FM radio. “Failure doesn’t scare me because what is asked of me is to have a clear conscience and make the maximum effort. Everyone will have to take responsibility for the result,” Larayedh said.

He was tapped to head a new government on February 22, with a two-week deadline to present his team and government program to President Moncef Marzouki. The deadline runs out at midnight yesterday. Two of six movements which have taken part in the talks on forming a new lineup walked out on Wednesday, with disputes centered on the key posts of interior and justice ministers. Tunisia has been in a political crisis since the February assassination of leftist politician Chokri Belaid, a vocal critic of the Islamist-led government. — AFP

FRIDAY, MARCH ٨, 2013

International FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

French ministers visit troops in north Mali Le Drian tells troops mission not over

NAIROBI: Kalonzo Musyoka (bottom right), Kenya’s outgoing vice president and running mate of CORD alliance’s Presidential frontrunner Prime Minister Raila Odinga, gives a press conference flanked by other alliance members yesterday in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. — AFP

Rigging claims throw Kenya vote into chaos NAIROBI: Kenya’s critical presidential election was plunged into further disarray yesterday after the party of one of the leading candidates alleged vote-rigging and demanded that the count be halted.

The accusations by Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s running mate came a day after his chief rival, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, protested at the inclusion of spoiled ballots in the vote count, a process that could increase the chances of a second round runoff. Monday’s elections in the regional powerhouse were the first since 2007 when a dispute over the counting process erupted into weeks of deadly violence that left more than 1,100 people dead.

“We have evidence that the results we have received have been doctored,” Odinga’s running mate, outgoing vice president Kalonzo Musyoka, told reporters, adding that in some cases “total votes cast exceeds the actual number of registered voters.” Odinga says he was robbed of victory in the last polls in 2007 when disputed results triggered the bloody ethnic killings. But Musyoka urged calm, stressing that his accusations were “not a call to mass action” and that the party was “committed to the principle of rule of law”. “Because of these concerns, we as a coalition take the position that the national vote tallying process lacks integrity and has to be stopped,” Musyoka said, demanding that “primary documents” from polling stations be used.

Kenyatta, who faces a trial at the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity over the 2007-08 violence, held a clear lead as counting continued yesterday, with almost half of estimated ballots cast so far tallied. As of 0900 GMT, two and a half days since polls closed, Kenyatta had won 54 percent of valid votes against 40 percent for Odinga, according to official results relayed by Kenyan media. Both Kenyatta-one of Africa’s richest and most powerful men-and his running mate William Ruto face charges of orchestrating murder, rape, forcible transfer and persecution in the aftermath of the 2007 elections.

Concerns have been raised at the widespread failure of a system under which the electoral commission had been broadcasting running tallies based on encrypted text messages received from polling stations. Leaders have urged calm after hitches caused an electronic tallying system to stall, forcing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Wednesday to start reading out results delivered in person by returning officers.

Kenyatta’s party has also raised major concerns over electoral process. Party official Charity Ngilu said Wednesday that the inclusion of mountains of spoiled ballots in the count was motivated by a “sinister and suspect” logic.

Initial results sent electronically showed that the spoiled ballots made up more than five percent of votes cast, greatly adding to the number needed for a candidate to break the 50 percent threshold for a first round win and increasing the prospect of a runoff due within a month.

However, official results showed a far lower number of rejected ballots counted-more than 38,000 so far on Thursday, according to Kenya’s Citizen TV, as opposed to the several hundreds of thousands reported in interim results.

No explanation has yet been given for the difference. “All of a sudden, because of this manual delivery of tallies, there is a tremendous reduction in the number of spoilt votes,” Musyoka said. —AFP

GAO, Mali: France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian paid a surprise visit yesterday to French forces battling Islamist rebels in rugged northern Mali, saying their military mission would not end until security was restored in the West African country. After reviewing ranks of French soldiers near the desolate Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, Le Drian told France 24 television that Paris’ aim was to help “reestablish security in the whole of Mali’s territory”.

“It is after that, progressively, we will hand over to an African mission under a UN mandate,” he said. “I came to greet our forces ... (and say) that France is proud of its troops and proud of the professionalism of the operation and the way it is working out.”

France said al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels’ seizure of the northern twothirds of Mali in April posed a risk to the security of Europe and West Africa. It launched a ground and air operation on Jan. 11 to halt a push southward by Islamist rebels, and has since driven the militants out of major towns of northern Mali. President Francois Hollande said on Wednesday that France would start to draw down its forces in Mali from April, a month later than previously forecast. French and Chadian forces have battled die-hard Islamists in the Adrar des Ifoghas, near the Algerian border, for two weeks. Chad has claimed to have killed al Qaeda’s two top leaders in the region, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid and Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

Hollande said on Wednesday that “terrorist leaders” had been killed in the operation, but did not provide further details. French Foreign Minister Laurent

BAMAKO: A DVD vendor takes a nap at a local market in Bamako. — AFP However, achieving a durable peace Fabius said that DNA testing was being carried out on the bodies of hundreds of in Mali will require unifying the country’s south, home to the capital Bamako, dead Islamist fighters.

“To identify the two or three leaders with the vast desert north, where Tuareg who have been cited, we have to carry separatists launched a rebellion last year out precise tests with DNA and that is that was hijacked by Islamist fighters.

Many in southern Mali now feel deep what the army services are doing,” he told RTL radio. “We should know fairly resentment toward the northern Tuaregs and light-skilled Arabs, associatquickly.”

France is keen to hand responsibility ed with the Islamist fighters, complicatfor operations in Mali to an 8,000-strong ing prospects for peace.

President Dioncounda Traore’s govAfrican-led force AFISMA, some threequarters of which has already deployed ernment, which aims to hold national elections in July, announced the creto the landlocked country.

Paris is pushing for the Mali mission ation of a Dialogue and Reconciliation to be given a UN peacekeeping man- Commission on Wednesday, charged date once offensive military operations with identifying human rights abuses have finished. The Security Council is during the conflict and deciding which expected to discuss this in the coming armed groups were eligible to participate in talks. — Reuters weeks.

UN eases oldest arms embargo on Somalia UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council suspended the arms embargo against Somalia for one year, easing the oldest international weapons blockade to help the government battle Islamist militants. The 15-member council unanimously passed a resolution allowing light arms to be sold to the Somali armed forces as they seek to rebuild and spread government authority into territory taken from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab.

The embargo was imposed in 1992, a year after the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, as rival warlords battled for control of the East African nation. A transitional government, backed by an African force, is just starting to establish itself after major victories against the Shebab.

With US support, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office in September, has been pressing for an end to the embargo. Mohamud welcomed the UN move, saying in a statement that it “correctly reflects a new and constant improvement of the political situation in Somalia.”

He went on: “Thousands of Somali army recruits, trained by our international partners, have returned to Somalia but were unable to fulfil their security duty alongside the AMISOM (African force in Somalia) troops because the government could not get the equipment it needed.

“The lifting of the embargo was the missing element,” the president said. Britain, France and other countries on the council had been more reluctant to fully lift the blockade because of the risk of heightening insecurity in a country already awash with arms, diplomats

said. Resolution 2093 allows for a one-year suspension of the embargo when small arms will be allowed. The Security Council pointedly listed surface-to-air missiles, guns, howitzers and cannons, night vision equipment and related ammunition and components as items that still cannot be sold to Somalia.

The 12.7-mm limit on weapons means the Somali government will not be able to purchase anything bigger than a large caliber machine gun.

The government will have to give at least five days’ notice of deliveries to the UN’s Somalia sanctions committee and purchases will be monitored by UN experts. The government will have to report twice a year to the UN on weapons purchases.

Britain’s UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, whose country drafted the resolution, acknowledged that some countries thought it was “premature” to lift the embargo. Council members Guatemala and Argentina expressed strong reservations at the meeting. But Lyall Grant said: “The council has struck the right balance. It sends a positive signal to President Hassan Sheikh but it continues to give the council oversight of weapons flows into Somalia.” “If over the coming year it is clear that this suspension of the arms embargo is being abused then we will take action accordingly in the Security Council,” the British envoy said. US ambassador Susan Rice called the easing of the embargo “a clear signal of support” to the Somali president. “We will continue to work to support the government of Somalia as they endeavor to turn the page on two decades of civil war,” Rice said in a statement. —AP

International FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Vatican: No date set for conclave to elect pope Cardinals seek more for discussions

ROME: A poster with a picture of Nigerian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson with writing reading: “For the next conclave vote for Turkson”, in front of the St Mary Major Basilica in Rome. — AP

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican yesterday said cardinals had not yet decided on a start date for a conclave to elect a new pope after the resignation of Benedict XVI. “There has been no decision on a date for the conclave,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said after the latest in a series of meetings of cardinals from around the world that began on Monday. Lombardi also denied a media report that St Peter’s Basilica had been booked for a special pre-conclave mass on Monday. Lombardi said Vietnamese cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man-the last of the 115 “cardinal electors” who can take part in the conclave-was expected to arrive in Rome later yesterday.

Divisions have emerged between some cardinals who want more time for pre-conclave discussions on the reforms needed for the Catholic Church and others who want to move to a conclave right away. The famously frescoed Sistine Chapel is already being prepared for the election by 115 cardinals from around the world after now “pope emeritus” Benedict XVI last month became the first pontiff to resign since the Middle Ages. A series of meetings of cardinals known as “general congregations” this week have revealed a strong desire among many electors for a reform of the Roman Curia, the often intrigue-filled central administration of the Catholic Church.

US cardinals had raised the issue in daily media briefings this week that were abruptly stopped on Wednesday for fear of “leaks” after Italian media reported that “sparks” were flying between American and Italian cardinals. The closed-door meetings are cloaked in secrecy as cardinals swear a solemn oath not to reveal their deliberations on pain of excommunication.

There was more fuel for the fire yesterday after Italian daily La Repubblica published an interview with an anonymous Vatican source who said whistleblowers in the Holy See administration wanted to expose corruption. Benedict’s butler Paolo Gabriele was convicted last year for leaking hundreds of confidential papal

Bolshoi dancer admits attack, denies acid plan MOSCOW: A leading Bolshoi dancer who has made a speciality of playing villains admitted in court yesterday that he ordered an assault on the famed Russian ballet troupe’s artistic director but denied ever planning the use of acid. Appearing before a Moscow district court, leading Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko claimed he did not tell the man who carried out the attack to fling acid into the face of Sergei Filin, who is now battling to save his eyesight. “I did not want to cause harm,” Dmitrichenko told the court, looking wan and haggard as he sat in the corner of the courtroom cage dressed in a black coat with dishevelled hair.

The court remanded Dmitrichenko, as well as the suspected perpetrator Yuri Zarutsky and the suspected getaway driver Andrei Lipatov in custody until April 18. Dmitrichenko admitted he had been angered by Filin’s behaviour as artistic director, in a row that reportedly was triggered by the ballet chief’s refusal to let his dancer girlfriend take the star role in “Swan Lake”. The acid attack left Filin, 42, battling to save his eyesight and prevent permanent facial disfigurement. He is now undergoing a long rehabilitation in Germany.

The defence had asked for Dmitrichenko to be released on 500,000 rubles ($16,280) bail and said that he “de-facto” admitted his guilt while denying he had wanted to cause such serious harm to Filin.

“My client never had any intention of causing such harm to health, especially not in a loathsome way like disfiguring the face or causing the loss of sight,” said defence lawyer Alexander Barkhanov.

Police said in a statement that Dmitrichenko had paid Zarutsky 50,000 rubles ($1,630) to attack Filin, who had the acid thrown in his face while returning home on the night of January 17. Dmitrichenko said that it was Zarutsky who had originally suggested attacking Filin as a way of getting back at him for what Dmitrichenko considered his bad leadership of the Bolshoi.

“I told Yuri Zarutsky about the politics that took place in the Bolshoi Theatre, about the violations that took place and the corruption,” Dmitrichenko said in televised comments. “Then he (Zarutsky) suggested: ‘Okay, then I’ll beat him up’ and I agreed to his suggestion. That is all that I am admitting,” said Dmitrichenko. He added: “I couldn’t believe that this guy who offered to beat him up went and did all this with the acid. Basically I was in shock.”

Police have said the crime was motivated by Dmitrichenko’s hostile personal relationship with Filin, which Russian press reports have suggested was caused by the Bolshoi chief’s refusal to give his ballerina girlfriend Anzhelina Vorontsova top roles. “The main

motive was enmity towards Filin, who according to the suspect, had a negative attitude towards his partner,” a police source told the Izvestia newspaper. “Dmitrichenko said that Filin was thwarting Vorontsova’s artistic career and did not give her the main roles,” said the source.

In a tale of bitterness reminiscent of the hit ballet film “Black Swan”, Dmitrichenko is reported to have been particularly riled that Vorontsova was not allowed to dance the main Odette-Odile role in “Swan Lake”, the dream of any ballerina. Filin’s wife Maria told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily that her husband had suspicions about Dmitrichenko but believed that a “much wider” circle of people was involved.—AFP

MOSCOW: Yuri Zarutsky, the assailant who flung acid in Bolshoi ballet’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, sits inside the defendant’s cage during a court hearing in Moscow yesterday.—AFP

papers in an apparent effort to help the pope clean up the Vatican. He said he had worked alone, but suspicions have lingered that more people were involved.

The scandal known as “Vatileaks” is seen by some observers as a reflection of broader problems and divisions within the government of the Church. The source quoted yesterday said that the leaks were “an operation for transparency” and that more revelations were contained in a top-secret report compiled by three retired cardinals into the activities of the Curia. La Repubblica and the Italian weekly Panorama last week quoted anonymous sources saying that this report by the “007 cardinals” had found instances of corruption in the bureaucracy as well as blackmail against gay clergymen.

The Vatican has denied the rumors and condemned the reports as an attempt to influence the outcome of the conclave via the media, comparing this to instances in history when kings and queens had tried to sway the cardinals.

“Many of the cardinals want to know the content of the report.

But there is an attempt to block everything. There is a witch hunt,” the source said. With a new pope “we will continue to serve the Church and the pope. I hope there will be no more need for whistleblowers,” the source added. Meanwhile the clergy sex abuse victims’ group SNAP outlined a “dirty dozen” list of potential papal candidates and urged the Catholic Church to “get serious” about protecting children, helping victims and exposing corruption. “We want to urge Catholic prelates to stop pretending that the worst is over regarding the clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis,” said David Clohessy, director of the US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. The organization cited a dozen cardinals from the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Italy, Australia, Czech Republic, Canada, Argentina and Ghana accused of protecting paedophile priests and making offensive public statements. — AFP

Berlusconi convicted in wiretap case MILAN: A Milan court yesterday convicted former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi of breach of confidentiality for the illegal publication of wiretapped conversations related to a failed bank takeover in a newspaper owned by his media empire. The court sentenced him to one year in jail, but issued no orders on the carrying out of the sentence. In Italy, it is rare for anyone to be put behind bars pending a possible appeal except in the case of very serious crimes like murder.

Berlusconi’s brother, Paolo Berlusconi, was convicted of the same charge and sentenced to two years and three months.

Paolo Berlusconi is publisher of the Milan newspaper il Giornale, which published the transcript of the conversation.

Silvio Berlusconi’s defense team had accused the court of seeking a speedy verdict for political impact. Still, the verdict does not directly affect Berlusconi’s eligibility to participate in a new government because Italy - despite several attempts to pass such legislation - has no law banning people convicted of minor crimes from parliament. His center-right coalition last week finished third in parliamentary elections that saw no clear winner. Talks on forming a new government are expected to begin March 20.

The charge relates to the 2005 publication of a wiretapped call that was part of an investigation into the Unipol financial services company’s failed bid to take over the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. The bid was blocked by Italy’s central bank, contributing to the forced resignation of then-Bank of Italy chief Antonio Fazio. Wiretapped conversations are widely published in Italian media, despite the risks of prosecution. In a potentially more damaging case, a verdict is also nearing in Berlusconi’s appeals trial on a conviction of tax fraud.

Prosecutors have demanded the court uphold the October conviction and four-year sentence. They also are seeking a five-year ban from public office. Berlusconi also is on trial in Milan for allegedly paying an under-age teen for sex and lying to cover it up, with a verdict likely this month. And prosecutors in Naples are investigating him for corruption for allegedly paying an opposition lawmaker 3 million euros to join his party, a move that significantly weakened the previous center-left government of Romano Prodi. — AP

International FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Thousands of mourners bid farewell to Chavez Venezuelan leader’s body lies in state

TUCSON: A morgue staff member brings in the body of a suspected illegal immigrant found in the Arizona desert, at the Pima County morgue in Tucson, Arizona. The death of migrants crossing the Southwest border has long been a tragic consequence of illegal immigration and, many say, the massive increase in US border enforcement. — AP

At Arizona’s border morgue, bodies keep coming TUCSON, Arizona: The body of Ildefonso Martinez arrived on a Friday night last April as John Doe, Case No 12-01000. He wore black Nike shoes, a Perry Ellis belt, jeans with a 34-inch waist, a Casio watch.

For medical examiners at the Pima County morgue, his was an unusual case. Not in how he died - making the same arduous journey that has claimed thousands of illegal immigrants - but rather because he was identified so quickly. The death of migrants crossing the border has long been a tragic consequence of illegal immigration and, many say, the increase in US border enforcement. For some, the problem is a powerful motivator in pushing Congress to act this year on immigration reform. But critics say proposals offered so far call for more enforcement with few specifics on how to save lives.

“The language coming out is alarmingly more of the same,” said Kat Rodriguez of Coalicion de Derechos Humanos in Tucson, who gathers information on missing migrants from family and friends to give to medical examiners trying to identify the dead.

Thousands more Border Patrol agents, hundreds of miles of fencing, and cameras, sensors and aircraft have made it more difficult to enter the US illegally, prompting smugglers to guide migrants to remote deserts. People walk up to a week in debilitating heat, often with enough bottled water and canned tuna to last only days. While illegal crossings have dropped dramatically in past years, hundreds of bodies are still found annually on the border.

Border agents conduct more than 1,000 rescues each year, and humanitarian groups have placed water stations along the boundary in hope of helping.

In the last 15 years, at least 5,513 migrants have been found dead along the 1,954-mile border with Mexico, including 463 in fiscal year 2012, the Border Patrol reports.—AP

CARACAS: Hugo Chavez has been carried back to the military academy where he started his army career, his flag-draped coffin lying in state in the echoing halls until today’s funeral. As a band played the hymn from his first battalion, a long ribbon of tearful mourners numbering in the hundreds of thousands bid farewell to the larger-thanlife leader Wednesday after a procession carried his casket through Caracas.

With the entire government, including anointed successor Nicolas Maduro, caught up in the seven-hour procession, there were few answers to the most pressing question facing the country - the timing of a presidential election that must be called within a month. Generations of Venezuelans, many dressed in the red of Chavez’s socialist party, filled the capital’s streets to remember the man who dominated their country for 14 years before succumbing to cancer Tuesday afternoon. Chavez’s coffin made its way through the crowds atop an open hearse on an eight-kilometer (five-mile) journey that wound through the city’s north and southeast, into many of the poorer neighborhoods where Chavez drew his political strength.

At the academy, Chavez’s family and close advisers, as well as the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay, attended a funeral Mass around the president’s glasstopped casket. The public then began filing past to peer at their longtime president, many of them coming closer to him than they had ever been while he was alive.

Some placed their hand over their heart, others saluting or raising a fist in solidarity.

The viewing lasted far into the night.

The head of Venezuela’s presidential guard, Gen. Jose Ornella, told The Associated Press late Wednesday that Chavez died of a massive heart attack after great suffering. “He couldn’t speak but he said it with his lips ... ‘I don’t want to die.

Please don’t let me die,’ because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country,” said Ornella, who said he was with the socialist president at the moment of his death Tuesday.

Set against the outpouring of grief was near-total official silence on where

Venezuela is heading next, including when the election will take place. Even the exact time and place of Chavez’s funeral Friday has not been announced, nor has it been revealed where he will be laid to rest.

During Chavez’s nearly two-year health fight, the government never specified the exact location or type of cancer he had.

Opponents already have been stepping up criticism of the government’s questionable moves after Chavez’s death, including naming Maduro, the vice president, as interim president in apparent violation of the constitution, and the military’s eagerness to choose political sides. For a day, at least, Chavez’s heartbroken supporters immersed

leaned against her son’s casket, while a priest read a prayer before the procession left the military hospital where Chavez died at age 58.

People who passed by the glass-topped coffin said Chavez’s body was clad in the presidential sash and the military uniform and red beret of his days as a paratrooper.

Ricardo Tria, a social worker, said he waited nearly four hours to pass by the casket. Chavez looked “asleep, quiet, serious,” he said. “I feel so much pain. So much pain,” said Yamile Gil, a 38-year-old housewife.

“We never wanted to see our president like this. We will always love him.”

Others who bitterly opposed Chavez’s

CARACAS: Women mourning next to the coffin of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, at the Military Academy chapel yesterday in Caracas. — AFP themselves in emotion and sad farewells.

Maduro and Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of Chavez’s staunchest allies, mingled with the crowd, and at one point both fell to the ground in the jostle of bodies pushing in every direction.

Military officers and Cabinet members ringed the president’s coffin, stone-faced.

Other mourners pumped their fists and held aloft images of the late president, amid countless yellow, blue and red Venezuelan flags. “The fight goes on! Chavez lives!” the mourners shouted in unison, many through eyes red from crying for long hours.

Chavez’s mother, Elena Frias de Chavez,

take-no-prisoners brand of socialism said they were sorry about his death, but hopeful it would usher in a less confrontational, more business-friendly era in this major oilproducing country. “I am not happy that he has died, but I can’t be sad either,” said Delia Ramirez, a 32-year-old accountant who stayed away from the procession.

“This man sowed hatred and division among Venezuelans.” The 1999 constitution that Chavez himself pushed through mandates that an election be called within 30 days to replace a president, but Chavez’s top lieutenants have not always followed the law. — AP

Lion kills intern at animal park DUNLAP, California: Authorities are trying to determine what provoked a lion at an exotic animal park in Central California to attack and maul to death a 24-year-old woman, who had been on the job as an intern there for just a few weeks.

The woman was attacked and killed Wednesday when she entered the male African lion’s enclosure at Cat Haven about 45 miles east of Fresno, authorities said. Sheriff’s deputies responding to an emergency call from Cat Haven found the woman severely injured and still lying inside the enclosure with the lion nearby, Fresno County sheriff’s Lt. Bob Miller said.

Another park worker couldn’t lure the lion into another pen, so deputies shot and killed it to safely reach the wounded woman. But she died at the scene, Miller said.

Paul Hanson, a Seattle-area attorney, identified the victim as his daughter Dianna Hanson of Brier, Wash. He said he drove his daughter from her home on New Year’s Day, arriving at Cat Haven Jan. 2. “She was very excited,” Hanson told The Associated

Press late Wednesday. “It was just a dream job for her.” Hanson said she had been fascinated by big cats from an earlier age.

“She was absolutely fearless,” he said. Cat Haven founder and executive director Dale Anderson was crying as he read a onesentence statement about the fatal mauling at the private zoo he has operated since 1993. Investigators were trying to determine why the intern was inside the enclosure and what might have provoked the attack, sheriff’s Sgt. Greg Collins said. The facility is normally closed on Wednesdays, and only one other worker was there when the mauling happened, he said.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Janice Mackey said she was unaware if any state regulations would prohibit an employee from entering an exotic animal’s enclosure. The lion, a 4-year-old male named Cous Cous, had been raised at Cat Haven since it was a cub, said Tanya Osegueda, a spokeswoman for Project Survival, the nonprofit that operates the animal park. —AP

DUNLAP: A 4-year-old male African lion named Couscous at Cat Haven, a private wild animal park in Dunlap, California. Authorities say the lion killed a female internvolunteer on Wednesday.— AP

International FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Myanmar shelter offers refuge for HIV patients YANGON: At a small and peaceful clinic on the outskirts of Yangon, 20 volunteers tend to 300 HIV patients abandoned by a health care system allowed to crumble during decades of brutal military rule in Myanmar.

In a country whose rulers long prioritized military spending over the needs of their people, these men, women and children have found a refuge thanks to the work of a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party.

The centre was set up in 2005 by Phyu Phyu Thin, now a parliamentarian with the National League for Democracy, the country’s main opposition force following landmark by-elections last year. Two traditional wooden houses surround a courtyard which is home to both a kitchen and washing area due to lack of space.

Patients in advanced stages of the illness rest on wooden benches during the blistering heat, too weak to venture far during the day.

Those who have the strength leave each

morning to earn an income for their families.

In three rooms, including one reserved for women, each patient has a few square metres in which to keep personal belongings such as photos and souvenirs. Three meals a day are served up by volunteers, some of whom are themselves infected with the virus.

At a morning medical session, patients receive intravenous infusions as part of treatment that includes pain relief drugs, antiretroviral therapy and medicine for tuberculosis.

Last year Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said only a third of the 120,000 people in need of antiretrovirals in Myanmar were getting the drugs, with up to 20,000 people dying each year due to a lack of treatment. For the more physically able at the shelter-which mainly relies on local donors for funds-a small sewing workshop offers the chance to earn some money by selling small embroidered belts and other clothing accessories.—AFP

YANGON: Myanmar workers pack medicine pills delivered into the country by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at a warehouse in Yangon yesterday. — AFP

Two women abducted, gang-raped near Delhi Incident highlights sexual assault risk in India

JAMMU: An Indian woman carries posters of Bollywood actors for sale on the eve of International Women’s Day on the outskirts of Jammu yesterday. — AP

NEW DELHI: Two women have been kidnapped and gang-raped near Delhi, police told AFP yesterday, in two separate incidents that highlighted the persistent risk of sexual assault in India.

In one case, three men abducted and attacked a 19-year-old woman, who hailed an auto rickshaw carrying two male passengers near a popular shopping centre in Delhi’s satellite city of Ghaziabad last weekend, a police official said.

“The driver drove the rickshaw to a remote forested area where he and the two other men repeatedly raped her before fleeing the area,” Nitin Tiwari, Ghaziabad’s senior superintendent of police, told AFP. The teenager then made her way to a local police station where she filed a case against her attackers, two of whom confessed to their crimes earlier this week, Tiwari said.

Police are still in pursuit of the third man, he added. The second incident involved a 25-year-old woman who met one of her alleged attackers in a park in east Delhi on Wednesday to discuss a possible job opportunity, Delhi police press officer Satbir Singh told AFP. “She said the man offered her a soft drink, which she drank before passing out due to some illicit substance in the drink.

When she woke up, she found herself trapped in a car with a few other men inside,” Singh said. “The men raped her before dumping her near a dustbin, where police found her lying unconscious

at two in the morning,” he said.

Police have registered a case and are hunting for the alleged attackers, he added. Police also said a three-year-old child who was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped had been admitted to a hospital in the southern state of Kerala, local media reported yesterday. The toddler went missing on Tuesday morning, before a group of school students found her lying unconscious outside and called the police, according to NDTV news channel. The child sustained several injuries and has already been through two surgeries at a hospital in Kozhikode city, where she is currently under observation.

The crimes provide grist for a growing debate in India over the status of women and girls and their safety in the country. Rape incidents in Delhi alone have doubled this year, India’s minister of state for home affairs Mullappally Ramachandran told the upper house of parliament on Wednesday. The Indian capital has seen around four rape cases a day since January 1, compared to an average of two rape cases registered daily in 2012, though the increase could be attributed, in part, to more reporting by emboldened women.

Thousands took to the streets to protest against India’s treatment of women following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in Delhi in December. -— AFP

Western brands corner Pakistan middle class KARACHI: American fast-food and Western fashion outlets are taking Pakistan’s growing middle class by storm, defying stereotypes about a conservative Muslim country plagued by Al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked violence. The rupee may have nose-dived, a third of the population may live in poverty and sectarian violence may be at a record high, but remarkably, consumer spending is up among a resilient elite fond of imported luxuries.

In a smart corner of Karachi, a new mall offers wealthy clientele the chance to lunch on an American burger, buy French cosmetics, shop for cocktail dresses, sip an afternoon cappuccino or wolf down a cinnamon roll.

Female sales assistants dressed in jeans and T-shirts buck the idea that “service industry” jobs are unsuitable for women, even if many of them commute into work

heavily veiled to avoid being harassed or insulted. “It is time when Pakistanis are getting branded. It is a new phenomenon,” says Samiullah Mohabbat, the chief executive who brought American franchise Fatburger from Beverly Hills to Karachi, a city troubled by shootings and kidnappings.

“The world has just started coming to Pakistan and this trend will grow.” While the economy has stagnated in the last five years, a business and foreign investment boom after the 9/11 attacks widened employment opportunities. Television was liberalized in 1999 and public sector salaries were increased. As a result, the middle class has grown over the last decade. Karachi, the country’s financial hub, Lahore and the capital Islamabad have all seen a surge in Western-style coffee shops, fast-food franchises and new malls.—AFP

MYANMAR: Members of the National League for Democracy register for their congress at the party headquarters yesterday in Yangon, Myanmar. In another sign of political reform and reconciliation in Myanmar, the country’s biggest party led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will hold its first-ever congress in the country’s former capital from today.— AP

International FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

US, China take part in Pakistan naval drills ISLAMABAD: The United States and China began naval drills in the Arabian Sea with Pakistan and other countries yesterday, the Pakistani navy said, in a show of strength against terrorism and piracy.

The AMAN-13 exercise involves ships from 13 countries and observers from 20 others and comes two weeks after China took control of a strategic Pakistani Arabian Sea port from Singapore’s PSA International. The five-day exercise, which began earlier this week with meetings and manoeuvres in port, will end on Friday and is aimed at “information sharing, mutual understanding and identifying areas of common interest”, the navy said in a statement. The manoeuvres-the fourth since 2007 — will also help develop and practice response tactics, techniques and procedures as well as improving cooperation between navies, the statement said.

One of the main objectives is to “display united resolve against terrorism and crimes in maritime domain”, it said. The shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean have been plagued in recent years by attacks from Somali pirates, who have seized dozens of ships and earned millions of dollars in ransom for their release.

“All the nations participating in the AMAN have a common objective of ensuring peace and stability in the maritime arena to provide freedom of navigation and uninterrupted flow of trade,” the Pakistan navy statement said.

The American destroyer USS William P. Lawrence was among the ships taking part, along with vessels from Australia, Britain, Italy, Japan, Malaysia and Turkey. Russia and Germany are among the observers. Ties between Washington and Islamabad are on the mend after a series of crises in 2011 including the discovery of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. — AFP

BEIJING: Delegates attend a plenary session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People yesterday. — AP

LAHAD DATU: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak (centre front), accompanied by Malaysian Defense Minister Zahid Hamidi (frontright), speaks during a press conference in Felda Sahabat in Lahad Datu yesterday. — AFP photos

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian demonstrators burn a poster of Philippine Sultan Jamalul Kiram III during a protest outside the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Toll 60 as Malaysia steps up attacks on militants Premier ejects ceasefire offer FELDA SAHABAT, Malaysia: Malaysia said clashes between intruding Filipino militants and its security forces had left 60 people dead as of late yesterday, as it rejected a ceasefire offer from the fighters’ leader.

Police chief Ismail Omar said 32 followers of a self-proclaimed Philippine sultan had been killed in two confrontations since Wednesday near the scene of a three-week standoff in Sabah state, after a military assault to dislodge them. That brought the total dead to 60, including 52 militants. Eight Malaysian policemen were killed in skirmishes last weekend.

Troops and police are currently hunting the Islamic militants in a remote region of Borneo island, where they landed last month to assert a long-dormant territorial claim in what has become Malaysia’s worst security crisis in years. A spokesman for their Manila-based leader, who called for a midday ceasefire, said 235 people including eight women took part in the original incursion.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who flew to the region yesterday to inspect security operations, said he told Philippine leader Benigno Aquino by phone the ceasefire offer was rejected.

“I told President Aquino they must lay down their arms immediately,” Najib told reporters in a village near where the army and police were searching for scores of militants.

“They have to surrender their arms and they have to do it as soon as possible.” The “sultan”, Jamalul Kiram III, declared a unilateral ceasefire for 12:30 pm (0430 GMT) and urged Malaysia to reciprocate. But Najib said Malaysian forces would press on with the offensive, sending more soldiers into the hilly region of vast oil palm estates and pockets of jungle.

Anger has mounted in Malaysia over the incursion, which began February 12 when fighters arrived from the southern Philippines to press Kiram’s claim to the area.

Kiram says he is heir to the Sultanate of Sulu, which once ruled islands that are now part of the southern Philippines as well as Sabah. The main group of militants was holed up in the sleepy farming village of Tanduo for three weeks until two deadly shootouts with security forces at the weekend triggered a military assault to dislodge them. The attack scattered the fighters and security forces were combing through huge oil palm groves for them. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged a peaceful resolution of the bizarre incursion. “(Ban) urges an end to the violence and encourages dialogue among all the parties for a peaceful resolution of the situation,” said a statement released by his office late Wednesday.

Kiram declared the “unilateral ceasefire... in order to reciprocate the call of the UN to preserve lives”, his spokesman said.

Tension is running high in eastern Sabah due to the incursion.

Residents of some towns have fled after police said gunmen were spotted in other areas down the coast, raising fears of a wider guerrilla infiltration.

Late Wednesday police said the bodies of six police officers killed in a weekend ambush in the coastal town of Semporna were mutilated. “The bodies of dead police personnel were found to have been brutally mutilated by the armed intruders,” a statement said, giving no further details. Police have said six militants responsible for the ambush were later killed.

The incursion has created a delicate situation for the two neighbours, with Manila earlier calling for Malaysian restraint just before Tuesday’s military assault was launched.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said late Wednesday that his government might seek Kiram’s extradition if Manila failed to take action. But the Philippine government said that was unlikely, citing the lack of an extradition treaty.—AFP

Tsunami-hit towns still barren as rebuilding lags RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan: Like tens of thousands of people who lost everything in the tsunami that pulverized Japan’s northeastern coast two years ago, 83-year-old Hide Sato is living in one-room temporary housing, and longing for a home of her own.

Chances are she will be waiting at least a few more years. The dozens of temporary housing camps built for tsunami survivors were meant to be used for just two years. Now, officials are saying it could be six to 10 years before all are resettled. Japan’s progress in rebuilding from the mountain of water that thundered over coastal sea walls, sweeping entire communities away and killing nearly 19,000 people, is mainly measured in barren foundations and empty spaces. Clearing of forests on higher ground to make space for relocation of survivors has barely begun.

In Sato’s city, Rikuzentakata, nothing permanent has

been rebuilt, though in late February it finally broke ground on its first post-disaster public housing project: about half of the homes to be rebuilt will be public housing - many families can scarcely afford to rebuild after losing everything.

Sato, a spirited octogenarian who constantly laughs and jokes while explaining how she makes the best of things, likens the situation to the devastation after Japan’s defeat in World War II. Rikuzentakata’s 20,000-some residents ought to just to take matters into their own hands, she said.

“This is our town and so we need to rebuild it using our own efforts. I feel we shouldn’t be relying on the government to do it,” said Sato, who gets by on a stipend of about $400 a month and sleeps on sturdy cardboard boxes to insulate herself from the cold floor of 30-squaremeter (323 square foot) living space.—AP

JAPAN: A disaster control center (right) is seen in an area devastated by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. — AP

Business FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Kuwait stocks jump, Orascom lifts Egypt

ECB, BOE keep rates on hold PAGE 20

PAGE 22

A ship is loaded with cargo in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Commerce Department said yesterday that the US trade deficit widened in January, reflecting a big jump in oil imports and a drop in exports. —AP

US trade gap widens to $44.4bn Oil imports rise • Jobless claims fall WASHINGTON: The US trade deficit widened in January, reflecting a big jump in oil imports and a drop in exports. The Commerce Department said yesterday that the deficit rose to $44.4 billion, an increase of 16.5 percent from December.

US exports dropped 1.2 percent to $184.5 billion, reflecting declines in sales to Europe, China, Japan and Brazil. Imports rose 1.8 percent to $228.9 billion as oil imports surged 12.3 percent.

Even with the wider deficit in January, economists say they think the deficit this year will narrow slightly, in part because of continued gains in US energy exports. A narrower trade gap boosts growth because it means US companies are earning more from overseas sales while US consumers and businesses are spending less on foreign products.

The deficit for all of 2012 was revised down slightly to $539.5 billion, a drop of 3.6 percent from 2011. The January deficit was running at an annual rate of $533.4 billion.

US exports had jumped to a near-record high in December, a surge that helped the economy grow slightly in the fourth quarter. The economy as measured by the gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the October-December quarter, an upward revision from an initial estimate that it had shrunk at the same rate.

The December trade report had not been

available when GDP for October-December was first reported. Economists see the trade picture brightening further in 2013, helped in part by an energy production boom in the United States and by stronger growth in some major export markets. That forecast is also based on an assumption that the European debt crisis will continue to stabilize, helping boost exports to that region and that growth in Asia will rebound.

For January, however, exports showed widespread declines. US exports to the European Union dropped by 6.4 percent and were also down in China, Brazil and Japan.

The politically sensitive trade deficit with China rose in January to $27.8 billion, up 13.6 percent from December. For all of 2012, the deficit with China increased to $315.1 billion, the largest imbalance ever recorded with a single country.

That could add pressure on the Obama administration to take a harder line on China’s trade practices. Some US manufacturers contend that China keeps the value of its currency artificially low to make its exports to the US cheaper.

Meanwhile, the number of people seeking US unemployment aid fell to a seasonally adjusted 340,000 last week, driving down the four-week average to its lowest level in five

years. The drop is a positive sign ahead of today’s report on February job growth.

Applications for benefits fell 7,000 in the week ended March 2, the Labor Department said yesterday. That’s near five-year lows reached in January. And the four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 348,750. That’s the lowest since March 2008, just a few months into the Great Recession. Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs. When they fall, it suggests that companies are shedding fewer jobs. More hiring

may follow. The decline adds to other evidence that hiring may have been better last month than economists forecast. Analysts predict that employers added 152,000 jobs, according to a survey by FactSet. That’s about the same as in January. The unemployment rate is projected to fall to 7.8 percent from 7.9 percent.

“The improvement is still gradual, but at least things are moving in the right direction,” Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients. — AP

Facebook getting a facelift NEW YORK: The world’s biggest social networking company is getting ready to unveil a new version of News Feed, the flow of status updates, photos and advertisements that Facebook users see on the site.

Facebook Inc is hosting an event to show off “a new look for News Feed.” It will be Facebook’s second staged event at its headquarters since the company’s May initial public offering. The company unveiled a search feature at the first one in January.

Facebook users often complain about changes to the site, whether it’s cosmetic tweaks or the overhaul of privacy settings.

The event comes a month after a Pew study reported that many Facebook users take a break from the site for weeks at a time. The report, from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, found that some 61 percent of Facebook users had taken a hiatus for reasons that range from boredom to too much irrelevant information.

Overall, though, Facebook’s user base is growing, especially on mobile devices. At last count, it had 1.06 billion active monthly accounts. The number of people who access Facebook daily is also on the rise. — AP

Business FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Kuwait stocks jump, Orascom lifts Egypt MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS

JALALABAD: Afghan poultry workers feed chickens at a farm on the outskirts of Jalalabad yesterday. Afghanistan is having trouble keeping hard-earned development gains due to looming security challenges when NATO military forces withdraw in 2014, an internal World Bank audit said. — AFP

Cameron says no turning back on deficit cuts plan LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron promised to stick to his deficit reduction plan yesterday despite a lack of economic growth and loss of his country’s top-notch credit rating, saying Britain would plunge “into the abyss” if he changed course.

Defending his strategy from critics who argue too much austerity is killing off growth, Cameron said the Bank of England had to play its part in getting the economy growing and said the government had to curb spending and borrowing.

“We will not be able to build a sustainable recovery with long-term growth ... unless we fix this fundamental problem of excessive government spending and borrowing that undermines our whole economy,” Cameron told an audience in Yorkshire, England. “The Bank of England must support the recovery without putting financial stability at risk.”

Cameron’s comments came after a top minister in his junior coalition partner - the Liberal Democrats - publicly questioned his focus on cutting debt, suggesting it may be time to borrow more to invest in infrastructure.

That intervention, by Vince Cable, the business minister, on the eve of the prime minister’s speech, was the strongest call yet from inside government to change course and exposed a rift in the coalition over economic policy, though Cameron denied that yesterday, saying Cable agreed with his policies.

Speaking ahead of a March 20 budget that will be dissected by the markets and ratings agencies alike, Cameron said there were signs his economic policies were beginning to work, saying it was imperative to “hold firm to the path”. “The decisions we make now will set the course of our economic future for years to come,” he said. “And while some would falter and plunge us back into the abyss, we will stick to the course.”

Borrowing to spend more would jeopardize the nation’s finances, he added, saying it was vital to maintain fiscal credibility to keep interest rates low to ensure householders and small businesses could borrow.The state of Britain’s anaemic economy is linked to Cameron’s own political fortunes.

His advisers are banking on an economic recovery being under way by the time of the next general election in 2015, allowing Cameron to whittle away the opposition Labour Party’s lead in the opinion polls and win.

But for now the economy appears stuck in a rut and could already be in its third recession since 2008, while public debt is set to carry on rising for another three years despite some public spending cuts.

However, Cameron told his audience he had cut the country’s deficit by a quarter, interest rates were at a record low, exports were reviving, the number of people on welfare had fallen, and there were more people in work “than ever before in our history”.

“But the very moment when we’re just getting some signs that we can turn our economy round and make our country a success ... is the very moment to hold firm to the path we have set,” he said. —Reuters

DUBAI: Egypt’s Orascom Telecom rebounded yesterday after a newspaper report said Algeria was near to resolving a long-running dispute with the Cairo-listed firm’s Algerian unit Djezzy.

Shares in Orascom Telecom jumped 7.6 percent to a three-week high. They had slumped to sevenweek low on Wednesday after the company announced a widening fourth-quarter net loss.

Algeria will sign an agreement next week with Orascom’s parent company Vimpelcom regarding Djezzy, an Algerian newspaper reported. Djezzy has been embroiled in a protracted dispute with the government, during which the firm has been hit by backtax demands, threatened with nationalization, and put under criminal investigation. Traders in Cairo said the agreement could pave the way for Algeria to buy a stake in Djezzy.

Cairo’s index rose 2 percent, climbing for a second day since Tuesday’s 2013 low as bargain hunters returned.

A possible delay in upcoming parliamentary elections also boosted market sentiment. Egyptian court ordered

the cancellation of President Mohamed Mursi’s decree calling parliamentary elections, forcing a likely delay to polls due to start in April.

“It gives time for the opposition to reconcile and find a resolution on common ground,” said Mohamed Radwan, director of international sales at Pharos Securities.

Gainers outnumbered losers 25 to five. In Dubai, renewed buying of property-related stocks helped the emirate’s index climb 0.4 percent, rebounding from Wednesday’s fourweek low.

Investors have booked gains since Dubai hit a 29-month high in late February. In Kuwait, the index gained 0.3 percent, rising to a near 25-month high. “People are already forecasting Q2 and if the trend continues, we will have another bullish rally,” said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House.

“There are things coming together in Kuwait. The biggest stimulant will be government projects.” Along with a more stable political backdrop after months of turmoil, investors are optimistic the government will kick-start

long-delayed infrastructure projects.

These are part of a 30 billion dinars ($107 billion) development plan due to end in 2014. Shares in Dubai’s bellwether Emaar Properties gained 1.1 percent. Builder Arabtec snapped a five-session losing streak, closing 3.9 percent higher.

The stock is down 28.3 percent since the company announced plans to raise its capital through a 4.8 billion dirhams ($1.31 billion) rights issue and a 1.7 billion dirhams convertible bond.

“If they want to relieve stress on the stock, they should increase the value of the convertible bond and decrease the value of the rights issue,” said Anastasios Dalgiannakis, institutional trading manager at Mubasher.

The convertible bond would bring in new investors, he added.

Banks weighed on the neighbouring Abu Dhabi index, which fell 1 percent. The market declined 2.4 percent this week, down from Feb. 27’s 40-month peak.

First Gulf Bank dropped 4.9 percent after reaching its ex-dividend date. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank fell 1.7 percent. — Reuters

Oil below $111 on Brent restart LONDON: Oil eased below $111 a barrel yesterday as the North Sea Brent pipeline restarted and while investors awaited central bank meetings and economic data to gain a better picture on the prospects for oil demand.

The European Central Bank, meeting yesterday, was expected to leave rates unchanged. The Bank of England also met, and kept its rates unchanged and decided not to pump more money into Britain’s ailing economy.

Brent crude was down 21 cents at $110.85 a barrel by 1204 GMT. It has fallen from a 2013 high of $119.17 on Feb. 8. US WTI crude rose 37 cents to $90.80.

“The February correction is now over and the market in London is finding some support near $110,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB Capital. “Still, near-term fundamentals do not justify sustained gains.” Brent has found some support this week from the unplanned shutdown of the Brent pipeline system and disruption to exports of Nigerian crude.

Prices edged lower after the Brent operator, Abu Dhabi-based TAQA, said it had begun reopening the pipeline. Brent is one of four North Sea crudes which make up the North Sea benchmark still named after the original crude.

“There is a little pressure coming from the restart of Brent, but it seems the market is holding above $110

pretty well,” said Christopher Bellew, a broker at Jefferies Bache in London.

Investors awaited ECB President Mario Draghi’s news conference at 1330 GMT. Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan kept its policy unchanged as expected.

Oil came under pressure on Wednesday after a US government report showed crude inventories rose by 3.83 million barrels, much more than the 500,000-barrel increase ana-

lysts had forecast. “The fact that US crude stocks surged nearly eight times more than expected does point to weaker demand, which will weigh on the WTI,” said Ben le Brun, an analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney, referring to Western Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark.

“We have a busy end of the week as far as macroeconomic data is concerned; the oil markets are watching out for those.” — Reuters

BOSTON: Sayed Mouawad of Providence shakes hands with Jillian Wallace (right) of Matix Inc, during a job fair in Boston. The number of people seeking US unemployment aid fell to a seasonally adjusted 340,000 in the week ended March 2, driving down the four-week average to its lowest level in five years. —AP

Business FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

BOJ meeting marks end of era Shirakawa exit to herald major policy shift TOKYO: The Bank of Japan yesterday wrapped up its last scheduled policy meeting under governor Masaaki Shirakawa, making way for new management who back a major policy shift driven by aggressive easing measures. Shirakawa’s departure on March 19, about three weeks before the end of his term, has been widely viewed as marking a new era for the BOJ with the government demanding action to stoke the world’s thirdlargest economy.

As the sun set on Shirakawa’s tenure, one marred by public rows with the nation’s premier over policy, the central bank yesterday announced no fresh policy measures but offered an upbeat assessment of the economy. The BOJ’s boss defended his record at a post-meeting press briefing, saying he “took responsibility and made my own decisions”.

Shirakawa declined to comment on his successors or their policy plans.“While humbly listening to various voices, I have carried out my financial management appropriately,” he told reporters. The BoJ, which left rates unchanged at zero to 0.1 percent, said Japan’s recession-hit economy has “stopped weakening” and is “expected to level off more or less for the time being”.

Shirakawa’s likely replacement, Haruhiko Kuroda, a finance veteran and current Asian Development Bank head who is a strong supporter of monetary easing, is likely to be confirmed by parliament in the coming weeks.

The 68-year-old Kuroda has long criticized the BOJ for doing too little to lift the economy, and is seen as likely to lead a fresh drive for more spending and aggressive easing to

beat deflation, putting him squarely in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policy camp.

On Monday, Tokyo’s nominee for the BoJ’s top job said he would do “everything possible” to tackle the falling prices that have weighed on Japan’s growth since the 1990s, crimping spending and business investment.

“Under (Kuroda’s) tenure the market is expecting a much more dovish BOJ than was the case under Shirakawa,” said Chris Tedder, research analyst at Forex.com in Sydney.

“This puts a lot of focus on the bank’s next meeting, as the market will be using it to gauge what to expect from Kuroda going forward.” Abe cruised to a landslide victory in December elections on pledges to reverse Japan’s fortunes with a mix of big spending and aggressive monetary easing, a prescription that put him on a collision course with Shirakawa.

The conservative premier had openly said he would like to turf out the BoJ chief, and threatened to change a law mandating its independence if the bank did not fall into line, stirring protest from central bankers abroad. In January, the under-pressure BoJ bowed to government demands, announcing an unlimited easing program and twopercent inflation target aimed at beating deflation. The asset purchase policy is similar to the US Federal Reserve’s unlimited monthly bond-buying scheme, known as quantitative easing. One BOJ board member yesterday reportedly suggested starting the program immediately instead of next year, but the idea was voted down. Japan’s recessionhit economy shrank for the third consecutive

TOKYO: Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa leaves the room after his final regular press conference at the bank’s headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. The BOJ wrapped up its last policy meeting under governor Shirakawa, making way for a new leadership team that could herald a new era for the central bank. — AFP quarter in the October-December period while Tokyo logged a record trade deficit in 2012, underlining the job head for Abe and his expected team at the central bank.

However, the BOJ yesterday suggested that a slump in exports, hit by weak demand in Europe and a consumer boycott of Japanese goods in China stemming from a territorial spat, was slowing. But it also repeated earlier warnings that Japan faced a

“high degree of uncertainty” given an unsteady US recovery, weakness in Europe and Tokyo’s diplomatic spat with Beijing.

Shirakawa, who spent more than three decades at the BOJ before leaving in 2006 to become a professor, took up the governor job in April 2008, just months before the collapse of Wall Street titan Lehman Brothers which heralded the start of the global financial crisis. — AFP

Food prices stable, wheat output to rise in 2013: UN

MADRID: Iberia airline workers shout slogans during a protest at Bankia’s bank headquarter in Madrid yesterday. Spanish airline Iberia says some 1,300 flights will be canceled this week as workers begin a second round of strikes to protest the loss-making company’s plans to lay off almost a fifth of its workforce. — AP

US sees hurdles on WTO road to Bali WASHINGTON: The United States is concerned that World Trade Organization talks to help developing countries boost trade by removing customs barriers could fail because negotiators are stuck on several issues. “We’re very worried about the current pace of work in Geneva,” US Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke said in an interview on Wednesday, referring to discussions on a “trade facilitation” package that WTO members hope to reach in December in Bali at their ninth ministerial meeting.

“What trade facilitation does in a very mundane but vital way is remove red tape” that impedes trade, Punke said. While some of the issues are complicated, negotiators are hung up on even some simple ideas, like a proposal to require countries to put their customs forms on the Internet so they can be easily downloaded by businesses, he said.

“As basic as that is, it is something that countries have not been willing to agree to, and it’s an example of the type of things that we’re worried about,” Punke said.

WTO members in 2001 launched the Doha round of world trade talks with the goal of helping poor countries by tearing down barriers to trade in agriculture, manufacturing and services. A trade facilitation deal 12 years later would represent just a sliver of the original grand scheme, which has proven too difficult for countries to hammer out. Punke said that one thing complicating the talks on the “Bali package” was an “an extremely worrisome” proposal from India that would allow emerging economies to provide their farmers virtually unlimited agricultural subsidies. “What the Indians have said is they won’t agree to a trade facilitation agreement unless something is agreed to on its proposal.—Reuters

ROME: World food prices held steady in February as falling wheat and sugar offset gains in vegetable oils and dairy prices, the United Nations’ food agency said, forecasting a more than 4 percent rise in wheat output in 2013.

Global grain prices have eased in recent months due to optimism that forthcoming harvests will replenish supplies after producers were hit by the worst US drought in more than 50 years, which sent food prices surging in mid2012. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said yesterday its index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 210 points in February, unchanged from January.

The index has hovered in the range of 210 to 212 for the past four months after easing back from a strong surge over the summer months, fuelled by dry weather in the United States and other key grains producers. FAO raised its view for world cereal output in 2012 by 4 million tons to 2.306 billion tons and said all signs pointed to higher production in 2013.

World wheat output is expected to rise to 690 million tons in 2013, up 4.3 percent from the 2012 harvest and the second-largest crop on record after 2011. The increase is expected mostly in Europe, driven by an expansion in wheat planting area in response to high prices and a recovery in yields from

below-average levels in Russia and some other countries, FAO said.

Prospects for the South American corn crop in 2013 also remained favorable, it said, although warning that bad weather could change the outlook drastically.

“Things could still turn quite nasty with the weather, but everything else seems to be pointing to better prospects in the grains sector for 2013,” said FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian.

World cereal stocks at the close of crop seasons ending in 2013 are now seen at 499 million tons, FAO said, up about 4 million tons from its forecast last month but still 2.7 percent lower than the previous season.

The FAO’s index is below a peak of 238 points hit in February 2011, when high food prices helped drive the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.

In the summer of 2012 it began surging to levels close to those seen in 2008, when riots, some deadly, broke out in several poor countries.

Abbassian said any declines in food prices in coming months may be limited to cereals, while dairy and meat prices are likely to be supported by firm demand. He also said sugar prices, which dropped 3 percent in February on expectations of a relatively large world production surplus, may have hit a bottom for now. — Reuters

Business FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

ECB, BOE keep rates on hold Italy political gridlock causes concerns FRANKFURT/LONDON: The European Central Bank yesterday held its main refinancing rate at a historic low of 0.75 percent, despite concerns that political gridlock in Italy could trigger a resurgence in the debt crisis. ECB watchers had not expected the central bank to ease borrowing costs in the euro area this month, but analysts said they would wait to hear whether central bank chief Mario Draghi had anything to say about the political situation in Italy and the possible repercussions for the euro area as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England also voted at a regular policy meeting to hold its reference interest rate at a record-low 0.50 percent, where it has stood for four years, and opted against increasing its cash stimulus program to boost a British economy on the brink of recession.

Draghi believes that with interest rates currently at a record low of 0.75 percent, an unprecedented amount of liquidity pumped into banks and a key bond-purchase program in place, the central bank has already done its utmost to help resolve the long-running crisis.

However, the gridlock in last week’s general elections in Italy, where a centre-left coalition won the most

votes, but not enough to form a majority in parliament, has focused market attention back on whether the ECB might have to step in again to stamp out fears of a resurgence in the crisis.

Italian-born Draghi is unlikely to let himself be drawn into making any comment on domestic political issues in his home country.

But political developments there are likely to be a topic in the question-and-answer session of the traditional post-meeting ECB news conference, analysts said. Also on the agenda of the meeting will be the ECB’s updated staff projections

for growth and inflation.

In the last round of forecasts published in December, the ECB had foreseen a contraction in the euro-zone economy of 0.3 percent this year followed by growth of 1.2 percent in 2014. Analysts said they do not expect significant revisions to the forecasts.”After leaving interest rates on hold as expected today, the renewed deterioration in some economic indicators and fears about Italy might prompt the ECB to hint at more policy support in future,” said Capital Economics economist Jennifer McKeown.

The sharper-than-expected fall in

LONDON: The Bank of England in central London. The Bank of England yesterday voted at a regular policy meeting to hold its reference interest rate at a record-low 0.50 percent, where it has stood for four years. —AFP

French jobless rate hits new record PARIS: France’s jobless rate hit its highest level in more than 13 years in the last quarter of 2012, underscoring the challenge the government faces over its pledge to reverse the upward trend by year-end.

Yesterday’s official data prompted a renewed government plea for action at European level to spur growth as the euro zone’s No. 2 economy shows increasing signs of languishing behind a more resilient Germany.

The rise to 10.6 percent is the sixth consecutive quarterly increase in the jobless rate in the French economy, which contracted 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2012.

It brings unemployment to its highest since the second quarter of 1999 and is the latest bad news for a government that has admitted it will fall far short of growth and public deficit targets this year. Other data published yesterday showed a widening trade deficit. “It is an uncomfortable truth for (President) FranÁois Hollande and another sign that France may be joining the wrong side of the euro zone team,” said Julien Manceaux, economist at ING Financial Markets, forecasting that unemployment would climb as high as 11.5 percent this year.

The European Commission sees French unemployment hitting 10.7 percent this year, nearly twice the level of Germany’s 5.7 percent and not much better than Italy’s 11.6 percent, but still far less than in Spain

PARIS: The unemployment rate in France, Europe’s second-largest economy, rose again in the last quarter of last year to 10.6 percent the national statistics agency Insee said yesterday. — AP and Greece. Hollande took power last May promising to halt a relentless rise in unemployment which has left one in four youths out of work and vowing to restore France’s industrial competitiveness.

The president’s approval ratings have slumped to around 30 percent since then as his government battles against a tide of factory closures. After backtracking last month on growth and deficit targets, he conceded the unemployment goal would now be harder to reach.

France’s trade deficit widened to 5.9 billion euros in January from 5.4 billion in December, with a large chunk of the worsening data due to a drop in the sale of Airbus aircraft from 26 in December to 18, other data showed yesterday. —Reuters

area-wide gross domestic product in the fourth quarter, the recent dip in forward-looking indicators such as the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) and the recent slowdown in inflation “will probably cause the ECB to revise down its forecasts for both growth and inflation,” McKeown said. “This, together with market concerns about Italy, should prompt president Draghi to strike a more supportive tone at the press conference,” she added. While the euro’s strength had dominated the meeting last month, the single currency has since weakened and so will no longer be the focus of his

attention, analysts said. “The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5 percent,” the BOE said in a statement following a two-day gathering. “The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion” ($589 billion, 434 billion euros).

Analysts had said the decision over stimulus, or quantitative easing (QE), had been on a knife-edge with Britain at risk of its third recession since 2009. —Agencies

FRANKFURT: The sculpture displaying a giant Euro sign is seen in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters. — AFP

German industry gets off to weak start in 2013 FRANKFURT: Runaway industrial confidence in Germany, Europe’s top economy, took a hit yesterday when data showed that weak exports triggered an unexpected drop in industrial orders in January.

According to monthly statistics compiled by the economy ministry, industrial orders fell by 1.9 percent in January compared with December, with domestic orders down 0.6 percent and orders from abroad tumbling by as much as 3.0 percent. The data were a surprise as analysts had been expecting a further gain in orders in January with confidence barometers rising sharply across the board. But the January decline more than wiped out a 1.1-percent gain seen the previous month. The orders data are traditionally volatile, frequently distorted by bulk orders, and the ministry explained that the number of big-ticket orders in January was “very much below average”.

But using a two-month comparison to iron out short-term fluctuations, the ministry calculated that industrial orders declined by 1.3 percent in December and January combined, with domestic orders inching up by 0.1 percent, but foreign orders slumping 2.3 percent. The data could dent hopes that Germany has finally put the worst of the debt crisis behind after gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.6 percent in the final quarter of 2012. The figures were “clearly at odds with the upbeat picture depicted by the German business confidence indicators in early 2013,” said Newedge Strategy analyst Annalisa Piazza. She suggested that the strong euro could be to blame for the

drop. It could also be seen partly as a technical correction following the big-ticket orders booked the previous month, Piazza said.

“However, the general decline must be seen more as a sign that companies are still cautious in their investment plans as the business cycle struggles to gain momentum,” Piazza said. “All in all, today’s German orders report is not very encouraging. However, we wouldn’t see it as a sign that the economy is on the verge of a technical recession,” she concluded.

ING Belgium economist Carsten Brzeski saw the data as a “bad surprise”. “After a long series of encouraging sentiment indicators, today’s new orders are a disappointment. Particularly the sharp drop in new orders from other euro-zone countries is a painful reminder that the crisis is not over, yet,” the expert said. The data “underline that the industrial backbone of the German economy is still feeling the negative impact from the crisis in most neighboring countries. Germany’s economic engine is stuttering,” he said. Berenberg Bank economist Christian Schulz said the data showed that “uncertainty about the strength of Germany’s rebound after the weak fourthquarter persists.”

But he pointed out that monthly factory orders “can be very volatile due to bulk orders. January’s data were no exception.”

Nevertheless, “the start of the year was a disappointment. The strong recovery in confidence indicators has yet to pass through to ‘hard’ economic data in any meaningful way,” Schulz said. —AFP

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend. One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost. His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change - the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE FASCINATING STORY OF THE 99 Baghdad lies in ruins, destroyed by the marauding armies of Hulagu Khan. The brave librarians of the great Dar Al-Hikma rush to save the glory of the ancient world’s accumulated wisdom, little knowing that centuries later their efforts will bear strange fruit. While the Noor Stones were created to save the library, their power has transcended that task and in our own time has provided extraordinary abilities to an international group

www.the99.org

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2013, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

of young people, the world’s newest superheroes known as… The 99.

Opinion FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Iran’s Khamenei tightening his grip

By Babak Dehghanpisheh

T

he presidential campaign season in Iran this year started with a warning. During a visit to the holy city of Qom in mid-January, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a packed crowd that both internal and external enemies may try to undermine the vote. “Those who may offer general advice about the elections - and it could be out of compassion - that the elections should be like this or that, should take care not to further the goal of the enemy,” Khamenei said. “They should take care not to make the people lose faith in the elections. They should not constantly say that there should be free elections. It is obvious that there should be free elections.”

That warning was followed by a series of rare public lashings and executions in cities across Iran. And in late January, a dozen journalists were arrested for allegedly being part of a network aiming to destabilize the country. “The arrests, the beatings and the harsh sentences that have been handed down recently are all related to the election,” said Roozbeh Mirebrahimi, an Iran analyst based in New York. “The regime expects another crisis and they have cracked down in advance to reduce the impact.”

The last time Iranians voted for president in 2009, the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to massive street protests, put down by force in the most tumultuous period of internal unrest the 34-year-old Islamic Republic has seen. Supporters of Ahmadinejad’s reformist opponents Mirhossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi took to the streets in what they called the “Green Movement”. Dozens of people were killed and thousands were arrested. This time, the authorities are expected to take no chances. Moussavi and Karroubi have been under house arrest for two years, and no candidate is expected to take up their reformist banner.

Voters will most likely be offered a slate of figures loyal to Khamenei, without independent power bases that could exacerbate divisions in society. “Khamenei wants the next president to be someone he can control,” said Mehdi Khalaji, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“He wants people who have no personal backing.” Since the last election, life for ordinary Iranians has become more difficult, with the economy reeling from international sanctions. Prices of basic foodstuffs and fuel have risen as subsidies have been cut, while the oil exports that make up the bulk of Iran’s income have fallen dramatically.

Last week, hundreds of farmers in central Isfahan province clashed with security forces because of a government decision to divert water from their area. The clashes showed how economic disgruntlement can quickly escalate into violence as families try to deal with their financial difficulties. Still, the elections are unlikely to be derailed.

Ahmadinejad is barred from running again after two consecutive terms, and his successor is likely to be selected from among a handful of top politicians mostly known for loyalty to Khamenei.

LONG LIVE SPRING The outgoing president has his own ideas about who should follow him. Although Ahmadinejad was backed by Khamenei after the disputed 2009 elections, they soon had a falling out as the Supreme Leader attempted to keep some of his loyalists in top government posts. Hardline rivals have accused Ahmadinejad of being in the grip of a “deviant current” of advisers seeking to undermine the role of the clergy. Some of his allies have been sacked from official posts and others have been jailed. A close Ahmadinejad aide, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, was jailed in September for publishing an article questioning the mandatory hijab, or Islamic dress, for women. In February, another Ahmadinejad ally, former Tehran chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi, was arrested on corruption charges. He was released a day and a half later but the arrest seemed to be a message to the president and his allies. Mortazavi also faces criminal charges for the death of jailed protesters after the 2009 elections.

At almost every recent public function, Ahmadinejad has taken to saying “long live Spring,” a cryptic phrase that many are reading as a call for political change. It is seen as an indirect expression of support for his favored candidate to succeed him, his senior advisor Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, whose daughter is married to

Ahmadinejad’s son. Ahmadinejad’s opponents have accused Mashaie of trying to undermine the power of the clergy, but the president is trying to get his name through the vetting process and onto the ballot. The powerful and elite Revolutionary Guards, like the Supreme Leader, are deeply wary of Ahmadinejad and show little tolerance for his efforts to influence the vote.

A thinly-veiled opinion piece two weeks ago in “Sobhe Sadeq,” the Revolutionary Guard newspaper, suggested Ahmadinejad would likely cause trouble in the lead-up to the elections. “Those groups who do not have a great chance of winning the elections and seek out their success through a chaotic environment, have an agenda to create unrest,” said the article, which did not refer to Ahmadinejad by name but quoted his newly habitual phrase. “The use of slogans like ‘Long live spring,’ which is trying to say ‘Long live a certain person,’... is an example of the provocative rhetoric.”

CONFRONTATION Whether or not Ahmadinejad succeeds in getting his own candidate onto the ballot, he is using his final months in power to undermine the candidacies of his opponents. Parliament speaker and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, one of

Ahmadinejad’s rivals in his first election in 2005, was expected to be a favorite this time around, but Ahmadinejad may have trumped his chances. Last month, Ahmadinejad created an uproar by publicly accusing Larijani’s brother Fazel of corruption during a raucous parliamentary session, a first for the Islamic Republic. Larijani came back swinging with his own set of insults and accusations. Both men walked away tarnished and bruised. “Larijani’s chances were very high for becoming president this year,” said Khalaji of the Washington Institute. “Now, with this incident, his image has been damaged.” Still, Larijani is a wily political operator and it would be too soon to write him off. The Larijani family is seen as political royalty: not only does he head up the legislative branch, his brother Sadeq is the head of the judiciary. Larijani also served in the Iran-Iraq war and was a member of the Revolutionary Guards. Before entering politics, he headed up the state radio and TV broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, for ten years.

LOYALISTS If Larijani does not stand, there are plenty of other loyal figures that Khamenei can choose from to support on the ballot. At least half a dozen websites have been set up to back the candidacy of Saeed Jalili, a Khamenei loyalist who has served as Larijani’s successor as chief nuclear negotiator. Jalili, 47, walks with a visible limp from a wound he received in the Iran-Iraq war, battlefield experience which could help gain the vital backing of the Revolutionary Guards.

After twelve years at the ministry of foreign affairs, he joined the Supreme Leader’s office in 2001. He cultivated a close relationship with Khamenei which paid off: in 2007, he was appointed director of the Supreme National Security Council and later became the Supreme Leader’s representative to the body. His importance as a key figure in the Iranian government was recently highlighted by two high-profile trips to Syria in the past year, including one last month, where he met with embattled president Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s closest Arab ally. Another important contender is Gholam Ali Hadad Adel, a senior advisor to the Supreme Leader who is also a relative: Hadad Adel’s daughter is married to Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, a powerful political player who some observers say is being groomed by Khamenei as his successor. Hadad Adel’s close relationship with the Khamenei family could boost his profile. The 67-yearold has served for 10 years as a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, a body created to resolve disputes between parliament and the clerical Guardian Council. He has held posts at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the Ministry of Education, and has been a member of parliament since 2000, serving as speaker from 2004 until 2008.

STALWARTS One contender who could possibly heal one of the biggest rifts in the establishment is a long-time stalwart of the Islamic Republic, Ali Akbar Velayati, 67, who has served as foreign affairs advisor to the Supreme Leader for 16 years. A doctor by training, Velayati got his medical degree from Tehran University and later studied infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, according to a biography published by the Hamshari newspaper. Importantly, he served as foreign minister for 16 years under Khamenei’s own presidency and that of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran’s wealthiest men and for decades one of its most powerful. He has a close relationship to both men. Rafsanjani, who served as president in the 1990s and lost a campaign to return to power in the run-off against Ahmadinejad in 2005, has been pushed to the sidelines since the 2009 election. His son and daughter publicly supported the Green Movement, earning him stern criticism from hardliners. In a sign of his official disfavor, crowds at Friday prayers even chanted slogans against him. But if Velayati were to become president, he could help mend the rift between Khamenei and Rafsanjani and act as a stabilizing influence at a time when conservative factions in Iran are jockeying for power.

Another leading candidate and trusted regime figure who officially entered the race for the presidency this week is Mohsen Rezaie, who served as a commander of the Revolutionary Guards for 16 years. Rezaie is currently the secretary general of the Expediency Discernment Council. He showed his loyalty to Khamenei as a minor candidate in the 2009 election. Like others, he initially disputed Ahmadinejad’s contested victory, but in a sign of his fealty to the supreme leader, he quickly dropped his opposition once violent street protests kicked off. That is the sort of loyalty that Khamenei will prize above all. — Reuters

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013 www.kuwaittimes.net

Producer Rebecca Wang attends Elie Saab Fall-Winter 2013-2014 fashion collection at Paris Fashion week on Wednesday March 06, 2013. —AP

FOOD FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Some like it

hot. Really hot

By Noelle Carter

M

aybe it’s the sense of danger that reels you in at first. The crazy name, the wild picture slapped on the bottle. Before you know it, you’re on for the ride, and the best ones leave you reduced to a sweaty and speechless mess. When it’s finally over, you can’t help but want more. I’m talking about hot sauce, a virtual thrill ride for the taste buds. And for fans, nothing beats the feeling.

So what makes hot sauce so attractive?

Blame it on the capsaicin, the chemical behind a chile’s heat. When you eat hot sauce, or any chile-spiced foods, your mouth reacts to the capsaicin as if it’s in pain, signaling the brain. Your body responds by releasing endorphins, much like it does with laughter, chocolate, and stress.

Pleasure and pain, conveniently packaged in a bottle. All I know is I can’t get enough of the stuff. I have a collection at home and drizzle at least one sauce - more often two - over everything. A sure sign of a junkie, lately I’ve even taken to making my own. It’s amazingly simple. A puree of chiles and salt, thinned perhaps with vinegar or water, maybe a secret ingredient or blend of spices thrown in for good measure. Voila.

For a quick Sriracha-type sauce, take a pound of fresh red chiles - red Fresnos and jalapenos can generally be found year-round and mash them with fresh garlic and salt, a touch of sugar and vinegar. A little love on the stove-top - simmering the mash helps to mar-

ry the flavors - then blend and strain the sauce, thinning as desired with water. The sauce literally comes together in minutes (as opposed to fermented hot sauces, which can take days, or more, to make). And while it tastes good right away, it gets even better after a day or two in the fridge.

Play around with the sauce to personalize it to your tastes, changing up chiles and flavorings. For a Caribbean jerk-inspired hot sauce, use the same method but switch out the Fresnos for Scotch bonnets or habaneros, rounding out the flavors with fresh ginger and green onion, lime, a blend of spices.

Playfully sweet and fruity at first, the heat will sneak up on you in the most wonderful way.

The variations are endless. Probably the hardest part to a great homemade hot sauce is giving your wonderfully potent creation a fitting name. I simply call mine “Shock in a Bottle.”

FOUR-PEPPER HOT SAUCE Total time: 1 hour Servings: Makes about 1 quart hot sauce.

Note: This sauce should be prepared in a wellventilated area.

3 ounces dried New Mexico chiles

2 ounces dried ancho chiles 1 ounce dried arbol chiles 1 ounce dried pequin chiles 8 to 12 cloves garlic 1-2 to 1 teaspoon ground cloves 2 teaspoons dried oregano 2 teaspoons toasted whole cumin seeds, ground 2 teaspoons salt, more as desired 1 cup cider vinegar 1-2 cup olive oil 1. Bring a kettle or large saucepan of water to boil.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large comal or skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Place a few chiles on the comal at a time, gently pressing to flatten. Leave the chiles just until aromatic, a few seconds, then turn them over and heat again until aromatic, careful not to burn (burning the chiles will make them bitter). Repeat until all of the chiles are heated; for the smaller chiles, shake them briefly in the comal to warm.

3. Stem the chiles and place them in a large bowl. Pour over boiling water to cover.

Weight the chiles with a plate to keep them submerged, and set aside for 15 minutes until they are softened.

4. Remove the chiles from the soaking water (reserve the water) and place them in a blender. Add the garlic, cloves, oregano, cumin seeds and salt, along with the cider vinegar, 2 cups soaking water (taste the soaking water before using, and if it tastes bitter, use plain water) and the oil.

FOOD FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

5. Puree the sauce until it is completely smooth, adding water as needed to thin.

Taste the sauce - the flavors will vary with each batch of chiles - and adjust the flavorings and seasonings to taste (sweeten if desired with a little sugar).

6. Using a very fine mesh strainer or chinois, strain the sauce into a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Whisk in additional water to thin as desired. Bring the sauce to a simmer and stir frequently for 3 to 5 minutes to marry the flavors, then remove from heat. Pour the sauce into a glass jar or bottle, cover and refrigerate.

Each tablespoon: 18 calories; 1 gram protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 1 gram fat; 0 fat; 0 cholesterol; 0 sugar; 74 mg sodium.

CARIBBEAN JERK-STYLE HOT SAUCE Total time: 30 minutes Servings: Makes about 3 cups hot sauce.

Note: The sauce should be prepared in a wellventilated area. Muscovado sugar can be found at most cooking and baking supply stores. Wear gloves while chopping the bonnet or habanero peppers because the heat in the oils can sting your hands. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling the peppers.

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1-2 teaspoon ground cloves 2 tablespoons salt 1-2 cup muscovado or dark brown sugar 6 to 9 bonnet or habanero peppers, stemmed and chopped 4 teaspoons minced garlic 1 tablespoon minced ginger 2 bunches scallions, chopped (green and white parts) Zest and juice of 4 limes 1-2 cup distilled white vinegar 1-2 cup oil 1 cup water 1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the pepper, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, salt, sugar, peppers, garlic, ginger, scallions, lime zest and juice, vinegar and oil. Pulse a few times to form a coarse paste.

2. Transfer the mixture to a medium, heavybottomed saucepan and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, to marry the flavors.

3. Remove from heat. Place the mixture back in a food processor or blender and blend to form a smooth sauce, thinning as desired with onehalf to 1 cup water. Strain if desired. To store,

refrigerate the sauce in a covered glass bottle or jar.

Each tablespoon: 16 calories; 0 protein; 2 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 1 gram fat; 0 saturated fat; 0 cholesterol; 1 gram sugar; 195 mg sodium.

SRIRACHA-STYLE HOT SAUCE Total time: 25 minutes Servings: Makes about 2 cups sauce Note: This sauce should be prepared in a wellventilated area and is best prepared at least 1 to 2 days before using. Cane vinegar and palm sugar can be found at select well-stocked cooking stores, as well as Asian markets.

1 pound mixed fresh red chiles (such as red Fresnos or jalapenos), stemmed and chopped 2 to 4 cloves garlic 1\2 cup cane or rice vinegar 1 teaspoon sea salt, more if desired 2 tablespoons palm or light brown sugar, more if desired 1. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the chiles, garlic, vinegar, salt and sugar to form a coarse paste.

2. Transfer the mixture to a non-reactive saucepan and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the aroma softens or mellows a bit, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Blend the sauce again to form a smooth paste, thinning as desired with water.

4. Strain the sauce, pressing the solids through a fine mesh strainer with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Taste the sauce, and tweak the flavors as desired with additional salt, sugar or vinegar. Remove the sauce to a glass jar or bottle and cool completely. Refrigerate until needed.

Each tablespoon: 13 calories; 0 protein; 3 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 0 fat; 0 cholesterol; 2 grams sugar; 133 mg sodium.

THE INCENDIARY ANATOMY OF A CHILE A quick note on heat: Capsaicin is found in the inner ribs, or veins, of chiles, not just the seeds. To minimize the heat (why you’d ever want to do that, I don’t know), remove the ribs with the seeds. And when working with chiles, be careful. The capsaicin in the oils can burn your hands and eyes. Wear gloves when handling the hottest chiles, and work in a well-ventilated area. Chile heat varies by type, with Anaheim and pasilla on the milder end and jalapenos and serranos packing somewhat more of a punch. Habaneros (or bonnets if you can find them) are legendary, and even naga jolokia (the ghost chile) is increasingly easier to find. For true hotheads, you can buy pure capsaicin by itself for a practically weapon-grade sauce.

Fresh green chiles are fine, though the flavor can be a little underripe and “grassy.” Ripe red chiles are the best, though they are generally seasonal, available typically late summer through early fall. Dried chiles can be found year-round, their flavor more

concentrated and complex than fresh chiles. To use them in a sauce, toast them briefly over a hot skillet to add smoky notes, then soak them in hot water to soften. Once softened, they can be used just like fresh. — MCT

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

By Bob Downing ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK, Mich: The Greenstone Trail is the No. 1 hiking trail on this wilderness island in Lake Superior.

The trail stretches 42.2 miles from Windigo in the southwest along a ridge to Lookout Louise near Rock Harbor on the island’s northeast flank.

It is generally acknowledged as one of the top wilderness hikes in the Midwest, the main hiking thoroughfare on this rocky, wild North Woods island.

The park, 55 miles off the Michigan coast, offers 165 miles of trails that appeal to backpackers and hikers. Eighty percent of the visitors are backpackers. Paddlers also love Isle Royale.

But the trails and paddling aren’t the biggest attractions.

Those are the island’s gray wolves and moose. The wolves are in real trouble and could die out in the coming years. The number of wolves on Isle Royale has dropped to nine, and only one is known to be a female. It’s the lowest number in more than 50 years on Isle Royale. That population decline has raised major concerns among wolf researchers, including John Vucetich and Rolf Peterson of Michigan Tech University.

The National Park Service is beginning to wrestle with a tough decision: Should the agency pre-empt nature and bring in new wolves to replenish the pack, or stick with its long-standing hands-off philosophy, even if that means the extinction of the pack? If that happens, should wolves then be returned to the island by man to benefit the ecosystem? The agency has perhaps seven to 10 years to determine which route it will take.

Scientists have been studying the relationship between the predator wolves and their prey on Isle Royale since 1958. A shortage of females has reduced the birth rate. Disease and a dropoff in moose numbers due to global warming is having a big impact.

Wolves also attack each other.

Three wolves were drowned in an unexplained accident in an abandoned water-filled mine shaft in late 2011 or early 2012. The hope is that a wolf pair at the western end of the island will produce female pups to boost the population. The first wolves came to the island in 1948-1949 by crossing frozen Lake Superior. The Canada mainland is 18 miles away. Moose had arrived on the island earlier, about 1900.The island’s moose population grew from 515 in 2011 to about 750 in 2012. In the past 10 years, those numbers had dropped by 50 percent, due largely to warmer tem-

peratures and blood-sucking ticks that weaken and stress the moose. Moose make up 90 percent of the wolves’ diet. Wolves kill a moose for food every four to 10 days.

Scientists typically spend seven weeks on the island each winter, monitoring the wolves and moose by air. They also track the wolves in the summer. They collect all moose bones found on the island. Those bones sit on wooden planks outside a small cottage where Peterson and his wife, Candy, live.

It is a strange sight to come across hundreds of moose skulls, femurs and jaws in a clearing in the woods. I stumbled across the graveyard on a visit a few years ago, a spooky shrine to the moose. The island’s wolves are rarely seen. But visitors to Isle Royale treasure their presence and hope to catch a glimpse of a wolf on the trail or hear them howl at night.

Visitors also want to see moose, which is more likely to happen. You may see them anywhere along the Greenstone, along with wolf droppings and tracks.

The Greenstone offers solitude and up-high views of Isle Royale and 450 surrounding islands. It features wooded glades, sunny meadows brimming with blueberries, raspberries and thimbleberries, and exposed ridges that may be 15 degrees hotter than forested trails. It skirts inland lakes, and much of the trail is forested. The National Park Service recommends three to five days to make the moderate hike with a few tough spots.

Some of the best vistas are from the high points along the Greenstone: Mount Franklin, Lookout Louise and Mount Ojibway with its fire tower. You are up to 790 feet above Lake Superior.

Most backpackers arrive at Rock Harbor at the northeast end of the island via ferry. They hike to Windigo and then ferry back to Rock Harbor.

Most of the campsites along the Greenstone are off the main ridge and on connecting trails. The Greenstone connects with most of the trails on the island, making numerous loop options available. The Minong Trail is tougher, running 31.6 miles from McCargoe Cove on the north shore west to Windigo.

It’s not marked well, and lacks bridges and boardwalks. It’s an up-and-down, hike-on-bare-rock, get-your-feet-wet trail. Some sections are very rough. The park service recommends an east-towest hike and four days to do it.

Most backpackers and hikers stick to the existing trails and do very little cross-country bushwhacking. That’s extremely difficult because of swamps, bogs and thick vegetation.

Isle Royale offers lots of picturesque spots from trails to bogs, from calm coves to stunning wildflowers.

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Ferries arrive at Rock Harbor on Isle Royale’s northeast end from Lake Superior ports. It is the island’s hub.

The Edisen Fishery is an example of a small family gill net fishery on Lake Superior. It is operated by the National Park Service.

lines, boreal forests, bogs, loons and lots of summer wildflowers.

The Ojibwas called the island Minong or “a good place.”

It has a rich history with copper mining, lighthouses, shipping, fishing, lumbering and vacationing. Sites include the white Rock Harbor Lighthouse that dates to 1855 and the nearby Edisen Fishery, a small family-run commercial fishing camp.

There are few signs of man on the island, no roads and no vehicles. The only transportation is by foot, boat and seaplane.

Visitors must invest time, money and effort to get to Isle Royale. Copper Harbor, one of the ferry ports, is a 15-hour drive from Akron.

The ferry ride from Copper Harbor takes at least 3 hours 15 minutes. It is longer from other Lake Superior ports in Michigan and Minnesota. That crossing is easy when the lake is calm, but at other times, it can be very rough.

You will pay from $50 to $67 for a one-way ticket. A round-trip flight via a seaplane is $299, with baggage weight limits.

The park is open from mid-April to October, but the ferries and the small lodge at Rock Harbor run shorter seasons.

Reservations for lodging and ferry spots must be booked months in advance. No reservations are accepted for camping,

Rock Harbor Lighthouse was built in 1855 to help facilitate shipments of copper from the island to Lake Superior ports. It is open for park visitors to tour.— MCT photos

Moose bones sit in a bone yard managed by wolf-moose researchers Rolf and Candy Peterson at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior.

Water is an issue. It is safe at Rock Harbor and Windigo but all backcountry water must be filtered because of potential contamination with parasites and bacteria.

Isle Royale is also known for its black flies and mosquitoes, a problem in late June and early July. Wear protective clothing, head nets and DEET-containing sprays. Be prepared for cold weather and storms - even in the summer.

Isle Royale is not for everyone and it’s not easy to visit. The park covers 133,781 acres of land and 438,009 acres of water. It typically gets about 17,000 visitors a year, most in July, August and September. It is one of America’s least-visited national parks and reportedly one of the quietest.

It sits on an island that is 45 miles long and up to 9 miles wide.

It features 46 inland lakes, bald eagles, quiet coves, rocky shore-

Eighty percent of the visitors to Isle Royale National Park go backpacking. but permits are required. The typical visitor spends four days on the island, not surprising after the logistical effort required. It gets a large number of return visitors.

Most visitors head off to backpack on the island’s trails. Those staying at the lodge can do short day hikes and the park’s concessionaire, Forever Resorts, offers boat cruises and tours. Park visitors pay a $4 per day fee.—MCT

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Tibetan self-immolators inspire Chinese painter

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tacked up in Liu Yi’s studio dozens of China’s most sensitive subjects stare out from thick black-andwhite oil paintings, from victims of Tiananmen Square to Tibetans who have set themselves on fire. Liu, 50, is a rare example of a member of China’s Han ethnic majority taking up the Tibetan causea project that has finally brought the authorities to his door. More than 100 Tibetans have set themselves alight, around 90 dying, to protest against what many call Beijing’s oppressive rule, but most Han Chinese accept the government’s stance that it has brought development and is combating tragic acts of violence.

“What they want is simply freedom of religion, of faith, and respect,” said Liu, in a spare brick-walled studio at his home in an artists’ community in eastern Beijing.

“One goal is to commemorate them,” he said of his images. “Another is to let more people understand the truth in Tibet through these paintings, because nowadays, especially in China, people simply don’t know what is happening.” He is provided with earlier photographs by a Tibetan writer but treats his 40 subjects as though he knew them personally, pointing out the first immolator, the youngest, and the first woman.

“This was a mother with four children... this one had a one-year-old child,” he said, rushing between the sombre portraits. Over the past 15 years growing numbers of Han Chinese have embraced Tibetan Buddhism-including Liu-but have not backed their political demands, says Columbia University Tibet expert Robbie Barnett.

Artists have drawn inspiration from Tibetan landscapes while devotees have even travelled to India to hear from the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing denounces as a separatist encouraging immolations. But the spiritual interest “seems not to affect political positions, certainly not openly”, Barnett said in an email. “For an ethnic Chinese artist to take up this project publicly is very unusual and high-risk, and I can’t think of a precedent.” China has invested

Liu Yi poses before paintings showing the faces of Tibetan self-immolators at his studio on the outskirts of Beijing. — AFP photos

heavily in Tibetan areas to raise living standards but also imposed controls such as monitoring monasteries and banning images of the Dalai Lama.

It has also gone on the offensive to prevent immolations-which the UN and overseas rights groups have blamed on repressive tactics-by jailing those accused of inciting and abetting the acts.

Guards equipped with fire extinguishers are posted on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, their numbers boosted for China’s current National People’s Congress meeting, where the Tibetan delegates are hand-picked loyalists

whose leader was seen wearing a Mao Zedong badge. Han Chinese make up 91 percent of China’s population and Barry Sautman, an expert on ethnic politics in the country, said while they may empathise with Tibetans and appreciate their culture, they also tend to trust the government on security matters.

The majority thinking runs along the lines of “the government is trying to do something for the Tibetans; on the other hand, the Dalai Lama is trying to get them to commit suicide”, said Sautman, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Critics argue

that China’s development efforts have mainly benefited Han incomers while eroding Tibetan culture, and that other measures have inhibited religious practice and led to abuses such as disappearances and unfair trials. Official Chinese data say that Han numbers in Tibet rose 56 percent from 2000 to 2010 and 92 percent in the previous decade, compared to 12 and 15 percent for Tibetans.

The census figures say Tibetans make up 90 percent of the region’s population, but the Tibetan government-in-exile counters that, if traditionally Tibetan areas in the rest of China are included, their ethnic group is now “outnumbered”. Liu hopes to spread awareness of the Tibetan perspective through his latest collection, even though he knows it is unlikely ever to go on public display in China-like his previous series commemorating prominent protesters.

These include victims of the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989 and well-known dissidents whom he calls “China’s conscience”, among them jailed Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo. A 4.5-metre-long mural shows photos of children propped up by rubble from the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, when many schools collapsed while other buildings did not, prompting angry accusations of corruption until discussion of the topic was suppressed.

Tibetan themes have attracted Liu since he began travelling to the region in the 1980s. He keeps a Tibetan dog and has painted countless Tibetan Buddhist images and many portraits of the Dalai Lama.

After his immolation paintings began drawing attention, he said, the authorities visited him three times in 10 days and tried to confiscate his work. But he managed to dissuade them and is preparing to start his next batch of portraits-this time on larger canvases.

“Unless they lock me up in prison, as long as I am free, then for sure I will keep painting,” Liu said. “I am definitely not afraid. Who am I compared to those selfimmolators?” — AFP

Warhol’s Marilyn lips lead online auction

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n online-only auction of a trove of Andy Warhol’s lesser, but often hitherto unavailable works, raised $2.3 million at Christie’s, with a lithograph of Marilyn Monroe’s lips coming out on top. The 1964 “I Love Your Kiss Forever Forever,” featuring five different-colored sets of the screen siren’s lips, led the auc-

tion results at $90,000. The week-long Internet sale, which ended Tuesday, more than doubled its pre-sale estimate for the 125 works offered, with bargain prices attracting 263 bidders and 1,500 bids from 36 countries, Christie’s said.

It was the first of several online-only auctions of the Pop Art icon’s work scheduled for 2013.

Some of the works on offer were estimated before the sale to go for as little as $600.

Proceeds go to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, which supports artists and nonprofit art associations. The results were worthy of “Warhol’s democratizing vision” said Michael Straus, chairman of the foundation board.

The Warhol Foundation announced last year that it was dispersing its collection through Christie’s to raise more money for grants. Some of the works will be donated to museums. The inaugural auction in the series, a live event held at Christie’s in New York on November 12, raised $17 million. — AFP

A Labrodoole sits in front of a cat poster during the first day of the Crufts dog show in Birmingham, in central England yesterday. The annual event sees dog breeders from around the world compete in a number of competitions with one dog going on to win the “Best in Show” category. — AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Bowie rekindles Berlin

love affair with rare new alb

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This image released by Item 7 shows Rachel Mwanza in a scene from ‘War Witch.’—AP

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‘War Witch’ is a genre benchmark

grave 12-year-old African girl, abducted from her village by vicious armed rebels and forced to wage war as a child soldier, guides the viewer through the horrors of Canadian director Kim Nguyen’s engrossing Oscar-nominated drama “War Witch.” Managing to be neither sentimental nor sensationalistic, the film tells its story from the heart, and from the simple, straightforward viewpoint of young heroine Komona, warmly played by the talented Rachel Mwanza in her screen debut. Certainly, watching a little girl live through events that far exceed most adults’ nightmares is not easy, and only Komona’s indomitable courage and will to survive make the journey bearable. As the off-screen narrator, she tells her unborn baby the story of how she became a child soldier.

The real life horrors she recounts fold into a smooth, dream-like screenplay that doesn’t require a lot of on-screen blood and gore to describe what’s going on. Despite its extreme cruelty, Komona’s story is told with commendable delicacy and reserve, if those terms can be applied to such a tale, but in any case circumventing the usual voyeuristic, colonialist perspective. The film was shot in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but the action takes place in an unnamed African country, where guerrilla forces lead by youthful warlords wage constant battle0 on government soldiers sent into the jungle to kill them.

The rebels replenish their losses by raiding villages. When Great Tiger’s rebels descend on the poor patched-together houses of a coastal village, they kill most of the inhabitants and force the terrified Komona to gun down her own parents; if she doesn’t obey, they will kill them, painfully, with machetes. After performing the fateful act, she is proclaimed a rebel, thrown into a dugout canoe and taken deep into the jungle, under the guidance of a screeching male sorcerer who casts spells along the way.

Komona and the other kidnapped children are given huge Kalashnikovs and told, “Your gun is your mother and

father.” Scared to death and beaten mercilessly by the head soldier, she is given “magic milk,” an intoxicant culled from white tree sap, to ease her pain and hunger. She is the only one who survives a government ambush, thanks to her eerie ability to see eyeless gray ghosts in the trees who warn her of the enemy’s presence. Recognizing the usefulness of her gift, Great Tiger gives her an AK-47 with magic powers and names her his “war witch.” It’s a dangerous post, should her intuition fail her, but Komona seems confident of her macabre visions.

Her only friend in the group is an albino boy she calls Magician. The crack of rifles momentarily gives way to some personal happiness when they escape from their captors. They take shelter in the home of Magician’s uncle, a butcher who has lost his family in a way so terrible, says Komona, it cannot be told.

When Magician announces to the not unwilling girl he wants to marry her, she bargains for time by sending him in quest of a mythical white rooster. This part of the film allows a glimpse into “normal” life, which surreally seems to co-exist side by side with the terror in the jungle. The butcher even has a picture of assassinated Congolese independence leader and prime minister Patrice Lumumba, suggesting an overturned world of legality out there, somewhere. But the only reality the children know is the barrel of a gun and the sharp edge of a machete, and their nightmare is not yet over. The actors are very spontaneous, particularly selfpossessed newcomers Mwanza in the title role and Serge Kanyinda as the unforgettable Magician. The camera only has eyes for them and the adults barely exist as individual characters.

Discreetly following the story while highlighting its supernatural aspects, tech work by the Canadian crew strikes the right note. —AP

ritish rock icon David Bowie revives his love story with Berlin in his first new album in a decade, out this month, and the city is returning his affections with fervent tributes to its adopted son. Bowie lived in the still war-ravaged, divided city for three years in the 1970s, when he was wearied by fame and trying to kick the drug and drink addictions that threatened to make him just another rock’n’roll casualty. It was a fruitful time creatively, producing three albums including “Heroes”, whose cover art inspires the sleeve of the new record, “The Next Day”, which shows a theatrically posed black-and-white photo of Bowie obscured by a white square.

The singer eventually moved away, settling in New York with Somali-American supermodel Iman and their daughter. But Berlin never quite forgot Bowie and his glamorous ghost still haunts the dreams of the hordes of expatriates who have flocked to the city since the fall of the Wall in 1989. “Bowie affected the history of Berlin, just as much as Berlin affected Bowie,” said Mike West, 29, who leads tours to sites around town including Bowie’s former flat, the neighboring gay bar where he had breakfast nearly every morning, and the Hansa Studios where he recorded.

“Berliners are very proud of Bowie, the fact that his best music came from while he was in Berlin.” Nowhere was the shock of Bowie’s new single, released out of the blue on his 66th birthday on January 8, greater than in Berlin, which has responded with massive media coverage, themed club nights and a spike in interest in tours like West’s. The moody new track entitled “Where Are We Now?” name checks iconic sites throughout the city and came complete with a wistful video directed by American artist Tony Oursler.

Bowie is seen at the apartment where he lived in the Schoeneberg district of West Berlin, and passing remnants of the Wall, where a kissing couple inspired the “Heroes” single-still a Berlin anthem. Bowie’s Berlin era, during which he spent much of his time with US rocker Iggy Pop, has also inspired a new film project, the British-German co-production “Lust for Life”.

Journalist Tobias Ruether, who wrote a 2008 book about Bowie in Berlin, said the city’s perpetual transformations appealed to a singer keen on reinvention. “It was the mixture of going back to the 1920s which he has always been very fascinated by in terms of the arts and

painting and at the same time he felt this is the place where the most interesting music is being produced,” he told AFP. “I always thought Bowie was the first to figure out that you could come to Berlin with its past and the strange situation that you have the ruins here and the new buildings there and vast amounts of space where you can create and find yourself.”

Glory and horror Bowie arrived in Berlin in 1976 skin-andbones, a dirt-broke superstar who had become a slave to cocaine and liquor. “I spent most of my time with Iggy and basically we tried to get away from the state we were in when we lived in the US,” Bowie told the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel in 2002 in a rare interview about his time in the city.He said Pop, real name James Osterberg, was wont to raid his refrigerator for the delicacies he picked up at the posh KaDeWe department store, and accompanied him on endless nights at the fabled Dschungel bar, which is now the site of an upscale hotel.

Bowie said he took inspiration from all the glory and horror the city had to offer: the Nazi past, East-West hostility, its museums’ Expressionist masterpieces, Bertolt Brecht plays and the budding electronic music scene.”I couldn’t have made the music I did then if I hadn’t been completely taken with Berlin, with its special structures and its tensions... the Wall and its impact on the city,” he said. Asked if he would encourage young artists to follow in his Berlin footsteps now, Bowie demurred.”I always tell them that’s over. You can’t repeat the past.

Maybe you’ll experience something else that’s great. But it will never be like what I felt,” he said.

Ruether said that Bowie’s apparent nostalgia for Berlin was linked to the creative heyday he had in the city.”I think Bowie feels very strongly that his Berlin period was probably his best and his most creative-that was just an extraordinary move that he made way back then, to live in Los Angeles and decide to move back to Europe but not to London, to this strange West Berlin island,” he said.”He always said ‘I never felt freer than I did in Berlin’.”— AFP

A portrait taken on May 13, 1983 shows British singer David Bowie during a press conference at the 36th Cannes Film Festival.—AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Moss upstages

Vuitton hotel, capping fashion week O

n the last day of Paris ready-to-wear shows, if Miuccia Prada was about fun and Elie Saab the familiar, then Louis Vuitton was about Kate Moss. Marc Jacobs, Vuitton’s creative director, delivered a noexpenses-spared production to cap fall-winter fashion season in five-star style. The showman recreated an entire hotel floor inside the Louvre, replete with sprawling carpet, nostalgic lounge piano and do-not-disturb signs what he called “decadent glamour.”

The glamour-factor was certainly there in the roll call of top actresses lining the front row, including Jessica Chastain, January Jones and Naomi Watts. But somehow in just a two-minute cameo Moss - possibly the world’s most famous model - managed to upstage not only an A-list front row but also an entire hotel. The super-waif 39-year-old provoked instant applause as she appeared in a provocatively revealing organza slip dress from behind one of the closed hotel doors, and was mobbed by journalists backstage. Trends this season included black and white with flashes of color, leather and fur, eighties and fifties silhouettes, and more ladylike styles with a combative edge.

MIU MIU Last season’s boxy and printed looks were gone for Miu Miu’s fall-winter 2013-14 show.

In their place was a more inventive collection that featured outerwear as dresses, largesized buttons and giant handbags. Flashes of color in ‘50s polka dot neckties, stripy tights and Belle Epoque boots in gold and silver gave the collection for Miuccia Prada’s baby sister offshoot a great lift. Dresses made with quilted coat fabric, sometimes with large buttons and long zippers, saw Prada putting her own quirky stamp on an outerwear-to-innerware trend that’s on high rotation on the catwalk of late.

Continued on next Page

Elie Saab

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Continued from Page 35 The piece de resistance was a onemeter (three-foot) handbag that had spectators gawking.

ELIE SAAB As models appeared through autumnal mist, Elie Saab’s daywear picked up a hint of androgyny this fall-winter. It was a relatively experimental start that saw the Lebanese designer deliver some sexy looks that could almost have been worn to the office. Menswear tailoring on a gray and blue dress carried on in several pared-down looks with a slimmer silhouette than last season, created with a more restrained color wheel. The whiff of masculinity soon faded, however, in a series of the Lebanese designer’s popular bread-and-butter gowns with sequins, transparencies and broderie anglaise in primrose yellow, burgundy and dark green. It was a collection of no great surprises, that’s likely to please his core clientele base.

Miu Miu

VIONNET The late, great Madeline Vionnet was one of the 20th century’s most influential fashion designers. Known as the “queen of the bias cut,” she was famed for her draped Grecian column dresses.

Seven decades later, her house has been revamped and showed its ready-towear collection on Paris’ official calendar Wednesday. The problem with revamping old, storied houses is that the new designers can often feel strangled by the codes. Wednesday’s show saw creative director Goga Ashkenazi going in almost the opposite direction.

Though she fleetingly touched on some draped looks with Grecian columns for a set, Ashkenazi channeled the vivid colors of pop art’s Roy Lichtenstein. It was a show with a distinct ‘80s vibe in severely folded coats and dresses. “The history is tremendous.

But we wanted to move it a step forward and see the modern interpretation,” Ashkenazi said. There were some neat looks, like a thick ribbed highnecked sweater in blue. However, some of the vaguely bias-cut shaped furs that were assembled together made the collection feel like it needed further developing. — AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Vionnet Miu Miu

New Balance running customization in new direction

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ew Balance is taking customization much further than choosing colors or other aesthetic details: The athletic brand is introducing a track-specific running shoe that uses 3-D printing to create a plate on the sole of the shoe that is supposed to enhance performance with every step. Athletes are measured on a sensitive track to gauge the direction their

A New Balance shoe from Jack Bolas’ 3D printed plate. — AP foot travels whether its forward or back, left or right, and how it moves; 100 sensors are placed on an insert inside the shoe to measure pressure at different points; and a motion capture system - like the ones used for video games and movies - adds stride and broader movement into the equation. Based on the

biomechanical data, custom spike plates, the part of the shoe that actually connects with the ground, are created.

The new process was first reported by Wired magazine on Wednesday. Right now, this process is only for New Balance elite, sponsored athletes, but, said Katherine Petrecca, the company’s business manager of studio innovation, that will change with time. “The technology is early and our implementation is still really in a very early phase, but you can envision as the technology improves and capacity increases - and cost comes down - the audience who will benefit from customization will just grow and grow and grow. This will get down eventually to the casual athlete.”

Some top runners helped in the development: 1500-meter World Champion gold medalist Jenny Barringer Simpson, 2012 US Olympian Kim Conley, 2012 British Olympian Barbara Parker and All-American runner Jack Bolas. A bonus? The addition of the athlete’s signature to the plate as if they were signing an autograph, noted Chris Wawrousek, studio innovation lead designer. It wasn’t singularly demand or technology that drove the development of the technique, said Wawrousek, studio innovation lead designer, it was the idea that the industry is at a watershed moment, thanks to both demand and technology. “It feels like a new industrial revolution in some ways.

We’re no longer limited by scale to produce a product, and customization can be totally practical,” he said. The athletes themselves were another factor. “It almost never happens that you put an athlete in a shoe, and they don’t have some comment about it,” Wawrousek added. “In this case, we can have an athlete say, ‘This one particular spike is in the wrong place.

Can you move it?’ In this case, we can say, ‘Yes!” — AP

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Clinics Rabiya

24732263

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Prayer timings

SITUATION VACANT

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(C 4337) 5-3-2013

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Asr:

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Maghrib:

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Isha:

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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 Email: kmat077@gmail.com (C 4340) 6-3-2013

CHANGE OF NAME 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.

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Stars

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Aries (March 21-April 19)

If you own your home, the value of your equity may have gone up in the recent past, Aries. Income through land or property is strongly indicated. This is likely to change your life in a subtle but positive way. This is a great time to buy or sell a home. If you’re in the process of doing it now, this is the perfect time to get some of the paperwork prepared.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

A lot of letters, calls, or emails could come your way from all over, Taurus, bringing lots of good news and useful information. Some of it could involve new and innovative opportunities that are of great interest to you. Expect a lot of discussion that could really get your mind going. Write down what seems most promising for you and leave the rest for others.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

An opportunity to earn extra money in a creative way may come today from an unexpected and perhaps even previously unknown source, Gemini. This could come as a surprise, but you’re likely to want to take advantage of it. You could also be the lucky recipient of a financial windfall. Someone who owes you money might suddenly pay you back. This should definitely be a good day for money!

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Your physical and mental energies overflow today, Cancer. You may want to tackle every possible project that could bring advancement along whatever lines you want. Artistic endeavors, group activities, and social events are strong possibilities, so get busy! This should also be an exhilarating day when you accomplish a lot. Enjoy yourself thoroughly while doing it. Go for the gold, and have fun!

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Chances to pursue opportunities to bring whatever creative work you do best to the public could come up today, Leo. This might involve performances, exhibitions, trade shows, or festivals - anything that involves a lot of attention from the public. You will be in the limelight and outshine almost everyone! This is likely to be a lot of fun. It should definitely boost your ego.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

The chance to take a trip by air with friends or members of a group could come your way today, Virgo. This might involve an exhibition of some kind, as well as a chance to advance your knowledge in some way. Both the dissemination and the gathering of information are definitely involved. If you can, make the arrangements today. Whatever the journey, it could make a big difference in your life.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

You could complete some personal projects that involve a lot of paperwork today, Libra. This could increase your income considerably. Past success that has become known in your field could lead to opportunities for future success. This may be job related, but it may also involve your own projects. All signs indicate that success, good fortune, and advancement are in the wind for you.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Opportunities for new partnerships concerning a personal project of yours could come to you from far away, Scorpio. Contracts, agreements, and other legal matters work in your favor, but making sense of them could require concentration. Read the fine print to learn as much as you can. Whatever happens, your life should definitely change in a subtle but positive way. Embrace the change!

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Mundane and perhaps boring tasks could take up much of your morning, Sagittarius, but you will need to get them out of the way so you can move on to more exciting projects. More paperwork might be required in order to get these things started, but you will get it done quickly and efficiently. Keep on plugging along. You’re on the right track!

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

A get-together with a current or potential romantic partner could lead to some stimulating discussions of concepts that interest you both, Capricorn. You could make plans for future enterprises that bring you closer together. This is a good day to advance any relationships that involve mutual intellectual interests. Expect to spend much of your time in bookstores with your friend!

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

Today you might toy with the idea of doing some renovation on your home, perhaps for your enjoyment, but primarily to increase its value, Aquarius. Decorating, landscaping, or both might be on the agenda. A number of possibilities could present themselves, and you will probably spend much time giving each some serious consideration. In the end, you will probably choose the most beautiful!

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Creative energy, especially involving writing or speaking, could overflow today. Ideas could come thick and fast, Pisces, and you might want to phone some friends and discuss your thoughts.

This is probably going to bring even more information your way for your mind to process! Write down what interests you most, and take a walk to clear your head. Tomorrow it should all be clearer to you.

COUNTRY CODES 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 Republic 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 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

Stars

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 1 2 2

ACROSS 1. Large elliptical brightly colored deep-sea fish of Atlantic and Pacific and Mediterranean.

5. Rabbits and hares.

12. Large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male.

15. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

16. Aromatic Eurasian perennial.

17. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

18. The United Nations agency concerned with civil aviation.

19. Artifact consisting of soft or resilient material used to fill or give shape or protect or add comfort.

20. Either extremity of something that has length.

21. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

22. A vivid mental image.

23. Type genus of the Gavidae.

25. The eleventh month of the civil year.

27. The process of gradually becoming inferior.

28. Of or relating to Oman or its people.

29. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

31. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

33. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

34. Toward the mouth or oral region.

37. Generic term for inflammatory conditions of the skin.

41. (Judaism) Not conforming to dietary laws.

46. Evergreen shrubs of north temperate regions.

47. A Spanish American of pure European stock (usually Spanish).

48. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

50. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

51. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

52. An abnormally large amount of this fetoprotein in the fetus can signal an abnormality of the neural tube (as spina bifida or anencephaly).

53. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

54. The azimuth of a celestial body is the angle between the vertical plane containing it and the plane of the meridian.

56. Selected as the best.

60. Tree of low-lying coastal areas of southeastern United States having glossy leaves and racemes of fragrant white flowers.

63. Pertaining to or near the sun.

65. Common house and field crickets.

68. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

69. The sound like water splashing.

72. A town in southeastern New Mexico on the Pecos River near the Mexican border.

75. Water frozen in the solid state.

76. Discharge bad feelings or tension through verbalization, in psychoanalysis.

79. The sixth month of the civil year.

80. Having a toe or toes of a specified kind.

Daily SuDoku

81. Without much difficulty.

82. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

DOWN 1. Of or relating to near the ear.

2. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

3. Jordan's port.

4. 10 hao equal 1 dong.

5. Medication (trade name Lopid) used to lower the levels of triglyceride in the blood.

6. An implement used to erase something.

7. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

8. The cardinal number that is the sum of seven and one.

9. (of weather) Wet by periods of rain.

10. A hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers.

11. Quietly in concealment.

12. Raised above ground level.

13. Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR (1870-1924).

14. A family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in southeastern Asia.

24. Filled with the emotional impact of overwhelming surprise or shock.

26. The visible part of a television transmission.

30. Large west African tree having large palmately lobed leaves and axillary cymose panicles of small white flowers and one-winged seeds.

32. A Mid-Atlantic state.

35. Fleshy and usually brightly colored cover of some seeds that develops from the ovule stalk and partially or entirely envelopes the seed.

36. Young of domestic cattle.

38. Wearing or provided with clothing.

39. Of or relating to walls.

40. Affect with wonder.

42. Loose or flaccid body fat.

43. A populous province in northeastern China.

44. Store in a silo, as of fodder.

45. Of or relating to or obtained from milk (especially sour milk or whey).

49. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

55. The basic unit of money in Cambodia.

57. (of panes of glass) Fixed in place by means of thin strips of lead.

58. A narrative song with a recurrent refrain.

59. Type genus of the Alaudidae.

61. Small tropical American tree bearing edible plumlike fruit.

62. Being one more than two.

64. An accountant certified by the state.

66. A male monarch or emperor (especially of Russia prior to 1917).

67. A French abbot.

70. A thrusting blow with a knife.

71. Queen of the Olympian gods in ancient Greek mythology.

73. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

74. An infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid.

77. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

78. Being ten more than one hundred forty.

Yesterdayʼs Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Sports FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Totti back in Serie A spotlight at 36 TURIN: Some of AS Roma’s players were not even born when Francesco Totti made his debut for the club and the 36year-old shows no signs of stopping after reaching another milestone in his remarkable career. One of the very few one-club players in the modern game, Totti has found a second wind this season as he partners players such as Nicolas Lopez and Alessio Romagnoli, who were both born after he made his Roma debut in March 1993.

There has even been talk of an Italy recall for Totti who has not played for his country since winning the 2006 World Cup. Tributes flowed for Totti after he converted a penalty against Genoa last Sunday to score his 225th Serie A goal to equal Gunnar Nordahl’s total and became joint highest all-time scorer in the league’s history. “Totti is simply a champion and, like all champions, he has unimaginable resources,” said seasoned Italian coach Fabio Capello this week.

“He may have lost a bit of pace, but he has made up for that with astuteness and intelligence,” said the former AC Milan, AS Roma, Real Madrid and England coach, now with Russia. “I was the first to use him in a more advanced attacking role because I realized that his success rate was very high every time he shot at goal. “He can’t play forever but he can still play on for a couple more years. He can’t play in all the games, he has to understand that he can only continue at this standard if he plays in a limited number of matches.”

“But he must realize that he can’t always play; he can only continue at these levels if he appears in a certain amount of matches.”

Playing his 21st full season, Totti has had ups and downs in recent years, partly through injury and occasionally falling out of favour with coaches such as Claudio Ranieri and Luis Enrique.

Although he is not always the easiest of team mates and sullied his reputation by spitting at Denmark’s Christian Poulsen at Euro 2014, he remains an inspiration for his younger team mates and is held up as an example in Italian football. “I had the good fortune to train him for a few months and that was an honour,” said Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, a man known for not tolerat-

ROME: AS Roma’s forward Francesco Totti embraces his children at the end the Italian Serie A football match AS Roma vs Genoa at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. —AFP ing bad behavior, in December. “He is an exemplary professional and is breaking all records at Roma, regardless of age. Totti is a real champion and always manages to achieve his objectives. He’s also a great man.”

Roma, who visit Udinese on Saturday (1945 GMT) have won their last three matches, with Totti scoring in the last two, to climb back up the table under interim coach Aurelio Andreazzoli, who was brought in after the sacking of Zeman Zdenek. That has put them back up to seventh spot with 43 points, five behind third-placed AC Milan who are in the Champions League playoff spot.

Milan, who have hit a purple patch after a difficult start to the season, visit Genoa today (1945) and may struggle to hold

on to third place with Inter Milan and Lazio, who are both one point behind them, enjoying home matches on Sunday.

Inter, boosted by their impressive fightback to win 3-2 at Catania last Sunday, host midtable Bologna (1945) while Lazio are at home to sixth-placed Fiorentina (1945). Juventus, six points clear at the top with 59 points, are at home to Catania (1400), who have been one of the revelations of the championship, while second-placed Napoli (53) are at Chievo (1400). Walter Mazzarri’s team have drawn their last four matches, and their leading scorer Edinson Cavani has failed to hit the target in the last seven games in all competitions.— Reuters

Tottenham aim to pounce with rivals’ backs turned MANCHESTER: Tottenham Hotspur will seek to take advantage of their rivals’ FA Cup distractions this weekend by gaining ground in the race for Champions League football with a rare victory at Liverpool.

With Premier League leaders Manchester United, second-placed champions Manchester City and fourth-placed Chelsea in cup action and fifth-placed Arsenal’s next league game not until March 16, Spurs can go two points behind the runners-up spot. Andre Villas-Boas’ side, in buoyant mood after a 2-1 victory over bitter rivals Arsenal in last weekend’s north London derby at White Hart Lane, have 54 points from 28 games with City on 59 and

United leading the way with 71.

Spurs mean business having lost out on a Champions League place last season when fourth place was unusually not enough because Chelsea, who finished sixth, took the last of England’s four places by winning Europe’s elite club competition. The fact Tottenham lost out on third spot to bitter rivals Arsenal also stung after they looked certain of a top-three finish for much of the season before a late collapse.

“The most important thing is to be in the Champions League next season and I think we have to keep our ambition,” local media quoted Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris as saying. “It will be a very difficult game but

very exciting game in Anfield... Liverpool are playing maybe the best football in the Premier League at this moment.” Spurs face a challenge to take the points away from Anfield on Sunday, having won there only twice in the Premier League. Seventhplaced Liverpool should have England striker Daniel Sturridge back from a thigh injury as they seek to jump above city rivals Everton and close within two points of Arsenal. “We are finally starting to show some consistency and that’s what we need,” Liverpool centre-back Daniel Agger told the Liverpool Echo. “It’s vital we keep playing this way and try to get as high as possible in the league.—Reuters

Optimism in China despite scandals and Drogba’s exit BEIJING: Despite the echoes of a huge corruption scandal and Didier Drogba’s short-lived stay, a sense of cautious optimism pervades long-suffering Chinese football as the new season starts this week.

Following last year’s failed experiments with Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, blockbuster signings have given way to the more sustainable model of focusing on existing stars and emerging talent. And pundits say the Chinese Super League (CSL), which gets underway today, looks set finally to make its mark on the international stage and end China’s 23-year wait for a continental title.

Ivory Coast international Drogba and former France striker Anelka raised hopes that cash-rich Chinese football was about to hit the big time when they arrived last season. However, both left Shanghai Shenhua in January. Last year’s hype reached its apex when David Beckham was seriously tipped for the CSL. Beckham will appear this year-but only as a paid “ambassador” for the league, a move which received a mixed reaction from fans.

Domestic sides have been noticeably more cautious in the transfer market in the run-up to this season, quietly building their teams around established top names or young Chinese talent. Many believe the conservative approach, coupled with a renewed attempt to draw a line under the wide-ranging match-fixing probe, whose final punishments were handed out in February, is reason for optimism.

“While Drogba and Anelka leaving is bad, there are many reasons to be positive about the new season,” Yan Qiang, vice-president of Titan Media, one of China’s leading sports publishers said. “It is important not to forget that Shanghai Shenhua is just one club in China.”

Shenhua will start the season on minus six points, and stripped of their 2003 league title, as punishment for their part in the match-rigging affair, which left 33 players banned and senior officials in jail. “I have told them that our goal is to avoid relegation. We have to fight each game as a fateful match because we don’t have any leeway,” said Zhu Jun, Shenhua’s colorful owner, according to the China Daily.

Deep-pocketed Guangzhou Evergrande, managed

by World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi and staffed by a bevy of foreign stars, will aim to cement their reputation as one of Asia’s top sides with their third straight Chinese title. Last season’s double-winners already look in impressive form after they swept aside Urawa Red Diamonds 3-0 in their first AFC Champions League game last week. Brazilian forward Muriqui and Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios played starring roles against the J-League side, with Guangzhou hotly tipped to become China’s first Asian champions since Liaoning in 1990.

Jiangsu Sainty, also in the Champions League, have based their success on home-grown talent, and Serbian coach Dragan Okuka is continuing to develop the club’s youth strategy as he attempts to build on last year’s second place. Third placed Beijing Guoan signed former Dalian Aerbin coach Aleksandar Stanojevic in hope that he can get the best out of under-performing former Premier League striker Freddie Kanoute and Ecuadorian Joffre Guerron.

In contrast with last season’s headline-grabbing deals, Dalian Aerbin made the most high-profile signing in the Chinese top tier, with the addition of French international striker Guillaume Hoarau, 29, from Paris Saint-Germain. Shenhua, after last year’s experiences with Drogba and Anelka, have opted for a different strategy entirely by signing the likes of 40-year-old defender Rolando Schiavi and fellow Argentine Patricio Toranzo, who plays in midfield.—AFP

Sports FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Sheikh Salman honors Arab shooters Bhutan Crown Prince tours Olympic Shooting Complex

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The Amir Second International Shooting Grand Prix and the Arab shooting championship continued yesterday with five events. At the end of yesterday’s event, Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah honored the Arab shooters who won Olympic medals. They include Sheikh Ahmad AlMaktoom who won the double Trap gold medal in Athens 2004 Olympic games; Fuhaid Al-Diahni who won the bronze medal in Sydney 2000 Olympic games and the Trap bronze medal in the London 2012 Olympic games, and Nasser Alatiya who won Skeet bronze medal in the London 2012 games.

Tomorrow will mark the closing day of the championship.

Meanwhile the Crown Prince of Bhutan Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck visited the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex yesterday. He was received by President of the Arab Shooting Federation, Vice-president of Kuwait Shooting Federation, and board members of Kuwait Shooting Club. Prince Wangchuck practiced shooting at the 10m pistol shooting range.

The results of yesterday’s events are as follows: 10m air pistol women: 1. Zoorana Arunovic from Serbia 2. Annu Raj Singh from India 3. Bobana Velickovic from Serbia.

3. Abdulrahman Al-Faihan from Kuwait Men’s team Trap event: 1.Kuwait: Fuhaid Al-Daibani, Abdulrahman Al-Faihan, Khaled AlMudhaf.

2. Morocco: Zakaria Kettary, Chakib Chaaouch, Younes Haj Ali. 3.Egypt: Hassan Korey, Ahmad Kamar, Ahmad Zaher.

50m rifle -women 1. Andrea Arsovic from Serbia 2. Alexandra Malinovskaya from Kazakhstan 3. Ivana Maksimovic from Serbia Trap men results: 1. Saud Almeqland from Kuwait 2. Nasser Almeqland from Kuwait 3. Bostjan Macek from Slovania Arab championship results Trap men individual event 1. Elie Bejjani from Lebanon 2. Zakaria Kettary from Morocco

Barcelona in dire need of recovery BARCELONA: In dire need of recovering its confidence and dominant form, Barcelona couldn’t have asked for a better opponent than Spanish league struggler Deportivo La Coruna as it prepares for a critical Champions League match against AC Milan. Three days after tomorrow’s home game against Deportivo, Barcelona will host Milan with the daunting task of overturning a 2-0 deficit in the second leg of the last 16. With back-to-back losses to Real Madrid, and the defeat at Milan, Barcelona is mired in its worst run of results in

Barcelona’s Argentinean forward Lionel Messi

major games since before former coach Pep Guardiola started the club’s winning era in 2008.

“We come from major defeats and we should all give more to change the situation,” said Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who will be aiming to extend his league record of scoring in 16 straight matches. “We know that the match against Milan will be key to helping us make important changes.” Barcelona is on course to reclaim the league title with an 11-point lead over nearest chaser Atletico Madrid. But to boost its prospects against Milan, it must find its attacking flair and shore up its defense tomorrow. While Barcelona’s attack has sputtered in recent games, its defense has been even worse by conceding goals in its last 13 matches.

Deportivo is in last place and eight points from salvation, and has yet to win away from home this season in 13 tries. “Barcelona has had some results they didn’t expect and you never know if that means it’s better or worse to play them now,” veteran Deportivo midfielder Juan Carlos Valeron said.

“We won’t waste our opportunities, even though we know it will be tough. They have an important game this week so maybe we have options to get a good result.” Malaga has a more difficult runup to its Champions League match against FC Porto on Wednesday when it must come back from a 1-0 loss in the first leg to advance to the quarterfinals. Malaga visits Valladolid tomorrow and needs a victory to ensure it holds onto fourth place and the last Champions League spot for next season, although its focus will likely be on this year’s European campaign with it facing a one-season ban from UEFA competitions for not paying wages and taxes on time.

Malaga is winless in its last two league matches besides also losing at Porto. “First, we are thinking about our game against Valladolid,” said Malaga defender Vitorino Antunes, who joined in the winter market to replace Nacho Monreal after he left for Arsenal.

“We want to get back to winning in the Spanish league to get as many points as possible and then we will have time to think about Porto.” Sunday features the most highly anticipated match of the weekend between Atletico and surging Real Sociedad.

Atletico’s perfect record of 13 wins in 13 league games at Vicente

Calderon Stadium will be tested by a Sociedad side that is playing some of the best attacking football in the league. The Basque club is challenging for a top-four finish after having lost just once in its last 16 games. The match promises to be a contest of differing styles, pitting Atletico’s more physical unit and striker Radamel Falcao against the free-flowing play of Sociedad and forward Carlos Vela.

Madrid visits relegation-threatened Celta Vigo on Sunday in third place, 13 points behind Barcelona, despite its win over the Catalan side last weekend. Celta beat Madrid 2-1 in the Copa del Rey in December, before succumbing in the second leg, but the greatest danger Jose Mourinho’s team should face is a let down after its dramatic elimination of Manchester United from the Champions League on Tuesday. —AP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

Spanish League Real Betis v Osasuna Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

23:30

Italian League Genoa v AC Milan Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

22:45

French League Stade Rennes v Saint Etienne Aljazeera Sport +4

22:30

Sports FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

No time for Valencia self-pity after Europe exit MADRID: Cash-strapped Valencia have little time to waste wallowing in self-pity after Wednesday’s Champions League elimination at Paris St Germain and must focus on qualifying for next season’s edition of Europe’s lucrative elite club competition. Ernesto Valverde’s side made a valiant effort to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg, taking a 55th-minute lead against the wealthy Qatar-backed French club through Jonas.

PSG struck back 11 minutes later when a mistake in midfield led to Ezequiel Lavezzi’s leveler and Valencia were unable

to breach the home side’s defenses again and exited 3-2 on aggregate. “We are sad because we played well even though we needed to create more chances,” Jonas told reporters. “We hope the fans will get behind us between now and the end of the season so we can return to the Champions League,” added the Brazilian forward. Valencia are fifth in La Liga with 12 matches of the season remaining, a point behind Malaga who occupy Spain’s fourth and final Champions League berth.

Getting back into the competition next term is particularly important for the club,

one of many in La Liga struggling to stay afloat after years of financial struggles.

Rather than splurging hundreds of millions of euros on top players like PSG, Valencia have been forced to offload key performers like David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata. They are now effectively owned by the regional government after the club’s foundation was unable to keep up with payments on a bank loan guaranteed by the Valencia administration that was used to buy a stake in the club.

In the 2010-11 season, Valencia had debts of almost 400 million euros ($520

million), according to a recent study by an accounting professor at the University of Barcelona, while a new stadium under construction has been left half built.

Valencia visit Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday (1100 GMT) and will need to show more punch in attack against the Basques than they managed in Paris on Wednesday. “We were lacking in clarity in the final part of the pitch, in electricity and speed,” Valverde said. “We are a bit down but we know that the team played well and we are leaving with heads held high despite the elimination.” — Reuters

Questions arise; PSG book Champions League last 16 PARIS: Questions remain as to how good Paris St Germain are after the big-spending Ligue 1 leaders enjoyed a relatively easy ride into the quarterfinals of the Champions League. PSG reached the last eight for the first time in 18 years, squeezing past Valencia 3-2 on aggregate with a 1-1 home draw on Wednesday having only for about 10 minutes looked in danger of being knocked out.

Valencia went 1-0 up courtesy of Jonas’s strike in the 55th minute but Ezequiel Lavezzi equalized in the 66th minute. The club has spent 200 million euros on transfers since Qatar investors took over in 2011 so expectation is high, but despite their place in the last eight, PSG have yet to be really tested. They played Porto, Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Zagreb in their group games, winning five of the six matches. The defeat was a 1-0 loss at Porto.

“I do not know if we can go all the way,” said Coach Carlo Ancelotti, who took over from Antoine Kombouare in Dec. 2011. “At the beginning of the competition, nobody knew what we could do. Reaching the quarter-finals on the first year is something fantastic.” PSG’s undeniable qualities are offset by worrying shortcomings when it comes to inspiration. They rely on a backbone of goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu, centre back Thiago Silva, midfielder Blaise Matuidi and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Sirigu has been solid since joining from Palermo in 2011, former AC Milan defender Thiago has shown stunning composure and France international Matuidi is, according to Ancelotti, “one of the best midfielders in Europe”.

Ibrahimovic has netted 22 goals from 24 games in Ligue 1 but was suspended on Wednesday and his creative spirit was sorely missed as PSG looked short of ideas up front despite Javier Pastore’s efforts. As usual, PSG surrendered possession, with Valencia enjoying almost 65 per cent of it, a statistic they would expect to pay dearly for against the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus or Barcelona should they qualify.

“We experienced several problems during this game,” midfielder Clement Chantome conceded.

“We did not play a great game but the most important thing was to qualify for the quarterfinals,” said striker Kevin Gameiro, whose dazzling run led to Lavezzi’s equaliser. The draw will be made on March 15 and PSG could get a favorable tie against the likes of Schalke 04, Galatasaray or Malaga. “We know that if we want to play the final, we will have to beat big teams anyway,” said Chantome. — Reuters

TURIN: Celtic’s defender Beram Kayal fights for the ball with Juventus’ midfielder of Ghana Kwadwo Asamoah (back) during the Champions League match Juventus vs Celtic FC on March 6, 2013. — AFP

Juventus still see themselves a rung below Europe’s elite TURIN: Juventus, traditionally one of Europe’s biggest clubs, are back in the last eight of the Champions League but coach Antonio Conte does not want them seen in the same light as Barcelona or Bayern Munich. Conte has recognized that the 28-times Italian champions and twice European champions cannot compete financially with clubs from Spain, Italy or England, even if results on the field have been just as good, if not better. Conte himself won a Champions League medal with Juventus during his 13-year playing career with them, and they also finished as runners-up three times while he was at the club. Having bounced back after the Caliopoli matchfixing scandal, which saw them stripped of their 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles and demoted to the second tier, Juventus now face a different reality on their return to the quarter-finals following a seven-year wait.

Twice European champions, fivetimes runners-up, Cup Winners Cup winners on one occasion and UEFA Cup champions three times, they no longer find themselves mentioned in the same

breath as Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern. “When I played, there were not so many well-structured clubs, and there were more opportunities for Italian teams to be successful,” Conte told reporters after Juve beat Celtic 2-0 on Wednesday to complete a 5-0 aggregate win in the last 16 tie.

“Now, for a variety of reasons, mainly financial, teams such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich are stronger. “We must be humble, be aware that we can no longer bridge that economic gap. We are three of four steps below them but it doesn’t mean we can’t compete with them. “At the end, it’s about two teams with 11 players, a pitch and a referee.”

Juventus are not Europe’s most stylish team but Conte, still in only his second season in charge, has turned them into a formidable outfit, who hassle the opposition incessantly in midfield and break forward at breakneck speed when they win possession.

POGBA PROMISE Conte habitually fields a three-man defence and a five man midfield where

the majestic Andrea Pirlo, whose role as a deep-lying playmaker makes him a rarity in modern football, pulls the strings.

Fleet-footed teenager Paul Pogba, who played alongside Pirlo on Wednesday, is showing every sign that he can eventually replace the 33-year-old. Juventus are at their most dangerous when they break forward with raking diagonal passes from their midfield for any one of their speedy forwards to chase.

Combative Chilean Arturo Vidal is another key figure on the right of the midfield. Conte always fields a two-man front line, rotating between any two of Fabio Quagliarella, Sebastian Giovinco, Alessandro Matri and Mirko Vucinic. With the talismanic Gianluigi Buffon in goal, their three-man defense has not conceded a goal in their last five European games and they have not been beaten in Europe in their last 18 outings. “They have a great work ethic about them,” said admiring Celtic manager Neil Lennon. “They don’t have the flamboyance of Barcelona but they work very for each other, they have great balance and they are always a threat going forward. — Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

SCOREBOARD DUNEDIN: Scoreboard at stumps yesterday on the second day of the first cricket test between New Zealand and England at the University Oval: England, 1st Innings Alastair Cook c Rutherford b Wagner 10 Nick Compton b Southee 0 Jonathan Trott c Boult c Martin 45 Kevin Pietersen lbw b Wagner 0 Ian Bell c Rutherford b Wagner 24 Joe Root c Brownlie b Boult 4 Matt Prior c Williamson b Martin 23 Stuart Broad c Brownlie b Martin 10 Steven Finn c Rutherford b Wagner 20 James Anderson c Wagner b Martin 23 Monty Panesar not out 1 Extras (4b, 1lb, 2w) 7 TOTAL (All out) 167 Overs: 55. Batting time: 244 minutes.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-18, 3-18, 4-64, 5-71, 6-108, 7109, 8-119, 9-166, 10-167.

Bowling: Tim Southee 15-3-45-1, Trent Boult 15-4-321 (1w), Neil Wagner 11-2-42-4 (1w), Bruce Martin 144-43-4.

New Zealand, 1st Innings Peter Fulton not out 46 Hamish Rutherford not out 77 Extras (8lb) 8 TOTAL (Without loss) 131 Overs: 42. Batting time: 180 minutes.

Fall of wickets: Still to bat: Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Dean Brownlie, Brendon McCullum, B.J. Watling, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner, Bruce Martin.

Bowling: James Anderson 9-1-35-0, Steven Finn 12-235-0, Stuart Broad 10-1-23-0, Monty Panesar 8-1-260, Jonathan Trott 2-0-4-0, Joe Root 1-1-0-0.

Tokyo ‘quake and nuke safe’ for 2020 Olympics TOKYO: Organizers of Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics said yesterday the Japanese capital was safe, despite fears of earthquakes and the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011. A 14-member IOC team, evaluating bids by Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul for the event, heard presentations on security, medical services and environment on the final day of a four-day inspection tour. “I have explained there is no problem at all regarding Tokyo’s air, water and food,” Teruyuki Ohno, director of environmental affairs at the municipal government, told reporters.

A massive earthquake-sparked tsunami crashed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, some 220 kilometers north of Tokyo, two years ago on Monday, sending reactors into meltdown. Radiation was released into the environment, forcing tens of thousands of people to abandon their homes in surrounding areas. But the government says the units are now under control. In its candidature file sent to the IOC in January, Tokyo said radiation levels in Tokyo were “well within” international safety standards. It also underlined how a strict construction code makes buildings in Tokyo highly resistant to big earthquakes and that the Bay of Tokyo is semi-enclosed largely mitigating the impact of any tsunami.

Tokyo’s bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics enjoys “strong” government, business and public support, IOC vice president Craig Reedie said yesterday at the end of a four-day inspection tour. “We have been hugely impressed by the quality of bid presentations by the bid committee.

Across the board, it has been excellent in every way,” the former head of the British Olympic Association told a news conference. Reedie was heading a 14-member team from the International Olympic Committee evaluation commission tasked with scrutinizing bids by Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul for the multi-billion dollar sporting extravaganza.

“We have witnessed the strong government support which the bid enjoys,” Reedie said, citing the presence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ministers in some presentations. —Agencies

NZ take honors after dismissing England Wagner, Martin grab four wickets each

DUNEDIN: New Zealand’s Hamish Rutherford misses a catch off of England’s captain Alastair Cook during day two of the first international cricket Test match between New Zealand and England played at the University Oval Park in Dunedin yesterday. — AFP DUNEDIN: Openers Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton capitalized on the cheap dismissal of England by guiding New Zealand to 131 without loss at close of play on the second day of the first test yesterday. Seamer Neil Wagner and spinner Bruce Martin had earlier taken four wickets apiece to shock England by dismissing the misfiring tourists for 167 in less than two sessions at University Oval.

Rutherford finished the day 77 not out in his first test innings, while the Fulton had made 46 in his first test since 2009 and New Zealand will resume today needing just another 37 runs to take a first innings lead. The opening batsmen made a nervous start against fired up pacemen James Anderson and Steve Finn with Fulton looking particularly tentative, pushing at the ball away from his body rather than getting behind the line.

He settled, though, and when he hit successive boundaries off Anderson in the seventh over, England’s Barmy Army of supporters sparked into life in an attempt to inspire their team. The first “Barmy Army!” chants of the three-

test series only resulted in Rutherford twice slapping Finn through the covers to the boundary, however. The pair went on to post New Zealand’s first opening stand of more than 100 in 11 tests and ensured the home side took the honors on the first day of action after all play on Wednesday was washed out by rain.

Wagner had set the tone for a good day for the hosts by blasting the top off England’s vaunted batting order with three wickets - including captain Alastair Cook (10) and Kevin Pietersen in successive deliveries. “Today was one of those days where it didn’t really feel that great but things just happened,” a beaming Wagner told reporters after posting career-best figures of four for 42. “I bowled a wide half tracker to Cook and he hit it straight to point. “It’s one of those days. You get freakish days in cricket where you bowl well and field well but nothing happens and you end up taking 1-100. “Other days you feel not really that good and you get wickets and it just happens to you.” England went into lunch at 81 for five and Martin, making his debut at the age of

32, drove home the advantage in the first hour after the break by claiming a trio of wickets for himself. Anderson and Finn provided some late order resistance with a 47-run partnership but Wagner ended the stand when the latter was caught in the deep by Rutherford for 20. Martin triggered an early tea break by wrapping up the innings when Wagner caught Anderson for 23 to give the left-arm spinner figures of four for 43 from 14 overs.

New Zealand’s attack was tidy without being overly penetrating and England’s batsmen were largely the architects of their own downfall.

Jonathan Trott top-scored with 45 but, like Cook, Ian Bell (24), Joe Root (four) and Matt Prior (23), he fell to a false shot. “We just didn’t play well,” said Trott. “The shots were on we just didn’t execute them right. The shots were there and I can’t fault the shot, I can fault the execution. “It didn’t go our way and New Zealand played better than us on the day. We’re going to have to play well to get back into the game.” — Reuters

Confident Bangladesh eye first Sri Lankan win COLOMBO: Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is confident that his team can take advantage of a depleted Sri Lankan squad and secure a maiden test win over their opponents in the two-match series starting in Galle today. “Sri Lanka is a good team but it’s not impossible to win against them,” Mushfiqur told reporters yesterday. “Our younger players are coming through very well and we are very confident that if they put their hands up in the field we’ll have a competitive test series.” Bangladesh has played Sri Lanka in 12 tests since 2001 and lost all of them.

Mushfiqur’s confidence is borne by the fact that their main tormentor of the past, off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, is not around to bamboozle their batsmen.

Muralitharan, who retired from test cricket in 2010 with a record haul of 800 test wickets, is the leading wicket-taker for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh with 89 wickets from 11 tests. Sri Lanka are also without two of their experienced middle order batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene (injury) and Thilan

Samaraweera, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka will be led by a new skipper in Angelo Mathews, who will become the youngest to lead his country in a test match at the age of 25 years. “The most important thing for us is to have a balance in the team with seniors and youngsters. I am sure the youngsters will take the opportunity and use it to the maximum,” Mathews said. “Bangladesh are here to play some good cricket and we cannot treat them lightly.”

The good news for Sri Lanka is that top-order batsman Kumar Sangakkara has been declared fit and will play his first competitive match in almost three months. Sangakkara suffered a fracture on his left index finger when he was hit by a ball from Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson during the Boxing Day test in Melbourne and has been recovering from the injury since. The only other experienced batsman in the side, which is filled with youngsters, is opener Tillakaratne Dilshan. — Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Schiavone books showdown with Sharapova INDIAN WELLS: Former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone defeated fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday to book a clash with second-seeded Maria Sharapova at the BNP Paribas Open. Schiavone, the 2010 Roland Garros winner, improved to 5-2 against Pennetta, who has only recently returned from wrist surgery.

The all-Italian clash was among 16 first-round women’s matches on the opening day of the combined ATP Masters and WTA hard court tournament, in which the 32 men’s and 32 women’s seeds enjoy first-round byes. Defending champion Victoria Azarenka is the top women’s seed.

The Australian Open champion from Belarus arrives at Indian Wells unbeaten in 14 matches this year and in the second round will face the winner of yesterday’s match between two-time Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and France’s Stephanie Foretz Gacon.

Other former Indian Wells champions in the women’s field are former topranked players Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and Serbians Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic will face a tough second-round clash against two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who needed just 71 minutes to beat Czech Andrea Hlavackova 6-3, 6-1.

Kuznetsova, winner of the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, is on the comeback trail after a knee injury that put her on crutches for two months, followed by weeks of rehabilitation that saw her miss every tournament after Wimbledon last year. Once ranked as high as second in the world, Kuznetsova dropped to 85th but has climbed back to 46th with quarter-final appearances at Sydney and in the Australian Open.

“I’m happy to be back on the court.

This is the main thing,” said Kuznetsova, who was runner-up at Indian Wells in 2007 and 2008. “Every day I just try the best I can and things are coming along pretty well.”

Blackhawks extend points streak, wining 11th straight Ducks blank Coyotes 2-0 CHICAGO: Daniel Carcillo scored the tiebreaking goal with 49.3 seconds left and the Chicago Blackhawks won their 11th consecutive game, beating the Colorado Avalanche 32 on Wednesday night to extend the best start in NHL history. Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw also scored for Chicago (21-0-3), which reached the halfway point of a lockout-shortened season without losing in regulation. The remarkable Blackhawks have earned at least one point in their first 24 games, an NHL record. Dating back to last year’s regular season, the streak is 30 games. The Blackhawks broke the previous team record for consecutive wins with their 10th in a row Tuesday night, 5-3 over Minnesota. Chicago’s overall points streak is the secondlongest during one season in NHL history. The 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers set the league record at 35 games with a 25-0-10 run. John Mitchell and Matt Duchene scored for Colorado, which has lost six of seven. Ray Emery made 20 saves for the Blackhawks to improve to 10-0.

DUCKS 2, COYOTES 0 Jonas Hiller faced only 18 shots in his first shutout of the season, Corey Perry scored in the first period and Anaheim beat Phoenix for its ninth consecutive victory at home. The teams met for the third straight time in a five-day span, following a pair of 5-4 shootout victories by the Coyotes in Phoenix on Saturday and Monday. The Ducks have the second-best record in the NHL at 16-3-3 and still trail the astounding Chicago Blackhawks by 10 points. Anaheim’s start is tied for the best in franchise history after 22 games.

The team began its 2006-07 Stanley Cup championship season 15-2-5. Jason LaBarbera made 22 saves for Phoenix, one of them on a penalty shot by Andrew Cogliano. Ryan Getzlaf scored into an empty net with 21 seconds to play.

MAPLE LEAFS 5, SENATORS 4 Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists to help Toronto hold off Ottawa in a game highlighted by a knockout punch from Frazer McLaren. Only 26 seconds into the latest installment of the Battle of Ontario, the Toronto tough guy decked Dave Dziurzynski when he caught the Ottawa forward flush with a right to the chin, sending him face down to the ice. A woozy Dziurzynski was slow getting up and eventually needed help from two teammates to skate off. Dziurzynski did not return, and the Senators said he had a concussion. He logged a total of 3 seconds in his 10th NHL game. Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who won their third straight. They built leads of 3-0 and 5-2 before Ottawa scored twice in the final 8 minutes. Jay McClement and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Maple Leafs. James Reimer made 39 saves in his sixth consecutive victory. Mika Zibanejad, Zack Smith, Daniel Alfredsson and Colin

TORONTO: Korbinian Holzer #55 of the Toronto Maple Leafs checks Kyle Turris #7 of the Ottawa Senators during NHL game action at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. — AFP Greening had the goals for Ottawa, which lost its fourth in a row and dropped to 3-7-2 on road. The Senators are 9-1-2 at home.

FLAMES 4, SHARKS 1 Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves in his return from a knee injury to lead Calgary over San Jose. Blake Comeau scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period. Jarome Iginla, Roman Cervenka and Curtis Glencross (into an empty net) also scored for the Flames, who improved to 4-1-1 in their last six games. Joe Thornton had the only goal for the Sharks, who are 2-6-1 in their last nine. Kiprusoff, who began his NHL career with the Sharks 12 years ago, returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with a sprained knee. Calgary went 6-5-2 during his absence.

Comeau’s first goal this year was just his second in the last 41 games, dating to last season. — AP

US wild card Maria Sanchez, ranked 112th in the world, defeated Russian Olga Puchkova 6-3, 6-3 to line up a second-round meeting with third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. World No 1 Novak Djokovic and defending champion Roger Federer are the top two seeds in a men’s field that also includes Scotland’s Andy Murray and Spain’s Rafael Nadal. It’s the first tournament to feature the “big four” of men’s tennis since last year’s Wimbledon, and the spotlight will be squarely on Nadal as he plays his fourth tournament-and his first on hard courtssince ending a seven-month injury layoff in February. — AFP

Azarenka driven by new memories, not past glories INDIAN WELLS: For a second successive year, Victoria Azarenka brings red-hot form to Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open but the confident Belarusian has no desire to reflect on past glories. Rather than look for motivation in a perfect 14-0 record in 2013 as she prepares to defend her title at a venue where she feels extremely comfortable, Azarenka prefers to focus on the present in her bid to create even better memories.

“I never think about how I played yesterday and trying to bring good memories with me too much because it doesn’t really matter,” world number two Azarenka, 23, told reporters at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Wednesday. “I prefer to make new memories. You always remember when you win the good things that happened, you never remember how you couldn’t make a forehand or you couldn’t make a backhand at a tournament. “So for me, I am really excited to be here and hopefully I will continue to play well. I always look forwards to my first match and we’ll start from there.”

Twelve months ago, Azarenka clinched her fourth title of the year with a 6-2 6-3 demolition of an errorprone Maria Sharapova in the final of the Indian Wells WTA tournament, improving her record for the season to 23-0. That unbeaten run eventually ended at 26-0, the best start to a season since Swiss Martina Hingis recorded 37 consecutive victories to launch her 1997 campaign. Fast forward one year and Azarenka is back at it again after successfully defending her Australian Open crown in January before going on to win last month’s Qatar Open by outclassing Serena Williams 7-6 2-6 6-3 in the final.

PURPLE PATCH Asked to compare her glittering early form this season to the purple patch she delivered last year, Azarenka smiled: “I don’t compare my form. I try to just improve my form. “I have improved a little bit in all areas - in my movement, hitting shots, being more aggressive, my serve and my return. I am such a perfectionist all the time that I always try to work on everything because I feel like I have room to improve. “And that’s what excites me even more, knowing that I have that ability to improve more. But you can’t just jump in improvement. If I can improve one, two or three percent in every area, it’s good for me and then I will try to build from there.” Asked what goals she had set this year, Azarenka replied: “The ultimate goal is try to make it to the (season-ending) WTA Championships, that shows your consistency during the year. But my main priority, my focus, is on the grand slams.” —Reuters

Sports FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

Magic overwhelmed by Heat LeBron’s late layup stretches Heat win streak to 16

Woods in a ‘better shape’ DORAL: With so much talk about quitting in the middle of a round, Tiger Woods brings his own perspective. If he had not walked off the course in the middle of the final round at Doral last year, he might not have gone on to win three times on the PGA Tour. In one of the most surprising - certainly the quickest - turnarounds in his career, Woods hit his tee shot on the 12th hole last year on the Blue Monster, shook hands with Webb Simpson, walked to a cart and was driven to the parking lot. He was 3-over for the round and 10 shots out of the lead. He said later in a statement that his left Achilles tendon was sore, the same one that caused him to miss almost the entire summer of 2011, including a pair of majors. Two weeks later, he won at Bay Hill for his first PGA Tour win in more than two years. Woods said he was worried that if he didn’t stop, the Achilles would get so bad he would have to take more time off, similar to his poor decision in 2011 to compete in The Players Championship. He withdrew after nine holes at The Players. If he had skipped that event, he might not have missed those two majors.

“It was a point that if I kept going, then yeah, I could have pushed it to that point,” Woods said. “So I learned my lesson from The Players and I didn’t do it. And consequently I was able to go on and win the next tournament I played in, which was Bay Hill.” Rory McIlroy left the Honda Classic for other reasons. He was frustrated by the way he was playing. He was fed up with not getting the results he wanted, and with his swing not being in the position it needed to be. He felt the burden of living up to the expectations of being the No 1 player. He wanted out.

Only after he had driven off from PGA National, and then compounded the error by claiming he had a sore wisdom tooth, did McIlroy realize his mistake. He has spent the last five days doing damage control, giving an interview to Sports Illustrated ahead of his Wednesday news conference to soften the criticism. He apologized. He explained the source of his frustration. He promised to never do it again. European Tour official Michael Gibbons introduced him by suggesting he immediately discuss his disappointment ... of Manchester United losing on Wednesday. “I gave myself a red card last week,” McIlroy said, referring to Nani getting a red card and Man U having only 10 players the rest of the way in a loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The difference is, McIlroy left on his own. “I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t the right thing to do,” McIlroy said. “No matter how bad I was playing, I should have stayed out there.

I should have tried to shoot the best score possible even though it probably wasn’t going to be good enough to make the cut. At that point in time, I was just all over the place. ... It was a mistake, and everyone makes mistakes and I’m learning from them. I guess some people have the pleasure of making mistakes in private. Most of my mistakes are in the public eye.

“It’s over now and it won’t happen again.” He did well to repair the damage to his reputation, which to that point had been nearly flawless. The next step is his golf, which might be a bit tougher to fix. And it comes on a big stage. This World Golf Championship has a 65-man field composed of players who are either in the top 50 in the world ranking or were leaders on the money list from tours around the world. It’s so strong that all but a dozen players are already in the Masters.

There’s no cut, assuring McIlroy his first 72-hole event this year. But he’ll be playing with Woods and Luke Donald, Nos. 1-2-3 in the world. Already this year, McIlroy has missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, lost in the first round of the Match Play Championship and quit after 26 holes of the Honda Classic.

Woods had some sound advice, unrelated to health or frustration with form. It was about the grind of golf. “We play week after week,” Woods said after nine holes of practice on the Blue Monster. “Once one week ends, you have to move on the next one. — AP

MIAMI: LeBron James scored 26 points, including a go-ahead layup with 3.2 seconds left, and the Miami Heat scrambled late to beat the Orlando Magic 97-96 on Wednesday night and extend their franchise-record winning streak to 16 games. Dwyane Wade scored 24 points and Chris Bosh added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who blew a 20point, second-half lead and then rallied from a five-point deficit in the final minutes. Nic Vucevic had 25 points and 21 rebounds for the Magic, who got 16 points apiece from Jameer Nelson and Tobias Harris, 13 from Arron Afflalo and 12 from Maurice Harkless.

CLIPPERS 117, BUCKS 101 Blake Griffin had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his third career triple-double, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 117-101 on Wednesday night for their 10th win in 13 games. Jamal Crawford had 25 points and Matt Barnes added 20, while Chris Paul had 14 points and nine assists to help the Pacific Division leaders improve to 24-7 at home. Monta Ellis scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half and Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points for the Bucks, whose four-game winning streak ended as they fell to 1-12 in Los Angeles against the Clippers since the 2000-01 season.

Brandon Jennings hit five 3-pointers for 18 points and 12 assists.

The Clippers opened the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead and quickly extended it to 108-91. Barnes sandwiched 3s around consecutive baskets

by Eric Bledsoe, who also hit a 3. Griffin capped the spurt with a thunderous dunk off Crawford’s alley-oop pass after the guard went streaking to the basket and passed the ball between his legs before finding Griffin. That move got the crowd on its feet roaring heading into a timeout. Griffin’s assists were a career high and helped him record his first triple-double since March 23, 2011, when he had 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists against Washington. He notched the triple-double by grabbing a miss by JJ Redick with about six minutes left in the game, and checked out to a standing ovation with 3:55 remaining.

CELTICS 83, PACERS 81 Kevin Garnett found Jeff Green all alone under the basket for a layup with 0.5 seconds remaining to finish off a fourth-quarter comeback from 14 points down, giving Boston the victory over Indiana. Garnett led the Celtics with 18 points and 10 rebounds and dragged Boston back after it trailed most of the final three quarters. Green had 11 points off the bench. Paul George scored 16 points for the Pacers, who had all five starters in double figures. David West added 11 points and 16 rebounds, and George Hill finished with 14 points.

CAVALIERS 104, JAZZ 101 Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and made all the big plays down the stretch, rallying Cleveland to the victory over Utah. The Cavs trailed 100-92 with less than three minutes left before Irving took over. He scored eight points, made a steal and assisted on Wayne

MIAMI: Orlando Magic’s Jameer Nelson (middle) looks to pass against Miami Heat’s LeBron James (left) and Chris Bosh (1) during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game in Miami. — AP Ellington’s dunk as Cleveland stormed back to stun the Jazz. Irving added 10 assists in his second game back after missing three with a hyperextended knee. Tristan Thompson had 16 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, which trailed by 12 in the fourth. Gordon Hayward scored 25 and Enes Kanter had 17 for the Jazz, who have lost five of six.

NETS 99, BOBCATS 78 Deron Williams had 20 points and eight assists, Joe Johnson added 22 points, and Brooklyn got a needed win after losing two straight and four of its last five. The Nets trailed by 10 at the half, but opened the third quarter with a 21-6 run led by Williams and Johnson, and never looked back. The Bobcats managed just nine points in the third quarter on 3-of-19 shooting and were outscored 56-25 in the second half to lose their eighth straight game. Reggie Evans grabbed 16 rebounds and Brook Lopez had 16 points and five rebounds for the Nets. Rookie Michael KiddGilchrist had 17 points and Ben Gordon added 16 for the Bobcats, who are 6-43 since starting the season 7-5.

HAWKS 107, 76ERS 96 Jeff Teague scored 27 points, Anthony Tolliver added a season-high 21 and Atlanta bounced back from a

sluggish start to snap a three-game losing streak. Tolliver, averaging just 3.4 points a game, had already surpassed his previous best of 13 points by halftime. The Sixers kept leaving him open beyond the arc, and he kept knocking down 3-pointers, finishing 5 for 7 from long range. The Hawks missed their first eight shots but quickly pulled themselves together against weary Philadelphia, which was playing its eighth game in 12 days. Atlanta led by 19 before settling for a 59-47 lead at halftime. Damien Wilkins led the Sixers with 21 points and Dorell Wright had 20.

KNICKS 87, PISTONS 77 Raymond Felton scored 26 points, and New York pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Detroit despite Carmelo Anthony’s absence. Anthony sat out after injuring his right knee Monday, but New York went on a 16-0 run in the fourth to put away the game. The Pistons were without big man Greg Monroe, who has a sore left ankle, and Detroit coach Lawrence Frank missed the game because of a personal matter.

The Knicks turned the ball over 11 times in the first quarter, but they still led 4438 at the half. Brandon Knight scored 17 points for the Pistons and led a thirdquarter rally, but Detroit managed only 12 points in the fourth.— Agencies

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013

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