10 Mar 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

Abu Qatada jailed for ‘breaching British bail’

Venezuela eyes first post-Chavez election

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www.kuwaittimes.net

RABI ALTHANI 28, 1434 AH

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Pakistan PM prays for peace at India shrine

Rampant Wigan stun Everton to make history

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Life in the fast lane leads to gory death Drunk on speed: Youth racer killed in fiery crash

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 27-year-old Kuwaiti man was instantly killed and six other youths were injured when two sports cars being driven at top speeds collided, with one of them catching fire and crashing into four other sports cars parked by the roadside around 3:00 am yesterday on Airport Road leading to Subhan. Policemen and

Max 26º Min 15º High Tide 11:35 & 23:05 Low Tide 05:16 & 17:12

paramedics rushed to the scene while fire engines were dispatched from Subhan and Mubarak Al-Kabeer. The injured were treated on the spot and one of them was taken to hospital. A security source said investigations have been launched into the accident, adding that traffic detectives have recorded the license plates of cars at the scene and will summon the owners.

KUWAIT: Photos from social media show a car in flames while another lies in a mangled heap after a fatal collision on Airport Road leading to Subhan early yesterday.

Kenyatta wins Kenya election NAIROBI: Uhuru Kenyatta narrowly won Kenya’s presidential election yesterday, urging calm and pledging to work with rivals and cooperate with the international community. Kenyatta, son of Kenya’s founding president and one of Africa’s richest men who is also facing an international crimes against humanity trial, scraped by with 50.07 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff against his closest rival Raila Odinga. However Odinga, the outgoing prime minister, said he would contest the results in court, raising tensions following the key poll.

Odinga’s charges yesterday echo accusations in 2007 presidential polls when he alleged he was robbed of victory, with disputed results triggering bloody ethnic vioUhuru Kenyatta lence in which more than 1,100 people were killed. “We have highlighted so many irregularities in the tallying process,” Odinga told reporters, shortly after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman declared Kenyatta the “duly elected president”.

Kenyatta, dressed in a suit and red tie, beamed a wide smile as he waved his official victory certificate from the IEBC to cheers from the crowd. But shortly afterwards Odinga - in his third failed attempt at the top job said his party would challenge the result at the Supreme Court, adding he had “faith in the judiciary and the ruling will be respected”. — AFP

Saudi activists jailed for 10 yrs RIYADH: A Saudi Arabian court sentenced two prominent political and human rights activists yesterday to at least 10 years in prison for offences that included sedition and giving inaccurate information to foreign media. Mohammed Fahd Al-Qahtani and Abdullah Hamad are founding members of the banned Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, known as Acpra, that documents human rights abuses and has called for a constitutional monarchy and elections. Riyadh, Washington’s main Gulf ally, does not allow protests, political parties and trade unions.

The case has drawn attention from international rights groups, which accuse the conservative Islamic kingdom of using its campaign against religious militants to stomp on political dissent. Saudi Arabia has denied that charge and says it does not practice torture and has no political prisoners. In an interview with Reuters in January, Qahtani said he anticipated being sent to prison and described a sentence of five years or more as “heavy”. Qahtani was sentenced to 10 years. Hamad was told he must complete the remaining six years of a previous jail term for his political activities and serve an additional five years. They will remain in detention until a judge rules on their appeal next month. — Reuters

Kabul bomber kills 9 during Hagel visit

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UN peacekeepers held

by Syrian rebels freed

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US tracked Abu Ghaith for 10 years

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters carry their fatally injured comrade during clashes with riot police near Tahrir Square yesterday. — AFP

Egypt verdicts spark unrest CAIRO: A court verdict over deadly football violence sparked fresh unrest in Egypt yesterday, with two people killed and buildings torched in Cairo, as Islamist President Mohamed Morsi faces growing civil unrest. A Port Said court, sitting in Cairo for security reasons, confirmed death sentences for 21 defendants and handed down life sentences to five people, with 19 receiving lesser jail terms and another 28 exonerated. Fans of Al-Ahly football club, whose members were killed in a Feb 2012 stadium riot in Port Said in which 74 people died, had warned police they would retaliate if the defendants were exonerated.

Two protesters were killed in clashes with police in Cairo - one from birdshot and one from suffocation. An AFP correspondent saw one protester brought to a mosque in central Tahrir Square with gunshot wounds, and medics confirmed he was dead. Earlier, emergency services chief Mohammed Sultan said a protester suffocated after inhaling tear gas, and “died in the ambulance on his way to hospital”. Police fired tear gas and birdshot as the clashes intensified on a large avenue on the banks of the Nile, where police vehicles blocked the road.

Angry crowds hurled rocks at the police and threw a petrol bomb at a luxury five star hotel in the area that

houses several embassies. Sporadic clashes have been going on for weeks on the Nile corniche, close to Tahrir Square. The numbers swelled yesterday when the regular protesters were joined by activists and football fans following the verdict. Earlier, huge flames rose above the main building of the Egyptian Football Association and a police officers’ club in an affluent neighbourhood on an island in the Nile. Residents of Gezira used garden hoses to try to extinguish the flames as a police helicopter circled overhead. Windows were smashed at other buildings in the complex.

In Port Said, hundreds of people prevented ferries from shuttling residents between the banks of the Suez Canal, in protest at the confirmation of the 21 death sentences against supporters of the local team. They set fire to tyres and put up a huge banner at the entrance of the port demanding “independence for Port Said.” The Suez Canal Authority, which runs the vital waterway for global commerce, said the canal had been unaffected by the unrest. Earlier, several hundred grim protesters had marched on the Suez Canal and a port in the city as military helicopters flew overhead and troops stationed tanks outside the port. — AFP (See Page 7)

WASHINGTON: US investigators tracked Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, for about 10 years before he was detained in Jordan and brought by the FBI to New York City in the past few days, US officials familiar with the investigation said. An FBI agent and a New York police detective together spent more than a decade investigating Abu Ghaith, not only for his role as a spokesman for Al-Qaeda after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington but for activities they believed he was involved in before 2001, said one official.

On Friday, Abu Ghaith pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to kill Americans, becoming one of the highestranking Al-Qaeda figures to face trial in the United States for crimes connected to the Sept 11 attacks. He was captured on Feb 28 and brought secretly to the United States on March 1, prosecutors said in court. Law enforcement sources say he was Suleiman Abu Ghaith detained in Jordan by local authorities and the FBI after was believed to have been expelled from Turkey.

But it was in Iran where Abu Ghaith is believed to have spent most of the past decade, having taken refuge there following Sept 11, 2001, with a group of other associates of bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader killed

by US forces in Pakistan in 2011. Current and former US officials said that group, known to US investigators as the Al-Qaeda “Management Council”, was kept more or less under control by the Iranian government, which viewed it with suspicion. Along with Abu Ghaith, members of the group included Saif Al-Adel, one of AlQaeda’s top military commanders, and Saad bin Laden, one of bin Laden’s sons.

A former US official said that in late 2002 and early 2003, CIA officers held secret discussions in Europe with Iranian officials regarding the possible expulsion to Saudi Arabia or another country of Abu Ghaith and fellow Al-Qaeda operatives in Iran. At the time, the United States had information indicating the Al-Qaeda figures in Iran might be in contact with militants in Saudi Arabia who posed potential threats to Saudi interests.

But the secret discussions fell apart when Iran suggested that, in return for its expulsion of the Al-Qaeda operatives, the United States should crack down on the Mujaheddin-e-Khalq, an Iranian exile group that until recently was the target of US and European sanctions Continued on Page 2

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

LOCAL

‘Border demarcation threatens 250 families in Basra area’ Iraqi govt lacks serious plans

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: Two hundred and fifty Iraqi families face the risk of displacement as a result of the ongoing border demarcation process between Iraq and Kuwait, an Iraqi official said in a statement yesterday. “Officials at the Basra Governorate and the Iraqi Government lack serious plans to establish housing projects in order to house 250 families who apprehend a loss of their homes if the border demarcation goes through,” said Um Qasr Director in the Basra Governorate, Saleh Al-Eidani. He further indicated that evacuating anyone without first providing an alternative was “unacceptable.”

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 833 released in 1993 had assigned the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission to mark the precise

coordinates of the border between Kuwait and Iraq on the basis of the agreement between the two countries in 1963.

In other news, assistant secretary general of the Arab League, Abdul-Aziz Abu Hadma, said that a pipeline connecting Kuwait and Iraq was set to be included in the Arab natural gas pipeline project, which he said was “going as planned” but gave no further details.

Cabinet reshuffle The Justice and Peace Group called for a cabinet reshuffle “in order to come up with a cabinet capable of bearing its responsibilities and meeting the ambitions of the Kuwaiti people.” The political group described the cabinet in a statement yesterday as “not motivated,” and one that “adopts favoritism in appointing candidates to top posts.”

Meanwhile, MP Ahmad Lari argued that the parliament had been successful in achieving stability in the country “especially with regards to the relationship between the legislative and executive authorities.” He released a statement highlighting “achievements” accomplished during the first 80 days since the current parliament held its first session, including the small projects law, the unemployment law, amendments to the companies law, as well as approving 90 international treaties “some of which had been pending in the parliament for ten years.”

In other news, MP Saadoun Al-Otaibi inquired in a question to Health Minister Dr. Mohammad Al-Haifi about rumors hinting that people were being treated at the government’s expense by Kuwaiti medical offices abroad “despite their files being rejected by the Supreme Committee for the Treatment Overseas Program.”

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Environment Protection Society recently met with the Japanese-Kuwaiti Society to discuss preparations for a beach cleaning campaign that the two societies plan to launch on March 23 in cooperation with other institutions and bodies in the state.

Amghara fire exposes diesel smuggling?

KUWAIT: The Touristic Enterprises Company is participating in the 2013 ITB/Berlin, a travel trade show that will come to a conclusion in the German capital today. Public Relations and Marketing Manager Huda Al-Saleh said the TEC decided to participate in the international event in order to “interact with international companies in the field, keep up with the latest developments in the tourism industry, and showcase a variety of touristic and entertaining services available in Kuwait.”

Sheikh Nasser visits India KUWAIT: Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah will leave to New Delhi, accompanied by a delegation, today to deliver a written letter from HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

The letter highlights bilateral relations and ways strengthen them between the

t wo coun tr ies. Th e visit comes as a response to the invitation of the Indian government, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Salman Khurshid.

During the visit, Sheikh Nasser will discuss with senior Indian officials activating joint cooperation between the two sides in all fields.

The Kuwaiti delegation will include the

Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalid Abdullah Al-Sager, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Chief Executive Officer Farouk AlZank i, Amiri Diwan Undersecretar y for Information Center Affairs Mazin Al-Essa and the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) director of Asian investments Mohammad Hamad Al-Mutairi. — KUNA

Fire breaks out in Mina Abdullah

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: KNPC announced that a fire broke out in Unit No.13 at Mina Abdullah refinery at around 5:30 am on Saturday but was brought under control within 15 minutes without any casualties.

Official spokesperson of the KNPC, Eng. Mohammad Mansour Al-Ajmi, said the fire was caused due to leakage in the system of pumping oil.

Pointing out that the unit was stopped and the emergency drill was activated to deal with the fire, he explained that the blaze was brought under control within 15 minutes without suffering any causalities or damages to the refinery. The shipping operations also remained unaffected. The refinery is one of KNPC’s three such facilities and has a capacity of 370,000 barrels daily.

the cabinet is expected to refer the case to the Public Prosecution within a few days, according to the sources.

Meanwhile, Al-Jarida reporters visited the site of the fire on Friday and reported seeing smoke emanating from the subsoil. They brought the matter to the notice of an engineer with knowledge of the violations committed at the burnt down warehouse who said “diesel fuel was still burning inside underground pipes connecting tanks and silos.”

The e ngi ne e r, w ho re q ue s te d anonymity, also suggested that the fire could have exposed “a major network of smuggling diesel fuel that had been going on for years.” The Kuwait Fire Services Department on Wednesday had denied coming under pressure to “manipulate” the result of the investigations.

Sports events for Arab Gulf women ‘great achievement’ MANAMA: Holding women’s sports tournaments is in itself a great achievement for women in the Gulf region, Olympic goldmedalist Ghada Shouaa said yesterday.

Retired athlete Shouaa, who won Syria’s first and only Olympic gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games, stressed that women’s competitions still need a lot more attention.

“A great deal of effort should be exerted in order to take women athletes of the Gulf region from their national to a more international level in sports, “ she said in an interview while attending the Third GCC Women’s Games, currently being held in

Bahrain. “Sadly; however, the GCC Women’s Games lack this even though the (Gulf ) region possess a multitude of resources.”

Shouaa emphasized that “sports stand alone as a culture or a mindset that needs constant encouragement and strengthening.”

“Intensive international participation is the best way to enhance the performance of women’s athletes,” she said.

Shouaa also expressed her desire to see more engagement from other nations in the region to heighten the level of competitiveness in sports and thanked Bahrain for hosting the event.—KUNA

Kuwaiti charity visits hospital in Gaza

Health inspection The inspection team of the food and drugs administration of Ministry of Health came across large quantities of certain pharmaceutical products not allowed for sale or purchase in Kuwait.

These substances were found in a wholesale market at Mirqab. The goods were confiscated and necessary legal action was initiated against promoters found involved.

Inspectors also found some legal medicines being sold at a price far higher than what was mentioned in the Ministry of Health’s price list.

The pharmaceutical products were being sold to unauthorized parties. It was also found that the sellers had procured these products at a higher price than the official pricing determined by the Ministry of Health.

Action will be taken against the shop and its supplying company. At the same time, the pharmaceutical products confiscated included skin whitening creams, weight loss medicines and creams to enlarge or reduce buttocks. Such products were banned worldwide as these could have certain dangerous effects and cause diseases like cancer etc.

GAZA: A delegation from The KuwaitPalestine Charitable Committee, based in Kuwait, visited Al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza yesterday to find the different needs of the complex, especially with regard to medical equipment.

The delegation was headed by Mohammed Bu Gaith and was welcomed in Gaza by officials from the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip which provides health services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian citizens.

The manager of Al-Shifa complex, Dr Hussein Ashour, praised the role of the

Committee in supporting Gaza Strip and the private health sector there.

Bu Gaith said that the committee and its staff are working hard to provide support to the health sectors in the Gaza Strip, which suffer from deficiencies in medicine and medical equipment.

The delegation toured the hospital emergency department in the complex as well as the surgery department and the intensive care unit in addition to the dialysis department and listened to a detailed explanation of each section and the needs for medical equipment and supplies. —KUNA

US tracked Abu Ghaith for...

for his transport to New York City. US officials said the decision to bring Abu Ghaith to New York for trial in federal court was made at the highest levels of the administration of President Barack Obama. Officials said it was unclear whether Abu Ghaith had much information about current Al-Qaeda activities or plots. The officials noted that the indictment that federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed against Abu Ghaith alleged only that he “served Al-Qaeda” from around May 2001 “up to and including in or about 2002”.

But Abu Ghaith is likely to have a vast trove of knowledge about the terror network’s central command. Believed to be more of a strategic player in bin Laden’s inner circle than an operational plotter, Abu Ghaith would be the highest-ranking Al-Qaeda figure to stand trial on US soil since 9/11. Intelligence officials say he may be able to shed new light on AlQaeda’s inner workings - concerning AlQaeda’s murky dealings in Iran over the past decade, for example - but probably will have few details about specific or imminent ongoing threats. He gave US officials a 22-page statement after his Feb 28 arrest in Jordan, according to prosecutors. They would not describe the statement.

Bearded and balding, Abu Ghaith said little during the 15-minute hearing in US District Court in New York - in lower Manhattan just blocks from Ground Zero - and displayed none of the finger-wagging or strident orations that marked his propaganda in the days and months after 9/11. —Agencies

Continued from Page 1

Civil Service Commission retrieves KD 74m of state dues KUWAIT: Head of the Audit Department Ali Assad at the Kuwait Civil Service Commission announced yesterday that his department has managed to retrieve KD 74.5 million of the state’s dues on 55,000 citizens since 2010.

In statements to KUNA, Assad said that the Department has made great strides in recovering the state dues since its inception in 2009.

He pointed out that in the past years the State was retrieving on average only KD 1 million to KD 1.5 million of dues yearly.

Assad added that the Department efforts comes in implementation of the government orders to all state bodies to take all measures to avoid the squandering of public money. He also disclosed that the Department has conducted a study on the main causes of the growth of the state dues and the best way to retrieve them. — KUNA

KUWAIT: A detailed investigations report received by the government about a massive fire in Amghara that broke out more than two weeks ago revealed that “large amounts of diesel fuel stored illegally in the area” was the reason the blaze was so widespread, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting sources privy to the case.

Moreover, the sources who spoke to Al-Jarida on the condition of anonymity revealed that the report found that the fuel was connected to major smuggling operations “which prompted attempts to cover up the investigation results.”

Al-Jarida had first reported last Wednesday that a “government official” was keen to ensure a cover up in the run up to the finalization of fire department’s investigation into the February 21 blaze.

After receiving the investigation report,

KUWAIT: Fire broke out in Hawally yesterday but firemen swiftly reached the site after receiving the report and brought the blaze under control without suffering any casualty. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

for its alleged involvement in violence, the former official said. It is not clear when Abu Ghaith left Iran, although it is believed to have been recently. Nor is it clear how US authorities tracked him. But officials said they believed he recently spent more energy trying to evade capture than engaging in threatening activities. Last December, an American official said, a US judge issued a warrant for Abu Ghaith’s arrest for conspiring to kill Americans. Interpol, the international police agency, then issued a “Red Notice” for Abu Ghaith, the equivalent of an international arrest warrant, the official said.

Hurriyet, a Turkish newspaper, said the United States asked Turkey to extradite Abu Ghaith after he was detained in Ankara in early February. The newspaper, whose account was not confirmed by US officials, said he was held for 33 days after being arrested by the Turks at a luxury hotel, but later released after a Turkish court ruled he had not committed a crime in Turkey. The newspaper said Turkish authorities had considered deporting him to Iran, but that the Iranians would not accept him. Turkey then decided to send him to Kuwait via Jordan, according to Hurriyet.

US law enforcement sources said that when he reached Jordan, Jordanian and FBI officers detained him and arranged

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

LOCAL

Bureaucracy in public institutions biggest obstacle to Kuwaiti youth

By Sunil Cherian

Single-window system suggested

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: To start a business in Kuwait is not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort to visit many different ministries and authorities. Young businessmen complain about the bureaucracy in public institutions when they try to complete the paperwork. According to Barrak, an administrative employee in charge of following the paperwork with public authorities, the biggest obstacle facing the businessmen and entrepreneurs is the huge amount of paper work demanded and involving different authorities.

“It is really a headache to chase paperwork in different institutions that are located in different places and areas. This wastes a lot of time travelling, especially because of the traffic jams. And at the end, all papers are for one procedure for the same applicant,” he told the Kuwait Times.

I suggest that if all the paperwork were to be done at one place, it would simplify things for those already busy businessmen. Also, it will save time for the mandoubs doing paperwork for the companies and lessen the jams on the roads caused by hundreds of people trying to complete their paperwork in different ministries,” he added.

Barrak also explained that to launch a business, the applicant should not be working in the public sector or should have retired. He or she could be employed in the private sector or could even be unemployed. He has to obtain the license in person or he can authorize an attorney or an agent to complete paperwork on his behalf. “To obtain this license, we sometimes face problems as they often demand other related documents such as criminal status of the applicant and other certificates,” he explained.

In addition, the applicant has to fulfill certain conditions depending on the business activity, field, and type of company. “To issue a license for practicing business and launching a company, the applicant has to prove a certain level of cash deposit in his bank account. This amount may hover between KD 5000 to KD 250000,” stressed Barrak.

The business owners usually complain about the huge number of required documents and approvals from various institutions. “I do not understand why I must get three signatures for one paper from three employees in different offices. The bigger problem is when the employees do not work and you have to come every day to finish the same formalities, which only

Spanish artist hosts ‘silk route’ exhibition

wastes our time,” said 26-year-old Salelm, who just started his own business.

Fahad, a young Kuwaiti who also started his business recently, complained about a different issue. “Why creative business ideas are not protected? They stole my idea and imitated it.

People imitate small businesses and this discourages the young creative businessmen. My business is renting tents for occasions. People started imitating my idea and this has affected my business though I am still continuing. I was designing the tent for more than two months and they stole the idea and claimed it was their own. I hate that any business I do, they will imitate. I spend time thinking and bringing my ideas to fruition. Also, I rent a warehouse to store the tents while they work from home and without a license,” he pointed out.

On his part, Mohammed is closing his business due to the disappointments and the bureaucratic red tape in public institutions that he came across. “I advise those who have ideas or capital, to open their business outside Kuwait.

I now prefer renting a real estate so I would not have to deal with public institutions, and I closed my business,” he stated.

KUWAIT: Miguel Gomzalez Cabezas, a Fine Arts student at Spain’s Salamanca University, is holding a three-day exhibition of alphabet carvings and digitally manipulated photos at Bayth Lothan, Samiya, from today.

The art exhibition, titled ‘Silk Route’ to emphasize the cultural exchanges between the west, the Middle and Far East, will be inaugurated today at 7.30 am by Spanish Ambassador Angel Losasa. The exhibition will be open from 9am to 1pm and 5pm to 9pm, the organizers said. The exhibition, the young artist’s first in Kuwait, will remain open till Tuesday.

“In the carvings section, the Arabic, Spanish and Chinese letters are intertwined to form a collage,” said Miguel, 21, whose parents are based in Kuwait.

In the major section of the exhibition, arrays of photographs that are artistically distorted are presented. These photographs are, though hard to notice, of some buildings in Kuwait, Miguel said.

City life, modern architecture, com-

Miguel Gomzalez Cabezas puter technology are the chief ingredients for this artist who is currently based in Germany as part of a cultural exchange study program. Miguel, who came to Kuwait for this exhibition, will return to Germany to continue his degree program in Fine Arts. “We are human tissues of different shapes and colors bound together to create a meaningful whole real world,” the artist said when asked why he chose the artistic path. Imprints of my Photoshoped images on floor tiles is my dream project, said the soft-spoken artist.

Amir to attend closing ceremony of youth conference KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah will attend the closing ceremony of the National Youth Project conference which will be held at Kuwait University next week, it was announced yesterday.

The conference, which seeks to enable the youth to participate in the advancement of Kuwait’s future vision and its strategic and development goals, starts on Sunday under the patronage of HH the Amir and the attendance of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Head of the project’s executive office Dr. Jassem Al-Rubaian said that HH the Amir will receive, at the closing ceremony, a document that will translate visions and plans aimed at the youth in Kuwait, tackled during the four-day conference.

The National Youth Project saw the light because of HH the Amir’s attention to the future generation. HH the Amir had addressed these issues in a number of speeches the last of which was included in the opening session of the 14th legislative term of the National Assembly in

February 2012. Hence, under the directive of HH the Amir to the Amiri Diwan, a youth council was formed by a group of young people who were chosen from different civic communities and college unions to represent the youth in order to create communication channels between the political leadership and youth groups. The 40-member youth council will represent the youth at the conference. They will discuss issue concerning housing, health, environment, culture and literatures, education and small businesses.

The 18- to 30-year-old people will also shed light on economic development, legal and administrative laws in the country, sport reform and social security. Al-Rubaian called on all the Kuwaiti youth to seize this opportunity of freedom of expression and attend the conference to identify their concerns and address their challenges in order to find appropriate solutions for them.

The conference will see the participation of some ministers, senior officials and academicians who are concerned with youth issues. — KUNA

Demand for arms increases

KUWAIT: Delegates participating in the unified GCC traffic week to be hosted by Kuwait from March 10 to 16, have already arrived in the country. The event is being held under the slogan “Our aim...is your safety.” The opening ceremony will be held today by hoisting the flags of the participant countries at the police officers club, where the participants will be met by Assistant Undersecretary and General Director of Traffic Department Lt Gen Dr Mustafa Al-Zaabi and other leaders of traffic department.

KUWAIT: In a shocking turn of events, a trail of illegal weapons and ammunition supported by photographs and asked for prices has appeared in the social media, thus indicating a dangerous trend for Kuwait.

Such arms running is prohibited under international as well as local laws and mostly terrorist groups indulge in such activity. Gun running, along with money laundering, is considered as one of the most dangerous trades in the world. Security sources revealed that there were sleeper cells in the states active in the arms trade. Demand for arms has increased and the prices have also risen in a very marked fashion due to tension in the neighboring

News

in brief

Nationality for 2,000 KUWAIT: Ministerial sources revealed that government was waiting for the National Assembly Council to issue a law for granting nationality to 2,000 people in order to announce the names of beneficiaries from the bedoon community. Sources added that the government will not approve nationalization of any one from this group until the law was approved. It explained that the names have been finalized and are ready for announcement as soon as the law is approved. Nationalization of the sons of Kuwaiti women, widows and divorcees will continue as per committees’ reports.

Health ministry overtime KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health has allocated KD 9 million as budget for those working over time in the evening clinics for the new financial year 2013/2014, sources said. Sources said that about 8,000 employees, administrators, doctors, nurses and technical staff etc worked in the evening clinics in the hospitals. As soon as the budget was approved, the ministry sent the list of employees working in the evening clinics to the banks for payment of their work allowance along with the salaries for this month.

Dive Team hosts Gulf forum KUWAIT: The Kuwait Dive Team of the Environmental Voluntary Foundation is hosting the Gulf Forum for Environmental Dive Teams which is coming to a conclusion today following talks aimed at exchanging experiences in marine environment work and coordinating for carrying out major joint projects.

Team leader Waleed Al-Fadhel said in a statement yesterday that the two-day

event featured training workshops for projects that included coral planting, removing ship wreckage, buoy maintenance, and removing fishing nets from coral reefs, in addition to general environmental awareness projects. He added that the forum is expected to conclude with recommendations to carry out joint projects in order to protect the marine environment at the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea.

Diving Team plans forum KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti diving team affiliated with an environmental voluntary group is ready to hold the Gulf Forum for Environmental Diving Teams on the 9th to 10th of April, seeking to exchange experience and to perfume environmental projects in this field, head of the Kuwaiti diving team Waleed Al-Fadhel told Kuwait News Agency yesterday. Al-Fadhel said that this forum will include workshops and group meetings, pointing out that the team is ready from today to receive any application by volunteers to participate in this Forum. “We are seeking from this gathering to protect the environment in Gulf and the Red Sea and to issue recommendations for Joint projects between the GCC countries seeking to preserve the environment “ Al-Fadhel added.

Bahrain praises ties with Kuwait MANAMA: - Bahrain’s Deputy Premier Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa praised yesterday the “historical brotherly relations” that unite Bahrain and Kuwait in every aspect.

The senior Bahraini official made the comment while recieving the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah as he stressed the growth and development of this relationship under the directions of the two countries’ rulers. He also commended the efforts carried out by Sheikh Azzam in support of these relations.

countries. Criminal investigators are collecting information about the means of entry of arms to Kuwait in large quantities before these are shipped outside Kuwait.

Sources pointed out that the prices of smuggled arms have increased lately. For example, the price of a Kalashnikov assault rifle AK47 has now reached up to KD 1500 while a pistol costs KD 1000. Similarly, bullets can be bought for KD 1 apiece.

Sources said the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior has given his instruction to follow up on such information and arrest anyone involved, irrespective of who he might be.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

LOCAL

Firemen Day activities begin at Marina Crescent

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The 11th Firemen Day activities began yesterday noon in the presence of the General Director of Fire Department Lt Gen Yousuf Al-Ansari. Sheikh Duaij Al-Khalifa

Al-Sabah and Lt Col Khalil Al-Amir from Public Relations besides many other governorate directors were also present.

The main event was held at the Marina Crescent under the supervision of Hawally governorate director, Colonel Mohammad Al-Mohaimeed.

Marina fire rescue personnel participated in the event while other fire centers carried out a fire fighting drill and children rescue operation exhibition as part of the festival.

Informative brochures were distributed to public about fire accidents.

Similar activities were held in the Farwaniya governorate at the Avenues Mall, in capital governorate at Souq Sharq, in Jahra governorate at Sateel Al-Jahra Complex, in Mubarka AlKabeer governorate at Al-Bairaq Complex, and in Ahmad governorate at Al-Kut Complex.

Maid runs away from employer’s house naked Comatose addict outside hospital

Wataniya Telecom served community with distinguished initiatives KUWAIT: Based on its social responsibility and national loyalty; Wataniya Telecom had witnessed an active period filled with charitable and sociable events which have emerged from the spirit of celebration on the occasion of the national holidays. By engaging in these corporate social responsibility activities Wataniya has positioned itself as an influential company with a leading role in showing loyalty and belonging to Kuwait at all levels.

Wataniya Telecom sponsored recently the February Annual Festivals which were organized by the National Union of Kuwaiti Students (NUKS) for pupils who are studying abroad to share with them the spirit of patriotism and celebrate Kuwait’s National and Liberation Day. The first festival was held in Hyatt Regency Hotel in California State for the Kuwaiti students in US from Feb 22 to 24. Meanwhile, the second event was held at Hilton Park Lane Hotel for students of UK and Ireland in the same period. This sponsorship comes under Wataniya’s agenda to play a fundamental role in social activities which best serve its customers inside and outside Kuwait, in any possible manner and to emphasize that patriotism is not limited within the country’s’ borders. Another important factor Wataniya was seeking to accomplish through this event was to educate students about the world market needs and

help them to maximize their potential on a personal and professional front. A Wataniya representative also gave a speech at the event about the career opportunities available for students at Wataniya Telecom.

A number of Kuwait’s public figures attended the festivals andthere were various activities during the festival. Activities included political and social lectures followed by open discussions and interviews with these prominent personalities and ending with external activities that included visiting the most important monuments in each of the host countries. In addition to that, a team fromWataniya Telecom had visited a nursing home and an orphanage as the company was keen to celebrate the joy of the National Holidays’ by sharing a touch of love and care with those who truly need it. The team also presented a variety of gifts to the elders and the orphans. Wataniya Telecom has emphasized that the main goal of these visits is to help inject hope and happiness in the lives of the underprivileged. It has also expressed its overwhelming joy in getting the chance to communicate with this special segment of society.

It’s worth mentioning that Wataniya Telecom has been increasing its social activities in order to show its support to the Kuwaiti society and embrace them with care and attention.

KUWAIT: A domestic worker was taken for psychological tests after she ran away from her employer ’s house naked. Police reached a street in Al-Oyoun where the incident was repor ted and shooed away meddlesome passersby who were troubling the woman.

They covered her with a ‘bisht’ robe before taking her to the police station. Police identified the Filipina woman and summoned her employer who said he found her clothes outside the house but did not know where she had gone. He further indicated that the maid was otherwise of a sound mind except for some incidents which led him to suspect that she was mentally unstable. He recalled an earlier instance when his family stopped her from disrobing outside their house. A case was filed for investigations and a repor t from the Psychological Hospital was awaited.

Unconscious man A man who was found in an unconscious state outside a medical facility was admitted to a hospital and later confirmed as a case of a drug overdose. Police reached the Jahra Hospital after receiving an emergency call about a man who was found in an unconscious state outside the hospital. The 23-year-old bedoon (stateless) man was admitted to the intensive care unit after doctors found he had suffered a cardiac arrest which, tests later confirmed, had resulted from a drug overdose.

While doctors described the man’s condition as unstable, police were able to verify his identity and found out that he was wanted in certain drug abuse cases. Police were trying to identify one or more suspects who according to prelim-

inary investigations had left the man outside the hospital.

Fatal accidents A driver died and another Kuwaiti man was injured in an accident reported on Friday in Sabhan near the Seventh Ring Road Bridge. The unidentified man was pronounced dead on the scene while the injured Kuwaiti youth was rushed to the Farwaniya Hospital for treatment.

An investigation was opened to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

Meanwhile, a Gulf national died in an accident reported on Friday on the Abdaly Road.

According to preliminary investigations, the 29year-old had arrived in Kuwait through the Abdaly border outlet when his sports utility vehicle (SUV ) lost balance and overturned when a tire burst. The body was taken to the coroner after the man was pronounced dead on the scene.

Attempted murder An unidentified driver shot a university student in the leg in Sulaibiya on Friday. According to the police report, the man was walking near a farm when the driver approached and shot without any provocation and then escaped, as per the victim’s testimony given to officers after was taken to the Jahra Hospital. A case of attempted murder was filed.

Contrabands A man was taken to the state security service for investigations after he was arrested for possessing certain banned devices inside the Roudhatain oil field premises. The Arab man

ILO urges end to violence against women at work GENEVA: The International Labor Organization (ILO) called Friday for an international action to end violence against women at work and to foster workplace environments founded on gender equality and respect.

“Workplace violence assumes many forms and women are often particularly vulnerable, especially in the informal economy,” ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said on Friday in press statement on the occasion of International Women’s Day. “Such violence is wrong and is a violation of the most basic human rights. Workplace violence including sexual harassment also represents a significant barrier to women’s access and equitable treatment and opportunities in the labor market”.

The ILO’s decent work mandate compels it to act against violence at work and to foster workplace environments founded on gender equality and respect.

“Gender-based violence is clearly at odds with the meaning of decent work: full and productive employment for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity,” reads the statement.

Available data point to the extent of the problem at work. For example, between 40 and 50 percent of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at their workplace. In Asia and the Pacific, studies indicate that 30 to 40 percent of women workers report some form of verbal, physical or sexual harassment. “Violence against women comes with a high cost to individuals, families, societies and economies. A study in Australia showed an estimated economic cost of some $14 billion in 2008-09 while another study published in 2008 estimated that in England and Wales the cost of domestic violence alone was GB pound 20 billion per year, of which lost economic output amounted to GB pound 2.3 billion,” the ILO cautioned.

The world of work is an excellent context for both prevention and remedial measures. The ILO has had a long engagement in practical action against gender-based violence in work places, both at policy and program levels. It has developed tools and guides with a strong sectoral approach targeting areas where the labor force is highly feminized, such as the health and services sectors.

Moreover, action in support of women’s empowerment whether through business development, management skills, and provision of savings and credit services, as well as through their organization, also renders them less vulnerable to violence.

Tripartite delegates at the ILO’s 2009 International Labor Conference instructed member States to develop policies, programs, legislation and other measures aimed at combatting gender-based violence. Several international labor standards - including the 2011 Convention on Domestic Workers which covers these highly-vulnerable and predominantly female workers - require ratifying States along with trade unions and employers’ organizations to take action against any form of violence, abuse and harassment at work.

“Of the various ways in which sex discrimination manifests itself across the globe, gender based violence is exceptionally dehumanizing, pervasive and oppressive. It can and must be prevented. — KUNA

raised suspicions at the facility’s gate which prompted security personnel to search his vehicle. He was placed under arrest after two laptops, 19 flash memory drives and a number of smart phones were found inside the car.

Murder suspect A man who ran into a police station seeking help, with shooters in hot pursuit, was put behind bars after officers found he himself was wanted in a case of attempted murder filed a month and a half ago. Jleeb Al-Shuyuikh police station officers were approached at an early hour of Friday morning by a man seeking help from people he said were following him and had fired two bullets at his car. As officers proceeded with legal procedures, they found in verifying the complainant’s identity that he was wanted in an attempted murder case filed by his brother whom he had shot during a scuffle between the two in Kabad a month and a half ago. The man was referred to the Public Prosecution for further action.

Son charged A middle-aged Kuwaiti man filed a case in Hawally against his son who damaged his cars after the two had a dispute over the young man’s marriage plans. According to the report, the 20-year-old suspect reacted after his father refused to let him marry a woman he said he loved. The father believed that his son was still young for marriage as he was still in college, and was hesitant to give his nod for marriage to a woman two years his senior. The argument soon turned into a quarrel which saw the young man let out his frustration on his father’s three cars.

PAI takes part Saudi construction show JEDDAH: Kuwait’s Public Authority for Industry (PAI) participates in the International Building and Construction Show, known as “Big Five, Saudi - 2013,” which kicked off here yesterday.

“The Big Five is an important event which should not be missed from any entity interested in construction industry,” Director of PAI’s Promotion and Export Department. Eng. Zainab Hussein said.

Hussein added that the show is a golden platform for all construction and building materials companies from the four corners of the globe. She said PAI has booked a big pavilion for Kuwaiti companies to take part in the exhibition and nearly 15 companies have joined the show.

Though direct sale is not allowed in the show, but companies could conclude different kinds of agreements including agency, partnership, training and cooperation pacts,

noted Hussein. The Big 5 Saudi hosts more than 550 exhibitors from 36 countries, as well as a series of certified educational workshops taking place alongside on topics including LEED and Concrete Repair. Each specialized sector will be located in a particular area of the exhibition, with the Concrete Zone bringing together the very latest products and technologies in concrete from around the world. The Big 5 Saudi - the International Building & Construction Show, part of The Big 5 brand is the largest event of its kind in Saudi Arabia.

Launched in 2011, the show has grown by 100 percent. Alongside the event, training workshops ensure delegates are updated on the latest information on a range of topics from sustainability, concrete repair and facilities management. The Big 5 Saudi will take place from March 9 to 12, open from 16:0022:00 daily. —KUNA

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwait forefront of countries in humanitarian field: FM Reception for diplomats at Abdali farm

KUWAIT: Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad AlSabah said here Friday his country was in the forefront of countries in view of humanitarian domains.

Sheikh Sabah was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a reception by Capital City Governor Sheikh Ali Jaber Al-Ahmad AlSabah for chief diplomats and their families at his Azayez Farm in Abdali.

Asked about a “delay” in financial aid worth $1.5 billion in pledges made during Kuwait’s recent donor conference for Syria, the minister said: “Kuwait translates its words into reality in

view of humanitarian matters. We are in the forefront of the countries which are interested in such humanitarian matters inside and outside Syria through UN organizations and Kuwaiti committees.”

The foreign minister emphasized that political transition in Syria should lead to the fulfillment of the Syrian people’s hopes and expectations.

On a recent resolution by the Arab League to grant the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces Syria’s league seat, he said: “It is too early for that issue and Arab countries go on through stages. The first

Hala Feb activities helped to stimulate Kuwait economy KUWAIT: The Hala February Festival plays an important role in stimulating the Kuwaiti economy, noted two economists on the final day of the country’s primary shopping and cultural festival.

The event which starts each year in midFebruary and ended its 14th successful year yesterday, was applauded by the head of the Kuwait Real Estate Union Tawfiq AlJarrah, who said that the event illustrates the tiny Gulf state’s ability to host events of the largest magnitude.

“It is a good opportunity to revive the country’s economy, particularly as it supports commercial retailers, shopping centres and wholesalers amid the current recession affecting the global economy,” he added.

“Everyone has benefited from the festival, which provides huge sales on goods in its attempts to tout Kuwait as an upcoming tourist destination, particularly amongst the local community.

“The Kuwaiti people look forward to the

event every year as it occurs during the patriotic occasions of the country’s national and liberation days”, he said.

The economist went on to stress the importance of full government sponsorship on the scale of organisation and the easing of procedures for foreign visitors of the event, which he described as having gained a “regional reputation.”

“The Interior Ministry has a role in allowing more visit permits for foreign visitors to the country, while the Ministry of Information has the important role of promoting the event,” he emphasised.

Meanwhile, General Manager of Mena Financial and Economic Consultancy firm Adnan Al-Dulaimi views that the festival has enhanced Kuwait’s image in the Arab world. He also regarded the event as one of the steps aimed at transforming the country into a regional financial hub - an ambition set forth by HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah.—KUNA

stage envisions that the coalition should meet legal commitments, and when circumstances become suitable for an executive body acceptable to all Syrian opposition parties, other stages are then to follow.”

On a recent Arab ministerial meeting allowing Arab countries to provide weapons to Syrian opposition groups, Sheikh Sabah said: “These are the convictions of countries, desires of countries and sovereignty of countries. It is up to everybody to provide all types of self-defense help, including lethal support. But, others see that humanitarian aid should go in parallel with peaceful power transition in order to meet the hopes of the

Syrian people.” The Kuwaiti foreign minister voiced hope that a solution to the Syrian crisis could be found soon.

On humanitarian aid to Kuwait, he said his government had already asked its foreign ministry to transfer its pledged sum to the UN at an early date.

Asked how the $1.5-billion pledge could be covered until next June, he said: “It’s the concerned agency in the UN which has set next June (for the aid to deliver) and has set needs for the time being.”

But, he urged those countries which pledged to extend money for Syrian refugees to do so very soon. —KUNA

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

Police stations: No one’s wish

‘Non-lethal aid’ from the West

By Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Duaij

S

udan used to be the largest Arab and African country in terms of total area. Later, South Sudan was hived off to form another state while the Darfur region continues to as such with the excuse of ending the massacres there.

Libya also witnessed military intervention and the regime was toppled with the excuse that it was acting against its own people. However, despite the atrocious

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

Bashar Al-Asad will go out very soon along with his criminal Baíath regime, and it will then be the turn of the true rebels who sacrificed their lives in Syria. crimes committed against the Syrian people and the large scale massacres, there was no intervention and none of the super powers responded. The public attorney at the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, also did not respond. How could he have when earlier, on the orders of his masters, he had turned a blind eye to the crimes committed by the Jews in occupied Palestine?

Two days ago, the international news agency Reuters published a story with the following headline: “Britain does not exclude arming opposition fighters in the future.” What future are they talking about? Is it the near or the distant one? What future, you criminals! It has already been two years since Bashar Al-Asad and his gang started killing the Syrian people. Last Thursday, the US government said that it would provide the Syrian opposition fighters with ‘non-lethal aid.’ The new US Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, said that ‘the right thing is to provide non-lethal aid.’ Yes, Mr. Hagel, people in Syria are badly in need of corn flakes and pop corn.

Bashar Al-Asad will go out very soon along with his criminal Ba’ath regime, and it will then be the turn of the true rebels who sacrificed their lives in Syria. Later, those who have been fighting from the comfort of Five Star hotel lobbies abroad will gain an upper hand in Syria.

Only then will the criminal Western countries interfere, led by France that once led the crusades against the Eastern nations.

They will interfere just as they did in Libya and Mali under the umbrella of the UN Security Council. This will, of course, be done after ensuring that whoever is chosen to succeed criminal Bashar, makes a request for such an interference. He will surely be a member of the Syrian National Coalition fighting from the ‘trenches’ inside Five Star hotels abroad. Such intervention will come swiftly and will involve use of lethal weapons to collect the fruits of the revolution and suppress it. —Al-Watan

E

kuwait digest

Society facing moral crisis

By Ibrahim Al-Awadhi

W

e can all perhaps agree that our society today is going through a serious moral crisis in all aspects of life. Many of the values and traditions that we learned when we were young are things of the past today, and any idea to revive those looks like a farfetched dream.

The problem today is that this crisis is now quickly gripping the next generation. A friend of mine, who returned home recently after finishing his PhD studies abroad, told me the other day about the struggle of his seven-year-old daughter to adapt to the local society after she had learnt the principles of respect and appreciation of others in school in the country where her father studied.

My friend says that shortly after his daughter joined a local school, she started paying more attention to what she was wearing and started

buying clothes from international brands only. The reason for that is simple. The first thing that the girl discusses with her classmates every morning is ‘where do you buy your clothes from?’

My friend also said that his daughter often complains about the lack of respect to rules or other students at school, as well as the spread of verbal abuse. “Every time she makes similar complaints, she mentions an incident that happened with her in her school abroad when a student was forced to do extra homework for jumping the queue at lunch break.

Outside the school, my friend tells me how one day he was late in dropping off daughter at the school because two drivers were blocking the road as they argued over a parking space. “Why is it that we don’t see something like this abroad?” she

asked. The same day, my friend told me that he took his daughter to the movies, and then when the call for the prayer was made, he went to the mosque and left her at the women’s section in the mosque to pray. When the prayer was over, the man headed to pick up his daughter, only to find her crying near the door.

She said that a woman had scolded her because she messed up the number of rak’ahs she was supposed to perform. Both schools and families share responsibility for the crisis we suffer today. Schools are unable to teach children the true Islamic values and concepts, and are instead focusing on making students learn things by rote. Combine that with families’ failure to play their part in raising their children properly, and all our values and traditions are nothing but history. — Al-Rai

kuwait digest

Control over education

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

“I

s it alright that we continue as we approach the end of the 20th century to teach our children outdated axioms and theories, wearing out their minds with procedures that are carried out by machines today?” Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (June 24, 1970).

Unfortunately, half a century later, we are still facing the same situation that the late Amir underlined in his question.

Dictatorships or countries with totalitarian regimes are the only ones which obdurately follow a single-minded approach or impose one uniform mentality, while failing to endorse independent thinking. While the list of these countries has become shorter, it still contains countries like Kuwait and its sister Gulf Cooperation Council nations who along with Cuba and North Korea could be the only ones yet to overcome this approach.

Education in Kuwait and GCC states is used as a process for children’s ‘upbringing’ in a certain pre-determined fashion, and is controlled by state authorities as well as the religious-tribal groups who continue to force their will upon innocent generations through outdated curriculums. These states spend a major chunk of their national wealth on teaching children how to memorize religious and cultural concepts, while utilizing the remaining wealth to further restrict thinking and a quest for knowledge.

In Kuwait, the government and the aforementioned groups have control over the education that every Kuwaiti is subjected to throughout all educational stages. This control spans public and privates schools, both of which teach curriculums that are monitored and approved only by political groups with a certain religious proclivity. In countries where freedoms and rights of individuals and social groups are respected, you are allowed to have your children homeschooled if you feel unsatisfied by the public or private education system. You can do so as per the curriculum of your own choosing. Of course, this is not allowed in Kuwait where compulsory education basically leaves all children at the mercy of the religious political groups.

And as if controlling public education and the official media was not enough, these groups expand to control private schools where people send their children to study at their own expense, and contain a majority of foreigners who are likely to return home once their fathers’ contracts are over.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which Kuwait and perhaps the rest of the GCC states are signatory to indicates that parents have an inalienable right to choose the kind of education to be given to their children. Not only that, but the Kuwaiti Constitution, which both the government and the aforementioned groups claim to be defending, guarantees the primacy of the parents’ right to bring up their children the way they determine to be best. Moreover, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also indicates under article 30 that no signatory country has the right to violate any article mentioned in it. Despite that, public and private schools in Kuwait continue to be under the dominance of a single-minded approach.

I plan to borrow money in order to establish a new private school in Kuwait next year. Once it is opened, I will not allow any representative from the Ministry of Education to even enter its premises. Maybe this is the only way to land up in the Constitutional Court and challenge the laws forced by the retrograde groups. — Al-Qabas

very day, I receive emails from readers who do not speak English and are forced to deal with the police. At the end of the day, they wonder if the police’s attitude towards them was antagonistic because they were foreigners. The story of this man today is an example that such a problem could be solved easily without painting a negative image of Kuwait.

Unless you really desperate to seek the help of police in Kuwait, my advice would be, “Don’t.” Try to solve your own little troubles peacefully avoiding any unnecessary headache. Best examples of such cases are car accidents in which no one is hurt and all that happens is some damage because a wall or a fence or a bin was hit. You can always deal with the little scratches without going through police’s intervention who will make you wait for a small piece of paper called police report that will term you as innocent and then enable you to get the car fixed at any garage. Why do we not make such matters easier to deal with? Why don’t we try to be creative in police work and involve insurance companies, especially in case of minor incidents? I know there are a lot of whys but then this man’s story is worth knowing.

Hi Muna, I hope you read this letter about my recent encounter with the Kuwait Police. At the three police stations I visited in the last 24 hours, I found the policemen uncaring, unwilling to act, dismissive and unhelpful.

I used to live in Kuwait till about six years ago and have since relocated to the UAE. I visit Kuwait a couple of times every year. On my recent visit, I scratched the rental car I was driving and as per the company’s advice I attempted to register an accident report with the police.

My plea was not heeded because it was a Friday and I was told that I must return on Sunday. I tried to explain that my return flight was on Sunday morning but that was of no use, even though I later learnt that they can write a report even on a weekend if they wanted to.

The next day I went to the police station and spent almost an hour pleading with them to write a report.

It was then that a policeman decided to act like a good cop; he told me go out and make copies of the documents, then come back to get the needful done.

When I returned, the form was tossed from one policeman to another as if it was polio infected but finally someone filled out the preliminary form and I was told to wait for 15 minutes. An hour later, I was told to wait for 20 more minutes.

I decided to go and take care of some other business but I left my phone number with them so that they can call me when the person who was to complete the report came to the office. Needless to say, no one called though when I returned later, the concerned person was in the office. After some more waiting, I finally went to this man’s office but he seemed irritated by my presence and continued talking on his mobile phone constantly, only interrupting his conversation to talk to me. He seemed more intent in shooing me away than explaining, something he was capable of as his English was decent. He suddenly blurts out, “Go, get a translator.” I protested saying why all this while no one had mentioned a translator and wondered if the other officers did not know this important requirement.

I had almost given up but on my way out, I managed to convince another visitor to the station to act as my translator. An hour later, we went to see the man again, who again appeared as if we were a menace to his personal phone conversation.

He told us to go and wait till a policeman was available to visit the scene of the accident. I tried to protest that this was a very minor scratch that happened while I was parking and I got too close to a wall and that no other car was involved but he did not hear any of it. I was not even sure I would be able to locate the same place. I was only trying to get a report so that I could utilize the insurance I paid for when I rented the car. I knew I could pay out of my own pocket which in any case ended up doing, shelling KD 25.

I was so disappointed at the treatment I received at the hands of the police that I simply decided not to waste any more time.

I do not have enough negative adjectives to describe my experience. I know there are some capable policemen in Kuwait but the ones I encountered would not make the cut even as unarmed guards in countries where police work is taken seriously.

Why such an attitude? Is this how the police treat everyone or was such a behaviour reserved just for the foreigners? I like many things about Kuwait but this incident really made me see the country in a poor light.

Regards, A foreigner who does not speak Arabic Now, here is my question: Such small and harmless incidents can happen anywhere and to anyone. Why does one need to obtain a police accident report just that the car could be sent to a garage for cleaning or for that little scratch to be fixed? It is just a piece of stamped paper and not real long reports. Why cannot anyone take his or her car to the insurance company and receive an all-okay paper from them instead wasting time in police stations like any other suspects in a criminal case.

Most policemen in the stations do not speak any foreign language. For those not speaking Arabic, this could become a nightmare because of the time and money they would have to waste waiting for some higher ranking officer to stamp okay on the paper and also pay some money for a translator. Why make people go through all this headache?

One last question: why does the Ministry of Interior (MOI) not appoint translators in the police stations so they can help the non-Arabic speaking expats? Do we not have many unemployed Kuwaitis who have degrees in English or at least can speak good English and can be hired at the police stations?

After all, there is the question of human rights involved and we are responsible for 2.6 million expats in Kuwait.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

Abu Qatada arrested for breaching his bail terms

Chavez political heir takes over after rousing funeral Page 10

Page 9

ZAATARI: A Syrian refugee woman walks with her kid at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, near the Syrian border in Mafraq, Jordan. —AP

Fleeing Syrians turn to prostitution ‘My neighbor sold his daughter for $2,000 to Saudi man’ ZAATARI: Walk among the plastic tents in one corner of this sprawling, dust-swept desert camp packed with Syrian refugees, and a young woman in a white headscarf signals.

“Come in, you’ll have a good time,” suggests Nada, 19, who escaped from the southern border town of Daraa into Jordan several months ago. Her father, sporting a salt-and-pepper beard and a traditional red-checkered headscarf, sits outside under the scorching sun, watching silently.

Nada prices her body at $7, negotiable. She says she averages $70 a day. Several tents away, a clean-shaven, tattooed young Syrian man, who says he was a barber back in the city of Idlib, offers his wife. “You can have her all day for $70,” he promises. He says he never imagined he would be selling his own wife, but he needs to send money back to his parents and in-laws in Syria, about $200 a month.

As the flow of Syrian refugees into neighboring Jordan is sharply increasing, so is their desperation. With Syria torn apart by civil war and its economy deeply damaged, the total number of people who have fled and are seeking aid has now passed a million, the United Nations said this week.

More than 418,000 of the refugees are in Jordan, which recorded about 50,000 new

arrivals in February alone, the highest influx to date. Scores of the Syrian women who escaped to Jordan are turning to prostitution, some forced or sold into it, even by their families. Some women refugees are highly vulnerable to exploitation by pimps or traffickers, particularly since a significant number fled without their husbands - sometimes with their children - and have little or no source of income.

Eleven Syrian prostitutes who talked to the AP in the refugee camp, a border town and three Jordanian cities asked to remain anonymous, citing shame and fear of prosecution by police in Jordan. Prostitution in Jordan is illegal and punishable by up to three years in jail, and foreign women and men found guilty can be deported. The majority of the 11 women say they turned to prostitution out of a desperate need for money.

It’s impossible to pin down how many Syrian refugees are now working as prostitutes in Jordan, but their presence is inescapable.

Syrian women outnumbered those from any other country in several brothels, and in a couple of cases, virtually all the prostitutes were Syrian. Pimps say they have more women who are Syrian than of other nationalities. The influx of Syrian women has been noticed by the competition: A 37-year-old Jordanian

woman running a chain of at least seven brothels in northern Jordan complained that they were taking over the business.

“Men have been asking for Syrian women because they like the blond and light-skinned among them, and the chances that they may create problems, like blackmailing married Jordanian men, are almost nonexistent,” she says. “My policy has been, you either befriend them so that they’d work with you, or get rid of them by tipping police about them.”

Jordanian police also say dozens of Syrian women now work in prostitution. On one day last month they arrested 11 women, eight of them Syrian, at a coffee shop in Irbid for alleged “indecent public behavior.”

Despite strong traditions against sex outside marriage, prostitution takes place in the Arab world, as in other regions, though it is largely more hidden. While there may be known cruising areas in cities, overt red-light districts are rare, and some prostitutes even wear face veils to hide their activities.

Arrangements can be made by phone, and short-term or informal marriages are sometimes used as a cover for prostitution or sex trafficking. Particularly sensitive are the charges of prostitution within the Zaatari camp, housing some 120,000 refugees, which

is funded by the UN and hosted by Jordan, a largely conservative Muslim nation. The camp gives refugees tents or pre-fab shelters and rationed supplies of staple foods, but conditions in the desert are bleak and aid money is running short.

“We have seen no evidence of prostitution in the camp, but we have heard rumors of it,” said Andrew Harper, chief of the UN refugee commission in Jordan. “Given the vulnerability of women, the camp’s growing population and the lack of resources, I’m not surprised that some may opt for such actions.” Residents at the camp complain that the unlit toilets become brothels at night, and aid workers say dozens of babies are born without documentation for their fathers, possibly because of prostitution. Mohammed Abu Zureiq, 50, a camp janitor from Daraa, says along with prostitution, some women at the camp are sold outright. “My neighbor sold his daughter for $2,000 to a Saudi man his age,” he says.

Jordanian police guard the gates but seldom patrol inside, so there is little risk for prostitutes and clients, sometimes other refugees. It is not clear whether the police themselves patronize the prostitutes or arrange for meetings outside the camp, and about 300 refugees rioted two weeks ago over rumors

Egypt protesters target Suez Canal Soccer death sentences confirmed PORT SAID: Egyptian protesters tried to disrupt shipping on the Suez Canal, an artery for global trade, after a court confirmed death sentences for 21 soccer fans from the canal

city of Port Said yesterday. However, canal authorities said shipping passing along the canal had been unaffected by the protests in the city, sited at the waterway’s northern end,

CAIRO: An Egyptian Al-Ahly football club supporter (Ultras) lights a flare as they await the verdict of the court over a deadly football riot in Port Said that killed 74 people last year in Cairo yesterday. An Egyptian court upheld death sentences for 21 defendants over the riots, in a case that has already sparked widespread violence and threats of further unrest.— AFP

state news agency MENA reported.

In Cairo, fans of a rival soccer team set fire to a police social club and the nearby offices of the Egyptian Soccer Federation, sending smoke rising over the capital. They were enraged by the same court clearing 28 other defendants of blame over the riot, in which more than 70 people were killed. The stadium deaths took place last year at the end of a match between Cairo’s Al-Ahly team and Port Said’s Al-Masry.

Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by supporters of AlMasry. Others fell or were thrown from terraces. Unrest has plagued Port Said since the death sentences were first handed down to the Al-Masry supporters in January, with locals who want the fans spared fighting pitched battles with police. At least eight people have been killed this week, including three policemen. The Cairo court also jailed two senior police officers for 15 years yesterday for their handling of the riot.

Witnesses said youths in Port Said untied moored speedboats used to supply shipping on the waterway, hoping the boats would drift into the path of passing vessels. About 2,000 people also blocked car ferries from crossing the canal. Military police recovered

five speedboats and brought them back to shore, but two were still drifting, one witness said. The army has been in charge of security in central Port Said after police were pulled out on Friday to ease tensions.

The canal is a major employer in the city and, until now, protesters had declared it offlimits for the demonstrations apart from on one occasion when red balloons marked “SOS” were floated into the waterway. Some fans of the Cairo side, angry about the acquittals, torched the buildings in the capital on the banks of the Nile. However, others were happy with the confirmation of the death sentences. “This is a just verdict and has calmed us all down. Our martyrs have been vindicated,” Said Sayyid, 21, told Reuters.

The riot case has highlighted deteriorating law and order since the 2011 revolution as public anger explodes over Islamist President Mohamed Morsi’s failure to reform a police force hated for its brutality under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid, listing the names of the 21 fans, said the Cairo court had confirmed “the death penalty by hanging”. He also sentenced five more people to life imprisonment while others out of a total of 73 defendants received shorter terms.— Reuters

that Jordanian guards had sexually harassed women refugees. Jordanian police did not respond to written and verbal AP requests for comment. Ghassan Jamous, a spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army in northern Jordan, acknowledges there is prostitution at the camp, as in any city with a large population, but says it is not widespread. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the belief still runs strong that prostitution is a woman’s choice, even under dire circumstances. “I insist that the Syrian women in Zaatari and elsewhere are practicing prostitution because they like it or got used to it, not for money, or for the sake of their poor families,” Jamous says. Sammar, a 24-year-old from the Syrian capital of Damascus, tells a different story. She was laid off from her work at a clothing shop because of dwindling business, she says, and came to Jordan looking for better opportunities. But she could not find what she calls “a decent job” as a telephone operator, hotel receptionist or waitress. Now she walks a main city boulevard in the northern Jordanian city of Irbid at sunset with four other Syrian girls to pick up men.

The clientele ranges from teenagers on foot to older men in elegant sedans, some with Saudi or other Gulf Arab license plates, who circle the girls before moving in.—AP

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Nordic women at home in the workplace STOCKHOLM: A highly-educated woman who becomes a stay-athome mum is a “complete waste” of a university degree, Danish Prime Minister Helle ThorningSchmidt, herself a mother-of-two, lashed out in a British newspaper interview last year. Elegant, charismatic and determined, ThorningSchmidt has headed the Danish government since October 2011, embodying the strides made by women in politics and the workplace in the Nordic countries over the years, though their fight goes on to reach the top echelons of corporate management where they remain under-represented.

Thorning-Schmidt is Denmark’s first woman prime minister, but it is a case of life imitating art: in the hugely popular 2010 political series “Borgen”, the prime minister is Birgitte Nyborg, who rules the country with a firm hand but struggles to maintain a family life with her husband and two children. In its first episodes, the show features a modern father who, for a while, is willing to put his own career on hold to let his wife pursue her political career.

In neighboring Sweden, the husband of the European Affairs Minister Birgitta Ohlsson is one such man. When their daughter was born in 2010 “he did someBRUSSELS: Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt thing unique: he took parental arrives at the EU Headquarters, on the first day of a two-day leave from day one, until she was a year old and could start daycare,” European Union leaders summit in this file photo. —AFP Ohlsson said in her large, airy

office, acknowledging that she is “very privileged”. Her daughter sometimes accompanied her to work. “I still have the crib and changing table in the back here,” she laughs. Ohlsson, 37, concedes that her husband is an exception: in Sweden, where mothers and fathers can share the 480 days of parental leave allotted per child, dads still only take 24 percent of those days.

That figure is nonetheless high from an international perspective: in Sweden, it is common to see groups of dads pushing their children in prams to the park, taking their “use-it-or-lose it” two months of parental leave reserved solely for fathers. Yet Ohlsson’s appointment to the government in February 2010 while she was pregnant still made waves. Many political commentators suggested she was unsuitable because she wouldn’t be able to care for either her newborn or her job properly-indicating that social norms still lag behind the gender equal society championed by lawmakers.

In the Nordic countries, women in the workplace are the rule, not the exception, thanks to guaranteed spots for their children in affordable, high-quality daycares.

“Gender equality is a part of the Nordic identity and has been a pillar of our democracies and our welfare models,” according to the Nordic Council, an intergovernmental body. Today, 82.5 percent

of Swedish women hold down jobs, though they are more likely to work part-time and hold lowpaying public sector jobs, such as nurses and teachers. Women on average earn 16 percent less than men, a gap largely unchanged since 1996 despite legislative action.

The law requires “employers to implement a plan every three years to achieve wage equality,” Linnea Bjoernstam, a spokeswoman for the Discrimination Ombudsman, explains, adding that employers who fail to do so risk a fine though none has ever been handed down.

Meanwhile, “it must be noted that while we call ourselves the most gender equal country in the world, we have a very low percentage of women in management positions,” laments Rebecca Lucander, the head of the AllBright Foundation that promotes diversity in the business sector.

In its 2013 report, AllBright noted the number of women chief executives in the private sector had doubled in two years, from seven in 2011 to 14 today. But that is still only 14 of the 251 companies surveyed. And on company boards, women make up 61 percent of substitutes, but only four percent of chair positions, Statistics Sweden’s 2012 figures show.

Norway was the first country in the world to introduce quotas to boost the number of women on company boards, requiring 40 percent

women for state-owned companies since 2004 and for large listed companies since 2008.

The Norwegian law has not led to a massive exodus of companies moving abroad to avoid the quota, as some had feared, and studies have shown that the change has had little effect on companies’ performances. Nonetheless, Lucander insists that companies need more women at the top, though she opposes quotas because they’re not based on merit. She wants to see “real gender equality”. “We believe that diversified companies are more profitable and in that way, Sweden could be a true model for the rest of the world.”

With women making up 45 percent of members of parliament, Sweden “is at the forefront when it comes to the division of political power between women and men,” she notes. And yet, it is the only Nordic country that has never had a woman prime minister. Norway elected Gro Harlem Brundtland back in 1981, and Denmark has Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Iceland has been governed by Johanna Sigurdardottir, an openly gay woman, since 2009. Finland elected Anneli Jaeaetenmaeki as premier in 2003, and hugely popular Tarja Halonen served as president from 2000 to 2012. “Why hasn’t a Swedish woman headed the government yet? I ask myself the question everyday,” smiles Ohlsson.—AFP

Abu Qatada arrested for breaching his bail terms Radical cleric accused of inspiring 9/11 hijacker LONDON: Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada has been arrested in London for breaching his bail terms, days before the British government begins an appeal against a court decision blocking his deportation to Jordan. Accused by the British authorities of posing a security risk and being a spiritual inspiration for one of the 9/11 hijackers, Qatada is wanted in his native Jordan to face terrorism charges.

Successive British governments have tried for years to get rid of the cleric, who has been in and out of jail since first being arrested in 2001 and is on bail under tight restrictions including a 16-hour curfew. In the latest of a series of legal blocks to his deportation, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) ruled in his favor in November last year. Qatada says a trial in Jordan might be skewed by evidence obtained using torture.

“The UK Border Agency arrested a 52-year-old man from north London for alleged breaches of his bail conditions imposed by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission,” a spokesman for the Home Office, or interior ministry, said yesterday. In line with the usual practice of the British authorities, the spokesman declined to confirm the man was Abu Qatada, but did not deny media reports identifying the cleric. The spokesman said the arrest took place on Friday and that

Radical cleric Abu Qatada the breach of bail terms would be considered by Siac at the earliest opportunity.

Qatada’s successful appeal to Siac in November was a setback for

Home Secretary Theresa May, who has denounced the repeated legal obstacles to his deportation. The government’s appeal against the Siac decision is scheduled to be

heard in the Court of Appeal on Monday. It was not clear whether there was any connection between Qatada’s arrest and the looming appeal. The Sun newspaper, which first reported news of Qatada’s arrest, said counter-terrorism police had searched his north London home for 12 hours on Thursday.

London police declined to confirm the report of the search, saying only that officers had searched three residential addresses and one business address in the capital on Thursday. A spokesman said the searches were “in connection with ongoing inquiries by the counterterrorism command”, adding that no hazardous materials had been recovered. The cleric, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, was once described by a Spanish judge as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”.

Britain says videos of his sermons influenced Mohammed Atta, ringleader of the Sept 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

Under a deal struck in 2005, Jordan has given Britain diplomatic assurances about his treatment and guarantees that court hearings would be fair. Jordan convicted Qatada in his absence of encouraging militants there who planned bomb attacks in 1999 and 2000.

Under the 2005 deal, however, he will have a retrial if he is eventually returned to Jordan. —Reuters

A leaderless Eternal City with no pope and no government ROME: With no pope and no government, Rome residents could be forgiven for feeling a little apocalyptic after the first papal resignation in 700 years and an Italian election that could bring down the euro-zone. The Eternal City has seen the rise and fall of an empire, multiple barbarian invasions and a few bombardments in its nearly 3,000 years of history. However unprecedented the current situation-at least in the city’s modern history-it is still better than being pillaged by barbarian hordes.

And some observers feel this limbo could herald some much-needed fresh air blowing through Rome’s musty palaces of power both Vatican and I talian- of ten consumed by intrigue and corruption. “Today Rome is empty, waiting for someone to come and occupy its palaces,” said Ferruccio Sansa, a columnist for Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano. “ The places of power can also be the places where we outline a better future,” he said. Whoever moves in “has to be conscious of the call of duty: inventing a new Renaissance,” he said.

Speaking of Renaissance, a new exhibition opened in Rome this week of works by Titiana master who knew a thing or two about church and state.

Particularly striking are the portraits of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the height of his powers and Pope Paul III-a master schemer and Roman aristocrat who cemented his family’s power in a turbulent pontificate between 1534 and 1549. The pope is depicted as a hunched old man in his papal vestments but with a bone-chilling stare.

Although mild by Renaissance standards, there is an air of intrigue in Rome these days too, despite an oath of secrecy on pain of excommunication sworn by cardinals not to reveal any details of their deliberations on election a new pope.

Multiple scenarios on how Italy’s political impasse could be resolved have also been flying around, as have rumors of deep divisions between cardinals over the government of the Church. Ezio Mauro, editor of the Italian daily La Repubblica, said Italy like the Vatican also had a “Sede Vacante” (“Vacant See”) - the official description of the interim period between popes. He has not been the only one to conflate the two situations on the two sides of the River Tiber. “Italians have always confused the sacrality of God and that of Caesar,” Sansa said.

One victim was Ghanaian cardinal Peter Turkson-who was pranked with some officiallooking fake election posters put up around central Rome by a group of Roman artists urging cardinals to vote for him. Italy’s political system is stuck because the vote in last week’s elections basically split the spoils three ways between the centre-left, the centre-right and a new anti-establishment party, leaving no single political group in control of parliament. The divided new parliament is expected to meet on March 15 after which formal negotiations on forming a new government, hosted by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, will officially begin.

The situation is as confusing inside Italy as it is appears from the outside, and one sug-

gestion being bandied around in recent days is that the 87-year-old Napolitano himself could form an emergency government to prepare for new elections. The main novelty in the election was the huge vote given to comedian Beppe Grillo. Many Italian media referred to a recent closed-door meeting by Grillo’s party as a conclave-although the live streaming on the Internet was quite different from the centuries-old papal election held in strictest secrecy.

No date has yet been set for the conclave to elect a new pope, but it could fall around the same date as when the Italian parliament is set to meet. For the superstitious, that day is also the “Ides of March”-the same Roman feast day when Julius Caesar was assassinated in the name of democracy. More superstitious still, some Italians are looking at a popular prophecy that the next pope will be the last before the end of the world.

According to the 12th century superstition, Benedict XVI will be the penultimate pope and the next one will be called “Peter the Roman”. Il Fatto Quotidiano columnist Marco Travaglio was altogether less foreboding but said Benedict’s act of resignation had been revolutionary-more so than an Italian political system still stuck in its old school ways. “While a pope stops being pope and goes down in history with a few simple gestures and phrases, opening the way for a renewal of the world’s most ancient institution, Italian politics and political journalism are lost in Byzantine practices and decrepit political formulas.”—AFP

NAIROBI: Kenyan Prime Minister and presidential candidate Raila Odinga releases a dove during a rally in Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi. —AFP

Raila Odinga: Third time unlucky for Kenya top job NAIROBI: At 68, Raila Odinga, son of Kenya’s historical opposition leader Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, failed in his third and probably final stab at Kenya’s top job.

The prime minister in the outgoing government, Odinga is a Luo from the western region of Nyanza who likes to say he was “born into politics” and claimed as he voted in Monday’s presidential election that he could win outright in the first round of the key election.

Often known by his first name Raila to distinguish him from his father Jaramogi, a prominent post-independence political figure, and his brother Oburu, also a politician, he has pursued his political ambitions undeterred by beatings, persecution, exile and several spells in jail. In all, Odinga spent almost eight years in prison without trial before briefly being granted political asylum in Norway at the beginning of the 1990s.

His admirers point out that while most Kenyan politicians have their constituency in the town where they were born, Odinga is an exception, being a Nairobi MP. He voted in his constituency on Monday, looking exhausted by months of campaigning.

“Raila is a Luo without question, but he is instinctively and ideologically a genuine nationalist as well,” one advisor says. On the walls of his suite of offices, portraits of himself, his father, and anti-colonial rebel leader Dedan Kimathi jostle for space with the pictures that late conservationist Joy Adamson painted of the different tribes of Kenya.

Odinga was a contender in the 1997 elections where he came third after Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki, now the outgoing president. In 2002 he backed Kibaki, who won. In 2007 he ran again, against Kibaki this time, and lost, whereupon his supporters accused Kibaki of having rigged the results. Daniel Branch, an academic and the author of a book on Kenya’s recent history, speaking ahead of Monday’s poll, said Odinga this time round had “no doubt been motivated by a desire to right what he sees as the injustice of 2007, when he and his supporters think he won the presidential vote”.

BUSINESSMAN, NOT COMMUNIST Long renowned as a firebrand speaker able to galvanize any crowd, Odinga, described as stubborn and sometimes shorttempered, has lost some of his skills as an orator. Some attribute the change to illhealth that started to take hold in 2006; others say it started when he became prime minister in 2008. Once he became prime minister, “he could no longer criticize things that were wrong in government without having to do something about them”, one of his advisors said.

His energy has also waned-on at least two occasions recently he was seen almost nodding off during an interview. However his advisors point out that his pre-election schedule was so grueling it would have exhausted a much younger candidate. “He’s reached an age where he’s starting to get tired, and then you have to look at his hectic schedule,” said Mwalimu Mati, a prominent civil society figure and anti-corruption campaigner.

One party campaign coordinator acknowledged Odinga’s performance on the campaign trail had been disappointing this time round, saying: “His concentration was not good”. Married, Odinga has four children: Fidel, Winnie, Rosemary and Raila Junior.

Odinga grew up an Anglican and later converted to evangelicalism, being baptized in a Nairobi swimming pool by a selfproclaimed prophet in 2009. He studied engineering in communist former East Germany, in Magdeburg and Leipzig, and he called his oldest son Fidel after the Cuban revolutionary.

However, observers say the “socialist” and “communist” labels he was given were more an attempt to discredit him by the Moi regime than an accurate reflection of his leanings. In a recent interview before the vote he reminded AFP that he is a businessman. Somewhat controversially he launched his petroleum import company when he was energy minister in 2001 under Moi. Odinga has “accumulated” wealth during his time in politics, says anti-graft campaigner Mati, “but not on the same scale as Uhuru Kenyatta”, the newly elected president as confirmed in the early hours of yesterday.—AFP

Senegal frets over militants from Mali CAMBRIDGE: Senegal is stepping up monitoring of its borders and mounting a public education campaign in an effort to ensure that Islamist militants from neighboring Mali do not disrupt life in the West African nation, Senegalese President Macky Sall said. Senegal, one of Africa’s most peaceful countries, is keen to remain insulated from violence in northern Mali, where a French military offensive has reclaimed most of the territory seized by militants nearly a year ago. “There is a risk of sleeper cells as everywhere else. If you will, the map of terrorist presence is a global map,” Sall, who has been in power almost a year, said in an interview at Harvard University in Cambridge,

Massachusetts. “Senegal being a neighboring country to Mali, it of course pays very close attention to these developments,” said Sall, who noted that Dakar was focused on preventing militants from crossing into Senegal and dissuading Senegalese residents from working with any who did. Senegal has contributed several hundred troops to an African force deployed to Mali, and Islamist rebels have threatened to strike back at any country that supports that mission. France launched a ground and air operation on Jan 11 to break the rebels’ hold on the northern two-thirds of Mali, saying the militants posed a risk to the security of West Africa and Europe. —Reuters

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Jamaican-based swindlers target Florida seniors US Congress to hold a hearing on lottery scams MIAMI: Florida’s senior citizens are falling victim to a Jamaica-based lottery scam that is spreading across the United States, often involving former drug traffickers drawn by the ease of the lucrative crime, US law enforcement officials say.

US postal inspectors and other officials say seniors are being conned out of thousands of dollars in savings by scam artists in Jamaica who promise them huge lottery winnings, sometimes using aggressive and threatening tactics to bully their victims.

“It’s despicable that these crooks are preying on our most vulnerable seniors who sometimes have difficulty remembering important details,” Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who chairs the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, told a joint press conference on Friday with federal law enforcement officials.

The scam and other similar lottery schemes may be fleecing Americans out

of $1 billion annually, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Complaints about the Jamaica-based scam sky-rocketed from 1,867 to 29,000 between 2007 and 2012, according to the FTC. The likely number of victims could be far higher as many scams go unreported by victims because of embarrassment or fear of retaliation, the FTC said.

The Jamaica-based criminals operate with virtual impunity due to the difficulty of tracing the fraud, but US law enforcement is cracking down. “We are absolutely targeting these crimes,” said Alysa Erichs, an investigator with the Department of Homeland Security, saying that a task force is working with Jamaican authorities to track down the lotto fraudsters for extradition.

Nelson and the Senate Aging panel’s top Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, have scheduled a congressional hearing

on March 13 to investigate the impact of the scam.

Florida in particular is being targeted by the fraudsters largely due to its large senior population, agents say. “It’s a population that comes here to retire ... The older they get the more vulnerable they are,” said Nelson.

Scam artists using Jamaica’s 876 area code are also calling elderly residents in other states besides Florida, with complaints received in at least 21 states. The lotto scam has grown so alarmingly that the nation’s biggest senior advocacy group, the AARP, earlier this week sent mailers to 25 million members with advice on how to avoid it. “Our message it very simple; if it sounds too good to be true, it not true,” said Victoria Funes, AARP’s Florida state director.

One south Florida woman, Mar y Kubulak, 78, lost $370,000 after she repeatedly sent cash wire transfers to

Jamaica over a six month period in 2011 in response to a call she received saying she had won the lottery, said David Treece, her Miami financial adviser. “She was living alone and she was really convinced she had won this money,” said Treece.

Known as ‘advance fee fraud’ the calls typically come from phone numbers with the 876 area code for Jamaica, and offer the victim a “service” by allowing them to pay supposed fees up front to handle paperwork such as taxes and legal fees.

It is illegal to play foreign lotteries from the United States, US officials warn.

The scammers string their victims along, often inflating potential winnings and asking for more money to bypass bureaucratic delays. In some cases, victims receive threatening phone calls from the criminals claiming to know where they live, what car they drive and

personal details about family and friends. “They send people here to further harass seniors,” said Tony Gomez, acting head of the Postal Inspection Service in Miami. “These are people who used to dabble in the drug trade and they are using some of those same aggressive tactics.”

Sometimes, after a victim has woken up to the fraud, the criminals will hit them up for more money posing as law enforcement offering to help them recover their money.

Agents investigating the fraud say criminals pay for access to “lead lists” of potential victims names, addresses and phone numbers. “It’s a carpet bombing approach. They hit thousands of people at a time,” said Gomez, often using sophisticated ‘boiler room’ phone bank tactics. The lists are compiled from legitimate telemarketing records that fall into the wrong hands. — Reuters

Italy’s Beppe Grillo - clown or a political mastermind?

Manslaughter conviction keeps Grillo out of parliament

CARACAS: Venezuelan acting president Nicolas Maduro clenches his fist after he was sworn in as acting President, in Caracas. — AFP

Chavez political heir takes over after rousing funeral CARACAS: Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro took over as acting president in a ceremony rejected by the opposition after a tearful farewell to Hugo Chavez during a rousing state funeral for the firebrand leftist. More than 30 heads of state paid tribute to Chavez Friday as his body lay in state in a flag-covered coffin at a military academy, bringing the curtain down on a 14-year reign that divided his oil-rich nation. “There you are, undefeated, pure, transparent, unique, true, alive forever,” Maduro said as his voice rose and cracked in a eulogy that both praised his mentor and railed against his opponents.

“Mission accomplished comandante!

The struggle goes on,” he exclaimed as the guests, ranging from Cuban leader Raul Castro to Hollywood star Sean Penn, applauded in a raucous ceremony filled with music, cheers and chants for Chavez.

Maduro was later sworn in as acting president at the National Assembly and named Chavez’s son-in-law Jorge Arreaza vice president before urging election authorities to “immediately” convene elections.

Maduro donned the presidential sash, his voice breaking as he declared: “Sorry for these tears but this presidency belongs to our comandante.” The assembly burst into chants of “Chavez I swear, my vote is for

Maduro!” The main opposition coalition boycotted the inauguration, saying that it was unconstitutional. The ceremony set the stage for a bitter election campaign that must be called within 30 days, five months after Chavez beat a stronger challenger than he had been used to-Henrique Capriles, who will now likely face his former vice president. “Nicolas, nobody elected you president. The people didn’t vote for you, kid,” Capriles said.

The opposition has argued that the constitution calls for the National Assembly speaker to take over as interim leader.

Before the political battle began, the state funeral opened with Venezuelan conductor and Los Angeles Philharmonic maestro Gustavo Dudamel leading an orchestral rendition of the national anthem. Maduro placed a replica of the golden sword of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar on his mentor’s wooden casket and then handed it to his family at the end of the funeral.

Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus sat next to each other, wiping away tears as a band played one of Chavez’s favorite sentimental songs. “ We have lost a great leader, a great man,” Ahmadinejad said after the ceremony. — AFP

Gun legislation getting holstered on Capitol Hill WASHINGTON: Three months after Newtown, the prospects for President Barack Obama’s ambitious gun control measures have dimmed, as hopes for expanded background checks clash with stubborn political realities. Advocates were keenly anticipating that sweeping federal gun laws-the first in nearly 20 years-could make it to the president’s desk, but the ankle weights of congressional hesitation have brought such prospects down to Earth.

“It’s been a very hard road,” sighed Senator Dianne Feinstein, referring to her revised ban on assault weapons, one of four pieces of legislation considered Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The difficulties extend beyond her ban, which gained traction in the weeks after a gunman using a semi-automatic rifle massacred 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, but which many lawmakers have said has little chance of passing Congress. The week was marked by a breakdown in talks over the linchpin in Obama’s gun reforms: legislation that would require background checks on all gun purchases, including those by private sellers at gun shows. Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, who is shepherding the legislation, could not agree with Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma on what to do with records from private gun sales.

“The problem is that you have two polar opposites. You have the gun control group and the NRA,” Coburn told reporters, referring to the powerful National Rifle Association pro-gun lobby group opposed to nearly all gun control measures. “Our deal is to find the sweet spot in the middle that makes sense,” he added, insisting he was “still hopeful” of passing a bill that expands

background checks. The glacial movement illustrates the sensitivity of a debate that transcends politics in a country where the US Supreme Court as recently as 2008 reiterated the inalienable right of Americans to own guns to defend themselves.

Many Democrats coalesced around universal background checks as the logical next big step, citing overwhelming public support-as high as 94 percent in North Dakota, whose two Republican senators have “A” ratings from the NRA. Yet several Republicans chafe at the idea of such new restrictions, even as they acknowledge the current background check system is broken. Senators did make some progress at the Judiciary meeting, voting to approve a bill that would make firearm trafficking a federal crime and impose stiff penalties on “straw purchasers” who buy guns for people who are prohibited from owning them.

Obama urged the Senate and House to pass the anti-trafficking measure, which is now lined up as the first gun bill likely to push through Congress. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley backed it, but fellow conservative Senator John Cornyn hinted at potential problems and dismissed the bill as “a solution in search of a problem.” Gun control groups were extremely vocal in the days after Newtown, as they demanded White House action. But they have quieted their rage-at the urging of the White House, in exchange for a greater say in the discussion, according to the Politico news website, which quoted sources involved in talks with administration officials. “This is a process.

Nothing is going to happen overnight,” Violence Policy Center legislative director Kristen Rand said. “Over the long run, the will to deal with the gun violence problem has the momentum.” — AFP

ROME: Beppe Grillo stirs strong feelings. His supporters believe he can clean up Italian politics and give ordinary people more say in decisionmaking. His opponents see a dangerous populist who evokes memories of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. International media describe Grillo as a comic, which on one level he is, but the man who jointly created and leads the party that in just three years has become the largest in Italy is much more than that.

Behind his tirades against the political and business elite is a shrewd mind, a hugely influential alter ego and the desire to win complete power in the euro zone’s third largest economy. “The left and right will govern together on the ruins they’ve created, it will last a year at most, then our movement will change the world,” Grillo said after his party’s triumphant performance in last week’s election. Grillo has made all the headlines since the vote, but he is only half the story of his antiestablishment 5-Star Movement. Most of the strategy is decided by Gianroberto Casaleggio, an Internet expert who seldom appears in public.

“A single man in command is not democracy,” said Pier Luigi Bersani after his Democratic Party (PD) was beaten into second place in the vote.

“Behind Bersani is the PD, I want to know what is behind Grillo.” The answer is Casaleggio, and his Milan-based firm Casaleggio Associates whose business is to create websites and web-based marketing campaigns for clients. The two men met in 2004 and the following year Casaleggio’s company created Grillo’s hugely successful blog.

Casaleggio has been running Grillo’s public activities ever since. They are joint founders of the 5Star Movement. In one of the best debut performances by any party in Western Europe since World War Two, 5-Star took 26 percent of the vote, outstripping the PD and Silvio Berlusconi’s centreright People of Freedom. “Unless the other parties change their leaders and somehow get back in touch with ordinary people he can certainly keep on growing,” said Elisabetta Gualmini, politics professor at Bologna University and a close observer of Grillo’s movement.

DEMOCRAT OR DESPOT? Grillo capitalized on popular despair over recession, unemployment and poverty with a campaign that convinced millions of Italians that he could offer them a break with the past. “Grillo was the only one who gave any hope of change,” said Matteo Schiavetti, 22, a student at Rome University. Grillo and his mostly young followers present themselves as pioneers of a new, more egalitarian type of democracy, based on direct participation rather than delegation and hierarchies. Yet his critics say he is more of a despot than a democrat. They point out that in practice Grillo not only controls the movement but owns it, having obtained the rights to its brand when he founded it with Casaleggio in 2009. “The total dependence on Grillo is not sustainable, they will have to create a structure and he will have to allow mini-leaders to emerge or everything will implode,” said Gualmini.

Grillo showed his iron grip last year when he

expelled two local councilors who had criticized a lack of internal democracy and flouted the party rule not to appear on talk shows with rival politicians from the “old” parties. “There is no transparency, Casaleggio created everything and the only structure is Casaleggio Associates,” said Giovanni Favia, the councillor for the Emilia Romagna region who was thrown out of the party after falling out with Casaleggio. Casaleggio, 59, with his unruly, shoulder length hair and round wire-framed glasses, is an ardent believer in the power of the Internet to transform the world and is often caricatured as a dreamy visionary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCbjA-

It is the only party that refuses state financing and its elected representatives have all voluntarily slashed their salaries.

Its members never appear on television talk shows, it communicates almost exclusively through Grillo’s blog (www.beppegrillo.it), and it refuses to form alliances with other parties. Grillo aims to appeal to left and right. He attacks the old “zombie” parties and business fat cats but also the trade unions who he says no longer represent workers’ interests. And it’s not all vitriol. He also offers the positive message that politics can be clean and different, constantly citing the movement’s local councillors who have given up most

ROME: Comic-turned-politician Beppe Grillo (center with sunglasses) is surrounded by media as he leaves a hotel after a meeting with the elected members of his Movimento 5 Stelle movement, in Rome. — AP yVsRc). But those who have met him say he is practical, single minded and determined. His hero is 13th century Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan and he has said his final goal is for Italy’s parties to disappear altogether. “I am on the streets and Casaleggio is on-line, they are interlinked roles and neither of us is leader,” Grillo said in a book he published with Casaleggio last month.

MUSSOLINI Some commentators have compared Grillo to Mussolini, seeing similar personality cults, the same vitriolic attacks on opponents and their common rejection of traditional parties. While most of Grillo’s policies are light years away from those of the wartime dictator he, like Mussolini, possesses a rare charisma and an energy that belies his 64 years. To launch his party’s campaign for elections in Sicily last year he swam the Straits of Messina, a treacherous 3 km (2 mile) stretch of water that separates the island from mainland Italy. Grillo and Casaleggio understood Italians’ need for something different. And everything about 5-Star is different.

of their salaries to provide cheap credit to small businesses.

MANSLAUGHTER Grillo himself will not be in parliament because a conviction for manslaughter makes him ineligible under his movement’s rules. The jeep he was driving with friends on a mountain road in 1981 skidded on ice, went over a cliff and killed three of his four passengers. There may be contradictions in Grillo and his movement, but the common claim that he has no policies is untrue, and the thrust of his ideas is clear. He is an ecologist with a largely left-wing platform based on attacking privilege, redistributing wealth, increasing public control of schools and healthcare, and cutting spending on defense. He believes in more direct democracy using referendums and the Internet and wants new laws to clean up politics. However, he has wavered on the crucial issue of Italy’s membership of the euro zone, first calling for withdrawal, then only for a referendum and most recently saying he wanted merely an on-line, non-binding consultation. — Reuters

New Tunisian government faces daunting challenges

TUNIS: Tunisian premier-designate Ali Larayedh announces a proposed new coalition government during a press conference following his meeting with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki in Tunis. — AFP

TUNIS: Tunisia’s new coalition government unveiled by Islamist Ali Larayedh faces the mammoth challenges of drafting a much-delayed constitution, defusing the threat of radical Salafists and tackling unemployment and poverty which fuelled the 2011 uprising. More than two years after the mass protests that toppled former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and set off the Arab Spring revolutions in several countries, Tunisia is still struggling to rebuild its institutions.

Parliament remains divided over the future political system, with the powerful Islamist Ennahda party pushing for a pure parliamentary system while other parties demand that the president retain key powers.

Larayedh unveiled a cabinet on Friday with key portfolios handed to independent and little known figures, in a clear concession by Ennahda, and announced that the new government would step down by the end of the year. The 57-year-old former interior minister and Ennahda figure said his cabinet would work “to the end of 2013 at the latest,” on the assumption that a new constitution has been adopted and legislative and presidential elections held in the meantime.

He declined to speculate on when the elections would be held, saying that was a prerogative of the assembly, but suggested they could be in October-November. But his hopes could be

dashed, according to the findings of a report published by an NGO whose members monitored the work of MPs. The report by La Boussole watchdog accused parliamentarians of slackness. “We noted that on average the sessions opened 73 minutes late and sometimes two hours and 45 minutes late” because of a lack of quorum, it said, adding that since January an average of just 90 out of 217 MPs were present.

La Boussole head Amira Yahyaoui estimated that at such a rate elections cannot take place before the beginning of 2014. Another key challenge facing the government is security in Tunisia, where a state of emergency has been in force since the revolution. President Moncef Marzouki extended by three months the state of emergency on March 1 following the February assassination of leftist politician Chokri Belaid. The murder of Belaid, a vocal critic of Ennahda, has been blamed on Salafists, ultra-conservative Muslims whose influence has grown in the once proudly secular nation. The killing sparked clashes between protesters and police and prompted the largest antigovernment demonstration since the revolution.

The opposition has accused Ennahda and Larayedh of complacency in dealing with the Salafists who have been implicated in a wave of violence, including an attack on the US embassy last September and others on Sufi shrines. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

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

Indian gang-rape victim shares US courage awards WASHINGTON: The Indian gang-rape victim whose brutal death shocked the nation and the world was among nine women honored by the United States on Friday for their courage. The young student, who has become known simply as “Nirbhaya” or “fearless,” was awarded the US International Women of Courage award posthumously after she died of massive internal injuries following the rape and attack on a Delhi bus. “Her bravery inspired millions of men and women to come together with a simple message ‘No more,’” US Secretary of State John Kerry told a ceremony at which the 23-year-old was honored. “We never imagined that the girl we thought was our daughter would one day be the daughter of the entire world,” her parents wrote in a message to the ceremony that was read out

by Kerry.

“While her end was horrendous, her case is imparting strength to all women to fight and to improve the system. Women in India and the rest of the world refuse to be stigmatized and will not keep silent any more.” Three other women were also absent from the event held at the State Department. Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser was denied a passport by Chinese authorities to travel, Vietnamese blogger Ta Phong Tan is under house arrest and Syrian human rights lawyer Razan Zeitunah is in hiding for her safety. “I see how much work we still

have to do,” Kerry said at the annual event held to mark International Women’s Day. First Lady Michelle Obama said that “when these women witnessed horrific crimes or the disregard for basic human rights, they spoke up, risking everything they had to see that justice was done. “With every act of strength and defiance, with every blog post, with every community meeting, these women have inspired millions to stand with them and find their own voices, and work together to achieve real and lasting change.”

But the event was marred by news that the award to Egyptian activist Samira Ibrahim was canceled at the last-minute after it was discovered she had made statements praising the September 11, 2001 attacks and the killing of Israelis. “It’s unfortunate, but it was the right thing to do,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, adding that Ibrahim’s statements on her Twitter account “didn’t comport with out values.” “There were obviously some problems in our review process,” Nuland admitted.

Woeser, who has written on Tibetan issues for decades, said she was unable to leave China to receive the award, after being routinely denied a passport. She had applied in 2005 and last year. But Woeser said she would dedicate her award to selfimmolators. “I’ve been writing about them,

Suu Kyi urges party unity amid internal squabbles YANGON: Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday called for her oncebanned party to unify amid concerns that internal squabbles could undermine its push for power at historic polls in 2015. Speaking at the first ever congress of her popular but politically callow National League for Democracy (NLD) party, Suu Kyi urged a revival of the “spirit of fraternity” which saw it build a huge base during iron-fisted junta rule.

But she acknowledged “there was some fighting” within the party, something analysts attribute to the reluctance of an elderly cabal of senior advisors-veterans of the democracy struggle-to give way to an eager younger generation. “We have to act with restraint” the Nobel Laureate, who is expected to be reelected as party chairman yesterday, said urging delegates not to fight over positions. “The spirit of fraternity is very important. We have been strong in the past because of this spirit.”

Although hugely popular in Myanmar some experts question whether the NLD is ready to run an impoverished nation whose economy, education and health systems were left in tatters by the corrupt former junta. The party is expected to win national elections in 2015, if they are free and fair. But experts say it must first resolve internal divisions which again flared ahead of the conference as four members were banned from attending, accused of trying to influence the voting.

Hundreds of delegates, many clad in the orange jackets of NLD party members, heard Suu Kyi address the issue of party chairmanship-a position she currently holds-and urge

delegates to elect a “leader who is in accord with this era, in accord with this country and the party”. The congress is the latest sign of the dramatic changes seen in Myanmar since a quasi-civilian regime, led by former general Thein Sein, took power in 2011, ending years of isolation and heralding a flood of aid and investment.

The 67-year-old Suu Kyi has not ruled out ambitions of becoming president, with elections set for 2015, but a constitutional rule now bars her from the role as she was married to a Briton and has two sons who are foreign nationals. But doubts persist over whether her opposition party can remodel itself for the challenges of government, with many senior members-known as the “NLD uncles”-in their 80s and 90s refusing to make way for younger members. “They could not take power over the country tomorrow, they are not ready.

They have a lack of capacity,” a western diplomat observing the congress said, requesting anonymity.

“I think they understand more and more that they have to catch up and study and learn and they should use the next two years to do that.” The NLD also faces the financial and political might of President Thein Sein’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), created by former generals who shed their uniforms to run for office in controversial elections held in 2010. The USDP, which was battered by the NLD in by-elections held in April last year that saw Suu Kyi elected to parliament, is also scrambling for a new strategy to avert a major defeat in 2015. — AFP

India welcomes Pakistani premier with ‘open arms’ JAIPUR: Pakistan’s premier Raja Pervez Ashraf arrived in India yesterday for a pilgrimage to a revered Muslim shrine, with Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid welcoming him with “open arms”.

Khurshid’s warm welcome for Ashraf-making his first visit to India as prime ministercomes despite strained relations between the nuclear-armed rivals over recent border clashes.

“It’s in our culture to welcome our guests with open arms,” said Khurshid ahead of a lunch he will host for Ashraf at the Rambagh Palace, a luxury heritage hotel in the city of Jaipur in north western India. Khurshid and Ashraf smiled and shook hands for television cameras before retreating behind closed doors for their lunch. An Indian foreign ministry official said there would be no “substantive talks” at the meeting. “India is happy to host a lunch for the Pakistani prime minister. We are just extending our hospitality,” the senior Indian foreign ministry official said.

Ashraf is the most senior Pakistani to visit India since last April when President Asif Ali Zardari made a similar pilgrimage and had lunch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Ashraf and his family planned a daylong private trip to the 13th century shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer, 130 kilometers from Jaipur. Tensions spiked between New Delhi and Islamabad in January and February as a total of six sol-

diers were killed in exchanges along the de facto border in Kashmir, a region claimed by both countries. Four of the soldiers killed were from Pakistan while two were from India.

One of the Indians was beheaded allegedly by Pakistanis. India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947, accuses Islamabad of fomenting cross-border militancy-a charge that the Islamic republic rejects. But some Indians, including the symbolic spiritual head of the Ajmer shrine Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, objected to Ashraf’s pilgrimage. Khan said on Friday he would refuse to assist Ashraf during the prayers. “I expected the Pakistan prime minister to bring back the head of the Indian martyr, tender an apology to the people of India and the family of the soldier,” Khan said. However, his decision will not affect the Pakistani premier’s visit because Ashraf will be helped by other senior shrine members. Ajmer Bar Association President Rajesh Tandon called the visit “intolerable” because of the Indian soldier’s beheading and said lawyers would “symbolically cleanse” the road on which the Pakistani leader travelled to mark their protest. On Friday, Prime Minister Singh also said ties between the neighbors could improve only if Pakistan shuns its alleged support to “the terror machine” of crossborder militancy. — AFP

AJMER: Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf (center) gestures after offering prayers at the Ajmer Sharif shrine in Ajmer yesterday. — AFP

and feel sad about them,” she said. Also among those honored were the first female member of the Afghan National Interdiction Unit, Malalai Bahaduri, whose uncle broke her nose when she told him she was going to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Russian journalist Elena Milashina, who has endured threats and attacks for her work exposing drug traffickers and the killings of reporters, and Nigerian democracy campaigner Josephine Obiajulu Odumakin also got the nod. The final two awards were given to Somalian activist Fartuun Adan, who heads the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre, and Honduran Julieta Castellanos, who helped formed an umbrella organization of civil society groups following the 2009 coup. In replying on behalf of all the women, Adan, who was clearly overwhelmed by the event, said the opportunity was unexpected. “I never thought someone would see the work we are doing in Somalia,” she told the audience. “The work we do, it doesn’t matter where we live, it’s always the same.” She said women had to break their silence. “I’m a mother, I have three girls, and I have to be a role model, not only to them but to all young girls, and not only in Somalia but all over the place,” Adan added. “We need to speak out, we need to be involved, we need to be part of the change.” — AFP

WASHINGTON: First lady Michelle Obama, bows her head in a moment of silence, as Nirbhaya, which means fearless, the courageous 23-year-old victim of a brutal gang rape on a moving bus in Delhi is posthumously honored with the Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award at the State Department in Washington. — AP

Afghan suicide bomber kills 9 during Hagel visit Taleban claim responsibility KABUL: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Defense Ministry gate in Kabul yesterday killing nine civilians during a visit to Afghanistan by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, underlining the insurgent threat as NATO troops prepare to leave. Hagel was nowhere near the explosion, said a spokesman for Afghanistan’s NATOled International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A US defense official said Hagel was in a safe location at an ISAF facility.

An Afghan Defense Ministry official said at least nine people, all civilians, were killed. Fourteen people were wounded in the attack, carried out by an insurgent on a bicycle. Roads around the ministry building, which is near the presidential palace, were closed as emergency officials cleared the area of debris and washed blood from the street. A wall surrounding the ministry was pockmarked with shrapnel.

The Afghan Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack and said the ministry was the target.

They said in a statement the attack “is a kind of message” for Hagel. The blast underscored the security challenges facing Afghanistan as US-led NATO forces prepare to leave the country by the end of 2014. Some Afghans fear that another civil war could erupt or the Taleban will make a push to take control of the country again after Western combat troops withdraw.

In the eastern province of Khost, a suicide bomber attacked a joint Afghan and foreign patrol in a village, killing seven civilians and one policeman, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.

Hagel, who arrived in Afghanistan on Friday for his first trip abroad as defense secretary, was moved from a briefing room at a NATO base to a more secure location after the blast, a US official said. The explosion was audible during a briefing for reporters travelling with Hagel.

After the blast, the defense secretary flew to Bagram Air Base near Kabul for closed-door meetings with commanders.

RESIDUAL MISSION Hagel is due to hold talks with President Hamid Karzai, whose recent orders to curtail US military activity highlights an often tense relationship with the 66,000 American forces here.

The decorated Vietnam war veteran is seeking to make his own assessment of America’s longest war as it enters its final stretch.

Hagel is making his first trip to Afghanistan since a mid-2008 visit

with then-Senator Barack Obama during Obama’s campaign for the presidency.

Obama, a Democrat, forged a close bond with Hagel, a Republican, and remarked later that summer that the two agreed on almost “every item” of foreign policy.

Hagel was confirmed as defense secretary on Feb 26 and was sworn into office the next day. His advice may help shape some of Obama’s most lasting decisions on Afghanistan, notably how large a residual mission to keep there once NATO wraps up its combat mission at the end of next year and the vast

majority of foreign forces go home.

On Tuesday, the outgoing head of the US military ’s Central Command, General James Mattis, disclosed that he recommended keeping 13,600 American troops in Afghanistan - above the range of troop levels US officials have said were being considered by the White House and discussed by NATO defence chiefs last month.

Obama last month announced the withdrawal of 34,000 American troops - about half the total - by early next year. Officials also have outlined the expected pace of the withdrawal through next April. — Reuters

JALALABAD: US Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel (center) is escorted by US Army Colonel Joseph McGee (left), Commander of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division on his arrival at eastern Jalalabad Airfield yesterday. — AFP

Indonesian vote suggests religion card ‘weakening’ JAKARTA: Indonesia’s most populous province has re-elected its conservative Muslim governor, but by such a narrow margin that it suggests the religious card may be losing its power to win votes in the world’s largest Islamic society. Last week’s West Java election, the results of which were announced this week, comes amid criticism that while President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government has largely tamed Islamic militants, it is standing aside as religious hardliners muscle into the mainstream political debate ahead of next year’s presidential and general election.

West Java, a heavily industrialized region next to the capital, Jakarta, has in recent years seen violent attacks on Christian churches and members of the Ahmadiyya sect, a minority considered heretical by some Muslims. There were numerous media reports that the re-elected governor, Ahmad Heryawan, whose campaign promoted an “Islamic environment” in the overwhelmingly Muslim province, had agreed with a vigilante group to ban the Ahmadiyya if he won again. Officials at Heryawan’s office were unable to say whether the reports were correct. Heryawan said he had met the group before the election but denied signing any agreement with it. In the end, Heryawan’s

winning margin dropped to just over the minimum 30 percent needed to win, well down from 40 percent five years ago.

“Many parties are now trying to become a middle ground party. Indonesia is very diverse and parties who support that diversity will get votes,” said Airlangga Hartarto, a member of parliament with the secular Golkar party.

“The new generation of voters is more plugged into the global market and culture, and jobs and quality of living are the priorities for these voters.” Close to two-thirds of the world’s fourth biggest population is under 35 and starting to enjoy the fruits of living in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. In an election last year for governor of Jakarta, rivals tried to turn voters against the front-runner by pointing out that his running mate was both ethnic Chinese and Christian. The pair won the race easily.

PRAGMATIC A prominent political analyst and vicepresidential adviser, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, said Islam was becoming a more potent factor in a society in which nearly 90 percent of the people consider themselves Muslims.

“But in politics, most Indonesians still look at more pragmatic problems,” she said. It did

not help the governor Heryawan that the national leaders of his Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) were facing a major investigation around the time of the election over their alleged role in a beef import scandal.

“Corruption scandals ... do have an impact on voters at the local and national level,” said Dian Permata, researcher at the Freedom House think-tank. “(Religious parties) have presented themselves as being pious and clean but now there is a migration of voters away from Islamic parties toward so-called nationalist parties.” Religious parties made a comeback in Indonesia’s era of democratic reform after the fall in 1998 of authoritarian leader, Suharto.

But according to data from the general election commission, support for the main Islamic parties dropped nearly 10 percent, to 24 percent of the national vote, between elections in 2004 and 2009. By late 2012, this support had diminished further to less than 10 percent, according to one independent survey. “Religion is just not part of the main issue for voters anymore ... and most parties should realize that,” said Hasto Kristianto, deputy secretary general of the main opposition party the Indonesian Democratic PartyStruggle (PDI-P). — Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

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

Chinese fishermen on front line of marine dispute TANMEN: The tropical waters of the South China Sea are among the most contested on Earth, but Chinese fishermen who sail in them shrug off the dangers of navigating between multiple competing claimants. “It’s a little risky... but in Chinese regions we’re not afraid, we’re in sea which belongs to us, how could we be arrested?” asked Liang Min, 29, as he stood in his ship’s dank engine room, wearing yellow plastic shoes.

It is a sentiment that would be disputed in several Asian capitals, and as tensions mount in the area Liang risks finding himself embroiled in an international incident on one of his regular visits.

Beijing says its “historical waters” include a vast swathe of the South China Sea, detailed on a map published in the 1940s.

The “nine-dash line” that marks its declared rule sweeps almost to the coast of Borneo, over 1,000 kilometres from the Chinese mainland, and provoked fury when it was included in new Chinese passports issued last year. In his address opening China’s parliament this week, Premier Wen Jiabao said Beijing should “develop the marine economy... and safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests”. As China presses its claim it has increased its naval and marine surveillance presence, as have its southeast Asian neighbors, who cite international conventions to strongly deny Beijing’s authority-raising fears of open conflict.

“The sea belongs to us, our ancestors

Two years on, Fukushima suffers in nuclear shadow FUKUSHIMA: Mikio Nihei’s family is split by his need to work and their fear of radiation from a nuclear disaster that some warn could leave part of Japan a hollow shell for generations. A week after a towering tsunami smashed into the atomic power plant on the Fukushima coast, sparking meltdowns in some reactors, Nihei sent his family away from the clouds of radiation many believed were pouring forth.

But Japan’s fragile economy means Nihei feels unable to leave his job in a car parts factory in Fukushima City, some 60 kilometers from the nuclear plant, so he stayed behind in the family home when his wife and two daughters-now three and five-fled for Tokyo. Now he sees them only every four weeks. “I don’t know how long this situation will continue,” Nihei, 38 said in a house decorated with photographs of his daughters and letters they have written for him.

“I can go see them in Tokyo only once a month as travel expenses are high... It’s tough to keep going in this double life, economically and mentally.” The world’s worst nuclear disaster in a generation is officially recorded as having killed no one.

But the human cost has been high. More than 100,000 people were forcibly evacuated from their homes in a 20-kilometre exclusion zone around the crippled plant. Tens of thousands more-like the Niheis-left a wider area, worried about the health dangers from radiation they could neither see nor smell.

Many take little comfort from pronouncements by government scientists or international bodies, who say the amount of radiation they are being exposed to is unlikely to cause them any harm. The International Commission of Radiological Protection recommends a dosage limit of one millisievert per year from all sources of radiation, but says exposure to less than 100 millisieverts per year presents no statistically significant increase in cancer risk.

A single CT hospital scan delivers around 10 millisieverts, according to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan. But, say campaigners, any amount of reassurances cannot mitigate the ever-present fear and little understood threat.

Nihei’s wife Kazuko, 36, said she wanted to avoid any possible risk from radiation, even if it was below 100 millisieverts per year. “We couldn’t let children play outside anymore, and they got frustrated,” she said in Tokyo. “I didn’t want our daughters to eat locally-grown rice and vegetables.”

On the day AFP visited the Nihei family home in the city of Fukushima, a radiation monitoring post in front of a nearby junior high school showed 0.1 microsievert per hour. If that figure remained constant it would be equal to less than a 1.0 milisievert annual dose. The World Health Organization said last month that lifetime rates of thyroid cancer for women who lived inside the government-mandated exclusion zone were expected to be 1.25 percent, up 70 percent from the baseline risk of 0.75 percent for Japanese women.

In an illustration of how polarizing the issue can be, Greenpeace immediately said the WHO was vastly underestimating the risk, while the Japanese government said its calculations were overblown and based on unrealistic premises. Two years after the crisis, the no-go zone around the plant is gradually shrinking as radiation levels decrease. But for Norio Kanno, mayor of Iitate, a village from which some 6,000 residents have been evacuated, a return to normality is still a long way off.

“When we first evacuated, we thought we could go back in about two years,” he said in Tokyo. “But two years have already passed, and things have only just begun.” Indeed, the timescales involved in the clean-up are far longer than were first imagined. Full decommissioning of the reactors, where molten fuel ate through concrete casing, is expected to take at least three decades. That, along with the decontamination of surrounding areas, will cost billions of dollars, much of it borne by the taxpayer.

Farmers and fishermen in the region-previously one of Japan’s breadbaskets-complain that despite rigorous testing showing their produce to be safe, few people want to buy it. Tourism is still suffering, with attractions like the fruit farms near the Niheis’ home seeing visitor numbers cut by three-quarters.

“The government doesn’t have anything that can convince evacuees to come back,” said Mikio Nihei.

“I wonder how they are going to rebuild Fukushima.” — AFP

fished there,” said an elderly boat owner surnamed Wang in Tanmen, a run-down but bustling port on China’s island province of Hainan, where ships offload catches of octopus, sailfish and mackerel. His words echoed reports in Chinese

natural gas. But for the fishermen of Tanmen, its strategic significance pales in comparison to the attraction of its rich marine stocks.

So many fish shoal around the Paracel islands-which are claimed by China,

TANMEN: A Chinese man looks on as he stands on a boat at the dock in the sea town of Tanmen, in China’s southern Hainan province. With Beijing claiming a huge swathe of the strategically crucial South China Sea, a vast maritime area comes under the southern island province of Hainan, and its fishermen and tour agencies are at the forefront of the dispute. — AFP state media saying Chinese fishermen have been active in the area since the Han Dynasty, which began in 206 BC. A third of the world’s seaborne trade passes through the South China Sea, and it could hold enormous reserves of oil and

Vietnam and Taiwan-that Liang said he and his crew dive down to coral reefs at night to grab creatures as they sleep. For others the Spratlys, a motley collection of reefs and islets disputed by the three Paracel claimants plus the Philippines,

Malaysia and Brunei, are the biggest draw. “There aren’t many people catching fish there, so fishing is much easier,” said a middle aged-woman surnamed Guo, who travels to the archipelago with her husband on a new 60 foot boat, bought with a loan from the local government.

But trips to the islands are risky, with Beijing claiming more than 11,000 Chinese sailors have experienced attacks, robberies or detention by foreign powers since 1989. “If there are a lot of Vietnamese ships, it can be scary, but now we have more and bigger boats so we’re not afraid,” said Guo, casually tapping her foot on her vessel’s steering wheel. Last summer a naval patrol vessel accompanied 30 Chinese fishing boats to the Spratlys, prompting concerns that Beijing was using the industry to reassert its territorial claims.

Chinese maritime authorities have also stepped up their own patrols and detained fishermen from rival countries, including 21 Vietnamese sailors in one incident. M Taylor Fravel, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States said that economic factors were involved. “All states in the region have over-fished waters close to home, which means that they are more active in other areas,” he said.

At the same time China is boosting its military presence in the sea, establishing a new city-Sansha-and army garrison on one of the Paracels last year. Beijing uni-

laterally awarded Sansha two million square kilometers of sea, creating an oddity that is by far the world’s largest city by area but has a minuscule population of around 1,000 people-little more than the planet’s smallest city, the Vatican.

Officials and provincial media say they will promote tourism in the region, a move set to alarm neighboring countries. One Hainan travel company offered a four-day cruise taking in the newly created city for 7,800 yuan ($1,300) - for Chinese citizens only-but could not confirm a departure date. Beijing is in the process of expanding its maritime reach, with its first aircraft carrier entering service last year, part of a military expansion which has prompted China’s neighbours to upgrade their navies and seek closer ties with the United States.

But Wu Shicun, the head of China’s state-run National Institute for South China Sea Studies in Hainan denied Beijing had become more assertive, saying that its military development in the region was “too slow.” “I hope our aircraft carrier can soon be sent to the Nansha Islands,” he said, using the Chinese term for the Spratlys. “I think that China is under pressure in the South China Sea, especially with the entrance of the US, so we need to play a more active role,” Wu said. It is a prospect Liang welcomes.

“We have a lot of police boats there now,” he said. “I’m not afraid of going anywhere.” — AFP

Taiwanese say ‘No’ to Nukes Protesters in Japan demand end to nukes TAIPEI: Tens of thousands of Taiwanese people rallied in the capital yesterday to demand the government heed the lesson of a Japanese atomic crisis and scrap the island’s nuclear facilities, organizers said.

On the streets of Taipei protesters waved placards and flags painted with slogans such as “No Nuke, No fear” and “No Nuke for Our Children” as they gathered at a square outside the presidential office. Worries about Taiwan’s atomic facilities have grown since a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011, crippling a nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

“Like Japan, Taiwan is an island with many earthquakes and I think it is just too dangerous to build a new nuclear plant near Taipei,” said high school student Lu Pei-ying. The Taipei event, which took place as three other rallies were held simultaneously across the island, drew an estimated crowd of more than 50,000 people, according to organizer Green Citizens’ Action Alliance. Police estimates of the crowd size were not immediately available.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by earthquakes. A tremor of 5.6 magnitude shook buildings in Taipei on Thursday. Last month, Premier Jiang Yi-hua said for the first time that the government may support holding a referendum on the future of the

fourth atomic plant - under construction since 1999 and still not completed-amid growing public concern. Organizers of the rally urged the government to immediately slam the brakes on the plant and move to completely stop using nuclear energy.

“It is unnecessary to hold the referendum as public opinion opposing nuclear energy is evident in many recent surveys.

The government should terminate the nuclear project without further ado,” said organizer Joanna Feng. More than half of Taiwan’s public want construction of the fourth nuclear plant, near Taipei, to be halted due to safety concerns, according to two surveys released on Thursday. The three existing nuclear plants supply about 20 percent of Taiwan’s electricity. Construction of the fourth was originally due to be finished by 2004, but political wrangling has delayed the project.

PROTEST IN JAPAN In another development, hundreds of Japanese have protested at a Tokyo park to demand an end to atomic power - vowing never to give up their fight despite two years of little change after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, northeastern Japan.

The protesters gathered yesterday ahead of the second anniversary of the March 11 quake and tsunami that sent Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into multiple meltdowns.

TAIPEI: Young women shout slogans along with tens of thousands anti-nuclear demonstrators denouncing the island’s unfinished fourth nuclear power plant in Taipei yesterday. — AP Demonstrators said they would never allow the world’s worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl to be forgotten, while expressing alarm over the government’s eagerness to restart its nuclear power reactors. Only two of this nation’s

50 working reactors are back online, partly because of continuous protests like yesterday’s, the first time such demonstrations have popped up in Japan since the 1960s movement against the Vietnam War. — Agencies

UN peacekeepers seized

by Syrian rebels freed

A satellite image provided by Amnesty International shows a notorious North Korean prison camp (lower left) and a region outside the camp’s perimeter. — AP

S Korea learns to live with North’s threats SEOUL: Nearly two decades ago, South Koreans cleared store shelves after a North Korean threat to turn Seoul into a “sea of fire” raised war panic.

Yesterday, South Koreans expressed some fear but mostly apathy and restraint after a week of warlike rhetoric from the North, including another “sea of fire” vow.

Many South Koreans have grown up with a steady drumbeat of over-the-top threats from the North. So while they are aware of soaring tensions as North Korea reacts with anger to major US-South Korean military drills that start Monday and a new round of UN sanctions over Pyongyang’s recent third nuclear test, there’s skepticism that anything serious will happen. In downtown Seoul, people took photos and laughed as they walked below a giant electronic screen that flashed headlines about North Korea’s war threats. “The odds of dying from a North Korean bomb are probably smaller than being killed in a car accident. I’ll spend my time doing better things than worrying about war,” said Oh Jin-young, a South Korean office worker out for a walk with his son.

“North Korea knows that war will be like committing suicide.”

There is some fear, however. South Koreans are well known for their ability to shake off North Korean threats. But the last several years have seen a rise of

bloodshed. The deadly sinking of a South Korean warship - which Pyongyang denies torpedoing, despite a Seoul-led international investigation that found the North at fault - and an artillery attack on a front-line South Korean island in 2010 that killed four people have raised the specter of war among some South Koreans.

North Korea vowed this past week to ditch the armistice that ended the Korean War and scrap a nonaggression pact with South Korea. It has also threatened Washington with pre-emptive nuclear strikes. People interviewed by The Associated Press in Pyongyang yesterday expressed indignation over the UN sanctions. “I cannot control my anger,” said Sin Myong Sil. “Some countries can launch satellites, and one country can conduct nuclear tests freely, and they are not blamed, but only our country is prohibited from doing nuclear tests and launching satellites.

This is absurd and illogical.”

In South Korea, worry can be seen most clearly on the Internet, where some believe that South Koreans, world leaders in broadband access, are less afraid to express their honest, anonymous feelings. A user identifying herself as the mother of two posted on a cooking website yesterday that she was so scared by North Korea’s war threats that she took a day of leave from work on Friday. — AP

AMMAN: Filipino UN peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels on the Golan arrived in Jordan yesterday, hours after their captors released them from an ordeal of more than three days. “They arrived in Jordan; they are on Jordanian land now,” Jordanian government spokesman Samih Maaytah said in Amman. The Philippines ambassador in Amman, Olivia V Palala, also confirmed that the peacekeepers had arrived in Jordan from neighboring Syria where rebels battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seized them on Wednesday. “They are apparently inside Jordanian territory now. I am heading to the borders to meet them,” Palala said.

Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the soldiers, who were abducted in the Golan Heights, had been released and were on their way to the border with Jordan and freedom. Authorities in Manila gave a cautious welcome to the news. “We cannot confirm yet. We are hearing it from television but they have not even shown a video. So we sent our men there from the UN force to verify,” said military spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Burgos.

“Of course that would be great news but we have to be careful,” he said. The abduction of the 21 peacekeepers was condemned by world powers and triggered a flurry of diplomatic action to secure their release. It also sparked fears that more governments would withdraw their contingents from the already depleted UN mission. Israeli officials warned that any further reduction in UNDOF strength risked creating a security vacuum in the no-man’s land between the two sides on the strategic Golan plateau, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Filipinos, members of UNDOF monitoring the armistice line between Syria and Israel that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were abducted just a mile to the Syrian side of the line. Rebels from the Yarmuk Martyrs Brigade who seized them demanded that Syrian troops move 20 kilometers back from Jamla. The Observatory said the rebels were also demanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross “guarantees the safe exit from the strife-torn area of Jamla of civilians,” Abdel Rahman said. On Friday a UN convoy attempted to pick up the Filipino peacekeepers but had to abort the operation and was forced to pull back by a barrage of Syrian army shelling.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said the village where the soldiers are being held was coming under intense shelling but the Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari insisted that everything was being done to get them out safely. Late on Friday, Abdel Rahman quoted the rebels as saying a deal had been reached between the Syrian regime and the UN for a truce between 0800 yesterday to allow the Red Cross to evacuate the men. It was the first abduction of its kind since the conflict erupted in Syria nearly two years ago. Ladsous and Philippines officials had said the peacekeepers were safe during their ordeal.

In video clips posted on the Internet, the men also said they were cared for by local villagers and given water and food. Meanwhile, Syrian troops bombarded several rebel-held areas near Damascus, where 10 people, including three children, were killed in clashes between troops and rebels, the Observatory said. In the northwest, near the Turkish border, several areas were the target of regime bombings that also left three children from one family dead in the village of Deir Sita. The violence yesterday comes after a day that saw at least 146 deaths across the country, according to the Observatory. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

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ANALYSIS

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

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Washington Watch

The rise and fall of Iran in Arab, Muslim opinion

By Dr James J Zogby olicy discussions here in the US about Iran and its nuclear program most often focus exclusively on Israeli concerns. Ignored are Arab and Muslim attitudes, especially those of Iran’s Arab and non-Arab Muslim neighbors. It is known that several Arab governments have problems with the Islamic Republic in Tehran, but what of their publics? Over the past decade, we have been polling regional attitudes toward Iran and its policies culminating at the end of 2012 with a survey of 20,000 citizens in 17 Arab countries and three non-Arab Muslim countries (Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan). This 20 nation poll covered a range of topics including: attitudes toward Iran, its people, culture, and its nuclear program.

Comparing our most recent findings (compiled in my new eBook “Looking at Iran: Iran’s Rise and Fall in Public Opinion”) to the data from our earlier surveys in the region reveals important and dramatic changes in Arab and Muslim attitudes toward Iran. It also helps to identify factors that appear to serve as “drivers” behind these changes.

For example, when we polled on many of these same issues in 2006, Iran’s favorable ratings in Arab and Muslim countries were at their highest point. Back then, in most countries, Iran’s favorable ratings were in the 75 percent range (with Saudis giving Iran an 85 percent rating). Six years later the tables have turned. Now Iran’s favorable ratings in these same countries have fallen to less than 25 percent (Saudi ratings have plummeted to 15 percent).

What emerges from our 2011 and 2012 polls is that the earlier favorable attitudes toward Iran were not about Iran, per se. Instead they appear to be more a reaction to Arab public opinion’s fury at Israel’s behavior and U.S. policies in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq, coupled with the perception that Iran and its allies were standing firm in opposition to the “machinations of the West”. What changed in 2012 is that the United States has lowered its regional profile, while Iran is perceived to be playing a divisive role in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Syria.

What also emerges from our 2012 survey is the presence of a worrisome sectarian divide that has taken hold in several countries, with Sunni attitudes largely opposing Iran and its regional policies, and Shia communities in many of these same countries expressing support for Iran.

There is a growing consensus among both Sunni and Shia Muslims that Iran and its policies are contributing to this sectarian rift. There is, however, a limit to Iran’s appeal in the Arab World and that is the result of the important role that Arab culture and identity play as unifying factors in shaping attitudes across sectarian lines.

There was a time, just a few years ago, when favorable Arab public opinion of Iran in some countries stood poles apart from the positions of their governments with respect to Iran and its policies. Some observers made much of this, suggesting that the concerns with Iran’s policies expressed

by Arab governments were out of touch with their publics.

That may have been true in 2006, but after Iran and its allies overplayed their hands in several countries (with Syria being the “nail in the coffin” - majorities in 17 of the 20 countries covered in our 2012 survey oppose Iran’s involvement in Syria), that gap has now been erased. Most Arabs and Muslims now hold decidedly negative views of Iran and are solidly opposed to Iran’s regional ambitions.

The same is true of Arab and Muslim attitudes toward Iran’s nuclear program. Back in 2006, when Iran was seen as the bastion of resistance to the West, their nuclear ambitions were supported and defended by majorities in most countries. Our earlier polls show Arab and Muslim public opinion supporting Iran’s claim that the program was for peaceful purposes. Whether peaceful or not, strong majorities in almost every country were opposed to any international effort to impose sanctions or use military means against the Islamic Republic. Today, there is virtually no support for Iran’s nuclear ambitions - with majorities now believing that Tehran has designs on producing a nuclear weapon. And sympathy for Iran has been replaced by widespread support for sanctions to stop Iran should it persist in advancing its nuclear program.

Opposition to the use of military force remains high, with strong majorities still against it. But here too there has been a change, with some increase in the number of those who now support the use of a military strike should Iran persist with its nuclear program. The lesson is clear. When Iran was seen in the Arab and Muslim Worlds through the prism of US and Israeli practices, it won. But when Iran is judged by its regional behavior and its domestic repression, it loses support in Arab and Muslim public opinion.

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

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

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

Egypts oppn scents chance in election debacle

By Yasmine Saleh o Egypt’s opposition, a court ruling throwing the electoral process into limbo offers an opportunity to force Islamist President Mohamed Morsi into compromise as the country heads towards chaos. Leaders of liberal and leftist parties believe the delay to parliamentary elections is a chance to extract concessions on major constitutional issues from Morsi and possibly to back out of an opposition boycott that may backfire. “Let’s think about this without being stubborn ...

Halting the election is beneficial for everyone,” said Conference Party leader Amr Moussa, a former Arab League chief. “The time we will be given by the decision to halt it will open the door to many possibilities, a lot of them positive and hopeful,” he told the state MENA news agency, describing the court’s decision as a “gift from the sky”.

Wednesday’s Administrative Court order cancelled Morsi’s decree last month calling lower house elections, and sent the electoral law under which they were to be held back the Constitutional Court, the nation’s highest legal authority. The election committee followed up on Thursday by cancelling the timetable under which Egyptians should have voted in four rounds lasting from April 22 to late June. Now no one knows when the polls will be held, with much depending on what the Constitutional Court decides, and how long it takes.

On the face of it, the shambles could not have come at a worse time: the euphoria that followed the fall of Hosni Mubarak two years ago has long gone. “We have a very dangerous economic situation and even before the Administrative Court’s decision ... the security situation was very bad,” said Hassan Al-Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University and campaigner. However, he added: “If it is taken as an opportunity for the president to postpone the election and call for reconciliation, that will be a gift for the country to get out of this very deep crisis.”

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood has lost popularity due to the

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state of the nation but still has an effective campaigning operation that has won every vote since the 2011 revolution. “The court decision ... could be the only way out of the current political crisis but that will depend on the desire of the government to engage the opposition in serious talks,” said Mustapha AlSayyid, a professor of politics. “I doubt this will happen, given how the opposition has been completely excluded from any important decisions taken by the government.”

Nevertheless, Morsi is under pressure to compromise both at home and from Egypt’s major ally, the United States.

Secretary of State John Kerry made clear in Cairo earlier this month that consensus was vital for securing a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to get the economy back on its feet. That consensus is currently non-existent, throwing into doubt the IMF deal that was agreed in principle last November but put on hold at Cairo’s request due to street violence.

Egypt cannot hold out much longer without help. Its foreign currency reserves have dropped to a critically low $13.5 billion, little more than a third of where they were in the last days of Mubarak, while the Egyptian pound is falling and the budget deficit soaring to unaffordable levels. “The IMF is unlikely to want to grant a loan while there remains significant upheaval and lack of any form of political consensus,” said Jason Turvey at Capital Economics in London. “This uncertainty will further weigh on the Egyptian economy, which is already very weak, and possibly lead to further capital flight and greater pressure on the pound.”

Given the lack of clarity, the IMF may be reluctant even to extend temporary bridging finance. However, the United States, the IMF’s biggest shareholder, may regard Egypt as too big to fail. It is an ally in a turbulent region and the Arab world’s most populous country. Many Egyptians say the feuding between the Islamists and opposition, which frequently spills over into street violence, is damaging confidence. Ezzat Saad, governor of the historic city of Luxor, said it was also frighten-

ing off tourists, a major source of foreign currency and jobs for Egyptians. “We are unfortunate in Luxor because we are paying the price of what our brothers are doing in Cairo,” he said.

Under Morsi’s abandoned timetable, the new parliament would not have met until early July. With domestic politics paralysed, this meant little would probably be done to tackle the dire state of the economy, and secure an IMF loan, for four months. Most of the opposition hadn’t planned to participate anyway. Last month the National Salvation Front (NSF), a group of parties united in their dislike of the Muslim Brotherhood, announced the boycott. Former UN nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, one of its internationally best known figures, said he would not be part of an “act of deception”.

Perhaps the opposition had no choice. Morsi gave little ground on their demands, including the formation of a broadbased government, changes to the electoral law and revisions to a new constitution produced by an Islamist-dominated assembly. With violent protests erupting frequently, the opposition says now is not the time for elections. Khaled Dawoud, a member of the Dostour party and spokesman for the NSF, called on Morsi to compromise to avoid further bloodshed.

The opposition would be ready to reconsider its decision were Morsi to compromise, he said. “We did not choose this boycott in the first place and of course we are ready to take part in elections - if we have a reasonable electoral law agreed upon by all political parties and if we have proper security conditions that would enable elections to take place,” Dawoud told Reuters.

The refusal to participate is contentious even within opposition ranks, with some saying it would give Egyptians little choice but to vote for Islamists of one shade or another. “The Front’s decision to boycott elections means that we will be delivering the country to the Muslim Brotherhood on a silver plate,” said Mostafa Al-Naggar, leader of the leftist Justice group that refused to join the boycott. Opposition tactics have raised eyebrows abroad. — Reuters

Deification to help ‘Chavismo’ survive

By Andrew Cawthorne ithin hours of Hugo Chavez’s death, makeshift altars were going up in homes and on street corners around Venezuela with candles, photos and offerings for the late president. Weeping beside his coffin, supporters are likening him to independence hero Simon Bolivar and even Jesus Christ. Ministers quote his words and precepts in reverential tones. Having fostered a cult of personality during his extraordinary life, Chavez is fast being deified in death. The outpouring of love and mythologizing of Chavez may seem over-thetop to detractors, but the sentiments run deep for millions of supporters who adored his flamboyant style and attention to the poor while overlooking his autocratic side.

As Chavez lays in state, a major question for Venezuela is whether such fervor will guarantee an afterlife for his quirky and personal nationalist-socialist movement, “Chavismo”. “As a faith and a doctrine, there is no doubt that ‘Chavismo’ is here to stay. Its preservation in power is, of course, harder to predict,” said influential local analyst and ruling Socialist Party member Nicmer Evans. “Any movement, be it Chavismo, Peronismo or Zapatismo, will obviously have its ups and downs,” he added, referring to movements inspired by Argentina’s former populist leader Juan Peron and his wife, Eva Peron, and by Mexican revolutionary leader Emilio Zapata.

In the short term, “Chavismo” appears to have as fairly safe grip on the South American OPEC nation with 29 million people and the world’s largest oil reserves. Chavez’s chosen successor, Nicolas Maduro, is the interim president and is favored to win a new election due in weeks. Beyond the election, though, there is less certainty over whether Maduro will be able to keep a lid on competing rivalries within the movement, particularly the faction around Congress chief Diosdado Cabello, or to reproduce Chavez’s love affair with Venezuelans given a plethora of grassroots problems.

He lacks his late boss’s legendary charisma, sense of humor and thundering rhetorical skills, but Maduro for now has the crucial advantage over any would-be competitor inside or outside the Socialist Party: Chavez’s blessing. He also did a pretty good job of imitating Chavez’s physical stamina this week - walking for hours behind his coffin in a swollen crowd under the Caribbean sun, then standing on ceremony during mourning until nearly midnight.

Though plenty of mainstream ‘Chavistas’ openly acknowledge lukewarm feelings towards Maduro, compared to their passion for Chavez, they are pledging obedience to their hero’s dying wish. “Chavez, I promise you, my vote is for Maduro!” is one of several new chants that have sprung up this week. “There will never be anyone like him. I have so much to thank him for,” said Berta Colmenaries, 77, after queueing with tens of thousands of others to file past

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Chavez’s casket. “I will vote for Maduro - who else? Chavez told us to, and we have to do what he says.”

Chavez’s endorsement of Maduro came in his emotional last speech to the nation, just before leaving for his fourth and final cancer operation in Cuba in December. That immediately imbued Maduro with a new and exalted status. An opinion poll a few days before Chavez’s death gave Maduro a 14 percentage point lead over presumed opposition rival Henrique Capriles. A vote is meant to be called within 30 days of Chavez’s death on Tuesday, but there is talk of a possible postponement to give election authorities more time to prepare.

Bursting onto the political stage with an unsuccessful military coup in 1992, Chavez skillfully brought together and fronted a heterogeneous movement of hardline leftist ideologues, military buddies, former guerrillas, political pragmatists and opportunistic entrepreneurs. Key figures range from Cabello, a powerful military man with widespread business interests, to Finance Minister Jorge Giordani, a former Marxist professor once nicknamed “The Monk.”

Despite enormous differences of personality and background, Chavez, a former paratrooper, managed to unite them all behind the nebulous flag of “Bolivarianism”, in homage to Simon Bolivar, the hero of South America’s 19th century war against Spanish colonial rule. To opponents, the only unifying factors for “Chavismo” were Chavez and a lust for power.

Besides Bolivar, Chavez drew on a mixed bag of ideological influences, from 19th century Venezuelan land crusader Ezequiel Zamora to Argentine radical Norberto Ceresole, whose denial of the Holocaust made him perennially controversial.

The Argentine’s vision for a union of “the strongman, the people, and the armed forces” helped

shape Chavez’s fusion of military authoritarianism with grassroots citizens’ networks that use state resources to fix local problems. Those ideas helped him create direct economic and political links to voters, sidestepping clumsy state bureaucracy through social programs known as “missions” and community councils that solve local problems with state funds. It also gave the military a role in governance that has been unprecedented in Venezuela’s post-dictatorship history since 1958, putting soldiers at the helm of everything from social development projects to state-backed agricultural schemes.

One former soldier, Cabello, is widely seen by Venezuelans as a potential future challenger to Maduro for leadership of the movement - despite their current public professions of unity. “The warring factions within ‘Chavismo’ are united now, but it is far from clear Maduro can keep them that way,” the London-based LatinNews think tank wrote in an analysis.

“Chavez learnt to control the military but Nicolas Maduro, if he is elected in the near future, will find it much more difficult to do so and a military coup cannot be ruled out in the years ahead. ... When troubles come, Maduro will have a real challenge keeping Chavismo united.”

Maduro also will have to cope with hundreds of armed militants whose blind loyalty to Chavez has often turned into violence against his opponents, such as attacks on private media and opposition demonstrators. The bands, known as “colectivos”, are largely based in shantytowns, have been arming heavily in recent days according to locals, and view Maduro with suspicion as potentially too lightweight to continue Chavez’s revolution.

Beyond any potential internal threats, Maduro has his work cut out fulfilling Chavez’s vows upon re-election last year to improve efficiency in tackling day-today problems of crime, power cuts, inflation and corruption in government. Not to mention his mammoth big-picture economic tasks: increasing stagnant crude output, taming one of the world’s highest inflation rates, dealing with a black market currency rate four times the official level, and diversifying the oildependent economy. The packing of courts, the election board and other public bodies with his supporters was a major guarantor of stability for ‘Chavismo’ but a source of fury to opponents and embarrassment to some foreign allies.— Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

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Djokovic delight at Lakers INDIAN WELLS: A long-time fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Novak Djokovic had the time of his life in Los Angeles last weekend while getting up close and personal with the 16-time NBA champion Lakers.

A day after the Serbian world number one clinched a fourth Dubai Championships title in five years multiple time zones away from the United States, he flew into Los Angeles where he rubbed shoulders with All-Stars Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard.

Djokovic was invited to shoot some baskets before the Lakers hosted the Atlanta Hawks at the Staples Center on Sunday, draining a three-pointer before he watched an NBA game courtside for the very first time. “It was great,” Djokovic beamed as he spoke to reporters at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday while preparing for the BNP Paribas Open. “I met Kobe, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash. “They’re great athletes and great personalities, all of them. I was really surprised that they liked tennis. “From a professional athlete’s perspective, to see other big and successful athletes from just close by, moving, sweating and just fighting their way through to the game was incredible. It was a really great experience.”—Reuters

Attacked by players, Lebanese ref resigns BEIRUT: Lebanese referee Bachir Awasa was glad to have escaped alive after being assaulted by players and staff in a domestic second division match last weekend but the official has decided to quit following the horrid experience. Awasa was kicked and chased around the pitch in Beirut after showing a red card to an Al-Nahda player in a match against Al-Salam Zgharta.

“From the reaction of the players and the staff I expected to be harmed in a grave way ... to be honest I did not expect to get out alive,” the referee told Al Jadeed television on Friday. “Usually, whenever we issue a red card we expect a reaction from the player ... and indeed that is what happened.

He ran after me and attacked me. “When he tried to hit me I tried to run and then coach Mahmoud Seif Eddine also attacked me and other staff ran after me and things got out of hand and I tried to run from one place to the other.” Lebanese football is already battling a major image crisis after the FA handed out various penalties to 24 players, including life bans for defender Ramez Dayoub and forward Mahmoud El-Ali, following allegations that international and regional games were rigged. Awasa urged the football association to protect the referees, while ruling out reversing his decision to quit. “It’s my final decision,” he said.— Reuters

Laudrup in new Swansea deal LONDON: Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup on Friday signed a new contract to run until June 2015, ending speculation about his future after helping the Welsh side to a first major trophy in their centenary season.

“I know there has been a lot of speculation (about my future), but I’ve always said that I am happy here and I never had any doubts I would stay,” Laudrup said on the Premier League club’s website (www.swanseacity.net).

Laudrup orchestrated Swansea’s march to the Capital One (League) Cup trophy last month, which included defeating European champions Chelsea in the semifinals and a record 5-0 win against fourth-tier Bradford City to clinch the title. Swansea are also eighth in the league. Real Madrid were among the clubs the Dane had been linked with but as Swansea are assured a first foray into Europe next season in the Europa League, Laudrup said he was not going anywhere. “We’ve started something this season that I want to continue,” said the former Barcelona player and Denmark international. “I am delighted to sign the new deal and I’m already really looking forward to next season.—Reuters

Heat beat 76ers as Nets snare Wizards

ANAHEIM: Jarome Iginla No. 12 of the Calgary Flames is pursued by Cam Fowler No. 4 of the Anaheim Ducks, as goaltender Viktor Fasth No. 30 of the Ducks defends his net in the third period at Honda Center.—AFP

Blackhawks stunned 6-2 by struggling Avalanche DENVER: The best start in NHL history is over. The Chicago Blackhawks finally left the ice without a point. The Blackhawks were stunned 6-2 by the struggling Colorado Avalanche on Friday night. It was their first loss in regulation and ended a remarkable run in which they earned at least one point in their first 24 games, an NHL record. Matt Duchene scored four points and Ryan O’Reilly got his first goal since his contract dispute was resolved more than a week ago. O’Reilly assisted on another goal in a four-goal onslaught in the second period that turned a 1-1 tie into a laugher.

The Blackhawks (21-1-3) hadn’t lost in regulation since a 6-1 rout by Nashville on March 25, 2012, and their last loss in regulation on the road came more than a year ago, with a 5-1 defeat at St. Louis on March 6, 2012. Dating back to last year’s regular season, the streak was 30 games. Chicago’s overall points streak was the second longest in NHL history. The 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers set the league record with a staggering 35-game unbeaten streak that included 25 wins and 10 ties - all in the same season.

Predators 6, Oilers 0 Colin Wilson had a career-high two goals and two assists, as Nashville beat Edmonton to snap a three-game skid.

Patric Hornqvist, David Legwand, Rich Clune and Zach Boychuk also had a goal apiece as the well-rested Predators won for the first time since Feb. 25, when they beat Dallas in overtime, by matching their season-high with six goals. Shea Weber had three assists in the first game against Edmonton this year. Pekka Rinne made 24 saves for his fourth shutout this season. The Oilers are 0-4-1 in their last five, the last two their first shutout losses this season. They were playing their second game in as many nights, and a roster with five players already missing was without forward Ales Hemsky. He had a puck go off his foot in Thursday night’s 3-0 loss at Detroit.

Senators 3, Rangers 2 Jakob Silfverberg broke a tie with 4:41

left, and the Senators snapped a four-game losing streak. Silfverberg got a rebound of defenseman Eric Gryba’s shot and put it past Henrik Lundqvist for his fourth goal of the season. Zack Smith and Patrick Wiercioch scored in the first period, defenseman Sergei Gonchar had two assists, and Robin Lehner made 33 saves for the Senators. Ottawa broke an 0-2-2 skid and won on the road for only the fourth time (4-7-2). Ottawa had been 1-7-2 in its previous 10 road games, but the Senators improved to 12-1-1 in their past 14 visits to Madison Square Garden. Rick Nash and Brad Richards, in his first game back following a two-game injury absence, scored in the opening period, but the Rangers had a season-best, four-game winning streak broken.

Jets 3, Panthers 2, OT Dustin Byfuglien scored with 40.5 seconds left in overtime. Byfuglien brought the puck across to the right circle and his wrist shot whistled past Jacob Markstrom. Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd also scored for Winnipeg. Ladd also had an assist and has three goals and four assists in the last five games for the Jets. Ondrej Pavelec made 38 saves. Shawn Matthias and Jonathan Huberdeau scored goals for Florida and Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 shots. The Jets have won five of their past seven games.

The Panthers have lost five of six.

Ducks 4, Flames 0 Daniel Winnik ended an 18-game goal drought on the first shot of the game and Viktor Fasth posted his second career shutout with 29 saves. Bobby Ryan and defenseman Sheldon Souray scored less than 2 1-2 minutes apart in the second period for Anaheim, who have won 16 straight at home against Calgary. Ryan, shaken up during the opening period when he slid into the end boards unchecked behind the Calgary net, made it 2-0 . Corey Perry set up the play from behind the net after getting the puck from Ryan Getzlaf, who notched his 500th NHL point on the same day he signed an eightyear, $66 million contract extension.— AP

NHL results/standings Ottawa 3, NY Rangers 2; Winnipeg 3, Florida 2 (OT); Nashville 6, Edmonton 0; Colorado 6, Chicago 2; Anaheim 4, Calgary 0.

W Pittsburgh 16 New Jersey 11 NY Rangers 12 NY Islanders 10 Philadelphia 11 Montreal Boston Toronto Ottawa Buffalo

15 15 15 13 9

Carolina 13 Winnipeg 12 Washington 10 Tampa Bay 10 Florida 7

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division L OTL GF GA PTS 8 0 86 71 32 8 5 59 67 27 9 2 59 57 26 11 3 71 80 23 13 1 72 77 23 Northeast Division 5 4 75 61 34 3 3 64 48 33 10 0 75 65 30 8 4 59 51 30 13 3 65 80 21 Southeast Division 9 1 69 66 27 11 1 61 71 25 11 1 66 63 21 13 1 82 75 21 12 6 62 93 20

Western Conference Central Division Chicago 21 1 3 80 52 45 Detroit 12 8 4 66 60 28 St. Louis 12 9 2 70 70 26 Nashville 10 9 5 53 59 25 Columbus 8 12 4 55 70 20 Northwest Division Vancouver 11 6 6 64 63 28 Minnesota 11 9 2 52 56 24 Calgary 9 9 4 61 73 22 Colorado 9 10 4 59 67 22 Edmonton 8 11 5 54 71 21 Pacific Division Anaheim 17 3 3 81 60 37 Los Angeles 12 8 2 62 57 26 San Jose 11 7 4 51 50 26 Dallas 12 9 2 66 65 26 Phoenix 11 10 3 70 71 25 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

MIAMI: LeBron James scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 22 points and the Miami Heat won again, pulling away late to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-93 on Friday night for their 17th straight victory.

Chris Bosh scored 16 points, Ray Allen added 12 and Shane Battier scored 11 for the Heat, who matched the 12th-longest winning streak in NBA history and became the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot this season.

Down by nine in the third quarter, the Heat took a 76-75 lead when James beat the buzzer to end the period with a 3-pointer, then took control with what became a 17-4 run over a 5-minute stretch of the fourth. Thaddeus Young scored 25 points, for the 76ers, who lost their 12th straight on the road and 13th straight regular-season game against Miami.

Nets 95, Wizards 78 In New York, Deron Williams made an NBArecord nine 3-pointers in the first half, finished with 11 and scored a season-high 42 points to lead the Brooklyn Nets past the Washington Wizards.

Williams made his first eight shots behind the arc, became the first player in a decade to match the opposing team’s score in the first half, and was one shy of the NBA record of 12 3-pointers as the Nets opened a huge early lead and coasted. He missed from straightaway with 1:08 left in the game, leaving him one shy of the record shared

by Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall.

John Wall had 16 points for the Wizards, who played without rookie guard Bradley Beal, their leading scorer, because of a sprained left ankle and lost for the fourth time in five games.

Thunder 116, Bobcats 94 In Charlotte, Kevin Durant had 19 points and seven assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Charlotte Bobcats for their fourth straight victory.

Derek Fisher and Thabo Sefolosha both had 13 points for the Thunder, who blew open a close game with 19-0 run to start the second quarter.

Serge Ibaka scored 12 points, and Russell Westbrook and Kevin Martin each chipped in with 11. The Thunder shot 59 percent from the field in the first three quarters to build a 90-66 lead and rested their starters the rest of the way. Gerald Henderson scored 21 points to lead the Bobcats, who have lost nine straight overall and 22 of their last 24 games at home.

and he connected on the fallaway 3 to put Chicago in front to stay. Gordon Hayward missed a jumper on the other end for Utah, and Butler secured the rebound as the horn sounded.

Belinelli and Carlos Boozer had 22 points apiece for Chicago. Al Jefferson scored 23 points in his return to the lineup for the Jazz.

Trail Blazers 136, Spurs 106 In San Antonio, Damian Lillard had 35 points and nine assists and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs to set a record for most points by an opponent at the AT&T Center.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 26 points and J.J. Hickson had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Portland, which handed San Antonio its worst loss this season. Eric Maynor added 20 points off the bench and Wesley Matthews had 15 points.

Tim Duncan had 18 points to lead the Spurs, who were playing their third straight game without All-Star point guard Tony Parker. San Antonio had difficulty keeping pace with Portland’s athleticism in losing for only the fourth time in 29 home games this season.

Celtics 107, Hawks 102 In Boston, Jason Terry hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 35 seconds left in overtime and the Boston Celtics rallied after blowing a big lead in regulation and beat the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics blew a 12point fourth-quarter lead and trailed by four in overtime before outshooting the Hawks from beyond the arc in overtime.

Jeff Green, Paul Pierce and Terry all hit 3-pointers in the OT and the Celtics held the Hawks without a point for the final 1:20 to clinch Boston’s fifth straight win. Pierce finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Garnett had 17 points and eight rebounds and Terry scored 19, 11 more than Atlanta’s reserves combined. Josh Smith scored 32 points and Jeff Teague had 26 points and nine assists for the Hawks, who outscored the Celtics 48-32 in the paint.

Kings 121, Suns 112 In Sacramento, Isaiah Thomas scored 27 points and Tyreke Evans had 25 for the Sacramento Kings,

who defeated the Phoenix Suns. It was a rare win for the Kings (22-42), who had dropped nine of their previous 11 games and escaped the bottom of the Western Conference. Phoenix and New Orleans, both 21-41, now share the worst record in the West.

The Kings shot 55 percent and converted six straight free throws in the final 16 seconds to secure the victory. Marcus Thornton made five 3pointers and scored 23 points for the Kings.

DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for Sacramento. Michael Beasley scored 24 points for the Suns, who had beaten the Kings in five straight, including twice this season.

Rockets 94, Warriors 88 In Oakland, Chandler Parsons scored 26 points, James Harden had 20 points and 11 assists and the Houston Rockets overcame a horrendous shooting performance to beat the Golden State Warriors.

Jeremy Lin added 15 points and seven rebounds to help Houston improve to 3-0 against his former team this season in a matchup for Western Conference playoff position.

Stephen Curry had 24 points and eight assists and Klay Thompson scored 22 points for Golden State, which fell to 2-1 during its season-long seven-game homestand.

Lakers 118, Raptors 116 In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant hit the tying 3pointer with 5 seconds left in regulation, then dunked for the go-ahead basket with 10 seconds left in overtime, helping the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors for their second straight come-from-behind win.

Two nights after rallying from 25 points down to win on the road at New Orleans, the Lakers came back from a 15-point deficit in regulation and a slow start in overtime to gain ground on Utah for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth. They also moved a game above .500.

Bryant finished with 41 points and 12 assists, making 14 of 16 free throws, and Dwight Howard had 24 points and 13 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan led six Toronto players in double figures with 28 points.—AP

Pacers 115, Magic 86 In Orlando, Paul George had 25 points and Tyler Hansbrough added 18 and the Indiana Pacers used a big first half to roll past the Orlando Magic. Indiana scored 30 points off 21 Orlando turnovers and also connected on 11 3-pointers in the victory.

The Pacers ended a three-game regular-season losing streak to the Magic. It was also their second straight game without forward Danny Granger, who is expected to miss a week resting a sore left knee. Arron Afflalo led Orlando with 19 points.

The Magic have lost five of their past six and haven’t posted a home win since Feb. 10.

Grizzlies 103, Cavaliers 92 In Cleveland, Marc Gasol scored 22 points and the Memphis Grizzlies held off a late run for a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Memphis, which strengthened its hold on the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoff race, has won 11 of 12 and is 12-4 since trading star forward Rudy Gay to Toronto on Jan. 30. The Grizzlies’ previous victory in Cleveland came on Nov. 29, 2003, LeBron James’ rookie season with the Cavaliers.

Kyrie Irving, who missed Cleveland’s morning shootaround with flu-like symptoms, scored a team-high 24 points. Mike Conley and Jerryd Bayless each scored 17 points and Grizzlies pulled away after the Cavaliers cut the lead to 88-84 with 5:21 to play.

Mavericks 102, Pistons 99 In Auburn Hills, OJ Mayo scored 22 points and the Dallas Mavericks held on to beat the Detroit Pistons when Charlie Villanueva missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

The Mavericks blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, allowing Detroit to go ahead 97-96 on a 3-pointer by Khris Middleton. Dirk Nowitzki made two straight shots to put Dallas ahead by three. It was 100-99 after Villanueva caught Jose Calderon’s airball and made a layup with 6 seconds left. Darren Collison made two free throws for the Mavericks, and Villanueva missed from the left corner.

Bulls 89, Jazz 88 In Chicago, Marco Belinelli made a 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds left to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Utah Jazz. Belinelli missed a potential tying jumper, but got a second chance when Joakim Noah grabbed the rebound. Jimmy Butler then swung the ball back out to Belinelli in the corner,

BOSTON: Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford (15) blocks a shot by Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett (5) during the fourth quarter of NBA basketball game. —AP

NBA results/standings Oklahoma City 116, Charlotte 94; Indiana 115, Orlando 86; Brooklyn 95, Washington 78; Dallas 102, Detroit 99; Memphis 103, Cleveland 92; Miami 102, Philadelphia 93; Chicago 89, Utah 88; Boston 107, Atlanta 102 (OT); Portland 136, San Antonio 106; Sacramento 121, Phoenix 112; LA Lakers 118, Toronto 116 (OT); Houston 94, Golden State 88.

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

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB 37 22 .627 36 26 .581 2.5 34 27 .557 4 24 39 .381 15 23 38 .377 15 Central Division 39 23 .629 35 27 .565 4 30 29 .508 7.5 23 41 .359 17 21 41 .339 18 Southeast Division 46 14 .767 34 27 .557 12.5 19 41 .317 27 17 46 .270 30.5 13 49 .210 34

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

Western Conference Northwest Division 46 16 .742 41 22 .651 5.5 32 30 .516 14 29 32 .475 16.5 21 37 .362 23 Pacific Division 44 20 .688 35 28 .556 8.5 32 31 .508 11.5 22 42 .344 22 21 41 .339 22 Southwest Division 48 15 .762 41 19 .683 5.5 34 29 .540 14 28 33 .459 19 21 41 .339 26.5

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

S P ORTS

Maiden tons give Sri Lanka big lead DUNEDIN: England’s Nick Compton runs to safety during day four of the first international cricket Test match between New Zealand and England played at the University Oval park.—AFP

England grind their way towards safety DUNEDIN: Alastair Cook and Nick Compton made some amends for England’s poor first innings by grinding out a 231-run partnership to eat deep into New Zealand’s lead of 293 on the fourth day of the first test yesterday. Captain Cook was dismissed just before stumps for 116, leaving Compton to resume on the fifth and final day of the match on 102 not out along with nightwatchman Steven Finn, who had yet to score.

England ended the day on 234 for one, a deficit of just 59 runs, after applying themselves far more diligently than in their first innings, when they were bundled out for 167.

Cook and Compton’s obdurate stand yesterday not only edged the visitors closer to safety but sent a message to New Zealand’s young pace attack that the rest of the three-match series would be much more of a test of their abilities.

Mindful they needed to bat time to at least save the test, both openers played cautiously and a potential run out when Compton was on 94 was the only chance in their record first wicket stand before Cook’s dismissal. Cook and Compton’s effort bettered the 223 runs put on by Graeme Fowler and Chris Tavare in 1984 as the highest England opening partnership in a test against New Zealand. Cook brought up his 24th test century with a paddle around the corner off Bruce Martin for his 13th boundary, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd. Just as the partnership looked set to remain intact until the close of play, though, Trent Boult

managed to catch the outside edge of Cook’s bat and the ball carried to wicketkeeper BJ Watling. The dismissal did not unsettle Compton, who had been under pressure for his place in the side after failing to convert good starts on England’s recent tour of India. The 29-year-old brought up his maiden test century two balls later with a push into the leg side for a single and emitted a roar of delight as he cantered down the wicket.

“The biggest relief of my life to be honest,” Compton told reporters. “To get to this moment was something special, I never thought perhaps a year ago, or a couple of months ago, that I’d be sitting here with a hundred. “I kept believing, but its been a long time. I’m just delighted to be here. It’s a strange feeling.” The patience that England showed had frustrated New Zealand’s bowlers, Boult said afterwards, though he also praised the pair for they way they held out, shaking hands with Compton in between post-match media conferences.

“It was frustrating not to grab a few more but that’s the way it goes,” Boult told reporters. “They were tough conditions. It was a flat wicket and cold with not much swing or any help from the wicket. “They just batted well. They took it pretty simply, left the ball well.

“I thought we built pressure in periods, but let them off at times too. They were going at a relatively slow scoring rate. “We just thought we had to build pressure. It was nice to get one wicket; a few more would’ve been good.”— Reuters

GALLE: Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal scored maiden Test hundreds as Sri Lanka took a strong grip on the first cricket Test against Bangladesh on the second day yesterday. Thirimanne made 155 not out and Chandimal was unbeaten on 116 as they recorded a fifth-wicket stand of 203 to take Sri Lanka to a first innings total of 570 for four declared at tea yesterday. Buoyed up by the batsmen, Sri Lanka’s bowlers made an early breakthrough, capturing the wickets of openers Jahurul Islam and Anamul Haque.

Bangladesh, though, fought back with an unbeaten half-century from Mohammad Ashraful to end the day on 135-2 at the Galle International Stadium.

Jahurul (20) was out as he tried to get out of the way of a delivery from Shaminda Eranga but only succeeded in gloving a catch to Chandimal. Ajantha Mendis, playing his first test since May 2011, took a wicket off his first over when he bowled Anamul with a flighted delivery for 13. Ashraful (65 not out) and Mominul Haque (35 not out) stopped Sri Lanka making any further inroads to their batting with an unfinished stand of 70.

Bangladesh needed a further 236 runs to avoid the follow-on.

Earlier, Chandimal brought up his first test hundred off 136 balls with the aid of 11 fours and two sixes, the 23-year-old making the most of his luck after the tourists had twice dropped him earlier in the innings.

Thirimanne, whose previous highest score was 91 against Australia in Sydney early this year, completed his maiden test century in the morning session. Having earlier missed out on a test hundred, Thirimanne was patient as he carefully picked through 66 balls to score the required 26 runs he needed, having started the day on 74 not out.

The left-hander struck nine fours in his 193-ball innings for his century. Thirimanne moved to his highest first-class score after lunch when he completed 150 off 247 balls with 14 fours before the hosts opted to declare. Bangladesh’s only success with the ball came in the fourth over of the day when Angelo Mathews was dismissed for 27. The Sri Lankan captain tried to manufacture a shot that was not there and chipped a leading edge which the bowler Abul Hasan gladly accepted.— Reuters

GALLE: Bangladeshi cricketer Mominul Haque bats as Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal watches during the second day of the first Test cricket match.—AP

SCOREBOARD GALLE: Scoreboard at the close on the second day of the first cricket test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh yesterday: Sri Lanka first innings (361-3 overnight) D. Karunaratne lbw b Gazi 41 T. Dilshan c Mominul b Gazi 54 K. Sangakkara c Jaharul b Gazi 142 L. Thirimanne not out 155 A. Mathews c & b Abul 27 D. Chandimal not out 116 Extras (b-8, lb-17, nb-7, w-3) 35 Total (four wickets declared, 135 overs) 570 Fall of wickets: 1-114, 2-181, 3-305, 4-367.

Did not bat: K. Vithanage, N. Kulasekara, R. Herath, S. Eranga, A. Mendis.

Bowling: Shahadat Hossain 21-2-95-0 (nb-3), Abul Hsan 27-4-112-1 (nb-4, w-3), Sohag Gazi 50-6-164-3, Elias Sunny 20-0-89-0, Mohammad Ashraful 4-0-23-0, Mahmudullah

11-1-45-0, Mominul Haque 2-0-17-0.

Bangladesh first innings: Jahurul Islam c Chandimal b Eranga 20 Anamul Haque b Mendis 13 Mohammad Ashraful not out 65 Mominul Haque not out 35 Extras: (lb-1, nb-1) 2 Total (two wickets, 43 overs) 135 Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-65.

To bat: Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nasir Hossain, Abul Hasan, Sohag Gazi, Elias Sunny, Shahadat Hossain.

Bowling: Kulasekara 8-0-28-0 (nb-1), Eranga 93-25-1, Herath 212-2-33-0, Mendis 5-0-28-1, Mathews 3-0-5-0, Dilshan 6-2-15-0.

SCOREBOARD DUNEDIN, New Zealand: Scoreboard at the close of play on the fourth day of the first test between New Zealand and England at University Oval yesterday: England first innings 167 all out New Zealand first innings (overnight 402-7) P. Fulton c Prior b Anderson 55 H. Rutherford c sub b Anderson 171 K. Williamson b Panesar 24 R. Taylor c Trott b Anderson 31 D. Brownlie b Anderson 27 B. McCullum c Anderson b Broad 74 BJ Watling b Broad 0 T. Southee b Broad 25 B. Martin c Prior b Finn 41 N. Wagner not out 4 Extras (lb-8) 8 Total (for nine wickets declared) 460 Fall of wickets: 1-158 2-249 3-267 4-310 5-321 6-326 7-370 8-447 9-460 Did not bat: T. Boult.

Bowling: J. Anderson 33-2-137-4, S. Finn 26.4-3-102-1, S. Broad 28-3-118-3, M. Panesar 22-2-83-1, J. Trott 2-0-4-0, J. Root 5-1-8-0.

England second innings A. Cook c Watling b Boult 116 N. Compton not out 102 S. Finn not out 0 Extras (b-6, lb-9, nb-1) 16 Total (for one wicket, 87 overs) 234 Bowling: T. Southee 18-2-48-0 (nb-1), T. Boult 19-5-33-1, N. Wagner 20-4-64-0, B. Martin 25-7-61-0, K. Williamson 5-1-13-0.

Remaining fixtures March 14-18 - second test, Wellington March 22-26 - third test, Auckland

India’s Lahiri defends title NEW DELHI: Anirban Lahiri of India prevailed in yet another playoff at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) to retain his SAIL-SBI Open title yesterday. Lahiri birdied his last regulation hole from 10 feet to tie Rashid Khan at 15-under-par 273 and

NEW DELHI: Anirban Lahiri of India poses with the winner’s trophy in the SAIL-SBI Open golf tournament at The Delhi Golf Club.—AFP

sank a four-foot birdie on the same hole to clinch his third Asian Tour title, all three coming via playoffs and at the DGC. Lahiri’s love affair with the par-72 course began in 2011 when he triumphed in a three-way playoff to win the Panasonic Open before returning to pip Prom Meesawat of Thailand in the playoff in last year’s SAIL-SBI Open.

“I’m still in disbelief that I made the putt in regulation and got into the playoff,” said 25-year-old Lahiri who signed a final round of four-under-par 68. “After that, in the next 15 minutes, I didn’t know what happened. Unfortunately for Rashid, it didn’t work out. I feel bad for him as he doesn’t have a card on the Asian Tour. “Once I got into the playoff I felt I had the upper hand ... I’ve played the 18th hole I don’t know how many times now, probably 24 times, three extra times. It’s been nice to me,” he added.

Khan did not hide his disappointment after falling short of his maiden Asian Tour title despite a final round of sixunder-par 66. “Starting with a par on the first day and losing in a play-off, it’s disappointing,” said the 22-year-old who virtually grew up at the DGC. Overnight leader Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh was not in control of his shots and went one-over-par 73 to finish four strokes behind. Local favorite Shiv Kapur was further one shot behind after signing off with a two-under-par 70. Thailand’s Pawin Ingkhapradit and Australian rookie Matthew Stieger ended in tied fifth place.—Reuters

DORAL: Rafael Cabrera Bello, of Spain, hits from a first hole bunker during the third round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament.—AP

Woods in charge at Doral after classy 65 MIAMI: Looking fully in charge of his game, Tiger Woods fired an outstanding seven-under-par 65 to open up a two-shot lead over Graeme McDowell after the second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Friday. Woods has 17 birdies from his opening 36 holes for the first time in a PGA Tour event, helped by some outstanding work on the greens on the Blue Monster course at Doral.

“It felt like I finally got into a feeling where I needed to have it,” said the world number two of his round.Woods stands at 13under for the tournament with Northern Ireland’s McDowell two strokes back in second place after a bogey-free 65 in good scoring conditions. McDowell has not made a bogey in his 36 holes so far and, unlike his compatriot

and world number one Ror y McIlroy, looks very much at ease with his game.

McIlroy, however, will take heart from a much more solid display on Friday, his three-under 69 contained six birdies but was slightly spoiled by three-putting for a bogey on the 18th.

The world number one looked far more comfortable from the tee in particular but paid the price for some sloppy work on and around the greens. Tied in 32nd place and at two-under for the tournament, McIlroy is 11 shots off the lead but will take some comfort after breaking 70 for the first time this year.

“It’s about the ball-striking and it’s getting there. Days like today are very pleasing because it shows that I’m going in the right direction,” he said. Phil

Mickelson, who lost out in a memorable ‘Duel at Doral’ with Woods in the old Ford Open in 2005, also put himself firmly in contention with a 67 that leaves him three strokes off the lead and in a share of third place with fellow American Steve Stricker (67). Mickelson was close to a hole -in-one on the par-three ninth, his final hole, where his tee shot ended up just eight inches from the hole with the American wiggling his body in hope. The left-hander, a four-times major winner, narrowly missed out on a pairing with Woods but hopes he will be up against his old rival in the final round. “I hope that I play a good round and so does he, and we get a chance to get paired together in today’s final round, because he seems to somehow bring out my best golf,”

he said. Masters champion Bubba Watson (69) and Sweden’s Freddie Jacobson (69) were a further shot back, at nine-under.

But if Woods can replicate his Friday form he has a great chance of adding to his January victory at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Woods found nine of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens and needed just 26 putts as he cruised around a course where he won in this tournament in 2007.

The 14-times major winner found the hole on all 14 putts from inside 10 feet. “I left myself in the right spots to make putts and I think that’s probably the biggest key is that I left myself where I didn’t have that many downwind, downhill, downgrain, downwind putts,” said Woods. “I kept leaving myself where I could be aggressive.”— Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

S P ORTS

Ligety wins World Cup GS title with a race to spare

GERMANY: Anna Fenninger of Austria celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women’s World Cup giant slalom.—AP

Fenninger grabs women’s WCup GS, Maze second OFTERSCHWANG: Anna Fenninger of Austria won a World Cup giant slalom yesterday, while overall champion Tina Maze became the first woman to make eight GS podiums in one season. Fenninger protected her lead from the first run to complete the Ofterschwanger Horn course in a total of 2 minutes, 29.39 seconds to finish 0.44 ahead of Maze, who had already clinched the overall and giant slalom titles.

It was Maze’s 21st World Cup podium of the season, putting her just one behind Austrian great Hermann Maier’s record from 1999-2000. She has already broken Maier’s record for points in a season, and extended her total to 2,154.

“I’m very happy with the day and the course. The atmosphere was great,” Maze said. It was the second straight World Cup victory for the 23-year-old Fenninger, who won the super-G at GarmischPartenkirchen six days before. Viktoria Rebensburg was 0.96 back in third place.

The German was going for her third win in a row at Ofterschwang. “For now the third place is fine and I’m really very happy with it,” Rebensburg said. Eva-Maria Brem of Austria was fourth for her best ever World Cup finish, followed by France’s Anemone Marmottan, who was fastest in the second

run.

Julia Mancuso of the United States was eighth after finishing 2.85 off the pace on her 29th birthday. American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin, the slalom world champion, had a disappointing day as she skied out on her first run on the course.

Organizers had cancelled a training run to protect the snow due to the springtime conditions. With her unprecedented dominance this season, Maze has nearly twice as many points as her closest challenger, Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, who is second on 1,065. The German could only manage 16th yesterday despite fervent support from the flag-waving crowd.

Maze went straight into training for Sunday’s slalom race. She is 33 points behind Shiffrin for the slalom title and still hopeful of prolonging the title race until the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, next week, when the 29-yearold Slovenian could become the first woman to win five crystal globes in a season. “It’s unbelievable,” Fenninger said. “For me it’s incredible how often she’s in front in all disciplines. It’s the result of extremely hard work for many years. She’s been fighting for this her whole life. It’s simply unbelievable.”— AP

Adrian Sutil of Force India in action in this file photo

KRANJSKA GORA: Ted Ligety cemented his status as the world’s top giant slalom skier yesterday by winning his fifth race of the season and clinching the World Cup discipline title with a race to spare. It’s the American’s fourth GS season title after also winning in 2008 and 2010-11. He also successfully defended his GS title at the world championships last month.

“To win here again is a super cool feeling,” said Ligety, who has won in Kranjska Gora five times and been on the podium every year since 2008. “I am really proud of that.” Ligety held on to his first-run lead to win Saturday’s race in 2 minutes, 35.43 seconds for his 16th career victory, all in GS. The victory earned Ligety an insurmountable 125-point lead over Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, who was 0.45 behind in second. Hirscher had beaten Ligety for the GS title a year ago. The last GS of the season takes place next Saturday during the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

“It’s a big weight off my shoulders,” Ligety said. “I had an awesome, awesome season but Hirscher was there all the time. Even if I beat him by three seconds, he was still in second place. That makes it tough going for the title. It becomes kind of a head game when he is so close all the time. So I am pretty psyched to have it locked up now.” Ligety took the seasonopener in October by a massive 2.75-second margin, setting the tone for his dominant GS campaign. He has finished on the podium in all seven races this season and became the first man to achieve that feat since Michael von Gruenigen of Switzerland in 1995-96.

“It’s certainly something I don’t expect to replicate because it’s been a dream season in giant slalom,” Ligety said. “I have been winning races by good margins, sometimes by two seconds, but you don’t get extra points for that.

That’s why Marcel in second place has been so close all the time.” Alexis Pinturault of France came third, 0.77 behind, and Felix Neureuther of Germany placed fourth, 0.81 off Ligety’s time. In the overall standings, Hirscher extended his lead to 69 points over Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, who finished sixth.

Hirscher had already written off his chances of retaining his GS title weeks ago because of Ligety’s dominance. The Austrian said he has

been focusing on winning the slalom title and defending his overall championship. “These 80 points are ver y impor tant for me,” said Hirscher, who was fourth after the opening run before reducing his deficit to Ligety by 0.15.

“My second run was really good,” Hirscher said.

“If you can beat Ted Ligety in the second run it is always a very awesome run.” Rain made for difficult conditions during the final run on a course that already been softenened by days of mild temperatures.

“Racing in the rain is not my favorite thing,” Ligety said. “I grew up in Park City, Utah, where it’s usually warm and sunny. These are totally different conditions.” Ligety led Hirscher by 0.60 af ter the opening run, in which the Austrian placed fourth behind Pinturault and Neureuther. “The snow is really soft,” Ligety said. “It’s hard to keep your edge in the snow well. It didn’t feel good at all. This is a very difficult course set, especially for how the snow is

running. It was tough to have a good feeling.”

The course for the first run was set by Austrian slalom coach Michael Pircher. He designed numerous sharp turns, an unusual feature for a GS and one that didn’t benefit Hirscher. “We thought - and that was a big mistake - that Aksel could not go nearly the same speed as we specialists on this course,” Hirscher said. “But he was awesome. We thought it would be very challenging for Aksel but it was wrong thinking.”

Svindal finished the opening run just 0.39 behind Hirscher in fifth place. Fritz Dopfer, who was seventh after the opening run, crashed out after his goggles came off when he hit a gate with his helmet.

The German landed in the safety netting but appeared unhurt. A men’s slalom on the same course is scheduled for today. If Hirscher finishes the race 14th or better, the Austrian wins the season’s slalom title.— AP

SLOVENIA: Ted Ligety, of the United States, passes a gate during the first run of an alpine ski, men’s World Cup giant slalom.—AP

Davis, White put tantrums on ice LONDON: No one would have blamed American ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White if they had thrown a hissy fit and yelled at the top of their lungs that they had been robbed of the 2012 world title. After all it was a tactic that worked well for Yevgeny Plushenko. Having picked up silver following a wobbly free skate at the 2010 Vancouver Games, the raging Russian went about declaring he was “the true Olympic champion” and promptly received a telegram from then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declaring “your silver is wor th gold.”

Yet petulant tantrams are not what Davis and White want to be known for, even if they have every right to feel aggrieved because instead of chasing a hat-trick of world titles in London, Ontario next week, they will be aiming for a second. “I don’t know we could have pulled off Plushenko’s attitude,” Davis told Reuters in a telephone interview before dissolving into laughter. “It seems to work for him.” White added: “(Making a fuss) goes against what Meryl and I are as people. We are very competitive people but at the end of the day if we can sit down and look each other in the eye and say we did everything that we could, we’re going to be happy and we’re not going to feel the need to belittle anyone or

disagree publicly with anyone.”

Every man, woman and squealing child sitting inside Nice’s Acropolis Arena last March had thought the Americans eclipsed their friends, rivals, training partners and Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to win their second successive world title after the Canadians produced a routine which even they described as being littered with “bobbles” and “stumbles.”

In comparison Davis and White flew around the ice at a frantic pace for four minutes, seamlessly weaving in dazzling lifts into their dramatic performance to Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (‘The Bat’). If they needed any confirmation on just how well they did, the prolonged standing ovation from the hollering crowd provided the answer.

Unluckily for Davis and White, and luckily for the Canadians, the judges present in the arena seemed to have temporarily gone deaf and blind.

“In our minds we were champions because of the way we skated,” said White, who stands out thanks to his shaggy mop of blond curls.

“You really feel you put your heart out there and you really want people to love your performance so it’s hard when you’re second best. But you can use that to your advantage, turn it around and come back the next year and that’s what we’re

looking to do. His 26-year-old partner added: “A great number of people came up to us and complimented us on our skate at the worlds and told us they thought that we deserved to win.

“At the end of the day, all we can control is what we’re putting on to the ice ourselves. It’s definitely frustrating to come away with anything other than what you were aiming for. “But after 16 years together as an ice dance team, we learnt there is only so much we can control. Worrying about things that are outside your control, they don’t really hurt anyone but yourself. So we focus on what we can control.”

‘Control’ has been their mantra all season as they have not put a skate wrong, winning all four international competitions they have entered with their mesmerizing Notre-Dame de Paris free program.

With less than 12 months to go to the Sochi Winter Games, where Davis and White will be aiming to become the first Americans to win an ice dance Olympic gold, their rivalry with Virtue and Moir has captured the public’s imagination.

Performing routines that feature crowd-pleasing lifts, imaginative story-telling and rousing finales, the two North American couples have won ever y major title between them since Virtue and Moir struck gold on home ice at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Even the sudden overhaul of their coaching set-up - the couples had been trained by Russians Marina Zueva and Igor Shpilband for years before Shpilband was abruptly fired from their Michigan training base last June - has not thrown Davis and White off course.

Even the prospect of competing in the backyard of their greatest rivals does not pose a threat. “It’s no secret that this year’s worlds is being held in Tessa and Scott’s backyard which doesn’t necessarily go in our favor as they are our closest competitors,” said Davis. “But it is the luck of the draw. While it’s not the most favorable location for us, it’s not going to hold us back from going for that gold again.”

Davis, 25, was quick to point out that they trumped Virtue and Moir the last time they locked horns in Canada, at the Grand Prix final in Quebec City in 2011. “It ’s nice sometimes to have a home crowd support you but sometimes it can feel like too much pressure,” he said.

“Losing certainly ignites our fire and after what happened last year, it will be helpful to be able to say we are the reigning world champions heading into the Olympic year, especially since Scott and Tessa are the reigning Olympic champions.

“It doesn’t hurt to have two world titles instead of one going into the Olympics.” — Reuters

Year out of F1 has made me mentally stronger: Sutil MUMBAI: A year out of Formula One has increased Adrian Sutil’s desire to be a world champion and made him mentally stronger, the Force India driver said yesterday. Sutil sealed his Formula One comeback last week with the Silverstone-based team giving the German racer a second chance as team mate to Britain’s Paul Di Resta this season.

Last year, the 30-year-old’s hopes of getting back into the sport looked remote after he was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence and fined 200,000 euros ($262,200) for grievous bodily harm following a Shanghai nightclub brawl in 2011.

Sutil, whose best result was fourth place in the 2009 Italian Grand Prix, said he was relieved to finally have a racing seat but at the same time the break had helped him to reflect on his career.

“I was watching it on TV. I tried to take a step back from the sport,” he told a small group of reporters. “By the middle of the season I felt so much stronger and found my, let’s say, new goal in life...to be a world champion. “I am not in Formula One to just race. I would rather stay at home. The car is very important but you have to set your mind. “I am here to race against the world’s best and if anyone is there not to win then it is not the right place for him.”

The break also allowed him to lead a normal life and do things he would not normally have found time for. “I had time to think about my career. We will see if I am a better driver but mentally, I would say yes,” he said. “I have seen a life without Formula One and a life with it. In this professional

sport you never actually have the time to learn. “I wouldn’t have chosen a year off but it was probably for the good. Once I was back in the car, the engineers were very impressed. “It showed I didn’t lose any speed but probably I gained a bit mentally.”

Sutil was dropped by the team in 2011 following the incident in which Eric Lux, then chief executive of Renault F1 (now Lotus) owners Genii Capital, needed stitches for a neck wound caused by a champagne glass. The driver said he had no inhibitions about going back to China in April and was confident that he would be allowed to race anywhere in the world.

“Everything happens for a reason I would say. You can’t change it, it just happens in life,” Sutil said. “You have to just learn from it, you have to understand that downside is another side. It just makes you stronger. “I have to go there. It’s not that I don’t like the country because something bad happened there. It could have happened anywhere else. “I think it was a lesson and in a way I have learnt a lot of things from that. So it is not only a bad thing.” Force India slipped to seventh last season in the constructors’ championship but Di Resta hoped that with Sutil’s return the duo could help the team to reach sixth spot, where they finished in 2011.

“Adrian’s got a lot of experience in Formula One and it’s nice to have him back,” he said. “But essentially it is a competition on the track and I want to come out on top of him in the championship. We will surely be pushing each other which is good for the team.”— Reuters

The Gulf Bank team

KBC League: Gulf Bank maintain lead with win KUWAIT: The Gulf Bank defeated the National Bank of Kuwait 1-0 in week seven of the KBC League, and maintained its lead for the overall standings with 19 points.

The victory gives the Gulf Bank a three point lead ahead of its closest competitor, the Boubyan

Bank who finished with 16 points after defeating the Ahli Bank of Kuwait 3-0. The NBK remained in third place with 15 points despite losing its match held at the Kazma Sports Club Stadium.

Other matches played in Week Seven saw the Kuwait Finance

House defeating the Warba Bank, and the International Bank of Kuwait overpowering Commercial Bank of Kuwait.

Week Eight of the competition that is organized by the Kuwait Banks Club kicks off tonight when Gulf Bank squares off

against the International Bank, while Burgan Bank goes head to head with CBK. Al-Ahli Bank play Warba Bank on Tuesday, while Week Eight competitions conclude on Wednesday with a match between the NBK and Boubyan Bank.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

S P ORT S

Bayern fight back to floor Fortuna as Arsenal loom

INDIAN WELLS: Maria Sharapova of Russia serves to Francesca Schiavone of Italy during day three of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.—AFP

Sharapova, Radwanska advance at Indian Wells INDIAN WELLS: Former champion Maria Sharapova cruised into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open with a ruthless 6-2 61 demolition of Italy’s Francesca Schiavone on Friday. Despite tricky court conditions on a chilly and blustery afternoon at the California desert venue, the Russian world number three delivered a superb display of deep, accurate groundstrokes to seal victory in just over an hour.

Second-seeded Sharapova, champion here in 2006, broke Schiavone’s serve three times in each set and will next face Carla Suarez Navarro, a 6-1 6-1 winner over fellow Spaniard Silvia Soler Espinosa. “We broke each other back and forth in the beginning of the first set, and then she had a few opportunities,” Sharapova told reporters after both players wore leggings on a surprisingly cold day at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

“But once I started being a little bit more aggressive I felt like I had an edge on her.

She’s a tough first round, that’s for sure. She likes those centre court matches. She lives in those opportunities. “She makes you hit so many balls and she has such a great slice. But, again, that’s when she has time to do all that. I try to take that away from her, right from the beginning.” Schiavone, who claimed her only grand slam singles title at the 2010 French Open, has slipped to 47th in the world rankings from a career-high fourth. In the evening match, third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland wasted little time in crushing American teenager Maria Sanchez 6-2 6-1 and will next meet Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who came back to beat Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 4-6 6-3 6-1. Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced to the third round on Friday, recovering from a poor start after discarding her long tights to upset 18th-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic 0-6 6-2 7-5. “I was pretty bad in the first set, but I managed to

change it,” Kuznetsova, a losing finalist here in 2007 and 2008, said. “So I’m pretty happy with it, but I have to change the start.”

The Russian, who was sidelined by a right knee injury for six months last year after losing in the first round of Wimbledon, did not blame her tights for her slow start but said she felt much more comfortable without them. “Even though I tried to play in long tight pants in the first set, I cannot,” the 27-year-old smiled. “I can practice in them without a problem, but when I have matches I always start to lose and I have to take them off. “They are very tight, so they were kind of pushing my stomach and I was not so much comfortable. It was not bothering me like so much, but after I took them off I was feeling a little bit looser. It’s a little bit funny.”

Kuznetsova, whose world ranking has plummeted to 46th from a career-high second, will next face ninth seed Marion Bartoli of France who brushed aside South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers 6-3 6-3. Earlier, 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova survived 10 double faults and an erratic second set per formance to beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the first match of the day on the second Stadium Court.

The big-serving Czech, who clinched her 10th WTA singles title in Dubai last month, will next face Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, who beat Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1 3-6 6-1. In other matches, sixth-seeded Italian Sara Errani battled past Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2 3-6 6-3 and 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia beat Romania’s Simona Halep 7-5 7-6.

Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who demolished Sharapova 6-2 6-3 in last year’s BNP Paribas Open final, will launch her title defense against Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova in the second round.— Reuters

Brumbies rout Waratahs CANBERRA: The ACT Brumbies beat the hapless New South Wales Waratahs 35-6 in a Super Rugby clash yesterday despite losing openside flanker David Pocock to what could be a serious knee injury. The Brumbies made light of the loss of Pocock, who limped off early with what commentators suggested was a torn anterior cruciate ligament, as Ben Mowen and Christian Lealiifano touched down to help give the home side a 21-6 halftime lead.

Henry Speight and replacement Robbie Coleman scored further tries in the final 10 minutes to secure a bonus point and round off a third straight win that cements the Brumbies’ status as the pacesetters in the Australian conference. The loss of Pocock for any length of time could hit the Brumbies hopes of mounting a title challenge, although former Wallabies flanker George Smith impressed as Pocock’s replacement on his debut after joining on a short-term contract.

“George Smith is phenomenal,” Brumbies coach Jake White said. “It was a stroke of genius in terms of getting him here. I don’t wish anything on David but at the same time

there’s no doubt his (Smith’s) presence and what he did tonight just shows what a talent he is.” However, Smith and the Brumbies will find few sides as obliging as the Waratahs, who conceded a string of soft penalties at the breakdown, struggled at the lineout and showed little sign of breaching the home defence.

The Brumbies were clinical in exploiting their fellow Australians’ deficiencies and have yet to concede in the second half in this season’s tournament. “I can’t praise them enough,” White said. “They’re maturing as a team and it’s fantastic to watch.” Wearing special yellow jerseys to mark the Australian capital’s centenary celebrations, the Brumbies were already 9-0 ahead when Smith replaced Pocock thanks to three penalties from Lealiifano. They barely broke stride despite losing Pocock, who watched the remainder of the match from the sidelines with his left leg raised and an ice pack occasionally strapped to the damaged joint. The first try came following a knock on from Waratahs scrum-half Brendan McKibbin deep in Brumbies territory.—Reuters

BERLIN: Bayern Munich twice came from behind for a 3-2 win at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf yesterday to extend their lead to 20 points in the Bundesliga and warm up for their Champions League clash with Arsenal. Having beaten the Gunners 3-1 in London three weeks ago, Bayern are looking to book their quarter-final berth in Wednesday ’s second leg at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

With both second-placed Borussia Dor tmund and Bayer Leverkusen, third, losing, Bayern took the chance to extend their huge lead and, with nine matches left this season, are all but guaranteed their 23rd league title.

Bayern took their winning run to 11 matches as Germany defender Jerome Boateng’s 86th-minute header gave them three more points after Thomas Mueller, then France wing Franck Ribery, had equalised.

Munich went behind on 16 minutes when Fortuna’s Mathis Bolly drilled home his shot to give the guests a shock lead at the Allianz Arena. With nearly 80 percent ball possession, Munich levelled just before the break when Mueller converted a Philipp Lahm pass.

For tuna midfielder Andreas Lambertz put the guests ahead again on 71 minutes as Bayern conceded only their 10th league goal this season, but just two minutes later, Ribery snatched a pass back from replacement Claudio Pizarro and slammed home the equaliser to save Bayern’s blushes before Boateng’s winner.

Schalke warmed-up for Tuesday’s Champions League last 16, second leg clash at home to Galatasaray with a 2-1 win over neighbours and rivals Borussia Dortmund in Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr derby.

Schalke have a fighting chance

of reaching the last eight having drawn 1-1 in Istanbul three weeks ago and claimed their second derby win of the season. Having already enjoyed a 2-1 win at Dortmund last October, Schalke claimed their second by racing into a 2-0 lead.

The hosts went ahead when Japan defender Atsuto Uchida, making his first appearance since the start of February after injury, swung in a cross which teenager Julian Draxler converted on 11 minutes.

Dortmund’s Germany midfielder Mario Goetze then cleared a header off the line, but Schalke caught the Borussia defence nap-

ping when Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar headed home unchallenged from Uchida’s cross on 35 minutes. Worryingly, ahead of the Galatasaray clash, Huntelaar had to be helped off with an injury in his left knee ligament on 53 minutes.

Dortmund pulled a goal back when Rober t Lewandowski equalled the club’s record of scoring in each of his last seven Bundesliga games to match the feat of ex-Germany striker Timo Konietzka in the 1964/65 season.

Having come off the bench after the break, Dortmund star Marco Reus provided the final pass for Lewandowski to drill home his

MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s German defender Philipp Lahm celebrates the third goal during the German First Division Bundesliga football match against Fortuna Duesseldorf. —AFP

Ibrahimovic’s brace inspires PSG to victory PARIS: Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic extended his league leading goal tally to 24 as his brace inspired Paris Saint-Germain to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Nancy at the Parc des Princes yesterday.

The victory gives the capital side a five point cushion over second placed Lyon, who host Marseille in the final match of the weekend today. It was the first time all season PSG had come from behind at home to win. Former England captain David Beckham came on in the second half as Carlo Ancelotti shored up the midfield on what was an unexpectedly hard afternoon’s work on a sun kissed day in Paris.

“We had a good reaction in the second half and were able to get back into the match,” explained PSG ‘keeper Salvatore Sirigu.

“We’re enjoying this moment and even if we didn’t play well in the first half it’s good to pick up a victory after struggling so much.” he added.

After Nancy took a shock lead on 36 minutes, Ibrahimovic struck twice in three minutes early in the second half to ensure a successful week’s work for PSG following their qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday when they eliminated Valencia.

Defensive lapses were the downfall for Nancy as first captain Sebastien Puygrenier made a hash of a clearance and then goalkeeper Damien Gregorini made an even worse blunder to offer the Sweden captain two of the easiest goals of his career.

On 59 minutes, the normally reliable centre-back Puygrenier failed to control a routine ball at the top of the area which allowed Jeremy Menez to pounce and touch the ball forward for Ibrahimoivc to

tuck away the equaliser.

The goal changed the match, bringing the crowd back into the tie, and three minutes later PSG were in front following another disaster in defence, this time by Gregorini.

A ball over the top of the back-four landed outside the box but although Gregorini arrived first to meet it, he completely miskicked allowing Ibrahimovic to run past him and stroke the ball into the empty cage.

Nancy had silenced the Parc des Princes faithful on 36 minutes with a classic piece of counter-attacking football that was brilliantly finished off by Cameroon international Benjamin Moukandjo.

Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore was the goat for PSG as he carelessly gave the ball away just inside his own-half, allowing Djamel Bakar to sweep the ball forward to Moukandjo.

Although his initial shot was blocked by Sirigu, the 24-year-old kept his composure to skillfully head the ball into the net despite the presence of defender and home captain Thiago Silva on the goalline.

The half-time whistle was welcome relief to the leaders who walked off to a loud chorus of derision from their own fans.

Ancelotti fired up his playes for the second half and they should have equalised three minutes after the restart when Ibrahimovic broke through the away defence but with only Gregorini to beat, his shot was superbly swatted away by the 34-year-old veteran. But it was only a matter of minutes before the home side deservedly equalised and went onto to win with Beckham making a late cameo after being an unused substitute against Valencia. —AFP

England FA Cup Millwall v Blackburn .............................. 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +5 Man United v Chelsea ........................... 19:30 Aljazeera Sport +5 English Premier League Newcastle v Stoke ................................ 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Liverpool v Tottenham ......................... 19:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Spanish League Bilbao v Valencia .................................. 14:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Levante v Getafe .................................. 19:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 Celta v Real Madrid .............................. 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Atletico v Sociedad ..............................23:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Italian League Atalanta v Pescara ............................... 14:30 Aljazeera Sport +1 Juventus v Catania .............................. 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +1 Chievo v Napoli .................................... 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +2

Parma v Torino .................................... 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +7

Pakistan defeat NZ need to look at this aspect and learn from it.”

Earlier Pakistan turned on the flair in the first half to defeat New Zealand in their opening encounter, which was delayed due to a heavy downpour. And it could all have gone wrong for the Pakistanis when they allowed the Kiwis to fight back in the second half and draw level at 3-3. But skipper Muhammad Imran had other ideas as he scored a hat-trick in the match, including the winner, to get them full points in the sixnation tournament. The other goal came from Abdul Haseem Khan from a field attempt. New Zealand’s goals came through Kane Russell and then two quick goals by Blair Tarrant and Andy Wayward. Pakistan chief coach Akhtar Rasool said he felt his team would further improve in the next match as he rebuilds it with four new players. “Opening matches are always difficult, and we came through with a win,” he said.

New Zealand coach Colin Batch said he was “not disappointed at all” despite the loss.

“The players are learning and their ability to comeback is a plus point,” he said.—AFP

Today’s matches on TV

Cagliari v Sampdoria ........................... 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +9

Australia start campaign with 4-3 win over India IPOH: World champion Australia started off their Sultan Azlan Shah Cup campaign in the Malaysian town of Ipoh with a 4-3 win over India as they aim for their seventh cup title. Pakistan too was on the winning side when they edged defending champions New Zealand 4-3, while host Malaysia defeated South Korea 3-2 in a close match.

The Australians took a 3-0 lead, but then almost allowed the Indians to come back into the match with a sloppy display in the second half. Still, the world number two prevailed with some good last-minute defending.

Matt Gohdes scored a penalty corner and a field goal, while Glenn Simpson was on target with a drag flick from the set piece move. Trent Mitton scored in the 53rd minute.

The Indians hit back with two goals through Rupinder Pal Singh, who later produced another penalty corner goal, and Malak Singh. Australian coach Ric Charlesworth blasted his players for the sloppy play in the second half. “Penalty corners are very crucial nowadays,” he said. “We

17th league goal of the season, but despite the pressure, Dor tmund failed to grab an equaliser.

Bottom side Guerther Fuerth crashed to a 3-0 defeat at home to Hoffenheim to set a new Bundesliga record by becoming the first team to fail to win any of their first 13 home games.

They are now 14 points from safety and almost certain to be relegated after their first season in the top flight. Wolfsburg are up to 12th after their 5-2 win at Freiburg, who drop to seventh, while thirdplaced Bayer Leverkusen suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Mainz, who move up to sixth.—AFP

Inter v Bologna ..................................... 22:45 Aljazeera Sport +5 Lazio v Fiorentina ................................ 22:45 Aljazeera Sport +1 German League Hannover v Eintracht ........................... 17:30 Dubai Sports Stuttgart v Hamburger ........................ 19:30 Dubai Sports French League Nice v Montpellier ............................... 16:00 Aljazeera Sport +4 Bordeaux v Bastia ............................... 19:00 Aljazeera Sport +4

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain’s English midfielder David Beckham (left) and Paris Saint-Germain’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic react during the French L1 football match against Nancy.—AFP

Lyon v Marseille ................................... 23:00 Aljazeera Sport +4

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

S P ORT S

Luck smiles on West Brom West Brom 2

Swansea 1

LONDON: Queens Park Rangers Congolese defender Christopher Samba (left) heads the ball next to Sunderlandís English striker Danny Graham (right) during the English Premier League football match.—AFP

QPR record crucial win QPR 3

Sunderland 1

LONDON: Queens Park Rangers came from behind to beat Sunderland 3-1 at Loftus Road yesterday with Andros Townsend’s stunning strike setting the West London outfit on the way to a precious three points.

It looked set to be another long afternoon for QPR when Steven Fletcher put Sunderland in front 20 minutes in, but Loic Remy took advantage of a lucky break of the ball to equalise 10 minutes later.

Townsend, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, then put the home side in front 20 minutes from the end with a brilliant left-footed volley from 25 yards that dipped into Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet’s top right-hand corner.

It was Townsend’s first Premier League goal, and there was more to come for the hosts as Jermaine Jenas volleyed home in the final minute to wrap up the points.

This was just their second home win of the campaign but, following on from their 2-1 victory at Southampton last weekend, QPR appear to be finding some consistency in the nick of time. However, they remain bottom of the table and are still four points from safety after Aston Villa’s victory at Reading.

Sunderland, meanwhile, have now gone six Premier League games without a win and remain too close to the danger zone for comfort. Seeking to pick up where they left off last weekend, QPR started brightly and came close to taking the lead inside

four minutes when Junior Hoilett drilled a shot just wide of the far post.

Nevertheless, when the deadlock was broken, it was the visiting fans who were celebrating. After Mignolet had punched away a QPR set-piece delivery, Sunderland broke quickly, with Stephane Sessegnon crossing from the right to the back post, where Adam Johnson took the ball down and drove back across goal for Fletcher to tap in.

It was the Scottish striker’s 11th league goal of the campaign. QPR did not let their heads go down after that and were back level on the half-hour mark thanks to a goal that was a combination of luck and good finishing.

A Townsend shot came off the legs of John O’Shea into the path of Remy, who slotted expertly past Mignolet for his third goal in five games since moving to English football.

Now with a spring in their step, Remy squandered two more decent chances to put QPR in front before half-time before Stephane Mbia called Mignolet into action from range.

In the end, the all-important second goal did not arrive until past the midway point in the second half, but it was worth the wait. After Sunderland failed to fully clear their lines, Townsend chested the ball down and beat Mignolet to open his account in the top flight.

Jenas then made sure of the win in the 90th minute with a volley that was also impressively executed. Again the visitors failed to clear, this time from a QPR flagkick, and the former Spurs midfielder fired low into Mignolet’s left-hand corner as the Hoops made it back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since December 1995.—AFP

Ross County shock Celtic GLASGOW: Steffen Wohlfarth scored in stoppage time as Ross County came from two goals down to complete a remarkable 3-2 win over runaway Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic at Victoria Park yesterday.

Charlie Mulgrew opened the scoring in the 15th minute straight from a corner that swirled in from the right and evaded goalkeeper Michael Fraser, who should have done better.

Celtic looked to be cruising to victory when Gary Hooper doubled his side’s advantage six minutes later when Fraser couldn’t keep out the striker’s first-time chip from Dylan McGeouch’s cut-back.

However, County, who are unbeaten in 2013, found a way back into the match on the half hour mark when Grant Munro chested down a clearance from the Celtic defence and lashed the ball past Fraser Forster from 20 yards out.

Remarkably, the home side found themselves level just six minutes later when Sam Morrow scrambled the ball over the line after Iain Vigurs’ cross caused problems in the six-yard box.

Both teams had chances to win in the second half with Vigurs coming close with a free-kick and a Hooper shot crashing off the bar.

But as the game headed into stoppage time a long ball into the heart of the Celtic defence bounced and Wohlfarth got there first to nod the ball over Forster to seal a dramatic win.

It was the German’s first goal for County, who move up to third in the table and stretch their unbeaten run to 11 games as they condemned Celtic to their second successive defeat in the

league.

A furious Neil Lennon slammed his side’s defending. “I didn’t think it was an extraordinary game at all — we should have been four up at half time and we’ve conceded two very poor goals,” the Celtic manager said.

“The second and third goals are inexcusable from our point of view. Credit to Ross County but they didn’t deserve to win the game, we’ve thrown it away.” His Ross Country counterpart completely disagreed with Lennon’s assessment.

“It was a very good victory for us and thoroughly deserved. Celtic didn’t create any opportunities in the game and were 2-0 up without really kicking a ball,” said Derek Adams, whose side held Celtic to a 1-1 draw at the same venue earlier in the season.

“Overall over the 90 minutes we had more opportunities than Celtic did and the best team on the day won the match.

We had the belief in the side to pass the ball and close down Celtic and create opportunities.”

However, the Hoops still hold a 15 point lead at the top of the table after second-placed Motherwell failed to take advantage of their slip-up as they were held to a goalless draw at Pittodrie by Aberdeen.

A late goal from Billy McKay salvaged a point for Inverness Caledonian Thistle as they snatched a 1-1 draw with bottom club Dundee at Dens Park. Second half goals from Murray Davidson and Gregory Tade sealed a 2-0 win for St Johnstone over Kilmarnock at McDiarmid Park while St Mirren versus Dundee United ended goalless.—AFP

WEST BROMWICH: Swansea City were left ruing their misfortune as a slapstick Jonathan de Guzman own goal saw them beaten 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League yesterday.

Luke Moore put Swansea ahead against his former club in the first half, only for the hosts to level through Romelu Lukaku’s 13th goal of the season. On-loan Chelsea striker Lukaku had a penalty saved early in the second half, but de Guzman’s unfortunate own goal handed West Brom victory. Michael Laudrup’s Swansea thought they had snatched a share of the spoils at the death, but substitute Roland Lamah’s goal was ruled out for an apparently non-existent offside.

It was only Swansea’s third defeat in 12 league games and left the League Cup winners in ninth place in the table, while West Brom climbed above both Swansea and Liverpool to seventh.

Swansea had stormed out of the traps at the Hawthorns, with de Guzman firing a free-kick narrowly wide of Ben Foster’s right-hand post and Michu poking the ball wide from a Moore through-ball.

Having notched the winner at home to Newcastle United last weekend, Moore broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute when he angled a header past Foster from

LONDON: West Bromwich Albion’s Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku (center) vies for the ball against Swansea City’s Ashley Williams (left) during the English Premier League football match.—AFP de Guzman’s left-wing corner.

The visitors’ lead lasted just seven minutes, however, with Lukaku getting in front of his man to steer Graham Dorrans’ low cross past Michel Vorm and draw West Brom level. The home side were given an opportunity to take the lead shortly after the interval when referee Lee Mason ruled that Wayne Routledge had fouled James Morrison inside

the Swansea area.

However, Vorm repelled the subsequent penalty from Lukaku, dropping to his right to field the Belgian’s tame spot-kick. West Brom did not have to wait long to go ahead though, even if their 61stminute goal owed a great deal to fortune.

Gareth McAuley powered a header goalwards from a corner

and although Angel Rangel managed to head the ball off the line, it struck de Guzman and bounced in for an own goal.

Lamah appeared to have rescued a point for Swansea with three minutes to play, but his effort was controversially chalked off for offside despite the last touch appearing to come off a West Brom defender.—AFP

Agbonlahor fires Villa’s survival bid Reading 1

Aston Villa 2

READING: Gabriel Agbonlahor’s superb volley handed Aston Villa a vital 2-1 victory over Reading at the Madejski Stadium as Paul Lambert’s side moved three points clear of the relegation zone yesterday.

Agbonlahor lashed home on the stroke of half-time to add to Christian Benteke’s equaliser after a disastrous own goal from Nathan Baker had gifted Reading the lead.

Reading striker Noel Hunt had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half but the Royals, four points from safety, find themselves only separated from the foot of the table on goals scored after QPR’s victory over Sunderland.

Villa will be more optimistic they can win their fight for Premier League survival after recovering from successive defeats against Arsenal and Manchester City.

Lambert made changes after those losses, restoring captain Ron Vlaar to the heart of his central defence and handing a first league start to Frenchman Yacouba Sylla in an attacking 4-33 formation.

A dismal display in their last home match against Wigan had seen Reading slip back into the bottom three but they came flying out of the blocks this time. Within 90 seconds of kick-off, Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan did well to tip Adam Le Fondre’s header around the post after an excellent cross from Hal Robson-Kanu.

But after weathering Reading’s early storm, Villa slowly grew into the game and a quickly taken throw-in created a chance in the 12th minute. Baker found space and delivered an inch-perfect ball onto the forehead of Benteke, who was unlucky to see his header bounce away off the top of the crossbar.

That seemed to encourage the visitors and they really should have taken the lead in the 27th minute when Benteke broke quickly down the centre. He was brought down by Adrian Mariappa but managed to play in Andreas Weimann, who wasted a glorious chance by dragging his shot wide. Five minutes later some

READING: Aston Villa’s Belgian striker Christian Benteke (right) vies with Reading’s Irish defender Alex Pearce (left) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP disastrous defending from Villa gifted Reading the lead as Hope Akpan back-heeled a low cross from Jobi McAnuff towards goal, where Baker, under no pressure, sliced his clearance into his own net.

To Lambert’s relief, Benteke scored a brilliant equaliser 105 seconds after the restart as he fired home a cut-back from Weimann after the Austrian had latched onto Ashley Westwood’s through-ball.

And it got even better for Villa in first-half stoppage time when Barry Bannan’s shot hit the post and found its way back to Agbonlahor, who smashed the ball into the net with a superb volley.

Reading tried to up the tempo after the break but it was Sylla who came close to giving Villa a

Penalty save rescues Saints

EPL results/standings Norwich 0, Southampton 0; QPR 3 (Remy 30, Townsend 70, Jenas 90) Sunderland 1 (Fletcher 20); Reading 1 (Baker 32-og) Aston Villa 2 (Benteke 33, Agbonlahor 45); West Brom 2 (Lukaku 40, De Guzman 61-og) Swansea 1 (Moore 33).

Norwich 0

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Southampton 0

Man Utd Man City Tottenham Chelsea Arsenal Everton West Brom Liverpool Swansea Fulham Stoke West Ham Norwich Sunderland Newcastle Southampton Aston Villa Wigan Reading QPR

28 28 28 28 28 28 29 28 29 28 28 28 29 29 28 29 29 28 29 29

23 17 16 15 13 11 13 11 10 8 7 9 7 7 8 6 6 6 5 4

2 8 6 7 8 12 4 9 10 9 12 6 12 9 6 10 9 6 8 11

3 3 6 6 7 5 12 8 9 11 9 13 10 13 14 13 14 16 16 14

68 51 49 56 53 44 40 53 40 39 26 32 27 32 38 39 28 33 35 24

31 24 33 30 32 35 38 34 36 44 33 41 45 41 49 51 54 55 56 45

two-goal cushion when his shot flashed just over the bar. Hunt then thought he had found an equaliser from McAnuff ’s cross but the replays showed he was correctly flagged offside.

Home manager Brian McDermott threw on substitutes Garath McCleary and Nick Blackman in a bid to change the game and Reading created two gilt-edged chances for Robson-Kanu.

First he side-footed wide from the penalty spot after controlling the ball on his chest and then headed straight at Guzan when perfectly found by McAnuff’s cross.

Agbonlahor came close to wrapping up the points with a curled effort that drifted just wide 15 minutes from time but, after throwing away 19 points from winning positions this season, Villa looked nervy.—AFP

71 59 54 52 47 45 43 42 40 33 33 33 33 30 30 28 27 24 23 23

NORWICH: Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc boosted his side’s bid for Premier League survival with a dramatic late penalty save in a 0-0 draw at Norwich yesterday.

Mauricio Pochettino’s team looked set for a damaging defeat when Norwich captain Grant Holt stepped up to take the spot-kick in stoppage -time at Carrow Road.

But former Celtic star Boruc made a superb stop to deny Holt and lift Southampton, in 16th place, four points clear of the relegation zone. A fixture played in driving rain and sleet made for testing conditions and both teams struggled to find any momentum for long periods.

Southampton created the first opening when Norwich goalkeeper Mark Bunn tipped over Adam Lallana’s rising 20-yard

drive. The visitors threatened again when Rickie Lamber t ’s pass found Gaston Ramirez in space on the edge of the Norwich penalty area, but his attempted chip was palmed out by Bunn as Javier Garrido mopped up the loose ball.

At the other end, Robert Snodgrass whipped in a 25-yard free-kick that Boruc punched away. Pochettino’s men had a glorious opportunity to take the lead at the start of the second half.

Having burst down the left and cut into the penalty area, Jay Rodriguez’s cross was cleared by Sebastien Bassong but the ball fell to Lallana some 12 yards out and he could only blaze high over the bar.

Rodriguez’s snapshot was then beaten away by Bunn and Lamber t fired the rebound over.

At the other end, Snodgrass was played in by Wes Hoolahan but the ball ran away from the Scotland international as he went around the goalkeeper, which allowed Maya Yoshida to clear.

There was late drama, though, as Luke Shaw pushed over Holt just inside the penalty area and referee Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot after consulting with his assistant. Holt scored an injury-time winner against Everton recently but there was to be no repeat as Boruc guessed right to make the save.—AFP

Ligety wins World Cup GS title with a race to spare

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

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Sharapova, Radwanska advance at Indian Wells

18

Agbonlahor fires Villa’s EPL survival bid

Page 19

LONDON: Everton’s Belgian striker Kevin Mirallas (right) scores past Wigan Athletic’s Spanish goalkeeper Joel Robles (left) but is judged offside and the goal disallowed during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match. —AFP

Tevez steers City into FA Cup semis Wigan stun Everton LONDON: Carlos Tevez made light of his arrest for a driving offence to lead Manchester City into the FA Cup semifinals with a hat-trick in a leisurely 5-0 win at home to second-tier Barnsley yesterday.

Tevez was arrested for allegedly driving while disqualified on Thursday, an offence that carries a maximum sixmonth jail term, but he scored three times and made two goals at the Etihad Stadium as City joined Wigan in the last four.

“I’m very pleased, because after the game, it’s easy (to beat a lower-ranked team), but before it’s never easy,” said City manager Roberto Mancini. “For this reason it’s important to have good concentration when you play this game, as the other team had nothing to lose.” Barnsley, who last reached the semi-finals in 2009, came to Manchester intending to defend en masse but their resistance was broken inside 11 minutes. Yaya Toure found David Silva with a delightful flicked pass over the top and when Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele pushed the Spaniard’s volley onto the post, Tevez was on hand to tuck the ball home.

The Argentine created his side’s second goal in the 27th minute, tearing into the Barnsley box and rolling a deliciously weighted pass square for Aleksandar Kolarov, who found the bottom-right corner. Tevez made it 3-0 four minutes later, gathering Silva’s cut-back and spinning before beating Steele with a low shot from close range.

The hat-trick goal arrived five minutes into the second half and saw Tevez guide a low shot into the bottom-right corner after a gambolling run and cross from Samir Nasri.

Silva hit the hosts’ fifth in the 65th minute, following in to score after Steele had saved his initial effort, with Tevez again supplying the assist. “If they’re the second-best team in the country at the moment, I wouldn’t like to play Man United,” joked Barnsley coach Dave Flitcroft. “But we can wake up tomorrow and reflect on what we’ve come through and look forward to the league programme. We

Preview

can draw a lot from this game.”

Earlier, Wigan shocked Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park to book a place in the semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history. Roberto Martinez’s side are currently threatened with relegation from the Premier League, while Everton are gunning for a top-four finish, but the Latics upset the form-book with a performance as superb as it was unexpected.

“For us to go to Wembley is a unique, historic moment,” said Wigan manager Martinez. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan broke his leg while playing for Blackburn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cup final, and Martinez said: “You could sense that in the dressing room - everyone wanted to see the chairman at Wembley.”

Wigan’s three goals arrived within a devastating fourminute spell during the first half. Shaun Maloney had already hit the post for Wigan by the time Maynor Figueroa broke the deadlock in the 30th minute, climbing to head in Jordi Gomez’s right-wing corner at the back post.

Wigan’s second followed within a minute and the goalscorer was childhood Everton fan Callum McManaman, who raced onto a misplaced pass from Phil Neville before beating goalkeeper Jan Mucha.

The onslaught continued and in the 33rd minute Gomez made it 3-0, sweeping home Arouna Kone’s square pass from outside the 18-yard box. “We have to pick ourselves up,” said Everton manager David Moyes, whose side were booed by the home fans.

“We have had a pretty good season. We’ve not had many downsides but today is a massive one, for me, the team, and the supporters. “We didn’t play well and if you don’t play well, you are going to lose.” Two of Barnsley’s fellow Championship sides, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers, face off in the third quarter-final on Sunday, before the stand-out tie of the last eight between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford. — AFP

Spanish League results/standings Results and standings under played, won, draw, lost. goals for, goals against, and points from the Spanish League matches yesterday Barcelona 2, Deportivo Coruna 0; Rayo Vallecano 2, Espanyol 0; Real Valladolid 1,Malaga Valladolid 27 9 8 10 P W D L F A Pts Sevilla 26 10 5 11 Barcelona 27 23 2 2 85 30 71 Levante 26 10 5 11 Atletico 26 18 3 5 48 23 57 Espanyol 27 8 8 11 Real Madrid 26 17 4 5 64 24 55 Bilbao 26 8 5 13 Malaga 27 12 8 7 38 25 44 Osasuna 27 7 7 13 Betis 27 13 4 10 39 39 43 Granada CF 26 7 5 14 Valencia 26 12 6 8 38 39 42 Zaragoza 26 7 4 15 Sociedad 26 11 8 7 44 34 41 Celta Vigo 26 6 5 15 Vallecano 27 13 2 12 36 43 41 Mallorca 26 5 6 15 Getafe 26 11 5 10 37 44 38 Deportivo 27 3 8 16

35 38 32 31 31 23 25 25 25 26 29

34 38 40 37 50 30 38 38 36 49 58

35 35 35 32 29 28 26 25 23 21 17

All eyes on Rooney as United await Chelsea MANCHESTER: Wayne Rooney will hope to prove his worth to Manchester United when they bid to put their Champions League heartache behind them against Chelsea in today’s FA Cup quarter-final.

The England striker was dropped to the bench for United’s 2-1 loss to Real Madrid on Tuesday, sparking speculation that he could be set to leave the club he joined from Everton in 2004.

However, United manager Alex Ferguson has branded those reports “rubbish” and revealed that the 27-year-old will play a part at Old Trafford today.

Though he stopped short of confirming that Rooney would start the game, Ferguson defended his right to keep his team selections under wraps. “He’ll be involved on Sunday,” the United manager said. “(But) I’m not prepared to give away my team.

Why should I? Why should I help anyone? We don’t do that.” Ferguson was nonetheless prepared to reveal that Ryan Giggs will play no part against Chelsea after putting in a superb 90-minute shift against Madrid in what was his 1,000th senior appearance.

“Ryan Giggs won’t play (against Chelsea) on Sunday. Why? He was the best player we had (on Tuesday),” said Ferguson. “We know how to control him and get Ryan prepared for certain games. He has done his bit for us. Next week, yes; different game, another bit of rest.

“Wayne understood exactly what we were doing. I explained to him before we announced the team.”

Ferguson was so angered by his side’s loss to Madrid, which turned on the controversial 56th-minute dismissal of United winger Nani, that he refused to speak to media after the game.

He will nonetheless have found solace in United’s 12-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, as well as the possibility of reaching a first FA Cup final since 2007. Chelsea’s situation is rather less comfortable.

Winners of the FA Cup in four of the last six seasons, Chelsea’s recent form suggests the trophy may represent their only chance of finishing the season with some silver ware. The Blues currently sit in fourth place in the Premier League and suffered a shock 1-0 loss at Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday.

However, goalkeeper Petr Cech believes the trip to Old Trafford provides a perfect opportunity to draw a line beneath their own European disappointment.

“It’s the best way to forget about this defeat,” Cech

Wayne Rooney told Chelsea TV. “The games are coming thick and fast. We won’t have much time to prepare, but we’ll get a little bit of rest and hopefully we’ll have a good performance today.

“They are the favorites for the game, but it’s the FA Cup and in the FA Cup not every time do the favorites win. “We’re still the holders, so we’ll try to keep our trophy as long as we can.” Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic is wary of the threat that a wounded United will present.

“It is going to be one of our biggest challenges of the season, especially playing them at this moment,” he said. “When you go out of the biggest competition in that way, it must be disappointing, but they will be more motivated because of that.”

With Giggs sitting the game out, Ferguson is likely to turn to either Antonio Valencia or Ashley Young to fill one of the wide roles. Phil Jones (ankle) and Paul Scholes (knee) are both definitely out.

Beleaguered interim Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez has rotated his squad in recent games and could elect to omit Fernando Torres and captain John Terry from his starting XI. Both players started the game in Bucharest, but Demba Ba, Victor Moses and Ramires missed the trip to Romania and are expected to return to the squad. — AFP

Business

GCC markets mixed with positive bias Page 24 US budget cuts end White House tours

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

Page 25 NBK holds general assembly meeting Page 26 Page 23

Is Europe out of the woods?

BEIJING: Chinese laborers work at a factory. Growth in industrial production and retail sales slowed in China, according to data yesterday.

China inflation spikes, factory growth slows Policymakers face task to boost recovery BEIJING: Chinese inflation hit a 10-month high in February while growth in industrial production and retail sales slowed, official data showed yesterday, complicating policymakers’ efforts to boost recovery. Growth in the world’s second-largest economy slowed to a 13-year low of 7.8 percent in 2012, though a pick-up in the final three months had raised hopes for a rebound this year. The consumer price index-a main gauge of inflation-rose 3.2 percent year-on-year in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), as holiday season spending and rapid credit growth accelerated price rises.

The figure was a spike from January’s 2.0 percent and the highest result since April 2012, when it stood at 3.4 percent. It was also above the median forecast of 3.0 percent in a poll of 14 economists by Dow Jones Newswires.

Inflation is a key issue for the ruling Communist Party as it brings with it the risk of popular discontent over rising prices and the threat of social unrest. Other indicators announced yes-

terday by the NBS provided further signs that a budding recovery may be fragile. “The Chinese government is caught in the dilemma of dealing with slower growth and yet higher inflation again,” Ren Xianfang, a Beijing-based analyst with research firm IHS Global Insight, said in a research note.

Industrial output, which reflects production at China’s factories, workshops and mines, rose 9.9 percent year-on-year over the first two months of 2013, compared with 11.4 percent in the same period of 2012. Retail sales-the main gauge of consumer spending-were up 12.3 percent over the period, slowing from 14.7 percent in the January-February period of last year.

Giving the figures for the two-month period minimized distorted comparisons due to the Lunar New Year, which fell last month this year but in January for 2012.

Fixed-asset investment-a key measure of official spending on infrastructure-rose 21.2 percent in January-February, higher than the 20.6 percent for the full year of 2012 and underscoring

what analysts say is an old-fashioned recovery led by fast investment growth.

“Such a recovery is predicated on relatively accommodative monetary policy conditions,” ANZ analysts said in a research note. “And it could falter once monetary policy becomes tight on concerns of rising risks of inflation and (a) property bubble.”

Chinese banks more than doubled their lending in January from December, the latest official data available showed, as the government seeks to boost economic growth.

Last year, authorities cut interest rates twice and loosened requirements for how much money banks must keep on hand in a bid to stimulate lending. Outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday announced an economic growth target of 7.5 percent for 2013 — the same as last year’s-and reiterated the government’s vow to retool the economy away from investment-led growth. Wen also said that the 2013 inflation target was set at 3.5 percent, lower than last year’s goal of 4.0 percent,

Obama dials down budget blame WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said he is looking for compromise in the coming months to end a two-year fight with Congress over how to reduce the deficit, promising Americans in his weekly radio address that he will try to find common ground with lawmakers.

Turning away from the sharp rhetoric he has used in recent weeks to blame Republicans for $85 billion in government spending cuts that took effect March 1, Obama this week highlighted how he is working with lawmakers in Congress. “The fact is, America is a nation of different beliefs and different points of view. That’s what makes us strong, and frankly, makes our democratic debates messy and often frustrating,” Obama said. “But ultimately what makes us special is when we summon the ability to see past those differences.” The warm and fuzzy message contrasted sharply with

Obama’s radio addresses from the past two weeks, when he blasted Republicans for protecting the rich and hurting the middle class and accused them of “partisan recklessness.”

“We just need Republicans in Congress to catch up with their own party and the rest of the country,” he said last week. But this week, Obama turned on a charm offensive, having lunch with Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee and the party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, and dinner with a dozen Republican senators.

Obama described the meeting with senators as “an open and honest conversation” that he plans to continue next week, when he plans to visit Capitol Hill four times.

Obama said he will talk about immigration reform and new gun control proposals in the meetings, as well as the

Italian voters have not rejected euro: Germany BERLIN: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said he does not believe Italians rejected the euro in their strong vote against austerity policies in last month’s election.

Urging Italy’s leaders to stick with the economic overhaul started by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti, Schaeuble said: “I do not think that the euro or Europe or even the economic policy of the Monti government were the decisive factors behind the election result.”

Merkel’s challenger for the chancellor’s job in Germany’s election in September, the Social Democrats’ Peer Steinbrueck, caused irritation in Italy and embarrassment in Germany last week when he described antiestablishment politician Beppe Grillo and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as “clowns”. But in an interview with Austrian

daily Der Standard published yesterday, Schaeuble emphasized Italy’s efforts to control its sovereign debt burden, one of the world’s biggest.

“Italy has steadily improved its competitiveness with the structural reforms of the past one and a half years, it has improved its financial position and won the trust of the markets. That is the right policy, regardless of the outcome of the elections,” he said.

“It would therefore be wrong to change the path now. There is a politically complicated situation in Italy now, we know that, but the Italians will have the strength to form a government out of this,” Schaeuble added. The pro-euro centre-left won a majority in Italy’s lower house but not in the upper house Senate in the February poll, raising the prospect of fresh elections in a few months’ time.

deficit. His visits come during a week when both chambers are slated to unveil their budget plans for 2014, and the Senate also considers ways to adjust spending for the rest of 2013 to try to ease the impact of the March 1 “sequester” cuts.

Obama said Friday’s news that the jobless rate fell to 7.7 percent last month - lower than when he first took office in 2009 - showed “momentum” in the economy that risks being stalled by Washington’s political gridlock.

“In the months ahead, there will be more contentious debate and honest disagreement between principled people who want what’s best for this country,” Obama said, adding he believed compromise is possible. “And I know there are leaders on the other side who share that belief.” — Reuters

US builders hiring at rapid pace SCOTTSDALE, Arizona: C harles Cork is gearing up to do something he hasn’t done in four years: Build a $1 million house “on spec.” “I don’t think getting a client for this one will be too much trouble,” said Cork, principal of home builder Braxton Homes in Scottsdale, in the Phoenix area. His willingness to build is a sign of the confidence being shown by many home builders in the United States as the housing market continues to show signs of recovery.

On Friday, jobs figures for February showed that there were 48,000 construction jobs created in the month, the most since March 2007, which was around the time the U.S. housing boom began to turn into a bust. In January, government data showed the biggest jump in new home sales in 20 years.

Before the bust, Cork typically had three houses in the $4 million price bracket under construction at any one time in tony Scottsdale, outside of Phoenix. The last time Cork gambled on building a home on speculation - without a pre-contracted buyer - was 2009. Since then Cork, who had been in the luxury home busi-

ness since the 1990s, has been riding out the housing bust and the recession doing remodeling work for “survival” in the Phoenix area, where home prices cratered by more than 55 percent between the summer of 2006 and September 2011.

“It took a while for people to have confidence that it’s not going to get worse,” Cork said.

“In fact they are now thinking that maybe they ought to do something because it’s going to get better. It’s the same old thing, when it’s going down, nobody wants to buy, when it’s going up, everyone wants to buy.” By the end of 2012, housing prices had rebounded by nearly 25 percent in the Phoenix area since the bottom was hit in September 2011, according to the latest S&P Case-Shiller data. The construction industry was particularly hard hit by the recession, tied as it was to the housing bubble. Roughly 8.8 million US jobs were lost between the peak in employment in January 2008 and the start of the job market’s recovery in February 2010, and more than one in every five jobs lost was in construction. —Reuters

but higher than the actual inflation rate for 2012, which came in at 2.6 percent. “China is still under considerable inflationary pressure this year,” he said in a report to the opening of the National People’s Congress, China’s annual parliamentary session.

Analysts said Beijing faced a delicate job to strike a balance between curbing asset bubbles, highlighted by rising property prices, and consolidating the recovery. “That means very little room for the government to wiggle on the monetary policy front, and the burden of stabilizing growth will be borne by fiscal largesse this year,” IHS Global Insight’s Ren said. Some analysts, however, downplayed concerns, arguing inflation was not an imminent threat and that it was premature to embrace tightening measures. “CPI inflation is a potential concern, but is surely not a big threat now to force the government to start an imminent policy tightening,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note. “The new cabinet... will likely maintain its overall pro-growth policy stance in the first half of 2013.” — AFP

No more austerity, Greek PM promises ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras yesterday promised his recession-weary nation that there would be “no more austerity measures” as international creditors prolonged an audit of crisis reforms. “There will be no more austerity measures,” Samaras said in a televised speech to his conservative party’s political committee.

“And as soon as growth sets in, relief measures will slowly begin,” Samaras said. But he noted that Greece’s ailing economy was “out of intensive care, not out of the hospital.” Representatives from the so-called troika of Greece’s creditors-the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are currently reviewing the steps Greece has taken to meet its multi-billion bailout obligations. Thorny issues that Athens still needs to address include shrinking the number of jobs in the public sector, speed up privatization plans and recapitalize four of its main banks. The auditors have decided to extend their stay by another week and a scheduled meeting with the PM on Thursday was scrapped.

But Samaras yesterday denied there was a stalemate in talks. “There is discussion over certain things. I would not call it a hitch, mainly a discussion over how to apply agreed (measures),” he told financial weekly Axia in an interview.

Under the bailout conditions adopted last year, Greece needs to cut public sector workers by 25,000 in 2013 and a total of 150,000 by the end of 2015.

The job cuts have sparked friction with Samaras’ junior coalition partner Fotis Kouvelis, head of the moderate Democratic Left party, who is citing Greece’s soaring unemployment rate. Facing a sixth consecutive year of recession, the heavily-indebted country has been relying on international rescue packages to avoid bankruptcy.

A return to growth initially foreseen for 2012 is now not expected before 2014. Since 2010, the EU and the IMF have committed 240 billion euros ($314 billion) overall in rescue loans to Greece. The next payment to Greece, of 2.8 billion euros, is due at the end of March. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

BUSINESS

Protest in Greece against Canadian goldmine project

Bayt.com weekly report

Building brand through employee experience

Serious damage to environment seen THESSALONIKI, Greece: Thousands of protesters yesterday joined a large demonstration in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki against a Canadian gold mining project which locals say will cause irreversible damage to the environment.

Around 15,000 protesters shouted slogans against the government headed by conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in the largest demonstration on the issue so far.

“Junta, police, Antonis Samaras,” many chanted. “Gold is not bringing us closer, it is killing us,” they sang. Among the protesters, estimated at around 9,000 by police, was a group who

marched as grim reapers, dressed in black and carrying scythes. Citizens’ groups, backed by the radical leftist party Syriza that is now the second largest in parliament, have been trying to scupper the project since 2011, when the government allowed Hellenic Gold-a subsidiary of Canadian firm Eldorado Gold-to dig in the northern Halkidiki peninsula.

Last month, dozens of hooded activists firebombed a Hellenic Gold worksite, injuring a guard and damaging equipment. An operation last week to arrest suspects allegedly linked to the attack caused additional anger when riot police fired tear gas into a village.

Four people arrested during the raid will be

By Lama Ataya

tried on March 20. The mayor of Thessaloniki and local authorities support the new project, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs in the recession-hit country, whose unemployment rate has topped 26 percent.

Critics say the project will not only drain and contaminate local water reserves but also fill the air with hazardous chemicals including lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury.

A picturesque and forested peninsula, Halkidiki is a popular destination for tourists, particularly from Russia and the neighboring Balkan states. Another Canadian company, TVX, began an operation in Halkidiki nearly two decades ago before pulling out in 2003. —AFP

Y

es, it is possible to ‘brand’ employee experience and a lot of organizations have managed to do that amazingly well. Here at Bayt.com for example, our brand values such as striving to be the best and empowering others are communicated well through our website and our online job search tools, and these are in fact also the same values that define the employee experience at Bayt.com offices.

In fact, branding your employee experience is just a different way to explain ‘corporate culture’. HR experts from Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 Job Site, offer you below some of the benefits of having a well thought out corporate culture: 1) Credibility -Your consumers are very savvy and they can see right through you if you lie. Your corporate culture is one way to communicate your brand message strongly.

2) Employee engagement - How many times have you heard of people leaving a company because they no longer believe in its values? A company’s corporate culture is experienced physically through the ‘vibe’ in its office and is evident in policies regarding reward and promotion.

Bayt.com’s ‘Work satisfaction in the MENA’ poll revealed that 13.5% of professionals value the ‘Good work culture’ most about their job. Many times companies that appear in the ‘Best Places to Work’ lists are also known for their superior products, good customer service and profitability.

This is not a mere coincidence because it takes high employee engagement and motivation to get there.

3) Attracting talent - In today’s highly competitive market, constant innovation and developing superior products/services is the key to staying ahead. To fuel this innovation you need to attract and get the best minds to work for you. Good compensation alone cannot be the motivating factor, especially for the Gen Y workforce. According to Bayt.com’s ‘Work Satisfaction in the MENA’ poll, 20.2% of employees would like to change their current training and development path.

The HR department spends a lot of time and effort in attracting, screening and retaining talented people. A strong and effective corporate culture helps you brand your company well and attract the best talent which in turn will help you save on the selection process as you will have a growing pool of prospective

China adds spice to flat Cyprus housing sector PAPHOS: The real estate sector on the recession-hit Mediterranean holiday island of Cyprus, an EU member, is turning to Chinese investors seeking easier access to Europe.

Hundreds of Chinese nationals have purchased second homes on the island thanks to a Cypriot law revised last year granting permanent resident status to foreign buyers of homes costing at least 300,000 euros ($390,000).

“The Chinese are not interested in houses as such in Cyprus. They are interested only in the permanent residency.

They buy houses through visa firms,” said leading real estate agent Antonis Loizou. While Cyprus has been a European Union member since 2004, it does not belong to the Schengen passport-free zone, meaning permanent residency does not guarantee free travel across the bloc.

But “it is much easier to get a European visa” with Cyprus residency, stressed Wuang Hong, herself a longtime resident and telecoms employee who says she assists Chinese investors.

She says most Chinese investors are businessmen who buy on the coast, especially in and around the western resort of Paphos. “Some want to give a better future to their children-give them an opportunity to live in a cleaner environment and go to good international private schools, which are much more expensive in China,” she said. But only few Chinese have so far opted to settle in Cyprus, where residency does not grant a work permit, and none of them were willing to speak to AFP. The investors, who are banking on a medium-term rise in house prices, have had to come up with methods to skirt Chinese law which in theory limits foreign currency exports to an annual $50,000 per person. Apart from opening up Europe as a destination, Cyprus can provide a political refuge, access to the Cypriot banking sector and a way to circumvent China’s one-child policy. But the players in Cyprus, where billboards have sprung up in Mandarin advertising luxury homes, insist money-laundering is not a factor.

“All this money has to come through a bank. No one can come with a suitcase full of cash and buy a house. It is all checked out,” said Nick Antoniades, who runs a service company for Chinese investors. He said the buyer must show documentation to prove annual income of at least 30,000 euros.

In Paphos, previously the preserve of British pensioners before the world economic crisis kicked in, the carnival king in the countdown to Greek Orthodox Easter will have Chinese facial traits, adding an Oriental flavor to the event.

“For us, it’s a question of survival,” explained Maximos Pantelides, a real estate agent just back from China. “Prices have gone down by at least a third in the past four years” and several agencies have gone out of business. Other countries, including Spain, are also offering residency in return for home buying, but Cyprus now has “the best immigration policy in Europe,” according to Antoniades. And the island could join the Schengen zone. But, cautions Loizou, Cyprus could still, like Malta, toughen up the regulations once a certain quota of foreign investors has been met. “This policy is not forever,” he said. —AFP

JC Penney cuts 2,200 workers NEW YORK: JC Penney Co confirmed Friday it’s eliminating an additional 2,200 jobs as the struggling department store chain slashes costs after a year of plunging sales and mounting losses. According to Joey Thomas, a company spokesman, those being axed work in back-office administration in stores and district offices. He noted that the cuts translate to an average elimination of two positions per store.

The cuts come as Penney lost $4.3 billion in revenue for the year as a strategy launched in early 2012 by CEO Ron Johnson to scale back most sales in favor of everyday prices has failed to resonate with shoppers. The pricing strategy is a key element of Johnson’s bigger plan to reinvent Penney’s business that also includes installing shops filled with hip new brands to replace racks of clothing.

Penney reported last month its quarterly loss widened to $552 million, or $2.51 per share.

Revenue slid by a quarter to $12.98 billion. Results for the full year were even more staggering. Penney lost $985 million, or $4.49 per share, for the fiscal year, compared with a loss of $152 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 25 percent to $12.98 billion from $17.26 billion.

The latest blow to struggling Penney: One of its biggest shareholders confirmed Wednesday in a regulatory filing that it’s

sold more than 40 percent of its stake. The move by Vornado Realty Trust, whose Chairman and CEO Steve Roth sits on Penney’s board, is perhaps the biggest indicator yet that investors are losing patience with the turnaround strategy.

Johnson said in New York State Supreme Court last week that the Plano, Texas-based company had eliminated 19,000 jobs since he came on board. That figure came up while he was testifying in a trial that pits Penney against rival Macy’s Inc. over a partnership over the Martha Stewart brand.

When Johnson joined the retailer, Penney employed 134,000 people. That means the company has cut about 16 percent of its workforce since then. The company operates 1,100 stores.

“As with any reduction in force, we do our best to absorb those impacted into other positions if they choose to do so,” said Thomas in an email to The Associated Press. He noted that affected workers were given 30 days notice, so their last day would not be effective until April 6. Those who are eligible for benefits will receive a severance package and outplacement assistance.

Penney’s shares closed Friday up 29 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $15.11. In the days after Johnson announced his vision for a new Penney in late January 2012, investors drove shares up 24 percent to $43, but shares have lost 65 percent of their value since then. —AP

DUBAI: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia pumped 9.15 million barrels per day of crude oil in February, an industry source said yesterday, slightly up from the 9.05 million bpd it produced in January.

However, the kingdom slightly cut supply in February to 9.16 million bpd, the source added.

It supplied 9.26 million bpd in January.

When crude supply exceeds output the difference is usually made up by oil taken from storage. Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest oil producer, expects to raise its oil output in the second quarter to satisfy higher demand from China and feed economic recovery elsewhere. It cut production sharply in the fourth quarter of last year because of weak economic growth abroad and lower domestic con-

Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

738.000 78.500 76.300

employees through referrals.

4) Leadership - A trickle-down effect is noticed between the personal qualities of those who lead successful companies and the corporate cultures of these companies. Leaders set the example by living the elements of the corporate culture: values, behaviors and actions. This sets the tone for the rest of the organization to follow.

Having mentioned a number of benefits, here are a few recommended changes that companies can adopt to help better incorporate and communicate their corporate culture at the workplace: ● Office setting: Your office layout influences how an employee views your company. Offices with cubicles signify that the company values autonomy, while transparent meeting rooms and an open layout show ‘transparency’ in communication and team-work. Similarly if your company operates in the creative domain keep your office colour scheme fun and vibrant. ● Reward: Bayt.com’s ‘Reward and Employee Engagement in the MENA’ poll revealed that 62.2% receive some sort of recognition or praise at work. Among those who do have their efforts lauded, 44.4% receive encouragement from their supervisor or manager, with colleagues being a boost source for a further 25.5% of respondents. Regularly and publicly celebrating success is important.

Rewarding provides positive reinforcement and strengthens desirable behaviours among employees. ● Company handbook: Before a new joiner walks into the office, he/she should be given the company handbook that clearly lists the company policies, mission and vision statements. Communicate your corporate culture in a simple and clear manner so that they know what to expect as soon as they walk into their new office. ● Blog: Internal blogs are a great way to have your employees connect with each other, especially if your organization has regional offices. This will make sure that the regional offices don’t feel like isolated autonomous units. ● Social media: You need to communicate your values and show your corporate culture in action to everyone outside.

Posting pictures of office festivities and celebrating successes every once in a while on your social media pages further communicates your core values, humanizes your brand and helps attract talent.

Saudi ups Feb crude output sumption because of cooler winter weather.

Crude output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose in February, the first monthly increase since October, due to higher exports from Iraq and increased supply from Saudi Arabia, a Reuters survey found last week.

Supply from the 12-member OPEC was 30.32 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 30.21 million bpd in January, the survey of shipping data and sources at oil firms, OPEC and consultants found.

Brent crude futures edged lower on Friday as US jobs data strengthened the dollar, while US gasoline futures rallied to a 2013 high because high-priced ethanol credits, or RINs, are raising refiners’ costs and making fuel imports too expensive. —Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds

.2760000 .426000 .3670000 .2980000 .2740000 .2890000 .0040000 .0020000 .0768670 .7488890 .3920000 .0720000 .7341540 .0420000

.2860000 .4410000 .3810000 .3130000 .2880000 .2990000 .0067500 .0035000 .0776390 .7564160 .4100000 .0770000 .7415320 .0480000

US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2831500 .4285620 .3697510 .3007280 .2757330 .0495950 .0443950 .2910070 .0365090 .2274850 .0030380 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0771210 .7513600 .0000000 .0755270 .7357410 .0000000

.2852500 .4317400 .3724940 .3029580 .2777780 .0499620 .0447250 .2931660 .0367790 .2391720 .0030610 .0052460 .0022460 .0029170 .0036340 .0776930 .7569320 .4034650 .0760870 .7411980 .0070660

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.055 5.192 2.896 2.230 3.255 229.030 36.690 3.593 6.992

Thai Baht Irani Riyal - transfer Irani Riyal - cash

9.571 0.271 0.273

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

GCC COUNTRIES 75.910 78.216 739.380 756.080 77.513

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 41.950 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 41.550 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.328 Tunisian Dinar 180.780 Jordanian Dinar 401.990 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.910 Syrian Lier 3.092 Morocco Dirham 33.875 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 284.550 Euro 373.190 Sterling Pound 432.230 Canadian dollar 278.420 Swiss Franc 303.520 US Dollar Buying 283.350 GOLD 298.000 150.000 77.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL DRAFT 296.52 280.43 306.42 376.08 284.45 431.13 3.05 3.622 5.230 2.251 3.282 2.914 77.51 757.38 41.56 405.24

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Selling Rate 284.800 279.455 429.515 370.590 300.770 754.015 77.520 78.175 75.910 401.470 41.623 2.233 5.207 2.900 3.604 6.981 698.630 4.030 9.660 4.025 3.340 91.545

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar

740.30 78.55 76.05

SELL CASH 295.000 280.000 305.000 373.000 285.000 430.500 3.300 3.740 5.350 2.480 3.420 2.870 77.950 755.500 41.900 410.000

British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Scottish Pound Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar Uganda Shilling Canadian Dollar Colombian Peso US Dollars Bangladesh Taka Cape Vrde Escudo Chinese Yuan Eritrea-Nakfa

SELL CASH Europe 0.4236005 0.0061219 0.0457983 0.3665029 0.0458858 0.4221943 0.0405604 0.2976119 Australasia 0.2826494 0.2288728 0.0001092 America 0.2701973 0.0001480 0.2822000 Asia 0.0035622 0.0031540 0.0446718 0.0164233

SELLDRAFT 0.4326005 0.0181219 0.0507983 0.3740029 0.0510858 0.4296943 0.0455604 0.3046119 0.2946494 0.2388728 0.0001092 0.2791973 0.0001660 0.28443500 0.0036172 0.0033840 0.0496718 0.0195233

Guinea Franc Hong Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Jamaican Dollars Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar Sri Lankan Rupee Thai Baht Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Ethiopeanbirr Ghanaian Cedi Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Sudanese Pounds Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.0000441 0.0341140 0.0051387 0.0000244 0.0028394 0.0029722 0.0032393 0.0878525 0.0030985 0.0028679 0.0065362 0.0000726 0.2245427 0.0019294 0.0091572 Arab 0.7478179 0.0395593 0.0129851 0.1480126 0.0000791 0.0001856 0.3954852 1.0000000 0.0001744 0.0218360 0.0012069 0.7275601 0.0774487 0.0752933 0.0499389 0.0031726 0.1789551 0.0759907 0.0012826

0.0000501 0.0372140 0.0052087 0.0000295 0.0038394 0.0031522 0.0034693 0.0948525 0.0032985 0.0029079 0.0070062 0.0000756 0.2305427 0.0022344 0.0097572 0.7563179 0.0415893 0.0194851 0.1498026 0.0000796 0.0002456 0.4029852 1.0000000 0.0001944 0.0458360 0.0018419 0.7385601 0.0782317 O.0759333 0.0504889 0.0033926 0.1849551 0.0774407 0.0013826

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 284.100 373.900 432.400 279.000 3.080 5.187 41.550 2.228 3.595 6.980 2.899 756.150 77.350 75.850

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

BUSINESS

NBK holds general assembly meeting Strong results despite challenges • Total assets reached $58.4bn KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) held its annual General Assembly meeting yesterday at the bank’s headquarters.

Mohammad Abdul Rahman Al-Bahar, NBK’s Chairman, stated that NBK Group managed to deliver a strong set of results for the year notwithstanding the ongoing challenges. Al-Bahar highlighted 2012 was a remarkable year on the strategic level as NBK continued to strengthen its positioning in the local, regional and international markets.

NBK reported net profits of $1,085 million (KD 305.1 million) for the year 2012.

At year end, NBK’s total assets reached $58.4 billion (KD 16.4 billion) up from $48.5 billion (KD13.6 billion) in 2011, while total group shareholders’ equity reached $8.2 billion (KD 2.3 billion), up 6% year-on-year.

The General Assembly endorsed the recommendation of NBK’s Board of Directors to distribute a cash dividend equivalent to 30% of the nominal value of the share (30 fils per share) and bonus shares by 5% (5 shares for every 100 shares) to shareholders on record at the time of the General Assembly meeting.

Strong performance Al-Bahar stated that NBK Group achieved a strong performance in 2012 thanks to the bank’s financial resilience, clear strategy, conservative culture, and high professional standards.

“2012 was a challenging year for banks in Kuwait as the local operating environment remained stagnant.

Additionally, the geopolitical tensions led to further pressures on the business sentiment both locally and in the region”, added Al Bahar.

Al-Bahar, however, expressed a general improvement in the outlook for the local operating environment in 2013 as the government adopts a more dynamic fiscal policy, most importantly accelerating spending on mega projects.

NBK Chairman Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al-Bahar

NBK Deputy Chairman Nasser Al-Sayer, NBK Group CEO Ibrahim Dabdoub, NBK Deputy Group CEO Isam Al-Sager and NBK Chief Executive Officer-Kuwait, Shaikha Al-Bahar during the annual General Assembly Meeting.

Strategic achievements Ibrahim Dabdoub, NBK’s Group Chief Executive Officer, noted that 2012 was a remarkable year on the strategic level for NBK. During the year, NBK continued to deliver on its income diversification efforts through a major strategic move increasing its stake in Boubyan Bank to 58.4% transforming it into a subsidiary of NBK Group. This move is key to strengthening our presence in Kuwait’s growing Islamic banking market and opens new growth prospects for the Group.

Additionally, NBK continued to strengthen its positioning in its regional and international markets with more focus on GCC operations. NBK’s international banking profits recorded a yearon-year growth of 22.7% in 2012.

Dabdoub stressed that NBK has been able to considerably increase its share of

the total banking sector profits in Kuwait throughout the global financial crisis.

NBK’s share of the total banking sector profits increased from 32% in 2007 to 53% in 2012.

Poor’s. All NBK ratings have a stable outlook. Added to this, NBK was also named among Global Finance’s list of the 50 safest banks in the world for the seventh consecutive time.

Highest-rated in Middle East Dabdoub noted that NBK continues to hold the highest credit ratings among banks in the Middle East, with international rating agencies confirming the bank’s leading franchise, strong financial position, robust earnings capabilities and above peers asset quality. “We have over the years maintained the highest asset quality indicators by regional and international standards, despite the ongoing economic challenges,” Dabdoub added.

NBK is currently rated “Aa3” by Moody’s, “AA-” by Fitch Ratings and carries an “A+” rating from Standard and

Human resources and CSR NBK pioneered its corporate social responsibility programs in 2012, maintaining its position as the largest contributor to the Kuwait community in the private sector. NBK’s social initiatives and programs included a KD 4 million donation to develop NBK’s Children Hospital.

The new center will expand the hospital’s ability to treat children with cancer and blood diseases.

In 2012, as part of its commitment to providing job opportunities to new graduates, NBK actively recruited skilled graduates and young nationals. NBK hired

more than 300 nationals during 2012.

“We believe that our people are our most valuable resource and to that end we’ve implemented numerous professional development and training programs while focusing recruiting efforts on hiring and training the country’s best and brightest minds.” Al Bahar said.

NBK’s corporate social responsibility program for 2012 covered a range of education, environment, health, philanthropic, social and sports-related initiatives. NBK has the widest banking presence with 173 branches worldwide. NBK’s international presence spans many of the world’s leading financial centers including London, Paris, Geneva, New York and Singapore, as well as China (Shanghai).

Meanwhile, regional coverage extends to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey.

Wall St raider Icahn defends Dell assault

NEW YORK: A board on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, which beat the previous high it set in October 2007, before the financial crisis and the great recession. — AP

In a rising economy, politicians look for credit WASHINGTON: Increased hiring, lower unemployment, stock market on the rise.

Who gets the credit? It’s a hotly debated point in Washington, where political scorekeeping amounts to who gets blame and who gets praise.

Following Friday’s strong jobs report 236,000 new jobs and unemployment dropping to a four-year low of 7.7 percent - partisans hurriedly staked out turf. “Woot woot!” tweeted former White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee. “With 12 million still unemployed?” countered Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s spokesman, Don Stewart. When it comes to the economy, presidents usually get the rap for downturns and reap benefits from upturns. But the main factors affecting the current recovery and the record activity in the stock market may have less to do with high-profile fiscal policy fights in Washington than they do in the decisions of the Federal Reserve Bank, which has pumped trillions of dollars into the economy, kept interests rates at near zero and pushed investors away from low-yield bonds to stocks.

“From a policy standpoint, this is being driven primarily by the Fed,” said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo. Yet to some, Washington deserves little recognition. “Economies recover,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and now head of the American Action Forum, a conservative public policy institute. He acknowledged the Fed’s monetary policies halted the initial free fall by the financial industry, but he said the economy has had to catch up to the Fed’s low interest rates.

“It took a long time for the housing market for them to matter and for the auto market for them to matter,” Holtz-Eakin said. “So I don’t think that’s a policy victory.”

If Democrats are eager to give President Barack Obama acclaim for spurring the recovery with an infusion of spending in 2009, there are just as many Republicans who will claim his health care law and his regulatory regimes slowed it.

If there is common ground among economists, it is that the next step in fiscal policy should be focused on reining in long-term spending on entitlements programs, particularly Medicare, instead of continuing debates over short-term spending. But such a grand bargain has been elusive, caught in

a fight over Obama’s desire for more tax revenue and Republican opposition to more tax increases. Obama and some Republicans are trying to move the process with phone calls and a dinner here and a luncheon there. Next week, the president plans to address Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate in separate meetings to see, as he put it yesterday in his weekly radio and Internet address, “if we can untangle some of the gridlock.” Who gets credit does have political consequences. A strong economy would create more space for Obama to pursue other aspects of his second-term agenda.

But it’s an important question for the long term, too, because if the recovery is indeed accelerating it could validate the policies that the Obama administration and the Fed put in place. Hiring has been boosted by high corporate profits and by strength in the housing, auto, manufacturing and construction sectors. Corporate profits are up.

Still, it might be too soon to declare victory.

While the recovery may be getting traction, the US economy is not yet strong. Economic growth is forecast to be a modest 2 percent this year. Unemployment, even as it drops, remains high nearly four years after the end of the Great Recession, with roughly 12 million people out of work. Last year’s early months also showed strong job gains only to see them fade by June. March could prove to be a more telling indicator as the economy responds to a third month of higher Social Security taxes and as acrossthe-board spending cuts that kicked in March 1 begin to work their way through government programs. Economists say anticipation of the cuts already caused a downturn in the fourth quarter of last year as the defense industry slowed spending.

The Congressional Budget Office and some private forecasters say the coming cuts could reduce economic growth by about half a percentage point and cost about 700,000 jobs by the end of 2014.

“My view is that aggressive monetary and fiscal policy response to the recovery has been a net positive,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. But referring to the automatic cuts, he said, “Fiscal policies have turned from a very powerful tailwind to a pretty significant head wind.” And, he added, “the economy is going to be tested again in the next few months.”—AP

NEW YORK: Wall Street raider Carl Icahn defended his twin attacks on computer giant Dell and offshore oil rig operator Transocean Friday, saying such companies need “shaking up” for shareholders’ benefit. A day after singling out the two companies for his legendary brand of investor activism, the Wall Street buccaneer told AFP that he is doing what he has always done: pressing companies and chief executives to perform better and reward investors better.

“What we do by shaking up a large number of companies that need shaking up is very salutary for our economy,” Icahn said in an exclusive telephone interview.

“Many of our companies, but with many exceptions, are run by CEOs that should not be running them,” Icahn said. “And as a result, these corporations are not as productive as they should be.” On Thursday, Icahn joined another key Dell shareholder to resist founder Michael Dell’s attempt to take it private for what the dissidents call a deep discount to the company’s true value.

Icahn threatened “years of litigation” as he proposed an alternative to Dell’s $24.4 billion offer: instead of going private, the company should make a special $9 a share dividend payment. Even after that, Icahn said, the company will still be worth more than the $13.65 that Dell’s investor group is offering.

Separately, he attacked Transocean’s management to force a higher dividend payout, lambasting them for a “failed strategy.” Icahn, who ranks 26th on the Forbes list of billionaires with a net worth put at $20 billion, has also plunged into the rival hedge fund battle over nutrition product marketer Herbalife.

At age 77 and after dozens of some of the roughest proxy battles in modern corporate history, Icahn shows no sign of slowing down.

In cases ranging from TWA to RJR Nabisco and Blockbuster Video, the street-fighter has pushed, prodded and poked his way to great wealth. He is from the same generation as famed investor Warren Buffett.

But unlike Buffett, a long-term, relatively passive investor, Icahn makes his money by taking positions in companies that give him the leverage to force changes in management or rewards

NEW YORK: Carl Icahn speaks at a media conference.—AFP file photo to shareholders, or both. “Icahn is part of a long tradition on Wall Street of the skilled activist sharp, insightful, goes for the jugular, motivated by results and not popularity,” said Marshall Sonenshine, chairman of Sonenshine Partners.

“What is unique about him in this business is his not his bluntness, but his age.” Icahn stopped working for investors in 2011 and decided to use only his own money. His tactics still inspire fear

and awe on Wall Street. “People respect his opinion,” said Chris Low, chief economist of FTN Financial. “I know on our trading floor, when we see him on television, we tend to turn up the volume and pay attention.” His wily moves have built him a fortune. In 1987, Icahn pressured oil giant Texaco to settle a lawsuit with Pennzoil over the acquisition of Getty Oil, after a Texas court ordered Texaco to pay $10.5 billion. The settlement netted him a payoff of some $600 million, according to press accounts.

In 1996-97, Icahn moved on to RJR Nabisco in an effort to force it to split its tobacco business from the food division to boost the overall value for shareholders. He failed, but still came out smiling after selling his shares at an estimated gain of some $100 million. One Wall Street analyst described the deal as someone “who came to the party, took $100 million from the bar, and left,” according to The New York Times.

Icahn’s current campaigns show he isn’t retreating one bit from the rough-and-tumble of Wall Street. With Transocean, Icahn is pushing for a $4 dividend for shares and the election of three new directors. His plan, he wrote, constitutes “the only way that Transocean will consistently employ a disciplined and sensible approach to capital allocation.” With Herbalife, he has taken the side of one hedge fund titan, Daniel Loeb, against another, Bill Ackman, who has shorted the company. “We’ve done a lot of research,” Icahn said. “We obviously think the stock is cheap and we think Ackman is wrong.”

With Dell, Icahn insists that he thinks the future of the company “is bright”. But, he wrote in a letter to the company’s board, “we see no reason that the future value of Dell should not accrue to ALL the existing Dell shareholders-not just Michael Dell.” As always, he could just settle for a higher price. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said he sees dissidents could agree to the buyout at $15 a share.

“We also think Icahn could be satisfied with a raised bid,” Misek said.—AFP

Wall Street Weekly Outlook Dow record not necessarily a buy signal NEW YORK: The Dow’s run to record highs in the stock market’s rally this year may not mean it’s time for investors to go on a buying spree.

Instead, many financial advisers are telling clients to go easy, whether they’re just getting back into stocks or seeking to add to equity positions.

Questions over how much higher the market can go have kept caution in play, with some technical indicators suggesting the market is overbought. But the case for investing in stocks is strong, they said, particularly given signs of more strength in the economy, especially Friday’s jobs report, which showed a much higher-thanexpected 236,000 workers added to the payrolls in February.

“We’re telling clients to take a more defensive approach to the market right now,” said Frank Fantozzi, chief executive of Planned Financial Services, an independent wealth manager in Cleveland. Yet stocks remain a better choice than other asset classes, he said.

“If I had to pick a category, I’d still be looking at equities,” Fantozzi said. “We still think the market is going to post positive gains for the year.” On

Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average broke through levels not seen since 2007 and continued to mark new record highs the rest of the week.

The Dow is now up 9.9 percent since Dec 31.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 on Friday ended less than 1 percent away from its record close of 1,565.15, which it reached on Oct. 9, 2007.

The S&P 500 is up 8.8 percent since the end of 2012.

Valuations remain relatively attractive. The S&P 500’s forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio, a commonly used measure to value stocks, is at 13.8 percent, still below its historic average P/E of 14.8 percent, based on data going back to 1968, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Caution vs appetite Other experts gave similar advice, saying investors should proceed, but with caution.

“We still have some speed bumps ahead of us,” said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at DA Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon. “We don’t see any urgency to jump in.”

US spending cuts loom as Washington debates

the path of fiscal policy, while the euro-zone crisis is far from resolved. US economic growth has also been slow.

Another reason for caution: US earnings growth - one of the biggest drivers of the market is slowing. Estimates for first-quarter S&P 500 earnings are now at 1.4 percent, down from a 4.3 percent forecast from Jan. 1, Thomson Reuters data showed.

“I try to tell people that although it’s a great run, there will probably be some pullback, and we’ll see it start to taper off into the summer,” said Rodd Newhouse, a Dallas-based financial adviser with Wells Fargo Advisors. Investor interest in the market is high, analysts have noted. TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index, which is designed to measure investor sentiment based on data on positions and trading activity, rose to 5.14 in February from 4.71 in January, and is high relative to historic ranges. Stock funds attracted $7.14 billion in the week ended March 6, data from EPFR Global showed on Friday, well above the previous week’s cash gains of $1.2 billion. Appetite for US stocks largely accounted for the inflows.—Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

BUSINESS

GCC markets mixed with positive bias GLOBAL GCC MARKETS REPORT

KUWAIT: Global equity markets reported mixed per formance in Februar y 2013 as investors were cautious, though the year commenced on a positive note. The momentum sustained in January quickly receded as investors adopted a ‘wait-and-watch’ approach towards the potential implication of Sequestration (spending reduction plan worth $85bn initiated by the Fed) and growth concerns in China and euro-zone. Uncertainty over the Fed Reserve’s commitment toward the quantitative easing program did little to cheer investors in February. Meanwhile, Eurozone’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell during the month, reversing the uptrend witnessed in the previous two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.4% in February, while FTSE100 expanded 1.3%. In terms of GCC markets, major indices reported small gains.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) declined 0.6% in February and consolidated below 7,000 as investors were awaiting another set of triggers following the announcement of good corporate results and an expansionary budget.

Abu Dhabi’s ADX index was the best performer with a gain of 5.7%. ADX’s superior performance was ascribed to strong earnings announcements and generous dividend payouts in the banking sector. The Kuwait Price index rose 3.5% to become the second best performer among GCC markets in February.

The DFM, which was the best performer in January 2012, posted a gain of 2.1%. The Qatari market underperformed other GCC bourses, declining 2.3% after increasing 4.4% the previous month.

Combined market capitalization rises 0.1%MoM The combined market capitalization of all GCC bourses grew 0.1%MoM to $767.8bn in February 2013-performance was mixed with four markets gaining while three markets declining during the month. Saudi Arabia, the largest GCC market, lost $2.3bn from its capitalization in February 2013 compared with January 2013. The TASI’s market capitalization of $381.6bn was equivalent to 49.7% of the total GCC capitalization. Qatar, the second largest GCC market based on capitalization, lost $2.5bn from its capitalization in February, constituting 16.7% of the total GCC capitalization. On the other hand, UAE (Abu Dhabi & Dubai) markets added $5.7bn to their capitalization in February 2013.

ness IPO activity in February. National Medical Care Co. launched its IPO, offering 13.5mn shares at SAR27.0 each.

GCC market valuation GCC equity markets had a good start to 2013 largely due to an uptick in earnings

across key cyclical sectors such as Banking and Real Estate.

Despite the recent surge, GCC markets continue to remain fairly attractive. In terms of one-year forward PE, the six GCC markets trade in the range of 9.4x-11.3x. This is fairly below the three- and five-year historic aver-

age of 13.5x and 13.4x, respectively, for the region as a whole. Valuation is also lower compared to similar frontier markets and key emerging markets. Within GCC, we are in favor of Saudi Arabia given its current compelling valuations coupled with a robust earnings outlook for 2013.

Trading activity declines The overall trading activity in GCC countries declined on MoM basis in February 2013.

Barring Qatar and Oman, all GCC markets recorded a fall in the value traded. The Saudi market witnessed a decline of 7.8%MoM to $31.5bn during the month, while the UAE markets saw a fall of 9.2%MoM to $3.3bn.

Saudi Arabia accounted for 84.5% of the total value traded during the month, while the UAE markets contributed 8.8% to the total value traded. The overall volumes declined 2.8%MoM to 24.1bn shares primarily due to a 14.6%MoM decline in volumes in the UAE markets.

IPO activity Saudi Arabia was the only market to wit-

Winning in the technology industry Capabilities, coherence and right ‘way to play’ Booz & Company Report DUBAI: The ever-evolving technology industry is punctuated by constant innovations and breakthroughs; moreover, communications and computational power is becoming increasingly commoditized. As it does, success in the technology sector has grown more dependent on building the right capabilities in support of the right way to play, and offering the products and services that best suit that strategy. The mobile handset sector is a case in point: in recent years, Research in Motion (RIM),has not kept up with the capabilities that were required to win in the new market landscape.

Now its very survival is uncertain. On the other hand, an elite group of companies - including Apple, Google, and Microsoft, among others have consistently outperformed their rivals. In line with this, Management consulting firm Booz & Company has assessed the pivotal role that capabilities have played in the evolution of the technology industry and how coherence between a company’s key capabilities, its ‘way to play’ and its portfolio of products and services is a crucial driver of success.

INNOVATIONS The evolution of the technology industry is often described as a series of unconnected innovations that shook the world, and that just somehow happened. This view, however, is simplistic: The technology industry is made up of distinct companies - including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, and Research in Motion (RIM) - and the evolution of the industry is determined by the strategic decisions these companies have made, the successes they’ve had, and the mistakes they’ve made.

“These companies, and others, have each set out a game-changing ‘way to play’ in the market -their value proposition -and built the capabilities system and developed the product portfolios needed to ensure that they would win in the marketplace,” said Pierre Peladeau, a Partner with Booz & Company. “What matters isn’t simply creating the most innovations; it’s being clear about how you want to add value, having the right system of capabilities needed to innovate in line with that value proposition, and then winning with those innovations in the market.”

For many of the companies that have been marginalized or have disappeared altogether, their mistake wasn’t losing their respective technological battles. Some stuck to old ‘ways to play’ and focused on established forms of

brand management or increasing scale rather than adding value in a way that remained attractive to customers. Others tried to shift and adapt their ‘ways to play’, but couldn’t build the capabilities they needed to turn their new strategies into winners in the marketplace.

The hidden link All the builders of the great tech companies of the past 30 years have understood the factor that matters most: it is the often hidden link between rapid technological innovation and deep customer understanding. Indeed, the value of customer insight is often overlooked in technical circles. But had it not been for the prowess that the industry has developed over the decades in meeting customers’ needs and desires, one can imagine a world in which the purely technological advances we have witnessed remained devoted solely to producing esoteric systems.

The importance of customer insight must not be underestimated. It is not something that can be bought or installed on a standalone basis. The companies that succeed with it are those that have developed it as part of their overall business identity.

“In this day and age, competition is becoming ever more fierce. As a result, every company in the industry must look closely at exactly who it is competing with and in which sectors,” explained Roman Friedrich, a Partner with Booz & Company. “It must choose its ‘way to play’ accordingly, based on the unique capabilities that it can use to differentiate itself from competitors. Then, it must further invest in these capabilities, and in the products and services that align with its selected ‘way to play’-in order to achieve the coherence that will make it a winner in the marketplace.”

Mobile sector evolution The transformation of the mobile handset sector clearly illustrates the interplay between technological change and business model innovation. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that the sector really took off and, soon after, a slew of new companies jumped into the business.

In the 2000s, however, a number of early handset makers, including Alcatel, Siemens, and Sagem, already dropped out of the market. “These companies didn’t have the capabilities- proficiency in consumer marketing, ability to innovate, and the necessary understanding of how consumers actually use their devices -

that most of the survivors had,” added Peladeau. Since then, the sector has gone through several rounds of disruption. Then came the first true BlackBerry.

Released in 2003, the device combined a phone with a very effective e-mail client. RIM had put together the right type of device-an easy-to-use e-mail and voice phone that functioned securely in corporate settings-and combined it with a capabilities system, generating the coherence that gave it the right to win.

Friedrich. In response to the success of Apple’s iPhone, a number of other handset manufacturers have followed suit. So far, Samsung has been the most successful at this strategy. RIM, however, failed to adapt. It waited too long to build the differentiating capabilities needed to compete with the new market leaders.

Winning in the future As technology continues to evolve, industry players must keep seeking out and building

Pierre Peladeau

Roman Friedrich

The most significant disruption after the BlackBerry occurred in 2007, when Apple introduced the iPhone, which combined a phone and e-mail with powerful Web-surfing and content features. The iPhone wasn’t the first smartphone, just the first truly successful one thanks not only to the product’s features but also to the very coherent system of capabilities that Apple built up to develop, distribute and sell it, and to link it to other devices and populate it with hundreds of thousands of mobile apps.

“Apple’s ability to understand the needs of the consumer, its obsessive attention to detail in both design and usability, and its understanding of the importance of creating an endto-end controlled ecosystem all combined to make its new phone the most successful consumer electronics device to date,” said

new capabilities and ‘ways to play’ that will give them the right to win in ever-changing markets.

Not all capabilities deserve the same consideration, but there are at least five that every company in the technology industry needs now. The way that they are incorporated, and the relative emphasis they receive will vary by enterprise, depending on the company’s ‘way to play’.

The five key capabilities include: 1. An understanding of what consumers want: gaining an intimate understanding of how customers interact with their mobile devices coupled with an understanding of the multitude of potential new uses offered by devices linked to each other and to sensors.

2. An ability to analyze consumer data: cap-

turing and analyzing all manner of data about who their users are and how they use their devices and services.

3. Innovation proficiency: developing new ways for users to communicate and interact with the digital world through the launch of new devices, features, and specific services that will shape industry evolution.

4. Ecosystem management: developing an internal ecosystem to manage the end-to-end customer experience, and the means to interact with and leverage partner and external ecosystems.

5. Design and user experience: designing and delivering a compelling and usable user experience on a wide variety of devices -both current and yet to be invented.

The Right Stuff Companies looking to stay competitive and to outperform in the future need to take several steps to prepare themselves to gain the right to win. These include: l Identifying a compelling ‘way to play’ that can win in the market but doesn’t require a major move away from their current capabilities. l Understanding which capabilities will support that ‘way to play’ and drive differentiation in the market. l Adapting their organizations to nurture the essential capabilities they already have, and disinvest in the ones that will not be critical. l Identifying the elements of their value chain that they need to control to establish sustainable differentiation. l Aligning their service and product portfolios with their chosen ‘way to play’ and their capabilities.

To conclude, the technology industry has been a major driver of value and economic growth over the past several decades, and it will likely remain so. Companies will continue to develop new technologies and new ways to interest consumers in using those technologies. The key to success will be understanding what those consumers want, and then creating the best ways to give it to them. The right to win will depend on the company’s ability to ensure coherence by aligning its value proposition (or ‘way to play’), its product and service portfolio with a group of differentiating capabilities that no one else, not even a technology innovator, can match.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

BUSINESS

Comparison of IPSAS with IFRS

By Nadeem Shafi

I

n continuation of sharing our thought leadership material with you, and following last week’s article “Accounting for Better Government”, we will look at the high level comparison of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) this week. As the use of IPSAS steadily becomes more widespread and increasingly relevant in public sector accounting around the world, accountants in the public sector are faced with the daunting task of having to learn and apply what might seem like a completely new set of financial reporting standards.

Many of these accountants were trained in IFRS or country-specific Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) that were based, to some extent, on IFRS, and worry that those accounting concepts and principles may no longer be relevant.

Fortunately, this is not the case; IPSAS are based on IFRS and, in many respects, are almost identical.

Having said that, there are a number of key conceptual differences that underpin IPSAS to make the standards relevant for the public sector.

Understanding these key differences will be the first and foremost step for any accountant who needs to grasp the main elements of IPSAS quickly.

Overview of the standard-setting process The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), a professional body that is part of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), develops international accounting standards specifically for government entities.

Although it is independent of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which develops and issues IFRS, the two standard setters are closely connected, with IPSAS being based as far as possible on the equivalent IFRSs. Despite this historical convergence, we are starting to see an increase in the number of public sector-specific standards being developed by the IPSASB, signifying a possibly greater degree of divergence from IFRS in the future. In particular, we can expect to see some significant differences coming through in the separate conceptual framework projects currently being undertaken by the IASB and IPSASB. Nevertheless, those professional accountants who want to obtain a high-level understanding of IPSAS will undoubtedly find value in understanding the major differences compared to IFRS.

Overall conceptual differences IFRS is primarily aimed at the private for-profit sector, where commercial transactions are presumed to take place subject to market conditions (in particular, there is a presumption that entities generally will not enter into transactions where one party receives less value than the other (nonexchange transactions) with an unrelated third party). While the focus of IFRS is to provide investors,

lenders and other users of the financial statements with information about the entity’s financial performance and financial position to help those users make investment and credit decisions; IPSAS financial statements are designed to provide information about how an entity has utilized its resources, and about the cost of service delivery. Entities with a commercial or profit motivation will therefore generally find IFRS appropriate, while entities that are non-profit or public-service orientated are likely to find IPSAS more suitable.

The different points of departure between IPSAS and IFRS give rise to important differences to the way in which the elements of the financial statements are defined and the criteria for when they should be recognized. Furthermore, there was a need for standards to be developed to deal with the specific information needs of the users of publicsector financial statements. For instance, information about how an entity has performed in relation to its authorized budget is of interest to users. Nonexchange transactions and non-cash-generating assets, which are prevalent in the public sector, but almost unheard of in commercial enterprises, also need to be catered for.

Service potential of assets IFRS defines an asset as “a resource that is controlled by an entity as a result of past events, and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity”. IPSAS introduces the concept of service potential into this definition, defining assets as “resources controlled by an entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits or service potential are expected to flow to the entity”. The inclusion of these additional words in the definition of an asset is highly significant in that it recognizes that an item can be an asset even though it might not be expected to generate future cash flows for the entity.

Consequently, under IPSAS, the network usually will not be written down in value unless its condition deteriorates to the point where its ability to provide a service to its users is impaired. Similarly, the definitions of liabilities, income (revenue) and expenditure, and the corresponding recognition criteria, have all been amended under IPSAS to accommodate the concept of service potential in addition to economic benefits.

Non-exchange transactions IPSAS recognizes the concept of non-exchange transactions and includes a public sector-specific standard that has not been derived from IFRS IPSAS 23: Revenue from Non-exchange Transactions. IPSAS 23 covers revenue arising from transfers, grants, taxes, fines and levies. IFRS has no equivalent standard and, as mentioned earlier, presumes that such transactions are unlikely for a private sector entity. One exception to this is government grants: IAS 20 Government Grants recognizes that entities may receive various forms of govern-

Gulf Bank winners of Al Danah daily draws KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its Al Danah daily draws on February 27, 2013, announcing the names of its winners for the week of February 24 to 28. The Al Danah daily draws include draws each working day for two prizes of KD1000 per winner.

The Al Danah daily winners are: ( Wednesday 27/2) Essa Abdullah Ahmad Al-Hassan, Nasser Bader Mohammed Al-Awadi (Thursday 28/2) Maha Fahad Meshari Al-Dhifeeri, Bader Naser Abdullah Bourisli.

Gulf Bank’s new Al Danah 2013 draw lineup includes daily draws (2 winners per working day each receive KD1000), as well as two additional prizes per quarter.

Al Danah’s 1st Quarterly draw will be held on 28 March (KD200,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000), 2nd Quarter - 27 June

(KD250,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000), 3rd Quarter - 26 September (KD500,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000) and the final draw held on 9 January, 2014 announcing winners of KD50,000, KD250,000 and the Al Danah Millionaire.

Gulf Bank’s Al Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and simultaneously encourages them to save money.

Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account. Al Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al Danah winner.

Creditors claim bankrupt Smith dumped $2 million LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas: Creditors are trying to block former Arkansas coach John L Smith from liquidating $40.7 million in debt, saying he moved several properties and more than $2 million from his holdings prior to filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

Federal bankruptcy court filings by Smith’s creditors say he cashed $1 million in certificates of deposit in 2008 and he is “unable to explain the current location of the funds.” The documents also allege that in 2008 and 2009, Smith transferred $1.16 million to his wife, son and daughter-inlaw. Most of that sum, $975,000, went to the Diana Smith Trust, which is named for Smith’s wife.

Smith has said Kentucky real estate investments that went sour led his financial troubles. He disclosed to The Associated Press last summer that he expected to file for bankruptcy protection and hoped his financial woes wouldn’t be a distraction during the season as he took over for the fired Bobby Petrino. The Razorbacks struggled under Smith, and he was let go after the season.

In 2008, Smith shifted ownership of real estate - two properties in Idaho and one in Michigan - to the trust in his wife’s name.

The filings allege that Smith transferred his interest in a company, JLS Enterprises II LLC, to his wife’s trust in 2008 and between then and 2012, Smith signed documents as a “member” of JLH, which held property in Kentucky.

On Sept 4, 2012, that entity was folded into Fourth and One LLC, of which Diana Smith was the sole member. Smith filed for bankruptcy two days later. Smith’s lawyer, Jill Jacoway of Fayetteville, didn’t return phone and email messages seeking comment. Smith didn’t reply to an email requesting comment and a spokesman at

Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., where Smith is now head coach, said Friday that Smith was out of town.

“I spoke with Coach Smith on his cell and he said he’s unavailable today due to his travels,” spokesman Chris Aaland said in an email. As of Friday, Jacoway had not filed a response to the creditors’ complaint.

A lawyer for the creditors, Thomas Robertson Jr., said he didn’t want to discuss the case outside of court. Arkansas hired Smith away from his alma mater, Weber State, last April when it urgently needed an interim coach. The school had fired Petrino after he hired his mistress to work in the football program.

Arkansas entered last season ranked in the top 10 but lost to Louisiana-Monroe in its second game and limped to a 4-8 finish.

Smith had a 10-month contract for $850,000 structured so that much of it would be paid on a deferred basis. Athletic director Jeff Long said during the season there was no intent by the university to keep that money from being seized in the bankruptcy proceeding.

But the creditors’ filing alleges that Smith “intended to place such funds beyond the reach of the creditors.” Jacoway said after a hearing last fall that US Bankruptcy Judge Ben Barry will decide what happens to money Smith earned at Arkansas.

“And if one side or the other doesn’t like what Judge Barry says, then we appeal and we appeal and we appeal,” she said. The creditors include Terra Springs LLC, John D Rhodes Revocable Trust, the Rhodes Family Limited Partnership, John D. Rhodes, Gerard J. Hart, Spring Farm Glen LLC, Spring Farm Pointe LLC, Terra Acquisitions LLC and Branch Banking and Trust Co. Barry has assigned a trustee to handle any of Smith’s assets. — AP

ment assistance and, as such, deals with the accounting treatment thereof. In contrast, IPSAS has no IAS 20 equivalent and deals with government assistance as part of IPSAS 23. Consequently, the treatment of government grants under IPSAS is significantly different from IFRS. The general principle for accounting for nonexchange revenue under IPSAS is to recognize revenue to the extent that the asset (cash or non-monetary assistance) received qualifies for recognition, and there are no conditions attached to the transfer that give rise to a corresponding obligation to repay or return the asset if the asset is not used as specified. However, a mere restriction on the use of the asset, which is not accompanied by an obligation to return the asset if it is not used as specified, is not treated as a condition under IPSAS 23.

Therefore, all unconditional grants are recognized in full as revenue when they are received, with no deferral. A liability is recognized to the

extent that there are conditions that have not yet been complied with, and this liability is transferred to revenue as and when the conditions are met.

Distinguishing between conditions and restrictions is crucial in determining whether and when to recognize revenue from a non-exchange transaction.

Contrast this with the treatment under IAS 20, which requires revenue from government grants to be deferred to achieve matching with the related costs for which the grant is intended to compensate (for example, over the useful life of the related asset), regardless of whether or not a liability arising from unfilled conditions actually exists in future periods.

Budget information In line with the increased focus on stewardship of, and accountability for, public funds, IPSAS 24 Presentation of Budget Information in the Financial Statements requires entities that make their annual budgets publically available to present a comparison of the budgeted and actual information as part of their financial statements (either as a separate statement or in the notes). This disclosure is not required under IFRS. Non-cash-generating assets As already mentioned, IPSAS recognizes the con-

cept of service potential as an alternative to future economic benefits for the purposes of identifying and recognizing an asset. This presents certain challenges when it comes to determining whether the recognized assets are impaired. A separate standard, IPSAS 21 Impairment of Non-cash-Generating Assets deals with this matter. It provides additional guidance on the valuation methods that should be used when determining the value-in-use of non cash generating assets. There is no equivalent guidance under IFRS. Old and new IFRSs In 2009, the IPSASB completed an IFRS convergence project to update IPSAS for IFRSs in issue as at December 2008. The IPSASB has not yet considered many of the more recent new or amended IFRSs, as a result of its focus on completing the Conceptual Framework project, and resource constraints. However, we note that the IPSASB has started looking at some of the new IFRSs. IPSAS has no such equivalent guidance at present. Although the IPSASB is considering the new IFRSs, it is not yet clear to what extent and in what form these changes will be adopted. Therefore, for the time being, entities preparing IPSAS financial statements will simply continue to use the older principles, while entities using IFRS will move to adopt the new IFRSs. In particular, some of the conclusions reached by the IASB with respect to measuring fair value in IFRS 13 may not be entirely appropriate for the public sector. It is envisaged that this aspect will require a significant amount of work before an equivalent standard can be issued by the IPSASB. In addition, the IPSASB is currently considering the appropriate measurement bases in the public sector context for the elements of the financial statements under phase 3 of its conceptual framework project.

Final words There are certainly many other important differences between the two reporting frameworks.

However, the differences highlighted in this article are intended to be of use to finance professionals who are already familiar with IFRS, by providing an outline of some of the key differences between IPSAS and IFRS. In addition, it is worth noting that the IPSASB sees its role as evolving to address not only general purpose financial statements, but also general purpose financial reporting more broadly, including presentation and disclosure outside of the financial statements, such as the presentation of long-term fiscal sustainability information and service performance information.

Ernst & Young has developed extensive and detailed materials on IPSAS which can be tailored and used on conversion projects and is already helping various government and semi-government organizations around the world in adopting and implementing IPSAS. —Nadeem Shafi, Partner Assurance, Ernst & Young.

US budget cuts end White House tours Tours suspended until further notice WASHINGTON: The sixth-grade class at St Paul’s Lutheran School in Waverly, Iowa, sent a message this week that was heard in the White House briefing room. “The White House is our house,” the class said in a video posted on Facebook. “Please let us visit.”

But their trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which had been set for March 16, is off. White House tours were suspended starting yesterday due to mandated across-the-board spending cuts known as “sequestration.” The move will save the federal government an estimated $74,000 a week.

Many were left holding worthless tour tickets, secured months in advance through members of Congress. There is no rain check for a White House tour.

The children’s video caught the attention of White House reporters, and of the top Republican in Congress. “What is your answer, or the president’s answer, to the sixth-graders at St. Paul’s Lutheran School?” one reporter asked White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

“It is extremely unfortunate that we have a situation like the sequester that compels the kinds of tradeoffs and decisions that this represents,” said Carney.

He said the Secret Service, which is involved

in the tours, offered various options to deal with sequester-related cuts ranging from canceling tours to furloughs and cuts in overtime.

“And in order to allow the Secret Service to best fulfill its core missions, the White House made the decision that we would, unfortunately, have to temporarily suspend these tours,” Carney said. When another White House spokesman was asked whether private donations might put the tours back on track, he said that step might be unfeasible given the technical requirements of the sequester.

The last time the White House closed its doors to school groups was after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The tours resumed the following February, with a suspension in the spring of 2003 during the US invasion of Iraq. The general public was not allowed back into the White House until September 2003. The decision found little favor with supporters of St Paul’s sixth-graders, who asked Facebook viewers to “like” their video to agitate for putting the tour back on their Washington itinerary.

By late Friday, nearly 1,000 had “liked” the post, nearly 500 had shared it and more than 100 had commented. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner boasted that tours of the Capitol would continue. “Even though our bud-

get’s been cut like everyone else’s, thanks to proper planning, we’re able to avoid furloughs amongst Capitol workers, and tours are going to remain available for all Americans,” Boehner told reporters on Thursday.

He called the White House decision “disappointing” and “silly,” the result of a failure to find savings in other parts of the budget.

Benno Nelson, a Los Angeles-based film director and self-described “civic nerd” who is planning a family trip to Washington in May, had a one-word response when told of the tour cancellations: “Nooooo!”

“Definitely to get a tour of the White House is something I was really looking forward to, and I planned it in advance and called my congressman. ... To hear that they’re not doing that is a little bit heartbreaking,” he said. The recorded White House message for those looking for tour information is as contrite as a recorded message can get: “Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013, until further notice.

Unfortunately we will not be able to reschedule affected tours. We very much regret having to take this action, particularly during the popular spring touring season.” — Reuters

Buying stocks now may be less risky than you think NEW YORK: Is it too late? If you’ve stayed out of stocks recently, you might be worried that you’ve missed your chance to get back in. After all, they must be expensive now that the Dow Jones industrial average

has risen 120 percent in four years to a record high. The good news is that stocks still seem a good bet despite the run-up. The bad news: They’re no bargain, at least by some measures, so don’t get too

NEW YORK: Specialist Donald Civitanova (right) works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. When it comes to the economy, presidents usually get the rap for downturns and reap benefits from upturns. — AP

excited. Many investors obsess about stock prices. But you must give equal weight to a company’s earnings. When earnings rise, stocks become more valuable - and their prices usually rise, too.

That seems to be happening now. “We’ve had record profits upon record profits,” says John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet, a research firm. “And estimates are we’ll have record profits this year, too.” What’s more, some of the typical threats to stock run-ups - such as rising inflation and interest rates, which often trigger a recession seem unlikely to appear soon.

Among reasons to consider stocks again: A STRONGER ECONOMY There are no signs of a recession.

And that’s encouraging for stocks, which almost always fall ahead of an economic downturn. Stocks started falling two months before the Great Recession began in December 2007

and one year before the recession that started in March 2001. Better yet, the economy may be on the verge of faster growth. The Labor Department announced Friday that the unemployment rate in February dipped from 7.9 percent to 7.7 percent, its lowest level since December 2008. Employers added more than 200,000 jobs each month from November-February, compared with 150,000 in each of the prior three months.

More jobs mean more money for people to spend, and consumer spending drives 70 percent of economic activity. And there has been a flurry of other hopeful signs lately.

Homebuilders broke ground on new homes last year at the fastest pace in four years. Sales of autos, the second-biggest consumer purchase, are at a five-year high.If recent history is any guide, this economic expansion is still young. The expansion that began in June 2009 is 44 months old. — AP

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

BUSINESS

Oliver Behrens

Dr Ulrich Kater

Is Europe out of the woods?

DekaBank provides info on future opportunities for institutional investors in Europe KUWAIT: DekaBank made its fifth presentation under the title “Is Europe out of the woods?” to potential institutional investors in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, providing information on the current economic situation and future outlook in Europe, and investment opportunities in the German and global real estate markets.

Oliver Behrens, Deputy Chairman of the DekaBank Board of Management, opened by discussing DekaBank’s 60 years of asset management experience and its pioneering role in this area in Germany. Behrens stated, “DekaBank is an institution with a stable ownership structure and close ties with both business and the public policy sector. We would like to make this extensive experience available to our clients to support them in their investment decisions”.

Through the crisis phase DekaBank Chief Economist Dr Ulrich Kater praised the extensive reform efforts made by the European crisis countries in his opening presentation on general economic developments in the euro-zone. “We have come through the severe phase of the euro crisis and industrialized countries are now on a necessary path of consolidation”, stated Dr. Ulrich Kater. However, the euro-zone still faces great challenges in coming months such as bank restructuring in Spain, a potential haircut in Cyprus, and the uncertainty about the direction of

reforms following the Italian election stalemate.

The high volatility in financial markets in recent years has led to great uncertainty among investors.

“However, interest rates for secure investments, such as bank deposits and government bonds from ‘safe’ countries are below the rate of inflation, which leaves investors in these products in a trap with regard to real interest rates”, according to Dr Kater.

Only real assets, such as stocks, corporate bonds, commodities and real estate can promise returns higher than the inflation rate. “Still, investors should observe a number of rules; specifically, broad international diversification, regular portfolio monitoring, continuous investing and a long-term investment horizon. Custom-tailored products and professional risk management will therefore be more important than ever for the foreseeable future”, stated Kater.

Germany - a secure haven Mark Wolter, Managing Director of WestInvest GmbH, a securities house for Sparkasse banks and full service provider for institutional investors, followed a similar theme in his presentation. “Europe is currently divided in terms of economic growth.

Economic developments are significantly better in the northern part of the continent compared to the south. For this reason, attractive new real estate investments are mainly found in Germany, Scandinavia, and Great Britain, primarily in London”,

according to Mark Wolter. The financial and economic crisis has had relatively little effect on Germany since 2009, and the country is a safe harbor in the current turbulence. This is evidenced by strong private consumption and low unemployment. In addition, the German commercial real estate market has recorded only modest declines in leasing.

“German and foreign investors continue to be interested in investing in Germany. We have observed rent increases for office properties in the top 7 cities in Germany. Retail properties also showed rental rate increases for properties in prime locations due to high demand by international retail chains. This applies similarly to logistics sites, where e-commerce is the main driver of demand for suitable properties”, stated Wolter.

Deka Immobilien - a reliable partner in the centre of Europe With more than 45 years of market experience, Deka Immobilien can help institutional investors take advantage of the opportunities in the German real estate market. Its in-house research department covers the full spectrum of major usage types in the real estate sector, offers valuable medium and long-term forecasts for upcoming developments in German and European real estate markets, and is a leader in terms of professional expertise.

More than 450 real estate investments in 23 coun-

tries with a current total value of approximately EUR 25 billion clearly underscore the benefits to investors of DekaBank’s real estate expertise. “The knowledge of more than 400 experts, DekaBank offices in major market locations and our customtailored products are key factors in the positive earnings and performance we have delivered to our investors. DekaBank is and will remain a strong and reliable partner in the centre of Europe for our clients”, stated Mark Wolter, Managing Director of WestInvest GmbH. DekaBank Group The DekaBank Group has more than EUR 173 billion in assets under management, manages approximately five million securities accounts and has branches in Luxembourg and Switzerland, making it one of the largest asset managers in Germany. Its goal is to be the first choice of clients and partners and offer the right solution for every client. More than 4,000 employees throughout the Group develop ideas and deliver products each and every day to realise this goal. They build on extensive knowledge gained over nine decades on capital markets and stock exchanges. Close integration of core competences in asset, credit and risk management allows DekaBank to offer seamless service covering all major asset management functions: portfolio management, fund administration, capital market expertise and comprehensive customer support.

Kuwait consumers experience connectivity with Canon image InfoConnect exhibition

VIVA announces winners of Dodge Challenger, KD10,000 ‘Win a car every week’ campaign KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing telecom operator, announced the winners of the ‘win a car every week’ campaign. The lucky draw winners were Daryosh Hussain, Eksar Haji, Bahu Lakshmi and Aqba Ahmad Khalaf who each won a Dodge Challenger SE and Jahara Abdulrazzaq, Maxwell Regan Dunn, Florida Peter and Hathana Dyuji who each won KD 10,000.

The winners drawn on 11 February 2013 will have until 10 March 2013 to claim their prize, winners drawn on 18 February 2013 will have until 17 March 2013 to claim their prize, winners drawn on 24 February 2013 will have until 23 March 2013 and winners drawn on 4 March 2013 will have until 3 April 2013 to claim their prize otherwise the prize will be given to the alternate winner.

VIVA congratulated the lucky winners and invited its customers to participate in the longest on-going campaign of its kind. The upcoming prize draw will be for an Audi A5 2013 and KD 10,000.

With the continuous success this campaign is witnessing, VIVA is keen to further engage its customers and therefore developed further means to facilitate the process of entering the draw.

Entering the draw can be done through one of the following options. The first option is to subscribe with 500 Fils per day giving customers infinite minutes and SMS to any VIVA line. This option entitles the customer to one chance to enter the draw each week.

The second option is to subscribe to the BlackBerry KD3.9 service, which gives customers full and unlimited BlackBerry Services. This option provides customers

with 7 automatic chances to enter the draw each week.

The third option is to purchase the KD2 prepaid line. Upon activating the line, customers should simply send ‘GO’ to 535, and will be presented with four chances to enter the draw each week.

The fourth option is to recharge for 500 fils or more, and this entitles the customer to one chance to enter the draw for every 500 fils.

In addition, customers can also enter the draw by subscribing to the 500 fils local bundle which presents customers with 60 local minutes per day. This can be done by sending ‘3’ to ‘232’, and entitles the customer to one chance, or by subscribing to the 500 fils international SMS bundle, which presents customers with 100 international SMS to any country for the duration of seven days. This also entitles the customer to one chance.

Last but not least, customers who choose to enjoy the prepaid internet service will receive either one chance upon subscribing to the 500 fils ‘Surf On’ service, which offers 500 MB for a day, or two chances upon subscribing to the KD1 ‘Surf On’ service, which offers 500 MB for five days, automatically upon activation. Customers can also subscribe to more than one of the eight options, increasing their chances each week to win the valuable prizes. In the case a customer does not win, the points will be accumulated and carried on to the next draw.

Prepaid customers interested in the full, unlimited, local KD 3.9 BlackBerry offer, can send an SMS with the number ‘2’ to ‘535’. For the full menu of the prepaid offers, send an SMS with the word “GO” to number ‘535’.

KUWAIT: In response to the increasing popularity of Wi-Fi enabled devices among consumers in Kuwait, Canon Middle East showcased a full range of products demonstrating its cuttingedge connectivity applications at InfoConnect, Kuwait’s leading IT show. Participating at the InfoConnect exhibition with its partner First International Computer Company (FICCO), visitors were given a platform to experience how Canon’s latest technology allowed them to share instantly, print wirelessly and also upload and store images onto the cloud.

“Consumers today are connected to the internet sharing images, content, messages more than ever before. Canon continues to give consumers the freedom to upload, print and backup images instantly, without having to manually connect using a cable wire. With this in mind, Canon Middle East showcased its innovative connectivity technologies at InfoConnect. Our stand inspired and educated visitors on Canon’s holistic input to output solutions which provide consumers with unrivalled connectivity options,” said Canon Middle East’s Marketing Director, Hendrik Verbrugghe.

Canon’s latest offering excels in connectivity by enabling everyone to share images conveniently through its cutting-edge input to output solutions and new Wi-Fi capabilities including features such as Canon’s Air Print, which facilitates seamless wireless printing from devices including the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Easy connectivity through Wi-Fi is a key feature of the latest range of PIXMA printers and ensures they can be shared wirelessly by multiple PCs, tablets and smartphones in the home.

For even greater freedom, PIXMA Cloud Link also enables direct access to online photo albums and useful print templates, such as calendars, over the internet.

Printing direct from compatible digital cameras and digital video cameras is also possible with the new Canon PIXMA printers. Based on the PictBridge standard, cameras can be connected to the same Wi-Fi router as the printer, which enables direct photo printing without the need for a cable connection.

“Our alliance with Canon reaffirms our commitment to providing consumers in Kuwait with

FASTtelco launches ‘Free Internet Campaign’ KUWAIT: Tariq Al-Ali, Executive Vice President of Commercial Sales at FASTtelco, the leading internet service provider in Kuwait specialized in providing innovative internet and data communications solutions, announced that FASTtelco has recently launched its “Free Internet” campaign, providing free internet services for all households in the State of Kuwait, without any commitment from the client, in a way to comply with its slogan “Share”, and an attempt to fulfill a social responsibility directed to the internet users in Kuwait.

Al-Ali said that the “Free Internet” campaign is the outcome of FASTtelco’s incessant efforts to make the internet available for the entire citizens

of Kuwait, as it has become a necessity nowadays. He added that the whole world has turned into a global village as a result of the exceptional progress of internet and communications, and it is of FASTtelco’s duties and responsibilities to bring world-class internet services to Kuwait.

Al-Ali noted that FASTtelco continuously directs its efforts into meeting the needs of its clients and the general market. It is in this perspective that the “Free Internet” campaign with unlimited download capacity was launched.

“Every family will now be able to enjoy fast and reliable internet connectivity, as FASTtelco invites everyone to benefit from this unique offer, by either calling its telesales team on

1886666, or by simply visiting one of its branches countrywide”.

Al-Ali also praised FASTtelco’s developed state-of-the-art infrastructure and advanced technology, enabling it to keep on offering the highest quality innovative services and affirming its leadership in the internet and data communication market. On the other hand, he thanked everyone who contributed to this campaign and hoped it would be at the level of the clients’ expectations.

Al-Ali concluded that FASTtelco is on a continuous strive mode to efficiently serve its clients and meet their demands. We are aware of the vital role internet plays in our daily lives.

access to flagship technology and value added experiences. Through our participation at InfoConnect, we wanted to show support, educate and empower visitors with activities like interactive product demonstrations highlighting the innovative technologies from Canon,” said Ishtiaq Malik, CEO of FICCO. Visitors were shown Canon’s free CameraWindow application, which allows users to wirelessly connect and transfer images or

movies to both iOS and Android(tm) smartphones or tablets for enjoying on the move, or upload directly to social networks such as Facebook. Additionally, Wi-Fi connectivity, combined with CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, offers the freedom to share or backup images directly from the camera to the cloud. Offering 10 GB of personal storage capacity, CANON iMAGE GATEWAY is an online facility for storing and sharing photos and video.

NBK takes MasterCard cardholders to UEFA Champions League finals Seven travel packages for two KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), in partnership with MasterCard International, brings the excitement of the UEFA Champions League 2012/13 to NBK MasterCard Credit Cardholders.

NBK offers seven travel packages for two to attend the semifinals or the final game of one of the most popular sporting events in the world.

In an exclusive campaign valid until 30 April, 2013, NBK MasterCard Credit Cardholders will get one chance to enter the draws for every 10 KD spent using their NBK MasterCard for all purchases during the promotion period.

Cardholders can also double their chances to win while spending overseas during traveling or on the internet.

“The UEFA Champions League is one of the world’s most popular sporting events, and NBK is the only bank in Kuwait offering its MasterCard Credit Cardholders a chance to win fully paid packages to see the UEFA Champions League semifinals or the final game in London” said NBK General Manager, Consumer Banking Group, Mazin Saad Al Nahedh.

Al Nahedh added, “NBK’s leadership in the Credit Card market in Kuwait has been established by consistently delivering superior value to our customers. We always strive to develop promotions to reward our customers. We

encourage our cardholders to use their NBK MasterCard Credit Cards during the promotion period to enjoy this exclusive offer.”

The prizes consist of four travel packages to the Semi Final matches and three for the final match. Each travel package includes two round trip airline tickets, hotel accommodation, transfer service and match tickets for both winner and guest.

NBK Credit Cards are accepted worldwide and are the safest, most convenient and rewarding way to pay.

Mazin Saad Al Nahedh

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

technology

Mobile gadgets slowly breaking the Internet CHICAGO: Behind all the dazzling mobile devices on the market is a looming problem: how to make the networks that support them function securely and efficiently.

With little fanfare, potential solutions are taking shape in several academic labs. The grand challenge is to overhaul the Internet to better serve an expected flood of 15 billion network-connected devices-many of them mobile-by 2015, according to estimates by Intel. That’s up from five billion today.

The Internet was designed to dispatch data to fixed addresses of static computers connected to a single network. But today it connects a riot of diverse gadgets that can zip from place to place and connect to many different networks.

As the underlying networks have been reworked to make way for new technologies, serious inefficiencies and security problems have arisen. Networks are needlessly congested, reducing bandwidth below advertised levels. And it can be difficult to reliably authenticate who actually sent something, and that the thing is what it purports to be (a bank log-in page, for

instance). It’s not as though everything will crash “when you add one more device,” says Peter Steenkiste, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University. “But I do have a sense this is a creeping problem of complexity.”

Fundamentally new network designs have taken shape and are being tested at universities under the National Science Foundation’s Future Internet Architecture Program, launched in 2010. One key idea is that users should consistently be able to obtain data from the nearest location rather than some specific data center at a fixed address.

“Today I have on my desk a smartphone, a tablet, and a Mac computer. To move data between them, the request goes all the way to the cloud-God knows where that is-so it can come back here to another device that is two feet away,” says Lixia Zhang, a computer scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “That is wrong. It is simply wrong.”

Things would work quite differently under the Named Data Networking (NDN) project that Zhang heads. Under sers

request pieces of data by their names instead of the IP address where they can be found. Using data names could, among other things, allow easy sharing of data directly between devices.

“I think we can improve the speed, throughput, and overall efficiency,” says Zhang. “Today you have many data centers that can have thousands of people asking for the same piece of data. An NDN network just finds the nearest copy of that data.

Conceptually this is pretty simple, but it is really a revolution.”

This data-centric concept allows the data itself to be directly secured, rather than relying on measures such as VPNs and firewalls.

In an NDN network, every named piece of data is associated with a cryptographic key, and every data packet carries a cryptographic signature that assures the data’s provenance; if privacy is needed, the data is encrypted as well.

In addition to Zhang’s project, the National Science Foundation funds Internet architecture projects with similar goals at Rutgers, the University of Pennsylvania, and Carnegie Mellon, where Steenkiste runs the

expressive Internet architecture, or XIA, project. Like NDN, that project is exploring ways that data could be named and transferred between users. The overall goal of XIA is to make networks more flexible so that they can adapt to future technologies.

The Rutgers project is called Mobility First and is trying to make mobile devices and car networks a more seamless part of the infrastructure. One way it might do this is by creating routing systems that are more tolerant of the delays that occur when devices are temporarily offline. The Rutgers group is also exploring ways that communication networks could let users better control who sees their location and personal information.

The fourth project, at Penn, assumes a future in which people store their data and do their computation in remote data centers in the “cloud.” Dubbed Nebula, the effort emphasizes the need for extremely fast and highly secure networks.

Several early demonstrations of these Internet architecture projects have taken place over the past year, and more are expected in the coming months. Dipankar

Raychaudhuri, head of the Rutgers Winlab, says it should be possible to compare their effectiveness within two years.

It’s too early to say which, if any, of these alternative approaches will win out, says David Clark, an MIT computer scientist and the Internet’s former chief protocol architect. “All are research, all are speculative, and are potentially exciting,” he says. But the NDN effort “is the most revolutionary,” he adds. “The project really changes the underlying model of what a network does. It replaces communication among endpoints with access to data, wherever it may be.”

Among other things, new architectures could allow devices to attach to two or more networks at the same time. Today your smartphone can switch back and forth between, say, 4G and Wi-Fi, but it can’t use them both and combine the data coming from each. The root of the problem is that the original protocols assumed only a single network interface. With the new system.

Raychaudhuri says, “you could, in principle, remain connected to both networks, and the network could decide how to send you the data at each moment.” —-MCT

Google retakes role of tech sector superstar There’s a lot going forward NEW YORK: Google has retaken the role of superstar of the tech sector with a stunning stock rally as rival Apple flounders. Google has hit fresh alltime highs in recent weeks, and closed Friday at $831.52, capping a nearly tenfold rise from its public offering price in 2004 of $85. The stock is up about 17 percent so far in 2013. Part of the explanation comes from the rise of its Android mobile operating system, at the expense of Apple.

Android is free but gives Google the opportunity to deliver more services and ads to users.

some analysts.

Analysts at Jefferies said Google set a price target for Google at $1,000, saying it has been benefiting from a wide range of services beyond its traditional Web search ads, including shopping and mobile ads.

“Google looks well positioned for growth with the number one market share in large, rapidly growing markets,” said Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, who noted that Google remains the top Internet search engine and leading

LOS ANGELES: In a recycled hangar in Los Angeles, California videobloggers from across the country learn how to use production equipment in facilities worthy of Tinseltown at YouTube Space LA, a free facility created by Google to pamper its hardcore fans. —AFP “The negativity that is surrounding Apple at the moment is giving positivity to Google,” said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Apple, which traded as high as $700 last year, has slumped more than 35 percent and ended Friday at $431.67.

For Google, “there’s a lot going forward at the moment,” Milanesi told AFP, noting that the company is successfully “getting consumers into their ecosystem.”

Google now appears poised to beat Apple to the symbolic level of a $1,000 share price, say

advertising platform.

Android now has a 70 percent share of the smartphone market, which “ensures that Google retains a large share of the mobile search market,” said the research firm Trefis.

“Another reason that investors are excited about Google’s stock is the fact that more than 50 percent of its revenues are generated from markets outside the United States,” Trefis said in a note.

“This means that Google’s revenues have ample exposure to Asia, Africa and Latin America, all of which are expected to grow at an accelerat-

Google to pay $7million to settle Wi-Fi case SAN FRANCISCO: Google will pay a $7 million penalty to settle a multistate investigation into the Internet search leader’s collection of emails, passwords and other sensitive information sent over wireless networks several years ago in neighborhoods scattered around the world.

The resolution will close a joint investigation by attorneys general in about 30 states, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person asked not to be identified because the settlement isn’t expected to be announced until early next week.

The $7 million will be shared among all the states, the person said. Google’s revenue this year is expected to surpass $61 billion. At that pace, Google brings in an average of $7 million in revenue per hour.

The case dates back to 2010 when Google Inc. revealed that company cars taking street-level photos for its online mapping service also had been vacuuming up personal data transmitted over wireless networks that weren’t protected by passwords. Google blamed the snooping, which started in 2007, on an overzealous engineer who installed an intrusive piece of software on equipment that the company said was only supposed to detect the location of wireless networks.

That explanation didn’t placate outraged privacy watchdogs or government regulators in the U.S. and other countries who opened investigations into the company’s surveillance of Wi-Fi networks that were operating mostly in homes and small businesses.

The multistate inquiry in the US initially was being led by Connecticut, which is now part of an executive committee overseeing the matter.

A spokeswoman for Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen declined to say whether Google had agreed to a settlement. The investigation is still “active and ongoing,” Jepsen spokeswoman Susan Kinsman said Friday.

Google has maintained it didn’t break any US laws by grabbing information sent over open networks, but has repeatedly apologized for a breach of online etiquette. The company, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., issued another note of contrition when contacted Friday.—AP

ed pace over the next few years.”

Analysts say a shift to the mobile Internet is positive for Google, which is also producing its own hardware, including smartphones and tablets.

“We are more constructive (less fearful) on Google’s ability to maintain strong growth during the mobile usage shift, and we see opportunity for revenue acceleration,” said Bank of America’s Justin Post.

Google has been able to tweak its AdWords software, which delivers commercial messages based on a user’s profile, to squeeze more revenues from mobile than it has until now, analysts say.

Google is also starting to see potential for YouTube, the video sharing service that has produced little revenue until now.

The Mountain View, California company has been working on other projects, including its own high-end Chromebook Pixel laptop computer and Google Glass, the wearable device expected later this year.

Milanesi said that Google will not try to replicate Apple by getting a lot of revenue from hardware.

“Hardware is serving their services,” she said.

One sore spot for Google is its Motorola Mobility unit, the mobile phone maker acquired for $12.5 billion. Some 1,200 jobs are being cut at the division after 4,000 last year.

“Google needs to figure out what to do with Motorola,” said Trip Chowdhry at Global Equities Research, claiming that Motorola “hasn’t had a single hit” in recent years.

“Within six months, Google needs to take a hard look at Motorola. If they can’t deliver, the whole Motorola should be closed and shut forever.”

Chowdhry noted that Google could see its momentum slowed by regulatory problems, even though it avoided antitrust action in the United States.

Google is under scrutiny on privacy and monopoly grounds in Europe, and China is also concerned about Android’s dominance.

“When you grow so big, you get in the eyes of all regulators and antitrust authorities,” the analyst said.

“So far Google has been very smart, quite good at dealing with them,” Chowdhry added, noting however that this was “an ongoing concern.” —AFP

Manufacturing in the balance NEW YORK: When General Electric expanded manufacturing of home heaters and refrigerators at its facility in Kentucky last year, the reasons included big wage concessions the company had won from local workers and the advantages of being closer to its US customers. But writing in the Harvard Business Review last March, CEO Jeffrey Immelt explained that one of the biggest factors in GE’s decision to bring back manufacturing from China and South Korea was the desire to keep appliance designers near its manufacturing and engineers.

“At a time when speed to market is everything, separating design and development from manufacturing didn’t make sense,” Immelt wrote. Now, someone who has an idea for a dishwasher that has fewer parts and weighs less can actually try to build it. These designs won’t be so quick to end up in knockoff products built by GE’s suppliers, either. “Outsourcing based only on labor costs is yesterday’s model,” Immelt said.

Near the turn of this century, manufacturing wages in southern China were 58 cents an hour, just 2 percent of US levels. GE and many other manufacturers rushed to take advantage of so-called labor arbitrage by moving manufacturing overseas. In 2004, the Boston Consulting Group told clients the choice wasn’t whether to go offshore but “how fast.”

The strategy adopted by multinational conglomerates, whether based in the US or in Europe, was simple: substitute inexpensive labor for capital. Why invest in a machine to assemble iPhones when Chinese companies could throw half a million workers at the problem? The Internet, telephones, and affordable air travel and sea shipping made it easier than ever to co?rdi-

nate labor from afar.

Partly as a result, the US lost about six million manufacturing jobs—33 percent of the total-between 2000 and 2010, and China has overtaken the US as the world’s largest producer of manufactured goods.

But the impact extends beyond macroeconomic statistics.

In Producing Prosperity, a book published last year, Harvard Business School professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih call offshoring of manufacturing a “grand experiment in de-industrialization.” They and others now believe that the consequences have been unfortunate because innovation is hard to separate from manufacturing in technologically advanced areas. Without understanding the details of production, you can’t really design the most competitive products. Eventually, what Immelt calls “core competencies”-such as product design and understanding of materials-are put at risk.

Lately, however, economic trends have been turning. Wages in China’s southern cities have been rising fast and may soon reach $6 an hour, about what they are in Mexico. Boston Consulting Group-the same consulting firm that told clients to run, not walk, overseas-now says it’s time to “reassess” China and estimates that for some products, that country’s overall cost advantage could disappear by 2015.

The vanishing comparative advantage of Asian cheap labor isn’t the only reason for companies to question offshore manufacturing. Natural catastrophes can occur anywhere, but the risks of long supply lines became apparent in 2011, when the Japanese earthquake and tsunami interrupted shipments of computer chips and floods in Thailand left disk-drive factories under 10 feet of water. —MCT

CALIFORNIA: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg answers questions during a media event at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Facebook has began transforming the stream of updates from friends at home pages into a “personalized newspaper” with news ranging from the personal to the global. —AFP

Facebook exec’s new book urges women to ‘lean in’ NEW YORK: For a book that has yet to be released, Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” — part feminist manifesto, part how-to career guide — has got a lot of people talking.

In the weeks leading up to the book’s release tomorrow, pundits and press hounds have been debating its merits. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called Sandberg a “PowerPoint Pied Piper in Prada ankle boots,” and countless bloggers have suggested that Facebook’s chief operating officer is the wrong person to lead a women’s movement.

“Most of the criticism has to do with the position she is coming from,” said Susan Yohn, professor and chair of Hofstra University’s history department.

Sandberg, 43, hopes that her message of empowerment won’t be obscured by the lofty pedestal from which she speaks. But is the multi-millionaire with two Harvard degrees too rich to offer advice? Too successful? Does her blueprint for success ignore the plight of poor and working-class women? Does the book’s very premise blame women for not rising to top corporate positions at the same rate as men?

And just how big is her house?

The questions keep coming largely because few people have actually read the book. But in it, Sandberg seems to have foreseen much of the criticism. The book acknowledges that critics might discount her feminist call to action with an easy-forher-to-say shrug. “My hope is that my message will be judged on its merits,” she writes in the preamble.

Sandberg recognizes that parts of the book are targeted toward women who are in a position to make decisions about their careers. Still, she writes, “we can’t avoid this conversation. This issue transcends all of us.

The time is long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream and encourage more men to support women in the workforce and in the home.”

Published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc., “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” will be launched Thursday with a reception in New York City hosted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Arianna Huffington.

It’s true that Sandberg is wealthy. She also has a supportive husband. Mark Zuckerberg is her boss. And, yes, her home in Menlo Park, California, has 9,000 square feet (836 square meters).

But as a woman in Silicon Valley, Sandberg hasn’t exactly had it easy, and her tale shows she’s no armchair activist. After all, not many women would march into their boss’ office and demand special parking for expectant mothers. But Sandberg did just that when she worked at Google.

Company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin complied.

After Sandberg moved to Facebook in 2008, she became even more outspoken on the issues facing women in corporate America. At a time when other executives, male or female, have largely stayed quiet, Sandberg has delivered speeches on topics such as “Why we have too few women leaders.” And she’s no workaholic. In an age of endless work hours, Sandberg is famous for leaving the office at 5:30 to spend time with her family. She does admit, however, to picking up work once her kids have gone to

bed.

Of the many inspirational slogans that hang on Facebook’s walls, her favorite asks “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”

“Lean In” is about pushing past fear.

“Fear is at the root of so many of the barriers that women face,” she writes. “Fear of not being liked. Fear of making the wrong choice. Fear of drawing negative attention.

Fear of overreaching. Fear of being judged.

Fear of failure. And the holy trinity of fear: the fear of being a bad mother/wife/daughter.”

Sandberg peppers the book with studies, reports and personal anecdotes to back up her premise - that for reasons both in and out of their control, there are fewer woman leaders than men in the business world and beyond. For example, the Fortune 500 has only 21 female CEOs. Sandberg is among the 14 percent of women who hold executive officer positions and the 16 percent of women who hold board of director seats, according to Catalyst.org.

For minority women, the numbers are even bleaker. Women of color, she writes, hold just 4 percent of top corporate jobs and 3 percent of board seats.

“A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes. I believe that this would be a better world,” she writes. “The laws of economics and many studies of diversity tell us that if we tapped the entire pool of human resources and talent, our collective performance would improve.”

At less than 200 pages, plus a good chunk of footnotes, “Lean In” does not purport to be the end-all solution to inequality.

It deals with issues Sandberg sees as in women’s control.

“Don’t leave before you leave” is one of her catchphrases, aimed at successful women who gradually drop out of the workforce in anticipation of children they may someday bear. “Make your partner a real partner” is another. She says everyone should encourage men to “lean in” at home by being equal partners in parenting and housework.

“Lean In” is, by and large, for women who are looking to climb the corporate ladder (which Sandberg calls a jungle gym), and ideally their male supporters. She hopes it’s the start of a conversation. To that end, Sandberg plans to donate all of the proceeds to her newly minted nonprofit, LeanIn.org.

Sandberg’s book shares personal details that reveal a fair share of stumbles and lesser- known tidbits. Did you know she was an aerobics instructor in the 1980s -big hair, silver leotard and all? The book paints a picture of an exceptionally successful woman who admits to lacking confidence at various points in her career.

Sandberg writes about the “ambition gap” between men and women in the workplace - that while men are expected to be driven, ambition in women can be seen as negative. She writes about parents’ genderbased approaches to child rearing that teach girls to be “pretty like mommy” and boys “smart like daddy,” as she’s seen on baby onesies sold at Gymboree. —AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Ruthless crime gangs driving global wildlife trade BANGKOK: Ruthless and heavily armed “criminal syndicates” linked to drug smugglers and militias are running the global wildlife trade and turning their guns on the park rangers tasked with protecting endangered species. Hundreds of rangers have been killed over recent years as poachers stop at nothing in their quest for lucrative animal parts such as ivory and rhino horn, according to experts at a global convention on protecting wildlife in Bangkok. The illegal trade “poses an immediate risk to wildlife and to people, including those serving on the frontlines to protect wildlife” says John Scanlon, secretary general

of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). “It increasingly involves organised crime syndicates and in some cases rebel militia.”

The death toll among the rangers has risen as the slaughter of elephants and rhinos reaches record levels - with photographs of carcasses stripped of horns or tusks stirring public outcry. At least 1,000 rangers have been killed in 35 different countries over the last decade, said Sean Willmore, president of the International Ranger Federation (IRF), adding that the real global figure may be between 3-5,000. “There is an undeclared war going on on

the frontline of conservation,” he told AFP citing the example of a group of 50 rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo who stumbled across a 5,000-strong militia group out poaching armed with AK47s. And while attacks by lions or elephants make their work “dangerous enough”, he says 75 percent of the dead were killed by traffickers, with their lack of equipment, training and low wages weighing against them. Every weakness is exploited by criminals determined to cash in on large animal reserves in some of the world’s poorest, most unstable countries. “Wildlife crime has historically been known as a

low-risk, high-profit crime,” according to Ben Janse Van Rensburg a senior CITES official. Alarmingly, the groups are part of a web of global criminals involved in other illicit trades such as drug and human trafficking, he said. Although the countries worst hit by the scourge of wildlife trafficking have shown willing to tackle the issue, they do so with limited means. But some countries have not even made the issue a serious crime “making conviction difficult”, says Jorge Rios of the UN Office against Drugs and Crime (UNODC), urging political commitment to be “accompanied by resources at national and interna-

tional level”. For poaching to be curbed those resources must be targeted at a the whole trafficking chain. “We cannot just focus on poachers... we also have to deal with middle men working in transit countries, and people distributing and selling the merchandise in market countries,” Dan Ashe, director of the US Fish and Wildlife service told AFP. “We have to deal with people who are financing these operations.”

But it is not an easy task, with corruption lubricating the movement of illicit wildlife - often destined for Asia as delicacies or use in traditional medicines. “They (traffickers) have a lot of money... they

are paying for the right to do whatever they want,” says Steve Galster, executive director, of conservation group the Freeland Foundation.

After several years of investigation his group accused Vixay Keosavang, an influential Laos national, of orchestrating a major trafficking network. Tigers, turtles, pangolins, snakes and monkeys from Africa arrived on the banks of the Mekong river in legitimate breeding farms used as a front to sell protected or poached species, he said, highlighting the “loopholes” of CITES that have failed to stop people like him flouting the law. —AFP

What have we learnt from SARS outbreak?

Odds of new outbreak multiply each year PARIS: A decade ago, a highly contagious and deadly new illness sent people worldwide scrambling to cancel flights and holidays as schools closed and sales of surgical masks spiked. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was the first “new” disease of the 21st century to jump from an animal host to humans, then easily from one person to another. It caught the world unawares and exposed health system weaknesses in an era in which people are ever more exposed to strange,

the alert and response department at the World Health Organisation (WHO) told AFP. A lack of communication was a key criticism of the handling of the 2003 outbreak, with China accused of trying to cover it up. Since then, the world has adopted International Health Regulations, said Nuttall, which bind all countries to report any severe, new disease with spread potential.

SARS also showed it is easy to overreact - millions of people were screened at airports with lit-

HONG KONG: In this file picture taken on April 27, 2003, a woman puts on a mask under a poster urging people in Hong Kong to wear them to protect against a killer outbreak of pneumonia known as SARS. —AFP new viruses lurking in hitherto undisturbed places.

The outbreak was contained within months with about 800 deaths, settling fears of a plaguelike global wipeout but also yielding important lessons for the future. “The experience from the first SARS outbreak is helping us now,” virologist John Oxford from the Queen Mary University of London told AFP. The world is currently dealing with another coronavirus like the one that caused SARS which has killed eight people since it was first detected in mid-2012.

The most important lessons cited by experts include information sharing, rapidly raising the global alert, and finding and containing the outbreak source. “We have learnt that it is important to say what we know,” Isabelle Nuttall, director of

tle or no success. Flights were cancelled as panic spread, tens of thousands of people were placed in quarantine in Asia and Canada, and hundreds of schools were closed - all measures whose usefulness are now questioned. The World Bank says these steps cost the world some $54 billion, much of it in lost tourism revenue.

In fact, simple hygiene - washing your hands and masking your cough - turned out to be a much more effective deterrent, according to Oxford. “Everyone thought it was perhaps bigger than it was,” he said of the way SARS was handled. “Today, I doubt whether there would be this restriction on travel. Another thing the SARS outbreak told us, is that to clamp down on people’s movement, it doesn’t work and it

causes a lot of trouble.”

SARS infected about 8,000 people around the world, claiming most of its victims in Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China, Canada and Singapore.

The first case was detected in China’s Guangdong province in November 2002 but information about it was not released until Feb 2003. On March 12 that year, the WHO issued a global SARS alert. By July, it declared the outbreak contained.

We may not be so lucky next time, say the experts. “Without substantially more attention and spending, the risks of a catastrophic global disease outbreak keep increasing,” warned Olga Jonas, an economic adviser who coordinates the World Bank’s response to pandemic threats. “The annual cost of robust systems for pandemic prevention in developing countries is around $3.4 billion, compared to current spending of less than $450 million. This is woefully inadequate,” she told AFP by email.

The odds of a new outbreak multiply each year as more and more globetrotters are exposed to strange new pathogens before going home to ever-more-crowded cities and towns where disease can spread quickly. “There are viruses out there somewhere, lying quiescent and every now and then they are going to pop up and cause trouble,” said Oxford. “We disturb them... because of the things we do like chopping down trees or whatever.” The corona virus that caused SARS, for example, is believed to have moved from bats, to rats to civets - once a popular delicacy in southern China.

SARS was followed by the 2009-2010 H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic, which scientists said infected more than a fifth of the world’s people and may have killed as many as 250,000 - about the yearly seasonal flu toll. Fears about its severity sparked a rush for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of vaccines, soon to be followed by recriminations about the cost of unused drugs and what some critics regarded as an unjustified scare. It seems not all of SARS’ lessons have been taken to heart.

In January, the UN food agency said the world risked a surge in outbreaks of the H5N1 “bird flu” that killed more than 300 people between 2003 and 2011, unless countries strengthen their monitoring of dangerous animal diseases. A 2012 World Bank report warned a severe pandemic on the scale of the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed about 50-100 million people, may occur once every 100 years and could cost the world $3 trillion today. “We can never be confident” of handling a new outbreak better, Nuttall said. “We can only learn the lessons from one outbreak to another. Every time we live through an outbreak we are better prepared.” —AFP

Report details flaws in US Army’s handling of PTSD SEATTLE: An Army report released Friday finds the service still has trouble diagnosing and treating soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder, despite more than doubling its number of military and civilian behavioral health workers over the past five years. Confusing paperwork, inconsistent training and guidelines, and incompatible data systems have hindered the service as it tries to deal with behavioral health issues, the report said. It’s a crucial issue: After a decade of war, soldier suicides outpace combat deaths.

Last May, the Army commissioned a task force to conduct a sweeping review of how it evaluates soldiers for mental health problems at all its facilities. The review came under pressure from Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington, who was upset to learn that hundreds of soldiers at Madigan Army Medical Center south of Seattle had had their PTSD diagnoses reversed by a forensic psychiatry team, resulting in a potential cut to their benefits and questions about whether the changes were made to save money.

About 150 of those soldiers eventually had their diagnoses restored.

“I am pleased that the Army completed this review and has vowed to make fixes over the next year, though I am disappointed it has taken more than a decade of war to get to this point,” Murray said in a statement. “Many of the 24 findings

and 47 recommendations in this report are not new. Creating a universal electronic health record, providing better rural health access, and standardizing the way diagnoses are made, for instance, have been lingering problems for far too long. Our service members and their families deserve better.”

The report noted that the Army had made strides in some areas, including cutting how long it takes soldiers to obtain a disability evaluation and publishing a guide to the process. On a conference call with reporters, Army brass emphasized that many of the report’s recommendations are already being put into effect. For example, over the past year the Army has been assigning behavioral health workers to brigade combat teams so soldiers will feel more familiar with them and more comfortable about getting help, said Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, who heads the Army’s Medical Command.

Horoho also stressed that there was no evidence that malice motivated the altered diagnoses at Madigan; rather, the changes amounted to difference of opinion, she said. The task force interviewed 750 people stationed around the globe, conducted listening sessions with 6,400 others and reviewed more than 140,000 records. The Medical Command reviewed diagnoses for all soldiers evaluated for

behavioral health problems from October 2001 until last April.

Since Sept 2001, the report found, 4.1 percent of all soldiers deployed wound up in the disability system with a behavioral health diagnosis such as PTSD or traumatic brain injury. Nationwide, the report said, 6,400 soldiers had behavioral health diagnoses “adjusted” by medical evaluation boards, with approximately equal numbers having PTSD added as a diagnosis and removed as a diagnosis.

Two locations where medical evaluation boards are held had slightly higher rates of diagnosis changes than the Army-wide average - Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Irwin in California, Horoho said.

Cases from those locations are being reviewed to ensure no soldiers were improperly affected, but part of the reason for the higher rates may be because those bases rely heavily on civilian health workers, she said.

Last year the Army - and the military as a whole - suffered the highest number of suicides ever recorded, prompting then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to declare it an epidemic. The Army had 183 suicides among active-duty soldiers, up from 167 in 2011, and the military as a whole had 350 suicides, up from 301 the year before. Among the problems the report documented was that Army bases don’t have a person on site dedicated to overseeing

behavioral health issues, despite the many problems they can cause: suicide, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and child and spouse abuse. Each installation needs someone with a view of all those programs to make recommendations to the commander, the report said.

Army Secretary John M. McHugh said in a statement that the Army will work to place behavioral health experts “at the command and installation levels to provide better consultation, guidance, coordination and recommendations to improve behavioral health care for our soldiers.”

The task force found that of the soldiers surveyed, 37 percent had never received any information about the Army’s disability evaluation system or had to seek the information out on their own. It also said it was confusing and inefficient for troops to navigate the vastly different disability systems maintained by the Army and the Veterans Administration. The Army and VA plan to have a joint disability system, by which health care providers in either organization will have access to records, by 2017. “Some changes can be made immediately,” McHugh said. “Others will require more time and coordination. Importantly, this report reviewed our systems holistically - recommending not only shortterm solutions, but longer term, systemic changes that will make care and treatment of our soldiers and family members more effective.” —AP

IIDE, Japan: In this March 1, 2013 photo, truck driver Takahiro Ishitani, accompanied by his wife Yuko, eats dinner with his son Ryusei at a rented house his family has evacuated to in Yamagata prefecture. —AP

Stress emerges as major health issue in Fukushima MINAMI-SOMA, Japan: Japan’s radiation nightmare has turned the lively home that truck driver Takahiro Ishitani once shared with his wife and three sons into a cluttered bachelor pad. A coffee mug full of cigarette butts, a towel and other odds and ends sit on a low table in the apartment’s small living room. He offers a visitor a takeout box lunch, his main source of sustenance these days. Laundry hangs inside so it won’t absorb the radiation that remains in the ground, two years after an earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns and explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, about 30 km to the south.

To escape this lonely weekday existence, the 42-year-old Ishitani drives three hours up winding roads every weekend to see his family, which has moved away because of fears that radiation could harm the children. “If it really is safe, I want them to come back,” says Ishitani, a stocky man with a small beard on the tip of his chin. “But it’s hard to know. Different people say different things, and that adds to my stress.

I don’t know whom to trust.”

Just as with Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, mental distress could be one of the biggest health issues to emerge from this disaster, experts say. While attention has focused on the potential cancer risks, they remain unclear. What is clear is that the uncertainty and the upheaval it’s caused in people’s lives is already exacting a very real and pervasive psychological toll. “It’s one of the biggest problems,” said Seiji Yasumura, a professor of public health at Fukushima Medical University.

Ishitani collapsed on the street with an ulcer nine months into the disaster. He was hospitalized for three days and still takes stomach medicine. The slightest tremor wakes him at night, and then he can’t get back to sleep as he worries about the future. Will his youngest son, 8-year-old Ryusei, ever be able to play in the woods and catch crawfish in the river as Ishitani did as a child? How long can his family continue this divided life? Will his now halfdeserted hometown of Minami-Soma even survive - or shrivel and die?

More than a decade after the 1986 Chernobyl accident, mothers of young children who were evacuated had twice the rate of post-traumatic disorders than the general population, according to Evelyn Bromet, a psychiatrist at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. A health questionnaire sent to Fukushima residents by Fukushima Medical University found that about 15 percent of 67,500 respondents indicated high levels of stress on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, a commonly used test to gauge stress, much higher than the 3 percent among the general population.

The survey results, compiled through June, the most recent available, also showed 21 percent scored high on a checklist used to screen for post-traumatic stress disorder. As Ishitani runs errands around Minami-Soma in his fourton truck, he wonders out loud whether his family should return to a place where hardly any children ride bikes anymore for fear of touching the contaminated ground. “Look around. There aren’t many kids playing outside,” he says as he points to an empty playground. “A lot of people say that 5 to 10 years down the road, this town isn’t going to survive.

When I think about that, too, I wonder if it’s right to bring my son back to a town that’s shrinking.”

Later, outside his apartment, Ishitani holds a beeping Ukrainian-made Geiger counter near the ground next to his parked minivan: 3 microsieverts per hour. A regular chest X-ray gives a dose of about 50 microsieverts. He used to check radiation levels regularly, but has stopped doing it much because “it just got to be silly.” Hardly any progress has been made in decontaminating the area, and many doubt the cleanup - hosing down walls, carting away topsoil -is effective. “I don’t care about how

much radiation I absorb,” Ishitani says. “But when I think about the impact it might have on my child, I can’t let him come back.”

Ishitani and his family fled abruptly in the middle of the night three days after the tsunami hit. A friend called to warn them that a second reactor might explode and that their lives were in danger. Terrified, they hurriedly packed a couple of bags and jumped in their car.

Ishitani drove madly into the mountains of neighboring Yamagata prefecture, figuring they would be safe there. After two months in an evacuation center, Ishitani returned to Minami-Soma to work. The rest of the family including his wife’s two older sons from a previous marriage - later moved to a house whose rent is covered by the government for three years. Many families are similarly split - fathers sticking it out with their jobs while mothers and children live in temporary shelters or government-sponsored housing. Sometimes, the stress of separation has gotten to be too much, leading to what the media has dubbed “nuclear divorces.” Ishitani says his marriage remains strong, though his wife Yuko is lonely.

His parents still live in Minami-Soma, and his 67-year-old mother, wiping away a tear, says she misses her eight grandchildren, most of whom have moved away.

All told, some 160,000 people in Fukushima prefecture remain displaced by the disaster.

Japanese authorities have sought to address the psychological strain on residents by bringing in psychiatrists and counselors to help staff mental health clinics and organize support groups at temporary housing settlements, but experts acknowledge that many psychological needs are not being met. A huge barrier is a strong cultural resistance to visiting a psychiatrist or “heart care clinics,” as counseling centers are called to reduce the stigma. That’s particularly true in the northern region of Tohoku, where people are generally stoic and private matters stay private. Ishitani and others here say such clinics are for the seriously ill, not for stress that everyone is experiencing. “No one around me ever goes to those places,” he says.

“Even if you go to them, it isn’t really going to help the situation.”

There’s little to do to relieve stress. Before the disaster, Ishitani would go out with friends on a fishing boat once a month and bring home flounder and greenling that his wife would broil to perfection. But he’s stopped doing that after authorities said the fish are contaminated. He frequently talks with friends, some of whom have moved away, but the conversations often end up becoming gripe sessions about the authorities. There’s anger at the government and the utility that owns the Fukushima plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, or TEPCO. Ishitani doesn’t know where to direct his rage. It makes him feel powerless.

He has called the utility’s head office in Tokyo numerous times to complain, but feels helpless unloading on a low-level public relations staffer who can’t take any action. “It’s the deception of the politicians, bureaucrats and TEPCO that makes me the maddest,” he says, his voice rising slightly. “The feeling is that if we just compensate people with money, that’s enough. That just drives me crazy.” His family received 500,000 yen ($5,200) per month from TEPCO as compensation until last August, he says, but he wants something different. “Rather than stay in their big offices, I’d like to see them come out and help clean up,” he says. “They are in Tokyo getting their big salaries. They aren’t living here.”

Hours later, Ishitani is much calmer as he sits with his wife and youngest son in the family’s rented house in Yamagata prefecture.

There’s two meters of snow outside, but he’s warm and content eating a supper of broiled fish and hot soup, his legs tucked under the traditional “kotatsu” table, which has a blanket and built-in heater to keep warm. It feels like home, even if it isn’t. —AP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

Sleep aids tied to hip fractures NEW YORK: Nursing home residents taking sleep aids such as Ambien are more likely to fall and fracture a hip than residents not being treated for insomnia, according to a US study. Hip fractures account for more than 320,000 hospital admissions every year in the United States and are a major source of disability among seniors. Lead author Sarah Berry, from Hebrew SeniorLife and Harvard Medical School, said that the known dangers among elderly patients of older benzodiazepine sedatives, such as Valium and Xanax, have led many doc-

tors to turn to newer medicines - but that doesn’t mean they’re any safer. “ There’s been less research on some of these newer drugs,” Berry said. The studies that have been done on the newer drugs, known as nonbenzodiazepines, show that they can impair balance, memory and driving ability, Berry said. She and her colleagues analyzed the medical records of more than 15,000 U.S. nursing home residents who suffered a hip fracture in 2007-2008. Of them, 11 percent had been prescribed a nonbenzodiazepine drug - such as

Ambien, Lunesta or Sonata - before their fracture.

Comparing patients’ medication use in the few weeks before their injur y to months earlier, the researchers - whose report appeared in JAMA Internal Medicine - calculated that taking a non-benzodiazepine was tied to a 66-percent increase in the risk of fracture. Newer users who’d been on sleep aids for fewer than two months were more than twice as likely to fracture their hip, compared to people not currently using the drugs. A Dutch study from earlier this year

found that seniors taking psychiatric drugs including hypnotics were at higher risk of falling, the cause of most hip fractures.

“As with any medicine - including those prescribed to treat sleeping disorders - physicians and patients should discuss the appropriate use, potential benefits and side effects based on information and data to date,” a representative from Sanofi, which markets Ambien, told Reuters Health in an email. “Sanofi stands behind the robust clinical data that have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of Ambien since

its approval in the U.S. in 1992, representing more than 20 years of realworld use and 22 billion nights of patient therapy worldwide,” he added.

Insomnia is common in nursing homes, and can itself lead to falls and fractures, the researchers said. Berry recommended that doctors try to treat elderly insomniacs without drugs whenever possible and keep an extra close eye on those who do need medication. “Clearly no sleeping is a problem, but if we can address it without a drug then I think it’s safer for the patient,” she said. —Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Hotel Missoni Kuwait launches BBQ Night SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

Announcements KIFF to host Blood Donation Camp and launch Blood Donors Network

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otel Missoni Kuwait presents a unique way of enjoying the upcoming spring in Kuwait. Every Wednesday, the pool terrace at Hotel

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he Kuwait India Fraternity Forum, a socio cultural organization of Indians residing in Kuwait continues its effort to increase awareness on the importance of blood donation aiming to foster lifelong blood donors with a kick-off blood donation camp and inauguration of KIFF Blood donors Network. Aims to promote “Donate Blood, Save Life”, the Mass Voluntary Blood Donation Camp will be held on Friday, 15th March 2013 at Ministry of Education for private schools Hall, Salmiya, Kuwait. The KIFF with its co-organizer Kuwait Central Blood Bank and event sponsor Noor Clinic, a first of its kind polyclinic located in Al-Ahmadi governorate which provides services dedicated to women and their family in the field of Dermatology, Dental Care & lab services are pleased to organize this event, a noble cause in aid of the Kuwait Central Blood Bank. “The Need for blood in Kuwait is increasing day by day. To meet this demand, KIFF with its co-organizers realize that, this camp is essential because the blood cannot be manufactured; it can only come as a voluntary donation by the people. As many as three people’s lives can be saved as a result of just one donation” said Shamsheer Aman, President of KIFF Karnataka Chapter. KIFF encourages young people above the age of 18 to donate blood. The organizers hope to welcome more than 200 on that day. The event is open for Blood donations from 2.00PM to 7.00PM New Indian business forum to be launched

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ntroducing a new world of business networking and commercial synergy, a world all set to open fresh contours in the emerging global economic scenario. A forum comprising of Indian businessmen and professionals will soon be launched in Kuwait to promote business and trade. The forum will primarily aim to provide an interactive platform of networking for Indian businessmen and professionals with their Kuwaiti counterparts through regular interface, meetings and even workshops. The new forum, which plans to engage with all trade and commerce bodies across India and also in Kuwait, intends to act as a unified forum for exchange of information related to current or expected business or professional opportunities in India and Kuwait.

Not merely confined to business exchanges, this forum will also enable Indian businessmen and professionals to make suggestions to the government on matters of policy matters, procedures pertaining to the business activities. The forum plans to promote Indian businesses in Kuwait by providing several opportunities between businesses, dissemination of information through seminars and interaction with local and government counterparts. In brief, the Forum intends to revolutionise and develop new business and professional relationships while consolidating existing ties.

Missoni will be open to guests to lounge, while enjoying an out of the ordinary BBQ evening! Hotel Missoni Kuwait’s BBQ nights will take place every Wednesday during

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utch Ambassador to Kuwait Nicolaas Beets visited the Najla Al-Naqqi Forum recently and spoke with guests about cultural aspects

both in Kuwait and the Netherlands as well as efforts to boost cultural cooperation between civil society institutions in both countries. The discussion also tack-

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Musical extravaganza with Dr Yesudas

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rend setter Udupi Restaurant, Kuwait proudly present “Gandharva Nadamritham”, a live classical musical extravaganza featuring the living legend & maestro Padmabooshan Award winner Dr. K.J. Yesudas with his troupe from India, on March 22 at American International School, Maidan Hawally, Kuwait.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

led the stereotypical image of Islam and Muslims in some European countries, especially in Holland and Norway where the guests said was ‘unfair’. They urged

Ambassador Beets to convey his experience in the Arab region to remove any stereotypical image about Islam among the Dutch.

Carmel School begins with a bang

MahaQuizzer Mideast results

Kuwait Irish Society presents our St Patrick’s Day celebration at Hilton Hotel, Al-Dorra Ballroom, Friday March 15, 2013. Dress Code: Black tie.

floor of the property, Hotel Missoni Kuwait’s pool terrace includes a spectacular view of the Arabian Gulf, and a large pool holding the signature Missoni stripes at its base.

Dutch Ambassador visits Najla Forum

he results of Mahaquizzer Middle East - Kuwait 2013, the written solo quiz competition presented by NITCAA, Kuwait in association with Karnataka Quiz Association, Bangalore, India held at two centers in Salmiya and Ahmadi on 1st February, 2013 have been declared. The following are declared as winners, in the competition in which 165 candidates from various walks of life participated: MahaQuizzer ME- Kuwait 2013 : Ramesh Athreya 1st Runner up: Debanjan Bhattacharya 2nd Runner up : Shakir Reshamwala. Top three positions (Female): Aheli Gupta, Dr Sabiha Bilgrami and Raghavi Viswanath. Top three positions (Students - 8th standard & above): Siddharth Dash (FAIPS), Elrich Joshua Miranda (Don Bosco) and Mohsin Mustafa (FAIPS). Top three positions (Students - up to 7th standard ): Robin Roy Cherian (FAIPS), Sanjay Samuel Mathew (GIS) and Rohan Saji John (Carmel School). Best Participating schools (Based on total score of top five participants) : (1) Fahaheel Al Watanieh Indian (Pvt) School (D PS), (2) Indian Community School, Kuwait (3) Gulf Indian School and (4) Indian English Academy School (Don Bosco). Youngest participant: Jehan Sharukh Bathena (Indian Community School, Kuwait - Junior Branch) As expressed by the participants, this was a first time experience for all quizzers in Kuwait. The prize distribution for the winners will be held on Friday, 5th April 2013 during Trishna 7, the annual quiz competition arranged by NITCAA, Kuwait for the members and families of Kuwait Engineers Forum (KEF), at Kuwait Medical Association hall, Jabriya. The organizers will contact the winners separately for the prize distribution. The complete rank list and the questions with answer keys are available at www.nitcaakuwait.org.

St Patrick Day

March and April. From 7pm till 11pm, offering a wide variety of live cooking stations, Arabic mezze’s and an assortment of International food. Located on the second

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anuary started with a bang, a spate of interschool competitions won and Annual Day programs held by various sections of the school. January 23rd and 24th saw “Matilda” by the middle school. The primary school followed suit with the 4th graders putting up “The Magic Seed” on the 9th February and the 3rd graders with “The Selfish Giant” on the 14th February. Following tradition, prayer set the precedent at Carmel with the recitation of the Holy Quran and a prayer song and dance. Much to the parents delight their little ones welcomed them and pledged their love through a Valentine special, a song “I Love You” at which point the auditorium was a radiant red hue.

To commemorate Kuwait’s National and Liberation Day, the students displayed a March Drill which evoked sentiments of patriotism. The annual day programs were graced by Dr Hassan Ali Khan, a cardiologist at Jahra hospital and Bashir Ahmed, The Principal of the Indian Public school, Kuwait respectively, who enjoyed the fun filled entertainment of skits, dances ,songs and a fashion show and praised the efforts put in by all.

At Carmel success always come through the hard work and coordination of both teachers and students. The Finale said it all, as the entire section sang “As A Team”and sent home the message “Love Conquers All”. The annual day programs were truly a feast to the eye for every parent as over 450 children displayed their talent through vibrant dances, melodious songs, well delivered dialogues, skilled drills and of course, colorful costumes. Team Spirit- what a wonderful way to bring down the curtain on the academic year2012-2013.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Al Mulla Exchange launches ‘Remit Tronics’ promotion

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l Mulla International Exchange, the premier exchange company in Kuwait, is running a mega promotion titled ‘Remit Tronics’ for all their customers from 11 February to 6 May, 2013. The nearly three-month long promotion will pick 14 winners at the end of each week from all transactions done at any branch of Al Mulla Exchange during the previous seven days. With more than 155 electronic items to be won, lucky participants in the promotion could win fabulous prizes each week, including cash prize of KD 400, Samsung Tabs, Samsung LCD televisions and Samsung mobile phones.

Now customers have yet another reason to remit their money through Al Mulla Exchange which offers, free insurance and loyalty points on every transaction, as well as SMS confirmation on delivery of remittances. Besides making money transfer a quick, safe and relaxed experience for customers, Kuwait’s premier exchange also offers the facility to send money from the comfort of one’s home or office through their online service at www.amxremit.com Since its inception in 2001, Al Mulla Exchange has revolutionized the exchange industry in Kuwait by continuously offering innovative, customer-centric remittance solutions. Today, Al Mulla Exchange is the leading exchange of choice for customers looking for trust, reliability and speed in their money remittance operations.

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-imenquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday. nnnnnnn

KNES, KSPATH beach clean up

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s a follow-up to a presentation by KSPATH on Recycling and our quest of ‘Going Green’, pupils from KNES joined volunteers from

KSPATH at Sulaibhikat Beach on Friday, 15th February 2013, in order to clean-up the beach. The children really enjoyed the day and got stuck in to the job using

a variety of tools to help them. They raked, dug and sieved all of the collected rubbish into numerous refuse sacks ready to be taken away. The children

and staff had a great time and managed to clean a large area of the beach so that the native wildlife and plant life can grow and flourish.

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on shortstay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes.

Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database.

Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, firsttime applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com. nnnnnnn

SMCA launches organ donation campaign

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yro Malabar Cultural Association, Kuwait (SMCA) has launched a campaign for organ donation among the members. The campaign is being held with the co-operation of Kuwait Transplant Society and Kidney Federation of India. The campaign was officially inaugurated by Dr Mustafa Al-Mousawi, Vice President of Kuwait Transplant Society in a function held at St Alphonsa Auditorium, Abbasiya. The primary aim of

the campaign is to have public awareness in favor of cadaver organ donation.

As part of this campaign, brochures will be distributed and awareness classes will be conducted among the SMCA members. In the final stage of the campaign, the organ donation willingness forms will be collected from those who are willing to donate their organs in case of a brain death / normal death. These forms will be handed over to the respec-

IKFS honors Samer Mater, CEO, Plaza Athenee Hotel

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ndo-Kuwait Friendship Society handed over a memento to Samer Mater, Chief Executive Officer of Plaza Athenee Hotel. IKFS President Dr Ghalib AlMashoor delivered the award as a “Token of Appreciation” for co-sponsoring the recently held ‘IKFS 1st Economic seminar” under the title “Eradicating poverty in India and role of NRIs”. IKFS executives thanked Samer Mater for their support to conclude the event as a grand success.

tive agencies like Kuwait Transplant Society and Kidney Federation of India.

Fr. Davis Chiramel, Chairman of Kidney Federation of India is the Advisor for this campaign.

In the second stage, this campaign will be extended to the whole Indian community in Kuwait with the co-operation of all Indian Associations. Archbishop of Faridabad Diocese His Grace Mar Kuriakose Bharanikulangara, Vicar General

of Kuwait Catholic Diocese Rev Fr Mathews Kunnelpurayidom, Vicar of St Daniel Comboni Parish Abbasiya Fr. Mathai Madathikunnel, SMCA President Thomas Kuruvila, General Secretary Thomas Lonappan, Treasurer Johny Tharappil, Baladeepthi President Anna Anil Thayil, Area General Conveners Shajimon Mankuzhikary, Sogy Peter, George Thekkel and Saju Sebastian also spoke in the inaugural function.

Embassy of Mexico The Embassy of Mexico presents its compliments and has the pleasure to announce the opening of the Consular Section in the Embassy and that the Embassy has already proceeded on the procudures for issuing entry visas to Mexico from 2nd January 2013. The Embassy of Mexico has further the honor to inform that the working hours of the Consular Section is from 09:00 - 12:00 hours. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF TURKEY The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey announces that a new classes of Turkish language for beginners will start at the Embassy’s Tourism, Culture and Information Office on 17 February 2013. The lessons will be two times in a week for six weeks, for further details and registration please contact. Or fill the application form on http://kuveyt.bemfa.gov.tr and send it to the email: embassy.Kuwait@mfa.gov.tr

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Into The Pride 01:35 Untamed & Uncut 02:25 Wildest Islands 03:15 My Cat From Hell 04:05 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 04:30 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 04:55 Animal Cops Houston 05:45 Wildest Islands 06:35 The Really Wild Show 07:00 Cats Of Claw Hill 07:25 Cats Of Claw Hill 07:50 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Breed All About It 09:35 Wild France 10:30 Mutant Planet 11:25 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 12:20 The Really Wild Show 12:50 Wild France 13:45 Wild France 14:40 Wildlife SOS 15:35 World Wild Vet 16:30 Ray Mears’ Wild Britain 17:25 My Cat From Hell 18:20 Animal Crackers 18:45 Animal Crackers 19:15 Cats Of Claw Hill 19:40 Cats Of Claw Hill 20:10 Into The Pride 21:05 Wildest Islands 22:00 Mutant Planet 22:55 Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 01:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 01:55 Homes Under The Hammer 02:50 Homes Under The Hammer 03:40 Homes Under The Hammer 04:35 Rick Stein’s Spain 05:30 New Scandinavian Cooking 05:55 The Hairy Bikers USA 06:20 The Hairy Bikers USA 06:50 Bargain Hunt 07:35 MasterChef 08:00 Bargain Hunt 08:45 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 10:15 MasterChef 11:10 MasterChef 12:05 MasterChef 12:30 Rick Stein’s Spain 13:25 New Scandinavian Cooking 13:50 The Hairy Bikers USA 14:15 The Hairy Bikers USA 14:40 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 16:10 Come Dine With Me: South Africa 17:00 Antiques Roadshow 17:55 Bargain Hunt 18:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 19:20 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 20:00 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 21:35 Gok’s Fashion Fix 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:10 Bargain Hunt 23:55 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

00:20 Yogi’s Treasure Hunt 00:45 Duck Dodgers 01:10 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries 01:35 Dastardly And Muttley 02:00 Popeye 02:25 Wacky Races 02:50 Scooby Doo Where Are You! 03:15 The Flintstones 03:40 The Jetsons 04:00 What’s New Scooby-Doo? 04:20 Taz-Mania 04:45 The Looney Tunes Show 05:10 Tom & Jerry Tales 05:35 Johnny Bravo

06:00 Bananas In Pyjamas 06:25 Jelly Jamm 07:00 Ha Ha Hairies 07:20 Baby Looney Tunes 07:45 Cartoonito Tales 08:10 Gerald McBoing Boing 08:35 Lazy Town 09:00 Krypto The Superdog 09:25 Bananas In Pyjamas 09:40 Cartoonito Tales 09:55 Ha Ha Hairies 10:10 Jelly Jamm 10:25 Gerald McBoing Boing 10:45 Lazy Town 11:05 Krypto The Superdog 11:30 Baby Looney Tunes 11:55 Ha Ha Hairies 12:20 Jelly Jamm 12:45 Gerald McBoing Boing 13:10 Lazy Town 13:35 Krypto The Superdog 14:00 Tiny Toons 14:50 Pink Panther And Pals 15:15 Pink Panther And Pals 15:40 Tom And Jerry Tales 16:30 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo 17:20 Johnny Bravo 18:10 Dexter’s Laboratory 19:00 Looney Tunes 19:30 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries 19:55 Taz-Mania 20:20 The Looney Tunes Show 20:45 Tom & Jerry 21:00 The Garfield Show 21:25 Pink Panther And Pals 21:50 What’s New Scooby-Doo? 22:15 Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries 22:40 Puppy In My Pocket 23:05 The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop 23:30 The Addams Family 23:55 Droopy: Master Detective

00:00 World Report 00:30 News Special 01:00 Living Golf 01:30 World Sport 02:00 World Report 02:30 Talk Asia 03:00 World Report 03:30 Amanpour 04:00 CNN Marketplace Europe 04:15 CNN Marketplace Africa 04:30 The Brief 05:00 CNN Presents 06:00 CNN Newsroom 07:00 Eco Solutions 07:30 Inside Africa 08:00 World Sport 08:30 Cnngo 09:00 World Report 09:15 CNN Marketplace Middle East 09:30 Talk Asia 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Mainsail 11:00 African Voices 11:30 The Brief 12:00 World Report 12:30 News Special 13:00 CNN Presents 14:00 Fareed Zakaria GPS 15:00 World Report 15:30 Inside The Middle East 16:00 State Of The Union 17:00 International Desk 17:30 Backstory 18:00 Global Exchange 18:15 CNN Marketplace Africa 18:30 Global Exchange 18:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 19:00 World Sport 19:30 Living Golf 20:00 International Desk 20:30 African Voices 21:00 International Desk 21:30 Cnngo 22:00 Fareed Zakaria GPS 23:00 World Report 23:30 World Sport

00:15 Auction Kings 00:40 Auction Kings 01:10 Auction Kings 01:35 Auction Kings 02:05 Factory Line 02:30 How It’s Made 03:00 Factory Line

03:25 How It’s Made 03:55 Factory Line 04:20 How It’s Made 04:50 Factory Line 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 Factory Line 06:05 How It’s Made 06:30 Factory Line 07:00 Fast N’ Loud 07:50 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 08:45 American Chopper 09:40 Gold Rush 10:30 Gold Divers 11:25 Around The World In 80 Ways 12:20 How It’s Made 12:45 How It’s Made 13:15 How It’s Made 13:40 How It’s Made 14:10 How It’s Made 14:35 Auction Hunters 15:05 Auction Hunters 15:30 Auction Hunters 16:00 Auction Hunters 16:25 Auction Hunters 16:55 Border Security 17:20 Border Security 17:50 Border Security 18:15 Border Security 18:45 Border Security 19:10 Mythbusters 20:05 Superhuman Showdown 21:00 James May’s Man Lab 21:55 Curiosity 22:50 Inside The Gangsters’ Code 23:45 Wheeler Dealers

00:40 Investigation X 01:35 Finding Bigfoot 02:25 Dark Matters: Twisted But True 03:15 Bang Goes The Theory 03:45 Finding Bigfoot 04:35 The X-Testers 05:00 The X-Testers 05:25 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 06:20 Bermuda Triangle Exposed 07:10 Weird Or What?

08:00 Meteorite Men 08:50 Stunt Junkies 09:15 Stunt Junkies 09:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 10:30 Things That Move 10:55 Things That Move 11:25 Da Vinci’s Machines 12:15 Tech Toys 360 12:40 Tech Toys 360 13:10 Food Factory 13:35 Food Factory 14:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:50 Bang Goes The Theory 15:20 Da Vinci’s Machines 16:10 Weird Or What?

17:00 Tech Toys 360 17:25 Tech Toys 360 17:55 Superships 18:45 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 19:35 Da Vinci’s Machines 20:30 Meteorite Men 21:20 Finding Bigfoot 22:10 Tech Toys 360 22:35 Tech Toys 360 23:00 Meteorite Men 23:50 Dark Matters: Twisted But True

00:10 Stitch 00:35 A Kind Of Magic 01:00 A Kind Of Magic 01:25 Replacements 01:50 Replacements 02:15 Emperor’s New School 02:40 Emperor’s New School 03:05 A Kind Of Magic 03:30 A Kind Of Magic 03:55 Replacements 04:20 Replacements 04:45 Emperor’s New School 05:10 Emperor’s New School 05:35 A Kind Of Magic 06:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 06:25 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 06:40 Suite Life On Deck 07:05 A.N.T Farm

ROBOCOP 2 ON OSN ACTION HD

07:30 Wizards Of Waverly Place 07:55 Fish Hooks 08:05 Fish Hooks 08:20 That’s So Raven 08:45 Good Luck Charlie 09:10 Shake It Up 09:35 Jessie 10:00 Austin And Ally 10:25 A.N.T Farm 10:50 Gravity Falls 11:15 Gotta Kick It Up 12:40 Fish Hooks 12:55 Wizards Of Waverly Place 13:20 Suite Life On Deck 13:45 Good Luck Charlie 14:10 Jessie 14:35 Jessie 15:00 Gravity Falls 15:25 Gravity Falls 15:50 Good Luck Charlie 16:15 Good Luck Charlie 16:40 Shake It Up 17:00 Hatching Pete 18:25 Gravity Falls 18:45 Good Luck Charlie 19:10 Wizards Of Waverly Place 19:35 Shake It Up 20:00 Austin And Ally 20:25 My Babysitter’s A Vampire 20:50 A.N.T Farm 21:15 Jessie 21:40 Jessie 22:05 Good Luck Charlie 22:30 Good Luck Charlie 22:55 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 23:20 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 23:45 Stitch

00:20 Little Einsteins 00:50 Special Agent Oso 01:05 Special Agent Oso 01:15 Lazytown 01:40 Jungle Junction 01:55 Jungle Junction 02:10 Handy Manny 02:20 Handy Manny 02:30 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Special Agent Oso 03:40 Special Agent Oso 03:50 Imagination Movers 04:20 Handy Manny 04:30 Handy Manny 04:40 Special Agent Oso 04:50 Special Agent Oso 05:00 Timmy Time 05:10 Lazytown 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 06:50 Special Agent Oso 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Jungle Junction 08:30 Little Einsteins 08:55 Lazytown 09:20 Imagination Movers 09:45 Timmy Time 09:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 10:20 The Hive 10:30 Doc McStuffins 10:45 Zou 11:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 11:15 Toy Story Toons 11:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 11:45 Doc McStuffins 12:00 Handy Manny 12:10 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 12:25 Mouk 12:35 Lilo And Stitch 13:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 13:10 Timmy Time 13:20 The Hive 13:30 Doc McStuffins 13:45 Doc McStuffins 14:00 Zou 14:15 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 14:30 Mouk 14:45 Lilo And Stitch 15:15 Cars Toons 15:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 15:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 16:05 The Hive 16:20 Mouk 16:35 Zou 16:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:20 Doc McStuffins 17:35 Doc McStuffins 17:45 Art Attack 18:10 Lazytown 18:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:05 Mouk 19:20 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:00 Animated Stories 20:05 Timmy Time 20:15 Pajanimals 20:25 Doc McStuffins 20:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:10 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 21:20 The Hive 21:30 Pajanimals 21:45 Handy Manny 21:55 Handy Manny 22:10 Handy Manny 22:20 Handy Manny 22:35 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 23:00 Timmy Time 23:10 Animated Stories 23:15 A Poem Is...

23:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 23:30 Jungle Junction 23:45 Handy Manny 23:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

00:00 Scouted 00:55 Style Star 01:25 THS 03:15 E! Investigates 04:10 E!es 05:05 Extreme Close-Up 05:30 Extreme Close-Up 06:00 THS 07:50 Style Star 08:20 E! News 09:15 Extreme Close-Up 09:45 Extreme Close-Up 10:15 E!es 11:10 Opening Act 12:05 E! News 13:05 Married To Jonas

13:35 Married To Jonas 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 16:00 E!es 16:30 Fashion Police: The 2013 Academy Awards 18:00 E! News 19:00 Married To Jonas 19:30 Giuliana & Bill 20:30 Giuliana & Bill 21:30 Ice Loves Coco 22:00 Ice Loves Coco 22:30 Opening Act 23:30 Opening Act

00:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:30 Heat Seekers 01:55 Outrageous Food 02:20 Unwrapped 02:45 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:10 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:25 Unique Eats 04:50 Food Crafters 05:15 Charly’s Cake Angels 05:40 Chopped 06:30 Iron Chef America 07:10 Unwrapped 07:35 Unwrapped 08:00 Everyday Italian 08:25 Everyday Italian 08:50 Everyday Italian 09:15 Everyday Italian 09:40 Mexican Made Easy 10:05 Mexican Made Easy 10:30 Mexican Made Easy 10:55 Mexican Made Easy 11:20 Unwrapped 11:45 Unwrapped 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 Unwrapped 13:00 Iron Chef America 13:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 15:05 Kid In A Candy Store 15:30 Kid In A Candy Store 15:55 Kid In A Candy Store 16:20 Kid In A Candy Store 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Charly’s Cake Angels 18:00 Charly’s Cake Angels 18:25 Charly’s Cake Angels 18:50 Charly’s Cake Angels 19:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 20:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 20:30 Chopped 21:20 Chopped 22:10 Iron Chef America 23:00 Iron Chef America 23:50 Iron Chef America

00:15 I Was Murdered 00:40 On The Case With Paula Zahn 01:30 A Haunting 02:20 Dr G: Medical Examiner 03:05 Deadly Affairs 03:55 I Was Murdered 04:20 I Was Murdered 04:45 On The Case With Paula Zahn 05:30 A Haunting 06:20 Dr G: Medical Examiner 07:10 Disappeared 08:00 Mystery Diagnosis 08:50 Street Patrol 09:15 Street Patrol 09:40 Real Emergency Calls 10:05 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

10:30 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 11:20 Murder Shift 12:10 Disappeared 13:00 Mystery Diagnosis 13:50 Street Patrol 14:15 Street Patrol 14:40 Forensic Detectives 15:30 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 16:20 Real Emergency Calls 16:45 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

17:10 Disappeared 18:00 Murder Shift 18:50 Forensic Detectives 19:40 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 20:30 Disappeared 21:20 Nightmare Next Door 22:10 Couples Who Kill 23:00 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

23:25 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

23:50 Couples Who Kill

00:45 Maverick Chef 01:10 Into The Drink 01:40 Into The Drink 02:05 Into The Drink 02:35 Somewhere In China 03:30 Kimchi Chronicles 03:55 Kimchi Chronicles 04:25 One Man & His Campervan 04:50 Street Food Around The World 05:20 Living With The Amish 06:15 Bondi Rescue 06:40 Bondi Rescue 07:10 Don’t Tell My Mother 08:05 Travel Madness 08:30 Travel Madness 09:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy 09:55 By Any Means 10:50 Maverick Chef 11:15 Maverick Chef 11:45 Into The Drink 12:10 Into The Drink 12:40 Somewhere In China 13:35 Kimchi Chronicles 14:00 Kimchi Chronicles 14:30 One Man & His Campervan 14:55 Street Food Around The World 15:25 Cruise Ship Diaries 15:50 Destination Extreme 16:20 Travel Madness 16:45 Travel Madness 17:15 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy 18:10 By Any Means 19:05 Living With The Amish 20:00 Bondi Rescue 20:30 Bondi Rescue 21:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 22:00 Ultimate Traveller 22:55 One Man & His Campervan 23:20 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 1 23:50 David Rocco’s Amalfi Getaway

THE VOW ON OSN CINEMA

01:00 RoboCop 2-PG15 03:30 Battle: Los Angeles-PG15 06:00 Goal!-PG15 08:00 Warbirds-PG15 10:00 Season Of The Witch-PG15 12:00 Killer Mountain-PG15 14:00 Warbirds-PG15 16:00 True Justice: BrotherhoodPG15 18:00 Killer Mountain-PG15 20:00 RoboCop 3-PG15 22:00 Jackass 3.5-R

01:00 The Tourist-PG15 03:00 The Proud Family Movie-FAM 05:00 Lord Of The Dance-PG 07:00 The Marc Pease ExperiencePG15 09:00 The Tourist-PG15 11:00 The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice-PG15 13:00 What’s Wrong With VirginiaPG15 15:00 Certain Prey-PG15 17:00 The Vow-PG15 19:00 Cowboys & Aliens-PG15 21:00 Horrible Bosses-18 23:00 Like Crazy-PG15

01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 Family Guy 03:00 Parks And Recreation 03:30 Happy Endings 04:00 Gary Unmarried 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Hope & Faith 06:00 10 Items Or Less 06:30 Less Than Perfect 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Gary Unmarried 08:30 Modern Family 09:00 Parks And Recreation 09:30 The Neighbors 10:30 Last Man Standing 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 10 Items Or Less 12:30 Gary Unmarried 13:00 Hope & Faith 13:30 Less Than Perfect 14:00 Happy Endings 15:00 The Neighbors 16:30 10 Items Or Less 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 The Simpsons 18:30 Raising Hope 19:00 Two And A Half Men 19:30 Napoleon Dynamite 20:00 The Cleveland Show 20:30 Breaking In 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:00 Family Guy 23:30 The Cleveland Show

00:00 Royal Pains 01:00 Sons Of Anarchy 02:00 The Mob Doctor 06:00 Royal Pains 07:00 Emmerdale 07:30 Coronation Street 08:00 Perception 12:00 Emmerdale 12:30 Coronation Street 14:00 Perception 15:00 Bones 16:00 Emmerdale 16:30 Coronation Street 18:00 Perception 19:00 Top Gear (UK) 20:00 Eureka 21:00 Grimm 22:00 Scandal 23:00 Boardwalk Empire

01:00 RoboCop 2 03:30 Battle: Los Angeles 06:00 Goal!

08:00 Warbirds 10:00 Season Of The Witch 12:00 Killer Mountain 14:00 Warbirds 16:00 True Justice: Brotherhood 18:00 Killer Mountain 20:00 RoboCop 3 22:00 Jackass 3.5

00:00 MacGruber-18 02:00 Tamara Drewe-18 04:00 Beware The Gonzo-PG15 06:00 Sleepless In Seattle-PG 08:00 Little Fockers-PG15 10:00 The Search For Santa Paws-PG 12:00 Beware The Gonzo-PG15 14:00 Robots-PG 16:00 The Search For Santa Paws-PG 18:00 House Arrest-FAM 20:00 Paul-PG15 22:00 MacGruber-18

01:00 Dragonfly-PG15 03:00 The Presidio-PG15 05:00 The Adjustment Bureau-PG15 07:00 Honey 2-PG15 09:00 TT3D: Closer To The EdgePG15 11:00 The Evening Star-PG15 13:15 Boy-PG15 15:00 TT3D: Closer To The EdgePG15 17:00 Elevator Girl-PG15 19:00 The Weather Man-18 21:00 John Rabe-18

00:00 Prime Mover-PG15 01:45 Red Riding Hood-PG15 03:30 Rio-FAM 05:15 Crisis Point-PG15 07:15 Oceans-FAM 09:00 Alpha And Omega-PG 11:00 On Strike For Christmas-PG 12:45 Teen Spirit-PG15 14:30 The Help-PG15 17:00 Alpha And Omega-PG 19:00 Chronicle-PG15 21:00 Footloose-PG15 23:00 The Samaritan-18

01:00 Hey Arnold! The Movie 02:45 The Fairy Tale Tree 04:30 A Fairy Tale Christmas 06:00 Maroons 08:00 Wheelers 10:00 Horrid Henry 11:30 Rebound 13:00 Maroons 14:30 Happy Feet Two 16:15 Teo: The Intergalactic Hunter 18:00 Horrid Henry 20:00 Twigson 22:00 Maroons 23:30 Teo: The Intergalactic Hunter

00:00 MSNBC News 02:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 02:30 Live NBC Nightly News (SatSun) OSN PREMIERE 00:00 Monsters-PG15 02:00 Hugo-PG 04:15 Jetsons: The Movie-FAM 06:00 Tower Heist-PG15 08:00 A Monster In Paris-PG 09:45 War Horse-PG15 12:15 Hugo-PG 14:30 The Borrowers-PG 16:15 A Monster In Paris-PG 18:00 The Beaver-PG15 20:00 Battleship-PG15 22:15 Held Up (2010)-18

00:30 Live Cricket Test Match 08:30 Futbol Mundial 09:00 Super League 10:30 Live NRL Premiership 12:30 Dubai World Cup Carnival 16:30 Super Rugby 18:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 19:00 Inside The PGA Tour 19:30 Premier League Darts 23:00 Anglo Welsh Cup

01:00 Super League 02:30 Dubai World Cup Carnival 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Live NRL Premiership 09:00 European Tour Weekly 09:30 Trans World Sport

10:30 Super Rugby 12:30 NRL Premiership 14:00 Anglo Welsh Cup 16:00 Live Anglo Welsh Cup 18:00 Inside The PGA Tour 18:30 Futbol Mundial 19:00 NHL 21:00 NRL Premiership 22:30 NRL Premiership

01:00 Trans World Sport 02:00 ICC Cricket 360 02:30 Total Rugby 03:00 NRL Premiership 04:30 NRL Premiership 06:00 Live NRL Premiership 08:00 Dubai World Cup Carnival 12:00 Total Rugby 12:30 Premier League Darts 16:00 Trans World Sport 17:00 NRL Premiership 18:30 NRL Premiership 20:00 Trans World Sport 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 22:00 Inside the PGA Tour 22:30 Dubai World Cup Carnival

00:00 WWE Vintage Collection 01:00 NHL 03:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 04:00 US Bass Fishing 05:00 NHL 07:00 WWE Bottom Line 08:00 WWE NXT 09:00 WWE Experience 10:00 WWE This Week 10:30 Mobil 1 the Grid 11:00 NHL 13:00 Prizefighter 16:00 WWE SmackDown 18:00 WWE Bottom Line 19:00 WWE Vintage Collection 20:00 WWE Experience 21:00 NHL 23:00 WWE Bottom Line

00:25 The Great Lie-U 02:15 Hotel Paradiso-PG 03:55 An American In Paris-FAM 05:45 Bachelor In Paradise-PG 08:00 Roberta-FAM 09:45 Adam’s Rib-FAM 11:25 Gone With The Wind-PG 15:00 Anna Karenina-PG 16:35 The Clock-FAM 18:00 San Antonio-PG 19:50 The Golden Arrow-FAM 21:00 The Yellow Rolls-Royce-PG 23:00 Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde-PG

00:00 Pawn Stars 00:30 Cajun Pawn Stars 01:00 WWII: Secret Army 02:00 Storage Wars 02:30 Storage Wars 03:00 Storage Wars 04:00 Pawn Stars 04:30 Pawn Stars 05:00 Pawn Stars 06:00 American Restoration 06:30 American Restoration 07:00 American Restoration 08:00 Pawn Stars 08:30 Pawn Stars 09:00 Pawn Stars 10:00 Storage Wars 10:30 Storage Wars Texas 11:00 American Restoration 11:30 American Restoration 13:00 Pawn Stars 13:30 Cajun Pawn Stars 14:00 American Pickers 15:00 Ancient Aliens 16:00 WWII: Secret Army 17:00 Storage Wars 17:30 Storage Wars Texas 18:00 Pawn Stars 18:30 Cajun Pawn Stars 19:00 Storage Wars 19:30 Storage Wars Texas 20:00 Pawn Stars 20:30 Cajun Pawn Stars 21:00 Hitler’s Island Madness 22:00 Ancient Aliens 23:00 Mountain Men

Classifieds SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-2 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-3 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MR. PELLIKODUKKU (DIG) (TELUGU) PARKER (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MUHALAB-2 MAMA (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) MUHALAB-3 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) FANAR-1 PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

10:30 PM 12:30 AM

FANAR-3 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-1 MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG)

1:30 PM 1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED MARINA-3 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) AVENUES-1 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-2 BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:30 PM

1:45 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:00 PM 11:45 PM

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

FANAR-2 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) MAMA (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG)

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (28/02/2013 TO 06/03/2013)

2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-3 VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 1 SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM

SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

10:45 PM 1:00 AM

360º- 2 MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG) MAMA (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

360º- 3 FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (DIG) BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

AL-KOUT.1 PARKER (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) PARKER (DIG) APARTMENT 1303 (DIG-3D) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.2 A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.3 SNITCH (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-1 BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (DIG) 3ALA GOSETY (DIG) MAMA (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:30 PM

BAIRAQ-2 SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) SNITCH (DIG) VEHICLE 19 (DIG) BAIRAQ-3 PARKER (DIG) FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (DIG) PARKER (DIG) MAMA (DIG) PARKER (DIG) PARKER (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

FOR SALE

CHANGE OF NAME

Maxima car model 2000, navy blue for sale, single hand driven, ver y good condition, all new tires, owner leaving Kuwait, registration up to Dec., 2013.

Serious buyers contact 66772656, Khaitan.

(C 4339) 6-3-2013

I, Mrs. Annie Cristine Kuriakose, holder of Passport No. F5417121 have changed my name to Mrs. Annie Cristine Pinto.

(C 4336) 9-3-2013

Mitsubishi Galant 2009, black color (4 clr) excellent condition, 33000 km, KD 2,250/-. Contact: 66729295.

(C 4334) Lancer - car for sale 2010 model, GLX, 1600 cc, beige color, 4 cylinder, engine, gear, chassis ver y good condition, interior & exterior neat and clean, 105,000 km run, price KD 2,200/-.

Broker excuse. Contact: 99072651.

I, Ayub Khan Abdul Shakur Khan, holder of Passport No. E5265742, issued at Pune, have changed my name to Ayub Shakoor Khan for all purposes.

(C 4341) 7-3-2013 I, Posina Lakshmi Prasanna D/o Posina Venkata Ratnam holder of Indian Passport No. H5961214 converted to the Islam do hereby change my name to P. Zareena Begum. (C 4338)

Prayer timings Fajr:

04:45

Shorook

06:04

Duhr:

11:58

Asr:

15:20

Maghrib:

17:53

Isha:

19:10

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JAI THY JZR JZR QTR RJA ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR QTR KAC CLX DHX THY JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD GFA IRA IRC JZR MEA MSR SYR UAE KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KNE SVA QTR

Arrival Flights on Sunday 10/3/2013 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 772 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 148 DOHA 642 AMMAN 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 544 CAIRO 792 LUXEMBOURG 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 555 ALEXANDRIA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 382 DELHI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 855 DUBAI 121 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 603 SHIRAZ 6666 AHWAZ 165 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 610 CAIRO 341 DAMASCUS 871 DUBAI 284 DHAKA 742 DAMMAM 774 RIYADH 57 DUBAI 672 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 500 JEDDAH 140 DOHA

Time 00:05 00:35 00:45 00:50 01:00 01:10 01:45 01:50 02:35 02:45 03:05 03:10 03:45 04:20 04:55 05:15 05:30 06:00 06:40 06:45 07:40 07:45 07:45 07:55 08:15 08:25 08:40 09:05 09:10 09:15 09:20 09:55 10:40 11:10 11:45 11:55 12:45 12:50 12:50 12:55 12:55 13:30 13:50 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:35

JZR QTR JZR UAE ETD RJA GFA SVA JZR QTR ABY UAL KAC JZR RBG KAC FDB AFG KAC KAC KAC KAC OMA KAC FDB JAI AXB MSR ABY QTR ALK MEA QTR GFA ETD UAE KAC JZR DHX FDB KAC KLM AIC JZR GFA KAC JZR UAL DLH

561 134 787 857 303 640 215 510 777 144 127 982 542 177 3553 786 63 415 166 618 102 674 647 562 61 572 393 606 129 146 229 402 136 221 307 859 172 135 372 59 514 417 981 239 217 502 185 981 636

SOHAG DOHA RIYADH DUBAI ABU DHABI AMMAN BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH DOHA SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH DUBAI KABUL PARIS DOHA NEW YORK DUBAI MUSCAT AMMAN DUBAI MUMBAI KOZHIKODE LUXOR SHARJAH DOHA COLOMBO BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI FRANKFURT BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI TEHRAN AMSTERDAM CHENNAI AMMAN BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT

14:50 15:30 16:10 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:45 17:50 17:55 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:45 19:00 19:10 19:20 19:35 19:35 19:55 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:45 21:50 22:00 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:30 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:55

Airlines AIC KAC KAC AXB DHX UAL BBC JAI DLH ETH THY FDB UAE ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR GFA RJA THY CLX JZR FDB BAW KAC KAC ABY UAE KAC FDB KAC ETD KAC QTR GFA KAC IRA IRC JZR KAC MEA JZR KAC MSR SYR JZR UAE FDB

Departure Flights on Sunday 10/3/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 283 DHAKA 283 DHAKA 390 MANGALORE 371 BAHRAIN 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 44 CHITTAGONG 573 MUMBAI 637 FRANKFURT 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 643 AMMAN 771 ISTANBUL 792 GIALAM 560 SOHAG 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 171 FRANKFURT 671 DUBAI 122 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 741 DAMMAM 56 DUBAI 117 NEW YORK 302 ABU DHABI 773 RIYADH 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 602 SHIRAZ 6667 AHWAZ 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 405 BEIRUT 786 RIYADH 785 JEDDAH 611 CAIRO 342 LATAKIA 176 DUBAI 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI

Time 00:05 00:10 00:10 00:15 00:40 00:55 01:00 01:05 01:20 02:45 02:55 03:45 03:50 04:00 04:10 04:50 06:05 06:55 07:00 07:05 07:35 08:15 08:15 08:25 08:45 09:10 09:35 09:45 09:55 09:55 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:05 10:10 10:40 11:30 11:40 12:10 12:15 12:20 12:55 12:55 13:00 13:45 13:50 13:50 14:15 14:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC KAC KNE SVA KAC QTR KAC JZR ETD JZR KAC QTR UAE RJA GFA JZR SVA ABY JZR QTR RBG JZR UAL FDB AFG FDB OMA JAI AXB ABY MSR DHX ALK MEA ETD QTR GFA KAC FDB UAE KAC DHX KAC KLM QTR KAC JZR GFA KAC KAC

561 673 473 503 617 141 501 238 304 538 513 135 858 641 216 184 511 128 266 145 3554 134 982 64 415 62 648 571 394 120 619 171 230 403 308 137 222 301 60 860 351 373 205 417 147 343 502 218 411 415

AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH MADINAH DOHA DOHA BEIRUT AMMAN ABU DHABI CAIRO IMAM KHOMEINI DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI RIYADH SHARJAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI JEDDAH DUBAI MUSCAT MUMBAI KOZHIKODE SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI DUBAI KOCHI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DAMMAM DOHA CHENNAI LUXOR BAHRAIN BANGKOK KUALA LUMPUR

14:30 15:05 15:10 15:45 15:45 16:15 17:05 17:15 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:15 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 20:00 20:40 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:50 21:55 22:20 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:15 23:35 23:50 23:55 23:55

34

stars CROSSWORD 124

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) Exploring new ways of expressing your feelings can open up new approaches to personal communication and introduce fresh ways to establish intimacy.

You don’t have to push things to the limit to get noticed, Just a touch of the unusual or unique in your responses will turn heads sufficiently to get a second look. A significant personal encounter or confrontation can happen today. You cannot, and probably will not want to, be alone now with the energy that surrounds you at this time. Reach out to people and to get others’ input or counsel if you aren’t really sure of how to deal with a situation.

Listen to your partner or a friend who can give you an objective view point on the issue.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) It can be easy to get worried about health matters now, but moderation is the right response. The temptation to throw yourself into a new regimen may run high, but choose your new path well before you embark or you’ll lose the motivation in a short time. The same goes for cleaning house in the workplace and starting off on a fresh footing. Make sure you’re not demanding too much of yourself in the long run. Anything you try to formalize today won’t stay that way, so it’s a better day for imagination than trying to pin anyone down for an answer. Fantasy is favored as this keeps you able to both dream and manifest what you want without being rejected today. Keep in mind that today is only a 24 hour period, and tomorrow will be here soon enough.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

5. A passage selected from a larger work.

12. (computer science) The rate at which data is transferred (as by a modem).

15. An emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight).

16. A military unit that is a subdivision of a company.

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

18. The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.

20. The act of hitting a baseball lightly without swinging the bat.

22. Similar to the giraffe but smaller with much shorter neck and stripe on the legs.

25. Of or relating to or resembling the eye.

27. A mountain peak in the Andes in Bolivia (21,391 feet high).

30. A Russian river.

32. The basic unit of money in Thailand.

33. Of female homosexuality.

37. Large American feline resembling a lion.

39. Violent and needless disturbance.

41. Leafless East Indian vine.

42. A hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair.

44. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

46. Administration of a nutritionally adequate solution through a catheter into the vena cava.

47. One of the most common of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.

48. A ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element.

50. A long Turkish knife with a curved blade having a single edge.

53. Evoke or call forth, with or as if by magic.

56. Presence of abnormally large amounts of uric acid in the urine.

57. A milk substitute containing soybean flour and water.

59. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

60. A rare heavy polyvalent metallic element that resembles manganese chemically and is used in some alloys.

61. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

64. Personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task.

68. The table in Christian churches where communion is given.

70. A short labored intake of breath with the mouth open.

73. A large fleet.

75. (physics) Of or pertaining to a meson.

77. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

78. The cry made by sheep.

79. The Palestinian uprising (beginning in 1987) against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

81. A light touch or stroke.

82. Hormone secreted by the posterior pituitary gland (trade name Pitressin) and also by nerve

endings in the hypothalamus.

83. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (trade name Cataflam).

84. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

DOWN 1. A rounded thickly curled hairdo.

2. An accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape.

3. Any of several plants of the genus Camassia.

4. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

5. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

6. Being ten more than thirty.

7. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

8. Small ornamental ladies' bag for small articles.

9. A Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria.

10. A river in the east central United States.

11. A state in east central United States.

12. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

13. Having nine hinged bands of bony plates.

14. A mark left by the healing of injured tissue.

19. An independent state within the British Commonwealth located on the Fiji Islands.

21. (informal) "in the dumps".

23. Reddish long-tailed monkey of west Africa.

24. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

26. A tight-fitting headdress.

28. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

29. An isogram connecting points having equal barometric pressure at a given time.

31. Porridge made of rolled oats.

34. A blind god.

35. Make worse or less effective.

36. Ancient city is southeastern Italy where Hannibal defeated the Romans in 216 BC. 38. United States labor leader who was the first president of the AFL-CIO (1894-1980).

40. Wind god.

43. Worthless people.

45. New Zealand conifer.

49. In or relating to or obtained from urine.

51. Freetail bats.

52. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

54. A port in western Israel on the Mediterranean.

55. English essayist (1775-1834).

58. Any plant of the genus Kalmia.

62. Of or in or relating to the nose.

63. (Irish) Chief god of the Tuatha De Danann.

65. (British) Traditional jazz as revived in the 1950s.

66. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

67. A federally sponsored corporation that insures accounts in national banks and other qualified institutions.

69. An African grass economically important as a cereal grass (yielding white flower of good quality) as well as for forage and hay.

71. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

72. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

74. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

76. A rotating disk shaped to convert circular into linear motion.

80. (astronomy) A measure of time defined by Earth's orbital motion.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

This is an excellent time to be out and about. There are significant opportunities to make connections, exchange information, and to learn something through a meeting or chance encounter. Emails, phone calls, and conversations that you initiate are productive at this time. There is great depth to your conversations and thoughts. You find yourself revealing secrets or very private matters, and also asking very penetrating questions of others. Superficial answers don’t satisfy you now. This is an excellent time to learn more about your own inner depths.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You appear to be seeking the unconventional and different in style and appearance. Willingness on the part of others to do the unexpected is exciting to you.

Working with groups of children may be in your near future. Your emotions are sensitized now and your intuitive, feeling nature is very strong. You will find yourself gripped by feelings of nostalgia and compassion. The memories of feelings and situations long forgotten come to the surface. See if you can find some resolution which allows you to move on.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Skullduggery may be afoot and you may get just enough of a peek to take precautions, but not enough to be really sure of its focus. Sudden decisions now can turn to disaster easily, so cover perimeters by taking a defensive position, and take more aggressive action only after you have a clearer picture of what’s going on. Variety is the spice of life, intensity the sweetness, whatever or whoever is involved. Heightened appetites of all types are a natural this time of the month, as will be opportunities to fulfill them. Enjoy yourself and the people around you, just take care not to take anyone or even yourself too seriously right now, it’s more a energy of play and adventure rather than seriousness and commitment.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You know you have the ability to expand and enhance your horizons don’t you? Your work life can take a positive turn if you draw a thorough plan from information you already have. Look for allies amongst those in positions senior to yours. On the home front, take control and resolve any lingering issues that may be casting a pall over your domestic setting. Close relationships have a big impact on your life at this time.

Old ones will be transformed or perhaps even ended, new ones may show up when least expected but welcome them. A partner has a mesmerizing impact and you might even feel that they are compelling, perhaps too much so. Take caution and listen to your heart and intuition.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) It may be easy to get into a debate, as there’s an edge of contentiousness upon you, but if you do, make it about issues and not personalities. Your first instinct or reaction may need refining, so don’t put your bets on the first hand you are dealt.

Patience with yourself and others will reveal what cards to play. This is a good time to relax and enjoy yourself before someone decides to help you do it. Let your instinctive urges carry you today, as schedules will get crossed if you fight them. Rest and relaxation is not just time off, its renewal, putting more back into your own self so that you can be the best for yourself.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You are on a major emotional roll today. Let the energy flow and just go with it like the winds behind you. Keep up the pace without straining so when it’s time to take a rest or the wind changes, you’ll have the accomplishment you need under your belt. For the greatest gain just sustain the energy without burning out before the days up.

It’s a time to be mutually reassuring, rather than wildly supportive of your most intimate relationships. There’s a certain stability in the general energy that makes it safe to say what you feel just keep it a bit conservative as your partner may not be able to handle the true depth of your emotions just yet.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) If you’re concerned that your resources seem to be dwindling away, you need to investigate alternative methods to stretch your dollar further. This is not an occasion for visiting the most expensive restaurants or purchasing those high ticket items in fashion stores. This is an upbeat, refreshing time period. Progressive changes in your life and relationships make this an enjoyable, exciting time. The changes are not likely to be extraordinary in scope, but a definite enlivening of your relationship to others is evident.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Frustrating conversations and the feeling that you are coming across in a less than positive way are possible now. You may feel that others are not as receptive to you as normal today. If that’s the case then plan as quiet a day as possible and get things done with as little interaction with others till this passes. Unexpected twists and turns are likely to challenge your personal relationships at this time. Challenges and unwanted surprises may come at you from new sources. Be wary of new people entering your social circle.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

Are you feeling ambitious? Ready to tackle anything? If so go for it, BUT have a well prepared plan in place from which to launch any new projects. Be prepared to change directions quickly as opportunities may abound, but they are mercurial in nature. Your magnetism is strong and you attract appreciation, affection and attention at this time. Feelings of love, a desire for beauty, and the urge to be creative are strong. You beautify your surroundings, and pay particular attention to your appearance. This is a good time to treat yourself or do something fun just for you.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Taking the unbeaten path can gain you a short cut that saves time and money, so think your way out of the box and don’t be afraid to take an original leap. If you keep your feet on the ground, you can be a lightning rod for new ideas that will go to the bank with your name on them. It’s definitely a day for inspiration, just don’t let it go to waste. Changing emotions today are likely to occur, the feeling of a roller coaster, one moment up the next down can be a bit overwhelming. Snap decisions are probably not a great idea, so take several deep breathes and re evaluate before you come to a conclusion. By the time your done, things will have settled down to a comfortable ride.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya Jabriya

GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TATE T OF KUW K WAIT A

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AV VIA ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PARTMENT A DA AY Y: Saturday

Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630

Issue Time

BY Y DA AY:

Clouds will increase gradually with light variable wind changing to light to moderate south easterly wind, with speed of 08 - 30 km/h with a chance for scattered light rain later on

BY Y NIGHT:

Partly cloudy with moderate to fresh south easterly wind, with speed of 20 - 40 km/h with a chance for scatscat tered thunderstorms at times No Current Waarnings arnin

WARNING A

KUW WAIT A CITY

23 °C

13 °C

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

24 °C

09 °C

NUW WAISEEB A

21 °C

10 °C

WAFRA A

25 °C

09 °C

SALMI

25 °C

10 °C

25746401

ABDAL LY

26 °C

08 °C

25316254

JAL ALIY YAH A

24 °C

09 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FAILAKA A

23 °C

12 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

20 °C

14 °C

Mishref

25381200

QARUH ISLAND

20 °C

16 °C

W Hawally

22630786

UMM AL-MARADEM

19 °C

16 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

SFC. CHART

09/03/2013 0000 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA ATHER T

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

New Jahra

24575755

Sunday

10/03

partly cloudy + scattered rain+ raising dust

26 °C

14 °C

SE-NW

20 - 40 km/h

West Jahra

24772608

Monday

11/03

Mostly Sunny

27 °C

14 °C

NW

20 - 40 km/h

South Jahra

24775066

Tuesday

12/03

sunny

28 °C

13 °C

NW

15 - 35 km/h

Wednesday e

13/03

Mostly Sunny

28 °C

15 °C

NW

12 - 32 km/h

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

PRA RA AYER Y TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT

Fajr

04:45

MAX. Temp.

21 °C

06:04

MIN. Temp.

07 °C 51 %

Ardhiya

24884079

Sunrise

Firdous

24892674

Zuhr

11:59

MAX. RH

Asr

15:21

MIN. RH

14 %

Sunset

17:52

MAX. Wind

N 39 km/h

Isha

19:09

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

N Khaitan

24710044

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

Fintas

00 mm V1.00

09/03/13 02:44 UTC

T1.06

23900322

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons

Endocrinologist

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

25665898 25340300

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

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Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Mousa Khadada Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

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36

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

Michael Buble will be a hands-on dad

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he ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ hitmaker’s wife Luisana Lopilato is currently pregnant with their first child and the Canadian crooner can’t wait to get involved with all aspects of parenting. He said: “I really can’t wait to be a dad. I’m prepared to do the night feeds and change all the dirty nappies.”

Michael, 37, recently admitted he was worried he’d never be able to have children and even underwent fertility tests. His Argentinian model wife, 25, has been experiencing some crazy cravings during her pregnancy.

Michael revealed: “Some women crave pickles or ice cream. My wife wants blood sausages. Sausage made of congealed blood,” he shares. “And I promise you, she hated it her whole life and now she said, ‘Mike, I want some blood sausage,’ and it’s like, ‘What the hell?’”

Liam Hemsworth needs a break from Miley Cyrus

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hile the ‘Hunger Games’ actor’s relationship with his 20-year-old fiancee is alleged to be in trouble amid claims about his infidelity, the couple are still together but Liam has decided to fly home to Australia for some space. A source told People magazine: “Liam did fly home to Australia so they could have a break. He has been spending time with his brother Chris, with whom he is very close. “Miley is still upset with Liam. She took her engagement ring off to make him mad. “But, it doesn’t

mean that they have split. Miley says they are still together. “Miley is crazy about Liam, but sometimes doesn’t treat him great. She likes things her way and tends to play games. Liam is also a strong person and that’s why they often butt heads.” While Liam, 23, was alleged to have cheated on Miley with January Jones, 35, insiders insist the pair have been friends for some time. A source explained: “[They] used to go clubbing together in Los Angeles. They have been friends for a while.”

Helena Christensen has a ‘psychic connection’

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he 44-year-old model is close to all her loved ones but says she has a particularly unusual bond with her mum. Asked who she is closest to, she said: “My parents, my son Mingus, 13, and my boyfriend. “I have a psychic connection with my Peruvian mother.” Helena also admitted she had to have a “serious talk” with her mother when she was younger because she was so jealous of her younger sister, she wanted to “get rid” of her. She said: “I was very jealous when my younger sister Anita was born, when I was four. “I had years of being loved by my parents and then somebody came in and ruined it - I remember trying to get rid of her. My mum had to have a serious talk with me.” And the brunette beauty - who is in a relationship with Paul Banks - says she looks for “honesty and trustworthiness” in her partners. She told Britain’s Grazia magazine: “I value their sense of humour and someone you respect on many different levels. They need to be honest and trustworthy too.”

Nicole Scherzinger goes on date nights with herself

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he former Pussycat Dolls singer says the key to keeping her romance with Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton strong is to balance things out by enjoying her own company with a quiet night in. She explained: “Taking time for yourself when you can, whether it’s working out or meditating or writing. Often, the only time I have for myself is when I’m on a flight, so I’ll have a date with myself on the plane! “I’ll have a glass of wine, some dinner and a movie. It’s lovely and really cute because it keeps everything in perspective.” The jet-setting star - who spent most of last year in the UK filming ‘The X Factor’ - finds it tough to sacrifice cheering her man on in his big racing competitions, but thinks it’s more important to focus on her music and career. She added to Now magazine: “There are certain races that I’d really like to be at for him. He’s my support. But you’re looking at an independent working woman. I support my family. And music is my passion - it’s what I love and it’s in my blood. “You can never take me away from my work. It’s hard for me, but it’s the same for him when he can’t be at all my shows.”

Jo Wood has no regrets about

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he couple split in 2009 after 26 years together after The Rolling Stones guitarist had an affair, but the former model doesn’t regret their relationship because she can’t change the past. She told the Daily Express newspaper: “No regrets. I have no regrets about my life. “You cannot think that way because there is nothing you can do to change anything that happened. “What’s the point of thinking that way? You only get one chance.” Jo, 57, revealed she is still good friends with the 65-year-old rocker for the good of her children - Jamie, 37, Leah, 34, Tyrone, 38 - and 35-year-old stepson Jesse. She said: “I think

it is important. He’s the father of my children and we’ll always have that connection. It’s important that we are civil and friends, we have to do be.” Jesse and partner Fearne Cotton had their first child - Rex Rayne - last month, and Jo loves giving attention to all her grandchildren. She continued: “He’s beautiful. Fearne is blissed out and he’s a cute little thing. I adore babies, just as well considering I have seven grandchildren. “I’m at the stage where I can drop everything and given them all the attention. “I’ll play princesses and poison apples, or play shops with the kids, action heroes, whatever they want.”

Cindy Crawford has to force herself not to be independent

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he 47-year-old supermodel was determined not to be like her mother, who struggled financially following her split from Cindy’s dad but she admitted she tries to be less independent sometimes so as not to hurt her husband Rande Gerber’s feelings.

Speaking in a new episode of ‘Oprah’s Master Class’, Cindy said: “Unfortunately my parents, you know, were one of those couples that didn’t make it. When they finally did really get divorced, my father would give my mother money every week for child support. But if he was mad at her because she’d gone out on a date or done something else, he wouldn’t give her the money that week. And that sometimes meant we didn’t get grocery money or gas money. And I saw that and I was like, ‘This will never happen to me. I will never be in that situation where I can’t take care of myself.’ “For Rande, my husband, it was hard for him to get used to me not needing that from him. But there’s still places in our relationship where I have to let him get that feeling. It’s okay to lean on someone. I’ve had to learn to back down a little bit from that and to be okay, even if it’s little things. I’ve had to slow down, let him open the door. That feels good to him, and then guess what? It feels good to me, too.”

Cindy explained she feels grateful for her career because it has made her financially independent, even if she decided to give up work. She added: “I’m lucky because in my career, I am financially independent. Even if I stopped working today, I could take care of myself.”

Nicki Minaj feels euphoric wearing pink

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he ‘Starships’ rapper claims her financially troubled childhood in which she was forced to share a room with her brother made her crave a fairytale, girly lifestyle and has instilled a deep-rooted love of the colour pink in her. Nicki - who always sports a touch of hot pink on her outfits - said: “When I was younger we didn’t have much financially, and I’d see little girls’ rooms on TV and they’d be all pink. “I shared a room with my brother, so I’d dream one day I could have my own room, all pink, like Cinderella’s. Pink takes me back to that time and feel euphoric when I wear it.” The eccentrically-clad singer likes to keep her look low-key when she’s just chilling out at home at ditches her notice-me stage outfits for more casual clothing so she can relax on the sofa in and tuck into her favourite food. Nicki confessed to Cosmopolitan magazine: “What I wear at home is not what I wear on stage. At home I’m more introspective; on stage I’m anything but! “I watch ‘Judge Judy’ and ‘Forensic Files’. And I cook - I cook spaghetti and macaroni and cheese really,

37

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

A Tibetan mastiff dog is displayed for sale at a mastiff show.

Tibetan mastiff puppies are displayed for sale at a mastiff show.

Millions for a mastiff at China Tibetan dog expo D

A Tibetan mastiff dog is displayed at a show in Baoding, Hebei province yesterday. —AFP photos

rooping eyes barely visible behind a mountain of glossy black fur, an enormous dog snoozes on stage in an industrial Chinese city. Its asking price: close to a million US dollars.

“This is the greatest dog in China,” breeder Yao Yi said, as he stroked a year-old Tibetan Mastiff, up for sale yesterday for five million Chinese yuan ($800,000), at a dog show in Baoding, a few hours drive from Beijing.

Massive and sometimes ferocious, with round manes lending them a passing resemblance to lions, Tibetan Mastiffs have become a prized status-symbol among China’s wealthy, with rich buyers across the country sending prices skyrocketing. One red Mastiff named “Big Splash”, reportedly sold for 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in 2011, in the most expensive dog-sale then recorded.

“Check out her paws, they’re enormous,” Yao said, as his dog salivated onto a wooden stage in a dilapidated sports stadium where breeders gathered from across northern China to show off

their purebred canines. “Her parents are from Tibet, so she’s not used to hot weather,” Yao added.

Owners say the mastiffs, descendents of dogs used for hunting by nomadic tribes in central Asia and Tibet, are fiercely loyal and protective. Breeders still journey to the Himalayan Plateau to collect young puppies.

“It takes over a month to drive back from Tibetan areas with the dogs,” said Wang Fei, a Beijingbased mastiff breeder who collects white-coloured puppies from Western China in the back of a truck. Most of the puppies are unable to adjust to low altitudes and die during the journey, he added. “The success rate is not very high.” The risks of travel lead other breeders to raise dogs closer to their clients in China’s wealthy eastern provinces.

“I take dogs to Tibet for breeding, but they give birth near Beijing,” said Zhang Ming, who joined vendors at the mastiffdedicated expo, where dozens of dogs paced around in white cages or peeked out from the back of cars. Zhang’s wealthiest

clients include the owners of coal-mines which dot the landscape of northern China, he said.

“Now almost everyone has a car, so people need a new way of showing their wealth,” he said, adding that not all of his clients pay in cash. “One buyer paid for a dog with a 30,000 yuan Omega watch and a car, just for a small dog,” he said, whipping out his smartphone to show a record of the transaction.

The sperm of pure-bred mastiffs can also be worth a fortune. “I would charge 50,000 yuan to sell his sperm,” Zhang said of his favourite dog, named “Moonlight Fairytale”, on sale for 200,000 yuan and weighing 155 kilogrammes (340 pounds). The booming market has attracted a fair share of fraudsters, with some passing off crossbred dogs for pedigrees, using artificial hair extensions made with dog fur, the China Daily reported.

Intensive breeding has led to dangerous numbers of inbred mastiffs, while some vendors inject glucose into dog’s legs to make them appear stronger, the

Global Times daily reported. Out of control Tibetan mastiffs have also carried out attacks across China, with one dog wounding nine people in a frenzied attack in Beijing in 2012, said the Global Times. Local newspapers reported in December that a 62-yearold man in central China’s Henan province died after being attacked by a Tibetan Mastiff owned by a local government official.

Regulations in Beijing and other major Chinese cities ban residents from keeping large dogs in downtown areas, but rules are sometimes flouted. “It’s like the one child policy,” Zhang said, referring to rules limiting the number of children families can have, which can be circumvented by paying fines to authorities. “If you really need to break the rules, you can do.” Vendors at the dog show haggled with locals over prices for cheaper crossbred mastiffs, but Zhang sets his sights on the higher-end of the market.

“There are a lot of people buying dogs worth around million yuan,” he said. —AFP

Bieber resumes tour after scuffle, health problems I

t’s been a rough week for Justin Bieber: Getting booed for being late, struggling to breathe midperformance and fainting backstage, then caught on camera clashing with paparazzi. But the 19year-old pop sensation appeared to have recovered Friday for his final concert in London, singing and dancing to thousands of adoring fans at the O2 Arena. Earlier Friday, the star made headlines when he got into an altercation with insulthurling paparazzi, lashing out at a photographer with a stream of expletives as he was restrained by minders.

“Ahhhhh! Rough morning.

Trying to feel better for this show tonight but let the paps get the best of me,” the singer posted on Twitter soon after the altercation with the photographer, which took place as he got into a car earlier Friday. The scuffle was captured on video by Channel 5 News and widely broadcast by Britain’s media.

“Sometimes when people r shoving cameras in your face all day and yelling the worst thing possible at u...well I’m human. Rough week,” he wrote on the social networking site.

The clash came just hours after Bieber said he was “getting better” following breathing problems he suffered during the previous night’s concert. The star took a short break to go backstage, where he was given oxygen, and had to be briefly hospitalized for a check-up. A spokesman for the O2 Arena said Bieber was treated backstage during Thursday’s concert after becom-

U

ing short of breath, but recovered and finished his set.

“He was treated by our team of medics and after further examination they didn’t find anything more serious or worrying.” A spokeswoman for Bieber said he was feeling “a little under the weather.” She demanded anonymity to discuss the star’s condition. Bieber later

Bieber appearing to fade during a performance of his up-tempo hit, “Beauty and a Beat.” He slows down, puts a hand to his head then bends over, resting his hands on knees before walking slowly to the back of the stage. The AP spoke to 18-year-old journalism student Prithvi Pandya, who shot the footage, to confirm its authenticity.

Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs at the o2 Arena in east London, Friday, March 8, 2013. —AP posted a shirtless photo of himself in a hospital bed, saying he was getting better and listening to Janis Joplin. Before that on Twitter he thanked “everyone pulling me thru tonight.”

“Best fans in the world,” he wrote. “Figuring out what happened. Thanks for the love.” Video footage from the concert shows

“When he started ‘Beauty and a Beat’ you could see he was struggling,” said Pandya, who was near the front of the crowd. “He took lots of drinks of water, that seemed unusual, and he was really sweaty, sweating a helluva lot. “Toward the end of it, he went backstage. We didn’t see him fainting. They brought on dancers to entertain,

and I knew something was wrong at that point.”

Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, appeared onstage and told the crowd that the singer was feeling “very low of breath” but would come back to finish the show. Jazz Chappell, a 20-year-old concertgoer who brought her younger sister and her friend to the show, said that In the nearly 30 minutes he was offstage, some fans started to leave. Once his manager announced what had happened, Chappell said many fans in the audience were gasping and crying, while others kept cheering for him to return.

“I thought, ‘Give the guy a break.

He just fainted. He’s not a performing horse. Let him rest a second,’” said Chappell. Chappell said Bieber, who is in London to perform four concerts at the O2, later returned and performed low-energy renditions of his hits “Boyfriend” and “Baby.”

The incident caps a difficult week for Bieber. He was forced to apologize to outraged fans who accused him of taking the stage almost two hours late for his first concert at the O2 on Monday. He insisted he was only 40 minutes late and blamed “technical issues.”

He took to Twitter to vent his frustrations with the media’s portrayal of the incident. The star’s Believe world tour is due to move on to Portugal tomorrow, then continue across Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and North America until August. —AP

Carol Oates takes on Ivy League society

S novelist Joyce Carol Oates’ latest novel is in the gothic tradition, but not all of the demons that bedevil its blueblooded characters are of the supernatural variety. “The Accursed,” which came out this week, is set in Princeton, New Jersey, where the National Book Award winner has worked as a professor at the Ivy League university since 1978. The novel tells the tale of a curse upon the town’s elite families during 19051906.

A work of historical fiction, the book features US President Woodrow Wilson and author-activist Upton Sinclair among its cast of characters. Oates, 74, the author of more than 50 novels and two dozen short story col-

lections, began the book in 1984, but she said she was unable to develop a satisfying structure for the story until recently. “I had a project that was very challenging and fascinating, but I never quite felt that the voice was right,” Oates told Reuters. “It was too 19th century, so I put it aside and worked on other projects, but every three or four or five years I would take it out and start examining it again.”

Told from the perspective of a fictional amateur historian, “The Accursed” focuses on the aristocratic Slade family. Debutante Annabel is swept away mysteriously on her wedding day and her older brother Josiah struggles to avenge his sister’s disappearance while coming to terms with his changing

ideals. Wilson, Princeton’s president at the time, is worn down by health problems and paranoia over university politics and his own prejudices against African Americans and women’s suffrage.

The consequences of such views become clear as the town is rocked by lynchings of African Americans and the suffering of several women. Although ghosts and vampires haunt the upper-class characters, Oates suggests they mirror social demons of the age. “Things that are repressed are emerging in this lily white affluent society,” she said. “What you call the supernatural could be deconstructed as being the return or the revenge of the repressed.” —Reuters

TV personality Kelly Osbourne arrives at the 85th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in this file photo. —AP

Osbourne confirms seizure

K

elly Osbourne says she had a seizure and doctors are trying to figure out why. The 28-year-old TV personality posted a photo on Twitter late Thursday of an IV in her tattooed left arm.

She thanked her fans for their “beautiful well wishes.” Osbourne was hospitalized Thursday after collapsing on the set of E! network’s “Fashion Police,” where she serves as a panelist alongside Joan Rivers,

Giuliana Rancic and George Kotsiopoulos.

Osbourne is the daughter of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and “The Talk” co-host Sharon Osbourne. She was profiled with her family on the MTV reality series “The Osbournes” and has appeared as a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”

Representatives for E! and Kelly Osbourne didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. —AP

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

lifestyle

By Alan Behr

W

hen on the road with small children, parents have the formidable task of leading them to experiences of surprise and joy that are mixed with security, balance and comfort. That is why, for our ski vacation this year, my wife and I chose to bring our toddler, Ryan, to Arosa, a winter resort in the Swiss Alps. Reached either by train or a famously twisting mountain road, Arosa has traded on its relative inaccessibility to make itself into a genteel and engaging family destination.

Day-trippers and weekenders, as anxious as they are everywhere to cram a good time into a few hours, are relatively infrequent here because it is hard to make a quick journey by road to and from any of the major Swiss cities.

Visitors to Arosa tend to come and to linger. When families arrive, it can be in caravans stretching for three generations: The grandparents, who first discovered Arosa, still come, even if they no longer ski; the parents take to the slopes; depending on the age of the kids, they are either just learning to ski or are being taught how to snowboard without crashing into one another. Arosa is filled with walking trails for those who once skied or who snowboarded or never did, and at several points when we skied, we had to break for pedestrians crossing our path.

With 43 miles of runs and 13 lifts, Arosa is comparatively compact by Swiss standards, and yet there are four complete kids’ areas where children can learn to ski in safety, under the patient and expert supervision for which Switzerland is famous. Across the mountains of Arosa, children in color-coded vests follow in line behind blue-and-

Arosa, cross-country skiing class (horizontal).

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yellow uniformed instructors like ducklings trailing their mothers. They learn the Swiss method, which stresses technique and attention to what the mountain is telling you in the angles of the slopes, in the weather and in snow conditions. It is mixed with a uniquely carefree Alpine celebration of the fun of it all.

When you ski like a Swiss, you embrace the predominance of nature, respect it and follow its lead, all in the service of having a good time. The instructor/ guide we hired for a day, Bruno Tobler, had a big smile, engaging personality and a hawk’s eye for correct technique, which we practiced under his supervision. After a few decades of skiing, I believe I am at last getting close to correct Swiss form; the small children who scooted past us behind their instructors seemed poised to reach that goal a week from Thursday, latest.

Ryan, exposed to it all for the first time at just over 3 years of age, skied for a bit - I’m estimating about two, perhaps three minutes. It made no difference that Swiss children younger than he were already on skis. Instead, he developed other interests. He liked sledding with other toddlers in the child-care center at the ski school. He liked the play room as at the two hotels we visited, and the staffers and the children he met there. And he developed a taste - surely to become lifelong - for Swiss chocolate.

Surprisingly to us at first, we found ourselves following our son’s lead. Typically, and at my wife’s enthusiastic insistence, we ski the whole day through, but in Arosa, we slowed down, not only to spend more time with Ryan, but to experience the other pursuits that an Arosa-style mountain trip integrates into your day.

For instance, one night I tried curling for the first time. I have always wanted to master a sport originating in Scotland, if only to show my wife and her Scots-Irish (and part-Swiss) family that I’m up to it. Curling is Scottish shuffleboard on ice: instead of a disc, you shove a forty-pound stone down the curling sheet. Someone else rapidly sweeps a broom in front of it in an effort to alter range and trajectory. Although my teammates were as new to the

uncan Rule discovered “The Hunger Games” shortly after the novel came out four years ago. He recommended it to Eddie Mansius, his best friend since seventh grade. Eddie urged Nick Rhyne and Maddie Moore to read it. Maddie devoured the book, which meshes a teenage coming-of-age story with reality TV and war, in three days. “It was like I never wanted it to end,” said Maddie, who went to YouTube and was disappointed to find a movie hadn’t been made.

She and her three friends, high school

sophomores at the time, decided to make their own. Maddie played Katniss, the 16-year-old heroine who is forced to fight other children to the death for the entertainment of a vapid futuristic society. Nick played Gale, the heroine’s love interest; Eddie portrayed Peeta, a former schoolmate of Katniss’ who teams up with her in the arena. Friends and family members were enlisted to round out the cast.

Their budget starting out: $30. When they needed to shoot interiors, they used Duncan’s home in Charlotte’s Eastover

sport as I was, and one of them had to divide her new devotion to stones with attention to her sleepy eighteenmonth-old daughter, the competitive spirit took hold, and stones slid back and forth with ever greater force and accuracy. I turned out to be our star player (given that none of us was really all that good), and I carried our little team to victory.

One afternoon, my wife joined me for an hour’s lesson in cross-country skiing, which proved to be more aerobic than downhill but much easier to pick up if you already know how to get down a mountain on skis. The crosscountry area is a golf course in summer, and we next had what can only be called an aerobic stroll through the course and the surrounding woods (taken by sliding on two narrow boards).

The key, in short, to understanding a comparatively lowkey resort like Arosa is to forsake expectations of aggressive fun. As a New Yorker, in the Hamptons summer resort complex, I all too often see the attitude of “I’m going to have a good time now even if it kills me - or maybe you.” In Arosa, you trade such meditations for a Swiss acceptance of harmony and balance.

Nothing could better illustrate Arosa’s easy gentility than our hotels. I use the plural because two of them came so highly recommended by friends, in the end we decided to audition both in order to make up our minds for next time. (The answer, of sorts, is in the information box below.) Both are on the edge of town, minutes from each other by foot. We started at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel, which has a private, luxurious ski lift that Ryan saw as a ride in itself and indeed had the feel of a roller coaster in the uphill segment of its track. The newly renovated lobby, by the Swiss designer Carlo Rampazzi, is sophisticated but traditional enough in execution to maintain a mountain feel.

La Vetta, the gourmet restaurant, carries a Michelin star.

Unlike similar hotels in St Moritz, however, you do not need to dress in business or even formal attire for dinner, and the large number of restaurants (five plus the Cigar Lounge, which we only saw during a smoke-free moment), made dining on-campus possible without ever repeating our choice of venue.

The Arosa Kulm has a somewhat more informal feel, even as it is run with the same fine attention to guest services. There is no private lift here, but you have only to walk across the street and take two short people movers to the nearest gondola, and up you go. The Arosa Kulm also has many restaurants, including the Ahaan Thai, which specializes in Thai cuisine, the Swiss-educated king of Thailand having formerly been both a skier at Arosa and a guest at the hotel. On our first day, the weather was so mild, we took our lunch on the terrace of our room, which had a mountain view.

Throughout our stay in Arosa, there were many small moments of serendipity. One night, there was a concert at the Bergkirchli, a demitasse mountain church dating from the late fifteenth century. As the audience in the full, small nave watched the snow fall through arched windows, Thomas Weber, an accordionist from Zurich, and Franco Mettler, a woodwind player from the nearby city of Chur, delivered everything from Bach to “The Godfather Waltz.”

neighborhood. Exteriors were shot at Maddie’s family farm an hour north of Charlotte, or at the park down the street from Eddie’s house. Costumes came from Goodwill or their own closets. After their first video and subsequent installments went live on the Internet, they were on their way to becoming celebrities.

These days, the friends - minus Duncan, who is camera shy - get stopped in all sorts of places; outside the Sprint store, at Wendy’s and at summer camp.

Nick was recognized while on vacation with his family in Turks and Caicos Islands in the Bahamas. Even the new girl at their school who arrived from Ireland last year had seen the videos. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” she said to Eddie and Maddie in an honors French class. —MCT

Eddie Mansius (from left) Cullen McMillian, Nick Rhyne, Duncan Rule and Maddie Moore, pictured December 23, 2012, in Catawba, North Carolina, have had 4.5 million views of their 10 installments of “The Hunger Games.” Cullen joined the original four North Carolina high school students after the first video. — MCT

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We exited to free hot punch, offered in the gently falling snow. On another night, at the Tschuggen, a combo played old favorites after dinner at the Grand Restaurant, the hotel’s main restaurant, as our toddler danced with my wife, and the small children of a couple from the Lucerne area danced with their father. From a lobby window on the next evening, we watched a show put on by the ski instructors to the music of ABBA, followed by fireworks.

There was even serendipity of a kind in the traditional regional meal at the Tschuggen’s Buendnerstube restaurant, followed by family bowling at a two-lane alley inside the restaurant itself. (The Arosa Kulm has a similar in-house alley.) And for me, there was total serendipity on our last full day, when it snowed and my wife, being the more enthusiastic skier, went up to the top of the highest peak, the Weisshorn, and I stayed near the children’s area to go sledding with Ryan. He still shares his memories with friends of how he and I went sledding together - and fell off! (I need a bit more practice, it appears.)

Arosa, view from atop the Weisshorn, the tallest peak (horizontal).

— MCT photos

Arosa, venison plate at La Vetta, the Michelin-star restaurant at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel.

Arosa’s comparatively small scale will change somewhat starting with the 2013-14 season, when a long-planned (and much debated) cable-car linking Arosa to the larger Lenzerheide area will open. Lenzerheide is more popular with day-trippers, and many residents of Arosa have feared that joining up with it will change their area’s character.

The advantage is that the link will about triple the total length of slopes you can ski on an Arosa pass. As for ambience: People from Lenzerheide may ski into Arosa to have a look, and skiers from Arosa will surely reciprocate, but when the lifts close, each place will stand on its own once more, and the family-friendly gentility that makes Arosa special will, I predict, comfortably prevail. As people who have come back to Arosa time and again have explained to us, it is an atmosphere that makes you feel you can and should be a part of it. — MCT

lans to remake the 1981 cult horror film “Evil Dead” may have brought some initial skepticism, but with the original filmmakers behind the scenes and a fresh-faced director and cast to inject youthful enthusiasm, the South by Southwest festival crowd welcomed the reboot with open arms. Sam Raimi, who directed the original, and Bruce Campbell, who starred in it, produced the new “Evil Dead.”

Fede Alvarez, a Uruguayan directing his first feature-length film, oversaw a small cast with Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas, Lou Taylor Pucci and Elizabeth Blackmore.

The film reimagines the plot of the first Evil Dead but replaced the original five college students on vacation with five high school friends reuniting to help one of them kick a drug addiction. When they find the “Book of the Dead” in their cabin, a demon emerges to possess the students one by one until only one remains. Gone is the iconic hero Ash, played by Campbell, with Alvarez taking a more ensemble approach that gives Levy and Fernandez equal time.

The mix of fire hose blood spray, psychological terror and black humor, though remain true to the campy original that boiled the horror movie genre down to its essence. Robert Tapert, who produced the original and the remake, said Evil Dead was intended for drive-in movies and crowded theaters, but most fans only discovered it on VHS or DVD years later.

“You need to see this with other people, where you can yell and scream. There needs to be a party atmosphere,” he said, in explaining his desire to update it. Festival-goers at South by Southwest played right along, cheering, screaming and laughing in all of the right places.

Alvarez said Campbell recruited him to take on the project after years or rumors that he, Raimi and Tapert were planning to remake the low-budget, indie masterpiece t that launched their careers. Alvarez insisted on making the film without computer generated images, instead taking 70 nights to film it using many of the old-school special effects that Raimi used 30 years ago.

Producer Bruce Campbell arrives at the screening of “Evil Dead” during the 2013 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival at the Paramount Theatre on March 8, 2013 in Austin, Texas. - AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

lifestyle

Glinda (Michelle Williams), the Good Witch, invokes her powers in Disney’s “Oz The Great and Powerful.”

In Disney’s “Oz The Great and Powerful,” Oscar Diggs (James Franco) and the witch Theodora (Mila Kunis) travel the Yellow Brick Road on their way to The Emerald City.

— MCT photos

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pening in theaters Friday is “Oz the Great and Powerful,” based on the writings of L Frank Baum and constituting an unofficial prequel to the beloved Judy Garland film. The “Wizard of Oz” is the subject of a chapter in my new book “Hollywood Myths.” Following are some fun facts learned about that 1939 classic. No movie is more mythic - or the source of more muddled information - than “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s not true that a Munchkin committed suicide on camera.

It is true that makeup malfunctions hospitalized at least two of the cast members. And it might be true that Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” album is synced to the movie.

(Check Youtube for clues.) The 1939 film was based on the 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L Frank Baum.

Baum was a playwright and newspaper publisher who spent much of his adult life in the Midwest. (For his newspaper in Aberdeen, SD, he wrote editorials decrying the treatment of Indians yet urging that they be “exterminated” to put them out of their misery).

When he and illustrator W.W. Denslow created the first of more than a dozen “Oz” books, Baum was living in Chicago, where he published a magazine about department-store window displays. He would later say that the name “Oz” was derived from the letters on an alphabetized file cabinet in his office: O-Z. “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” in which a girl from

Kansas is blown by a cyclone to a magical land where she finds some silver slippers, was a huge hit. Baum and Denslow collaborated on a stage musical, which toured the country for almost a decade, and sold the book to Hollywood, which made a silent version in 1910.

In 1938, MGM planned a sound-and-color version of the beloved book, as an answer to Walt Disney’s successful “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” But the casting of “The Wizard of Oz” proved problematic. Shirley Temple, whose film career was peaking at the ripe old age of 10, was offered the role of Dorothy, but Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck did not want to lend her to a rival company. So the iconic role was assigned to MGM’s musical ingenue Judy Garland.

Garland, whom studio chief Louis B Mayer ridiculed as his “little hunchback,” was a born trouper from a family of vaudevillians. She was 16 when she filmed “The Wizard of Oz,” yet the studio supplied her with amphetamines to meet the grueling production schedule. (She would remain addicted to pills for their rest of her abbreviated life.)

WC Fields was the first choice to play the title character, but MGM balked at his asking price of $100,000 and gave the role instead to contract player Frank Morgan. Accomplished dancer Buddy Edsen (the future star of “The Beverly Hillbillies” on TV) was originally cast as the Scarecrow, but he was asked to swap roles by Ray Bolger, who’d been cast as the Tin Man.

The Meditation Room in the Aspira Spa is a feature in the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

By Josh Noel

“S

o what brings you here?” my massage therapist, Serena, asked while leading me from the Aspira spa’s hot tub to the soft table where she would rub me down in a haze of sandalwood oil for the next 50 minutes. “Just looking for a warm-up,” I said. “Good call on a day like this,” she said. The day, in a word, was winter: high-teen temperatures, bony, shivering trees and an inch of snow on the way. In other words, it was the perfect time to pad around in a bathrobe and slippers while moving from core-warming pursuit to core-warming pursuit: the hot tub, a massage, the seven-headed shower, lunch (in my bathrobe), more hot tub and, finally, a chromatherapy bath where the colors shift from blue to purple to green to balance my energy amid the toasty bubbles and jets.

Even in the grip of winter, you too likely can stand a slice of rejuvenation and escape. But if that quest be hemmed in by distance and time, there is no shortage of spas that exist solely to take you away, no matter that they’re in, say, central Wisconsin in winter. I headed to two to remind you of the possibilities for the remaining arctic weeks.

Wisconsin is loaded with spas, but I opted for the small-town splendor of Elkhart Lake, population 967. Things were quiet amid the gently rolling frozen farms. “This is the slowest time of the year,” said the bartender at Lake Street Cafe, where I stopped for an India pale ale from 3 Sheeps Brewing in nearby Sheboygan. “It doesn’t help that it’s 5 degrees outside.”

The Osthoff wasn’t much busier. A few nights earlier, the resort had rented fewer than 10 of the 240 rooms tucked in its sprawling, U-shaped complex that sits beside the lake sharing the town’s name. The front-desk clerk told me, “Give us a call if you get scared in your own building.” Even after exchanging a few “The Shining” jokes, I still wasn’t scared. Instead I cranked up the thermostat, switched on the gas fireplace and put up my feet. The next day began with a swim in the resort’s pool - not a

After Ebsen agreed, he developed an allergic reaction to the aluminum powder in the Tin Man makeup. He was replaced by Jack Haley, for whom a new makeup was developed.

Gale Sondergaard did makeup and wardrobe tests as the Wicked Witch of the West; but when the role was changed from a slinky temptress to an old hag, Sondergaard bowed out, and the role went to character actress Margaret Hamilton.

Hamilton was an on-set casualty when her green makeup caught on fire during the scene when the witch leaves Munchkinland in a puff of smoke. She needed six weeks to recuperate from burns to her face and hand.

Contrary to urban legend, none of the Munchkins were killed or committed suicide during the production. The fluttering object in the background when Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man dance down the Yellow Brick Road toward Oz was a large bird, one of several that had been added to the setting to make it seem more exotic. Think about it: Is it possible that an entire cast and crew would overlook - or incorporate - a hanged body in a scene for a hugely important movie?

Besides, the Munchkins had not yet been hired by the time that scene was filmed.

When the Munchkins did arrive at MGM (from Europe), there’s little evidence that they ran riot through the studio; but there was reason for them to be grumpy. Billed collectively as the Singer Midgets, the 122 little people were paid $50

per week - $75 less than Terri, the Cairn terrier who played Dorothy’s dog, Toto. The production employed 14 writers and 5 directors. A preliminary version ran two hours long, and after a sneak preview, the studio cut 20 minutes, including a musical number called “The Jitterbug.” The song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was also on the chopping block until composers E Y Harburg and Harold Arlen pleaded with Mayer.

The finished product was credited to director Victor Fleming, who also directed “Gone with the Wind” that same year. But whereas “Gone with the Wind” was an immediate sensation, the 1939 release of “Oz” did not recoup the studio’s huge investment.

As with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” television turned “The Wizard of Oz” into a beloved classic. It first aired, on CBS, in 1956.

Although most people did not have color televisions to fully appreciate the Oz sequences, the broadcast was watched by an estimated 45 million viewers. The annual broadcast was a Christmas-season tradition until 1967, then it rotated through various holidays and networks for another 30 years. Between theaters, television and home video, “The Wizard of Oz” is believed to be the most watched film in history. - MCT

The whirlpool is featured in the Aspira Spa at the Osthoff Restor in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. — MCT photos

part of the spa and therefore just another hotel pool at heart before crossing the Osthoff’s seemingly endless maze of halls to reach the spa.

While the resort opened in 1995 and the rooms are very much of that era - comfortable in their beige predictability but not quite cutting-edge luxury - the spa opened in 2005 and feels decidedly more modern: plenty of stone, tile and dim lighting through its 20,000 square feet, which includes more than a dozen quiet rooms for pursuits ranging from massage to meditation.

An attendant led me to the lightly-scented men’s locker room (pine, perhaps), pointing to the stack of white robes, white slippers and amenities - lotion, combs, razors, mouthwash and the like. The men’s lounge, like the women’s, offered the classic spa buffet of nuts and dried fruit, ice water and hot tea. Unlike in the women’s locker room (where I took an authorized look), the magazine stack was composed of recent issues of Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Time. I spent half an hour in the circular co-ed whirlpool that sat between a stone fireplace and a wall of windows that allowed warm, bright streaming daylight to stream in. On a midweek in January, I was alone.

Alone until Serena showed up. Dark hair pulled back and wearing glasses, she led me to a dim room with a fireplace, shower, whirlpool tub and massage table (Aspira has several such “massage suites” for stays that can extend beyond the rubdown). I had opted for the Sacred Waters massage, one of the spa’s signature treatments and ideal for mid-winter.

As I laid face down, Serena began by placing a deerskin pouch filled with warm water in both of my hands and one on my lower back. The water, she said, came from a nearby lake in a nod to the American Indians who have used the same body of water in ceremonies for generations. As Serena went to work, I became too intoxicated by her handiwork to ask how exactly the resort procures water from a frozen lake. And on Serena went, filling the next 50 minutes with a joyous winter vortex of

sandalwood, comfort and warmth.

“Any questions?” Serena asked when she was finished. “Yes,” I said. “Why didn’t I get the 80-minute version?” She laughed.

“That’s what they all say.”

Four warnings greet visitors to The Heartland Spa on the long flat plains 90 miles south of Chicago: Drive slowly. No hunting or fishing. Private property. No junk food. If you doubt the importance of “No junk food,” don’t; it prompted a woman who arrived just after me to whisper to her companion, as if she had just drawn a mustache on the “Mona Lisa,” “I ate a cupcake this morning.”

The Heartland decor can best be described as 1980s farm, which makes sense because the spa is housed in a former dairy farm and opened in the ‘80s. It is more modest than modern, but that is part of its home-spun charm. The Heartland Spa offers the opposite warm-up of Aspira and many other Midwestern spas.

Let’s call it a healthy warmth. Yes, the classic spa-like luxury is at hand: massages, facials, manicures and the like. It also includes the less typical, like an ionizing foot bath that detoxifies through the bottom of the feet. The color of the water supposedly indicates which part of the body has been cleansed.

But you don’t just have things done to you at The Heartland.

Down on the farm, you are entering something that is uniquely its own: a community, a spirit and a mind-set. It is unfussy, unpretentious and nonjudgmental, all things that happen when everyone is wearing the same clothes. Yes it’s true: When booking a stay, The Heartland asks a guest his (or more likely her) size so the standard Heartland wear can be prepared for arrival: wellworn T-shirts and sweatshirts that bear a thin “H” on the chest, as well as a moderately thick robe. Upon request, Heartland sweat pants also can join the ensemble. (I brought my own.) When any of the above are dirty, simply leave them on a mat outside the room and - poof new ones appear.

“I love that I barely had to pack to come here,” one guest said.

I sneered at my Heartland wear at first but was won over within

The pool at The Heartland Spa and Fitness Resort in Gilman, Illinois.

45 minutes - about the time that I realized it was appropriate to change into sweat pants for dinner. Most of my fellow guests also surrendered to the Heartland look, creating an unlikely democracy of relaxation and ease.

A warm-up at The Heartland can come in the form of hard work or relaxation. It’s up to you. The weekend features no shortage of programs, lectures and spa offerings, but for me the ideal was a mix. On the first night, for instance, I threw on my loaner sweatshirt and joined a Qi Gong class of slow, deliberate movements that our instructor, Gary, said stimulated our chi. When finished, he swore we all could feel that chi - or our life forces within - flowing between our hands in the form of warmth. We followed it up with a class called Meditation of the Breath.

The next day was a combination of hard work and relaxation: water aerobics, a massage, a turkey burger (with feta sauce) and the finest nap I’d had in ages. Later that night, a guest lecturer (who doubles as a Chicago police sergeant) would give a talk titled “Zestfully Simple Ways to the Good Life.” In short, she told me, choose to be happy and you will be happy. If this all sounds too healthy and progressive, worry not: on the welcome tour, they tell you where the dish of red-and-white mints resides in case of emergency. — MCT

Bieber resumes tour after scuffle, health problems

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SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013

Women’s high heel shoes are seen at a shoe shop in Vienna. — AFP

O

K, ladies. Step away from the black exercise pants. This spring, workout wear isn’t just functional - it’s taken a fashion-forward turn, with daring prints, intricate details and look-at-me shades - even in pants. Bold hues are huge, says Marissa Stephenson, fitness editor at Self magazine.

Neons, jewel tones, coral and yellow are just some of the top shades for fitted jackets, tops, sports bras and, yes, even pants.

Wearing a color on bottom can be intimidating, especially for ladies who prefer the slimming power of black. But, Stephenson says, it’s all about choosing the most forgiving shade and flattering cut. Her pick? A bright-blue capri that hits just below the knee.

“The colors and patterns are so new and fresh I’m almost giddy,” says Karyn Riale, director of retail buying for The Shop @ Equinox, which sells its stylish wares in Woodbury, Great Neck, Roslyn and Manhattan, NY. With prints, anything goes, from hot-pink leopard created by adidas by Stella McCartney, to bright tribal prints from Nike, to splatter-paint, florals and zigzags. “To see companies like Nike that

are taking risks with patterns and colors, it makes the experience more fun,” said celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson, whose clients include Gwyneth Paltrow.

For women who won’t stray from black, pops of color and detail add pizzazz, such as pants with a print waistband (lululemon athletica has several) or a bright stripe down the side. Perforated detailing on tops is also in, as are texturized prints, such as a black-on-black animal print, Stephenson says. Even neon socks and underwear can add pop, adds Amanda Casgar, area community manager for lululemon.

A new workout wardrobe doesn’t just make you look good - it makes you feel good, too. Celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson says that taking care in what you put on can increase motivation. “Any time you’re making a conscious decision to do something, you’re connecting more to the experience,” says Anderson, who has studios in Manhattan and Water Mill, NY. One move to avoid? Buying constricting, suctioncup-style pieces in the hopes of looking thinner while hitting the gym. “If you’re doing a workout properly, these kinds of constricting fabrics can cut off your ability to perform well.” Better, she says, to simply “do your workout well.” — MCT

I

t’s a classic quandary among those unsure of whether they’re witnessing a hot trend or a train wreck: Did she mean to do that? When Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence wore their necklaces backwards at Sunday’s Oscars, some suggested that a trend had been born. Not so fast, said Tara Murphy, managing director of MNfashion, who noted that letting necklaces course down your back was very much a look of the 1920s and ‘30s. Coco Chanel often let multiple strands of pearls caress her shoulder blades. Nicole Kidman wore one in a 2007 ad for Chanel No. 5.

“But it never really caught on,” Murphy said. Still, the trend may be near, although no thanks to the Oscars. Wait until this summer, when Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” hits movie theaters. “I’ve seen the costumes,” she said. “If anything will bring back the look, this will.” For starters, the movie will show how to pull off

the look properly, Murphy said, meaning with a nearly backless dress worn by a woman with a curvy spine and spectacularly toned deltoids. To her eye, both Hathaway and Lawrence were fashion “don’ts” because the proportion of gowns to jewels wasn’t right. It is, Murphy said, “a tough look to pull off.” So beware, would-be fashionistas, if you think this merely is a matter of whipping around your necklace - especially in places like Minnesota, where strangers blithely tuck in errant shirt tags. “Yeah, you’re going to risk a lot of, ‘Oh, honey, let me fix your necklace for you.’” — MCT