8 Apr 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2013

Clashes after funeral of Egypt Coptic Christians

New fears in Lanka amid anti-Muslim campaign

Burgan Bank CEO spells out growth strategy

14

Lorenzo wins Qatar MotoGP

18

NO: 15772

22

MPs want amendments to residency law for expats

40 PAGES

150 FILS

7

www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADA ALAWWAL 27, 1434 AH

Govt rebuffs Abu Ghaith relatives • ‘Peninsula Lions’ may be freed

Max 33º Min 19º High Tide 10:57 & 23:08 Low Tide 04:44 & 17:01

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

Menopause!!!

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

G

uys, you are going to hear the most amazing story of 2013. By the way, this time it is a true story. It resembles much the end of a movie that is based on a true story. One of the photographers in Kuwait Times met with a rather intriguing yet sad story with a happy ending - like an Indian or an Arabic movie. I also heard that the Japanese tend to like happy endings in their movies. Who doesn’t like happy movies? Why the misery? I sometimes like a tragic ending and I do not know why.

Let me get back to the story of our photographer.

His wife went to the doctor suffering from stomach pain because there was no indication of another problem. She did not have her menstrual period which the doctor explained was a sign of menopause. She was not given an ultrasound. They examined her belly and told her she was entering menopause.

The woman is only 43, which in some cases is normal. This is what the doctor said. He told her that some women get menopause early. Then she asked another doctor why her stomach was swollen. The other doctor was smarter than the previous one and he told her: “You have a tumour and it needs to be removed.” At this point the poor lady got terrified, packed her bags and went back to her native Syria.

She thought it would be better to be with her family surrounding her if she undergoes treatment for the tumour. Despite the war, she thought she would find solace with her family there.

Guys, look at the surprise she got in Syria. The doctor discovered that the tumor was a sevenmonth foetus. Yesterday her husband brought us kunafa (the popular orange Arab sweet) because his wife just had a lovely baby girl called Catherine.

What a happy ending! You will not see such a story neither in Hollywood nor in Bollywood -but you will see it in Kuwait.

I wish the minister of health reads my story.

GAZA CITY: A Palestinian youth looks at apicture depicting the ‘#Op_Israel’ campaign launched by the activist group Anonymous yesterday. — AFP

Hackers attack Israel JERUSALEM: Hackers have launched an assault on Israeli websites, but the damage has been minimal as the Jewish state is prepared to fend off such attacks, one of the country’s top cyber experts said yesterday. The hackers associated with the activist group Anonymous reportedly hit the websites of the premier’s office, the defence ministry, the education ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics, among others, but all appeared to be running normally. “As of midday (0900 GMT) the sites of the government of Israel are available to the public, as they have been all weekend,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

It said the education ministry site had been temporarily out of action “because of a technical fault which has been fixed.” It did not elaborate. Later on Sunday, the foreign ministry website was also “paralysed for a few moments before returning to normal,” the finance ministry said, warning of possible slowdowns or temporary cuts on official sites. Speaking to army radio, Professor

Yitzhak ben Israel, head of the National Council for Research and Development, said the scope of the damage to Israeli sites was “more or less non-existent”. “That’s because of our preparedness in advance,” said Ben Israel, who founded the National Cyber Bureau which operates out of the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ben Israel said it was highly unlikely that Anonymous was seeking to do real damage to the country’s key infrastructure. “Anonymous doesn’t have the ability, nor is it its aim to destroy the country’s essential infrastructure. If it was, it wouldn’t have announced it in advance,” he said, indicating the aim was probably to stir debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “The country was much better prepared than it was a year ago when there was a wave of attacks on the stock exchange and El Al (Airlines) and such sites. This time the attack is bigger in its scope and intensity but we are better prepared,” he said, referring to an attack on prominent Israeli websites at the start of 2012. — AFP

Trial offers window into wider Gulf fears

Zawahiri urges Muslims to unite CAIRO: Al-Qaeda’s leader has urged influence of the United States, the Arab Muslims in Arab Spring countries to unite to League, the United Nations and Israel institute an Islamic state, while warning should they gain control of it. “(They) want France that its intervention in Mali will be to steal your sacrifices and your jihad to give bogged down. “I warn France that it will them to their supporters in Washington, meet in Mali, with God’s permission, the Moscow and Tel Aviv.”

Zawahiri also lashed out against same fate America met in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Ayman Al-Zawahiri said in a Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Iran 103-minute audio message posted on mili- for their support of Assad, saying that “the tant websites late Saturday. In the recording, true faces of Iran and Hezbollah have been Zawahiri urged Muslims to liberate their exposed, and their ugly reality has appeared in the field of holy war in Syria”. lands from oppressive He called The Syrian governregimes and foreign troops, ment a “criminal secular” apply Islamic law, halt the regime. Zawahiri, an Egyptian, plundering of Muslim wealth, criticized the country’s ruling support rebellious Muslims Muslim Brotherhood for a weak and oppressed people response to the country’s worldwide, and establish the poverty, saying “the rich are Islamic Caliphate, or religious getting richer and the poor are state. The audio was progetting poorer. Have the duced by Al-Qaeda’s media Islamic movements provided arm, As-Sahab, and was prebetter education, health or sented alongside video Ayman Al-Zawahiri transportation?” footage showing Iranian revHe also attacked the country’s new conolutionary guards captured in Syria, and stitution, drawn up by the Brotherhood and other events in the Middle East.

The Al-Qaeda leader praised the muja- other Islamic movements, for not being relihedeen, or holy warriors, in Syria, urging gious enough. The charter, he said, them to step up their fight against the approved by referendum last December, fell regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. “Let short of promises made by the your fight be in the name of Allah and with Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that is the aim of establishing Allah’s sharia (law) as the country’s most powerful political force. the ruling system,” he said in his first mes- He objected to the fact that the current consage posted on the Internet since last stitution designates Islamic law only as “the November. But he also warned them main source” of legislation, rather than the against letting the country fall under the “sole source”. — AP

PAGE

KUWAIT: Five MPs yesterday proposed amendments to the residency law that call to allow foreign residents to stay outside Kuwait as long as their residence permit is valid and also call to make it easier to grant certain categories of expats with residencies. The five MPs - Nabeel Al-Fadhl, Abdulhameed Dashti, Hani Shams, Faisal AlKandari and Abdullah Al-Mayouf - also proposed in the amendments to make it mandatory for the immigration department to grant residence permits and renew them in a number of cases, especially when the foreigners are relatives of Kuwaitis.

These cases include foreigners married to Kuwaiti women and that their permits cannot be cancelled if the relationship is severed if they have children. These also include foreign wives of Kuwaitis and their residence permits cannot be cancelled if she has children from the Kuwaiti husband. Other beneficiaries of the amendments include foreign men or women whose children hold legal residence permits and foreign children whose parents or one of them is a holder of a legal residence permit. The amendment makes it compulsory and not optional as is the case now for the immigration department to grant these cases with residence permits. Under the current law, immigration authorities can reject a request for residence permits without explaining the reasons even if the applicants fulfill all the conditions.

The other amendment allows expatriate residents to stay outside Kuwait during the whole period of the residence permit which effectively scraps a rule in the immigration law stating that the residence permit becomes null and void if a foreigner stays outside Kuwait for more than six months unless he/she provides a legitimate or compelling reason. The amendments must first be reviewed by the legal and legislative committee, passed by the National Assembly and then accepted by the government which is expected to oppose it because it loosens its grip on immigration matters.

In another development, the legal and legislative committee yesterday approved a proposal stating that all public tenders which have a value of less than KD 70,000 can be processed by the concerned department or ministry without the need to go through the Central Tenders Department. Under the existing law, almost all contracts must first be approved by the CTC before it can be signed and processed, which some quarters blame for the delay of some projects in Kuwait. The committee also approved another proposal to allow the establishment of a second livestock import company to end the monopoly in the sector in Kuwait.

Continued on Page 2

NATO strike kills 10 kids in Afghanistan

PAGE

Saudis give illegal foreign workers 3 months’ grace Expats apprehensive over crackdown RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has given illegal foreign workers a three -month grace period to legalise their status, after panic over reported mass deportations, an official statement said.

King Abdullah ordered the interior and labour ministries to allow “workers violating the labour and residency system a maximum of three months to rectify their situation,” said the statement carried by SPA state news agency. The Saudi authorities this year imposed new labour constraints affecting millions of expatriates in the Gulf state, in a move that sparked fears of mass deportations among the immigrant workers.

The new regulations introduced by the labour ministry aim to reduce the number of foreign workers to create jobs for millions of unemployed Saudis. Yemenis and South Asians -Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who work in low-paid jobs across the kingdom will be mostly affected by the decision, according to observers. Some 200,000 people have been expelled from the oil-rich kingdom in the past three months based on the new restrictions, immigration officials say, while Yemeni officials speak of thousands of their nationals sent home.

Saudi Arabia hosts eight million foreign workers, mostly in very low-paid jobs, according to official figures, while economists say there are another two million unregistered non-Saudi workers in the kingdom. Under the new rules, foreigners are allowed to work only

for their legal sponsors in the kingdom while their spouses cannot take up jobs. Many foreigners enter Saudi Arabia under the sponsorship of a Saudi national but end up working for others, or set up their own businesses. The kingdom has two million unemployed Saudis, many of them fresh graduates, and women, according to Labour Minister Adel Fakih.

“Foreign workers working without labour visas are competing with Saudis for jobs since they accept lower wages,” said Saudi economist Ihsan Abu Haliqa. “The current campaign (to expel workers) will no doubt strongly affect retail and services sectors,” he said, pointing to the fact that nearly 1.2 million work visas were granted to foreigners in 2011 and two million in 2012. The labour ministry imposed new quotas in 2011 on companies regarding the hiring of local staff, which determines their ability to recruit foreigners.

The labour ministry’s inspections have forced tens of thousands of workers to leave their workplaces and hide at home, including many private school teachers whose absence has disrupted school classes. The director of a private school in the Red Sea city of Jeddah told AFP that “classes have come to a complete halt. There are no teachers and we have asked students to stay at home until further notice”. “A state of panic has spread among teachers after rumors that labour ministry inspectors have torn out residencies and immediately deported many” foreign employ-

ees, he said. At least 40,000 students attend private schools in Jeddah. Labour ministry spokesman Hattab Al-Anzi said that “our role is restricted to carrying out inspections inside workplaces and investigating irregularities before referring them to the interior ministry which implements punishments accordingly.”

Like many expatriates in Saudi Arabia, Umm Hajar, a 30-year-old Moroccan beautician, stopped going to work two weeks ago fearful of government inspectors checking her residency status. She has lived in the capital Riyadh with her Egyptian husband for two years, but while they both have residence permits, they are in breach of official regulations because they are not sponsored by their employers. “I don’t want a policeman to cut up my papers,” said Umm Hajar, one of more than eight million foreigners in the conservative kingdom’s estimated 27 million total population. “I just want to stay with my husband.”

Umm Hajar had already been working at a beauty salon in Jeddah for two years before she met her husband, an Egyptian construction supervisor in Riyadh who is officially registered as a labourer for a different company. After she returned to Morocco they agreed to marry, but his official status as a labourer does not allow him to sponsor dependents in Saudi Arabia. Through a friend, they found a Saudi who agreed to sponsor her, ostensibly as his maid, in return for a fee of 15,000 riyals ($4,000). — Agencies

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

LOCAL

MoE to discuss TOEFL classes for 12th grade KUWAIT: Acting Undersecretary of the Education Ministry, Mariam Al-Wutaid, said allocating two class periods to teach TOEFL for 12th grade was only a proposal which is still to be discussed in the undersecretaries’ meeting. She said the proposal needed careful study and a clear mechanism needed to be evolved before eliciting the opinion of teachers.

Al-Wutaid asked authorities in charge of various educational areas not to commit school administrations to carry out the proposal because it was still to be discussed by the undersecretariesí council and no final decision has been taken yet.

Educational sources revealed that planning sector at the ministry has completed drafting the new amended strategy for education in electronics. They said the strategy was ready and will be discussed by the council of undersecre-

taries shortly for approval. Sources said that the ministry recently asked the Assistant Undersecretary for planning and information sector, Dr Khalid AlRasheed, to prepare the new strategy.

The move was aimed at fixing the anomalies found in the old strategy which was prepared in 2008.

Pointing out that the new strategy was based on modern educational philosophy, which is considered best, a complete overhaul of the educational system is expected in Kuwait.

The strategy will help strengthen the role of school leadership, enabling it to play a bigger part in developing activities and educational programs for students and growth programs for teachers.

Sources said the strategy will deal with four main subjects ñ students, curriculum, human resources and infrastructure.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday at Seif Palace member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and President of the Football Association in Tajikistan Rostom Emam Ali on the occasion of his visit to the country. The meeting was attended by President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. — KUNA

Fund approval raise fears of ‘borrowing surge’ MPS to discuss proposed press law KUWAIT: Local banks expect a new ‘rush’ for personal loans after both, the enforcement of the family fund and the proposed amendment to the insolvency fund. The twin measures, according to banking sector insiders, could allow around 67,000 clients to seek loans again as the two funds would bestow many privileges.

The sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity bolstered their argument by citing two key facts: An average increase in public sector salaries by 55 percent over the past few years, as well as a drop in the interest rate to its lowest level in Kuwait’s history.

In addition to a new wave of loans ‘worth hundreds of millions’ of Kuwaiti Dinars expected to start as early as the second half of this year, the sources said that the recent developments could lead to price inflation since there will be increased demand on housing, consumer goods and services.

The parliament passed the family fund law last week as a complementary piece of legislation alongside the insolvency fund law which the government introduced in 2008 to help defaulters. The main difference between the two was that the former addressed the debts of both defaulters and non-defaulting borrowers while the latter was meant only for defaulters.

The family fund’s mechanism calls for it to purchase loans taken by at least 47,000 Kuwaitis as of March 2008. These loans are worth KD 744 million in total. The debtor would then be required to repay only the principal of the loan in a maximum 15 year period while all interests would be written off. Another main difference between the two funds was that unlike its predecessor, the family fund would allow a beneficiary to take a new loan after the interests accrued on the earlier loans were written off. So far, the cabinet and parliament have promised to introduce amendments to the insolvency fund law as soon as possible in order to allow beneficiaries to avail of new loans as well.

With nearly 20,000 citizens registered as beneficiaries of the insolvency fund, the sources expect that they could soon be joining 47,000 borrowers who are set to benefit from the family fund. Thus, 67,000 citizens will once again become eligible to take loans again. In the meantime, the sources warned that a new crisis could emerge if strict controls were not introduced or if the government failed to introduce productive developmental projects that can contain the accumulated bank liquidity.

Meanwhile, sources revealed that the council of ministers will discuss in its normal session the proposed press law that will include additional regulations for electronic publications.

These regulations will cover organizational work, measures to protect the rights of all parties while retaining the emphasis on freedom of information, right of expression, innovation and criticism within certain limits and in keeping with other legislations meant to protect the society, individuals and the state from any wrong practices.

The law will include full explanation of the rights and duties of those working in this field.

Sources expected that the council will finalize necessary legislation to increase the cap on housing loan to KD 100,000.

Sources at the lending and savings bank said that discussions were on now to find the best alternative to implement low cost housing for which 7000 families were waiting. The bank has proposed three alternatives to the council of ministers, including payment of KD 250 as rent allowance to leasing properties from the private sector or assigning the banks to construct apartments, provided that the government allocates necessary land.

Meanwhile sources revealed that the council of ministers will discuss in its normal session the proposed press law that will include additional regulations for electronic publications.

These regulations will cover organizational work, measures to protect the rights of all parties while retaining the emphasis on freedom of information, right of expression, innovation and criticism within certain limits and in keeping with other legislations meant to protect the society, individuals and the state from any wrong practices.

The law will include full explanation of the rights and duties of those working in this field. Sources expected that the council will finalize necessary legislation to increase the cap on housing loan to KD 100,000.

Sources at the lending and savings bank said that discussions were on now to find the best alternative to implement low cost housing for which 7000 families were waiting. The bank has proposed three alternatives to the council of ministers, including payment of KD 250 as rent allowance to leasing properties from the private sector or assigning the banks to construct apartments, provided that the government allocates necessary land. — Al-Qabas

Commercial exchange among GCC citizens extolled DUBAI: Kuwait Consul General in Dubai and Northern Emirates Tareq Al-Hamad yesterday asserted the importance of commercial exchange among GCC citizens, as the GCC states constitute a single entity and a secured environment for business.

His remarks came during the opening ceremony of a Kuwaiti project sponsored

by United Sports Company (Goal), with the participation of retired international Dutch player Edwin Van Der Sar. In a statement to KUNA, Al-Hamad said he was pleased to attend the event which embodies one of the initiatives aimed at bolstering trade cooperation among GCC citizens, pointing out that the project is one way of showing cooperation between GCC citizens in Gulf States. “Such project also affirms that Kuwaiti businessmen are always present in the Gulf states and always at the forefront of various commercial or trade spheres,” Al-Hamad added. — KUNA

MPs want amendments...

Continued from Page 1 The interior and defense committee meanwhile discussed requests by relatives of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the former spokesman of Al-Qaeda currently imprisoned in the United States, to release him.

Abu Ghaith was a Kuwaiti national but the government withdrew his citizenship several years ago after he publicly associated himself with Al-Qaeda. Secretary of the committee MP Taher Al-Failakawi said

that the foreign ministry pointed out that Abu Ghaith is no longer a Kuwaiti citizen and suggested that his relatives should contact the International Red Cross.

Failakawi said the committee also reviewed the possibility of releasing imprisoned members of the so-called Peninsula Lions Brigade who fought bloody gun battles with Kuwaiti police in Jan 2005. The lawmaker said the prisoners had passed a rehabilitation program in jail.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

LOCAL

Love triangle ends with death Culprit buried compatriot alive KUWAIT: The mystery behind the death of an Egyptian man whose body was found buried in Shadadiya last week was finally solved by Farwaniya detectives who found his involvement in a love triangle led to his murder.

Police arrested the killer on Saturday, five days after he attacked and fatally injured his compatriot, and then buried him while he was still breathing, near the site of a major university construction project.

Detectives had suspected foul play ever since investigations began since the victim’s head revealed injury marks sustained as a result of beating. According to a security source privy to the investigations, the first clue which led to the killer was found when detectives discovered that the victim owned two cell phone lines, one for his personal use while the other was used by a person to call the victim on his first line on multiple occasions.

Detectives first called the number and then hung up after a woman answered, apprehensive that she could disappear if she felt she was being considered a suspect by the police. They then put a grocery shop in Hawally under surveillance as a call was made from the suspect’s number to this shop. After questioning a num-

ber of customers, they eventually found an Asian woman whose phone had the suspicious number saved in the contacts list. The woman said that the number belonged to her friend, a Sri Lankan woman who was soon arrested after police discovered that her visa had expired and that she was reported missing by her employer.

The woman revealed during interrogation that she had been romantically involved with the victim, but indicated that she had lost contact with him around the time of his death.

During further interrogation, the woman revealed that she was also involved with an Egyptian man living in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. After being summoned for investigations, the man first denied knowledge about the victim, but eventually confessed that he had killed him after discovering his relationship with his girlfriend.

The suspect explained that he had been romantically involved with the same woman for two years, during which he spent a lot of money on the relationship; including monthly rent for a Hawally apartment he provided for the woman.

He added that he started following his compatriot after discovering that he and his girlfriend have been secretly dating. After such spying for a certain period, during which he reportedly

even stood outside the victim’s apartment to eavesdrop on his phone conversations with his girlfriend, the man started plotting the murder.

The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained that the suspect decided to meet the victim one day when the latter was on his way to meet the woman. He lured his victim to a place, the eventual scene of the crime, and confronted him about the secret relationship and demanded that he stay away from his girlfriend. A heated argument ensued as the victim denied knowing the woman, but it all ended a few hours later when the suspect waited for him to turn his back and hit him thrice with a boulder on his head until he fell unconscious. The man drove back home after burying the victim while he was still breathing.

The preliminary forensic examination results indicated that the man eventually died 24 or 48 hours later, judging from the state of decomposition of the body when it was recovered. The suspect was taken to the Public Prosecution to face multiple charges, including premeditated murder; a crime punishable by death in Kuwait’s Penal Code. It is the second felony of its kind to be uncovered by Farwaniya detectives within a week. — Al-Rai

Industrial activities damage Kuwait Bay KUWAIT: Industrial and human activities in Kuwait Bay cause environmental damage and constant pressure on the country’s marine environment in general, and the bay in particular, will lead to dire consequences in the long term, Director General of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) Dr Naji Al-Mutairi warned yesteday.

Al-Mutairi indicated, in a speech at inauguration of a workshop, themed “water nutrients saturation sources and reduction techniques in enclosed gulf, “ that measures must be taken to safeguard the country’s natural resources, noting population growth has increased demand for energy and water, thus the situation requires plans for sustainable use of the environment.

Kuwait Bay, a living example of a marine environment affected by human and industrial activities, is a semienclosed body of water and a natural shallow port with an average depth of about three meters, he said, also indicating that mounting inflow of man-made, or caused, natural nutrients contribute to the pollution of the waters.

High pollution in enclosed water locations leads to depletion of the oxygen, a main cause of death of marine living creatures.

For his part, the Executive Secretary, Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME), Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi, said in a speech at the event importance of the workshop is that it deals with examining the origin of life in marine environment, which is nutrient salts, non-living chemical components.

These salts constitute the basic material for beginning of life cycle in the aquatic environment, he said, stressing on the need for non-organic elements to start creating celled organisms-nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon-and importance of studying images of status of those elements, as they interact with the water, in order to sustain aquatic environment life and ensure a healthy and balanced food cycle.

The workshop, which groups specialists in water saturation sources and reduction techniques in semi-enclosed gulfs, lasts until today. — KUNA

20,000 M-16 rifle rounds stolen from MoI warehouse

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: A security source said that 20,000 M-16 rifle rounds, and 15,000 9mm pistol rounds, along with an undetermined shooting ear protectors, and a printer were stolen from the shooting warehouse of the Minstry of Interior in Subbiya area. The source said three doors were broken and the entire content was removed, adding that there were no guards at the place according to the officer who informed about the theft. The officer did not accuse any one. Directors are investigating the matter.

KUWAIT: Two Asian expats arrested for drug trafficking

Drug traffickers arrested Drugs fighting men arrested two Asian expats on the ground of trading in drugs earlier information were received that two

Asian drivers trading in heroin and they have the drug in their house and they pack it in small bags and sell it to drugs users, investigations were concentrated and after it was clear that they use their profession as drivers in distributing drugs, immediately, legal approvals were obtained and their room was raided and after search about 100 grams of pure heroin was found which was repacked and ready for sale, in addition to a sensitive for sale, in addition to a sensitive sale. They confessed in trading in drugs and that they bring it from their home country, they were sent to concerned authorities.

Boats collide An officer and a soldier in Kuwait army were subject to an accident in the Arabian Gulf

water, after their boat collided with an Iraqi boat. The Iraqi boat belongs to some Iraqi fishermen, and they refused to obey orders and stop after entering the Kuwaiti territorial waters near Bubyan island.

Fishermen entered the Kuwaiti waters, and refused to stop or return back from where they came, which made the Kuwaiti army boat chase them until collided with their boat. It is not known yet how serious were their injuries.

Firemen sacrifices The Director General of Fire Department, Lt. General Yousuf Al Ansar, and his deputy, Brig Khalid Al Mikred, visited the Al Babtain Hospital yesterday morning to call upon Sergeant Ammar Ashoor Abdeen who was injured in a fire fighting

operation a few days back and was admitted in the intensive care unit of the hospital. They met the hospital’s Director Dr Mohammed Owaidah, Dr Khalid Khairallah and Dr Mohammad Khalaf besides the medical team looking after Sergeant Ammer Ashoor. The doctors briefed them about the case and described the patient’s condition as stable and continuously improving. Al-Ansari conveyed the greetings and appreciation of State Minister for Council Affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Al Abdullah, and said that the minister told him that His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak has instructed that Ammer must receive all necessary medical care, and if need be, treatment was to be provided even abroad. The PM wished him a speedy recovery.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

LOCAL Local Spotlight

Letters to Badrya

Do our job with pride

The Arab media

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I

t is no surprise that many Arabs hate Americans, but how many of us ever took the trouble to think why we harbor these negative feelings? Maybe it is time to stop following the so called Arab media channels that provoke negative sentiments about United States.

Maybe it is time to use our own minds to understand the issues.

Today, I think we need to analyze those who remain behind the scene and shape and re-shape our minds, ideas and possibly even actions, against the US. Maybe they have their own reasons to hate the US, but what are our reasons and why should we see the US as an enemy and not a friend or an ally or just a big country with vast interests across the world that impact every single country and living soul?

I have never been convinced than today that the war of hatred that is being waged against the Americans is false and prompted by shallow reasons. I do believe that some Arab channels - and this is my own thinking - do have an agenda of their own and that is why they are stoking these tensions.

For example, during the revolution in Egypt, Al Jazeera played a significant role in promoting the image of the new rebels and the Muslim Brotherhood. Today, we can clearly see how we were misled, or at least some of us viewers were. I am one of those who want to be cautious when we speak about the current scene in Egypt. Where is the Arab League on all this? The situation in Syria is really worrying and yet, nothing serious has been done by the Arab League. Where does the general secretary stand on these issues?

The Arabs are confronting many serious challenges as an outcome of the Arab Spring and its economic and social consequences for their countries, yet no good came out of that spring except death and more failure on all aspects.

Moreover, the Arab media is blaming the Americans for every single misery they face. That, surely, is not fair and not true at all.

So, is it money or hunger for power that is driving the Arab channels to shape the ideas as well as, possibly, actions propelled by hate against one of the largest nations on earth? I think it might be both and the fact that some of those who own these channels mistakenly think that the more they attack the US, the more popular they will be in the Arab world.

I think we need to be careful and try to filter what we hear and read. We should not follow anyone blindly, like a herd of sheep.

kuwait digest

The distorted definition of justice

By Dr Hassan Abbas

W

hen you think about the debt relief scheme that the parliament approved of last week, you find that it has nothing to do with fair distribution of wealth as the lawmakers claim. It could be considered a grant, or a financial aid, a charity or anything else but certainly not something done to achieve social justice.

Judging from their statements, it appears that MPs as well as members of the parliament’s financial committee are unaware of the true meaning of justice. They say that after meeting with a number of defaulters and people struggling to repay their loans, they sympathized with them and decided to ease their burden. So the issue is basically about people struggling with their debts’ repayment, and MPs who want to help unload some of the pressure off their backs. If the case is that simple, then justice would be achieved by distributing wealth equally among all people. You cannot talk about ‘fair distribution’ when public funds are used to help a group of people while others are ignored on the grounds that they are not suffering financial problems. A law must guarantee equality for all. Therefore, in this case, we should keep the local banks and the Central Bank out of this issue and even stop talking about interests and loans. Instead, this whole theatrical display should be replaced with a draft law which guarantees justice by achieving equality among people

with regards to the financial aid that the state bestows.

Maybe the parliament meant addressing the error which caused the loans to become so bloated when MPs talked about ‘justice’? In that case, we have to admit that the said error has resulted in two things: One who was a violator and other who was violated.

The parliament cannot go around bringing into focus people struggling financially while willingly accept that the violators would remain hidden. If an error was indeed committed, the ends of justice could only be met if both the culprit and the victim were to be identified. Then the offender must be made to pay the price, while the victims should have their rights restored - whether they were defaulters or not and regardless of their nationality.

Where is the offender in this case? If there is a crime, there has to be a culprit. One cannot exist without the other. But this is a case where a crime is said to have occurred but there is no culprit. No one can buy such an argument.

In the meantime, MPs continue to talk about ‘justice’ as per their own definition which talks about equal distribution of wealth while at the same time mentions errors committed by the banks. Achieving justice in wealth distribution is totally different than achieving justice in case of errors committed by the banks. —Al-Rai

kuwait digest

The fight over attracting youth

By Dr Shamlan Y. Al-Essa

T

he government and political powers are seeking the acceptance and satisfaction of Kuwait youth as they form the majority of citizens, and they are the changing front, so it is not strange to find all parties trying to lure them to their side.

The government, led by HH the Amir held the first youth conference, and a new ministry was formed, and one of the outstanding family members with many ideas and ambitions on his mind...we wish Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah all success in this difficult mission.

The question that we should put forth, is who will compete with the government to attract the youth especially that we are living in an open, free and democratic country...can the opposing majority gain the youth’s acceptance? We do not expect that because the opposition is not in harmony and divided...some of them are loyal to the tribe, others to religious parties of all types...what about the youth of the “Democratic Center” and the National Democratic Alliance”. The Nationalist and Liberal Movement is divided, while the Democratic Center Suffered defections, the National Alliance went through new elections that removed the youth from its presidency, and the government should pay attention to the increased influence of the political Islam groups and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular...those parties are taking advantage of their work in government departments to spread their influence and control over youth to attract them, not to the government and its legitimate departments, rather for the religious parties that are run by the Awqaf Ministry. Those groups, the Muslim Brotherhood control the Islamic NGOs or cooperative societies and use shareholders money.

The struggle between Islamic groups to gain the youth expanded to include not only the Muslim Brotherhood, but also the Salafi groups, and the tragedy is that the political Islam groups use the clergymen who work at the Awqaf Ministry or Shareeah College at Kuwait University to deliver lectures and religious seminars for the youth in malls such as Souk Sharq, Avenues and others under the supervision of the Muslim Brotherhood and some of the Sheikhs who are brought from Saudi Arabia to deliver religious lectures in youth Mosques or Sabhan Mosques, as on Friday March 29th a gathering was organized under the slogan “Islamic Culture”, another seminar was organized in Wafra near Kilo 13, at 9:00 pm for youth only, and prizes worth KD 10,000 were distributed, as the program contained many attractions to the youth.

The question that we would like to present to the Awqaf and youth ministers, do those activities represent the government’s or the political Islam groups views? Bearing in mind that Awqaf Ministry pays the money to the contestants, and it could be the centrism committee at the ministry which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The government today faces strong opposition from political Islam groups, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood and Ummah party, and in financing those parties...all what we want from the government is to implement the law and not allow religious parties to use its facilities and NGOs to achieve their partisan interest! — Al-Watan

Hi Badrya, Hope you are well. My name is Jay Serrao. I was born and brought up in Kuwait, went to a good school and come from a good family. My parents worked in the field of medicine in Ahmadi and I grew up there.

Due to their hard work, dedication and commitment, I was able to pursue my higher studies in Great Britain and now call myself a proud Brit, of course with an IndianKuwaiti heritage. I now work as an accountant by day and am a professional singer/ songwriter (Jay Serrao and The Juice, Shmolts). I still see Ahmadi and Kuwait as my home.

Introductions aside, I refer to your recent article ‘Deportation is not the answer’. While I agree with most of the emotional points you have made, and forgive me for sounding rude as that is not my intention, I am afraid that you still fall in the same category as the people running the Ministry of Social Affairs.

I am afraid you are still missing the point. Let me explain. To have a ‘pool’ of people in Kuwait waiting for work is not only not fair to those workers but not fair for the mindset of Kuwaitis in general. It makes the Kuwaitis look even more prejudiced and dependant on these workers. And believe me, picking up a Mexican or an African in the US and Italy, respectively, is not something I would be proud of. Kuwait and the Kuwaitis need to be independent, which means, they must end their dependence on foreign workers. Why is it that a Kuwaiti feels ashamed to be a nurse? Why is it that a Kuwaiti feels ashamed to be a teacher? Or a janitor or a cleaner? These are the issues that need to be tackled. These are social issues that need to be addressed by both the people and the government. A good education and a well informed ad-campaign is what a government can contribute but having and maintaining a mindset to work is up to the Kuwaitis. Work in any legitimate field and be proud of whatever you do.

I visited Kuwait recently in 2010 for a charity event organized by the British Embassy and things were still the same. All of the ‘means to an end’ jobs were still manned by foreign men and women. I am not blaming them, of course, but it highlights the dependency that Kuwaitis have on these workers.

I am not being pompous here but just to take myself as an example, when I was growing up in Kuwait, we had maids in our house. We had chauffeurs to drive us to our intended destination. My parents were workaholics. We were spoilt for choice in our lifestyle. And this, I am afraid, was wrong. My parents realized this and when we hit our teens, we were told to do our own chores and earn our pocket money.

We lived in an affluent part of North Ahmadi and my Kuwaiti neighbors would laugh at the sight of seeing me wash my dad’s car or mow the lawn. It hurt at first, but eventually it was the money that I saw. And I am proud of my parents for teaching us these life values.

On coming to Britain about 15 years ago, I learnt a lot and have become fully independent. I do not depend on anybody to make me a cup of tea or coffee. I do not expect things to be done for me. I am no royalty and I do not expect to be seen that way. I suppose it is the British way of thinking and we are surely moving away from the ‘I have a slave’ mindset of the Raj too.

This much I can say: If you ever visit London and enter a coffee shop or say, Harrods or Selfridges, chances are that you will find a Brit behind the cash till. That is because we are taught to do our job with pride, and it pays the bills for drinks after work, of course.

Many thanks and apologies if I took so much of your time. Keep writing as I read it from time to time.

Jay Dear Badrya, We have been living for five years in Kuwait, trying to make Kuwait our home while we pursue our careers and our children grow. Despite all the challenges that we encountered, we appreciate what the country has offered us. Now we are aware that different people live in different Kuwait. Indeed the country has to become more mature and make expats feel more welcomed. At the same time, we believe Kuwait has a lot to offer to the expats while protecting its national interests.

But just a brief note for your Friday morning article which was not only well written but it was a pleasure to see you embracing the cause. I am certain it will reach many forward thinking nationals.

Have a great weekend.

Philippe

In my view

No need for Kafeels

By Labeed Abdal

labeed@kuwaittimes.net

E

nding the sponsorship system in Kuwait will definitely make this country once again a welcoming hub for all those who choose to live and work in Kuwait, instead of any other place.

Scrapping of the sponsorship condition will also end the menace of marginal workers and will ensure that Kuwait remains open to professionals and committed labour force.

Many expats will take that option as they admire Kuwait and want to stay in a legal manner. They celebrate along with Kuwaitis all their national days and events.

Leaving open the option of either going in for the new system or sticking to their original sponsors is a good start to remedy the situation as it will help retain and nurture good working relations. There are many success stories that are a result of cooperation between the expats and local citizens and we want businesses to grow bigger and attract even more investments. Establishing a new recruitment authority will add to the ministerial efforts to combat the visa trade market. It will also come as a reassurance for those who follow the law and do not want any headaches on this count.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

LOCAL

News

in brief

Arab Fund grants Egypt KD 44m CAIRO: Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Ashraf El-Arabi signed here yesterday with the Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development Abdul Latif Yousef Al-Hamad a 44-million Kuwaiti dinar (KD) loan agreement to finance a project for rail signals electrification. El-Arabi said in a statement today that this came during his participation in the annual meetings of the joint Arab bodies and financial institutions, held in Dubai recently, referring to the role played by the Fund in supporting the process of economic development in general and Egypt in particular. He said he looks forward to continued cooperation with the Fund and to focus in the next phase on programs aimed at overcoming the challenges facing Egypt and the Arab Spring countries, foremost the issue of unemployment among young people and the importance of supporting the private sector as the two issues have a positive impact on the future of the development process.

Sunni, Shiite criticism for mosque’s attack Fourth attack on Baharna Mosque KUWAIT: Two former Islamist lawmakers criticized a recent attack on a Shiite mosque in Kuwait and demanded swift operations to “catch the perpetrators” and “thwarts such ill endeavors aimed at damaging the national unity.” “ We condemn the attack on the Baharna Mosque and call for swift investigations to expose the perpetrators,” former MP Mohammad Hayef posted on his Twitter account on Saturday. He further called the assault “an action aimed

at instigating sectarianism in society” and said “it is the Interior Ministry’s duty to thwart such tactics.”

Fellow Sunni politician and former MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei criticized the attack and accused the perpetrators of “seeking to create sectarian turmoil in the country.” He urged the public to “stand united in the face of sectarianism.”

The attack, which is the fourth of its kind against the Baharna Mosque that is

located in the Daiya district, drew strong reactions from the parliament with MPs demanding an immediate investigation to uncover the plot behind the recurrent assaults.

“Efforts are needed to arrest the perpetrators as soon as possible and expose the people behind these so that they can be prosecuted as well,” MP Khalid Al-Shatti said in a statement addressing the First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh

Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah.

Meanwhile, the Justice and Salam Assembly, a Shiite political group, indicated in a statement that the attack “proves that there are malicious attempts to damage our national unity,” and blamed the “government’s weakness” for its recurrence.

Several MPs, most notably Safa AlHashem and Faisal Al-Duwaisan, demanded the minister’s resignation over the incident.— Al-Rai

Expat doctors salary increase KUWAIT: Health areas began receiving applications of expatriate doctors salary increase in order to send them to the Ministry of Health. Al-Sabah health area director Dr Adel Al-Asfour said the area began receiving applications about a month ago, estimating the number of such doctors who are eligible for the increase at 1,020 doctors.

Bahrain-Kuwait Committee meeting MANAMA: The Higher Bahraini-Kuwaiti Cooperation Committee is scheduled to hold meetings in Kuwait today, eying stronger bilateral cooperation and coordination between the two Gulf states, the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Mubarak AlSabah said. The Ambassador said in remarks to KUNA that this meeting comes to serve the interests and boost development in the two countries, and would introduce new fields of cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The meeting will witness the signing of several agreements in various fields, Sheikh Azzam added.

Municipality, Audit Bureau team inspects slaughterhouses

Municipality urges campers to abide by regulations KUWAIT: The Deputy Director for Public Relations at Kuwait Municipality, Abdul Mohsen Aba Al-Khail, announced that camping period ended on March 31, just like every year. He said any camps still found in the desert area would be in considered in violation of the norms and will be removed. He called upon the campers to abide by the municipality regulations.

Aba Al-Khail said that surprise checks carried out by Kuwait Municipality helped curb various kinds of violations.

In this respect, officials entrusted with public cleaning at Sulaibiya, in cooperation with public relations department personnel, carried out an inspection campaign in camping areas in Jahra governorate at Sulaibiya area between Fifth and Sixth Ring Roads.

Al-Sulaibiya center supervisor, Sultan Al-Shimmary, said that the center was helping in collecting the leftovers from the camps and transporting this garbage to the dumping site.

He said the cleaning operations at camping sites were on, and the 40 truckloads of leftovers were already removed besides removal of 20 camps. Aba Al-Khail called upon all citizens and expats to lodge any complaints at hotline number 139 that operates around the clock.

Workers seen collecting leftovers from camps.

KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality organized in coordination with representatives of the Audit Bureau a surprise field visit to a poultr y slaughterhouses in Jahra Governorate for the Audit Bureau to become acquainted with the safety measures taken by the municipality in this regard.

The visit included a tour on all processing stages inside the slaughterhouse starting from slaughter, through cooling rooms and laboratories for examining chicken and ending with packing.

Director of Coordination department in the municipality Awatef Al-Matrood said in a statement on this occasion that based on the directives of the Director General of the Municipality Engineer Ahmed Al-Subeih on the need for cooperation of various bodies of Kuwait Municipality with the Audit Bureau on the safety issue

of domestic poultr y from Salmonella microbe, several coordination meetings between the two sides had been held in this regard.

She added that the aim of these meetings is to probe actions taken by the municipality to curb the spread of this

microbe and control it in accordance with the rules applicable in the slaughterhouses.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Food Safety Committee Mohammad Ghazi Al Otaibi announced the recommendations taken by the committee in its session no. 3/2013 held on

12-3-2013. The committee recommended Ministry of Commerce representative to follow up issuing the ministerial decree, which calls for temporary ban on all kinds of birds (fresh, chilled, frozen, and treated) in all its kinds and eggs from the Kingdom of Denmark. Al

KUWAIT: Municipality and Audit Bureau team.

Otaibi added that a ministerial decision has been issued about ban of importing all kinds of birds from Germany, and ban of important of cow meat from Brazil.

He pointed that Ireland has added to lift the ban on importing Irish meat, the subject was postponed waiting results of final report from GCC general secretary office, who sent a delegation to Ireland during the month of Februar y which included a field visit to slaughter houses and cow farms and cattle farm and based on the awaited report a decision will be taken in due course. Regarding lifting Greece from the black list of importing animal products and meats and live cows from EU countries. They recommended that all European countries to apply to agriculture authority in order to know requirement needed for live animals and traded meats. — Agencies

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

LOCAL

Traders advised not to rely on internet forums in stock KUWAIT: Traders are advised not to rely on information published on economic internet forums in taking any stock-related decisions, economists said Sunday, warning that traders they could fell into the trap of speculators who use these websites to pass inaccurate information to help them make gains.

“The majority of information published on the economic forums is not reliable,” Financial analyst Nayef AlEnzi told KUNA. “Nearly 80 percent of what is being published on these websites are unstudied, personal analyses and forecasts.” Al-Enzi warned traders against depending on incredible and unspecialized sources of information in taking such highly important investment decisions.

Chairman of Kuwait’s Traders Society Mohammad Al-Tarrah echoed a similar view. “Some companies even leak untrue positive information to these websites to mislead traders,” AlTarrah told KUNA. “ Taking the information and reports published by those forums for guaranteed, could cost traders dearly,” he cautioned. Al-Tarrah urged traders to be cautious and aware of the dangers of these forums.

For his part, economist and Chairman of the Kuwait Industries Company Mohammad Al-Naqi said the listed companies are obliged, as per law, to unveil everything about its economic performance and deals.

“The Kuwait Stock Exchange is also committed to implement all transparency rules regarding the activities

of the listed companies and it publishes the accurate reports about these activities on its official website,” AlNaqi told KUNA. “But some small companies and speculative groups publish inaccurate reports about their unreal activities on these forums to deceive traders and make some gains.”

Meanwhile, trader Khaled Al-Ali argued that traders resort to economic forums due to the acute shortage of accurate official information about the listed companies’ future deals.

“Despite of the high rate of errors and risk, these forums are considered the sole source of information for some traders about the deals that some companies intend to sign, which help traders make gains,” Al-Ali said. — KUNA

Winners selected for Arab Parliamentary Awards KUWAIT: The Arab Parliamentary Excellence Award organising committee have selected the winning candidates in a meeting yesterday, said its president and Kuwaiti parliamentary caucus secretary Ali Al-Omair.

“The award has been divided into a number of categories, the first of which relates to parliamentary chiefs, including Bahrain’s Shura Council president and the speaker of Yemen’s House of Representatives. We displayed the credentials of each of the candidates and selected one after voting,” he told reporters.

The second category, most distinguished Arab parliamentary personality, involves three candidates from Kuwait, Sudan and Lebanon, while a third category for secretary-generals involves candidates from the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

After putting forth its decisions, the award committee will await the verdict of the Executive Board of its patron the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (AIPU).

“It was difficult determining the winners of the awards due to the efforts of each. We hope to God that the committee members were up to the task in their decision,” he said.

The awards will be handed out during the 19th Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference, to held in Kuwait

tomorrow. Meanwhile, Kuwait will do all in its power to render the Arab Parliament’s upcoming session, to kick off here tomorrow, a great success, said Arab Parliament member and Kuwait MP Abdullah Al-Maeuf.

In statements to KUNA yesterday, Al-Maeuf, member of the Arab Parliament’s charter amendment committee, said Kuwait will not push for granting priority to a certain issue on the meeting agenda.

“Kuwait only aims to render the

meeting a great success,” he said.

Al-Maeuf unveiled that there are five proposals, from Sudan, Morocco, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, to amend the charter of the pan-Arab organization.

He noted that the proposals include an amendment to the voting rules at the Arab parliament. “The committee will thoroughly discuss the proposals and write a report to be presented to the general session for final approval,” he said. — KUNA

Amazing offers on auto finance from ABK & Al Babtain KUWAIT: In collaboration with Abdul Mohsen Al Babtain (Renault, Nissan, Infiniti and Citroen), ABK announces the provision of auto financing services to its clients who want a new car but need financing for it.

Stewart Lockie, GM Retail banking, said “Auto Finance is one of the most important types of financing as it is related with an essential product which is an integral part of our lives. ABK strives to provide easy and affordable ways to fulfill its clients’ needs; with this offer

clients can enjoy discounts up to KD 250 when financing their car with ABK amongst other benefits”.

Lockie added: “ABK, keen to be unique in the services and products offered, including Auto financing, offers special packages on various vehicle brands with the largest international car agencies”.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to the discount announced, ABK offers more advantages like financing up to KD 15,000 without the obligation of transferring the salary to the bank.

Gulf Bank hosts INJAZ job shadow program for students KUWAIT: Gulf Bank recently hosted a Job Shadow day as part of INJAZ Kuwait’s Program. During comprehensive sessions held, 23 students from Abdullah Al Rujaib Boys School received presentations from Gulf Bank personnel about the banking industry and the skills required to succeed in a modern office environment.

The day included visits to two different Gulf Bank branches. The students first visited Al Saleh Building, where they met with the Bank’s Learning and Development Team for a brief introduction about job functions at the Bank. Each student received a booklet about Gulf Bank’s history, vision, promises, and core values to help them better understand how the Bank operates. Following this initial session, students were split into group for branch visits, visiting either Audiliya branch or MAK branch, to see firsthand how the Bank interacts with its customers and delivers its services.

At the end of the sessions, the students met with the Executive Manager of Learning & Development, Human Resources, Zeyad Al-Resheed, who provided them with some advice and guidance that might help them develop their problem-solving skills and overcome the challenges in different working areas, especially in the banking sector, with the view to encourage them in the future to join Gulf Bank which provides suitable job opportunities for young talents.

Moreover, each student was rewarded for completing the session, and a fun competition was held where students were given the opportunity to answer questions about what they learned and a prize was given to the winner.

Gulf Bank’s partnership with INJAZ Kuwait on the Job Shadowing program is based on the Bank’s 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy, which is focused on the two

critical areas of youth and education.

The Job Shadowing program gives the Bank an opportunity to present itself to Kuwait’s future business leaders, increasing their understanding of the banking industry and demonstrat-

ing the importance of operating as a team. Gulf Bank looks forward to building a prosperous future for Kuwait’s next generation and by joining forces with INJAZ Kuwait the Bank is confident of achieving great results.

Kuwait ranks 4th among Arab states in ad spending: PARC KUWAIT: Pan Arab Research Center (PARC) announced yesterday that Kuwait ranked fourth among Arab states in advertisement spending last year with an expenditure amounting to USD 969 million, following the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Statistics showed that the volume of advertisement spending in the first half of 2012 in Kuwait was equivalent to that of 2011, reaching USD 969 million as it amounted to USD 966 in 2011, PARC said in a press statement issued yesterday.

Newspapers have maintained their share of the total advertisement spending for 2012 compared to 2011’s, which still occupies the first place among all media outlets with 52 percent of the total to record a slight decline compared to the rate in 2011, PARC’s study statement added. Television ads came in second place with a rela-

tively large difference, amounting to 4.2 percent of the total to record a slight rise compared to its share in the same period of 2011 that reached 41 percent.

Statistics also showed that magazines came in third with four percent, dropping 16 percent compared to last year’s spending, while radio came fourth with 1.0 percent worth of spending.

PARC, based in Dubai, is a qualified research and information system house founded in 1976 to contibrute in all areas of marketing, providing information about marketing problems to offer data, advice and consultancy services that marketing managers in the Arab world can use. PARC operates through a network of full-fledged independent branch offices in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. — KUNA

Kuwait to host fifth Euromoney conference today KUWAIT: Euromoney Conferences opens its fifth conference today at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuwait.

The theme of the conference is ‘Financial Sustainability, Regulatory Capacity - the Challenge of Change’. This unique event led and moderated by the Euromoney editorial team, will take an in-depth look at Kuwait’s public finances and its macroeconomic position. The discussion panels will address key areas including public finances, funding sources, the role of international business and Kuwait’s position in the region.

Mustafa Jassim Alshamali, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, State of Kuwait, and Dr Mohammad Yousef Al-Hashel, Governor, Central Bank of Kuwait, will open the event, which is co-hosted by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance.

The event will gather senior Kuwaiti financiers and international investors for a focused one-day discussion which will define the economic agenda for the upcoming year.

In an earlier statement, Richard Banks - Director for Emerging Markets at Euromoney Conferences - announced that he is delighted to return to Kuwait to continue this conference. He pointed out that the issues to be tackled this year are more relevant than ever.

The Euromoney Kuwait Conference combines Euromoney’s unique perspective on global events with an in-depth financial analysis of the State of Kuwait. It will look at how and where Kuwait and its international partners can make meaningful decisions to create financial sustainability for the future.

KUWAIT: A local citizen has taken agriculture on a new level. He has harvested home-grown tomatoes with a special twist. One of the tomatoes (see picture) resembles a face. Citizen Ali Al-Kandari stopped by the Kuwait Times building yesterday to show a homegrown tomato shaped as a human face. Al-Kandari found the unique tomato at the garden of his house in Al-Qusour district of the Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate. — Photo by Ahmad Jabr

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

In Baghdad, varied life paths since statue felled

UAE coup trial offers window into Gulf fears

Page 8 Page 8

Christian mourners, police clash in Egypt Egyptian judiciary urges top prosecutor to leave CAIRO: One person was killed yesterday in clashes outside Cairo’s Coptic cathedral following funeral prayers for four Christians killed in sectarian violence, an Egyptian health ministry official said. “There is one fatality in (Cairo’s) Demerdash hospital,” Ahmed AlAnsari told AFP. Egypt’s highest judicial body yesterday urged the nation’s top prosecutor to step down less than five months after the president appointed him, reflecting persistent turmoil in the government’s upper echelon that has often been accompanied by violence. Also yesterday, Christians angered by the killing of four fellow Christians in weekend sectarian violence clashed with a mob throwing rocks and firebombs outside the gate of St. M ark Coptic Or thodox Cathedral in Cairo.

At least 21 people were injured in the clashes, according to the head of the national ambulances services, Mohammed Sultan. Two local journalists were among those injured, one seriously, according to their newspapers. The surprise statement from the Supreme Judiciary Council came on a day when Egypt’s railway services came to a halt because of a strike by train drivers and conductors. The strike snarled inter-city transit in the nation of some 90 million.

Carried by the official MENA news agency, the statement urged the chief prosecutor, Talaat Abdullah, “to express a wish” to return to his previous job as a judge for the sake of the unity of the judiciary. Abdullah’s appointment in December set off protests by many judges and fellow prosecutors, who called it illegal. It set off days of protests outside his office in downtown Cairo. The protests forced him to tender his resignation, but then he withdrew it and stayed in office. A court ruling last week annulled the presidential decree appointing Abdullah, but he has continued to carry out his duties. There was no word immediately available from Abdullah on his plans.

Removing Abdullah has been a key demand of the mostly liberal and secular opposition. Yesterday’s call by the council of the judiciary appeared aimed at

offering him an honorable exit, a step toward ending a long-running crisis within the judiciary over the appointment. During the past two weeks, Abdullah has issued summons against several media celebrities critical of Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president. They included popular T V satirist Bassem Youssef, who was accused of insulting Morsi and Islam. The satirist was released on bail.

The train drivers and conductors went on strike yesterday to demand better pay in yet another in a string of work stoppages during the past two years.

Transport Minister Hatem Abdel-Lateef approved a 10 percent hike in bonuses routinely given to all railway workers but train drivers and conductors rejected it as too little and went on strike. They are members of a national union representing all railway workers. Thousands of angry passengers crowded train stations. Video footage aired by several TV networks showed deserted platforms and empty trains heading nowhere. The head of Egypt’s Railways Authority, Hussein Zakaria, threatened legal proceedings against train drivers who called for the strike.

Speaking to MENA, he said the strike caused “total paralysis” of train services, and that additional public buses were sent to the streets to deal with the backlog of passengers between Cairo and other cities in the Delta, and Alexandria on the Mediterranean.

Yesterday’s clashes outside the Coptic cathedral began when hundreds of angry Christians began an anti-government march after the funeral, chanting slogans against Morsi, just as several thousand did earlier during the funeral service for the four slain Christians. Soon after they left the cathedral’s complex, a mob, described by witnesses as residents of the area, pelted them with rocks and firebombs, forcing them to return to the sprawling cathedral complex. They also showered the protesters with rocks from the roofs of nearby buildings, according to witness Ibrahim el-Shareef.

Riot police later arrived, firing tear gas at the Christians and the mob. Several tear gas canisters landed inside the cathedral’s grounds, causing a pan-

Iran nuclear talks at impasse ALMATY: Talks between world powers and Iran to find a solution to end tensions over the Iranian nuclear drive have once again hit an impasse, even if the diplomatic process is not yet seen to be at risk of collapsing.

Negotiators from world powers came to the snow-peaked city of Almaty for the latest round of talks with cautious optimism that they could make some progress following an encouraging February meeting at the same venue. But the talks ended with both sides-according to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton-”far apart” amid dogged insistence from Iran that its nuclear “rights” be recognised.

The sticking point was the contents of a package from

the world powers that proposes easing some sanctions against the Islamic republic in exchange for Tehran curbing its uranium enrichment activities. But Western officials complained that Iran had failed in these talks to give “a concrete, comprehensive and complete response” to the offer on the table despite earlier statements of good will.

“There is a tremendous lack of trust-distrust-on both sides,” a senior US official said on condition of not being identified.

“It is fair to say that Iran is willing to take very limited steps on its nuclear programme while expecting very significant results in return,” the official added. US Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Turkey on yesterday warned: “This is not an endless process.... You can’t just talk for the sake of talking.”

The intransigent mood for the Almaty talks was set when chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili-a hardliner close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneidemanded immediate recognition of Iran’s “right” to enrich uranium.

The world powers-comprised of the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany and known collectively as the P5+1 — suspect Iran harbours ambitions to build an atomic bomb under the guise of its civilian nuclear energy programme. That view has been supported

by Iran’s refusal to fully cooperate with UN nuclear inspectors and its failure to disclose in a timely manner the existence of a mountain bunker called Fordo that enriches uranium to high levels just a few technical steps from weapons-grade material.

Iran’s top foe Israel meanwhile watches the inconclusive process with impatience and has not ruled out air strikes against Fordo and other sites should the negotiations drag on. The United States has maintained that it, too, is keeping the option of military action open if all else fails. With stakes so high, neither the P5+1 nor Iran want the negotiations to collapse. But Iran’s negotiating position is complicated by presidential elections in June in which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must step down after the maximum two terms. —AFP

CAIRO: Egyptian Coptic Christians women mourn during the funeral service for four Christians killed in sectarian clashes in Al-Khusus earlier this week, at Al-Abbassiya Cathedral yesterday. — AFP

ic among women and children who attended the funeral. Video footage aired live on the private ONTV network showed young men on the roof of a building adjacent to the cathedral firing handguns toward the compound.

The four Christians, along with a Muslim, were killed in clashes on Saturday in a town north of Cairo.

Inside the cathedral, several thousand mourners

chanted slogans against M orsi, calling on the Egyptian leader to step down. They shouted “Leave!” and “This is our country, we will not leave.” Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s estimated 90 million people. They have long complained of discrimination. Attacks against Christians have increased since the ouster two years ago of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.— AP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

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

Donors meet to rebuild, support Darfur region Britain pledges $16.5m aid boost

BAGHDAD: A combo of pictures taken on April 9, 2003 shows Iraqis watching a statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein covered for a short time with a US flag (left) and then being brought down in Baghdad’s Al-Fardous (Paradise) square. — AFP

In Baghdad, varied life paths since statue felled BAGHDAD: It was an iconic moment, viewed by people around the world on television, that came to symbolise the fall of Iraq’s capital Baghdad on April 9, 2003. But residents have competing memories of the decade since the statue of Saddam Hussein was famously toppled in Firdos Square, among them three men-Hilal Al-Dilfi, Qais Al-Sharaa and Bassam Hanna-who work just metres (yards) apart. In the years since, tens of thousands have been killed in brutal violence, the American military presence rose to 170,000 troops before the US withdrew completely, and countless Iraqis fled the country, fearing for their lives or in search of better opportunities.

In that time, Dilfi, Sharaa and Hanna have lived very different lives, reflecting competing histories of Iraq as the country marks a decade since the US-led entry into Baghdad. Sitting at his tiny desk on the square in central Baghdad, Hilal, a smalltime money changer, is unequivocal: life now is better than under the Sunni-dominated regime of Saddam, who was eventually executed in December 2006.

As a Shiite living in the slum neighbourhood of Sadr City, he can finally worship freely; his three sons have bright futurestwo of them with advanced degrees-and his lone daughter is married; he is now living in a bigger home. “I am living in a good situation,” he said, sitting underneath an umbrella to shield himself from the Baghdad heat. “Under Saddam, it was so difficult, but these past 10 years have been good to me. “Saddam was crushing us, our freedoms-especially us, the Shiites.” Dilfi voiced anger at the years-long American military presence in Iraq, which only concluded in December 2011, arguing that US

troops were as bad for Iraqis as Saddam had been. But, he added: “Let’s be honest, without the Americans, Saddam would have been here for 100 years!” Still, watching Saddam’s statue fall remains an unblemished memory for him. “People were running, just to hit the statue, some people were clapping, others were crying,” he recalled. “Me, I felt a sense of happiness, of well-being.” Across the square, Qais AlSharaa has more mixed emotions. A paramedic by training, Sharaa set up shop as a hairdresser in 2002, serving the Saddamera elite, from senior military officers to ministers. As American troops advanced in Baghdad, he pared down his shop to the bare essentials for fear of looters, before later closing up entirely and watching the statue fall on television. “I can tell you that we did not want Saddam, he did not help this country,” said Sharaa, sporting thick but greying hair and an immaculately trimmed goatee. “But I felt sad that Iraq was invaded by America.” Sharaa recalled how American soldiers would regularly visit his salon, but never took off their body armour or let go of their rifles, even as he cut their hair. “There was no trust,” he said. “They did not like us, and we did not like them.

“They removed Saddam, but they damaged the country. After 10 years now, I can tell you they were here not for the benefit of Iraqis, but for their own benefit. They were not coming for liberation, they were like raiders.” Overall, Sharaa recalled the past 10 years as bittersweet. His business has done well-the salon is regularly packed with men looking for a haircut, a shave, or for hair threading services, all willing to pay his relatively high rates, which start at 25,000 Iraqi dinars (about $20).—AFP

DOHA: Representatives of donor countries and aid groups met yesterday to endorse a strategy to rebuild Sudan’s Dar fur region, where a decade -long conflict shocked the world with atrocities against civilians. “Peace time has begun in Darfur. A peace that will be protected by development, not by force,” said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, opening the two-day meeting attended by some 400 delegates.

The conference, which has faced criticism inside Darfur itself, was agreed under a July 2011 peace deal which Khartoum signed in the Qatari capital with an alliance of rebel splinter groups. It seeks support for a development strategy requiring $7.2 billion (5.5 billion euros) for a six-year effort to move Darfur away from food handouts and other emergency aid, laying the foundation for lasting development through improved water facilities, roads and other infrastructure. “ This conference is a unique opportunity for Sudan and Darfur to turn the destiny of this conflictridden region,” said Jorg Kuhnel, team leader of the UN Development Programme in Sudan. In his speech, Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha urged “all armed groups to make the historic decision to respect the will of the people of Darfur,” referring to militants who have so far refused to join the 2011 peace agreement.

The head of the Darfur Regional Authority, Tijani Sissi, said the people of Darfur have “high expectations” from the meeting. “ We expect from this conference a political support for the (development) strategy, accompanied by material and technical support, to implement the reconstruction programme,” he said. The Doha meeting comes 10 years after rebels rose up in the western Sudanese region to seek an end to what they said was the domination of power and wealth among the country’s Arab

DARFUR: Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic cooperation (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (left) speaks during the International Donors Conference for Reconstruction and Development yesterday. —AFP elites.

In response, governmentbacked Arab Janjaweed militia committed atrocities against civilians, prompting the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar AlBashir over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. “After 10 years of emergency assistance, it is time to start rebuilding communities in Darfur, and allowing them to start taking care of themselves again,” Kuhnel told AFP. Britain yesterday pledged at least 11 million pounds ($16.5 million, 13 million euros) for Darfur annually over the next three years to help communities to grow their own food and to provide skills training to help people find work.

“It is not good enough to simply offer more handouts,” said Britain’s international development minister, Lynne Featherstone. “Our aid

will help the poorest to get the help they need to stand on their own and make them better able to cope when crises occur.” The development strategy calls for agricultural upgrades, access to financing and other measures to help Darfuris support themselves under a more effective system of local government.

While the worst of the violence has long passed, rebel-government clashes continue along with interArab battles, kidnappings, carjackings and other crimes. But the draft development strategy on the table in Doha says there will probably never be an ideal time for recovery, and delays can only make the process more difficult.

“We are aware that it is a difficult international environment to mobilise funds. But we believe that it would be a grave mistake not to seize this opportunity for the international community as a whole,”

said Kuhnel. He said not all funds need to be mobilised immediately.

“We need to be able to start and receive sufficient funds to build credibility of the process and the strategy,” he added. Some 1.4 million people have been displaced by Dar fur ’s decade -long conflict.

Yesterday, displaced people demonstrated in several camps in Darfur, demanding that security take priority, with some saying they would not return to their villages until peace is restored. Major insurgent groups rejected the Doha pact, which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in January had seen only limited progress in its implementation. A breakaway faction of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement on Saturday became the second group to join the peace deal. It signed a “final agreement” with the Sudanese government in Doha, official media reported. —AFP

UAE coup trial offers window into Gulf fears

ISTANBUL: A handout photo shows Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) greeting US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. — AFP

Kerry to Turkey: Mend ties with Israel quickly ISTANBUL: US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday urged Turkey’s leaders to quickly restore full diplomatic relations with Israel, but Turkey demanded that Israel first end all “embargoes” against the Palestinians. The Obama administration sees the two US allies as anchors of stability in a Middle East amid Syria’s civil war, Arab Spring political upheavals and the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program. In Istanbul on the first leg of a 10-day overseas trip, Kerry met with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu with the aim of firming up the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel that President Barack Obama revived during a visit to Israel state last month.

Kerry met later with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before traveling on to Israel. “We would like to see this relationship that is important to stability in the Middle East and critical to the peace process... get back on track in its full measure,” Kerry told reporters at a news conference with Davutoglu. He said that meant promises of “compensation be fulfilled, ambassadors be returned and that full relationship be embraced.”

Turkey and Israel were once close partners, but the relationship plummeted in 2010 after an Israeli raid on a flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip. Eight Turks and a TurkishAmerican died. Before leaving Israel two weeks ago, Obama arranged a telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Erdogan.

Netanyahu apologized for the incident; compensation talks are expected to begin this week. But Davutoglu suggested that full normalization of ties would probably take some time. “There is an offense that has been committed and there needs to be accountability,” Davutoglu said. He signaled that Turkey would pursue a “careful” advance toward a complete restoration of relations, with compensation and an end to Israeli trade

restrictions on the Gaza Strip as the stumbling blocks. “All of the embargoes should be eliminated once and for all,” he said through an interpreter. Fixing the relationship has been a long-sought goal of the Obama administration, and the US desperately wants significant progress by the time Erdogan visits the White House in mid-May. The Turks have reveled somewhat in what they view as a diplomatic victory, with billboards in Ankara celebrating Netanyahu’s apology and praising Erdogan for bringing pride to his country. Perhaps seeking to add to his leverage, Erdogan signaled shortly after the call that he was in no hurry to finalize the deal and pledged to visit the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory soon. From a US strategic sense, cooperation between the American allies has only become more important as Syria’s 2year conflict has grown ever deadlier.

More than 70,000 people have died in the war, according to the United Nations, but the US fears it could get even worse by spilling into neighboring countries or through chemical weapons being used.

Both potential scenarios have prompted intense contingency planning among Washington and its regional partners, Israel and Turkey included. Kerry, who noted his twice -weekly telephone chats with Davutoglu, spoke of shared US and Turkish efforts to support Syria’s opposition coalition.

The opposition has suffered from poor coordination between its political leadership and the military factions leading the fight against the Assad regime, and from intense infighting among those who seek to guide the amorphous movement’s overall strategy. Turkey has gone further than the US in its assistance, accepting some 180,000 Syrians as refugees and sending advanced weaponry to rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad.—AP

DUBAI: One is a former judge. Another is a past president of the lawyers’ association in the United Arab Emirates. Among the more than 90 suspects are also teachers, civil servants, business owners and even a cousin of one of the UAE’s ruling sheikhs. Prosecutors describe them as members of an Islamist network seeking to topple the leadership in one of the wealthiest and most stable corners of the Middle East.

Their defenders portray the group as victims of an Arab Spring-induced panic among Gulf Arab rulers who perceive threats from many directions, including Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood and reformist chatter on social media. But whatever emerges from the mass trial that began last month in Abu Dhabi also speaks to issues that reach well beyond the allegations and sullied reputations in the UAE’s tight-knit professional communities. The case from the arrests to the court sessions to the media controls on coverage - reflects a fundamental retooling of how the Western-allied Gulf states approach the business of using and keeping their power.

Once desperate to keep political crackdowns out of sight, Gulf authorities have increasingly used high-profile tactics to try to keep a lid on calls for reforms. Hardly a day goes by without some backlash in the Gulf Arab states, an arc of ruling families from Kuwait to Oman. Dozens of online activists and social media contributors have been jailed for posts deemed offensive to rulers. Espionage allegations have been trumpeted, including Saudi Arabia’s claims last month that officials broke up a suspected Iranian-linked spy ring.

Saudi officials, meanwhile, are considering linking social media accounts to national IDs in a move that critics fear could increase monitoring.

The country’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheikh, denounced Twitter users last month as being part of “a council of clowns.”

“There is a paradox in all this,” said Christopher Davidson, an expert on Gulf affairs at Britain’s Durham University. “There is nothing at the moment to suggest the Gulf regimes are in any

immediate danger, but they are definitely acting like they are. This might even have the effect of accelerating dissent.”

Caught in between is Washington. US interests are deeply intertwined with the Gulf’s Sunni sheikhs and kings, who allow American military bases, make major arms purchases and share Washington’s worries about Iran’s nuclear program and its expanding military profile. But the US also has raised concern about the Gulf ’s clampdown on dissent, particularly the squeeze on social media in a region that has one of the world’s highest per capita use of Facebook and Twitter.

“America is not going to abandon its Gulf allies. There’s far too much at stake,” said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center based in Geneva. “These crackdowns, however, make it increasingly hard for the Americans to look the other way.” For decades, the framework for the Gulf’s ruling families has been essentially a swap: They offered generous handouts such as state jobs and discount-rate housing in exchange for political passivity.

The Arab Spring reopened some festering grievances, led by Bahrain’s uprising by majority Shiites and lower-level unrest in Saudi Arabia’s Shiite pockets. It also encouraged other challenges to the status quo such as youth demanding more job opportunities in Oman and Kuwaiti opposition lawmakers growing bolder in political battles with the ruling clan. The UAE has not faced street protests. Yet it has waged some of the most systematic sweeps in the Gulf against perceived opposition from an Islamist society called Al-Islah, or Reform, which for years was allowed to operate on the margins as long as members did not push against the ruling system. The regional turmoil, however, upended the pact. UAE authorities began to see Al-Islah as a pathway for the Muslim Brotherhood, which claimed power in Egypt after the fall of Hosni Mubarak and - in the UAE’s view - seeks to eventually bring down Western-friendly dynasties in the Gulf. In early March, a total of 94 people were put on trial on charges of seeking to over-

DUBAI: In this file photo, Ahmed Mansour, an Emirati blogger and a human rights activist talks with his children after he was pardoned by UAE’s president and released from jail.— AP

throw the UAE government and holding ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups. The defendants pleaded not guilty and complained of abuses after their arrests.

Among the group - including more than a dozen women - are several lawyers led by Mohamed Al-Roken, former head of the UAE Jurists’ Association; judges such as Ahmed AlZaabi, who has been detained more than a year; and Sultan Bin Kayed Al-Qasimi, a senior figure in al-Islah and the cousin of the ruler in Ras AlKhaimah, the northernmost of the UAE’s seven emirates. Others include university professors, businessmen and bloggers.

UAE officials decline to discuss details of the case or comment on the ongoing trial, which only hand-picked media have been allowed to observe. The next session is scheduled for April 16. But senior security figures such as Dubai police chief Lt. Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim have repeatedly raised alarms about alleged Muslim Brotherhood infiltration. In October, the UAE’s foreign minister, Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed AlNahyan, told reporters that “the Muslim Brotherhood does not believe in the nationstate.”

Egypt has grown increasingly bitter about the comments and crackdowns, including agreements by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council for greater security collaboration in areas including domestic opposition. At an Arab League summit last month, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued thinly veiled warnings to Gulf states to respect Egypt’s policies. Last week, Egypt’s foreign ministry summoned a UAE envoy in Cairo for talks concerning 11 Egyptians detained on charges of training the alleged coup plotters.

“The UAE crackdowns are definitely part of wider efforts across the Gulf against what is seen as threats,” said Rori Donaghy, a coordinator at the London-based Emirates Center for Human Rights. “The collective idea of security in the region means we will likely be seeing more arrests and more trials with narratives such as coup plots.”

So far, the UAE’s case against the 94-member group has been built around social media posts and interviews on issues such as the wave of changes in the region and the limited public voice in political affairs of the UAE, which is led by a federation of seven ruling families.

In one court session, the defense lawyer tried to poke holes in claims about allegedly subversive literature favored by Al-Islah, including works by Muslim Brotherhood writer Sayyid Qutb, who was hanged by Egyptian authorities in 1966. The books, the lawyer noted, are not banned in the UAE. Dubai-based rights activist Ahmed Mansour sees the trial as part of the UAE’s attempts to crush any group that could be “physiologically empowered by the Arab Spring.”

Mansour and four others - including a former legal adviser to the UAE’s armed forces - were among the first to face arrests for alleged antistate crimes in early 2011 after signing an online petition urging for political reforms, including free elections for parliament. “It’s clear that there are some agreements between some of the (Gulf ) counties, on the highest and most powerful levels, that no chances should be taken and no compromise should be allowed,” he said.

“This is happening no matter what the cost is and how painful that could be on internal or international levels.” —AP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

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

Ambush on police in Nigeria oil region leaves 12 missing Militant group threaten to restart attacks YENAGOA: Nigerian militants have ambushed a police boat in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, leaving 12 officers missing and presumed dead, security officials said yesterday. The ambush came days after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main delta militant group prior to a 2009 amnesty, threatened to restart attacks in retaliation for the jailing of leader Henry Okah by a South African court.

Police Commissioner Kingsley Omire said the ambush was carried out by militants once loyal to Kile Selky Torughedi, who headed MEND’s southern wing, but denied there was a link to the threat by the group, whose attacks cut oil production in Nigeria by around half before the amnesty.

He instead blamed a dispute between the gunmen and the government over their amnesty payments underscoring the fragility of the peace that has been achieved in the delta by paying off thousands of militants to silence their guns. The government is keen to wind the amnesty payments

down but fears that as soon as it does the militancy will restart. Omire said the boat carrying 50 police officials was heading to a funeral late on Friday when it developed engine problems in one of the winding creeks of the swampy delta region that is home to Africa’s biggest oil industry.

“The craft developed engine problem was now isolated and the officers became soft target for some hoodlums, who we have confirmed were part of a militant group that was supposed to be enjoying an amnesty,” Omire said. A Nigerian security source, who could not be named, said the 12 were very likely all dead. Omire said all others on the boat were safe.

Any resurgence of militant activity would be a blow to President Goodluck Jonathan, who helped negotiate the amnesty and who is from the same Ijaw ethnic group as most of the militants. His administration’s security forces are already stretched by an Islamist insurgency in the north. It would also be a major headache for multinational oil compa-

nies such as leading operator Royal Dutch Shell, already contending with industrial scale oil theft by armed gangs that saps up to a fifth of Nigeria’s 2 million barrel-a-day output, according to some government estimates.

While attacks in the Niger Delta region have been fewer since the amnesty, kidnapping, piracy, largescale oil theft and pipeline sabotage still occur on a near daily basis.

However, MEND threatened on Thursday to restart “a plague of attacks” in an emailed statement signed by Jomo Gbomo, a pseudonym used by the group, in response to Okah’s jailing. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison on March 26 for masterminding two deadly car bombings in the Nigerian capital in 2010 that killed at least 10 people.

MEND has been largely inactive since most of its militants agreed to the amnesty, although the group claimed an attack on crude oil pipeline owned by Italian oil and gas group Eni in April last year. — Reuters

Montenegro votes for president PODGORICA: Montenegrins voted yesterday in a presidential election tipped to give incumbent Filip Vujanovic a third mandate that would cement the ruling coalition’s grip on power in the economically struggling EU hopeful. His sole challenger is former foreign minister Miodrag Lekic, who has managed to get the Balkan state’s main opposition groups to overcome their bickering and back his candidacy. The vote for president, a largely ceremonial role in Montenegro, is the country’s second since proclaiming independence from Serbia, its decades-long partner, in 2006.

But it is seen as the test for the ruling coalition that has been in power, under the stewardship of Milo Djukanovic, a close ally of Vujanovic, since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in 1990s. The 58-year old lawyer has promised to focus on strengthening Montenegro as a “democratic developed country” in order to boost its efforts to join the European Union and NATO. “I am convinced that support for our politics will be even stronger. We will intensify European and EuroAtlantic integration as they are a necessity for Montenegro,” Vujanovic said after casting his ballot in the capital Podgorica. One pro-Vujanovic voter, 40-year-old businessman Dejan Nuculovic, said he backed the incumbent president because he saw him “as a part of the policy that leads the country to the EU.” Braving an unusually cold and windy day, another voter, Vukasin Bacovic came early to cast his ballot for Lekic, who, he hoped, would “end the corruption that has been ruining Montenegro for years.” “Lekic is a great

MONTENEGRO: Presidential candidate and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic casts his ballot at the polling station in Podgorica, Montenegro, yesterday. — AP adversary of corruption. If, God willing, he becomes president, things will improve,” the pensioner said. Brussels opened EU accession talks with Montenegro last June, but the European Commission noted that Podgorica should do more to uphold the rule of law and crack down on organised crime and corruption.

After Croatia, Montenegro is next in line among the ex-Yugoslavia republics to join the 27-nation bloc.

Lekic, 65, has made the fight against corruption and organised crime his priority. “We live in a mire of hypocrisy and corruption, in a system that humiliates people. Montenegro must get its house in order,” Lekic said during the campaign. “Citizens are long-

ing for changes, and I expect them” if elected, the opposition candidate said after voting.

Djukanovic, a veteran politician and an architect of Montenegro’s independence, has himself been accused of corruption but has blasted the claims as “lies”. In 2006 he was named a suspect in an Italian probe into cigarette smuggling and people trafficking that took place during the Balkan wars in the 1990s. But in May 2009 an Italian court dropped the charges against him. Experts say that corruption is deeply rooted in the country of 632,000 people struggling with an unemployment rate of 20 percent, and where the average monthly salary is about 480 euros ($615). — AFP

ROME: Pope Francis incenses the altar as he celebrates a mass yesterday in Rome’s Saint John Lateran basilica, the official seat of the bishop of Rome, during which he presides over a ceremony in which he formally takes possession of the church. — AFP

Ukraine president pardons Tymoshenko’s close ally KIEV: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych pardoned yesterday a close ally of jailed former premier Yulia Tymoshenko as several thousands rallied in Kiev to protest his policies amid rising political tensions. Yuriy Lutsenko walked free from a prison in northern Ukraine after Yanukovych pardoned the 48-year-old former interior minister under pressure from European Union and the opposition. Yanukovuch has however earlier ruled out pardoning his top nemesis Tymoshenko and his decree yesterday made no mention of her.

“Yanukovych signed a decree pardoning six convicted people, including Ukraine’s former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko and Ukraine’s former environment minister Georgy Filipchuk,” his office said in a statement. The imprisonment of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko has drawn strong criticism from the United States while EU leaders have refused to sign an important trade agreement with Kiev until they were released.

The European Union hailed the pardon for Lutsenko and Filipchuk, another Tymoshenko ally, but indicated it expected more from the Ukrainian authorities. “A first but important step to deal with selective justice,” Stefan Fule, the European commissioner for enlargement and European neighbourhood policy, said on Twitter. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland added: “I trust that Ukraine will also follow the judgement of the Court in the case of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.”

Lutsenko, sporting an ethnic embroidered shirt, said upon release from the Menskaya corrective labour facility in the country’s north that he would seek a meeting with Tymoshenko and remain in politics. “I will be in the streets, among people,” he told reporters after being greeted by his wife Irina and friends. He also addressed a rally of more

than 7,000 people in Kiev called by the opposition to demand Yanukovych’s resignation.

“I am sincerely happy that I will finally be among those who like me are dreaming about an independent and European Ukraine,” he told the rally by phone. The rally was called after pro-government lawmakers in the parliament last week split off to hold a session at an alternative venue amid a weeks-long standoff with the opposition which described the rare walkout as a coup attempt.

At the rally, the opposition called for the release of all “political prisoners”. “We will fight for the release of Yulia Tymoshenko because after Yuriy Lutsenko was freed Yulia Tymoshenko should be freed too,” said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who represents Tymoshenko’s party in the parliament.

Yanukovych’s statement said the decree was in line with reforms of the country’s criminal legislation “aimed at humanising legal norms and reducing the number of people held in custody”.

Lutsenko was arrested while walking his dog in Kiev in 2010 and had been sentenced to remain in prison until the end of 2014 after being convicted of abuse of office and embezzlement. The pardon came after Ukraine’s high court last week rejected Lutsenko’s appeal. Lutsenko’s health has gravely deteriorated while in detention. His lawyers say he had contracted hepatitis, and is now suffering from pancreatitis and other illnesses. In January, he underwent an operation on his intestine.

Lutsenko’s lawyer Alexei Baganets called the pardon “an act of clemency in relation to a man who was illegally arrested, charged and convicted”. Lutsenko’s detention led to entreaties to Yanukovych from special envoys of the European Parliament monitoring mission to Ukraine, former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski and former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox. — AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

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

Chavez protege invokes curse Maduro claims US-led plot to kill him

MINSK: A skier glides on the water wearing military uniform and a submachine gun during the comic competition “Californication 6.0” closing of the winter season celebration yesterday. — AP

Senate nears gun debate, background checks pivotal WASHINGTON: Congress returns today from a two-week spring recess with gun control and immigration high on the Senate’s agenda. Senators could start debating Democratic-written gun legislation before week’s end. But leaders also might decide to give negotiators more time to seek a deal on expanding background checks for firearms buyers. Passing the expanded background checks would be viewed as a victory for gun control advocates after Democratic leaders made it clear that supporters were nowhere close to getting a majority of votes in favor of reinstituting an assault weapons ban.

Both measures have been a priority for President Barack Obama since the Dec. 14 shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. The National Rifle Association opposes both the assault weapons ban and the expanded background checks Short of unanimous support in their own party, Democratic senators have been unable to strike a deal with Republicans for the votes they would need to push background check legislation through the chamber. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, DNev., might delay debate to give bargainers more time, underscoring how crucial the proposal is to the gun control drive.

“It’s the most pivotal piece” of Democrats’ gun legislation, said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Also high on Congress’ agenda is immigra-

tion, where a pivotal moment is approaching.

Bipartisan groups in the House and Senate are expected to present legislation as early as this week aimed at securing the US border, fixing legal immigration and granting legal status to millions who are in the United States illegally. That will open months of debate on the politically combustible issue, with votes by the Senate Judiciary Committee expected later this month.

The House is looking at a busy, if more low-profile agenda in the coming weeks. In its first week back, the House will consider a bill that would prevent the National Labor Relations Board from issuing rules until a dispute over administration appointees is resolved. Among the bills that could see action in later weeks is a measure requiring the Treasury to pay principle and interest on debt held by the public if the nation’s borrowing limit is reached but not extended.

Other measures would prioritize pediatric research to assist children with autism and give workers greater flexibility to choose paid time off instead of overtime pay. Lawmakers will devote much time to the 2014 budget proposal that Obama plans to release on Wednesday. It calls for both new tax increases, which Republicans oppose, and smaller annual increases in Social Security and other government benefit programs, over the objections of many of the president’s fellow Democrats.—AP

CARACAS: Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday a centuries- old curse would fall on the heads of those who do not vote for him in next week’s election to pick a successor to late leader Hugo Chavez. Maduro’s invocat i o n o f t h e “c u r s e o f M a c a r a p a n a” w a s t h e l a te s t twist in an increasingly surreal fight between him and opposition leader Henrique Capriles fo r co n t ro l o f t h e S o u t h American OPEC nation of 29 m i l l i o n p e o p l e. “ I f a nyo n e a m o n g t h e p e o p l e vo te s against Nicolas Maduro, he is voting against himself, and the curse of Macarapana is falling on him,” said Maduro, referring to the 16th-century Battle of Macarapana when Spanish co l o n i a l f i g h te r s m a s s a c re d local Indian forces.

Wearing a local indigenous hat at a rally in Amazonas state, a largely jungle territory on the borders of Brazil and Colombia, Maduro compared Capriles and the opposition coalition to the enslaving Spanish occupiers. “If the bourgeoisie win, they are going to privatize health and education, they are going to take land from the Indians, the c u r s e o f M a c a r a p a n a wo u l d come on you,” he added.

Calling himself the “son” of Chavez, Maduro has more than a 10-point lead in most polls, although Capriles supporters are predicting a late pro-opposition surge as sympathy wears off from the former president’s death a month ago. Capriles, 4 0 , a s t a te g ove r n o r, s ays Venezuela needs a fresh start after 14 years of Chavez’s hardline socialism, and is vowing to install a Brazilian-style administration of free-market economics with strong social policies.

He ridiculed Maduro’s latest speech. “Anyone who threatens the people, who tells the people a curse can fall on them, h a s n o r i g h t to g ove r n t h i s countr y,” he said at a rally in western Tachira state. “I tell you here, all Venezuelans, the real

PUERTO ORDAZ: Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro (center) embraces his wife Cilia Flores (left) and son Nicolas Maduro during a campaign rally in Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar state, Venezuela.—AFP

curse is that little group that we are going to get rid of on April 14.” The opposition leader a l s o co n t i n u e d to m o c k Maduro’s twice -told stor y of h av i n g s e e n t h e s p i r i t o f Chavez in a bird that flew over his head and sang to him last week.

While to some outsiders, talk of spirits and curses may seem a b s u rd i n a n e l e c t i o n c a m p a i gn , Ve n e z u e l a’s m i x o f Catholic and animist beliefs, especially in the south-central plains and jungles, is fer tile gro u n d fo r s u c h re fe re n ce s.

Maduro also revived accusations of a plot to kill him, saying foreign mercenaries had entered from Central America with plans to spread violence and sabotage the elec tricity grid.

“The third aim is to kill me.

They want to kill me because they know I can’t be beaten in free elections,” he said at a later rally, again alleging the complicity of current and former U.S. officials along with rightwing politicians in El Salvador.

“They sent paid hitmen to kill me... But I won’t let myself be k i l l e d. I w i l l re m a i n o n t h e streets with the people.”

The US government, and two fo r m e r B u s h a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f f i c i a l s n a m e d by M a d u ro, have denied and ridiculed the claims that echoed Chavez ’s f re q u e n t d e n u n c i a t i o n s o f assassination plots against him d u r i n g h i s 1 4 - ye a r r u l e.

Maduro, 50, was a bus driver and union leader who rose to become Chavez’s foreign minister and then vice president. In h i s d a i l y c a m p a i gn r a l l i e s, Maduro has been referring con-

stantly to Chavez and playing a video where the former president endorses his protege last year as his successor.

Puncturing Capriles’ public admiration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Maduro has also been playing a video of the former Brazilian president endorsing him too. At his rallies, Capriles mocks Maduro as a cheap imit a t i o n o f C havez. He says Maduro’s track record during the president’s sickness from cancer and after his death has wrought disaster on Venezuelans in terms of a currency devaluation and price rises. Venezuela’s vote will decide not only the future of “Chavismo” socialism but also control of the world’s biggest oil reserves and economic aid to lef t-leaning nations in Latin America and the Caribbean from Cuba to Ecuador. —Reuters

Pastor Rick Warren’s son commits suicide LAKE FOREST: Popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren asked members of his Southern California church for prayers as he and his family coped with the apparent suicide of his 27year-old son. The church said on Saturday that Matthew Warren took his own life at his Mission Viejo home.

Matthew Warren struggled with mental illness, deep depression and suicidal thoughts throughout his life, Saddleback Valley Community Church said in a statement, after his body was found Friday night.

“Despite the best health care available, this was an illness that was never fully controlled and the emotional pain resulted in his decision to take his life,” the church said. Allison O’Neal, a supervising deputy coroner for Orange County, declined to release the cause and manner of death pending an autopsy of the young man.

Rick Warren, the author of the multimillion-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life,” said in an email to church staff that he and his wife had enjoyed a fun Friday evening with their son.

But their son then returned home to take his life in “a momentary wave of despair.” Over the years, Matthew Warren had been treated by America’s best doctors, had received counseling and medication and been the recipient of numerous prayers from others, his father said.

“I’ll never forget how, many years ago, after another approach had failed to give relief, Matthew said ‘Dad,

I know I’m going to heaven. Why can’t I just die and end this pain?’” Warren recalled. Despite that, he said, his son lived for another decade, during which he often reached out to help others. “You who watched Matthew grow up knew he was an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man,” Warren wrote. “He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He’d then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them.”

Another pastor will preach in Warren’s place on Sunday as part of a previously planned sermon series, church spokeswoman Kristin Cole said. The elder Warren founded Saddleback Church in 1980, according to his biography on the church website, and over the years watched it grow to 20,000 members. He and his wife, Kay, began by holding Bible studies for people who weren’t regular churchgoers. Matthew Warren was the youngest of their three children.

As Saddleback grew over the years, it spread out from its Lake Forest headquarters, 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles, adding several other campuses and ministries around Southern California.

The church says it now offers more than 200 community ministries and support groups for parents, families, children, couples, prisoners, addicts, and people living with HIV, depression and other illnesses. In 2008, the

Matthew Warren church sponsored a presidential forum with Barack Obama and John McCain. Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney were invited to a similar forum last fall, but Warren canceled it several days beforehand, saying the campaign had become too uncivil. Warren was named the top newsmaker of the year for 2009 by the Religion Newswriters Association. He gained attention that year with his invocation at Obama’s inauguration, as well as with comments he made in the aftermath of California’s Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage. —AP

US field holds secrets of 1780s British POW camp YORK: The mud of a south-central Pennsylvania cornfield may soon produce answers about the fate of British prisoners of war - and the newly independent Americans who guarded them - during the waning years of the American Revolution. A few miles (kilometers) east of York, the city that briefly served as the fledgling nation’s capital after the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, more than a thousand English, Scottish and Canadian soldiers were imprisoned at what was then known as Camp Security.

The fight to preser ve the plot where those soldiers and their captors worked and lived has lasted almost twice as long as the Revolutionary War itself. And the end is in sight - if

its backers can raise the last few hundred thousand dollars needed to pay for it.

“This is an extraordinarily important site, because so few of these camp sites sur vived,” said Steve Warfel, a retired curator of archaeology at the Pennsylvania State Museum who is involved in the project. “It’s a very important piece for understanding the revolutionary period, and how people were treated when they were incarcerated.”

A 1979 archaeological study found numerous artifacts that confirmed local lore about the prison camp’s location. Two years ago, the local government, Springettsbury Township, took possession of an adjacent, 115-

acre (47-hectare) property and last year The Conservation Fund paid a developer nearly $1 million for the 47-acre (19-hectare) parcel. Now the Friends of Camp Security faces an August deadline to pay off the fund so it can turn the smaller plot over to the township as well.

Nothing about the property today suggests it was once teeming with prisoners. The first group arrived in 1781, four years after their 1777 surrender at Saratoga, New York. More arrived the next year after the battle in Yorktown, Virginia. By April 1782, there were 1,265 men at the camp, along with 182 women and 189 children - family members and others who accompanied the prisoners.—AP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

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

After gang-rape, India struggles to put words into action NEW DELHI: A hundred days after India mourned the death of a gang-rape victim and vowed to fight sex crimes, the torn clothes and tears of Bharti Kagra bear testimony to a tide of violence that refuses to ebb. Kagra is one of the 812 women whom police say have been molested in New Delhi since the death of the medical student, who was brutally assaulted by six attackers in a moving bus on December 16 last year.

The student died in a Singapore hospital on December 29. The savagery of the attack triggered nationwide protests, prompting lawmakers to toughen punishments for sexual offences and pledge to make India safer for women. Optimists called it a “turning point”, while Delhi’s under-fire top police officer said his force had been “jolted” and would institute “major changes in the way offences against women are dealt with”.

Kagra’s experiences give reason to

doubt whether the outpouring of anger from women across the country, many of whom took to the streets in some cities, will result in better protection. Carrying the clothes she says were ripped by her husband and brother-in-law during an assault on her, she struggles to register a case at a south Delhi police station where no female officers are presenteven though they are mandatory under the new anti-rape law.

“First, the men humiliated me and now when I come out to seek justice the cops insult me... some even suggested that I should make peace with my husband,” she told AFP inside the police station in the Moti Bagh district of the capital. In response to her shouts and cries, two policemen reluctantly register her complaint. Kagra allowed AFP to use her name, to publicise the problems women still face in registering such complaints.

Women currently make up only 6.5

percent of India’s police force and major recruitment changes will be needed to enforce the new sex crime law, which requires a female officer to record molestation and rape complaints. This ruling risks going the way of so much legislation in India-well-meaning but mostly ignored in practice. Rights groups say real change will only come when widely held patriarchal and sexist attitudes change.

“I don’t see enough initiative to change the mindset of the law enforcement agencies, especially the police,” said Ranjana Kumari, director at the Centre for Social Research in New Delhi.

However, one consequence of the Delhi gang-rape is that women are more confident in reporting sex crimes, she says.

Delhi police reported a 148-percent leap in rape cases lodged between January 1 and March 24 compared with the same period in 2012, and a 600-percent rise in

molestation cases reported up until April 3.

“Many women and families are becoming conscious and are coming forward to report abuse, but what is disappointing is that after a hundred days... rapes and all kinds of sexual offences are not stopping,” Kumari said. The Press Trust of India news agency has reported more than 250 rape cases across the country since the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim.

It’s not just Indian women who have been targeted. A Swiss tourist was gangraped last month while camping in central India, an offence that led to another flurr y of negative headlines. Many Western countries have warned female tourists to exercise caution in India, a move that has hit the tourism industry which earned over $16 billion from foreign travellers in 2011. The family of the victim of the December 16 gang-rape are

still in shock and the trial of the men alleged to have murdered her continues in court.

Lawyers have cross-examined 65 out of 80 witnesses, including the doctors who tried to save the victim before her death. The court is also expected to summon the victim’s family. One of the five men on trial for murder, robbery and gang-rape was found dead in his cell last month, having apparently committed suicide. The sixth suspect, a 17-year-old, is being tried separately in a juvenile court.

On April 1 the mother of the Delhi gang-rape victim held a small religious ceremony in memory of her 23-year-old daughter. “I prayed for her and as a mother, I can tell you my daughter’s soul will rest in peace only when the accused are punished,” she said. “She died, but she has given every woman the courage to fight against violence.” — AFP

‘Where is Bilawal?’

KUNDUZ: A Dutch soldier stands guard at his vehicle on a road to the airport to Ali Abad district of Kunduz province yesterday. — AFP

NATO strike kills 10 kids in Afghanistan Kerry mourns ‘selfless, idealistic’ US diplomat KABUL: A NATO airstrike killed 11 Afghan civilians, including 10 children, during a fierce weekend gunbattle with Taleban militants that also left one US civilian adviser dead in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said yesterday. The US-led coalition confirmed that airstrikes were called in by international forces during the Afghan-led operation in a remote area of Kunar province near the Pakistan border. The coalition said it was aware of reports that civilians were killed, but had no immediate information about their deaths.

The death of Afghan civilians caught in the crossfire of battle has been a major point of contention between international forces and the Afghan government, prompting President Hamid Karzai to ban his troops from requesting airstrikes earlier this year. Wasifullah Wasify, a government official in Kunar province, said the airstrike on Saturday targeted a house and killed 10 children and one woman inside. He said seven Taleban suspects also were killed and five other women were wounded inside the house.

The airstrike occurred after a joint US-Afghan force faced hours of heavy gunfire from militants after launching an operation targeting a senior Taleban leader late Friday in the Shultan area of Kunar’s Shigal district, according to tribal elder Gul Pasha, who also is the chief of the local council in Shultan.

“In the morning after sunrise, planes appeared in the sky and

airstrikes started and continued until evening,” he said in a telephone interview. He said the main suspect was in the house that was hit and the woman and children, ages 1 to 12, who were killed were members of his family.

“I don’t think that they knew that all these children and women were in the house because they were under attack from the house and they were shooting at the house,” he said. The US-led coalition said it provided fire support from the air, killing several insurgents.

“The air support was called in by coalition forces, not Afghan security forces, and was used to engage insurgent forces in areas away from structures, according to our reporting,” coalition spokesman Maj Adam Wojack said in a statement.

He said the International Security Assistance Force takes all reports of civilian casualties seriously, and was currently assessing the incident.

Afghan forces have been increasingly taking the lead in combat operations as international forces move to complete their withdrawal by the end of 2014. But US and other foreign troops still face dangers even as Afghans take charge of their own security.

The American adviser who died during the operation was one of three US civilians killed Saturday. The two others - a female foreign service officer with the US State Department and an employee with the US Defense Department - were killed in a suicide bombing in southern Zabul province

during a trip to donate books to Afghan students. Three US soldiers also were killed in that attack.

Col Thomas Collins, a spokesman for US-led forces in Afghanistan, provided new details about the adviser’s death yesterday, saying he was killed during the fighting in Kunar province.

The two-day operation was launched Friday after a tip that dozens of Taleban were concentrated in an area in the Shigal district, Wasify said.

Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said six Taleban militants were killed in the operation in Sano Dara Sheltan village, including two senior commanders identified as Ali Khan and Gul Raof, the main planner and organizer of attacks in the area.

Wasify initially put the casualty toll at 11 Taleban militants killed, and four Afghan security forces, six civilians and 10 Taleban militants wounded.

But he later lowered the toll to seven Taleban militants killed. The different figures could not be immediately reconciled, but the governor has sent a fact-finding delegation to the area to get more details.

US Secretary of State John Kerry mourned the death of the foreign service officer killed in the bombing the first death of an American diplomat on the job since last year’s Sept.

11 attack on the US diplomatic installation in Benghazi, Libya. Kerry called the death of Anne Smedinghoff, a 25year-old native of Illinois, a “grim reminder ” of the danger facing American foreign service workers serving overseas. — AP

Musharraf can run for parliament ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf was given approval yesterday to run for parliament in a remote northern district after being rejected in two other parts of the country, his aide said. Rashid Qureshi said election officials in Chitral, near the Afghan border, accepted Musharraf’s nomination papers.

Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999 but was forced to step down nearly a decade later, returned to Pakistan from exile last month to run for the National Assembly. The May 11 election will mark the first transition between two democratically elected governments in the 65-year history of Pakistan, a country that has experienced three military coups and constant political instability. Musharraf’s two other applications to run in districts in southern and central Pakistan were rejected while a third in Islamabad is pending.

Opponents have filed objections based on actions he took while ruling Pakistan. His opponents allege that he violated the constitution by overthrowing an elected government in 1999, was involved in the killing of a nationalist leader, ousted superior judiciary judges and ordered a raid

against a mosque in downtown Islamabad that had become a sanctuary for militants.

Pakistani Election Commission officials could not be reached for comment to explain why Musharraf is being allowed to run in one constituency after being rejected in two others. Judge Syed Ikramullah rejected Musharraf’s candidacy in an area of the southern port city of Karachi after Musharraf failed to appear before the court to respond to objections raised by his opponents. His attorney, Shafiq Ahmad, appeared and told the court that Musharraf would appeal the rejection of his candidacy.

Musharraf landed in Karachi on March 24 after more than four years in self-exile. The outgoing Zardari government forced him to step down in August 2008. Musharraf is viewed as an enemy by many Islamic militants and others for his decision to side with America in the response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Pakistani Taleban have threatened to kill him. Musharraf also faces legal charges, including some originating from the probe of the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. — AP

GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Pakistan: A cancelled rally, a loathed president and a party chairman kept out of the public glare because of Taleban threats - Gulzar Ali Khawaja has never seen anything like it. For the first time in his life, the once ardent supporter of the Pakistan People’s Party, which led the coalition government for five years, says he won’t be voting in the general election on May 11 and doesn’t mince his words about why. Furious, with his face red under the hot sun, he cannot believe that no major party leader addressed the crowds on one of the most sacrosanct dates - the anniversary of the April 4, 1979 hanging of PPP founder, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

“I come here all the way from Karachi to pray on the anniversary and they can’t come?” said the 45-year-old property dealer, who drove nine hours from Pakistan’s financial capital to the Bhutto ancestral seat in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. “President Asif Ali Zardari has spoiled the party,” he said. The PPP announced it would kick-start its campaign for re-election after five years in office with a large rally on April 4, but then cancelled it. Zardari, Bhutto’s widower, and their son, Bilawal, addressed a small gathering, closed to all but state media, in the middle of the night.

Bilawal, the PPP’s star attraction, appeared uncomfortable, speaking haltingly in heavily accented Urdu, a mark of his upbringing in England and Dubai. He stumbled through the outgoing government’s achievements before asking listeners to “promise” to vote for “Aunty Faryal” Zardari’s sister - who is contesting the Bhutto family seat.

Few party faithful who gathered at the shrine were impressed. “Bilawal should not listen to anyone and come out into the public to see the workers as his mother and grandfather did,” Khawaja told AFP. In contrast, their main rivals, cricket star Imran Khan and frontrunner former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, have kicked off major campaigns drawing tens of thousands.

PPP spokesman and former cabinet minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told AFP that the party respected people’s desire to see Bilawal but said the danger was too great. “We can’t

expose Bilawal to the real threat of terrorism. We can’t risk the life of another top leader,” he said.

The Taleban have directly threatened the PPP and its main coalition partners, the ANP and MQM, often described as “secular”. During Pakistan’s last election campaign, Benazir defied repeated threats to address enormous rallies across the country. When she was killed in a gun and suicide attack after an election rally in Rawalpindi in 2007, it shocked the party and the country. Aged 24, Bilawal is chairman of the party but ineligible to run for office until his 25th birthday in September. Analysts say he appears uncomfortable in public and needs to work hard on improving his language skills. Zardari, said to be deeply paranoid about security, is also rarely seen in public. He remains deeply unpopular over a multitude of corruption allegations.

“We want Bilawal to come here, to see us, to talk to us and address the workers’ problems. We miss the love and affection of his mother and grandfather,” says Muhammad Urs, 41, who sells snacks in the Garhi Khuda Bakhsh market.

Urs, a life-time PPP voter, threatened not to cast his ballot “until they come and talk to us”. But the PPP’s Kaira dismissed big rallies as winners of elections, instead pointing to television and the Internet to reach larger audiences, even though the percentage that has regular online access is tiny. “We believe that our message is going all over,” he said. But Muhammad Panah Soomro, a labourer in the village of Bangaldero, not far from the Bhutto shrine, is furious. “I will show them my shoe if they will come here to seek my vote,” he told AFP. The roof of his two-room house was blown off by heavy rain and he has no money to replace it. “Bilawal doesn’t come here. He’s a rich man and lives abroad. His father is the biggest goon and has looted away his mother’s party and wealth,” said Soomro.

Critics point out that the PPP has presided over the country as the economy has worsened and security has deteriorated and they blame it for failing to do more to improve people’s lives. — AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

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

Kim Jong Un’s report in March 2013 at Plenary Meeting of CC, WPK

(Inset) Kim Jong Un PYONGYANG: Respected Kim Jong Un, supreme leader of our party and the people made a historic report at the March 2013 plenary meeting of the WPK. The content of the report is as follows: We’ve met here today for a plenary meeting of the party CC to discuss and decide on an important strategic line for accelerating the victory of the Juche revolutionary cause that originated in Mt Paektu, to satisfy the requirements of the present situation and revolutionary development.

Under the wise leadership of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il our revolution has covered the glorious road of victory, bravely overcoming worst ever known adversities and challenges in the long and rigorous struggle against the allied forces of imperialism.

Our army men and the people have been confidently dashing forward to final victory under the party’s leadership. Frightened by this soaring spirit, the enemies run wild in their scheme to isolate and stifle our Republic by mobilizing all political, economic and military strength. This has led the situation of our country to a brink of war.

The important task facing us today is to foil the enemy’s machination to strangulate our Republic and thus win decisive victory in the frontal confrontation with the US and add lustre to the honor of great Paektusan nation which no one dare pounce upon. To meet the requirement of the prevailing situation and the development of revolution, the Party Central Committee puts forward a new strategic line on parallel development of the economy and nuclear arms build-up.

Our party’s line on parallel growth of the economy and nuclear arms build-up is a strategic line that intends to strengthen and develop the nuclear arms bequeathed to us by the great General Kim Jong Il so as to fortify our defenses like an iron wall while directing more efforts to economic construction to build a powerful and prospering country where our people will enjoy the benefits of socialist wealth and glory to the full.

The parallel development of the two is an inevitable demand of the created situation. Taking to good account of the self-defensive war deterrence secured by life-long efforts of the great Generalissimos, we intended to focus on economic construction so that our people could enjoy the benefits of socialist wealth and glory, no longer having to put up with any hunger. But a new obstacle has cropped up on our way ahead.

Last December we successfully launched an earth satellite for peaceful purpose. But the US and forces of its followers, wrangling about our satellite launch, invented an outrageous “resolution of sanction” of the UNSC, outlawing an independent state’s lawful right to satellite launch. What a diabolic act of hostility. The created situation compelled us to conduct the third underground nuclear test as a link of our practical countermeasures to defend the country’s sovereignty and security.

Things having come this far, the US and other hostile forces, thrown into a greater frenzy, cooked up a more high-handed “resolution of sanction”, and staged joint military exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle to light the fuse to a nuclear war by involving huge armed forces of aggression.

Our army and the people, rallied firm around the Party Central Committee, rose as one man in a battle of all-out confrontation against the US to answer a war of aggression with a just, great war of national reunification. The enemies, panic-stricken by our extremely strong counter-measures, were too stunned to attempt any first try at us. But they have not given up the ambition to stifle our Republic.

Our peaceful efforts for economic construction and for better livelihood of the people had to be accompanied by fierce struggle against our enemies, and the US scheme for stifling our Republic, the scheme to destroy our nuclear deterrence and

our socialist system by strangling us through tightened sanction, will be prolonged.

The US fears most our nuclear deterrence, now smaller in size, lighter in weight, and more multifarious. It is making its last-ditch effort as it knows when we, possessor of nukes, attain economic prosperity, its hostile policy toward Korea will end in failure. The US hostile policy toward Korea has become ever more vicious of late. This can be accounted for by a shift of the US strategic center for world domination to Asia-Pacific region and change in the target of its preferential strike, it being to Korea.

That’s why the US, picking up a quarrel with us for our peaceful launch of satellite, deliberately aggravated tension and, making it as an excuse, shipped in a huge armed force to conduct largescale joint military exercises incessantly. The US aim is to put us without nukes and overthrow our system by hook or by crook.

Recent tragic events in many countries show that a nation cannot defend its independence and dignity, nor can it bring happiness and prosperity to its people when it is not strong enough.

Never should we forget lessons of some Balkan and Middle Eastern countries: They pinning hope on big powers, failed to build up self-defensive national defenses and abandoned their war deterrence, unable to withstand the imperialist pressure and appeasement, falling a prey to imperialist aggression at last.

Our enemies blackmailed us, saying if we do not give up nukes we cannot attain economic progress, and tried to lure us, saying if we take another choice, they would help us live well off. We must hold a firmer grip on our nuke treasured sword to open a broad avenue to become a strong and prospering nation. It is a lawful demand of the development of our revolution to make a parallel progress in economic construction and nuclear arms build-up.

Our Songun revolutionary cause reflecting the life-long devotion of the great Generalissimos now enters into a period of new historic change. We should boost the might of Songun in every way and, relying on it, build the most powerful nation, a people’s paradise where all people enjoy the happiest life. Steadfast is our Party’s resolve to make our people enjoy the happiest and affluent life thanks to Songun as they have steadily traveled only one road following the Party despite of all hardships. The efforts to develop the economy and improve the people’s livelihood can be successful only when they are guaranteed by strong military power, nuclear forces. We should achieve the people’s welfare and prosperity of the great Paektusan nation by pushing ahead with the struggle for national defense and the building of an economic power simultaneously in the spirit of the conquerors of space and the mettle of the performers of the highlevel nuclear test.

Building up the economy in parallel with the nuclear forces is an urgent task to totally reject the foreign forces’ domination and interference and accomplish earlier the historic cause of national reunification, the greatest desire of our nation. Our nuke is a precious wealth common to our nation that guarantees the prosperity of a reunified country forever. The strategic line on building up the economy and nuclear forces abreast is a correct line to steadily boost our war deterrence and further accelerate the economic construction and thus brilliantly accomplish the cause of building of a powerful socialist state.

Our nuclear forces are a reliable war deterrent and guarantee to safeguard the sovereignty of the nation. Over the past 70 years since the appearance of nukes in the world the cold war has been kept up for a long time on a worldwide scale and there have been many wars, big and small, but the nuke powers have not undergone military aggression.

No matter where the aggressors and the bases of aggression may be on the globe, no aggressor

Malaysia’s leader offers election sweeteners KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s leader has prom- Commission will meet Wednesday to set a ised more cash handouts for the poor along polling date. Anwar’s People’s Alliance currentwith cheaper cars and homes, and vowed to ly holds slightly more than one-third of take tougher steps to combat corruption as his Parliament’s seats after the National Front long-ruling coalition seeks to fend off a resur- endured its worst electoral results ever in 2008 gent alliance in upcoming national elections. polls amid public complaints about corruption In a nationally televised address late Saturday, and racial discrimination. Although the oppoPrime Minister Najib Razak also offered sition has a strong chance at the polls, most improved transportation, education and analysts believe Najib’s coalition will have the health care in an election manifesto as he upper hand because of its support in predomiurged 13 million voters to stick to the National nantly rural constituencies that hold the key to a large number of Parliament’s Front coalition, which has ruled seats. since independence from The opposition alliance, in a Britain in 1957. He promised his bid to break the National coalition would do better and Front’s hold on power, has also warned that voting for opposimade generous promises to tion leader Anwar Ibrahim’s lower the cost of living, three-party alliance would be through cheaper cars and fuel akin to gambling away and free university education. It Malaysia’s future. “This manalso has vowed to create new date that I seek is about contijobs, raise incomes and curb nuity and sustainability against long-entrenched problems, disruption and stagnation, Najib Razak including corruption and racial about moving forward versus regressing,” Najib said. “We have to safeguard discrimination, if it wins power. “This election is what we have already achieved. We cannot a race to be more populist. It is about which put at risk what we have, we cannot gamble coalition can promise to give more to away our future.” The National Front manifesto Malaysians. It’s setting a very unhealthy trend was unveiled three days after Najib dissolved in Malaysian politics,” said Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Parliament, paving the way for a vote widely who heads the Institute for Democracy and expected in the next few weeks. The Election Economic Affairs, a Malaysian think tank.— AP

can commit a reckless attack if one is firmly equipped with the ability to make a precision strike with nukes and the greater and stronger the nuclear strike ability, the greater is the deterrent of aggression. In case of our country in particular, our opponent is the US, the greatest nuke power in the world that is inflicting constant nuclear threat on us. That’s why we should beef up the nuclear forces steadily both in quality and quantity. A powerful nuclear force ensures peace and prosperity and the happy life of the people.

The new strategic line is a realistic line to obtain maximum results in the economic construction and defense buildup of the country to suit our actual conditions. Now the US and its following forces are scheming to draw our country into arms race and thus lay an obstacle to our efforts for the building of an economic power and the enhancement of the people’s standard of living. The new line makes it possible to direct big efforts to the economic construction and the improvement of the people’s welfare while further boosting national defense with less expenses without increasing defense expenditures. We are possessed of the firm atomic energy industry provided by the great Generalissimos with their far-sighted wisdom, outstanding leadership and iron pluck and also inexhaustible uranium resources. The new line is a reasonable line to beef up the nuclear forces in reliance on our own atomic energy industry and, at the same time, to settle the shortage of power; It is a correct line to fully realize our party’s plan and intention to cope with the prevailing situation positively and enable the people to enjoy a happy life without any worry.

The new strategic line on building up the economy and the nuclear forces abreast is a continuation and development of the line on simultaneously building up the economy and defenses advanced

by President Kim Il Sung and thoroughly embodied by leader Kim Jong Il. At the 5th plenary meeting of the 4th Central Committee of the WPK in December 1962 President Kim Il Sung set forth the line on simultaneously carrying on the economic and defense construction for the first time in history and advanced the revolutionary slogan reading “Rifle in one hand and hammer or sickle in the other!”

As the President clarified the line of simultaneous construction and provided the independent national economy and self-reliant defense power, we have been able to firmly defend the revolutionary achievements in a great upheaval in which socialism was frustrated in many countries. Leader Kim Jong Il led the fierce anti-US nuclear confrontation to victory with his prominent Songun politics and thus accomplished the great cause of possessing nukes, thereby defending the Juche-based socialism and laying a firm basis to leap to the building of a thriving nation.

Today we can do everything as we wish in accordance with our confidence, will and pluck while resolutely smashing the US and its following forces’ vicious moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK only thanks to the powerful nuclear deterrent built up by the great Generalissimos with their lifelong efforts.

Their services to turn our country into a nuke power of the world will shine forever in the history of the nation. The party’s line on increasing the nation’s defense capacity with the nuclear forces as its pivot and accelerating the building of an economic power is a treasured sword to bring earlier the building of a powerful socialist state and the country’s reunification; It is a banner to safeguard national sovereignty and dignity generation after generation.

The new strategic line is an embodiment of our Party’s steadfast determination and will to accomplish the revolutionary cause of Juche along the road of independence, the road of Songun and the socialist road pioneered and developed by the great Generalissimos. We should hold fast to the Party’s line on implementing the economic and nuclear forces construction abreast and carry through it per-

fectly. It is the most important and urgent task facing our Party to accelerate the building of an economic power and radically improve the people’s standard of living.

It was a lifelong wish of great Generalissimo Kim Jong Il to build an economic giant on this land and make the people live so well that they have nothing to envy in the world. We should speed up the building of an economic power and rapidly enhance the people’s standard of living as our Generalissimos wished. In order to be an economic giant it is necessary to decisively shore up the pilot sectors of the national economy and the sectors of basic industries. Only when the electric-power, coal-mining and metallurgical industries and rail transport can afford to go ahead, the whole of national economy can make a vigorous headway. A breakthrough to victory in the present drive should be made in the fields of the pilot sectors of the national economy and the sectors of basic industries as befitting the scouts and pioneers in making the country an economic giant.

A new turn should be made in the fields of agriculture and light industry, the major front for building an economic power. We should attain the grain yield target set forth by the Party by increasing the state investment in agriculture and do farming on scientific and technological basis, as required by the Juche method of farming. In hearty response to the Party’s call for astonishing success in bettering the people’s living, the officials and workers of the light industry should operate light-industrial factories in full capacity and thus increase the output of high quality consumer goods favored by people.

We should bring the national economy on to a higher level of Juche-orientation and modernization and also develop the national economy onto a knowledge-based economy by raising the flames of industrial revolution in the new century. Now the level and speed of development of economy and society are regulated by the development of science and technology. Therefore, an economic giant we are going to build should become a knowledgebased economic giant whose motive power is science and technology.

We should make great efforts to put the sectors of basic industries including metallurgical and chemical industries on the Juche-oriented base by home-producing raw, fuel and other materials urgently needed for building an economic giant.

We should form groups for new technological development in all fields of the national economy and organically link science and technology with the economy and thus modernize factories and enterprises.

It is important to exert our efforts to development of space science and technology in order to develop and launch more diverse application satellites including communication satellite. In order to bring about a turn in building an economic giant it is necessary to improve guidance and management for economy. The state economic organs including the Cabinet should set up practical strategies for economic development and goals of different fields and different stages and thoroughly implement them. They should organize well production and guidance for a new upsurge through effective use of the existing economic foundation. It is necessary to research and complete the Korean-style method of economic management to meet the requirement of present reality.

Economic management of our style embodying the Juche idea should be a socialist way of enterprise management - firmly maintaining the socialist ownership of the means of production all the enterprises should independently and creatively carry out their business activities under the unified guidance of the state and the masses of producers should perform their responsibilities and roles in production and management as masters.

We should make foreign trade multilateral and diversified so that a favorable condition for building

an economic giant may be provided, free from sanctions and blockades of hostile forces. We should build tourist destinations and attractions in different parts of the country including areas around Wonsan and Mt Chilbo for tourism while building economic development areas fitting practical conditions of different provinces for peculiar development.

As the imperialists persist in their nuclear threat to us, we should hold fast to the line of parallel growth of the economy and nuclear arms build-up and further augment our nuclear deterrence. Our nuclear deterrence is a means of justice for defending the sovereignty of the country and the nation and safeguarding peace against war. When we have a strong nuclear deterrence can we focus on the economic construction and the improvement of people’s living without any fear of attack by the enemy however strong he may be. The munitions industry should make another big stride to keep the honor of the country growing as a matchless nuclear power in the world.

More nukes, more accurate and smaller in size, and more carrier rockets must be put out and more advance be made in nuke technology so as to develop more powerful nukes. Putting the industry of atomic energy on update and scientific base is the key to increasing the production of nuclear substances and raise their qualities for development of more minimized and lighter nuclear weapons.

Through the dynamic struggle to push back the frontiers of science, CNC technology and unmanned technology should be introduced in equipment and production processes in the field of atomic energy industry. While developing the atomic energy industry on a firm ultra-modern base of science and technology to meet the demand of the new century we should develop independent atomic electric power industry to make up for acute shortage of electricity.

The People’s Army should enhance the pivotal role of nuclear forces in carrying out the strategy of war deterrence and in executing war strategy and winding up the combat readiness of the nuclear force. We are going to legalize our eternal grip on the nuke deterrence , a heritage of our great generalissimo Kim Jong Il. We should boldly conduct external activities with the dignity and might of a nuclear power to create an external condition and environment favorable for building a thriving nation while further enhancing the international prestige of our Party and maintaining firm independent stand. In order to expose the reactionary nature and unjustness of the US hostile policy toward the DPRK, the root cause driving us to nuclear arms build-up, and convince the people of the correctness and inevitability of our choice and the line of our Party, the external activities should be positively conducted so as to prevail over more of our supporters and sympathizers. We, a responsible nuclear possessor, will strive for peace and security of Asia and other parts of the world and honestly carry out our duty of nonnuclear proliferation we assume before the world community and thus contribute to creating a nuclear free world.

All the officials, party members and working people should turn out in the dynamic struggle to implement the Party’s line on parallel growth of the economy and nuclear arms build-up with the invincible faith and fighting spirit and thus hasten the building of a thriving socialist state.

It is the revolutionary spirit of our army and people cultivated by the great Generalissimos and their tradition of struggle to confidently go along the road taken by themselves with firm faith in justice and victory of their cause in any complex situation and any difficult tasks. Let all of us firmly unite around the Central Committee of the WPK and dynamically struggle to carry on the economic construction and nuclear arms build-up simultaneously in requirement of the development of revolution and thus accelerate our final victory.

China to open disputed islands to tourism BOAO: China is to open disputed South China Sea islands up to tourism this month, state media reported yesterday, a move likely to inflame a long-running territorial row with its neighbours. The plans to allow tourists to visit the Paracel Islands before the May Day holiday is the latest stage in Beijing’s development of the territory, which has previously angered Vietnam and caused concern in Washington. Vietnam and China have a longstanding territorial row over the Paracel Islands. Hanoi last month accused a Chinese vessel of firing on one of its fishing boats which had sailed in disputed waters in the area.

The plan to allow cruise tours follows rapid development of infrastructure in a new city-Sansha-along with the establishment of an army garrison on one of the Paracels last year.

Tourists can only visit the islands on cruise ships as the hotels and other facilities are inadequate, news agency Xinhua said, citing Tan Li, executive vice governor of the southern province of Hainan.

Tan was speaking on Saturday at the Boao Forum for Asia, which is being held in Hainan. The report quoted shipbuilder Haihang Group Corp Ltd as saying its cruise ship was ready to take almost 2,000 passen-

gers on a tour of the islands. A second cruise ship was being built by Hainan Harbor and Shipping Holdings Co, the report added.

“The tour prices will be relatively high due to the high costs of tourism infrastructure construction,” Hainanbased tour agency general manager Huang Huaru told Xinhua. Tan said local authorities would build more

supply ships and ports, and beef up the infrastructure in Sansha.

The city was established last summer to administer more than 200 islets, sandbanks and reefs in the South China Sea, which also include the Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank. All the territory within the two million square kilometres (800,000 square miles) of waters under

SANSHA: This file picture shows the sunset in Sansha, China’s newest city, anchored on a remote tropical island with coral reefs, palm trees and white sand beaches giving it the allure of a tourist idyll, under the administration of southern Hainan province. — AFP

Sansha’s “control” is disputed. The South China Sea is also home to vital shipping lanes and substantial proven and estimated oil and gas deposits. Located on Yongxing Island, Sansha is home to about 1,000 people, mainly involved in the fishing industry. Residents of China’s newest city rely on ships for fresh water and other materials. The Paracels’ only hotel, which has 56 rooms, is also on the island.

Inhabitants have access to a bank and a supermarket, photos on the Internet show. There is a library painted in a salmon-coloured hue and a basketball court shaded by palm trees. Other pictures depict people relaxing in hammocks outside their modest dwellings.

China has occupied the Paracels, known as Xisha in Chinese, since a brief war with South Vietnam in 1974.

It is a cluster of about 40 islets, sandbanks and reefs. Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia all have rival claims to parts of the South China Sea, while the United States is also watching Beijing’s increased assertiveness. In his address opening China’s parliament last month, former Premier Wen Jiabao said Beijing should “develop the marine economy... and safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests”. —AFP

14

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

ANALYSIS

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

Issues

Conservatives hope to reboot

By Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren oter fatigue with Canada’s ruling Conservatives and signs of stress within the government are putting Prime Minister Stephen Harper under pressure to freshen up his team and policies as the telegenic son of Pierre Trudeau starts snapping at his heels. Even though the election is 30 months away - in Oct 2015 - the next few months will be a critical time for Harper, given mounting evidence in opinion polls that the Conservatives risk losing power after what would be nearly a decade in office. A different government would likely raise corporate taxes and step up environmental controls, with costs to the energy and mining firms that lead Canada’s growth.

A string of polls in the last two months put support for the Conservatives between 29 and 32 percent, barely enough to keep them in power with an unstable minority government. The party, in power since 2006, won a majority in the May 2011 election with 39.6 percent of the vote. “I don’t think you can underestimate probably the internal fatigue of the government,” said pollster Nik Nanos of Nanos Research. The likely Conservative response: A restating of priorities, including: a balanced budget, then tax cuts, and a cabinet reshuffle. That would give Harper the chance to bring in new younger ministers, and bring more women into the cabinet. Harper said last year that he planned big cabinet changes in mid-2013, and an aide said the plan remained on track.

The biggest external political threat comes from the Liberals, who have governed Canada more than any other party, but who sank to a distant third with less than 19 percent of the vote in 2011, behind the left-leaning New Democrats (NDP). The Liberals are banking on the possible re-emergence of Trudeaumania, the voter excitement of 1968 when Pierre Elliott Trudeau became Liberal prime minister on a wave of flower power. Trudeau’s son Justin is likely to be elected Liberal leader on April 14, and polls show that helping the party enormously.

A Forum Research poll this month said they would win 40 percent of votes with Trudeau in charge, and perhaps a majority of seats. An Ipsos Reid poll on Thursday also had Trudeau Liberals ahead of the Conservatives, but by just one point. Karl Belanger, principal secretary to NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, brushed off the threat from its rivals on the left. “The Liberals will pick their seventh leader in nine years,” he said. “We will let them sort themselves out, the NDP is focused on the Conservatives.”

Conservative strategists play down the opinion polls, noting how far away the next election is. They acknowledge Trudeau’s charisma, but stress his inexperience.

Trudeau has banked on presenting a message of hope, much like US President Barack Obama, and has sought to make a virtue of the fact that in many areas he does not have detailed policies, insisting that he will first listen to Canadians. The Conservatives wrested power from a scandal-hit Liberal administration in 2006 with a promise to clean up Ottawa. But now the Conservatives have accountability problems of their own. Two ministers were forced to quit this year over ethics violations and Elections Canada has laid charges against a Conservative campaign worker in connection with fraudulent robocalls in the 2011 campaign. The Conservative Party says it ran a clean campaign and was not involved with the calls, and anybody responsible should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. In an unusual sign of open protest against Harper, some backbench Conservatives are grumbling about tight controls on what they can do or say in public, particularly on abortion, which is legal in Canada but opposed by some in Harper’s party. One anti-abortion Conservative, Stephen Woodworth, accused Harper’s government of being “tyrannical” after party whips denied another lawmaker the opportunity to speak in Parliament about a proposal to condemn gender-selective abortion. Harper’s answer to his woes looks set to include the largest single cabinet shuffle since he took power. The timing is unclear, but he has said it will be in mid-2013. “He will not be fiddling around at the edges or moving a few pieces around,” a leading Conservative told Reuters.

A key question is whether Jim Flaherty will stay on as finance minister despite health problems. He has held his post from the moment Harper formed his government in 2006, and says he wants to stay until the budget is balanced in 2015. Though he ran up record budget deficits in response to the recession, markets see Flaherty as an experienced hand determined to balance the budget without tax hikes. Harper has until now kept his cabinet changes moderate, preferring to stick to tried-and-true ministers over new blood.— Reuters

V

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.

Despite threats, risks temper Korea war tensions

By Eric Talmadge s tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula, one thing remains certain: All sides have good reason to avoid an all-out war. The last one, six decades ago, killed an estimated 4 million people. A war would be suicidal for North Korea, which cannot expect to defeat the United States and successfully overrun South Korea. War would be horrific for the other side as well. South Korea could suffer staggering casualties. The US would face a destabilized major ally, possible but unlikely nuclear or chemical weapons attacks on its forward-positioned bases, and dramatically increased tensions with North Korea’s neighbor and Korean War ally, China.

Here’s a look at the precarious balance of power that has kept the Korean Peninsula so close to conflict since the three-year war ended in 1953, and some of the strategic calculus behind why, despite the shrill rhetoric and seemingly reckless saber-rattling, leaders on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone have carefully avoided going back over the brink.

A

The Sea of Fire Even without nuclear weapons, North Korea has an ace in the hole. Most experts believe its claims to have enough conventional firepower from its artillery units to devastate the greater Seoul area, South Korea’s bustling capital of 24 million. Such an attack would cause severe casualties - often estimated in the hundreds of thousands - in a very short period of time. Many of these artillery batteries are already in place, dug in and very effectively camouflaged, which

means that US and South Korean forces cannot count on being able to take them out before they strike. Experts believe about 60 percent of North Korea’s military assets are positioned relatively close to the Demilitarized Zone separating the countries. North Korea’s most threatening weapons are its 170 mm Koksan artillery guns, which are 14 long and can shoot conventional mortar ammunition 40 km. That’s not quite enough to reach Seoul, which is 50 km from the DMZ. But if they use rocket-assisted projectiles, the range increases to about 60 km.

Chemical weapons fired from these guns could cause even greater mayhem. North Korea experts Victor Cha and David Kang posted on the website of Foreign Policy magazine late last month that the North can fire 500,000 rounds of artillery on Seoul in the first hour of a conflict.

Even so, not everyone believes North Korea could make good on its “sea of fire” threats.

Security expert Roger Cavazos, a former US Army officer, wrote in a report for the Nautilus Institute last year that, among other things, North Korea’s big guns have a high rate of firing duds, pose more of a threat to Seoul’s less populated outer suburbs, and would be vulnerable to counterattack as soon as they start firing and reveal their location. “North Korea occasionally threatens to “turn Seoul into a Sea of Fire”, he wrote. “But can North Korea really do this? ...

The short answer is they can’t; but they can kill many tens of thousands of people, start a larger war and cause a tremendous amount of damage before ultimately losing their regime.”

First Strikes, Preemptive Strikes This is what both sides say concerns them

the most. North Korea says it is developing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles as a deterrent to keep the United States or South Korea from attacking it first. The reasoning is that Washington will not launch a preemptive strike if North Korea has a good chance of getting off an immediate - and devastating response of its own. Along with its artillery aimed at Seoul and other targets in South Korea, North Korea is developing the capacity to deploy missiles that are mobile, thus easier to move or hide. North Korea already has Rodong missiles that have - on paper at least - a range of about 1,300 km, enough to reach several US military bases in Japan. Along with 28,000 troops in South Korea, the US has 50,000 troops based in Japan.

North Korea is not believed to be capable of making a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on a long-range missile capable of hitting the United States. But physicist David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, believes it may be capable of mounting nuclear warheads on Rodongs.

In any case, Pyongyang is continuing to pursue advancements, apparently out of the belief that it needs nuclear-tipped missiles capable of reaching the US to have a credible deterrent.

The United States rejects the North’s claim that such a deterrent is necessary, saying it does not intend to launch preemptive strikes against North Korea. At the same time, Washington has made it clear that it could.

During ongoing Foal Eagle military maneuvers in South Korea, two US B-2 strategic stealth bombers, flying from their base in Missouri, conducted a mock bombing run on a South Korean

range. The B-2 is capable of carrying nuclear weapons, precision bombs that could take out specific targets such as North Korean government buildings, and massive conventional bombs designed to penetrate deep into the ground to destroy North Korean tunnels and dug-in military positions. One big problem, however, is determining where the targets are.

Amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program in 1994, President Bill Clinton reportedly considered a preemptive strike, but decided the risks were too high.

China’s Dilemma Without China, North Korea wouldn’t exist.

The Chinese fought alongside the North Koreans in the Korean War and have propped up Pyongyang with economic aid ever since. Beijing has grown frustrated with Pyongyang, especially over its nuclear program. China and the US worked together in drafting a UN resolution punishing the North for its Feb 12 nuclear test. But China still has valid reasons not to want the regime to suddenly collapse. War in Korea would likely spark a massive exodus of North Korean civilians along its porous 1,300-km border, which in turn could lead to a humanitarian crisis or unrest that the Chinese government would have to deal with. The fall of North Korea could pave the way for the United States to establish military bases closer to Chinese territory, or the creation of a unified Korea over which Beijing might have less influence. China, the world’s second-largest economy, also has significant trade with South Korea and the United States. Turmoil on the Korean Peninsula would harm the economies of all three countries. —AP

New fears in Lanka amid anti-Muslim campaign

By Krishan Francis red-robed Buddhist monk calmly picked up stones and hurled them at a security camera. Then, as police looked on, his followers smashed up a popular, Muslimowned clothing store. Last month’s attack on the Fashion Bug chain near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, filmed by a local television station whose cameraman was attacked by the mob, was the most public outburst in a growing anti-Muslim campaign by Buddhist nationalist groups in the island nation.

The escalation in attacks and anti-Muslim rhetoric has caused fears of a new wave of ethnic violence in a country still recovering from a quarter-century civil war between the government, controlled by ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, and a mainly Hindu ethnic Tamil rebel group. “They just finished hunting the Tamils, without solving any of the issues, and now they are starting on the Muslim hunt.

Virtually all minority communities are being threatened,” said Muslim political leader Azad Salley. The anti-Muslim campaign has been led

by Buddhist monks and is fast gaining ground among youth through raging speeches and ludicrous conspiracy theories spread on social media. The leaders of the campaign complain that Sri Lanka’s ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, who make up almost 75 percent of the country’s 20 million people and control the government and the military, are under threat from the 9 percent of the country that is Muslim.

They say Muslims dominate the nation’s businesses, are fomenting religious fundamentalism and are conspiring to demographically take over the country by increasing their birthrate while secretly sterilizing the Sinhalese.

A Muslim volunteer group, which does not wish to be identified for fear of reprisals, has documented 33 anti-Muslim incidents since Sept 2011. They include at least five attacks on Muslim places of worship, attacks on businesses and an episode where Muslim students at a government agriculture school were served pork, which their religion forbids them from eating. Buddhist nationalists demanded Muslim religious leaders stop issuing “halal”

A

certificates, which certify that local products comply with Islamic tenets, charging that the fees paid for certification were passed onto unwitting - often non-Muslim - consumers and used to construct mosques. Certification was made free of cost last month.

They have also campaigned for laws aimed at the Muslim community. One would stop women from wearing a veil. “I have a fundamental right when I go in the street to see the face of a person,” said Dilantha Withanage, an official of the prominent Buddhist nationalist group Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Force.

Another proposed law would stop Muslim men from being able to marry up to four women. “What we are fighting for is a single legal system in this country. If a Muslim has the right to marry four wives let the Buddhists also have that,” he said. Sri Lanka allows citizens to marry according to the customs of the four main religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.

Withanage denied having an anti-Islam agenda, saying his group wanted only for Buddhism to get the credit for building up Sri

Lankan civilization. Other religions can still be practiced, he said. The attack on Fashion Bug came a week after a monk accused the company and other Muslim businesses of committing “sexual crimes” against Sinhalese female employees and converting them to Islam by marrying them to Muslim employees. The mob stormed the store on the pretext that a 15year-old girl had been raped inside, an accusation that proved to be false.

Another monk told a rally that another Muslim-owned clothing store was giving free candy to Sinhalese women customers with ingredients that caused miscarriages and infertility. He said men’s belts sold by these companies caused kidney diseases and damaged customers’ testicles. Text messages were sent en masse accusing another Muslim company of manufacturing sanitary napkins that turned women barren. The claims were passed around on Facebook and Twitter as well.

The campaign has frightened Muslims, who suspect the government is not just refusing to protect them, but is actively fomenting the tension, a charge the government denies. Sri

In this photo taken April 4, 2013, a Sri Lankan Muslim teacher gives a Quran reading class in a Muslim neighborhood in Colombo.— AP

Lanka’s national telecom provider started selling the Buddhist Force theme song as a ring tone to help raise funds for the group.

Following protests, the company apologized for any “emotional distress” any community might feel - but refused to withdraw the tone.

Suspicion that authorities were complicit grew after the police stood by and watched the Fashion Bug attack.

Amid criticism of police inaction, 17 suspects, including three monks, were brought to court. The court later released them, saying the parties arrived at an amicable settlement. The injured cameraman also withdrew his complaint, saying fighting his case might create social unrest. The powerful defense secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the president’s brother, was recently a chief guest at a Buddhist Force event, where he defended the group. “The venerable monks always came forward to protect our country, race, religion and culture. This effort is to bring them to a correct course, not to spread hatred,” he said.

Mohamed Saleem, a Muslim community worker in Colombo, called the defense secretary’s endorsement of an extremist group “worrying”. “Are the Muslims equal citizens of this country or not?” he asked. Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake dismissed accusations the government was involved in an anti-Muslim campaign as the “usual finger pointing” by the opposition. “I need to emphasize the fact that from the beginning, the government has treated every community equally,” he said. He said the government would not restrain anyone’s freedom of expression, but would take action if they violated the law.

The Muslims, descended from Arab traders who came to the island more than a millennium ago, are considered a separate ethnic group. But they have had a relatively amicable history with the Sinhalese majority and were persecuted by Tamil rebels for siding with the state during the war. Kusal Perera, a Sinhalese political analyst, said he believes the antiMuslim campaign is aimed at distracting Sri Lankans from the rising cost of living and other contentious issues. Sinhalese traders have also seen an opportunity to “grab the market” dominated by Muslim businesses, he said.—AP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

S P ORT S Cancellara wins Paris-Roubaix

Kentucky Derby favorite

Balotelli faces smoking fine

ROUBAIX: Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland edged out Sep Vanmarcke in a final sprint to win the Paris-Roubaix cobblestone classic for a third time yesterday. Cancellara was the heavy favorite for the 254.5-kilometer (158-mile) race following the withdrawal of Tom Boonen and Peter Sagan.

The RadioShack Leopard rider held off Vanmarcke to win in 5 hours, 45 minutes, 33 seconds. “In the end I must say I don’t know how I did it,” Cancellara said. “When I see how the race was, everyone against our team, against me ... I don’t know.

I had to make a decision because I saw the team was in a difficult situation as we lost a few guys, but that’s Paris-Roubaix, that’s this race. I just kept fighting, I never gave up.” It was Cancellara’s third major WorldTour victory in the last three weeks after the E3 Harelbeke event and the Ronde of Flanders. Niki Terpstra edged out Greg Van Avermaet to claim third, 31 seconds behind Cancellara.

Zdenek Stybar had been pushing the leading duo, but his chances were ended when he clipped a fan 15K from the finish. The Czech cyclist finished sixth. Shortly before, Stybar’s Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammate, Stijn Vandenbergh, had also crashed into a supporter and fell on the Carrefour de l’Arbre.—AP

NEW YORK: Verrazano enhanced his status as the likely favourite for next month’s Kentucky Derby with a narrow win in Saturday’s $1 million Wood Memorial, one of the key lead-up races to the annual Run for the Roses.

The unbeaten three-year-old made it four wins from as many starts when he held off Vyjack and Normandy Invasion to win the nine furlong race on dirt at the Aqueduct track in New York.

Verrazano’s trainer Todd Pletcher said the colt would not race again before the Derby, at Churchill Downs on May 4. The 20-horse field is selected by a point scoring system from specific lead-up races.

Verrazano is guaranteed of his place after winning the Tampa Bay Derby and the Wood Memorial, which has produced 11 Kentucky Derby winners.

Meanwhile, Doug O’Neill, who trained last year’s Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another, ensured he would have another starter in this year’s big race when he saddled up the winner of Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby. The O’Neill-prepared Goldencents outstayed the favorite Flashback to win the $750,000 event in California and secure his place in the Derby as the field starts to take shape. The build-up to the 139th Kentucky Derby continues next weekend with the running of the Arkansas Derby and Toyota Bluegrass. —Reuters

FLORENCE: Mario Balotelli’s smoking habit has gotten him in trouble. The Italy striker was caught smoking a cigarette in the bathroom on a train carrying his AC Milan squad to face Fiorentina on Sunday and club vice president Adriano Galliani says Balotelli will be fined.

Coaches have been trying to get Balotelli to quit smoking for years and the practice is banned on Italian trains.

Balotelli should have plenty of time to mull over his latest act of misbehavior as he picked up a yellow card in the 2-2 draw with Fiorentina which rules him out of next weekend’s showdown with Napoli, the team Milan is trying to catch for second place and a direct Champions League berth.

Besides his numerous run-ins with coaches, Balotelli has a history of off-pitch misbehavior.

He made light of his troubles in 2011 when he was with Manchester City by unveiling a T-shirt with the slogan “Why Always Me?” during a 6-1 rout of Manchester United in a Premier League derby. That came after news emerged that a fire had broken out at his house when fireworks were let off in his bathroom.

Balotelli escaped punishment earlier in 2011 after throwing a dart at a City youth-team player. No one was hurt in the incident.—AP

Nationals, Cardinals advance

TORONTO: Pedro Ciriaco No. 23 of the Boston Red Sox steals second base in the third inning during MLB game action as Jose Reyes No. 7 of the Toronto Blue Jays cannot handle a throwing error by JP Arencibia. — AFP

Angels pound Rangers ARLINGTON: Albert Pujols homered twice to offset another tough day for Josh Hamilton in his second game back in Texas, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Rangers 8-4 Saturday.

Pujols hit a two-run shot to the lawn in center field off Matt Harrison in the first inning and watched Hamilton strike out twice and fly out behind him after taking three intentional walks.

The only other time the Rangers let him swing, Pujols homered off reliever Jason Frasor in the sixth.

Mark Trumbo also had a two-run homer in the first against Harrison (0-2), who gave up eight hits and five runs in five innings after losing to Houston on opening night.

Mitch Moreland and Ian Kinsler hit third-inning home runs against Tommy Hanson (1-0), who gave up three runs over six innings in his Angels debut after arriving in an offseason trade with Atlanta.

The boos were loud again for Hamilton, who said before the game that his wife had to call over security during Friday’s home opener for Texas because fans were shouting insults and obscenities at their family. There were no major incidents, and Hamilton said his family planned to return for the remaining two games.

Hamilton, who signed a $125 million, five-year deal to join Pujols in the middle of the Angels lineup, is 1 for 20 with 10 strikeouts.

TIGERS 8, YANKEES 4 In Detroit, Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 4 day and Prince Fielder drove in two runs to lead Detroit over New York. Max Scherzer (1-0) gave up four runs in fiveplus innings to pick up the win in a shaky start, his first of the season. Phil Hughes (0-1) allowed four runs - three earned on eight hits in four-plus innings on a day when he was originally scheduled to make a rehabilitation start in the minors.

Darin Downs and Joaquin Benoit combined to pitch three scoreless innings to end the game for the Tigers, who will try for a series sweep Sunday in a matchup of aces, Detroit’s Justin Verlander and New York’s CC Sabathia.

BLUE JAYS 5, RED SOX 0 In Toronto, John Lackey left with a strained biceps in his first start since September 2011, grabbing his right arm in pain and coming out in the fifth inning as Boston lost to Toronto.

Lackey (0-1) missed last season following elbow ligament-replacement surgery in November 2011. He allowed a two-run homer to J.P. Arencibia in the fourth, then clutched his arm and jumped around the mound in pain after throwing low and inside to Jose Reyes on a 2-2 pitch with one out in the fifth.

Teammates and manager John Farrell came to the mound before Lackey walked off with Red Sox trainer Rick Jameyson and was replaced by Alfredo Aceves, who threw ball four.

There was no immediate word on the severity of Lackey’s injury, or how much time he might miss. Lackey signed an $82.5 million, five-year contract with Boston in December 2009 after eight seasons with the Angels. He allowed two runs and five hits in 4 1-3 innings with eight strikeouts.

Colby Rasmus hit a three-run homer off Aceves, a drive off the facing of the third deck in right-center. JA Happ (1-0) combined on a two-hitter with Steve

CINCINNATI: Ian Desmond made two errors at shortstop that helped the Cincinnati Reds take the game to extra innings, then led off the 11th with his first home run of the season to rally the Washington Nationals to a 7-6 victory Saturday.

Bryce Harper also homered for the Nationals, who were coming off a 15-0 loss in the series opener - their most lopsided defeat since baseball returned to Washington in 2005. The Reds hit six homers in that one. Washington got the better of it this time, hitting five homers to Cincinnati’s one. The teams have combined for 12 homers, accounting for 20 of the 28 runs in the series.

Wilson Ramos hit two for the Nationals, including a solo shot off J.J. Hoover (0-2) in the 11th for a 7-5 lead. Desmond’s two errors led to a pair of runs that helped the Reds rally from a 5-1 deficit against one of the NL’s best bullpens.

Nationals closer Rafael Soriano blew a save for the first time in three chances. He gave up a leadoff homer to Shin-Soo Choo in the ninth before Joey Votto tripled - his first extra-base hit of the season and scored on a wild pitch. Craig Stammen (1-0) pitched the last two innings. He gave up a two-out RBI double to Brandon Phillips before fanning Jay Bruce to end it.

Delabar, Aaron Loup and Sergio Santos.

WHITE SOX 4, MARINERS 3 In Chicago, Alex Rios hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Felix Hernandez in the sixth inning and Chicago beat Seattle.

With one out and Alejandro De Aza aboard after a leadoff single, Rios drove an 0-2 pitch through a tricky wind and way over the wall in left for his second homer in two days.

Hernandez (1-1) allowed four runs and six hits over 6 1-3 innings in his first try for win No. 100. The right-hander struck out three to give him 1,498 for his career.

De Aza and Hector Gimenez each had a sacrifice fly as the White Sox improved to 25-5 against Seattle since the start of the 2010 season.

Seattle pulled within one on Michael Saunders’ two-run homer in the eighth, but the rally fizzled from there. Jesse Crain wriggled out of a jam to get the ball to Addison Reed, who worked the ninth for his third save. Donnie Veal (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.

RAYS 6, INDIANS 0 St. Petersburg, Alex Cobb scattered four hits in 7 1-3 innings, Kelly Johnson homered and Tampa Bay beat Cleveland.

Cobb (1-0) struck out six and walked three as the Rays blanked Cleveland for the second consecutive game. Joel Peralta and Cesar Ramos completed a five-hitter.

Indians catcher Lou Marson left the game in the fourth with a cervical-neck strain, when he had a jarring collision with Desmond Jennings.

Bauer (0-1) had control problems in his Cleveland debut, walking his first four batters and seven overall in five innings.

TWINS 6, ORIOLES 5 In Baltimore, Justin Morneau singled in the tiebreaking run with two outs in the ninth inning after an error by Chris Davis, and the Twins got a home run from Chris Parmalee in a victory over the Orioles. Although Davis picked up his 17th RBI, he failed to become the first player in major league history to homer in the first five games of the season. The first baseman also opened the door for the Twins to snatch their first win in Baltimore since April 21, 2011.

With the score tied at 5, Baltimore turned to closer Jim Johnson (0-1) in the ninth. Davis let a one-out grounder by Aaron Hicks roll through his legs, and after a two-out walk to Josh Willingham, Morneau singled up the middle.

Josh Roenicke (1-0) pitched three innings of one-hit relief and Glen Perkins got three straight outs for his first save.

ATHLETICS 6, ASTROS 3 In Houston, Bartolo Colon was sharp in his return from a drug suspension and Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie and Seth Smith homered to lead Oakland to a victory over the Astros.

It was the first appearance for Colon (1-0) since he received a 50-game suspension for a positive testosterone test Aug. 22. He allowed eight hits and three runs without a walk in six innings for the win. Crisp homered for the second straight game with a solo shot in the fourth that put Oakland up 1-0. Houston starter Bud Norris (1-1) yielded six hits and five runs - two earned - in 5 2-3 innings. Jason Castro hit a three-run homer in the fourth for the Astros. — AP

CARDINALS 6, GIANTS 3 In San Francisco, Carlos Beltran hit a go-ahead, two-run single against his former team and Shelby Miller beat the reigning World Series champions in his second career start as St. Louis defeated San Francisco to spoil Buster Posey’s MVP party.

Pete Kozma had three hits, drove in a run and scored for the Cardinals from the No. 8 spot in the order. Matt Holliday singled in a run and Matt Carpenter added an RBI single in the ninth.

Beltran also hit an RBI single in the first against Ryan Vogelsong (0-1) in a matchup of teams that won the past three World Series - and a rematch of last fall’s NLCS won by the Giants in seven games.

Hunter Pence hit a solo homer for the Giants and Pablo Sandoval homered and had an RBI single.

Posey received his NL MVP plaque in a pregame ceremony. The Giants will have yet another day of celebrating Sunday with the World Series ring presentation.

Miller (1-0), the Cardinals’ top pitching prospect, allowed two runs in 5 1-3 innings. Mitchell Boggs, filling in for injured closer Jason Motte, finished for his first save.

METS 7, MARLINS 3 In New York, John Buck drove in four runs and was part of a rare umpire’s call that helped New York beat Miami. Collin Cowgill homered, David Wright got three hits and slumping Ike Davis added a pair of singles to lift the Mets on a brisk afternoon at Citi Field.

New York led 3-2 in the seventh inning moments before plate umpire Jim Joyce made the unusual call.

Juan Pierre was at second base and Greg Dobbs hit a two-out single. Pierre dashed home easily with the tying run as right fielder Mike Baxter’s throw was 10 feet wide of Buck at the plate. Pierre crossed home but then collided with Buck as the catcher planted to try and throw out Dobbs at second.

Joyce immediately called Pierre for interference and ruled Dobbs out, ending the inning. New York then scored three times to break away. Daniel Murphy hit an RBI triple, Wright singled home a run and Buck had a sacrifice fly. Catcher Miguel Olivo contributed to Miami’s problems in the seventh with two throwing errors on steals at second base.

Brandon Lyon (1-0) pitched one scoreless inning.

Ryan Webb (0-1) took the loss.

DIAMONDBACKS 9, BREWERS 2 In Milwaukee, Jason Kubel, Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Hill each homered in Arizona’s victory over the injury-depleted Brewers.

Kubel’s two-run homer gave the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Goldschmidt then hit a tworun drive in the fourth to make it 6-2. Hill’s solo shot capped the scoring in the eighth after his RBI double in the first gave Arizona a 1-0 lead.

Starter Patrick Corbin (1-0) gave up a run in each of the first two innings, but settled in to win his season debut. The start was another in a disturbing trend for Milwaukee’s Michael Fiers (0-1), who struggled at the end of 2012 and in spring training. He gave up six runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out one in five innings of his season debut.

BRAVES 6, CUBS 5 In Atlanta, BJ Upton led off the ninth inning with a homer and his brother Justin followed one out later with another long ball that helped the Atlanta Braves rally past embattled Chicago Cubs closer Carlos Marmol for a victory.

Justin went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. He also homered in the first and now has five homers in Atlanta’s first five games.

The Braves rallied from a 5-1 deficit with three runs in the eighth off Kyuji Fukijawa and two in the ninth off Marmol.Eric O’Flaherty (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth despite allowing a hit and walk.

Marmol (0-1) gave up two hits, both solo homers, in one-third of an inning. His ERA ballooned to 27.00.

ROCKIES 6, PADRES 3 In Denver, Jon Garland threw six sharp innings in his first appearance in almost two years and Michael Cuddyer drove in four runs, helping the Rockies to a win over the Padres.

Garland (1-0) hardly showed any signs of rust in his first big league start since June 1, 2011. He had season-ending shoulder surgery a month later. The procedure also kept him sidelined for 2012. He gave up two runs and struck out two.

Tyson Ross (0-1) lasted four innings and allowed

SAN FRANCISCO: Yadier Molina No. 4 high fives Carlos Beltran No. 3 of the St. Louis Cardinals after they beat the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. — AFP

Baseball results/standings Toronto 5, Boston 0; Chicago White Sox 4, Seattle 3; Washington 7, Cincinnati 6 (11 Innings); NY Mets 7, Miami 3; Detroit 8, NY Yankees 4; LA Angels 8, Texas 4; St. Louis 6, San Francisco 3; Minnesota 6, Baltimore 5; Philadelphia 4, Kansas City 3; Arizona 9, Milwaukee 2; Atlanta 6, Chicago Cubs 5; Oakland 6, Houston 3; Tampa Bay 6, Cleveland 0; Colorado 6, San Diego 3; LA Dodgers 1, Pittsburgh 0.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Baltimore 3 2 .600 Boston 3 2 .600 Tampa Bay 3 2 .600 Toronto 2 3 .400 NY Yankees 1 4 .200 Central Division Chicago White Sox 3 2 .600 Detroit 3 2 .600 Minnesota 3 2 .600 Cleveland 2 3 .400 Kansas City 2 3 .400 Western Division Oakland 4 2 .667 Texas 3 2 .600 Seattle 3 3 .500 LA Angels 2 3 .400 Houston 1 4 .200

GB 1 2 1 1 0.5 1 1.5 2.5

three runs - two earned - in his Padres debut after being acquired in the offseason from Oakland. He struggled with his control as he walked four.

DODGERS 1, PIRATES 0 In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw followed up his sensational one-man show on opening day with seven innings of two-hit ball and nine strikeouts in a spirited duel with AJ Burnett, and the Dodgers beat Pittsburgh for their second straight shutout win over the Pirates. Kershaw (2-0) walked one and retired 17 consecutive batters after giving up a leadoff single in the first inning to Starling Marte.

Brandon League followed Paco Rodriguez and Kenley Jansen out of the bullpen and pitched a hitless ninth for his second save.

Burnett (0-2) was charged with a run and four hits in 5 1-3 innings, walked four and struck out nine including Matt Kemp all three times he faced him.

National League Eastern Division Atlanta 4 1 .800 Washington 4 1 .800 NY Mets 3 2 .600 Philadelphia 2 3 .400 Miami 1 4 .200 Central Division Cincinnati 3 2 .600 Chicago Cubs 2 3 .400 St. Louis 2 3 .400 Pittsburgh 1 4 .200 Milwaukee 1 4 .200 Western Division Arizona 4 1 .800 Colorado 4 1 .800 San Francisco 3 2 .600 LA Dodgers 3 2 .600 San Diego 1 4 .200

1 2 3 1 1 2 2 1 1 3

INTERLEAGUE PHILLIES 4, ROYALS 3 In Philadelphia, pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen hit a bases-clearing, three-run double with two outs in the ninth off closer Greg Holland to lift the Phillies to a victory over the Kansas City Royals in front of the smallest crowd in Philadelphia in four years.

The Phillies had just two hits and trailed 3-1 to start the inning. Holland (0-1) walked Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Michael Young to load the bases.

He then struck out Domonic Brown swinging and fanned John Mayberry Jr. looking.But Frandsen ripped a first-pitch fastball to right-center to knock in all three runners.

Royals starter Luis Mendoza threw six stellar innings, and the Royals’ bullpen went into the ninth with seven hitless innings in the series. Antonio Bastardo (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win. — AP

The victorious Gulf Bank team.

Gulf Bank wins KBC League title KUWAIT: Gulf Bank were crowned champions of the KBC League after defeating Boubyan Bank in the final match that took place recently at the Arabi Sports Club Stadium.

Gulf Bank secured victory with two goals scored by Salem Al-Hazza’a in the first half and Ahmad Ghassab in the second, winning the title for the second year in a row.

After the match, senior Kuwait Banks Club officials presented the Championship Trophy

to the winning team, while the Boubyan Bank received the runner-up trophy. The Kuwait Finance House were also presented with the third-place award. In the end, KBC officials also rewarded Mohammad Khan of the National Bank of Kuwait with the Most Valuable Player award, Muhsen Ali of Gulf Bank received the best goalkeeper award, and Ali Ghareeb of the Gulf Bank the tournament’s scorer award.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

S P ORT S

Pitino breaks his own mold ATLANTA: Playing hunches does not get a coach into the Hall of Fame. It certainly didn’t get Rick Pitino to the threshold.

Looking after every detail does. So does recruiting NBA-caliber talent, then slotting those players into a system, conditioning and teaching them and, finally, making them believe that winning is the byproduct of relentless defense.

That’s been Pitino’s MO everywhere he’s been, first at Boston University, then at Providence, Kentucky and now Louisville, and even through the two NBA stints at New York and Boston sandwiched in between. That’s why he’ll walk into the hall when the vote becomes official Monday morning with 850-something wins on his resume and after a 7268 win over Wichita State in the national semifinal with maybe a second NCAA title to come later that night in the championship game against Michigan.

But on Saturday, in one of the biggest games of Pitino’s storied career, the 60-year-old Louisville coach cracked his own mold wide open with a scheme born partly out of necessity but mostly out of desperation. The biggest story of the week leading up to the game against Wichita State was about a kid from Louisville who wasn’t even going to play.

Kevin Ware, the first guard off the Cardinals’ bench all season, broke his leg in a freak on-court accident last weekend, leaving a gaping hole in Pitino’s planned rotation. Much of the Louisville press and

its pressure defense rely on starting guards Peyton Siva and Russ Smith to bring the heat, and the longer the game stretched out and the fouls piled up, the less that pair looked up to the task.

Trailing Wichita State 47-35 with 13:36 left to play, Pitino finally turned to a walk-on, Tim Henderson, and told him to start shooting. The junior hadn’t played more than seven minutes during the tourney and only 63 minutes the entire season.

One 3-pointer from Henderson a half-minute later, then a second 3 some 40 seconds after that and suddenly the Cardinals were back in the game.

“I told y’all about Tim before the camera was in my face,” Ware laughed afterward. “I kind of felt like Tim was doing enough on defense to stay in the game, just doing the little things, you know. But he’s a great player, honestly. We go at it against Russ and Peyton all day in practice, so I really wasn’t surprised, honestly.” Easy for him to say.

“The players said they weren’t surprised about him making those back-to-back threes,” Pitino said.

“They’re being very kind. I was shocked.” Yet Pitino’s hunch-playing didn’t stop there. The second one, though, was more like a premonition.

Luke Hancock, another junior who fell into his lap after transferring from George Mason, wasn’t a big part of Louisville’s plans when the season began. Pitino was so impressed with his toughness that he made Hancock a co-captain and brought

him off the bench, mostly as a 3-point specialist.

When his shots didn’t fall early, there was plenty of grumbling about how many minutes Hancock was getting at the expense of Wayne Blackshear and others.

But Pitino wouldn’t be deterred. And he was rewarded not just with 3-pointers from Hancock who finished with 20 points, 14 in the second half but with a couple of slashing drives to the basket that rocked the Shockers defense back onto their heels. “If you said to me, ‘Is Luke a top three player on the team?’ I would say, ‘Without question.’ Then you may say, ‘Why doesn’t he start?’” Pitino said, without waiting for an answer. “We don’t want to get him in foul trouble.”

And once the Cardinals got their noses in front, 56-55 at the 6:30 mark on a 3-pointer from Hancock, all that preparation Pitino excels at turned out to be enough to keep Louisville there at the final buzzer.

For the Louisville press to succeed it has to start on the in-bounds play, and once the Cardinals started making baskets, it took its toll. The Shockers went more than 26 minutes - from late in the first half until the 6:21 mark of the second - without turning the ball over once. But over the next minute and a half, the Cardinals forced three, two from Shockers freshman guard Fred VanVleet, and suddenly Louisville looked more like the No. 1 overall seed again coming into the tournament.

“I felt really, really good until we had that flurry of turnovers,” Shockers coach Greg Marshall said. “I didn’t realize it was five in seven possessions, which is certainly big.

“You know, they do that to everyone,” he added glumly. “We were looking really good there for 32 minutes or whatever it was.” It was almost long enough.

“We’re one of the better pressing teams in the country. They had four turnovers. We were giving them everything but the kitchen sink, and they wouldn’t turn it over,” Pitino recalled.

“What happens in the press, if you play an extremely well-coached team, you may have one run per game. If you’re going against guys that are freshman, not great ball-handlers,” he added, “then you may have three or four runs.”

What Louisville had, to be fair, were more like surges. A 3-pointer from Hancock nudged the Cardinals ahead to 65-60 with 2:06 left and they made just enough free throws to hold off Wichita State. “You’re elated when you win, so excited to be in a championship game,” Pitino said finally. “But there’s always a part of you that looks at the other team and says, ‘ They played their hearts out.’

There’s always a part of you that really wants to win, but you appreciate your opponent.” Enough in this case to force Pitino way out of his comfort zone, anyway. —AP

Louisville beat Wichita State

MINNEAPOLIS: Minnesota Timberwolves Ricky Rubio (left) of Spain, attempts to wrest the ball away from Detroit Pistons Greg Monroe in the second half of an NBA basketball game. — AP

Pistons fall, Heat advance MINNEAPOLIS: Rick Adelman became the eighth coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games when the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Detroit Pistons 107-101 on Saturday night.

Nikola Pekovic had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and J.J. Barea scored 20 points for the Timberwolves, who surrounded their 66-yearold coach when the buzzer sounded. Adelman grabbed his wife, Mary Kay, and kissed her three times as a video tribute played to honor him.

Brandon Knight scored 25 points and Rodney Stuckey had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Pistons, who have lost 18 of their last 21 games. They turned the ball over a season-high 24 times, leading to 25 points for Minnesota.

HEAT 106, 76ERS 87 In Miami, LeBron James scored 27 points in his return from a strained right hamstring, five other Miami players reached double figures and the Heat moved closer to securing home-court advantage for the entire NBA playoffs. Rashard Lewis scored 14 and Norris Cole added 13 for the Heat, whose magic number for clinching the league’s best regular-season record was trimmed to two. Miami moved to 60-16, one win shy of matching the franchise single-season record. The Heat got there after outscoring Philadelphia 29-11 in the fourth quarter.

Jrue Holiday scored 18 points for Philadelphia, which got 14 from Evan Turner and an 11-point, 11-rebound night from Spencer Hawes.

WIZARDS 104, PACERS 85 In Washington, John Wall scored 37 points in a display of speed and flair to lead Washington over Indiana. Wall made 16 of 25 shots, throwing his palms up after making an improbable 14foot sideways runner and flexing his muscles to the fans on the first row after banking in a fastbreak layup. He even blocked a layup attempt

by Roy Hibbert, the 6-foot-4 point guard rising to swat the ball away from the 7-foot-2 Pacers center.

Wall also had five assists, four rebounds and two blocks for the lottery-bound Wizards, who have won nine straight at home and are 18-4 at the Verizon Center this season when he’s on the floor.

NETS 105, BOBCATS 96 In New York, Deron Williams had 32 points and six assists, and Brooklyn strengthened its hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference by beating Charlotte.

Brook Lopez added 19 points and backup Andray Blatche had 16 as the Nets completed a

four-game sweep of the NBA-worst Bobcats.

Brooklyn moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Chicago for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Ben Gordon scored 27 points and Gerald Henderson had 22 for the Bobcats.

BUCKS 100, RAPTORS 83 In Milwaukee, Monta Ellis had 22 points and nine assists, and Milwaukee secured its first playoff berth in three seasons by beating Toronto.

Brandon Jennings had 16 points and seven assists, while Larry Sanders added 12 points, nine rebounds and six blocks for Milwaukee, which needed a win and a Miami victory over Philadelphia on Saturday to clinch at least the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Heat beat the 76ers, 106-87.

The win was Milwaukee’s 10th straight over Toronto, its longest active winning streak over any opponent. And it pulled the Bucks within two games of the idle Boston Celtics for the No. 7 seed. Alan Anderson led Toronto with 14 points off the bench, and Quincy Acy had 13.

SPURS 99, HAWKS 97 In San Antonio, Tim Duncan had 31 points and 14 rebounds to help short-handed San Antonio escape with a victory over Atlanta.

Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and DeJuan Blair had 11 for San Antonio.

The Spurs were without Tony Parker (neck) and Manu Ginobili (hamstring strain), who sat out the game with injuries. They also lost Boris Diaw, who left midway through the second quarter with back spasms. John Jenkins had 23 points and Mike Scott added 22 for Atlanta, which has lost three straight. Both were career highs for the rookie guards. Ivan Johnson added 14 points, Shelvin Mack had 12, and Johan Petro had 11 points and 15 rebounds.

NUGGETS 132, ROCKETS 114 In Denver, Wilson Chandler scored 21 points in place of the injured Danilo Gallinari to help Denver beat Houston for its 20th consecutive win at home, matching a team record.

Reserve Corey Brewer led the Nuggets with 22 points. Andre Iguodala had 18 points and a season-high 14 assists, while Andre Miller added 11 points and 12 assists as Denver finished with a season high in points while improving to a league-best 35-3 at home. The Nuggets also won 20 in a row at home from Jan. 9-March 30, 1985. Jeremy Lin scored 23 points for the Rockets, who lost their seventh straight to the Nuggets, including all four this season. James Harden added 14 points for Houston, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. — AP

NBA results/standings Washington 104, Indiana 85; Brooklyn 105, Charlotte 96; Miami 106, Philadelphia 87; Minnesota 107, Detroit 101; Milwaukee 100, Toronto 83; San Antonio 99, Atlanta 97; Denver 132, Houston 114.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT NY Knicks 49 26 .653 Brooklyn 44 32 .579 Boston 39 37 .513 Philadelphia 31 45 .408 Toronto 29 48 .377 Central Division Indiana 48 29 .623 Chicago 42 33 .560 Milwaukee 37 39 .487 Detroit 25 52 .325 Cleveland 23 52 .307 Southeast Division Miami 60 16 .789 Atlanta 42 36 .538 Washington 29 47 .382 Orlando 19 58 .247 Charlotte 18 59 .234

GB 5.5 10.5 18.5 21 5 10.5 23 24 19 31 41.5 42.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 56 20 .737 Denver 53 24 .688 Utah 40 37 .519 Portland 33 43 .434 Minnesota 29 47 .382 Pacific Division LA Clippers 50 26 .658 Golden State 44 32 .579 LA Lakers 40 36 .526 Sacramento 27 49 .355 Phoenix 23 53 .303 Southwest Division San Antonio 57 20 .740 Memphis 51 25 .671 Houston 43 34 .558 Dallas 37 39 .487 New Orleans 26 50 .342

3.5 16.5 23 27 6 10 23 27 5.5 14 19.5 30.5

ATLANTA: Russ Smith looked at the scoreboard, then at the clock, then over at the bench. Louisville needed a run, but he had no idea where it was going to come from. The starters were struggling, the fouls were piling up and the only lift injured Kevin Ware could give the top-seeded Cardinals was an emotional one.

“It was like, ‘Man,’” Smith said. “I was actually waiting for our run. And it happened. Luke exploded.

That was actually what I was waiting for. Then Chane exploded. Then Peyton made a big layup. Then Tim Henderson. It just kept going and going.” And Louisville rode it all the way to the title game.

Luke Hancock scored 20 points off the bench, Henderson sparked a second-half rally with a pair of monster 3s and Louisville reminded everyone it can grind it out, too, advancing to the NCAA title game Saturday night after escaping with a 72-68 victory over Wichita State.

Louisville will play Michigan, which beat Syracuse 61-56 in the other semifinal, for the national championship Monday night. The Cardinals (34-5) have had this game in their sights since losing to Kentucky in last year’s Final Four, and they got added motivation after Ware’s tibia snapped during last weekend’s Midwest Regional final, the bone poking through the skin.

Ware was on his feet when the final buzzer sounded, grinning and throwing his arms into the air. “We’ve got to bring our best game,” Ware said. “It’s the last game of the season. If we lose, everything we’ve worked for just goes down the drain. That’s the last thing we want right now.”

Especially after such a close call against the ninthseeded Shockers (30-9), who nearly pulled off their biggest upset of all.

Wichita State had knocked off No. 1 seed Gonzaga and Ohio State on its way to its first Final Four since 1965, and the Shockers had a 12-point lead on Louisville with 13:35 to play. It was the largest deficit all tournament for the Cardinals, who seemed lost after the emotional week following Ware’s gruesome injury. But Louisville had come back to win five games after trailing by nine points or more already this year, including rallying from a 16-point deficit in the title game at the Big East tournament. Even coach Rick Pitino’s horse, Goldencents, had to rally to win the Santa Anita Derby, and a spot in the Kentucky Derby, on Saturday. This rally trumped them all. “We just played super hard,” said Smith, who led the Cardinals with 21 points.

“Nobody wanted to go home.” Henderson, the walkon who was forced into increased playing time because of Ware’s injury, made those back-to-back 3s to spark a 21-8 run. While Hancock and Behanan were knocking down shots, Smith and Peyton Siva were turning up the heat on the Shockers, forcing them into seven turnovers in the final seven minutes after they’d gone more than 26 minutes without one. The first came when Siva darted in to strip the ball away from Carl Hall. Siva fed Hancock, who drilled a 3 that gave Louisville a 56-55 lead, its first since the end of the first half.

“Down the stretch, we were just loose with the ball, we just didn’t take care of it, pretty much,” said Wichita State’s Malcolm Armstead, who had just 2 points on 1-of-10 shooting. “I can’t give you an explanation - it just happened.”

Cleanthony Early would give the Shockers one more lead, converting a three-point play. But Siva

ATLANTA: Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas (25) handles the ball as Michigan’s Spike Albrecht (2) looks up during the first half of a semifinal in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament Final Four. — AP scored and then Smith stole the ball and took it in for an easy layup that gave Louisville a 60-58 lead with 4:47 left. Louisville fans erupted, and even Ware was on his feet, throwing up his arms and clapping.

The Cardinals extended the lead to 65-60 on a tip-in of a Smith miss and another 3 by Hancock. Wichita State had one last chance, pulling within 68-66 on Early’s tip in with 22 seconds left. But the Shockers were forced to foul, and Smith and Hancock made their free throws to seal the victory. As the final buzzer sounded, Chane Behanan tossed the ball high into the air and Henderson and Hancock did a flying shoulder bump at midcourt.

“It’s just a mix of emotions, of feelings. It hurts to have to lose and be the end of the season,” said Early, who led the Shockers with 24 points. “But these guys fought to the end, and we had a great season and keep our heads high and know the grind doesn’t stop.” The Cardinals were the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, and they steamrolled their way through their first four games, winning by an average of almost 22 points. They limited opponents to 59 points and 42 percent shooting while harassing them into almost 18 turnovers a game, setting an NCAA tourney record with 20 steals against North Carolina A&T. The presence of Ware was supposed to provide even more motivation for Louisville. He urged his teammates to “just go win the game” before being wheeled off the court on a stretcher last weekend.

Three days later, he joined the Cardinals as they made the trip to the Final Four in Atlanta, Ware’s hometown.

The Cardinals have modified their warm-up Tshirts in Ware’s honor - they now read “Ri5e to the Occasion,” with Ware’s No. 5 on the back. He had a seat at the end of the bench, his right leg propped up on towels, and every one of the starters went to shake his hand after being introduced.

But whether it was the roller-coaster of the last week, the expectations or just Wichita State, the Cardinals seemed out of sorts much of the night.

Wayne Blackshear and Gorgui Dieng went scoreless, and Siva was just 1-of-9.

“There’s a reason our starters played poorly, because Wichita State is that good,” Pitino said Wichita State may not have the names or pedigree of a Louisville, Syracuse or Michigan. But what the Shockers lacked in star power they more than made up for in hustle and heart. This, after all, was a team with one player (Carl Hall) who salvaged his career after working in a light bulb factory and two more (Armstead and Ron Baker) who paid their own ways in their first years.

The Shockers barely seemed to notice that vaunted Louisville press until the final minutes of the game. They didn’t rush shots, working it around until they got a look they liked - Louisville was called for more than one foul late in the shot clock, including one on Smith with only a second left - and they were relentless on the backboards.

And that “play angry” defense? Now the Cardinals have an idea of how their opponents have felt.

Wichita State bottled Louisville up inside, never letting Gorgui Dieng be a factor, and the Cardinals were continually forced to put up awkward and bad shots from outside. “We were kind of waiting to make our run,” Hancock said. “Obviously you’re a little concerned when you’re down by 12 in the second half.

We just had to turn up our intensity, maybe gamble a little more.” Louisville was struggling so badly that Ware actually got out of his seat at one point, hobbling over to the Louisville huddle. “He just wanted to tell us that we needed to pick it up,” Siva said. “We know how much it would mean for him to be out there. He just tried to give us whatever we needed, the extra motivation, the extra boost to get over the hump. That’s what he did.” —AP

Munster keep Irish hopes alive PARIS: Twice winners Munster kept their European Cup hopes alive with a powerful and gruelling 18-12 win at Harlequins yesterday.

The Irish province reached the semis for the first time since 2010 and in so doing avenged a Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to the Londoners two years ago.

In a brutal encounter Munster fly-half Ronan O’Gara outscored Quins’ Nick Evans by six penalties to four to maintain Irish hopes of continuing their recent domination in this competition.

Irish sides have won five of the last seven editions of the European Cup and following Ulster’s 27-16 defeat at Saracens on Saturday, Munster remain the last representatives from the Emerald Isle.

The first period was a war of attrition with neither side coming close to breaching their opponents’ tryline. Harlequins went into the break 9-6 ahead with missed kicks at goal proving decisive.

Former All Black fly-half Evans was first to misfire but O’Gara hooked two kicks wide before finding his range. The hosts had their noses just in front but that lead was turned on its head within six minutes of the restart. Quins captain Chris Robshaw was penalised for offside and O’Gara made no mistake from his kick. Flanker Peter O’Mahony then robbed line-out ball from George Robson deep in Harlequins’ 22 and the hosts infringed handing O’Gara a kick straight in front of the posts.

Munster had steppped up the intensity and Harlequins simply couldn’t cope, giving away

TWICKENHAM: Harlequins Joe Marler (second left) tackles Munster’s James Downey (second right) during the European Cup rugby union quarter final match. — AFP another penalty in front of the sticks that O’Gara, who now couldn’t miss, slotted over for a 15-9 lead.

O’Gara kicked a fifth straight penalty without reply before Harlequins started to wrest some control back from their Irish visitors with a scything break through the midfield from winger Tom Williams. That set up an Evans penalty but

Munster then pushed the hosts deep back into their own territory and controlled the ball to see out a deserved victory. Favorites Clermont booked their last four spot on Saturday when they ousted fellow French Top 14 side Montpellier 36-14. The final quarter-final sees twice former winners Leicester travel to Top 14 leaders Toulon. — AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

S P ORT S

Blackhawks see off Predators NASHVILLE: Bryan Bickell scored in the first period, Ray Emery made 20 saves, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Nashville Predators 1-0 on Saturday for their third win in four games.

The Blackhawks improved to 12-0-1 against the Central Division. Chicago beat Nashville for the third time this season including twice in six days. The teams will meet again Sunday in Chicago.

Nashville lost its second straight and fourth in five games. Emer y posted his second shutout and the 13th of his career. Chicago is 16-3-4 in one-goal games.

SAN ANTONIO: Billy Horschel watches his drive on the second hole during the final round of the Texas Open golf tournament. — AP

Horschel leads Texas Open SAN ANTONIO: Billy Horschel held off an experienced leaderboard to shoot 2-under 70 and take a two-shot lead entering the final round of the Texas Open on Saturday.

Horschel, who also held the lead after the second round, battled through the gusting San Antonio wind to reach 10 under overall - two shots ahead of Jim Furyk and Charley Hoffman. Horschel was second at last week’s Houston Open and extended his U.S. PGA Tour-best streak of consecutive made cuts to 21 this week.

“I’ve never been star struck out here,” Horschel said. “... I respect all the veterans out here. I respect everyone that’s put their time (in) out here.

“But at the same time, I’m as confident as I’ve ever been, and I feel just as good as anyone else in the world right now.” Rory McIlroy shot a 1-under 71 and was four shots back. McIlroy tied for the low round on Friday with a 67, but he was inconsistent off the tee in his third round and had four birdies and three bogeys.

The world No. 2 hit just 7 of 14 fairways for the second time in the tournament, continuing his trend of up-and-down play this year after an offseason equipment change.

He only signed up for the tournament late last week, in search of as many competitive rounds as possible before next week which will mark the first major since his PGA Championship win last August.

Saturday’s gusty Texas wind provided McIlroy with a far different challenge than he’ll likely face next week at Augusta National. “It was a tough scoring day,” McIlroy said. “It was hard to really go low under par. “... I probably should have been a couple better, but at the end of the day, it’s still a solid round, and I still have a chance coming into tomorrow.”

Ryan Palmer had the low round of the day, posting a 4-under 68. Furyk, playing the course for the first time this week - and after rain limited his practice round to four holes on Wednesday - birdied No. 18 to cap a 3-under effort for the day and to reach Sunday’s final pairing. The former US Open champion was consistent from tee to green, hitting 15 greens in regulation - a remarkable feat as the San Antonio wind switched to the south for the first time during the

tournament. However, he took 31 putts after needing only 26 on Friday. “It was funny to wake up and have the wind the dead opposite,” Furyk said. “What I was hitting hybrid into Thursday and Friday, I’m hitting 9-iron today.

“I’m glad I got a couple rounds under my belt before that wind switched.” Furyk, McIlroy and Padraig Harrington, all former major winners, were each within five shots of the lead.

McIlroy hit just 7 of 14 fairways for the second time in the tournament, continuing his trend of up-and-down play this year after an offseason equipment change.

The two-time major winner, who lost the top ranking to Tiger Woods this year, signed up for the tournament only late last week in search of as many competitive rounds as possible entering next week’s Masters. He opened with two birdies over his first three holes on Saturday, climbing to 7 under and within a shot of Horschel, who had yet to tee off. However, he fell back to 4 under with bogeys on Nos. 4, 10 and 11 before closing with birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 to stay in contention entering the final round.

Horschel, meanwhile, had a similar upand-down day as the weather warmed up and the strong south Texas wind picked up for the first time in the tournament. He made five birdies, reaching as low as 11 under after a confident 6-foot birdie putt on No. 14 - one of only 23 putts he needed in the round.

Hoffman, playing in the final pairing with Horschel, briefly took the lead after a birdie on No. 8. The two-time winner on tour went to 9 under after reaching the par 5 in two, and Horschel followed with a bogey for a two-shot swing that sent Friday’s leader to 8 under.

It didn’t take Horschel long to regain the lead for good, with another two-shot swing on the next hole. I didn’t even know I fell out of the lead until someone just told me,” Horschel said. “... I couldn’t care less whether I was leading after eight holes or whether I’m leading right now. “I knew that I was playing well.” The gusty wind on the 7,435yard layout took its toll, but it was enough to put Horschel well within reach of his first U.S. PGA Tour win. — AP

NEW DELHI: Wade Ormsby of Australia poses with the winning trophy during the Panasonic Open India at the Delhi Golf Club. — AFP

Ormsby holds nerve for maiden victory in Delhi NEW DELHI: Australian Wade Ormsby held his nerve to overcome a triple bogey and complete a wire-to-wire victory by one stroke for his maiden professional title at the Panasonic Open India yesterday. Ormsby, who held at least a share of the lead from the opening round, carded a final-round one-under-par 71 for a total of nine-under 279 to finish a shot ahead of Thai Boonchu Ruangkit (69) at the Delhi Golf Club.

Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing (72), who had the lead briefly during the final round, finished third while India’s Shiv Kapur (71) bogeyed two of his last three holes to finish three shots behind Ormsby in fourth. Starting the day with a onestroke advantage, Ormsby came back strongly after the triple bogey by sinking three birdies in four holes from the fifth to the eighth hole.

He dropped another shot on the 12th hole but an 18-foot birdie conversion on the 17th was enough to seal his victory.

“It means so much. I’ve played tournaments worldwide but to finally get a win

in Asia is fantastic,” the 33-year-old, who finished tied 33rd and tied 20th in Malaysia and Chiangmai respectively, told the Asian Tour. “I was so disappointed in Malaysia and Chiangmai as I played well on both weeks but didn’t finish them off. I knew there was a win in there for me and I am glad I came here.” Boonchu, who was looking to become the oldest winner on the Asian Tour at 56, was happy to have been able to challenge his younger opponents. “Conditions were really tough out there the entire week but to be able to play the way I did even at 56 years old really says a lot about my game,” Boonchu said.

“I’ve shown that I still have what it takes to compete against the younger boys but I just ran out of steam towards the end. But overall, it has been a good week and all I can say is never write off an old man.” Ormsby, Boonchu and Lam, the top three finishers, will be invited to the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japanese Tour, in Osaka in September. — Reuters

RANGERS 4, HURRICANES 1 In Raleigh, Henrik Lundqvist made a season-high 48 saves, and the New York Rangers gave Carolina its club-record-tying seventh straight home loss.

Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan scored 31 seconds apart, and Rick Nash added a goal and an assist during the Rangers’ three-goal second period. Brian Boyle added an emptynetter just before the buzzer. New York has earned seven points during a 3-0-1 run to move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers are tied in points with the eighth-place New York Islanders, and more importantly lead ninth-place Winnipeg by two points.

Carolina’s Zac Dalpe, called up from Charlotte of the AHL earlier Saturday, scored with 10:33 left. Dan Ellis stopped 27 shots in two periods for the Hurricanes and was replaced by Justin Peters, who made eight saves. Despite a season-high 49 shots, the Hurricanes lost their fourth straight and for the 11th time in 12 games.

ISLANDERS 4, LIGHTNING 2 In Uniondale, Matt Martin scored the goahead goal with less than seven minutes left in the third period and Evgeni Nabokov made 19 saves to lift the playoff-hopeful New York Islanders over Tampa Bay. The Islanders remained in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, tied in points with the New York Rangers, who hold the tiebreaker for seventh.

Both teams lead ninth-place Winnipeg by two points and 10th-place New Jersey by three.

The Islanders are seeking their first postseason appearance since 2007. Michael Grabner and Josh Bailey also scored, and Andrew MacDonald added an empty-net goal at 19:46 to make it 4-2 for New York, which won for the sixth time in eight games. The Islanders have five straight home wins against Tampa Bay and are 10-2 in their last 12 at Nassau Coliseum versus the Lightning.

Richard Panik and Matt Carle had goals for the Lightning.

MAPLE LEAFS 2, DEVILS 1 In Newark, rookie Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak scored and Toronto extended reeling New Jersey’s losing streak to six games.

James Reimer made 27 saves as the Maple Leafs strengthened their position in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race. The Maple Leafs are 5th in the East, seven points ahead of the 10th-place Devils, who are three points behind the eighth-place New York Islanders and the postseason cutoff.

David Clarkson deprived Reimer of his second shutout in three games with a goal with 8:23 left, but the Devils fell to 0-3-3 in their last six games. The six-game skid is the second one this season for New Jersey. The Devils haven’t won since top forward Ilya Kovalchuk injured a shoulder. Martin Brodeur, who made his eighth straight start since returning from a back injury, kept the Devils in the game with 16 saves.

KINGS 4, OILERS 1 In Los Angeles, Jeff Carter had a goal and an assist, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves, and Los Angeles kept moving forward in the Western Conference playoff race with a victory over Edmonton.

Mike Richards and Slava Voynov also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who have won five of seven to climb back into fourth place in the West.

Carter scored his 22nd goal and Voynov got his first goal in 17 games, with both scores coming on Los Angeles’ long-struggling power play.

Drew Doughty added an empty-netter, just his second goal of the season. Magnus Paajarvi scored and Devan Dubnyk stopped 35 shots for the Oilers, who have lost two straight after a five-game winning streak. The Kings improved to 12-1-6 in their past 19 meetings with Edmonton.

CANADIENS 2, BRUINS 1 In Montreal, Michael Ryder’s power-play goal 57 seconds into the second period lifted Montreal over Boston in a matchup of the top two teams in the Northeast Division.

Alex Galchenyuk also scored and Carey Price made 26 saves for the Canadiens (25-85), who won three of four against the Bruins this season. The Canadiens lead the division by three points, with Boston holding a game in hand.

Daniel Paille scored for Boston (24-9-4), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Canadiens were down one defenseman from the midway point of the first period when Alexei Emelin appeared to sustain a left knee injury in a thunderous collision while taking a run at big Bruins forward Milan Lucic. Montreal held a 29-27 edge in shots.

JETS 4, FLYERS 1 In Winnipeg, the host Jets scored four second-period goals in less than seven minutes, and Ondrej Pavelec made 30 saves as Winnipeg beat Philadelphia to snap a fivegame losing streak.

NASHVILLE: Mike Fisher No. 12 of the Nashville Predators watches Patrick Kane No. 88 of the Chicago Blackhawks at the Bridgestone Arena. — AFP

Evander Kane, Grant Clitsome, Kyle Wellwood and Bryan Little scored for the Jets, who recently slipped from first place in the Southeast Division to 10th in the Eastern Conference.

Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the first period for the Flyers, who had a four-game winning streak end. Winnipeg struggled in the first period when it was outshot 13-4.

After Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov allowed four goals on 16 shots, he was replaced at the start of the third period by backup Steve Mason, who made his debut with Philadelphia. Mason stopped all nine shots he faced.

CAPITALS 4, PANTHERS 3 In Sunrise, Alex Ovechkin recorded his 12th career hat trick and added an assist, and surg-

COYOTES 4, AVALANCHE 0 In Glendale, Mike Smith stopped 24 shots in his return to the Phoenix lineup and earned his fifth shutout of the season in beating Colorado.

Martin Hanzal and Shane Doan each had a goal and an assist, Mikkel Boedker and Boyd Gordon also scored, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two assists for the Coyotes, who won their third straight. Phoenix jumped ahead of Columbus and Edmonton into ninth place in the Western Conference, two points behind St. Louis and three behind seventh-place Detroit.

Smith hadn’t played since sustaining an upper body injury on March 21 when he was run over by Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler. Against the Avalanche, who are 4-13-1 in their past 18 games, Smith rarely was tested. He posted his 24th NHL shutout and improved to 7-1-1 against Colorado. The

NHL results/standings Winnipeg 4, Philadelphia 1; Chicago 1, Nashville 0; Los Angeles 4, Edmonton 1; Montreal 2, Boston 1; Toronto 2, New Jersey 1; NY Islanders 4, Tampa Bay 2; NY Rangers 4, Carolina 1; Washington 4, Florida 3; Phoenix 4, Colorado 0; Vancouver 5, Calgary 2.

Eastern Conference Western Conference Central Division Atlantic Division Chicago 28 5 4 123 80 60 W L OTL GF GA PTS 19 14 5 99 100 43 Detroit Pittsburgh 29 10 0 127 95 58 St. Louis 20 14 2 105 98 42 19 15 4 93 90 42 NY Rangers Columbus 16 15 7 91 101 39 NY Islanders 19 16 4 113 119 42 Nashville 15 16 8 93 104 38 New Jersey 15 14 9 90 103 39 Northwest Division Philadelphia 17 18 3 106 118 37 Vancouver 21 11 6 103 95 48 Northeast Division 21 14 2 100 97 44 Minnesota Montreal 25 8 5 120 91 55 Edmonton 16 15 7 100 106 39 Calgary 13 20 4 99 133 30 24 9 4 102 79 52 Boston Colorado 12 21 5 89 121 29 Toronto 21 13 4 117 106 46 Pacific Division Ottawa 19 12 6 93 83 44 Anaheim 25 8 5 117 95 55 Buffalo 15 17 6 102 116 36 111 92 47 Los Angeles 22 13 3 Southeast Division San Jose 20 11 6 94 89 46 Washington 19 17 2 113 108 40 Phoenix 17 15 6 105 104 40 19 19 2 98 120 40 Winnipeg Dallas 17 17 3 99 113 37 Carolina 16 19 2 97 115 34 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one Tampa Bay 16 19 2 119 110 34 point in the standings and are not included in Florida 12 20 6 94 131 30 the loss column (L)

ing Washington survived a late rally to beat Florida.

Ovechkin scored twice from in close on the power play, and weaved through traffic for his other goal, as the Capitals (19-17-2) improved to 8-2-1 in their last 11 games. Washington completed a four-game season sweep of the Panthers.

The Capitals, who scored at least five goals against Florida in their previous three games, struck quickly with a pair of goals from Mike Ribeiro and Ovechkin within 1:41 early in the second period.

Braden Holtby made 27 saves in posting his fifth career victory over the Panthers (1220-6) without a loss. The Panthers, who were seeking their fourth straight victory, rallied in the third period behind two goals from Tomas Kopecky and another by Peter Mueller.

Avalanche have lost eight straight on the road, dating to Feb. 14.

CANUCKS 5, FLAMES 2 In Vancouver, the Canucks’ top line combined for eight points, and Cory Schneider made 36 saves as Vancouver beat reeling Calgary. Henrik Sedin scored an empty-net goal and earned career NHL assists No. 600 and 601, Daniel Sedin added three assists, and Alex Burrows scored and had an assist to pace Vancouver (21-11-6), which has won eight of 10. Dan Hamhuis, Dale Weise and Alex Edler also had goals for the Canucks.

Dennis Wideman and Alex Tanguay scored for Calgary (13-20-4), which has lost five straight overall and 13 consecutive on the road (0-12-1). The Flames are 14th in the 15-team Western Conference. — AP

McLaren upbeat ahead of China LONDON: McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is confident his team will be far more competitive in next weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix than they were in the two seasonopening races in Australia and Malaysia.

Whitmarsh said the team have identified some initial solutions to their problems in the break since the Malaysian race on March 24.

He said: “Clearly, our performance in Australia and Malaysia fell below the high standards we’ve come to expect at McLaren.

“However, the three -week break between rounds two and three has been a useful one for us. “We have been fully engaged in further developing our understanding of the MP4-28 and are confident of being able to implement a number of changes this weekend that will widen its operating window and, potentially, improve its performance.”

Jenson Button, the 2009 drivers world champion, said that after the two poor out-

ings he endured with McLaren, he is treating the race at Shanghai as another start of the season.

Button said: “In a funny way, the Chinese Grand Prix almost feels like something of a reboot of the start of my season.

“Taking home two points from the first two races obviously wasn’t what we had in mind at the beginning of the year, but I think everybody in the team has picked themselves up and really attacked the task of addressing our car’s issues.

“We know where we’re losing performance, so I think we’re actually all looking forward to seeing just what we can achieve in Shanghai. “The important thing for us as a team is to go into the weekend with clear focus, hone our strengths across the sessions and increase our understanding of the car.

“I definitely think there’s everything to play for with this championship, and I can’t wait to get back into the cockpit to start the fight again.” — AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

S P ORTS

Serena crushes Venus in Charleston semi-final CHARLESTON: World number one Serena Williams breezed past older sister Venus 61 6-2 in their first meeting since 2009 in the semi-finals of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday.

Serena, who won her fifth match in a row against Venus, will face former number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in late yesterday’s final as she goes for her third Family Circle title.

Jankovic outlasted Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele 6-4 6-7 6-2 in a much tougher encounter lasting two hours and eight minutes. Serena, 31, needed only 22 minutes to take the first set against the fifth seed Venus, delivering eight winners to zero unforced errors.

She then completed the 54-minute straight-set victory over 32-year-old Venus to prevail for the 14th time in 24 matches against her sister.

“Venus has had a great week, and honestly, if she hadn’t had to play so many matches, it would have been a much

Photo of the day

tougher match,” Serena told reporters.

The semi-final came a day after both had played third-round and quarter-final matches on Friday because of rain delays earlier in the week.

“She’ll never admit it, but I don’t think she was 100 percent,” Serena said. “But you will never get that out of her. “And quite frankly, three matches for her is much tougher than three matches for me. It’s definitely not easy - because I’m struggling, and I can’t imagine what she must be feeling.” Venus was playing in her second Premier-level semi-final since returning from her seven-month illness lay-off in March last year.

“I felt pretty good actually - it would have been nicer to have more space between the matches, but it did not work out,” she said. Jankovic, 28, gave the 63rd ranked Voegele hope after losing the second set tiebreak before stepping on the gas in the final set, winning the last four games for the victory. — Reuters

Tomic hero as Australia, Japan reach Cup play-offs SINGAPORE: Recalled wild child Bernard Tomic was the hero for Australia and Tatsuma Ito sealed a pulsating tie for Japan as both countries reached the Davis Cup World Group play-offs yesterday.

Tomic, back in the fold after being dropped for disciplinary reasons, beat Denis Istomin to give Australia an unassailable 3-1 lead in their Asia/Oceania Group I tie with Uzbekistan, after also winning his first singles match on Friday.

In Tokyo, 24-year-old Ito held his nerve to defeat South Korea’s Cho Min-Hyeok 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the decisive match, after rookie Lim Yong-Kyu upset Japan’s Go Soeda to leave the fixture poised at 2-2. “I tried to play 100 percent,” Ito said. “I did my best from the beginning until the end.”

Australia and Japan now go through to the World Group play-offs in September where they will try to seal a spot in the global team competition’s top tier next season.

Meanwhile India and China enjoyed 5-0 whitewashes respectively against Indonesia and Taiwan, who will contest a relegation tie in September with the loser dropping to Asia/Oceania Group II. Australia’s captain Pat Rafter has endured a rocky relationship with Tomic, who has had a fractious relationship with senior tennis figures and several run-ins with the law.

But Rafter was full of praise for the 20year-old, Australia’s top player at world number 43, after he battled back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 against the 46th-ranked Istomin, following Friday’s win over Farrukh Dustov.

“Bernie played some of the best tennis

I’ve seen him play,” Rafter told Australian Associated Press. “To play two great matches in a row now, that was really important for him. “Everything went perfectly, it’s actually ridiculous how (perfect) it was. I’m very proud of the guys.”

India also put internal problems behind them, after fielding a weakened line-up in their opening defeat to South Korea during a row over pay and conditions, as they stretched their Davis Cup record to 6-0 against Indonesia.

Veteran doubles specialist Leander Paes and partner Sanam Singh settled the tie on Saturday with a straight-sets victory, after Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri had given the hosts a 2-0 lead on the opening day.

China also preserved their place in Asia/Oceania Group I next season when Zhang Ze and Wu Di spearheaded the onesided victory over Taiwan by winning both their singles matches in Tianjin.

Elsewhere, Pakistan said they would protest after their Asia/Oceania Group II tie was awarded to opponents New Zealand because of an unplayable surface at a neutral venue in Myanmar, which was hosting the fixture for security reasons.

Pakistan had won the first singles and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi was leading in the second on Friday when the referee stopped the tie and declared it abandoned, awarding it to New Zealand as the courts were Pakistan’s responsibility.

“We are devastated... we are going to lodge a protest against the decision,” Pakistan Tennis Federation president Kaleem Imam said. — AFP

DOHA: Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo of Spain (left) competes during the final of the MotoGP race on the last day of the Qatar Grand Prix. — AFP

KotaruTokuda “Tokura” performs a trick in front of Kuwait Towers. — www.redbullcontentpool.com

Rosol puts Czech Republic into Davis Cup semi-finals ALMATY: Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic put the defending champions into the Davis Cup semifinals with a tough win over Kazakhstan’s Evgeny Korolev at Astana yesterday.

Rosol, who is 63rd in the ATP rankings, won 76, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 in his first ever head-to-head meeting with the 25-year-old Korolev to give his team an unassailable 3-1 lead in the tie.

“It was a really difficult win as Evgeny showed really classy tennis today and kept me under pressure throughout the match,” Rosol said.

“Luckily I managed to resist the pressure and won. It’s our joint win, the entire team’s result.”

Both players started cautiously, trying to avoid unnecessary risks, before Rosol snatched the opening set tie-break.

In the second set Korolev, who is 187th in the world, broke in the sixth game but Rosol broke back in the ninth to set up another tiebreak, which Korolev won to level at one set all.

The third set was almost a carbon copy of the second as Korolev grabbed the lead in the fifth game, while Rosol levelled in the 10th. But this time the 27-year-old Czech was more precise in the tiebreak to clinch a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth Rosol underlined his clay supremacy, breaking his rival’s serve twice to win the set, the match and a place in the semifinals for his team.

On Friday Rosol and Jan Hajek gave Czech Republic a commanding 2-0 lead beating Andrey Golubev 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 and Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 respectively.

On Saturday, Serbia and Canada both won marathon doubles matches to seize control of their Davis Cup quarter-finals in North America.

Both matches were decided in the 28th game of the fifth and final set as Serbia grabbed a 2-1 lead over the United States in Idaho and Canada led Italy by the same score in Vancouver.

Argentina won their doubles rubber against France in Buenos Aires to snatch a 2-1 lead while Kazakhstan stayed alive against the Czech Republic by winning the doubles to head into Sunday’s reverse singles trailing 2-1.

The Serbian pair of Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac pulled off a stunning upset over Bob and Mike Bryan, the world’s top ranked doubles

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq returns the ball to France’s Gilles Simon during a Davis Cup World Group quarterfinals tennis match. — AP team, 7-6 7-6 5-7 4-6 15-13.

Serbia’s non-playing captain Bogdan Obradovic had considered playing Djokovic in the doubles but decided to go with Bozoljac, ranked 338th in the world, to keep his best player fresh.

“I know that I had that in myself,” Bozoljac said. “I knew that if I give my 100 per cent for one match, I can play on a really high level and I can match up with these good players.”

There was more drama across the border when Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil beat Fabio Fognini and Daniele Bracciali 6-3 6-4 3-6 36 15-13 after nearly four and a half hours.

The win left Canada needing to win just one of Sunday’s two reverse singles rubbers to reach the elite World Group semi-finals for the first time.

The Argentine pairing of David Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos recovered from a set down

then a 5-2 deficit in the third set to beat Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra 3-6 7-6 7-5 6-3.

The Europeans started the tie as favourites and despite needing to win both reverse singles, French captain Arnaud Clement was still hopeful. “The two matches tomorrow will be just as hard to win for the Argentines,” he told reporters.

“I’m still confident, we still have our chances to pass this round. If we want to win the Cup we have to be able to turn this situation around.”

Andrey Golubev and Yuri Schukin stunned Radek Stepanek and Jan Hajek 7-6 6-4 6-3 to provide Kazakhstan with a glimmer of hope against the reigning Davis Cup holders after they lost both singles matches on Friday. “We’re a young team, playing against the Davis Cup champions and nobody thinks we can beat them,” said Schukin. “But we battled hard for every single point and never thought of giving up.” — Agencies

Lorenzo wins Qatar MotoGP LOSAIL: Yamaha’s Spanish world champion Jorge Lorenzo won the seson-opening Qatar MotoGP staged under floodlights at the Losail circuit here yesterday.

Pole-sitter Lorenzo was followed across the line by nine-time former champion Valentino Rossi on his first race for Yamaha since returning to his old team from Ducati.

Last year ’s Moto2 champion Marc Marquez, on his MotoGP debut, took third for Honda ahead of his teammate and last season’s runner-up Dani Pedrosa.

“I knew it was going to complicated. I’m happy that Valentino came back in second

place, it’s good for Yamaha,” Lorenzo told BBC television. Marquez was thrilled at his performance.

“I was racing my hero (Rossi) — it was a great battle with Valentino. For my first MotoGP that wasn’t too bad!” Rossi was also pleased with his showing asfter two frustrating years with Ducati.

“That was great fun, I think second is best for me today as Jorge was perfect. “I made a mistake at the start with Pedrosa.

“I wanted this podium, this was my target since last November. The bike was fantastic, I had a great battle with Marc.” —AFP

Group photo of women winners with officials.

Men winners with officials.

Shooting tournament concludes

DOHA: Spanish Moto2 rider Pol Espargaro celebrates on the podium after winning the final of the Moto2 race with runners up, British Moto2 rider Scott Redding (left) and Japanese Moto2 rider Takaaki Nakagami (right) on the last day of the Qatar Grand Prix. — AP

By Abellatif Sharaa

Results of the tournament are as follows:

KUWAIT: The tournament of the late Sheikh Abdallah Al-Mubarak AlSabah concluded in a ceremony that was attended in the presence of President of Kuwait and Asian Shooting Federations, Vice-president of ISSF Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, tournament sponsor Sheikh Mubarak Al-Abdallah Al-Sabah, President of the Arab Shooting Federation, Vice-president of Kuwait Shooting Federation Eng Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibi and board of directors members.

More than 130 shooters participated in the tournament which included skeet, trap, double trap, 10m pistol and rifle.

Kuwait Shooting Federation Secretary General Obaid Al-Osaimi said the late Sheikh laid the foundation for the building of Kuwait armed forces, and had an instrumental role in Kuwait’s information development. He said, the late Sheikh loved his country so much and gave it all that he could to ensure its development and advancement.

Al-Osaimi, on behalf of president, board members and the shooting community thanked the family of the late Sheikh Abdallah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah for their continued support of Kuwait shooting and their keenness in encouraging shooters to continue their successful ways.

He also congratulated the winners and wished them more success.

Skeet men: Nasser Al Daihani Salah Al Mutairi Abdallah Al-Rashidi Trap men: Fuhaid Al-Daihani Saud Al-Miqlid Talal Al-Rashidi Double trap men: Fuhaid Al-Daihani Hamad Al-Afasi Mishal Al-Dhafiri Trap women: Shahad Al-Hawal Asmaa Al-Qatami Sarah Al-Hawal Skeet women: Afrah Abdelrahman

Iman Al-Shamma Sheikha Al-Rashidi Air pistol men: Hamad Abdallah Mishal Al-Mutairi Suhail Jassim Air rifle men: Ali Al-Mutairi Mohammad Abdelrahman Bandar Al-Mutairi Air pistol women: Iman Bouland Huthama Al-Baghli Israa Bahman Air rifle women: Shaima Buhamad Ayat Al-Duwaikhi Duaa Al-Duaikhi

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

S P ORT S

Spurs, Everton keep each other in check Tottenham 2

Everton 2

FLORENCE: AC Milan’s French midfielder Mathieu Flamini celebrates after scoring during the Italian Serie A football match against Fiorentina. —AFP

Ten-man Fiorentina halt Milan MILAN: Ten-man Fiorentina scored two late penalties in a 2-2 draw at home to AC Milan yesterday to dent the Rossoneri’s bid for a second place finish in Serie A. Milan took a deserved lead in the 14th minute thanks to former Viola midfielder Riccardo Montolivo and were given a further boost when Nenad Tomovic saw red on 39 minutes for an apparent elbow to the face of Stephan El Shaarawy.

The visitors doubled their lead just after the hour thanks to Frenchman Mathieu Flamini, only for Adem Ljajic and David Pizarro to score one each from the spot in the closing stages to earn a share of the points. Milan’s seventh draw of the season leaves Massimiliano Allergri’s side in third, 13 points behind leaders Juventus and one adrift of Napoli ahead of the Partenopei’s home fixture against Genoa late yesterday.

Fiorentina, meanwhile, maintained their push for a place in Europe but could give up fourth place to Inter if the Nerazzurri beat Atalanta.

Allegri admitted the Rossoneri had played better when Fiorentina were at full strength. “We were in control of things in the first half but we failed to capitalise after going a man up,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“Then in the second half Fiorentina caught us napping. It’s a pity because a win would have pushed Fiorentina further out of the race for third place.”

Milan began in positive fashion and when the visitors broke the deadlock, they did so in style. Montolivo dispossessed Chilean midfielder Pizarro 25 metres out and coolly beat Emiliano Viviano low to the ‘keeper’s right.

However, despite dominating Milan failed to capitalise on several other chances before half-time while Fiorentina came closest when Stevan Jovetic, passed fit despite suffering an injury last week which left him doubtful, forced Christian Abbiati into a desperate save.

The game seemed to take a decisive

turn in Milan’s favour when Serbian defender Tomovic saw red for an apparent elbow on El Shaarawy as the pair fought for possession 20 metres out.

Things turned nasty when Juan Cuadrado was cautioned for a foul on Mario Balotelli, and then Muntari was shown yellow for another foul on Jovetic, who was replaced by Brazilian Romulo on the stroke of half-time.

Despite being a man down Fiorentina emerged with more purpose after the break but it was Milan who doubled their advantage when Flamini turned Montolivo’s cross into the net on 62 minutes. Fiorentina were handed a lifeline when Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino was adjudged to have fouled Ljajic in the box, the Serbian striker stepping up to beat Abbiati from the spot.

It appeared a kind decision for Fiorentina but there was no doubt when Mattia De Sciglio tripped Cuadrado in the box shortly afterwards. Abbiati got a hand to Pizarro’s effort but could not stop the ball hitting the back of the net.

At the other end of the table Palermo gave their survival chances a much-needed boost in a shock 3-1 win away at Sampdoria which left them second from bottom but now level on points with Siena who are third from bottom.

Steve Von Bergen opened the scoring on 35 minutes and although Gianni Munari levelled for Sampdoria while further goals from Josip Ilicic and Santiago Garcia secured what was only the Sicilians’ fifth win in 31 games.

Elsewhere a brace within the space of five minutes from Antonio Di Natale helped mid-table Udinese on their way to a 3-1 win over Chievo while Siena v Parma and Catania v Cagliari both ended 0-0.

Yesterday’s late games see Inter host Atalanta and Napoli at home to Genoa while Roma entertain Lazio in the Derby della Capitale today.—AFP

Nuremberg extend unbeaten run BERLIN: Japan midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake again shone in Nuremberg’s 2-1 win over Mainz 05 yesterday as they extended their nine-match unbeaten run on the weekend Bayern Munich were finally crowned German champions.

Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger’s second-half goal at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday gave Bayern their 24th league win in 28 games to win the Bundesliga title for the 22nd time with an insurmountable 20-point lead and six games left.

It is their 23rd national title overall, with the Munich club also winning the old-style German championship in 1932 and was Bayern’s first silverware since May 2010.

Having won the earliest confirmed title in Bundesliga history, the Bavarians are looking to become the first German club to win the treble of league, cup and Champions League titles. They face Juventus in Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg holding a 2-0 lead from last week’s first leg at the Alliance Arena.

Having flirted with the relegation places, Bayern’s Bavarian neighbours Nuremberg are up to ninth after their Sweden defender Per Nilsson scored twice from set pieces on Sunday with Kiyotake a constant threat to the Mainz defence.

The 23-year-old has claimed 11 assists and four goals this season and his second-half free-kick was hit home by Nilsson for Nuremberg’s first goal, while the Japan star won the corner from which Nilsson claimed his second.

Midfielder Nicolai Mueller equalised on 60

minutes for Mainz, whose Hungary striker Adam Szalai missed a first-half penalty, but Nuremberg deserved their third win in four games. Their unbeaten run stretches over two months, having last lost to Dortmund in January, and with six games left are just four points from the Europa League places, but travel to Bayern on Saturday.

It was Mainz’s first defeat since they went down 3-0 at home to Bayern at the start of February while Stuttgart and Hanover 96 remain in midtable after their 0-0 draw at Hanover on Sunday evening.

Dortmund host Malaga in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg after the first leg finished 0-0, and Juergen Klopp’s side had to come from behind to beat Augsburg 4-2 on Saturday at the Signal Iduna Park. Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, striker Robert Lewandowski, captain Sebastian Kehl and star attacking duo Mario Goetze and Marco Reus were all left out of the starting line-up. Reserve striker Julian Schieber needed just 22 minutes to score the opening goal against Ausgburg, who are locked in a battle with Hoffenheim — 3-0 winners against Duesseldorf on Friday-to avoid automatic relegation. Augsburg went ahead with two goals in 80 seconds just before the half-time break, but Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp responded by bringing on Lewandowski and Goetze early in the second half.

The changes had an immediate impact, as Lewandowski put Hofmann away on the right wing to square for Schieber to equalise with his second of the day on 52 minutes.—AFP

LONDON: Gylfi Sigurdsson scored a late equaliser for Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-2 draw against Everton yesterday as both sides failed to make ground in the battle for Champions League qualification.

The stalemate meant Spurs missed out on the chance to consolidate their grip on third place in the Premier League, with fourthplace Arsenal having narrowed the gap this weekend after their victory at West Bromwich Albion.

Everton, who lie sixth, will rue their inability to hold onto their lead and put further pressure on the sides above them in their bid to break into the top four.

Emmanuel Adebayor put Spurs ahead after 34 seconds, but Phil Jagielka headed home from a corner 14 minutes later.

Kevin Mirallas put the Toffees ahead with a fine solo effort after the interval, only for Sigurdsson to plunder an 86th-minute leveller.

The draw brought relief for Tottenham manager Andre VillasBoas, but both sides will regard this as an opportunity missed.

Spurs star ted without both Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon in a Premier League game for the first time since November 2009, after they were injured against Basel on Thursday, while Jermain Defoe and William Gallas were also sidelined.

Meanwhile, Everton were missing Marouane Fellaini and ex-Spurs man Steven Pienaar due to suspension, but Mirallas was fit to start after shaking off a groin injury.

There were fears before the match that Spurs’ absentees would result in a lack of width and limit their attacking threat, but the hosts took the lead in the first minute.

Jan Vertonghen, who won the Premier League Player of the Month award for March, had been deployed at left-back and he got forward to deliver a superb cross, with Adebayor sliding in to finish.

It was a nightmare star t for Everton, but they were gifted a sight of goal in the 11th minute as Michael Dawson gave the ball to Leon Osman, who sent a curling snapshot wide from 20 yards.

That was all the encouragement the Toffees needed and they levelled four minutes later. Dawson cut out Ross Barkley’s dangerous low cross, but the visitors took full

LONDON: Everton’s Dutch defender John Heitinga (left) vies with Tottenham Hotspur’s Belgian midfielder Moussa Dembele (right) during their English Premier League football match. —AFP advantage of the ensuing corner as Jagielka met Leighton Baines’ delivery and headed home.

Spurs regrouped, with Clint Dempsey and the lively Lewis Holtby trying their luck from distance, while Kyle Walker ran from inside his own half but sliced wide of the near post.

Tottenham were on top and Everton survived a penalty appeal when Dempsey’s cross hit Darron Gibson, although the ball appeared to strike his shoulder rather than his arm.

Gibson went close in the 50th minute, sending a curling effort wide of the far post, and visiting manager David Moyes then made

ning of the second-half. Abdel Barrada forced Courtois into a good low save four minutes after the restart before, at the other end, Filipe Luis also saw a fierce strike turned behind by Jordi Codina.

Codina got down well at his near post to deny Falcao opening the scoring with a low drive moments later, but Atletico were then extremely lucky not to concede a penalty.

Referee Carlos Delgado Ferreiro somehow judged that Godin’s trip on Adrian Colunga took place just outside the box despite contact clearly being made well inside the area and Barrada sent the resulting free-kick inches wide. Diego Simeone’s men weren’t so lucky minutes later though as Suarez saw a harsh second yellow for handball.

However, despite the man advantage, Getafe struggled to create chances and their best effort came when Borja let fly from 25 yards, but Courtois showed strong hands to parry the ball to safety. And a scrappy game was summed up when Godin was shown also shown a second yellow card for catching Alvaro Vasquez as they contested a high ball.—AFP

At the other end, Victor Anichebe saw a low effort deflected wide and then fired over the bar after an Everton break, but Spurs did all the pressing in the closing stages.

They got their reward three minutes from time as Walker got down the right and crossed, Adebayor curled the ball against the post, and Sigurdsson pounced to level the scores.

There was nearly another late twist as Anichebe went through one on one against Hugo Lloris, but Spurs’ goalkeeper made a crucial save, while Jelavic then fired straight at the Frenchman in injury time.—AFP

EPL results/standings Chelsea 2 (Kilgallon 47-og, Ivanovic 55) Sunderland 1 (Azpilicueta 45-og); Liverpool 0, West Ham 0; Newcastle 1 (Cisse 90+3) Fulham 0; QPR 1 (Remy 85) Wigan 1 (Maloney 90+4); Tottenham 2 (Adebayor 1, Sigurdsson 87) Everton 2 (Jagielka 15, Mirallas 53).

Played Saturday: Norwich 2 (Snodgrass 40, Turner 60) Swansea 2 (Michu 35, Moore 75); Reading 0, Southampton 2 (Rodriguez 34, Lallana 72); Stoke 1 (Kightly 80) Aston Villa 3 (Agbonlahor 9, Lowton 87, Benteke 90); West Brom 1 (Morrison 71-pen) Arsenal 2 (Rosicky 20, 50).

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd Man City Chelsea Tottenham Arsenal Everton Liverpool West Brom Swansea Fulham Southampton

30 30 31 32 31 31 32 32 32 31 32

25 18 17 17 16 13 13 13 10 10 9

2 8 7 7 8 13 10 5 11 9 10

3 4 7 8 7 5 9 14 11 12 13

70 55 61 55 61 49 59 42 43 43 46

31 26 33 40 34 37 40 43 42 47 53

77 62 58 58 56 52 49 44 41 39 37

West Ham 31 10 7 Newcastle 32 10 6 Norwich 32 7 14 Stoke 32 7 13 Aston Villa 32 8 9 Sunderland 32 7 10 Wigan 31 8 7 QPR 32 4 12 Reading 32 5 8 Note: Top four teams qualify for the bottom three teams are relegated

14 35 44 37 16 42 56 36 11 30 49 35 12 28 39 34 15 35 59 33 15 34 45 31 16 37 57 31 16 29 52 24 19 36 63 23 Champions League;

Maloney’s late show leaves QPR in peril QPR 1

Wigan 1

LONDON: Shaun Maloney’s injurytime free-kick earned Wigan Athletic a 1-1 draw at relegation rivals Queens Park Rangers, who appeared set for victory despite the early dismissal of

Bobby Zamora. Loic Remy looked to have boosted Rangers’ survival hopes with a sublime 85th-minute goal, but Maloney’s equaliser left Harry Redknapp’s men second from bottom, seven points adrift of Premier League safety with six games remaining. Wigan, who have played a game less, remain in the bottom three on goal difference, but will rue their failure to make the most of their numerical advantage following Zamora’s 21st-minute dismissal for a head-high challenge on Jordi Gomez. QPR manager Redknapp had set his side a tar-

Nine-man Atletico held MADRID: Atletico Madrid lost more ground on Real Madrid in the race for second place in La Liga as they held on for a 0-0 draw at Getafe yesterday despite being reduced to nine men.

The visitors had the better of the chances in the first-half, but had to ride their luck in the second as Getafe were denied a strong claim for a penalty before Mario Suarez was sent-off for a second yellow card.

Thibaut Courtois then had to make a fine save from Borja Fernandez with six minutes remaining before Diego Godin was also given his marching orders for a second bookable offence in stoppage time.

Real’s 5-1 win over Mallorca on Saturday had extended their lead over their city rivals to four points, but with Adrian replacing the injured Arda Turan, Atletico started brightly.

Radamel Falcao uncharacteristically miscued when presented with a clear sight of goal by Diego Costa just six minutes in and Adrian should also have done better when he pulled his shot wide seven minutes later.

However, the game then descended into a lull and only came back to life at the begin-

an attacking change,swapping Barkley for Nikica Jelavic.

Everton took the lead seconds later as Mirallas beat his Belgian countryman Vertonghen to the ball on the right before twisting and turning to the edge of the box and firing low into the bottom-left corner.

Spurs nearly hit back with an immediate equaliser through Mousa Dembele, but Tim Howard got enough on the ball to deflect it up onto the crossbar.

The American goalkeeper then had to fend away Walker’s 30-yard thunderbolt and Adebayor’s curling effort, while Sigurdsson fired narrowly wide from 20 yards.

LONDON: Queens Park Rangers’ Cameroonian defender Stephane Mbia (left) vies with Wigan Athletic’s Malaysian-born Scottish midfielder Shaun Maloney (right) during the English Premier League football match.—AFP

get of five wins from their remaining seven games and today’s draw will come as a serious dent to their efforts to stay up.

The win appeared to be theirs when Remy produced an outstanding finish to cap a breakaway led by Stephane Mbia.

But they paid the price for a lack of discipline when Mbia fouled Maloney and the Wigan forward curled a free-kick into the top-right corner. Redknapp made just one change from the side that had lost 32 at Fulham last time out, with Adel Taarabt making way for Junior Hoilett.

By contrast, Wigan arrived in west London on the back of successive victories against Norwich City and Newcastle United, and their recent revival was reflected in Roberto Martinez’s unchanged starting lineup. Wigan’s confidence was apparent in the way they approached the game, with Arouna Kone and Jean Beausejor combining to create an opening for Callum McManaman, only for the midfielder to shoot tamely at Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

Rangers’ response, though, showed Redknapp’s team are not short of belief, despite their lowly position.

And they came desperately close to taking the lead in the 10th minute when Hoilett headed Jose Bosingwa’s floated pass into the path of Remy and the Frenchman was unlucky to see his shot deflect to safety off the post. But any hope Rangers could build on that positive start disappeared 10 minutes later when Zamora experienced his moment of madness. The forward inexplicably launched his foot towards the ball as Gomez was about to head Maloney’s throw in.

His studs connected with the side of the Wigan midfielder’s head, leaving referee Phil Dowd with little option but to issue a red card.

Wigan stepped up the pressure but it was to the home side’s credit that the visitors were able to conjure only two shots on goal immediately

after the dismissal, both directed wide by McManaman.

When Rangers did manage to get men forward, the Wigan defence appeared vulnerable. And it took an excellent covering tackle from Emmerson Boyce to prevent Remy from testing keeper Joel Robles after the striker had been sent clear by Andros Townsend in first-half stoppage time. The scare did nothing to spark Wigan into life after the break, with Martinez’s side continuing to lack ideas going forward. It was Rangers who continued to pose the greater threat, stretching Wigan when they hit the visitors on the break.

And the introduction of Taarabt for Hoilett in the 56th minute gave Rangers another dimension that almost brought reward when the Moroccan’s cross found Remy, who headed narrowly wide. Wigan grew stronger as the game wore on and substitute Franco Di Santo was convinced he should have won a penalty after being pushed by Nedum Onuoha.

Then Cesar sprang to the home side’s rescue with an excellent save to keep out James McArthur’s header from close range.

That set the scene for a dramatic finale that is likely to have a significant impact on the final outcome of the relegation battle.—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) English Premier League Man United v Man City 22:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD

Spanish League Sevilla v Bilbao Aljazeera Sport +2

23:00

Italian League Roma v Lazio Aljazeera Sport +1

21:45

Ormsby holds nerve for maiden victory in Delhi

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

17

Spurs, Everton keep each other in check

19

Ten-man Fiorentina halt Milan

Page 19

LONDON: Chelsea’s Demba Ba lies on the floor after a tackle by Sunderlandís Craig Gardner( unseen) for which he was shown a yellow card during their English Premier league soccer match. — AP

Chelsea ruin Di Canio’s debut Chelsea 2

Sunderland 1

LONDON: Chelsea ruined Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio’s debut as the controversial Italian was left to rue his new side’s misfortune in a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

Di Canio’s appointment as Martin O’Neill’s successor last weekend was greeted with a storm of negative headlines about his extremist right-wing political views, but more worrying for Sunderland fans was the decision to thrust a volatile character with no top-flight

managerial experience into a relegation dogfight.

The former Lazio and West Ham forward has taken charge of a team in freefall and their situation is even more perilous after a frustrating afternoon in west London extended their winless to nine matches. Initially it seemed Di Canio was about to mastermind a dream debut as Cesar Azpilicueta’s own goal gave Sunderland a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time.

There was no lack of effort from Sunderland, but Di Canio’s luck was out as Matthew Kilgallon’s bizarre own goal handed Chelsea an equaliser and Branislav Ivanovic netted the winner with a strike he knew little about.

Di Canio now has six games to prove he hasn’t been cursed after crossing paths with the Black Cats, while Chelsea go into the final

weeks of the season in upbeat mood after securing a third successive win in all competitions.

A gruelling week that started with an FA Cup triumph against Manchester United and featured a Europa League win over Rubin Kazan, ended with the Blues climbing above Tottenham and Arsenal into third place in the Premier League.

All eyes were on Di Canio as he emerged onto the touchline just before kick-off and made a beeline for the Chelsea bench and embraced John Terry, one of the few supportive voices in a torrid week.

Di Canio almost enjoyed the perfect start when Stephane Sessegnon escaped some sloppy marking from Ivanovic and fired into the side-netting from a tight angle in the opening moments.

It was clear Sunderland’s players were keen

to impress Di Canio, but Craig Gardner was fortunate to escape with only a booking after a lunging foul on Senegal striker Demba Ba. Di Canio has never been the shy, retiring type and he paced the touchline with trademark intensity, responding with furious, armwaving reaction when Sessegnon chose the wrong option.

And, with Chelsea alarmingly short of energy and invention, Di Canio’s team were rewarded in the 45th minute. When Adam Johnson curled an inswinging corner to the near post, John O’Shea flicked goalwards and Spanish right-back Azpilicueta responded with a rushed clearance that flashed into the roof of his own net.Rafael Benitez responded by sending on Fernando Torres for Ba at halftime and the Spanish striker made an immediate impact as Chelsea drew level in the 47th minute.

West Ham thwart misfiring Liverpool

Cisse’s goal shoots Newcastle to safety NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United manager Alan Newcastle 1 Pardew threw himself into the crowd after striker Papiss Cisse’s stoppageFulham 0 time goal earned his side a potentially vital 1-0 victory at home to Fulham yesterday.

Cisse slammed home from Yohan Cabaye’s shot in the 93rd minute to send Newcastle six points clear of the relegation places with six games of the season remaining.

Fulham remain 10th.

It had looked destined to be a frustrating afternoon for the hosts, who were denied by the frame of the goal on three occasions, and Pardew’s relief was evident as he celebrated Cisse’s goal by leaping in among the Newcastle fans.

Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov was bidding to score for the fifth Premier League game in succession and he came close with a 20-yard effort that narrowly cleared the crossbar in the fourth minute.

Newcastle centre-back Steven Taylor headed a Moussa Sissoko cross over before Cisse chanced his arm from long range with a curler that sailed narrowly wide.

The best chance of the first half fell to Fulham’s Stanislav Manolev, but his close-range effort was superbly kept out

by Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul.

Vurnon Anita came within inches of giving Newcastle the lead early in the second half, but his deflected shot from 25 yards landed on top of Mark Schwarzer’s crossbar.

The woodwork continued to thwart the home side, with Yoan Gouffran heading a corner against the post and Cisse striking the same upright with his follow-up. At the other end, Krul produced another eye-catching save to deny Berbatov from a John Arne Riise free-kick.

As the nervousness in St James’ Park grew, a goalless stalemate seemed inevitable, only for Senegal international Cisse to pounce at the death and send his side streaking up the table to 13th place. — AFP

With his first touch, Torres surged away down the left flank before cutting inside and picking out Oscar with a fine pass. The Brazilian’s woeful first touch allowed Simon Mignolet to save, but the rebound cannoned off the goalkeeper’s leg onto Kilgallon, who could only watch in despair as the ball hit his leg and trickled into the unguarded net.

Di Canio hardly had time to digest that misfortune when Sunderland fell behind to another moment of rank bad luck eight minutes later. David Luiz’s shot from the edge of the area was struck with power, but appeared to lack the accuracy to beat Mignolet, until Serbian defender Ivanovic stuck a leg out and inadvertantly diverted past the wrong-footed keeper. The fates were conspiring against Di Canio and, despite their game efforts, Sunderland lacked the cutting edge to salvage the situation. — AFP

Liverpool 0

West Ham 0

LONDON: Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge (left) fights for the ball against West Ham’s Guy Demel during their English Premier League soccer match at Anfield Stadium. — AP

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s hopes of a top-five finish suffered a setback as Brendan Rodgers’ team failed to capitalise on countless chances in a 0-0 draw at home to West Ham United yesterday.

West Ham, still without a victory at Anfield since 1963, defended superbly to collect a point that keeps them away from the Premier League relegation fight, but the afternoon was one of frustration for the home side.

The game was preceded by a minute’s silence to mark the anniversary, on April 15, of the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy, when 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death during an FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield. Once the game was under way, Liverpool dominated possession, although it was not until first-half injury time that West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen looked remotely flustered.

The Finnish international struggled to cope with a Luis Suarez corner and was required to save twice from full-back Glen Johnson; rare examples of the West Ham number one being put under genuine pressure. Liverpool manager Rodgers had been forced to make a substitution after only 25 minutes when Daniel Sturridge replaced Stewart Downing, apparently because of injury.

However, the home team could not blame that tactical reshuffle alone for an underwhelming first-half display. Indeed, with West Ham defending resolutely and content to play on the counter-attack, the better chances arguably fell to Sam Allardyce’s side.

After 24 minutes, Mohamed Diame displayed intricate footwork to work his way into the Liverpool area, past three defenders, before shooting narrowly over Pepe Reina’s goal from seven yards out. There were also glimpses of goal for Carlton Cole, playing in place of ineligible Liverpool loanee Andy Carroll, but his shot was bravely blocked by Daniel Agger.

Agger opted for a direct approach early in the second half with a shot from fully 35 yards that deflected off a West Ham defender on its way out for a corner.

Liverpool came closer in the 55th minute when a Suarez attack resulted in the ball breaking kindly for the unmarked Steven Gerrard, whose 15-yard shot looked certain to end up in the Hammers goal until James Tomkins made a desperate goal-line block.

Liverpool supporters were beginning to wonder whether this was to be their afternoon, especially when Suarez drilled a magnificent ball across the face of West Ham’s goal without a team-mate able to provide the telling touch.

There were sporadic warnings for Liverpool at the other end, with the Reds fortunate to escape a West Ham penalty appeal when Jose Enrique appeared to trip Tomkins at a Gary O’Neil free-kick.

Sturridge had a goal ruled out for offside after 65 minutes, Philippe Coutinho cut in from the left and placed a shot inches beyond the far post and Suarez, having a frustrating afternoon, chipped a shot just beyond the far post from the edge of the area.

Tomkins tangled with Gerrard soon after, although the penalty appeals came more from The Kop than the Liverpool players, and Gerrard followed that attack with a shot that rose high over the goal from 18 yards. Sturridge tested Jaaskelainen with a shot through a crowded area and Agger maintained the pressure inside the closing minutes with another of his longrange attempts, this one turned around the post by the goalkeeper. — AFP

Business

Indonesia inflation climbs above comfort zone Page 24 India business charm offensive falls flat Page 25

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

Flydubai celebrates 3 years of operations to Kuwait Page 26 Page 25

Air Arabia increases flights to Salalah

BOAO: Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde attends a dialogue meeting during the annual Boao Forum in Boao, in southern China’s Hainan province, yesterday. —AP

Euro has ‘long-standing future’: Lagarde Luxembourg ready to revise bank secrecy BOAO, China: International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde yesterday told an audience in China that the euro has a solid future and that she hopes no more countries in Europe will need bailouts. “I think the collective political will.... to maintain, defend, protect and enhance the monetary zone and currency zone has been largely underestimated,” Lagarde said. “The euro has a future and has a longstanding one.” The former French finance minister spoke during a question-and-answer session that followed an address she gave at the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual conference of political and economic leaders held on the Chinese island of Hainan.

Her appearance prompted questions from audience participants about the situation in Cyprus, where the

Mediterranean country struck a 10-billion-euro ($13 billion) bailout deal with the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund-the so-called troika.

Europe has struggled with financial crises and the troubles besetting Cyprus are the latest in a series of sovereign debt crises and bailouts-most notably in Greece-that have shaken global confidence.

Such concerns were highlighted Friday when a US Treasury official said uncertainty surrounding Europe’s financial woes “remains a risk to our recovery and the global economic outlook”. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s upcoming visit to the EU. Asked specifically about the prospect for further crises, Lagarde said: “I don’t have a crystal ball. “My dearest

Kuwait rises to 26-month high MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Kuwait’s small-caps helped lift the bourse to a 26-month high yesterday as investors bet on improving earnings, while other regional markets were mixed. Kuwait’s index climbed 0.5 percent, its highest close since January 2011. Turnover in the last three weeks has reached its highest levels since early 2012, a positive sign. Small-caps dominated trade with leisure firm National Ranges surging 14.3 percent and International Financial Advisors rising 6.9 percent.

“People are buying in on the fact that companies have rectified their financials and are paying dividends - the bulk of the trades have been in small stocks,” said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House.

Investors are also optimistic that the government will move ahead with infrastructure projects that have been held back by a long-running power battle between parliament and the government. Political tensions have eased somewhat since December elections in and the government has begun issuing some infrastructure contracts. In Qatar, the market halted a threesession winning streak, losing 0.5 percent.

Investors booked gains ahead of a new listing in May on Qatar’s exchange, which hasn’t seen an initial public offer since November 2009.

Doha Global Investment Co, a new $12 billion Qatari investment firm backed by the sovereign wealth fund, will offer its shares to the public. Although in the long term its presence could aid the market, the offer will only be open to citizens, companies and institutions in Qatar, and the drain on liquidity could be negative in the run-up to the offer. Foreign investors will only be able to buy the shares after they are listed.

Local investors are selling shares to raise money that they will invest in Doha Global, and this trend is likely to continue gradually in coming weeks, traders said.

“If the IPO is Islamic, there will be a higher participation from Qatari investors,” said Yassir Mckee, wealth manager at Al-Rayan Financial Brokerage Co. “(The selling pressure) would open up buying opportunities for foreign and longer-term investors depending on how much the prices decline.”

Losers outnumbered gainers 16 to three.

Industries Qatar and Qatar National Bank

decline 0.6 and 0.7 percent respectively. In Saudi Arabia, the bourse ended little changed. Shares in Jarir Marketing rose 2 percent after posting estimate-beating firstquarter earnings.

Elsewhere, Dubai’s measure declined 0.3 percent, halting three sessions of gains.

Emaar Properties dipped 2.2 percent. Abu Dhabi’s index eased 0.09 percent, down from Thursday’s 41-month closing high. Any break above resistance on the February intra-day peak of 3,069 points would trigger a bullish right triangle formed by the lows of the last few weeks, and pointing up to the 3,180-point area.

In Egypt, recent selling pressure brought in bargain hunters. The index rose 1 percent, extending gains since Wednesday’s four-month low.

Commercial International Bank and Orascom Construction Industries rose 2.8 and 1.8 percent respectively.

EFG-Hermes gained 4 percent. The investment bank said on Sunday a merger deal with Qatari investment company QInvest will lapse on May 3 unless it receives long-awaited approval from Egyptian regulators. —Reuters

hope is that there is not yet another country down the line that needs to be repaired and that could require support from both the European partners and the IMF.” She added, however,that Cyprus represented a unique case and reminded her audience that the country’s economy amounted to a mere 0.2 percent of Europe’s economy.

“I don’t mean to be derogatory about this country,” she said, noting its status as a member of Europe and of the IMF. “But it was a very specific case in many respects,” she added, citing factors such as the the size of the banking sector relative to the Cyprus economy.

Lagarde also said she hoped European authorities would learn from experiences over the past couple of years and “decide to accelerate the consolidation of their currency

zone”. Luxembourg is prepared to lift the lid slightly on its controversial bank secrecy in an effort to help curb tax evasion by foreign depositors, its finance minister told a Sunday newspaper. Following intense criticism by euro-zone partners of Luxembourg’s insular banking practices, Luc Frieden told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung it would now consider moves toward greater transparency.

“We want to strengthen cooperation with foreign tax authorities,” he said. “The international trend is going toward an automatic exchange of bank deposit information. We no longer strictly oppose that.”

He cited interest payments to foreign clients as an example of data that could be given to home countries as a matter of course. —AFP

Egypt households suffer in economic hard times CAIRO: It is not just Egypt’s politicians and experts who are keeping a close eye on loan talks with the International Monetary Fund: ordinary Egyptians suffering the squeeze of a devastating economic crisis are also watching with concern. Sami Mohammed, a 49-year-old civil servant, has been struggling with soaring inflation and says he fears the IMF’s $4.8 billion loan-which requires Egypt to contain its gaping budget deficit-will only cripple his finances further. He says he has been closely following the progress of the longmooted deal in the newspapers, including the arrival in Cairo this past week of an IMF team. “Recent price rises are because of the IMF talks,” said the father of two, who struggles on a meagre government salary.

“Once the deal is reached prices will go even higher. I can barely feed my sons as it is-all the prices have doubled.” For the past five months, while Cairo has negotiated the financing package with the IMF, prices of basic commodities including electricity, water, gas and food have risen.

To qualify for the loan, Egypt is required to reduce the budget deficit by raising revenues through taxes and reducing subsidies on vital items such as fuel and bread, moves likely to spark social tensions.

Earlier this week, the price of subsidized cooking gas went up by 60 percent

to eight Egyptian pounds ($1.15) from five Egyptian pounds ($0.73), triggering market chaos.

It was one of several steps taken by the cash-strapped government to rein in its subsidy bill, and has had a direct effect on the price of food in restaurants and carts that sell fava beans on which many Egyptians rely for protein. Presidency spokesman Omar Amer said the government was trying to work on a “new formula” for economic reforms.

“We want to make sure that all the subsidies of the government will go directly to the citizens who deserve it, not to everyone,” Amer told reporters. The government has introduced a smart card system that will limit access to subsidized goods to low-income families.

In Cairo, the frustration is palpable. “For the last three months, I haven’t bought any item twice for the same price,” said engineer Mohammed Mohammed, 59.

“Our income is the same but the prices keep going up. I expect prices to rise more once we get the IMF loan.”Flour and sugar are 50 percent more expensive than last year, and the price of vegetables like cucumbers and potatoes has more than doubled.

IMF loan fears Authorities believe the loan will help

restore investor confidence in Egypt where unrest that accompanied the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak caused a significant drop in revenue from the once-lucrative tourism industry.

Foreign reserves have plunged from $36 billion to $13 billion in two years, and the budget deficit is increasing.

President Mohamed Morsi’s administration has been plagued by unrest and deadly clashes between protesters and police, blocking efforts to build broadbased support for a program of economic reform. The continued unrest has also prompted credit rating agencies to downgrade Egypt.

In March, Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s government bond ratings by one notch to Caa1, a level indicating that a borrower is vulnerable to default, saying political instability had “significantly weakened” the economy. It also warned the rating outlook was negative.

The IMF loan alone will not lift Egypt out of the crisis, but it could help unlock other aid and boost confidence. “The loan itself will not solve the economic crisis, but Egypt needs a certificate (of approval) that the economic situation is stable and it is able to refund any loans,” said Magdy Sobhi, a political economist with the Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.—AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

business

Burgan Bank CEO spells out growth strategy Eguren awarded ‘Best CEO in Kuwait’

By V Nacheva

T

he transformation of Burgan Bank Group into a regional financial powerhouse is backed by a clear vision and an approach that has proven resilient amid unstable economic conditions.

In a recent exclusive interview with Kuwait Times, Eduardo Eguren, Chief Executive Officer of Burgan Bank Group proudly said that his bank reflects trust and commitment to high standards of delivery in the minds of its long-standing clients. “The group consistently works to strengthen its position as the best quality financial services provider through value driven strategies that aim at improving customers’ banking needs in Kuwait and across the region in which its subsidiaries operate from,” stressed Eguren.

Burgan Bank, which is the third largest lender by assets in Kuwait, focuses on the sectors of corporate and financial institutions as well as having a growing retail and private bank customer base. The bank witnessed and continues to benefit from a significant turnaround in profitability process, operational growth and an increased number of recognitions by leading regulators

The Group’s operations in Kuwait focused on the wide expansion of the product portfolio, aggressive marketing strategies and enhancing overall customer experience. The delivery of new products has also significantly enhanced the bank’s competitive position while also providing customers more added value as well as personalized banking solutions and services.

across the banking sector.

Soon after his appointment in 2010, Eduardo Eguren articulated his vision of transforming Burgan Bank into one of the strongest regional banking groups that it is today. His command of the financial and banking sector coupled with a strong belief to manage by returns along with a well-defined high-level corporate strategy, has led the bank to witness a significant turnaround in profitability, operational growth, and an increased number of recognitions by leading regulators across the banking sector. Under his tenure, the Group continues to report a solid top-line performance, allowing it to be well-poised on a solid trajectory scale to deliver pre-crisis performance, and a banking powerhouse group that is well positioned for growth, on a local, regional as well as an international front.

Growth Recently, Burgan Bank Group reported significantly improved financial results for the year ending December 31st, 2012. The Group posted KD 50.6 million net profit, which is a 10 times increase from the same period of 2010 reported at KD 4.7 million. The Group’s revenue growth compared to the first half of 2011 climbed to 11.4 percent from -1.4 percent, normalized operating profit growth at 11.5 percent, operating profit margin at 61.6 percent, cost to income ratio from 38.5 percent to 38.4 percent and jaws ratio from -7.7 percent to 0.2 percent. From Returns perspective, Burgan Bank Group ranks first amongst its peers in terms of return on equity (ROE), from 12.0 percent to 14.4 percent, while also ranking first on return on net asset value (RoNAV) from 21.1 percent to 23.9 percent.

During the interview with Kuwait Times, Eguren commented on that the Group’s results in 2011 have clearly demonstrated its positive and upward swing financial delivery trend, and was the start to a more prosperous journey of the group’s way forward.

He further explained that the results achieved in 2011 were only a prelude to the group’s astonishing performance over the course of 2012; a challenging year that was projected for local as well as international markets.

With the onset of 2012, Eguren and his executive management team planned to achieve growth through a combination of prudent risk management strategies, inorganic growth arising from strategic acquisitions and increasing the market share.

Asked about the overall performance of Burgan Bank, Eguren highlighted that the Group’s operations across the past year has been characterized with consistency in delivering solid results across all key metrics of its business as well as its financial scorecard. “With the right capabilities and a clear direction, profitability levels, asset quality, capitalization, liquidity and overall market positioning were significantly improved,” Eguren added.

2012 performance Throughout the year, Burgan Bank Group has met its corporate strategy objectives through delivering tangible results, distancing itself from the competition and creating a niche for our operations. The Group’s executive capabilities enabled the group to reap the benefits of the right “formula,” proven to be resilient in an adverse economic scene that prevailed during 2012 and expected to continue in 2013.

Burgan Bank Group reported a consolidated net profit of KD 55.6 million for the year ending 31st December, 2012, reflecting a 10 percent increase from the same period of 2011 which was reported at KD 50.6 million.

Earnings per share (EPS) grew 12 percent to reach 37.8fils in comparison with 33.7fils in 2011. The group’s operating income surged by 16 percent to reach KD 190 million, while operating profit before provisions soared by 17 percent to ultimately reach KD 119 million.

Returns of Equity reported at 12.4 percent while Return on tangible equity reported at 20.2 percent - the highest among domestic peers.

“We must adapt to the varied situations we’re placed in in order to grow and expand accordingly. It is not worth it to keep complaining about bad situations. Part of our mandate at Burgan Bank is to grow and succeed during the good and bad times, and this doesn’t really mean to implement a crazy expansion approach, but rather what I am referring to is very careful and calculated growth,” said Eguren.

Burgan Bank Group continued treading on the road of enhancing its core financials, while also expanding its volume of operations. The Group’s revenue composition in 2012 has been stable, and market share as well as profitability was being enhanced at steady levels. The mandate was to maintain leading financial indicators’ in an upward position, towards achieving higher levels of sustainable growth and stronger revenues diversity.

Eguren points out that the Group’s operations in Kuwait focused on the wide expansion of the product portfolio, aggressive marketing strategies and enhancing overall customer experience. The delivery of new products has also significantly enhanced the bank’s competitive position while also providing customers more added value as well as personalized banking solutions and services. The aggressive marketing strategies have resulted a wider reach and capture of a selective customer base. In 2012, Kuwait’s operations increased its Loans Market share to 12.7 percent.

“Burgan Bank-Kuwait’s solid financial and operation performance was well recognized by external stakeholders. Burgan Bank reaped a wide array of awards that are the results of “Peers & customers” voting process by renowned publications. These included the “Best Corporate Bank”, “Best Private Bank” to the “Best Bank in Kuwait”. Burgan Bank’s Brand was also recognized by “Best Bank Branding in MENA” and the brand is one of only 5 brands in MENA that has shown improvement in brand value according to the annual survey by brand finance,” adds Eguren.

Eduardo Eguren

Strategy and diversification Currently, Burgan Bank has five majority owned subsidiaries, which include Gulf Bank Algeria - AGB (Algeria), Bank of Baghdad - BOB (Iraq & Lebanon), Jordan Kuwait Bank - JKB (Jordan) Tunis International Bank - TIB (Tunisia), and fully owned Burgan Bank - Turkey, (collectively known as the “Burgan Bank Group”).

2012 was also the birth of Burgan Bank Group’s international reach. With a 51 percent contribution to Group’s total revenues, all subsidiaries have demonstrated a consistent and solid revenue performance and continue their operations on strong growth modes.

Burgan Bank completed its acquisition process in Turkey to acquire a 99.26 percent stake of Eurobank Tekfen. Eurobank Tekfen and its subsidiaries (EFG Istanbul Equities & EFG Leasing) became majority owned subsidiaries of Burgan Bank group as of December 2012 and have been renamed to Burgan Bank -Turkey, Burgan Securities and Burgan Leasing as of January 2013.

Furthermore, the bank also acquired 25 percent of FIM Bank in Malta, and is looking at a combination of organic and inorganic growth in the pursuit of inorganic strategy.

Burgan Bank’s strategy is simple, and one that aims at building and acquiring scale, capabilities and footprint and diversifying revenues streams. “Our business model is simple and focused. We have a simple business organization. Every business has to be able to be successful by itself and to support the rest,” points out Eguren.

“Our regional subsidiaries are now contributing with more than 51 percent of the group’s revenues, and the ones in Algeria, Jordan and Iraq are equivalent to Kuwait in terms of revenue growth. This is a great advantage

“Every country is sovereign to decide how they spend their resources. Kuwait is rich and can afford doing this without having to give explanation to anybody. Countries with long-term plans become more skilled when they have adversity. This is for the local leadership to decide.”

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

business

attributed to the geographic diversification we enjoy, and the cost to income ratio points out the operational excellence throughout our regional banks”, mentions Eguren.

Development plan perspectives Eguren says that he doesn’t rely on the country’s proposed state development plans to run the bank, but rather run the business according to the overall business and growth strategy for Burgan Bank Group. He tells us that once the development plan kicks off, the bank will do better, but whilst it doesn’t, the bank will continue with its agreed growth approach as per its strategy and progress plans.

He further explains that the budget of the government for infrastructure and related projects amounts to almost KD 1 billion per annum. If the pace of the development plan accelerates, the government spend should reach up to KD 3 or KD 4 billion annually. This is a lengthy process, Eguren says. “We have to consider the procedures that are involved in approving the budget, the selection process of the various projects, assigning the contracting companies and finally starting the work.”

When a project begins and a company is assigned to execute the work, this company needs to prepare their requirements that may include manpower and equipment. Only at that stage will the company start to look for the proper finance and guarantees. With that in mind, the role of the banks becomes more apparent, and at that moment the company, and the not the government, will be the client. This process provides a measurement and an evaluation tool for the growth of the banks’ business and how the plan will influence the growth of loans; Eguren points out during the interview.

Debt relief Asked to explore the premise if there is an alternative to Kuwait’s debt relief that is currently debated Eguren says, “Every country is sovereign to decide how they spend their resources. Kuwait is rich and can afford doing this without having to give explanation to anybody. Countries with long-term plans become more skilled when they have adversity. This is for the local leadership to decide.” He opined, “If oil-producing countries do not prepare themselves for the moment when resources are not available, life is going to be very difficult. Kuwait is lucky because it has reserves for many years.” He went on to add, “Times are changing. We all need to adjust and we have to be prepared that if we have frontal winds, we can still be successful and grow rather than longing for the good conditions of the past.

Focus on delivery is very important.” Dwelling on the topic of possible taxation in Kuwait, Eguren eloquently explained, “At a time of low investment in Kuwait, to start putting taxes would be an additional disincentive to create growth.”

Recognition and awards During 2012, Burgan Bank Group won many awards.

To Eguren, and his team, this represents a clear indication that the bank’s performance is being recognized by top organizations.

Eguren said that Burgan Bank was awarded with the “Best Bank in Kuwait”, the “Best Deal of the Year”, and the “Best Corporate Bank in Kuwait”. It didn’t stop there. The proud CEO also mentioned that Burgan Bank picked up the “Best Bank Branding” award, and was also recognized as “Best Banking Group in Kuwait”. For the second consecutive year, Eguren says, Burgan Bank won World Finance’s “Best Private Bank” award along with the “Best Private Bank in Kuwait 2012” award from Capital Finance International. Eguren said Additionally, for the eleventh consecutive year, Eguren points out that Burgan Bank was awarded the JP Morgan Quality Recognition Award, while also receiving the COMMERZBANK award for maintaining high standards of quality, efficiency and reliability while processing Euro currency transactions. In addition to that, the

bank is considered as the only one in Kuwait and amongst a few across the GCC to be certified with the ISO: 9001:2008 throughout its banking business.

A quite eventful year it has been for Burgan Bank Group, not only from a performance perspective, but also through establishing itself as a strong thought leader, and a regional group that has been consistent with its strong delivery. Eguren stated that, as “the cherry on top of the cake”, Burgan Bank Group was awarded with the “Best Banking Group in MENA 2012” by Global Banking and Finance Review. The award, he points out, is a testament to not only the Group’s financials, but also to the remarkable efforts exerted by his executive management’s team, and overall efforts of establishing one of the most diversified regional banking platforms in the region.

Renewed Commitment The hard work, dedication and commitment exerted by the bank’s CEOis reaping the results planned for across all levels for Burgan Bank Group.

These results are a part of Burgan Bank Group’s journey, and a clear demonstration of a visionary approach that is based on more than 25 years of experience in global corporate, retail and commercial banking operations, which clearly is the reason behind and proof of Eduardo Eguren receiving the “Best Banking CEO in Kuwait” award from a renowned publication in the banking and finance sector.

Consistent even with his outlook, Eguren defines the way forward by being confident enough to opening

another new chapter in the growth and progress of Burgan Bank Group. His methodology ensures that the Group’s supporters and trust are well placed to deliver on a strong promise of transforming Burgan Bank Group into a leading regional banking franchise.

Looking ahead Eguren says that Burgan Bank Group has a solid foundation to continue building on its growth plans. The Group’s solid performance during 2012, according to him, demonstrates that the Group is well positioned for more success and poised for further sustainable growth levels. According to him, the Group’s business objectives are to continue gaining market share with profitability, focus on growing international operations, as well as both the Retail and Private banking groups, while also continuing to build scale, capabilities and footprint through strategic acquisitions.

On a final note, Eguren said “We are committed to maximizing our shareholders’ returns, providing our customers with world-class banking experience, product innovation and competitive value as well as building the best team in the industry. We are looking forward with confidence to opening a new chapter in the growth and progress of Burgan Bank Group, as we embrace creative and innovative strategies that will transform the nature and status of our operations.”

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

BUSINESS

Democratic Congo looks to end reign of dollars KINSHASA: With the economy on the mend, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has begun a campaign to rebuild the national currency and wean the country off the US dollar. In the 1990s, during the waning days of the brutal regime of dictator Mobuto Sese Seko, hyperinflation that hit 2,000 percent led to the marginalization of the Congolese franc and the rise of the safe haven greenback.

By the end of last year, the dollar accounted for 89 percent of bank deposits and 95 percent of loans, according the country’s central bank. Since that spate of hyperinflation, the dollar has been the currency for savings and major transactions, with the Congolese franc relegated to small retail transactions which are conducted in increasingly worn wads of 500 franc (around $0.50)

notes. Since July, the Congo Central Bank has introduced new denominations of 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 francs. But these, along with existing franc notes of lower denominations, have been poorly received and small retail businesses shun them. However, Bruno Degoy, head of the local unit of the Bank of Africa, which operates in a dozen African countries, said he believes new bills “should appear little by little” in circulation.

With inflation down to 2.7 percent and the dollar exchange rate fixed at around 920 francs by the central bank, “everything is in place” to ensure the gradual wider use of the national currency, he said.

The economic situation is also favorable, growth came in at 7.2 percent last year and is forecast to hit 8.3 percent this year,

according to the government. Foreign exchange reserves are also more plentiful, with the central bank now holding more two months worth compared to just two days in 2009. But the Congolese authorities are careful not to push the process. When the chief of the central bank, Jean-Claude Masangu, launched the de-dollarization effort in a speech last year, he was careful to reassure Congolese. “There will be no forced conversion” of currencies, he promised. In an interview with AFP, Masangu said the process of de-dollarization could last up to a decade. “Only once we’ve established confidence throughout the system, will we shut the valves so all payments are in the national currency,” he said. So far the government has only taken small steps encourage the use of the franc. Shops must publish prices in francs. And

tax bills are now sent out in francs, even though they are usually still paid in dollars. Budget Minister Daniel Mukoko Samba, when announcing the de-dollarization effort, noted that Congo is following in the footsteps of a number of other African countries such as Angola, Ghana, Mozambique.

Zambia, Samba noted, chose to force the use of the national currency. In Congo the “the fiscal and monetary authorities have chosen to let market forces work,” he said. But businesses are wary. “This de-dollarization doesn’t have any upside for us,” said an importer of generators into the country for two decades who asked his name not be used. “For the moment, the Congolese franc is incredibly stable, but we remember times when prices were changing every 10 minutes,” he noted. —AFP

Indonesia’s inflation climbs above comfort zone KCIC Weekly Analysis

By Dana Al-Fakir KUWAIT: Indonesia saw its inflation rate reach an almost two-year high in March, much to the dismay of the nation’s central bank. Indonesia’s consumer price index rose from 5.31 percent year-on-year in February to 5.9 percent year-on-year in March, on higher food prices, topping the central bank’s targeted inflation range for this year, of 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent. The rise in food prices was mostly attributed to the more stringent government policies on onion and garlic imports, which drove their respective supply levels. However, core inflation -which excludes the volatile food and energy prices - appears to remain in check, easing from 4.29 percent year-on-year in February to 4.21 percent year-on-year in March. On a side note, the economy’s trade deficit widened much more than expected, from a revised $75 million in January, to $327 million in February - double the amount that was forecasted - as exports continued to contract in February due to both weak external, particularly from nations which celebrated the Chinese New Year. The swelling trade deficit together with the rising current account deficit is placing downward pressure on the rupiah, which was down 6 percent last year and has so far lost 1.1 percent year-to-date. This in turn is applying upward pressure on the inflation rate, as imports costs are driven higher.

The graph above represents inflation through the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Inflation is the year-on-year increase in the price of a basket of goods and services. This basket is referred to as the CPI basket and is determined based on the residents’ spending habits. The CPI basket contains the costs of food, transport, housing, utilities, and leisure activities. In Indonesia, like other developing nations, food prices make up more than a third of the basket, hence rising food prices have a strong effect on inflation. In order to prevent high inflation, the monetary authorities can decide to hike their policy rates, which directly impacts households spending. By raising rates, the central bank makes borrowing more expensive, and incentivizes households to borrow less, hence spend less. A cut in the policy rate will boost economic activity by encouraging consumption. The Bank Indonesia Rate is the policy rate announced by the Board of Governors of Bank Indonesia in each monthly meeting.

The policy rate is used for liquidity management on the money market to achieve the monetary policy operational target.

The monetary policy operational target is reflected in the movement in the Interbank Overnight Rate, the rate at which banks lend to each other overnight.

Bank deposit rates are expected to follow the movements in interbank rates, and henceforth affect bank lending rates.

With inflation now standing above the central bank’s target level, Bank Indonesia is undoubtedly facing a growing challenge: how to best tackle its monetary policy to curb inflation and yet keep up its impressive economic growth performance. The central bank is scheduled to hold its next policy meeting on April 11th.

Its reference rate has been at a record low of 5.75 percent since February of last year.

With core inflation remaining within the central bank’s target, analysts argue that it is unlikely the reference rate will be increased just yet. The spike in food prices is deemed to be temporary, especially with the start of the rice harvest season and the government’s more relaxed stance on the import regulations front, to keep them in-line with domestic needs. Having said that however, if the government does go ahead with its fuel subsidy reduction policy to help tame the growing budget deficit, the consequent rise in prices may more than offset the fall in food prices, driving the overall inflation rate even higher. President Yudhoyono is expected to announce new measures to reduce the level of subsidized fuel within the next couple of days. Indonesia’s finance minister also recently announced that the government may introduce a new type of fuel that can be charged at a higher price than the existing subsidized products. However, with the upcoming elections in 2014 and a history of protests over fuel-price hikes in 2005 and 2008, the president may be hesitant to shy away from populist demands.

Needless to say, if the government does cut its fuel subsidies, we expect the new Bank Indonesia governor to take a more hawkish stance and hike interest rates by 25 bps to bring headline inflation under control. The move will definitely be a test of the new governor’s management of the economy. On the other hand, if subsidies are not cut, then the policy rate is expected to stay put at a record low of 5.75 percent, just as long as food prices do ease within the next couple of months. On Indonesia’s economic growth front for this year, expect it to hover around 6 percent, on the back of solid domestic consumption levels.

—Dana Al-Fakir is economist at KCIC, an investment firm specializing in emerging Asia investments.

Offshore accounts data reveal financial crimes WASHINGTON: A trove of data obtained by a US-based journalists’ group that details thousands of offshore accounts reveals several instances of swindles and other financial crimes, The Washington Post newspaper reported yesterday.

Among the 4,000 US individuals listed in the records, at least 30 were American citizens accused in lawsuits or criminal cases of fraud, money laundering or other serious financial misconduct, the report said.

They include billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who was convicted in 2011 in one of the biggest insider trading scandals in US history, and Paul Bilzerian, who was convicted of securities fraud, the paper noted.

The report was the latest by prominent newspapers around the world which were given copies of the data for scrutiny by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The head of the ICIJ, Gerard Ryle, obtained the data-involving 2.5 million records of more than 120,000 companies and trusts set up by two offshore companies operating in the British Virgin Islands and in Asia and the South Pacific-on a hard drive after investigating a fraud and offshore haven case in Australia.

Several newspapers, including France’s Le Monde and Britain’s Guardian, have been publishing revelations based on the data. The Washington Post’s report said the records contained information on at least 23 companies linked to an alleged $230 million tax fraud in Russia that was investigated by a

Moscow-based lawyer named Sergei Magnitsky.

After Magnitsky informed Russian authorities of his findings, he was accused of fraud himself and thrown in prison, where he died in 2009 under suspicious circumstances. One of the companies mentioned in the records was used to set up Swiss bank accounts, into which the husband of a Russian tax official deposited millions in cash, the paper said. Today, there are between 50 and 60 offshore financial centers around the world holding billions of dollars at a time of historic US deficits and budget cuts, The Washington Post said.

Groups that monitor tax issues estimate that between $8 trillion and $32 trillion in private global wealth is parked offshore, according to the paper.

According to fraud experts, offshore bank accounts and companies are vital to those wishing to conceal complex financial crimes.

For example, Allen Stanford, who ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, used a bank he controlled in Antigua, The Post noted.

And Bernard Madoff, who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in US history, used a series of offshore “feeder funds” to fuel the growth of his scam.

The Washington Post quoted a top official in the US Justice Department’s fraud section, Paul Pelletier, as saying US owners of offshore accounts were sometimes trying to hide money from US tax authorities, law enforcement or regulators. “As a prosecutor, it was very difficult pursuing these people,” he said. —AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

BUSINESS

India business charm offensive falls flat Investors look for ‘more than talk’

Air Arabia increases flights to Salalah SHARJAH: Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, announced yesterday the increase in frequency of flights to Salalah from the carrier’s primary hub in Sharjah.

Effective May 8, 2013, the airline will offer three flights per week, an addition of one flight to the existing schedule, making it easier and more convenient for passengers to visit this vibrant tourist destination in the Sultanate of Oman.

Air Arabia will offer new services to Salalah on Wednesdays departing from Sharjah International Airport at 08:00 and arriving in Salalah Airport at 09:45. Return flights will depart from Salalah on the same days at 10:25 and arrive in Sharjah at 12:05.

“We are pleased to expand services to Salalah after launching services to this unique city less than a year ago,” said, Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia. “Our customers enjoy access to the extensive destination network of our carrier and the highest quality service possible, and today’s announcement is a direct

result of that commitment. As demand soars for Air Arabia’s value for money services, we will continue to further expand our network in the Arab world and beyond, providing customers with a wider choice for value air travel.”

Salalah is a popular tourist destination due to the natural attractions and its seasonal weather, locally known as “Khareef.”

Salalah includes a distinctive natural diversity where the coast blends with the mountains and the desert in wonderful harmony.

During the Salalah Tourism Festival, the city is frequented by visitors from all over the world. The beautiful beaches and coastline are also major attractions for scuba diving and bird watching.

Air Arabia (PJSC), listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is the Middle East and North Africa’s leading low-cost carrier. Air Arabia commenced operations in October 2003 and currently operates a total fleet of 33 new Airbus A320 aircraft, serving 83 routes from three hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Egypt.

Gold failed as future inflation indicator!

By Hayder Twafik KUWAIT: Today’s gold price is the same as it was on April 2011; i.e. it has underperformed massively and unfortunately has been costly to hold. I think after 12 years of gains, a bear market in gold has started. It has failed as an indicator of rising global inflation at a time when central banks around the world printing unlimited supply of money but that money has not fed through to the system.

The selloff in gold has been on concern that investors are looking for higher returns in other assets mainly bonds, equities and real estates. This shift in investors attitude away from gold is purely based on the assumption that there is a global economic recovery and with it no inflation threat.

Gold will continue to decline in the coming months as the global financial markets has withstood the crisis in the euro-zone, the geopolitical unrest in the Middle east, Africa and lately the North Korean threat to its neighbor and to the US. I don’t think gold should be treated as another asset class by investors. Since the start of the financial crisis back in 2007, analysts and commentators have aggressively recommended that gold should be treated as an asset class on its own. These arguments contradict the historical case of holding gold. Historically gold is seen as a store of value against inflation and it should be treated as such nothing else. If an investor wants to hold gold in a portfolio of a diversified asset then my advice is to hold as little as are permitted without adding any elements of speculation to the portfolio. There is a clear sign that investors’ sentiment is very much likely to stay positive on financial assets and away from gold and other precious metals.

Another reason for investors’ confidence is the relative strength of the US dollar. The only good forecast for future trend of the price of gold is inflation.

This probably should be the correct argument for investing in Gold as a future hedge against inflation. Back in 1980 when the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Afghanistan and the

Islamic revolution started in Iran, gold price hit a high of $800. Then it continued a two decades of correction till it reached a low of $300 in 2001. During that period average global inflation continued to fall and it reached around 4 percent by the end of the nineties.

So, the correction in gold price was accompanied by a global fall in inflation but it did not protect investors against inflation and it lost investors nearly 60 percent of its value. So we can argue that historically gold acted as a hedge against inflation but not over the last few decades. The lesson for investors is those gold prices tend to rise when there is an easy monetary policy in place and tend to fall when there is a tighter monetary policy. The recent fall in gold price may be indicating that global monetary policy about to shift towards tightening. But even this could be misleading in the face of weak global economic growth and threat of recession.

A recent study shows that the cost of producing an ounce of gold is around $760, which is half of market price of gold today. As long as there is such a huge profit margin on gold then production will continue to increase and the selling pressure will remain.

Investors should be aware that all the gold produced around the world are still in existence are ready to be sold at a certain price and there is no reason to hold on to them. My biggest fear is that gold price has indeed peaked and it has now entered a bear market like the one we experienced in the eighties and the nineties. May be a price correction is overdue. How far it can correct depends on the supply and demand. Producers are happy to keep producing as long as they can have 100 percent profit margin. There is the possibility that producers might start selling gold forward to capture the high price and by doing so will continue the high production. My advice is if you are investing in gold because of your concern about the global economic and political environment then you should think again!

— Hayder Tawfik is Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah Capital.

NEW DELHI: India’s government is appealing to corporate leaders to “keep the faith” as it struggles to revive a staggering economy, but the reply from business is they need more than talk to win back their support.

Business confidence in the Congress partyled government has nosedived, with growth at a decade-low of five percent, stubbornly high inflation, a ballooning deficit, policy drift and a string of corruption scandals.

The disenchantment is even more worrying for Congress with 2014 polls looming and business hailing corporate-friendly opposition leader, Narendra Modi, the Gujarat state chief minister, as a potential prime minister. Premier Manmohan Singh, seeking to woo back the key corporate constituency, conceded in a speech to the annual meeting of India’s biggest industry group last week there was a need for a “corrective strategy” to jumpstart growth.

“Keep the faith and partner with the government in our effort” to put the economy back on track for high growth, said Singh, considered the father of 1990s market reforms that unleashed a two-decade economic boom.

“We grew at an average eight percent in the last 10 years and we can get there again,” Singh, who has been in power since 2004, told the Confederation of Indian Industry on Wednesday.

But Singh’s commitments to further open up

the still heavily regulated economy, dismantle investment roadblocks and slice through India’s infamous red tape drew yawns from his audience who said they were tired of promises.

“It’s like Rip Van Winkle who has woken up after nine years and recognized past failures,” said Ravi Chaudhry, chairman of Delhi-based business strategy consulting firm CeNext Consulting and Investment.

“Nobody has confidence, his words are not confidence inspiring,” Chaudhry said. “This all happened under their watch.” Congress has been losing capital, especially during its second stint in power which began in 2009, among both domestic and foreign investors who have been seeking opportunities elsewhere. The party wheeled out a string of top ministers as well as reclusive Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, often tagged India’s prime minister in waiting, at the industry meeting as part of their charm offensive.

Gandhi’s appearance, however, left business leaders scratching their heads as he lectured them in a rambling speech about the need to reduce endemic poverty and act with compassion, while failing to provide solutions for low growth. “The silver lining is they recognize they have slipped up and it is a positive they are doing something now, but they have only 10 months to turn things around,” said Kiran Karnik,

former president of India’s flagship outsourcing lobby group NASSCOM. Business leaders said they still have high admiration for Singh’s economic scholarship. But many say the frail Sikh is not a politician able to deal with an unruly cabinet and navigate the hurly-burly political landscape.

“He’s basically an economist. What he says now is not going to change the trend-people don’t have high expectations of the government anymore,” said another delegate, Anil Sultan.

Still, the potential opposition candidate for premier, Modi, a pillar of the Hindu nationalist BJP, remains a controversial divisive figure for failing to halt deadly anti-Muslim riots that inflamed his state in 2002.

Modi’s business popularity stems from clean governance and effectiveness as an economic steward that has made Gujarat a go-to investment destination.

Industrialists such as Sunil Bharti Mittal, Ratan Tata and Anil Ambani have all voiced admiration for Modi-prompting Congress to draw a parallel with the German corporate sector’s fondness for Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. “The German corporate sector had a similar fascination with a gentleman who was at the helm of affairs there. The implications for the world at large were disastrous,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said recently. —AFP

BOJ ushers in ‘easy money’ era, but questions abound TOKYO: The Bank of Japan’s huge new easing measures mark its boldest bid yet to vanquish growth-sapping deflation, but observers warn there are no guarantees of success for the multi-billion-dollar gambit.

The central bank ended weeks of speculation over what its new management team would do last week, unleashing a torrent of measures which rival the US Federal Reserve’s wave of easy money, known as quantitative easing. Traders lapped up the news, sending Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index skyward, while bond yields fell to record lows and the yen plunged to levels that heartened Japan’s exporters whose competitiveness depends on a weaker currency.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said his team would double Japan’s money supply by the end of 2014, jack up asset purchases and hit a two-percent inflation target in as many years, vowing no let-up in the battle against falling prices which have plagued the economy for decades. “We will carry out quantitative and qualitative monetary easing that is unprecedented in its scale and quality,” Kuroda told a packed news conference. “Rather than doing things incrementally, we are taking all the necessary steps to achieve two percent inflation early,” he added.

Observers hailed it as a “gigantic step” and a “brave new world” with moves that surprised markets used to less aggressive action from Japan’s central bank. “Kuroda showed today that the Bank of Japan is now different from what it was in the past,” said Yoshikiyo Shimamine, executive chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. Tokyo also applauded the moves with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe-who hand-picked Kuroda and his deputies-saying the market reaction was “exactly what the measures were expected to do”. Kuroda, meanwhile, brushed off worries his strategy could set off an asset-price bubble, a big fear in Japan after the last two decades of limp growth, which followed a huge stock and real-estate bubble in the late 1980s. However, even those who lauded the bank’s efforts concede it was a step into uncharted territory, a plan that could backfire and leave Japan saddled with bucketloads of debt and little else. “We don’t know where this gamble will take us,” said Daisuke Uno, chief market strategist of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

Boston University professor William Grimes predicted that the policy “will have positive effects, but there are no guarantees”. “Deflationary expectations are much more firmly entrenched among Japanese companies and consumers (now). Also, Japan’s fiscal situation has become much worse.

“This means that monetary policy will be (left) on its own, as fiscal stimulus will be modest and temporary,” he added.

Abe’s prescription for the economy includes big government spending, although that too may run into a wall: Japan has, proportionately, the worst debt load among industrialized nations with a rapidly ageing population threatening to exacerbate the problem. Meanwhile the one-time powerhouse economy has been wrestling with falling prices for years, a deflationary spiral that put the brakes on growth because it encourages people to put off buying goods in the hopes of paying less in the future and hurting producers in the process.

The BOJ said Thursday it would expand its asset-purchase program to include riskier bets such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and real-estate investment trusts. ETFs are similar to an index fund, but are market traded like stocks. While turning around Japan’s long-tepid economy would assure Kuroda of his place in the history books, some, including London-based Capital Economics warned that the former head of the Asian Development Bank may have set the bar too high. “The bank won’t help itself in the long run if it makes promises it can’t keep and here, we suspect, doubts will start to creep in,” it said. — AFP

ATHENS: Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras speaks to reporters as he leaves Maximos’ Mansion after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and the debt inspectors from the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund, known as the troika in Athens yesterday. —AP

EFG awaiting Egypt nod for QInvest deal CAIRO: EFG Hermes, the Middle East’s top investment bank, said yesterday a merger deal with Qatari investment company QInvest will lapse on May 3 unless it receives long-awaited approval from Egyptian regulators.

EFG said it had received regulatory approval from a number of countries for the deal, under which it would initially inject its core business into a joint venture 60 percent controlled by QInvest. “If EFG does not receive a ‘no objection’ from the (Egyptian Financial Supervisory) Authority in the coming days, it will be difficult to implement the joint venture agreement,” the Egyptian company said.

The joint venture would inject more than $300 million of direct investment into the Egyptian economy, EFG said. A spokesman for the authority said the deal was still being studied and that a decision would be announced at the right time, declining to give any details or time frame.

EFG issued the statement on a day when Egyptian Central Bank governor Hisham Ramez was visiting Qatar, his office said.

The deal is politically sensitive in Egypt because both of EFG’s chief executives, Hassan Heikal and Yasser El Mallawany, are on trial, along with the two sons of ousted

President Hosni Mubarak, on allegations of illegal share dealings in relation to a 2007 transaction. If regulators approve the agreement, they may face criticism for letting executives accused of profiting in the Mubarak era further their gains under the new government.

On the other hand, Qatar is Egypt’s main political and financial backer in the Gulf and has pledged $5 billion to Cairo in loans and grants to help keep the most populous Arab country afloat. QInvest is majorityowned by Qatar Islamic Bank.

The transaction includes EFG’s brokerage, research, asset management, investment banking and infrastructure businesses. QInvest would inject $250 million into the joint venture and have the right to buy the remaining 40 percent over a period of 12 to 36 months after the close of the transaction for $165 million or a fair market valuation.

EFG shareholders would receive a oneoff dividend of 4 Egyptian pounds ($0.58) per share after the deal closes, which was originally expected in the third quarter of 2012.

The contract between QInvest and EFG Hermes is due to expire 12 months after the agreement was first signed on May 3, 2012, EFG said. — Reuters

EU’s Ashton seeks consensus in Egypt on economy, reform CAIRO: The European Union’s foreign policy chief met Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi yesterday to encourage the country’s feuding political leaders to seek a national consensus in tackling mounting economic and political problems.

“This is a critical time for Egypt’s transition.

The country is facing huge economic and political challenges,” Catherine Ashton said in a statement before the talks. Her visit comes as Egypt is in the midst of long-delayed negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan needed to cope with a growing economic crisis.

Foreign currency reserves have dwindled to less than three months’ imports, the Egyptian pound has lost nearly 10 percent against the dollar this year and there are warnings of power cuts and fuel shortages this summer. “More than

ever, Europe - as a partner and neighbor - has to support Egypt in its move towards deep and inclusive democracy. I will work hard in Cairo to engage with all parties to help build confidence and find common ground on both political and economic issues,” Ashton said.

She was due to meet six main opposition leaders later but EU diplomats said the prospect of a dialogue between the Muslim Brotherhoodled government and its liberal and leftist opponents had dimmed after recent political violence.

The opposition accuses Morsi of seeking to monopolize power and muzzle independent media and civil society using the public prosecutor, the security forces and a controversial draft law to regulate non-government organizations.

Morsi’s supporters say the opposition is trying to undermine his legitimacy and encourag-

ing violence by refusing dialogue, threatening to boycott forthcoming parliamentary elections and broadcasting hostile propaganda. The United States, which gives Egypt about $1.5 billion in annual aid, directed its sharpest criticism so far at the Islamist-led authorities last week, citing a “disturbing trend of growing restrictions on freedom of expression”.

The European Parliament, in a non-binding resolution, urged the EU in March “not to grant any budgetary support to the Egyptian authorities if no major progress is made regarding respect for human rights and freedoms, democratic governance and the rule of law”.

EU officials have said that if Egypt reaches a deal with the IMF, it can expect an additional $500 million in financial support from the EU and a similar amount from the United States. —Reuters

COLOMBO: A vintage Volkswagen Beetle car and van are displayed during Volkswagen owner’s club “pride of ownership” diamond jubilee rally 2013 in Colombo yesterday. Volkswagen owners hold an annual pageant in Sri Lanka to show off their vintage cars. — AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

BUSINESS

Chairman’s message

O

n behalf of my fellow members of the Board of Directors, it gives me great pleasure to welcome shareholders once again to the Annual General Assembly, in which we review the performance of the Zain Group during 2012.

The twelve months of 2012 were one of the most difficult periods for our operations as the challenging global economic outlook persisted, and industry competition in the markets in which we operate increased. Our financial indicators for the year ended 31 December 2012 reflected those challenges - the evidence of such being the sharp currency translation impact that cost the Group’s bottom line around $109 million. However, the Group’s overall operational performance remained within expectations thanks to our flexible business plans that helped maintain a high level of operational optimization despite the challenges.

In 2012, the IT and telecommunications industry witnessed major changes that led to the widespread convergence of the smartphone, tablet computer and telecommunications. The number of smartphones and tablet computers are forecast to double within the coming couple of years according to industry statistics.

On the face of the aforementioned challenges and drivers, our operations continue to evolve and encompass new areas of growth in the field of IT and telecommunication services, having already undergone a wide series of development projects that aim to introduce improved quality and efficiency levels to the Group’s portfolio of services in its main markets, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

In parallel with the development projects it implemented in its networks in 2012, the Group continued to adhere to its policy of reducing its administrative, operational and finance costs, having implemented innovative plans that have managed to cut considerably the finance expenses in 2012.

Our journey of success and leadership was further demonstrated by our operational results for 2012 with Zain Group generating net income of $902 million, earnings per share of $0.23, and consolidated revenues of $4.58 billion.

While the Group’s consolidated customer base grew by 6 percent to stand at 42.7 million active customers at the end of 2012, up from 40.2 million at the end of 2011.

These results reflect relative stability in the Group’s key financial indicators for the year. As mentioned above, without the effects of the sharp currency translation impact, consolidated revenues would have amounted to $4.88 billion,

while EBITDA would have been $2.15 billion, and net profits $1 billion. Zain Group entered a number of strategic partnerships with global companies during the course of 2012 with the dual aim of reinforcing its operational position on the one hand and maximizing its value proposition to customers on the other. During 2012, Zain Group inaugurated its first LTE network in Saudi Arabia, followed by a commercial launch in Kuwait. This represented a significant milestone in Zain’s strides to maintain its technology leadership.

The administrative and financial support from Zain Group ensured that Zain KSA improved its financial performance and results in 2012, which subsequently led to a reduction in the Saudi operator’s net loss by 9 percent year-on-year in 2012.

In 2012, our operation in Iraq continued to be the market leader with respect to customer numbers and we expect fur ther tangible growth opportunities there, especially on the back of the widespread expansion of our network into the northern regions of the country. Zain Group is also

Group will continue to provide highly sophisticated telecommunications services to meet the aspirations of our customers.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation for the trust placed in all our strategic decisions by Zain’s shareholders. This trust has been a major factor in encouraging the management of the Group to drive the company to its strong position. I would also like to extend my deep thanks to my fellow Board Members and executive management for their outstanding

The launch of our LTE network in Kuwait was another certificate of leadership as Zain Kuwait became the first local operator to offer cuttingedge LTE technology on a nationwide basis. Not only does this step represent a qualitative leap, but it is set to further bolster Zain Group’s competitive capabilities in two of its key markets of operation.

In Saudi Arabia, Zain KSA successfully completed its $1.6 billion rights issue with a full subscription during the summer; a development that formed part of a wider plan to restructure the company’s capital. Zain Group continued to back its Saudi Arabia operation both administratively and financially, having taken the strategic decision to increase its ownership in Zain KSA to 37 percent in the wake of the company’s rights issue.

intensifying its efforts towards listing its Iraq operation on the Iraq Stock Exchange by 2013 as stipulated by the company’s license.

Intent to honor and renew its corporate social responsibilities and duties, the Group has launched a series of initiatives and programs to enhance its partnership with the communities in which it operates. One such initiative was the successful launch of Zain Group’s inaugural Sustainability Report in which it offers an account of the socio-economic and environmental impact of its business operations. This report represented a strong verification of Zain’s serious efforts in becoming a corporate entity that truly considers the wellbeing of the people of the region.

Thanks to our wealth of highly qualified professional employees, we are confident that Zain

efforts during 2012.

In conclusion, on behalf of all my fellow members of the Board of Directors and the executive management, as well as all employees of the Group, I would like to offer our deepest gratitude and appreciation to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah; His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah; His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlSabah; and to the esteemed members of our government for their continued support of Kuwait’s companies and organizations.

May God the Almighty keep our country safe and prosperous.

Asaad Ahmed Al-Banwan Chairman, Board of Directors

Flydubai celebrates 3 successful years of operations to Kuwait Airline carried 1m passengers between Dubai, Kuwait KUWAIT: Flydubai, Dubai’s innovative low-cost airline, celebrates its third anniversary of operations in Kuwait, reaffirming its commitment to the market.

Three years since launching operations to Kuwait, flydubai has flown

flights to Kuwait increased by 62 percent after one year of operations, illustrating the strong demand for travel between the Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Some of the figures highlighting the remarkable growth of the

KUWAIT: The representatives of flydubai, Dubai innovative low cost airline- have met Kuwait’s media over lunch in appreciation and recognition of their role in supporting flydubai’s journey of development and growth in the Kuwaiti market over the past three years, which had a deep impact in re-enforcing its position as one of the most growing low-cost airline.

more than 1 million passengers on the route and has more than tripled its capacity. The carrier launched its double daily services to Kuwait back in 2010 and today it operates eight conveniently timed flights a day.

The total number of operated

Kuwait-Dubai route include: ● Passenger numbers for flydubai’s Kuwait market grew by 31 percent in 2012. ● The overall market size has increased by 35 percent between 2009 and 2012, indicating flydubai’s

role in stimulating demand by encouraging travel. * 84 percent of traffic on this route is to Dubai whilst the remaining passengers are connecting onwards to a number of destinations on flydubai’s network including Sri Lanka, Maldives, India and Georgia.

Commenting on the occasion, flydubai’s CEO, Ghaith Al-Ghaith, said: “Kuwait has always been a key market for flydubai. Our commitment to serving the country to further cements the strong cultural, trade and tourism relations between our two nations. Offering affordable, high frequency and excellent quality

flydubai CEO Ghaith Al-Ghaith service has enabled more passengers to travel more frequently for business and leisure, and we look forward to catering to the increasing demand in the future.” flydubai, the fastest growing startup airline in the world, is now the second-largest carrier operating out of Dubai International Airport and having recently started operations to its 54th destination. With the rapid expansion of flydubai’s network, Kuwaiti passengers now have more opportunity to connect onwards to a host of exciting destinations in 31 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Central and Eastern Europe.

Fleet flydubai’s fleet comprises 28 brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft one of the safest aircraft to take to

the skies. flydubai ordered of 50 aircraft in July 2008, and the remainder will be delivered by 2016.

Passenger Experience flydubai is committed to affordability, but does not compromise on quality. Innovation and choice are two key characteristics that have set the airline apart and over the past three years it has maintained high levels of service standards and operational efficiency while maintaining affordable fares. flydubai has set new standards with its In-Flight Entertainment, becoming the first airline in the world to show movies in high definition. Passengers can choose from more than 900 hours of non-stop entertainment from the best of Hollywood including over 225 movies, 200 TV programmes and 370 music albums, at a small extra fee.

Cargo Services flydubai launched its cargo service in Kuwait in November 2012, providing an affordable and convenient outbound cargo service in addition to the existing inbound service. flydubai Cargo services include a fully automated warehouse storage and retrieval system with real time information and efficient transit times. The airline has also signed a number of interline agreements with carriers including Emirates, Singapore Airlines and British Airways to ship goods beyond flydubai’s passenger network, which now spans more than 50 destinations.

Flight Details flydubai operates an eight daily service to Kuwait. Return fares from Kuwait to Dubai start at 54 KWD. flydubai has a simple model where customers only pay for services they want to receive. Fares are inclusive of all taxes plus one piece of hand luggage weighing up to 7kg and one small laptop bag or handbag. A checked in baggage or a seat with extra legroom can be booked for an extra small fee. Once on board, passengers can choose from a range of optional extras, including in-flight entertainment packages or select from the varied menu of refreshments and Duty Free items.

Amazing offers on auto finance from ABK, Al Babtain KUWAIT: In collaboration with Abdul Mohsen Al Babtain (Renault, Nissan, Infiniti and Citroen), ABK announces the provision of auto financing services to its clients who want a new car but need financing for it.

Stewart Lockie, GM Retail banking, said “Auto Finance is one of the most important types of financing as it is related with an essential product which is an integral part of our lives. ABK strives to provide easy and affordable ways to fulfill its clients’ needs; with this offer clients can enjoy discounts

up to KD250 when financing their car with ABK amongst other benefits”.

Lockie added: “ABK, keen to be unique in the ser vices and products offered, including Auto financing, offers special packages on various vehicle brands with the largest international car agencies”.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to the discount announced, ABK offers more advantages like financing up to KD15,000 without the obligation of transferring the salary to the Bank.

Warba Bank achieves 33% growth in corporate banking Q2 2012 KUWAIT: Warba Bank announced yesterday the achieving of positive results in terms of the financing activities of its Corporate Banking Group. This achievement stems from the strength of the bank’s operations and its diversified sources of income, as the bank continues to service vital market sectors inside and outside Kuwait.

During the past period, the bank focused on financing certain sectors; most notably amongst them are the retail, industry, real estate and petrochemicals sectors. Warba Bank’s corporate financing portfolio increased by 33% during the Second Half of 2012. This was achieved by building as solid professional customer base; as well as easy, fast and efficient processing of transactions.

Additionally, Warba seeks to build a long term relationship with its existing customers, and to attract more reputed and creditworthy customers, providing them innovative Sharia-compliant financial solutions. Commenting on this, Basel Jassim AlObeid, Chief Corporate Banking Officer at Warba Bank, said: “The results of the Second Half of 2012 show healthy growth in the bank’s key activities, as we aim to approach our customers; i.e., owners of large, medium, and small sized businesses, with a view to understand their needs and their operations, and to help them reach their goals and achieve long-term success.”

In the same context Al-Obeid added: “In Warba Bank, we strive our best to meet and understand the requirements and needs of our customers and working to find appropriate innovative financial solutions. As a result, we have achieved good growth rates during

the Second Half of 2012. Warba always seeks to provide the best financing services for the corporate sector which is the main artery of the Kuwaiti economy. The services provided

by Warba aim to fulfill the customers’ needs with a view to develop commercial businesses and generate benefits for all parties.”

In conclusion, Al-Obeid said: “Given the

Basel Jassim Al-Obeid achieved improvement, an increase of banking sector’s assets in GCC states in general and in Kuwait in particular during 2012, we are optimistic about the overall growth prospects of the banking sector in Kuwait during 2013. In light of the good results achieved, Warba is committed to continue providing comprehensive range of banking products and services for corporate and retail customers. Currently, Corporate Banking Group is considering new and specific Sharia-compliant products, which would further serve the needs of our customers.”

Al-Tijari announces winners of Najma Account daily draw KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al-Najma Account Daily draw on April 7, 2013.

The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industr y represented by Abdulaziz Ashkanani.

The winners of the Najma daily draw

are: Salwa Saleh Mohammed Al-Saleh— KD 7000, Soad Neama Hayef Al-Enzi— KD 7000, Shames Al-Moulouk Ahmad Mansour— KD 7000, Mohammad AlTaher AbdulAziz— KD 7000, Khaton Jabar Habib— KD 7000.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in

Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and on the 19th of June

which is the date of the bank’s establishment. With a minimum balance of KD500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD25 a customer can get one chance for winning

instead of KD50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministr y of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

technology

Prevention of data leaks a priority task DUBAI: The leakage of confidential data - whether by accident or malicious design - can have serious conse quences for any company, and in the worst cases might even cause a business to collapse. The results of a survey conduc ted by the IDC marketing agency in December 2012 show that many companies recognize the gravity of the problem - 41 percent of companies are genuinely concerned about possible data leaks and have made prevention a primary objective. According to IDC, encryption - one of the most effective and reliable data protection tools - is becoming more and more popular.

Four reasons to implement encryption technologies Generally encryption technologies fall into two camps - File and Folder Level Encryption (FLE) or Full Disk Encryption (FDE). FLE protects specific files and folders so it’s better suited for encrypting small amounts of sensitive information. FDE, by contrast, encrypts the entire hard drive and is perfect for protecting, for example, corporate laptops in the event of them being lost or stolen. Since FLE and FDE solve different problems, most organizations prefer to use both technologies.

According to the IDC specialists, there are four main reasons to implement encryption technologies: lTo limit access to confidential information

and to protect against unauthorized access; lTo protect sensitive files against malware and other increasingly prevalent cyber-threats; lTo help secure data against attacks that successfully penetrate the corporate network attacks on corporate infrastructure and attempts at data theft are becoming ever more sophisticated; lTo complement a company’s risk management process; data protection plays an increasingly important role as a key element here.

Currently, encryption-related expenditure is not apriority item in most IT department budgets. However, IDC analysts are sure encryption will soon become one of the most in-demand technologies.

According to IDC, themarketforworkstatio-

nencryptionwillgrowbymorethan50 percent in the next few years- from $556 million in 2012 to $866 million in 2016. In 2013, the cost of data protection will exceed $2 billion for the first time while in 2016 it will reach more than $3 billion.

Kaspersky Lab encryption technologies To prevent unauthorized access to confidential information, our new corporate platform Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business offers both FDE and FLE encryption technologies. The solution incorporates several other valuable features, including centralized management functions for encryption technologies via Kaspersky Security Center, the ability to set up general rules to encrypt data on exter-

nal media, and the automatic encryption of files created or modified by any program specified by the company’s IT staff.

It is important to reduce the complexity in the IT environment and Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business allows companies to eliminate several different tools, vendors and applications by consolidating their needs into a single platform. To help reduce complexity, the encryption function is combined with a wide range of other Kaspersky Lab technologies in this new platform. It protects against malware, spam, targeted threats and other cyber threats, creating a truly safe environment to handle confidential information on all nodes of the company’s infrastructure.

Berlin airport project delays shame Germans Officials seek to set new opening date

What’s next for the Cloud?

Dan Smith, Head of Integrated Marketing for the Middle East and Africa region of Xerox’s Developing Markets Operations.

The Society for Information Management (SIM) recently released findings from its annual CIO survey that indicate CIOs around the world plan to commit more of their budgets on IT outsourcing in 2013 to boost productivity and reduce costs. Not surprisingly, cloud computing was cited as a top application in 2012 and I expect that to be the case next year as well.

When we speak with CIOs and IT managers many are still surprised that Xerox has been a player in the business cloud for years. But as the world’s leading enterprise for business process and document management, we’ve always contended that the cloud is an integral piece of simplifying the way work gets done offering on-demand technology that’s scalable, affordable and can be accessed anywhere, anytime.

So let’s look at key cloud trends and opportunities in 2013: lCloud jobs are booming, but how do companies attract the right talent to capitalize on the opportunities? Because the cloud is still an emerging force, it’s not always necessary that a candidate have

cloud experience. But it is critical that employees are able to deliver client solutions in weeks, not months, and are adept at turning a service into a sellable product. At Xerox our focus is on growing our bench of cloud service experts organically rather than through recruitment. lThe next frontier for cloud services is deeper penetration into specific industries, specifically hyper-competitive markets such as retail and hospitality. We’ve seen the benefits of cloud solutions in large enterprises and increasingly in SMB environments. But there’s also great opportunity for industry-specific solutions such as help desk or telecom expense management services for retail, where profit margins can be razor thin. lData analytics driven by cloud services. As businesses increasingly operate in more locations nationally and globally, cloud services allow them to make sense of all the customer and operational information at their disposal. Xerox is adept at leveraging big data, and bringing that data analytics power to clients in a cloud services-based package is a major growth opportunity for the industry.

What other cloud developments do you see in 2013?

As Bitcoin virtual currency soars, bubble fears do too PARIS: Some call it the most famous pizza purchase in history: In May 2010, a programmer called Laszlo asked an online forum if anyone would buy him a couple of pies in exchange for 10,000 Bitcoins, an experimental online currency launched in 2009.

“No weird fish topping or anything like that,” he wrote. With each Bitcoin fetching less than a cent at the time, the order was worth about $41. Today, it would be valued at about $1.4 million (1.08 million euros). As of Friday, a single Bitcoin traded at around $135, with the currency nearing $147 earlier in the week-up from about $20 at the start of February. It’s a stratospheric jump some claim has been fuelled by Cypriots and Russians seeking to invest their euros elsewhere during Cyprus’s banking crisis, stoking fears that a new online bubble might soon burst.

“It’s completely irrational,” said Yannick Naud, a portfolio manager at the Londonbased Glendevon King Asset Management firm, who has seen an increase in client queries about Bitcoins. “As an investor you can’t put any underlying value on the Bitcoin itself.”

Bitcoins were launched in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis by an anonymous programmer who wanted to create a currency independent of any central bank or financial institution. A form of “emoney”, it is made of strings of dazzlingly complex code created by raw computing power-a process called “mining” that can in theory be carried out by anyone with a computer.

The software is written in such a way that it becomes increasingly difficult to generate new Bitcoins, with the number in circulation designed to eventually top out at 21 million.

Once mined, Bitcoins are stored on a user’s hard drive in a virtual wallet, and can be sent directly to another person. Such peer-to-peer sharing bypasses the banks so is largely anonymous. But this brings its own risks-in June 2011, hackers targeted virtual wallets and wiped some people’s accounts clean.

At first a coder’s curio, Bitcoins quickly found a home in the “deep web”, the shadier part of the Internet that is largely anony-

mous and requires some good technical understanding to access. It was used to fuel illicit drug buys and pay for other illegal services on specialist sites.

But computer aficionados and techsavvy libertarians embraced the currency too, and in recent months a flurry of legit businesses have started accepting Bitcoins.

A cottage industry of stores buying and reselling goods online for Bitcoins has emerged, and some high-profile transactions have helped push the currency into mainstream consciousness. One Canadian man reportedly hoped to sell his house for Bitcoins, and a US man claimed to have traded his 2007 Porsche for 300 Bitcoins.

Robert Walker, a digital designer from London, said he bought about 200 Bitcoins over a six-month period starting at the end of 2011. He spends much of his time online and was excited by the idea of the Internet minting its own currency, and an investment not beholden to any central authority.

His purchase set him back about $900, but today would net some $27,000. But despite this week’s new price highs, he’s going to keep his virtual stash-for now at least.

“It’s not a life changing amount of money, but it could be if I sat on it for five years,” Walker said.

But for Naud, the asset manager, Bitcoin is reaching unsustainable levels. On paper at least, the value of Bitcoins in circulation now tops $1 billion, and a continued increase in price will require a lot of new investors.

“The bubble will burst when there will be less people willing to enter (the Bitcoin market) than people willing to leave it,” he said. “It’s hard to pinpoint, but it probably won’t last another month at this price.”

Experts said Bitcoins are especially vulnerable to rapid deflation. Governments trying to regulate them, for example, could spook investors and cause them to lose confidence. Already in the US, regulators have taken note of the currency and moved to make firms report transactions worth $10,000 or more, according to the Wall Street Journal.—AFP

BERLIN: Rabbits scamper over quiet runways. Only the call of a crow disturbs the silence around a gleaming, empty terminal that should be humming with the din of thousands of passengers.

Willy Brandt International Airport, named for Germany’s famed Cold War leader, was supposed to have been up and running in late 2011, a sign of Berlin’s transformation from Cold War confrontation line to world class capital of Europe’s economic powerhouse. Instead it has become a symbol of how, even for this technological titan, things can go horribly wrong.

After four publicly announced delays, officials acknowledged the airport won’t be ready by the latest target: October 2013. To spare themselves further embarrassment, officials have refused to set a new opening date. The saga of Berlin’s new airport has turned into a national joke and a source of humiliation for a people renowned for being on time. Yet it is just the highest profile in a string of big-ticket projects - including a concert hall in Hamburg, railway tunnels in Munich and Leipzig, a subway line in Cologne and a Stuttgart underground train station - that have been plagued by huge cost overruns and delays.

The airport fiasco presents a staggering picture of incompetence. German media have tracked down a list of tens of thousands of technical problems. Among them: Officials can’t even figure out how to turn the lights off. Thousands of light bulbs illuminate the gigantic main terminal and unused parking lots around the clock, a massive energy and cost drain that appears to be the result of a computer system that’s so sophisticated it’s almost impossible to operate.

Every day, an empty commuter train rolls to the unfinished airport over an eight-kilometer-long (five-mile) stretch to keep the newly-laid tracks from getting rusty, another example of gross inefficiency. Meanwhile, hundreds of freshly planted trees had to be chopped down because a company delivered the wrong type of linden trees; several escalators need to be rebuilt because they were too short; and dozen of tiles were already broken before a single airport passenger ever stepped on them.

The airport itself points to problems with the fire safety system as the immediate cause of the delays: The fire safety system incorporates some 75,000 sprinklers, but computer programming glitches mean it’s not clear whether all of these sprinklers would spray enough water during a fire.

And the system’s underground vent system, designed to suck away smoke, isn’t working. Here, again, technology’s getting in the way: It’s so advanced that technicians can’t figure out what’s wrong with it.

Critics say that the difficulties with handling today’s complex technology have been compounded by hasty, negligent work due to the intense time pressures. Underlying these problems appears to be a culture of political dishonesty.

“Many politicians want prestigious large-scale projects to be inseparably connected with their names,” said Sebastian Panknin, a financial expert with the Taxpayer’s Association Germany. “To get these expensive projects started, they artificially calculate down the real costs to get permission from parliament or other committees in charge.”

In addition to that, politicians at the city, state and federal levels then often come with extra demands once construction is underway, which leads to expensive modifications. In the case of the Berlin airport, said Pankin, there were about 300 ad hoc change requests by politicians which created an explosion of costs and several delays - among them a last-minute wish to expand the terminal to include a shopping mall.

“The airport is a classic example of the incompetence of our politicians,” said Sven Fandrich, a 28year-old Berliner who works for an insurance company. “We’ve seen this happen with many big infrastructure projects in Germany. Nobody feels responsible. The politicians are more concerned about winning the next elections than devoting

their service to the people.”

Hamburg’s concert hall was to have opened by 2010. Instead it’s nowhere near complete and costs have more than doubled to 575 million euros. It’s now due to open in 2016.

Construction on Cologne’s North-South subway line began in 2004. After cost overruns and a collapse that killed two people in 2009, officials say

nesses like coffee shops, restaurants, retail stores or bus operators - who had already hired staff and invested in new stores at the airport - are facing bankruptcy. Twitter users asked the mayor to “please open this gate,” playing off President Ronald Reagan’s famous 1987 appeal to Moscow to “tear down” the Berlin Wall.

And by the time the airport finally opens, it may

BERLIN: Two men walk to the main terminal of the new Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER) named Willy-Brandt-Flughafen in Schoenefeld near Berlin. (Below) The Berlin Brandenburg International Airport (BER) Willy-BrandtFlughafen is seen partially illuminated in Schoenefeld near Berlin. —AP

the entire line may not be open until 2019. Costs have soared from 780 million to 1.08 billion euros.

In Leipzig, the city tunnel for commuter trains was expected to open in 2009. Construction is still not finished, and costs have jumped from 572 million to 960 million euros.

Of all the bungled projects, the Berlin airport is the biggest embarrassment.

The initial plan foresaw building a stately airport that would be financed by private investors and replace the city’s two Cold War airports - Tegel in former West Berlin and Schoenefeld in what was the communist east. After a series of disputes with private investors, the city, state and federal governments eventually took over the airport project. In 2006, costs were estimated at 2 billion euros, but after four delays, the figure spiked to 4.4 billion euros.

Companies like Air Berlin, Germany’s second biggest carrier, have been severely affected by the delays and are suing for lost revenues. Small busi-

face a new headache. Some aviation experts are warning that by its inauguration date, the airport will already be too small to handle the rising number of passengers. The nearly 3.9 million square foot (360,000 square meter) airport complex was designed to handle 27 million passengers. But the existing two city airports handled 25 million passengers last year - and the city keeps attracting more visitors every year.

“The airport is too expensive, too small and too much behind time,” said aviation expert Dieter Faulenbach da Costa, who recently caused a stir when he proposed that the airport ought to be torn down. In an effort to salvage the mess, Hartmut Mehdorn, the hardnosed former boss of the German railway system with a reputation for turning around failing corporations, was named chief executive of the airport in early March.

“The whole world says: it’s not possible at all,” Mehdorn said when he took over. “I say: It should be possible. “I just don’t know how yet.” —AP

TV startup shakes up US broadcasters with court win WASHINGTON: A startup whose business model is based on tiny antennas receiving over-the-air television for online viewing by subscribers has put the US broadcast industry on the defensive.

Aereo made headlines on April 1 with a preliminary court victory over the major broadcasters, which had sought to shut down the service for copyright infringement.

The case, which is still pending, is seen by some as a potentially groundbreaking test: for consumers, whether they can “shift” TV viewing to the Web through a third party; and for broadcasters, whether they can maintain control of their content. Aereo, which is backed by media mogul Barry Diller, launched in early 2012 in the New York area

and was immediately sued by the major broadcast networks ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox-for copyright infringement.

The company claims its actions are legal, because it is not rebroadcasting, but giving subscribers a personal antenna in its New York warehouse that enables them to watch live TV or record it for later viewing.

A US appeals court panel agreed with Aereo, in a preliminary decision on a request for an injunction to shut down the service. A full hearing in the case is still pending. The court ruled 2-1 that Aereo was not retransmitting “public performances,” which would be banned under copyright law, but merely allowing customers to rent antennas to receive and record free broadcasts.

“Aereo’s system creates a unique copy of that program on a portion of a hard drive assigned only to that Aereo user,” the appeals court said, upholding a lower court decision.

Chet Kanojia, Aereo’s founder and chief executive, said the ruling “sends a powerful message that consumer access to free-to-air broadcast television is still meaningful in this country and that the promise and commitment made by the broadcasters to act in the public interest in exchange for the public’s spectrum remains an important part of our American fabric.”

Some called the ruling a victory for consumers, saying it will allow them to get out from constraints from cable companies, which call the shots for most US TV viewers. Mitch

Stoltz of the Electronic Frontier Foundation called the court decision “a win for Aereo, its customers and for future innovators with the audacity to improve the T V-watching experience.”

Stoltz said the ruling “gives companies like Aereo an incentive to put T V technology firmly under the viewer’s control.” Aereo “looks like a good idea” for a “broken industry,” said independent analyst and consultant Jeff Kagan. “This is an industry where prices keep going up every year,” he added. “The cable companies keep giving people more channels but the average customer watches only five or 10 channels. We may be coming into a time when customers are going to have options.” —AFP

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

To crack human brain’s code, a search for visionaries Map of brain might look more like a traffic video

CHINA: This picture shows a Chinese health worker placing a pigeon-trap at a park in Shanghai, to gather the birds for culling.—AFP

China boosts bird flu response as cases rise SHANGHAI: China confirmed two more cases of bird flu in Shanghai yesterday, as authorities sought to curb a deadly outbreak by banning live poultry sales and disinfecting schools. The announcement brought the number of recorded cases of the H7N9 strain of avian influenza in China’s developed eastern region to 20 since announcing a week ago that the virus had been found in humans for the first time. Six people have died, including four in the commercial city of Shanghai which has recorded 10 cases of the disease. Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control said yesterday it was investigating two possible cases involving people who travelled to the affected area in mainland China.

Shanghai’s local government said the latest confirmed cases in the city were two elderly men, now receiving medical treatment.

They came as China stepped up efforts yesterday to halt the deadly outbreak with state media saying “intense” farming methods had heightened the risk of deadly diseases crossing from animals to humans. The education ministry ordered schools nationwide to “guarantee” the health of students against infectious disease, including H7N9, by ensuring the safety of food and monitoring for symptoms of illness.

In Shanghai workers sprayed disinfectant in classrooms, local television showed, while markets were closed to halt the spread of the disease. Shanghai had already banned live poultry trading while nearby Nanjing city has followed suit and Hangzhou culled poultry after discovering infected quail.

Dead sparrows found in Nanjing, which sparked alarm after photos were posted online, had tested negative for H7N9, state media said, providing some relief.

In an editorial yesterday the state backed Global Times newspaper said farming methods were helping to spread the disease. “In China’s southern and eastern coastal areas, agriculture, especially animal husbandry, has become more intense and

populations more dense,” said the Englishlanguage edition of the paper. “There is greater chance of contact between humans and animals and subsequent diseases.” It called for higher standards in the agricultural industry and more balanced development, instead of a narrow focus on rapid economic growth. Chinese authorities, who have confirmed H7N9 in birds, maintain there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. “Currently, there is still no evidence showing the H7N9 bird flu virus is transmitted between people,” Shanghai health official Wu Fan told an online chat yesterday The World Health Organization has played down fears over the H7N9 strain, agreeing there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission, but saying it was crucial to find out how the virus infects humans. Like the more common H5N1 variant which typically spreads from birds to humans through direct contact, experts fear such viruses could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to trigger a pandemic. China has been hit by a series of food scandals in recent years, some caused by producers deliberately using sub-standard or illegal ingredients, despite government vows to crack down on malpractice.

Last month more than 16,000 dead pigs were found floating in a Shanghai river after being discarded by farmers upstream, casting a spotlight on China’s poorly regulated agricultural industry. Some of China’s 500 million Internet users expressed worry over H7N9, despite government assurances. “Ten years ago there was SARS, ten years later there is bird flu... Ten years later the experts are still talking nonsense,” said a microblog posting under the name Heshang Kaifang Nanigu.

China has sought to improve transparency surrounding H7N9, state media says, after being accused of covering up the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed about 800 people globally.—AFP

Flex Resorts awarded the ISO quality certification

F

lex Resorts and Real Estate was awarded the ISO 9001:2008 quality certificate in appreciation of its strategy to maintain its status on top of health clubs, food companies and cosmetic services, while complying with the highest of standards.

The awarding ceremony was held at Flex Resorts in the presence of its officials led by Assistant Director General Basma Al-Naqi.

Informatx Consultants Company was repre-

sented by quality certificates Manager Fadi Khader. The certificate shows Flex Resorts commitment to the highest quality standards in the world, as ISO quality certificate considered the most important.

Al-Naqi said we, at Flex, are proud of being committed to International quality standards and customer service. She said we are very happy because we proved our outstanding ability to keep the highest of quality standards.

WASHINGTON: To crack the code of the human brain, Cori Bargmann figures it’s best to keep an open mind. As one of two leaders of a scientific “dream team” in the initial phase of President Barack Obama’s ambitious $100 million project to map the brain, Bargmann said the first step is to find the right combination of people to set research priorities. “You might start with people who are very senior and are household words in their fields, and then you may realize that what (you) actually need is the young Turk who’s a visionary wild man,” Bargmann said.

Bargmann, a neurobiologist at The Rockefeller University in New York, and William Newsome, a neurobiologist at Stanford Medical School in California, are the co-chairs of a committee announced by the White House on Tuesday for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative. That long title has been dubbed BRAIN for short.

Both Newsome and Bargmann are at the top of the neurobiology pyramid, professors at premiere institutions, winners of dozens of scientific honors and awards, authors of research papers in prestigious journals. As Newsome noted wryly, “I don’t need this aggravation, to some extent, but I think this is really important.”

Bargmann, who recalls watching the first Apollo moon landing in 1969 as an 8-year-old, this year won a $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for her work on the genetics of neural circuits and behavior and synaptic guidepost molecules. This project was something no scientist, so far, has turned down. “If there’s going to be a program to try to do something significant and the taxpayer ’s going to be involved in it, you make the time to try to help,” she said. “As far as I know, everyone who was asked to help said yes.”

The BRAIN effort isn’t quite like any other, Bargmann said. Even the Human Genome Project had a more focused goal at the start: to determine the precise sequence of chemical “letters” that constitute the full complement of human DNA. In contrast, before BRAIN tries to solve a single mystery of the human mind, it will build the scientific infrastructure to be able to ask the right questions. Like the U.S. space program in the 1960s, she said, BRAIN could get the public excited about science in a way that other research has not. “I believe that brain science will be to the 21st century what quantum physics and DNA molecular biology were to the 20th century,” Newsome said.

The ultimate goal is to decode brain activity to help researchers understand complex ailments ranging from traumatic brain injury to schizophrenia to Alzheimer’s disease, which cost Americans $500 billion annually, according to Francis Collins, the head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, who picked Newsome and Bargmann for the job. The program would initially be funded with $100 million called for in the president’s fiscal 2014 budget, set for release on Wednesday, which is subject to approval by Congress. That sum would be divided among

the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Science Foundation, with partners from the private sector. Bargmann found it refreshing that Obama said the project would provide tools for understanding Alzheimer’s and psychiatric disease, but he did not promise cures. “It isn’t promising too much,” she said.

Switching brain cells on and off She was also encouraged by support from two prominent Republicans: House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, and Newt Gingrich, former presidential candidate and former House speaker, who credited Obama for taking “a very important step toward the most dramatic breakthroughs in human health.” The Democratic president does not often get such enthusiasm from his Republican opponents. Fast-developing technology makes this “a unique moment in time” to make this inquiry, Newsome said. “I think the brain is the most mysterious and complex entity in the universe,” he said by telephone. “And I think that new technologies that have developed within the last five years give us a shot at cracking open the problem of the brain in ways that previous generations of scientists never dreamed.” One of these technologies, Newsome said, is optogenetics, which uses genetic engineering to make certain nerve cells in the brain sensitive to different kinds of light, exciting or

inhibiting these cells depending on the light’s wavelength.

That means scientists can artificially switch the brain’s circuits on or off during behavior to see how they contribute to essential functions like vision, learning and decision-making, Newsome said. The other technological leap of the last decade has been the ability to record the electrical activity of hundreds or even thousands of neurons, a big improvement over the previous requirement of studying one neuron at a time. Since the human brain is composed of some 100 billion neurons - nerve cells that pulse with electrochemical signals - the one-at-a-time approach slowed research to a crawl. It’s not just the number of neurons, but seeing how these billions of neurons interact with each other that could make a map of the brain a reality. That map is likely to be less like an atlas on paper and more like an online traffic video, Bargmann said, “because the brain is never the same in any two people, and it’s not the same in one person at two different times.” Both Bargmann and Newsome are working in their own laboratories on pieces of this puzzle. Newsome focuses on the brain’s way of mediating visual perception and visually guided behavior (see his lab’s site at http://monkeybiz.stanford.edu ). Bargmann’s research aims to tackle a big subject - how environment and genes interact to shape human behavior - by looking at the relatively simple neurological system of a worm.—Reuters

NEW YORK: (From left) Malina Fisher, Elder Stacey Latimer, Reverend Al Sharpton, AHF’s Michael Weinstein, and Michael Camacho march during the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s “Keep The Promise On AIDS” March and Rally on Saturday. The “Keep the Promise” campaign brings together advocates along with entertainers and spiritual and political leaders to remind elected officials that the fight against HIV/AIDS is not yet won.—AP

Sweeping anti-abortion bill goes to Kansas gov TOPEKA: Kansas legislators gave final passage to a sweeping antiabortion measure Friday night, sending Gov Sam Brownback a bill that declares life begins “at fertilization” while blocking tax breaks for abortion providers and banning abortions performed solely because of the baby’s sex. The House voted 90-30 for a compromise version of the bill reconciling differences between the two chambers, only hours after the Senate approved it, 28-10. The Republican governor is a strong abortion opponent, and supporters of the measure expect him to sign it into law so that the new restrictions take effect July 1.

In addition to the bans on tax breaks and sex-selection abortions, the bill prohibits abortion providers from being involved in public school sex education classes and spells out in more detail what information doctors must provide to patients seeking abortions.

The measure’s language that life begins “at fertilization” had some abortion-rights supporters worrying that it could be used to legally harass providers. Abortion opponents call it a statement of principle and not an outright ban on terminating pregnancies. “The human is a magnificent piece of work at all stages of development, wondrous in every regard, from the microscopic until full development,” said Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, a Leavenworth

Republican who supported the bill.

Abortion opponents argue the full measure lessens the state’s entanglement with terminating pregnancies, but abortion-rights advocates say it threatens access to abortion services. The declaration that life begins at fertilization is embodied in “personhood” measures in other states. Such measures are aimed at revising their constitutions to ban all abortions, and none have been enacted, though North Dakota voters will have one on the ballot in 2014.

But Kansas lawmakers aren’t trying to change the state constitution, and the measure notes that any rights suggested by the language are limited by decisions of the US Supreme Court. It declared in its historic Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that women have a right to obtain abortions in some circumstances, and has upheld that decision while allowing increasing restrictions by states. Thirteen states, including Missouri, have such language in their laws, according to the National Right to Life Committee. Sen David Haley, a Kansas Democrat who opposed the bill, zeroed in on the statement, saying that supporters of the bill were pursuing a “Talibanesque” course of letting religious views dictate policy limiting women’s ability to make decisions about health care and whether they’ll have children. And in the

House, Rep. John Wilson, a Lawrence Democrat, complained that the bill was “about politics, not medicine.”

“It’s the very definition of government intrusion in a woman’s personal medical decisions,” he said.

Brownback has signed multiple anti-abortion measures into law, and the number of pregnancies terminated in the state has declined 11 percent since he took office in January 2011. The governor said he still has to review this year’s bill thoroughly but added, “I am pro-life.”

This year’s legislation is less restrictive than a new North Dakota law that bans abortions as early as the sixth week of pregnancy and a new Arkansas law prohibiting most abortions after the 12th week. But many abortion opponents still see it as a significant step.

“There is a clear statement from Kansas with respect to the judgment on the inherent value of human life,” said Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee Chairwoman Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Shawnee Republican and leading advocate for the measure. The bill passed despite any solid data on how many sex-selection abortions are performed in Kansas. A 2008 study by two Columbia University economists suggested the practice of aborting female fetuses - widespread in some nations where parents traditionally prefer sons - is done in the US on a limited basis.

But legislators on both sides of the issue said the practice should be banned, however frequent it is. The bill also would require physicians to give women information that addresses breast cancer as a potential risk of abortion. Advocates on both sides acknowledge there’s medical evidence that carrying a fetus to term can lower a woman’s risk for breast cancer, but doctors convened by the National Cancer Institute a decade ago concluded that abortion does not raise the risk for developing the disease.

The provisions dealing with tax breaks are designed to prevent the state from subsidizing abortions, even indirectly. For example, health care providers don’t have the pay the state sales tax on items they purchase, but the bill would deny that break to abortion providers.

Also, a woman could not include abortion costs if she deducts medical expenses on her income taxes.

“Every taxpayer will be able to know with certainty that their money is not being used for abortion,” Pilcher-Cook said. But Jordan Goldberg, state advocacy counsel for the New York City-based Center for Reproductive Rights, called the tax provisions “appalling and discriminatory.” “It’s probably, if not definitely unconstitutional, and it’s incredibly mean-spirited,” she said.

The anti-abortion legislation is HB 2253.—AP

Ingersoll Rand launches fittings for disability access bathroom DUBAI: Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies in the Middle East launched cavere, a new product line by Normbau. Cavere (Latin for “to be careful”) is an innovative range of fittings for the disability access bathroom, developed by the C.F. M?ller designers. This new functional product provides security for homes and healthcare facilities.

Different from traditional bathroom fixtures, these new fittings are designed with a triangular gripping profile which provides more strength, comfort and ergonomics than previous models. The semi-circular edges to the side panels enable a very secure grip and a high level of safety. The design is implemented consistently throughout the range, so the shapes of the individual elements are in harmony and reinforce the unique qualities of the design.

Ingersoll Rand has been operating successfully in the Middle East and Africa region through its exten-

sive network of independent distributors, creating and sustaining safe, comfortable and efficient environments. Ingersoll Rand’s local distributors for Normbau, such as Gibca Furniture Industry Co Ltd (GFI), offer a full design, installation and commissioning service backed by a network of installation and service engineers, all trained to the highest standards.

GFI was established in the 1979, and has since established its presence with over 10,000 installations of Normbau products in the Middle East and Africa region. Commenting on the launch of cavere, Umesh, Assistant General Manager at GFI said, “We can feel the safety and comfort qualities of cavere can in the fine balance between the contours and the grip cross section.” He added, “The whole cavere range is manufactured from aluminum. It is both light and strong, and being recyclable it is also environmentally sustainable.”

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Exotic Game Meat promotion at Terrace Grill Steakhouse

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

W

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 Kalanjali presents instrumental fusion nstrumental Fusion by Indian Symphony - Dr Mani Bharathi (violin) and troupe - of Keyboard player; Tabla and Pads, will perform for the first time for music lovers in Kuwait. They will perform ever green melodies from Tamil and Hindi films and devotional songs. Venue: Indian Community School (Senior Branch) Salmiya. Time: 6.30 pm onwards. Date: April 27, 2013 (Saturday).

I

CRYcket 2013 tournament riends of CRY Club (FOCC) announces 16th CRY (Child Rights & You) cricket tournament for children and will be held at the GC grounds at Jaleeb Al-Shuyoukh on Friday, 12th Apr 2013 from 6:30 a.m to 4:30 pm. The one day “CRYcket” tournament is a very popular annual family event, participated by children under 14. 12 teams each are set to participate in the Under-12 and Under-14 divisions initially in four groups in round robin fashion leading to 4 winners who will clash in the semifinals.

F

Feast this month at JW Marriott Hotel

T

he Terrace Grill steakhouse at the JW Marriott Hotel Kuwait City is further reinforcing its commitment to providing the best meat varieties in Kuwait with the new “exotic game meat” promotion available to all its guests during the month of April.

Guests can now enjoy culinary delights like vension, smoked duck, ostrich, turkey and quails cooked to perfection.

The elaborate menu specially prepared for this promotion, features dishes such as char grilled ostrich fillet with leek flan and ratatouille stuffed cheesy portobello mushroom, stuffed whole quail on saffron and asparagus risotto with tomato marmalade, and venison fillet cooked to perfection. Guests can complement their meal with special appetizers like smoked duck magret or rice paper wrapped turkey confit. Buffalo Goulash soup is also part of the special menu, which will be served with herb croutons and lemon. A selection of decanted desserts is also available in order to complete the guests’ memorable dining experience in the restaurant’s relaxing and signature ambience. The steakhouse is located on the lobby level and is open for lunch from 12:30 pm to 3 pm and for dinner from 7 pm to 11 pm. A live popular music band, existing for over 30 years, can be enjoyed from 8 pm onwards on all evenings except Fridays.

Basketball Academy he new Premier Basketball Academy offers coaching and games every Friday and Saturday from 10 am onwards for 6 to 18 year olds, boys and girls. Located in Bayan Block 7, Masjed Al-Aqsa Street by Abdullah Al-Rujaib High School. Free Basketball and Tee Shirts for all participants, with certificates and special awards on completion of each 6 week course. Qualified and experienced British and American Coaches, Everyone Welcome.

T

Aye Mere Humsafar n event with renowned artist from Indian Cinema. ‘Aye Mere Humsafar’ on Friday 12th April @ American International School (AIS). A concept of real voice from Bollywood. High energy orchestra with Melody Queen Alka Yagnik charming playback singer Vinod Rathod (accompanied by female playback singer & standup comedian Sangeeta Kopalkar and young standup comedian Ashok Mishra.

A

‘Orphan’s Day’ held T

he Egyptian community in Kuwait held the “Orphan’s Day” at the Yarmouk Sports Club in Mishref, Friday. The voluntary committee to Liaise with the Egyptian Community in Kuwait, was keen to have a different type of celebration and care of Egyptian orphan children in Kuwait. The day was attended by hundreds of Egyptians, businessmen and volunteers along with sponsor companies. Gifts and prizes were distributed to the present with special attentions to orphans.

Kuwait Times participated with the “Kuwait Green and Beautiful” drawing contest, and was appreciated by participants. President of Egyptians in Kuwait General Association Jamal Abu Al-Khair welcomed guests, and thanked Kuwait for hosting Egyptians, which is their second home. He called upon businessmen, NGOs and Egyptians to lend more support to the committee’s activities, while appreciating the efforts to help community members in Kuwait in all fields.

IMAX

Monday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Flight of Butterflies 3D 10:30am, 8:30pm Tornado Alley 3D 11:30am, 5:30pm, 7:30pm To The Arctic 3D 12:30pm, 9:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 6:30pm

—Photos by Sherif Ismail

Tuesday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Tornado Alley 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 8:30pm Flight of Butterflies 3D 11:30am, 9:30pm To The Arctic 3D 12:30pm, 7:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 5:30pm Wednesday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups To The Arctic 3D 10:30am Tornado Alley 3D 11:30am, 6:30pm, 9:30pm Flight of Butterflies 3D 12:30pm, 7:30pm Journey to Mecca 5:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 8:30pm Thursday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Flight of Butterflies 3D 10:30am, 5:30pm, 8:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 11:30am Tornado Alley 3D 12:30pm, 7:30pm, 9:30pm To The Arctic 3D 6:30pm Friday: Fires of Kuwait Tornado Alley 3D To The Arctic 3D Flight of Butterflies 3D Born to be Wild 3D

2:30pm 3:30pm, 5:30pm, 8:30pm 4:30pm, 7:30pm 6:30pm 9:30pm

Saturday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Flight of Butterflies 3D 10:30am, 1:30pm, 8:30pm Tornado Alley 3D 11:30am, 2:30pm, 5:30pm, 7:30pm, 9:30pm To The Arctic 3D 12:30pm, 6:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 3:30pm Journey to Mecca 4:30pm

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

MMF Kuwait holds family picnic

M

alayali Media Forum (MMF), Kuwait held a family picnic in Kabd desert area with their families on Friday.

Despite hostile weather conditions, members with their families overwhelmingly participated in the fun-filled family get-together.

General Convener Anil P Alex welcomed the members while Cultural Convener Gafoor Moodadi coordinated the programs. Games and contests were held for men, women and children and spot prizes were given. Dance and songs presented by children and adults made the picnic enjoyable. Arifa Fattah and Reshmy Krishnakumar anchored the cultural programs.

Director of Khaled Soud Al-Zaid Secondary School, of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Educational area, Essam Bader Ahmed Hussein recently got a new granddaughter; a nice baby girl the family named Retaj.

Hussein recieved sincere congratulations from colleagues and the head of the school’s English department, Ahmed Abdullah.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

International Women’s Group holds monthly meeting

Embassy Information

Dr Sheikha Anwar Faisal Al-Sabah, Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait-based Dale Carnegie Training is making a presentation ‘The Man Behind the Book’ for IWG members yesterday. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

By Velina Nacheva

Y

esterday was an eventful morning for the members of the International Women’s Group - a multi-national group of women from more than 50 countries - who attended the organization’s monthly meeting at Boubyan Hall of the Radisson Blu Hotel.

Wife of the Armenian ambassador to Kuwait Anna Nalbandyan, who is also the President of the International Women’s Group (IWG) opened the get-together introducing the guest speaker for the day: Dr Sheikha Anwar Faisal Al-Sabah, Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait-based Dale Carnegie Training. Sheikha Anwar’s presentation “The Man Behind the Book” dwelled on the lifetime achievements and books by Dale Carnegie - an American writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses on self-improvement, corporate training and interpersonal skills. In her discussion, Sheikha Anwar briefed the attendees about Carnegie who is the author of the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” which since its publication in 1936 has maintained its popularity.

In her discussion Sheikha Anwar introduced Carnegie as the man who built a global institution and who trained more than 3 million people. She explained that the principle of success for Carnegie is summed in 30 points. Some of the 30 principles of success, are: “Don’t criticize, condemn or complain;” “Smile;” “Be a good listener”; “Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.”

Sheikha Anwar further briefed the audience on Dale Carnegie and Associates as well as on the operations of its franchise in Kuwait- Dale Carnegie Training. Founded in 1912 (100 years), Dale Carnegie and Associates has been in the business of improving performance

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.

IWG members are pictured at the event.

for companies and individuals for 100 years. Headquartered in New York, Dale Carnegie and associates has offices in over 86 countries and deliver in over 30 languages. Dale Carnegie Training offers comprehensive solutions through a competency based development system and a consultative process. This brings specific business results to a company or a department and includes: Team Member, engagement, leadership development, sales effectiveness, customer service, presentation effectiveness and process improvement. According to Sheikha Anwar, Dale Carnegie Training in Kuwait trains individuals and corporations.

IWG member Narjis Al-Shatti who holds the PR portfolio in the IWG explained that the IWG is an all-women multi-national group of women.

The members are diplomat’s wives, business women from Kuwait, local entrepreneurs and foreign women. The IWG Kuwait chapter is a branch of the Denmark-based International Women’s Association, which has branches worldwide, all of which organize similar programs and activities. Some of the activities in Kuwait include visits to traditional venues, museums and places of interest.

The members of the organization are also entertained by various cultural activities and cross-cultural programs that aim to introduce the different cultures of the organization’s members. The network of women in Kuwait has members from all continents and being part of it is “an enriching experience” that provides a glimpse of other cultures.

The IWG has a regularly scheduled monthly meeting on the first Sunday of every month. Apart from these meetings they also organize trips to museums and various touristic places around Kuwait.

For instance, on April 21, IWG members will be given a crash course on spices for cooking.

nnnnnnn

(From left) IWG members Maria Baker, wife of British ambassador to Kuwait, Nancy and Eva Adamhar, wife of Indonesian ambassador to Kuwait at the event.

nnnnnnn

(From left) Laila Al-Sager, Narjis Al-Shatti, Sheikha Anwar Al-Sabah, Christine Kim, wife of the ambassador of South Korea to Kuwait and Eva Adamhar, wife of the Indonesian Ambassador to Kuwait pictured at the event.

(From left) IWG board members Clove Daniel, Suzan Read and Farah Attai are seen at the event yesterday morning.

KLM graduates 60 new leaders for Kuwait

K

Ayoub Al-Kandari took part in a classic sports car show carried out recently by the Q8 Hotrod Club Group at the Gulf Road featuring 50 vehicles.

uwait Leadership Mastery (KLM), funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the US State Department, graduated 60 youth who completed a five-month leadership program at Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST).

“Tonight,” said Dr John P Hayes, director of KLM and head of Business Administration at GUST, “we graduate 60 master leaders who are well on their way to help build a better Kuwait.” The graduates learned several key skills for leadership and worked in teams to develop a campaign that would bring new ideas for change to Kuwait. The ideas revolved around the topics of sports/health, leadership, education reform, social responsibility, environ-

ment, business development and national unity.

KLM graduation speakers included US Ambassador Matthew Tueller and GUST’s chairman of the board of trustees, Dr Abdul Rahman AlMuhailan. Muhailan told the audience, “The creativity and initiative of you young leaders, the future of our country, lays in your hands. We strongly believe that human capital is key in achieving the goals we set for ourselves and our country. You go today with another tool added to your arsenal to be the builder of the future.” The 60 graduates were selected from more than 270 applicants last fall. KLM will continue as a student club where youth can learn about leadership skills.

Blood donation campaign at Al-Manshar Rotana

I

n line with its community activities and in cooperation with Kuwait Central Blood Bank, Al-Manshar Rotana Hotel proudly organized a blood donation campaign on Thursday, April 4 at Al-Kout Ballroom as an effort to educate the community about the importance of donating blood to help save lives.

More than 40 participants from the hotel guests, management and staff donated blood, making the campaign productive and successful.

Al-Manshar Rotana set up a counter for registration of individuals who wish to donate blood and participate in related Corporate Social Responsibility activities; whereas the Central Blood Bank provided all the necessary equipment and medicines for the donation.

Pierre Zayyoun, General Manager, AlManshar Rotana, Kuwait said: “We continue to look for opportunities to con-

tribute to the community and organizing a blood donation campaign is one of them. We recognize the importance of such initiatives in saving lives, especially during times of emergency. On behalf of the management team, I commend everyone who participated and donated blood as this will benefit a lot of people who are in need. We intend to hold this activity every year.”

After the activity which lasted from 10 am to 4 pm, Kuwait Central Blood Bank presented certificates of appreciation to all donors thanking them for their support.

Al-Manshar Rotana, Kuwait is part of Al-Manshar shopping and entertainment complex. The 5-star Fahaheel Hotel offers 200 luxurious rooms and suites, a variety of food and beverage outlets, sports and health facilities in addition to extensive and flexible meeting rooms.

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.

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on shortstay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes.

Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database.

Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, firsttime applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform the Kenyan community residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that the Embassy has acquired new office telephone numbers as follows: 25353982, 25353985 - Consular’s enquiries 25353987 - Fax Our Email address: info@kenyaembkuwait.com. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF MEXICO The Embassy of Mexico to Kuwait has the pleasure to announce the opening of its Consular Section where visa applications are already being handled. The Consular Section is open to the public from Sundays-Thursdays 09.00-12.00 hrs. at Cliffs Complex in Salmiya, Villa No. 6 (3rd floor). nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA On the occasion of Easter Sunday and Family Day, the South African Embassy will be closed from Sunday, March 31 to Monday, April 1, 2013. The Embassy will resume it’s normal working hours on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the working hours will be from 8:00 to 16:00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8:30 to 12:30. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF ALBANIA The Embassy of the Republic of Albania to the State of Kuwait would like to inform that on 03.04.2013, the new Albanian Ambassador, Kujtim Morina presented credential letters to His Highness, the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah. The address of the embassy is the same: Al - Zahra, Block 8, Street 802, Villa 169, Kuwait,P.O.BOX 3090, Safat 13131. The ebassy offers consular services as well. Working hours are from 9:00 to 14:00, Sunday through Thursday.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Shot 01:35 02:25 03:15 04:05 04:55 05:45 06:35 07:00 07:25 08:15 09:10 10:05 11:00 11:55 12:20 12:50 13:45 14:40 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:25 18:20 19:15 19:40 20:10 20:35 21:05 22:00 22:25 22:55 23:50

Great White: The Impossible Animal Airport Wildest Africa Wildest Islands Into The Pride Animal Airport Wildest Africa Wildlife SOS International The Really Wild Show My Cat From Hell Dogs 101 Growing Up...

Wildest India Animal Cops Philadelphia Call Of The Wildman Wildlife SOS Wild Africa Rescue Animal Precinct Wildest India Dark Days In Monkey City The Really Wild Show Dogs 101 Crocodile Hunter America’s Cutest Pet Monkey Life Bondi Vet Call Of The Wildman Dark Days In Monkey City Wildest India Baboons With Bill Bailey Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer My Cat From Hell Animal Cops Miami

00:25 Cash In The Attic 01:15 Gok’s Fashion Fix 02:05 DIY SOS 02:30 Daily Cooks Challenge 03:00 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 04:30 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 05:15 DIY SOS 05:40 Antiques Roadshow 06:30 Daily Cooks Challenge 07:00 DIY SOS 07:25 Cash In The Attic 08:15 Homes Under The Hammer 09:10 Bargain Hunt 09:55 Antiques Roadshow 10:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 11:25 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 13:00 Come Dine With Me 13:50 Gok’s Fashion Fix 14:40 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 15:25 Antiques Roadshow 16:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:00 Homes Under The Hammer 17:55 The Good Cook 18:20 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 18:45 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 19:15 French Food At Home 19:40 Come Dine With Me 20:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 21:20 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Homes Under The Hammer 23:55 Cash In The Attic

00:15 00:45 01:30 02:20 02:45 03:00 03:20 03:45 04:10 04:35 05:00 05:25 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:15 07:40 08:05 08:30

Duck Dodgers Wacky Races What’s New Scooby-Doo? The Flintstones Tom & Jerry Tales What’s New Scooby-Doo? Taz-Mania The Looney Tunes Show Tom & Jerry Tales Johnny Bravo Bananas In Pyjamas Jelly Jamm Ha Ha Hairies Bananas In Pyjamas Lazytown Krypto: The Super Dog Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Cartoonito Tales

08:55 09:45 10:10 10:35 11:00 11:25 11:50 12:40 13:00 13:25 13:50 14:20 14:45 15:10 15:35 16:00 16:25 16:50 17:15 17:40 18:05 18:30 18:55 19:20 19:45 20:10 20:35 21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15 23:05 23:30 23:55

Lazy Town Baby Looney Tunes Krypto: The Super Dog Cartoonito Tales Jelly Jamm Gerald McBoing Boing Lazy Town Jelly Jamm Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Moomins Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tiny Toons The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Taz-Mania Tom & Jerry Tales Moomins The Garfield Show The Looney Tunes Show Tiny Toons Taz-Mania Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Pink Panther And Pals The Looney Tunes Show Taz-Mania Puppy In My Pocket What’s New Scooby-Doo? Looney Tunes Dexter’s Laboratory Tom & Jerry Tales Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Moomins

00:30 Grim Adventures Of...

01:20 Johnny Test 02:10 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Regular Show 03:50 Ben 10: Omniverse 04:15 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 04:40 Powerpuff Girls 05:05 Evil Con Carne 05:30 Cow & Chicken 06:00 Casper’s Scare School 06:30 Angelo Rules 07:00 Dreamworks Dragons: Riders Of Berk 07:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 07:45 Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated 08:10 Evil Con Carne 08:55 Adventure Time 09:45 Regular Show 10:35 Angelo Rules 11:25 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 12:15 Hero 108 13:05 Mucha Lucha !

13:30 Angelo Rules 14:20 Evil Con Carne 15:10 Ben 10 16:00 Johnny Test 16:35 Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated 17:00 Ben 10 Omniverse 17:25 Dreamworks Dragons: Riders Of Berk

00:15 06:30 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 11:50 12:20 12:45 13:40 14:35 15:05 15:30 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:40 20:05 20:35

I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks How It’s Made Mythbusters Soul Food Family Dual Survival Border Security Auction Kings Baggage Battles How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Crash Course Crash Course World’s Top 5 Dirty Great Machines Border Security Auction Kings Baggage Battles Moonshiners Dual Survival Mythbusters Sons Of Guns How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Auction Kings

21:00 Baggage Battles 21:30 Gold Rush 22:25 Jungle Gold

00:05 The Tech Show 00:30 Weird Connections 01:00 Science Of The Movies 02:45 Nextworld 05:15 Gadget Show - World Tour 05:40 The Tech Show 06:05 Storm Chasers 07:00 X-Machines 07:50 Engineering Thrills 08:40 Gadget Show - World Tour 09:05 The Tech Show 09:30 Smash Lab 10:25 Science Of The Movies 11:15 The Kustomizer 12:05 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 13:00 Engineering Thrills 13:50 Weird Connections 14:20 Gadget Show - World Tour 14:45 The Tech Show 15:10 X-Machines 16:00 Smash Lab 16:55 Nextworld 17:45 Mighty Ships 18:35 Meteorite Men 19:30 X-Machines 20:20 Things That Move 21:10 Gadget Show - World Tour 21:35 The Tech Show 22:00 X-Machines 22:50 Prank Science 23:15 Prank Science 23:40 Gadget Show - World Tour

00:10 00:35 01:25 02:15 03:05 03:55 04:45 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:40 07:30 07:55 08:45 09:35 10:25 11:15 12:05 12:30 13:20 13:45 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:55 18:20 19:10 20:00 20:25 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:30 22:55 23:20 23:45

Stitch A Kind Of Magic Replacements Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic Replacements Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Doc McStuffins Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Jessie Good Luck Charlie Austin And Ally Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Hannah Montana Wizards Of Waverly Place Jessie A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally Good Luck Charlie Jessie Shake It Up A.N.T Farm Austin And Ally Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Forever Jessie Wizards Of Waverly Place Phil Of The Future Hannah Montana Jonas Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:10 American Dragon 06:35 Iron Man Armored Adventures 07:00 Kickin It 07:25 Phineas And Ferb 07:50 Phineas And Ferb 08:15 Almost Naked Animals 08:40 Slugterra 09:05 Scaredy Squirrel 09:30 Zeke & Luther 09:55 Pair Of Kings 10:20 Kickin It 10:45 Kickin It 11:10 Kickin It

FOOTLOOSE ON OSN CINEMA

11:35 Mr. Young 12:00 Slugterra 12:25 Lab Rats 12:50 Crash & Bernstein 13:20 Pair Of Kings 13:45 Zeke & Luther 14:10 Rekkit Rabbit 14:35 I’m In The Band 15:00 Phineas And Ferb 15:25 Almost Naked Animals 15:50 Rekkit Rabbit 16:15 Pair Of Kings 16:40 Mr. Young 17:05 Crash & Bernstein 17:30 Max Steel 18:00 Kickin It 18:25 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 18:50 Phineas And Ferb 19:40 Mr. Young 20:05 Pair Of Kings 20:30 Zeke & Luther 20:55 I’m In The Band 21:20 Rated A For Awesome 21:45 Rekkit Rabbit 22:10 Phineas And Ferb 22:35 Scaredy Squirrel 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:30 01:25 02:20 04:10 05:05 06:00 07:50 08:20 09:15 10:15 11:10 12:05 13:05 14:05 York 15:00 15:30 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Dirty Soap E! Investigates Too Young To Kill THS Extreme Close-Up THS Style Star E! News Married To Jonas THS E!es Ice Loves Coco Giuliana & Bill Kourtney & Kim Take New Style Star E!es Extreme Close-Up Fashion Police E! News E!es Ice Loves Coco Ice Loves Coco Chasing The Saturdays Chasing The Saturdays Kourtney And Kim Take Miami E!es

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Heat Seekers 00:55 Outrageous Food 01:20 Unwrapped 01:45 Iron Chef America 03:25 Unique Eats 03:50 Food Crafters 04:15 United Tastes Of America 04:40 Chopped 05:30 Chef Hunter 06:10 Unwrapped 07:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 07:50 Unique Eats 08:15 Andy Bates Street Feasts 08:40 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 09:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:30 The Next Iron Chef 10:20 Extra Virgin 11:10 Everyday Italian 11:35 Unwrapped 12:00 Staten Island Cakes 12:50 Reza’s African Kitchen 13:15 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Extra Virgin 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 15:20 Guy’s Big Bite 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Reza’s African Kitchen 18:40 Guy’s Big Bite 19:05 Tyler’s Ultimate 19:30 Chopped 21:10 Iron Chef America 22:00 Reza’s African Kitchen 22:25 Reza’s African Kitchen 22:50 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 23:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Heat Seekers 00:55 Outrageous Food 01:20 Unwrapped 01:45 Iron Chef America 03:25 Unique Eats 03:50 Food Crafters 04:15 United Tastes Of America 04:40 Chopped 05:30 Chef Hunter 06:10 Unwrapped 07:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 07:50 Unique Eats 08:15 Andy Bates Street Feasts 08:40 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 09:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:30 The Next Iron Chef 10:20 Extra Virgin 10:45 Extra Virgin 11:10 Everyday Italian 11:35 Unwrapped 12:00 Staten Island Cakes 12:50 Reza’s African Kitchen 13:15 Barefoot Contessa 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Extra Virgin 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 14:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 15:20 Guy’s Big Bite 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Reza’s African Kitchen 18:40 Guy’s Big Bite 19:05 Tyler’s Ultimate 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Iron Chef America 22:00 Reza’s African Kitchen 22:25 Reza’s African Kitchen 22:50 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 23:15 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 23:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 15:20 15:45 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

The Haunted Dr G: Medical Examiner Who On Earth...

Couples Who Kill Scorned: Crimes Of Passion The Haunted Dr G: Medical Examiner Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Murder Shift Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Disappeared Murder Shift Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Deadly Sins Who On Earth...

I Almost Got Away With It

00:15 Cutter’s Way 02:05 Women In Love 04:15 The Men’s Club 05:55 Sleeper 07:25 The Way West 09:25 The Hound Of The Baskervilles 10:55 New York, New York 13:35 Submerged 15:05 The Alamo 17:45 What Did You Do In The War Daddy 19:40 Yanks 22:00 Boris And Natasha

BARRICADE ON OSN ACTION HD 00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 07:45 08:30 08:45 09:30 09:45 10:30 10:45 11:30 12:00 12:30 12:45 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 15:45 16:00 17:30

BBC World News Newsday Our World Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday India Business Report BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News GMT With George Alagiah BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today Impact With Mishal Husain Hardtalk

00:15 Women In Wine 00:45 Herat/bamiyan 01:40 Gone to save the planet, 4 02:05 Gone to save the planet, 5 02:35 India 03:00 Wild West 03:30 Vic Fires 03:55 Ben Harper 04:25 The Many Faces of North America 05:20 Jamaica (aka Reggae Marathon) 06:15 Best of 06:40 Swept Away 07:10 Wine And Renegades 07:35 Women In Wine 08:05 Herat/bamiyan 09:00 Gone to save the planet, 4 09:25 Gone to save the planet, 5 09:55 India 10:20 Wild West 10:50 Vic Fires 11:15 Ben Harper 11:45 The Many Faces of North America 12:40 13:35 Northumberland 14:00 Tennessee 14:30 Pinotage South Africa’s Gift To The Wine World 14:55 Route 62: The Longest Wine Route In The World 15:25 Tora Bora 16:20 Gone to save the planet, 6 16:45 Gone to save the planet, 7 17:15 New Zealand 17:40 Thailand 18:10 Bush Balladeers 18:35 Aterciopelados 19:05 The World of The Mayas

00:00 Snow Leopard of Afghanistan 01:00 World’s Weirdest 01:55 Hooked 02:50 Ultimate Animal Countdown 03:45 Crocodile King 04:40 Shark Men 05:35 World’s Deadliest Animals 06:30 Hooked 07:25 Ultimate Animal Countdown 08:20 Crocodile King 09:15 Built For The Kill 10:10 World’s Weirdest 11:05 Predator CSI 12:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 13:00 Hooked 14:00 Ultimate Animal Countdown 15:00 Crocs Of Katuma 16:00 Built For The Kill

17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

World’s Weirdest Predator CSI Hooked Ultimate Animal Countdown Crocs Of Katuma Built For The Kill World’s Weirdest

00:15 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 PG15 18:00 19:45 21:30 23:30

Chain Letter-R A Dangerous Man-18 Barricade-PG15 Goal!-PG15 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 Mission: Impossible-PG15 Monsters-PG15 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 Interview With A Hitman-

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:45 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

Call Of The Wild-PG15 Hidden Crimes-PG15 Golden Christmas 3-PG15 Stolen Lives-PG15 Call Of The Wild-PG15 Blackthorn-PG15 An Invisible Sign Of My Own What’s Wrong With Virginia John Carter-PG15 Footloose-PG15 Scream 4-18 Margaret-18

Monsters-PG15 Beneath The Darkness-PG15 Alien Resurrection-18 Covert One: The Hades Factor

00:00 Breaking In 03:00 Hot In Cleveland 03:30 1600 Penn 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Hope & Faith 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 Hope & Faith 09:00 Hot In Cleveland 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:00 The Office 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 13:00 Hope & Faith 14:00 1600 Penn 14:30 The Office 15:00 Two And A Half Men 18:00 Hot In Cleveland 18:30 Malibu Country 19:00 How I Met Your Mother 20:00 The Cleveland Show 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:30 Louie 23:00 Girls 23:30 Veep

19:00 Alphas 20:00 Revenge 21:00 Once Upon A Time

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Switched At Birth Scandal Grimm Greek Necessary Roughness Grimm Switched At Birth Emmerdale Coronation Street White Collar Scandal Eureka Necessary Roughness Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show White Collar Switched At Birth Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show White Collar Alphas Revenge Once Upon A Time Game Of Thrones Greek

00:00 02:15 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 21:45 23:30

The Shining Chain Letter A Dangerous Man Barricade Goal!

And Soon The Darkness Mission: Impossible Monsters And Soon The Darkness Interview With A Hitman Monsters Beneath The Darkness Alien Resurrection

00:00 Girl Walks Into A Bar-PG15 02:00 Bridesmaids-18 04:15 Nacho Libre-PG 06:00 Just Crazy Enough-PG15 08:00 Police Academy 3: Back In Training-PG15 10:00 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 12:00 Nacho Libre-PG 14:00 Arthur-PG15 16:00 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 18:00 The Waterboy-PG15 20:00 Stripes-18 22:00 Girl Walks Into A Bar-PG15

01:15 Love Crime-PG15 03:15 Arc-18 05:15 Tora! Tora! Tora!-PG15 07:45 Page Eight-PG15 09:30 Paws-PG 11:15 Henry’s Crime-PG15 13:15 Trust-PG15 15:15 Paws-PG 17:00 Christmas Comes Home To Canaan-PG15 19:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 21:00 S. Darko-PG15 22:45 John Rabe-18

01:00 Ceremony-PG15 03:00 Marley & Me: The Puppy Years-PG 05:00 Dead Lines-PG15 07:00 HappythankyoumorepleasePG15 09:00 StreetDance 2-PG15 11:00 Battleship-PG15 13:15 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax-PG 15:00 Call Of The Wild-PG15 17:00 StreetDance 2-PG15 19:00 The Artist-PG 21:00 30 Minutes Or Less-18 23:00 Gone-PG15

01:00 The Three Bears: Dreadful Dangers 02:45 Dragon Hunters 04:30 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 06:00 Princess Lillifee 08:00 Tom Tom & Nana 10:00 Spooky Buddies 11:30 Shark Tale 13:00 Moomins And The Comet Chase 14:30 Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 16:00 Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate 18:00 Spooky Buddies 20:00 Mandie And The Secret Tunnel

00:00 One Angry Juror-PG15 02:00 The Beaver-PG15 04:00 Sgt. Bilko-PG 06:00 One Angry Juror-PG15 08:00 Dolphin Tale-PG 10:00 Alpha And Omega-PG 12:00 The Beaver-PG15 14:00 Dungeons & Dragons: The Book Of Vile Darkness-PG15 16:00 Dolphin Tale-PG 18:00 A Better Life-PG15 20:00 Meeting Evil-18 22:00 Your Sister’s Sister-18

01:00 Trans World Sport 02:00 Super League 03:30 AFL Premiership

06:00 Futbol Mundial 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 Super Rugby 09:00 Super League 10:30 Trans World Sport 11:30 ICC Cricket 360 12:00 Live NRL Premiership 14:00 Premier League Darts 17:30 Futbol Mundial 18:00 PGA Tour Highlights 19:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 20:00 Super Rugby Highlights 21:00 NRL Premiership 23:00 ICC Cricket 360 23:30 AFL Premiership Highlights

01:00 03:30 07:00 12:30 14:30 17:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

AFL Premiership Premier League Darts PGA Tour Super Rugby AFL Premiership NRL Premiership AFL Premiership Highlights PGA Tour Highlights Super Rugby Highlights NHL

01:00 03:00 03:30 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 13:30 14:30 16:00 18:30 19:00 21:00 22:00

European Challenge Cup Total Rugby ITU World Triathlon Trans World Sport Golfing World Top 14 Highlights Futbol Mundial World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool ICC Cricket 360 European Challenge Cup Golfing World Super League ITU World Triathlon Top 14 Highlights European Challenge Cup Trans World Sport World Pool Masters

00:00 01:00 02:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

Triahlon UK UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC NHL WWE Bottom Line WWE Experience Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL UAE National Race Day Series WWE NXT WWE SmackDown Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Adventure Challenge

01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 22:30 23:30

Cajun Pawn Stars Cajun Pawn Stars Mountain Men The Men Who Built America Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Cajun Pawn Stars Cajun Pawn Stars Ancient Aliens Pawn Stars Storage Wars Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Pawn Stars American Restoration Pawn Stars Storage Wars Ancient Aliens Hitler’s Island Madness Mountain Men Pawn Stars American Restoration Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Hitler’s Island Madness Mountain Men Pawn Stars American Restoration Soviet Storm: WWII In The East Pawn Stars Storage Wars Ancient Aliens Pawn Stars The Men Who Built America Shipping Wars

Classifieds MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

Kuwait KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (04/04/2013 TO 10/04/2013) SHARQIA-1 KON-TIKI (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) SHARQIA-2 THE CROODS (DIG-3D) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM 12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-3 OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) BAADSHAH (Telugu) BAADSHAH (Telugu) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) BAADSHAH (Telugu) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG)

2:00 PM 5:00 PM 4:15 PM 7:15 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 1:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-3 THE CROODS (DIG-3D) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-1 IN THEIR SKIN (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) FANAR-2 DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) FANAR-3 THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) MARINA-1 KON-TIKI (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM 1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM 1:45 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 11:45 PM 12:30 PM

KON-TIKI (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG)

2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-2 THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) THE TALL MAN (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

AVENUES-2 THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) 360º- 1 G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D)3:30 PM G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) 360º- 2 AL HAFLA (DIG) AL HAFLA (DIG) AL HAFLA (DIG) AL HAFLA (DIG) AL HAFLA (DIG) AL HAFLA (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM 1:15 PM 5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM 1:15 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 3 THE CROODS (DIG-3D) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) SNITCH (DIG) SNITCH (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM

AL-KOUT.1 JURASSIC PARK (DIG-3D) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) JURASSIC PARK (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.2 DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) AL-KOUT.3 OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM 12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM

KON-TIKI (DIG) OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG)

7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-1 G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG-3D)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-2 THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) DEAD MAN DOWN (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

BAIRAQ-3 TRUTH OR DARE (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG) THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (DIG) KON-TIKI (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

FOR SALE

PLAZA BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) NO THU BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu)

3:30 PM 7:15 PM 10:15 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM

LAILA THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (DIG) G.I. JOE: RETALIATION (DIG)

6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM

AJIAL.1 BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu)

7:00 PM 10:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:45 PM

AJIAL.2 BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu)

7:15 PM 10:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:45 PM 10:00 PM

AJIAL.3 CHASHME BADDOOR (DIG)(HINDI) CHASHME BADDOOR (DIG)(HINDI)

6:00 PM 9:00 PM

METRO-1 BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu)

7:00 PM 10:00 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:45 PM

METRO-2 BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu) BAADSHAH (DIG) (Telugu)

7:15 PM 10:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:45 PM 10:00 PM

Mazda 3, model 2012, running 14,000 km, price KD 2,850, negotiable. Mobile: 66109046. (C 4372) 8-6-2013

CHANGE OF NAME I, Tarun Kanti Paul and I, Mithu Paul parents of Supriti Paul, her Passport No. J6954961 hereby will change our daughter ’s name as Zeta Supriti Paul.

(C 4369) I, Tarun Kanti Paul and I, Mithu Paul parents of Swaswati Paul, her Passport No. J6954985 hereby will change our daughter ’s name as Luna Shashati Paul. (C 4370) Sangam Sivakumar Raju, S/o Sangam Kodandarama Raju Indian Passport No. K3372636 issued at Hyderabad, India, date 02/04/2013 Passport resident 9/130 Rly Kodur YSR District 516001 (A.P) India, hereby change to Sangaraju Sivakumar Raju.

New resident 7/21 D, Gangireddypalem, Rajampet, Kadapa, A.P, 516115 India. (C 4371) 7-4-2013

SITUATION WANTED Need a job in Kuwait, having MBA Degree + Indian driving license, K. Suresh Babu MBA. Contact: 00919440707761 or Mr. Balu 66195135. (C 4368) 6-4-2013

112

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

04:09 05:30 11:50 15:23 18:10 19:29

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines QTR JZR JZR THY ETH GFA AFG UAE ETD FDB RBG MSR QTR THY DHX FDB KAC BAW KAC JZR FDB KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD KAC KAC GFA IRC MEA JZR MSC JZR KAC UAE MSR THY KAC QTR FDB MPH KAC SVA KNE OMA KAC KAC

Arrival Flights on Monday 8/4/2013 Flt Route 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 764 SABIHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 416 JEDDAH 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 206 ISLAMABAD 503 LUXOR 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 344 CHENNAI 352 COCHIN 213 BAHRAIN 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 403 ASSIUT 561 SOHAG 284 DHAKA 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 766 ISTANBUL 672 DUBAI 140 DOHA 57 DUBAI 93 AMSTERDAM 546 ALEXANDRIA 500 JEDDAH 472 JEDDAH 645 MUSCAT 788 JEDDAH 118 NEW YORK

Time 00:15 00:20 00:40 01:40 01:45 01:55 02:15 02:25 02:30 03:10 03:15 03:15 03:30 04:35 05:10 05:50 06:15 06:30 07:25 07:40 07:45 07:50 08:25 08:50 09:00 09:15 09:30 09:35 09:55 10:40 10:50 10:55 11:35 11:35 12:00 12:05 12:45 13:00 13:10 13:40 13:45 13:50 13:55 14:15 14:30 14:35 14:40 15:00 16:00

JZR QTR ETD FDB UAE RJA ABY SVA GFA UAL JZR JZR KAC QTR KAC KAC FDB GFA KAC MSC KAC KAC KAC JAI FDB OMA ABY MEA MSR AXB MSC ALK UAE ETD QTR GFA QTR DHX FDB AIC JZR JZR UAL TAR JZR DLH PIA JAI KLM THY

535 134 303 71 857 640 127 510 215 982 177 777 542 144 786 104 63 219 618 405 774 674 742 572 61 647 129 402 618 489 401 229 859 307 136 217 146 372 59 975 239 185 981 327 135 636 205 574 411 772

CAIRO DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI DUBAI AMMAN SHARJAH RIYADH BAHRAIN WASHINGTON DC DULLES DUBAI JEDDAH CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH LONDON DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA SOHAG RIYADH DUBAI DAMMAM MUMBAI DUBAI MUSCAT SHARJAH BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA COCHIN ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI CHENNAI AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN TUNIS BAHRAIN FRANKFURT LAHORE MUMBAI AMSTERDAM ISTANBUL

16:10 16:15 16:35 16:50 16:55 17:05 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:50 18:15 18:25 18:30 18:45 18:55 19:05 19:10 19:15 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:15 20:30 20:35 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 22:00 22:00 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:40 22:40 22:55 23:00 23:10 23:15 23:20 23:40 23:45

Airlines AIC JAI UAL DLH PIA JZR THY THY ETH AFG UAE FDB RBG MSR ETD QTR QTR JZR FDB GFA THY KAC JZR BAW FDB JZR KAC ABY KAC UAE FDB QTR ETD GFA KAC KAC IRC MEA JZR KAC MSC KAC JZR MSR THY UAE FDB

Departure Flights on Monday 8/4/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 206 PESHAWAR 502 LUXOR 773 ISTANBUL 765 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 416 KABUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 556 ALEXANDRIA 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 164 DUBAI 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 6522 LAMERD 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 767 ISTANBUL 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI

Time 00:05 00:20 00:25 00:30 00:55 01:30 02:20 02:40 02:45 03:15 03:45 03:50 03:55 04:15 04:20 04:25 05:15 05:35 06:30 07:00 07:10 07:20 07:25 08:25 08:25 09:10 09:25 09:30 09:35 09:50 09:55 10:00 10:15 11:25 11:30 11:45 11:50 11:55 12:25 12:30 12:35 13:00 13:20 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

QTR KAC MPH KNE OMA SVA KAC KAC KAC JZR QTR ETD FDB ABY RJA UAE SVA GFA JZR JZR UAL QTR FDB GFA JZR MSC JAI FDB ABY KAC OMA KAC MEA MSR DHX MSC ETD ALK UAE QTR KAC GFA DHX FDB KAC QTR KAC KAC TAR

141 673 93 473 646 501 617 773 741 238 135 304 72 128 641 858 511 216 184 266 982 145 64 220 134 404 571 62 120 331 648 351 403 619 171 402 308 230 860 137 301 218 373 60 205 147 411 283 328

DOHA DUBAI AL MAKTOUM JEDDAH MUSCAT JEDDAH DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM AMMAN DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI SHARJAH AMMAN DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN ASSIUT MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT KOCHI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ABU DHABI COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI ISLAMABAD DOHA BANGKOK DHAKA DUBAI

14:55 15:05 15:25 15:30 15:40 15:45 15:45 16:00 16:30 17:05 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:50 18:00 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:40 19:25 19:35 19:50 20:05 20:15 20:35 20:40 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:30 21:50 22:05 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:40 23:45 23:45

34

stars CROSSWORD 153

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) Working energetically with a clear objective in mind, advancing your own professional goals and enlisting others’ support for your projects by acting as a leader, are key issues now. Your superiors and others in authority respond favorably to your confidence and your willingness to take a risk or attack a problem in a new way. An urge to change and try new things may challenge and upset your domestic life or support system.

Your tendency to follow your heart more than your head acts at cross purposes to those who care for you. This could be a no win situation that requires walking a fine line on your part and calls for you to be a bit more patient and taking the time to think things through.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You could be up in arms about a family decision that may have been made without your input. It’s important that you don’t over-react, but that you do let your discontent be known. Enjoy a romantic dinner with your special someone, but leave the surprise until a little later on. Don’t let annoying disagreements get you in an emotional twist today as the energy is less than calm. Fired up emotions can let fly harsh words, so be careful what you say and think before you speak. It’s easy to get into a pointless argument, so when in doubt, agree to disagree if at all possible.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. A doctor's degree in preventive medicine.

4. Without civilizing influences.

12. An alliance made up of states that had been Soviet Socialist Republics in the Soviet Union prior to its dissolution in Dec 1991.

15. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

16. A native or inhabitant of Vietnam.

17. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

18. Beer brewed for immediate consumption.

19. Marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea.

20. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

21. Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc..

22. An angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions.

24. Crab-eating dog.

27. Any of various spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia.

30. A doctor who practices veterinary medicine.

32. A system of one or more computers and associated software with common storage.

36. A loose and crumbling earthy deposit consisting mainly of calcite or dolomite.

37. The federal agency that insures residential mortgages.

39. Small genus of evergreen trees of tropical America and western Africa.

40. Port city on southern Honshu on Osaka Bay. 42. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

44. Keep in mind or convey as a conviction or view.

45. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

47. Tall feather palm of northern Brazil with hardshelled nuts yielding valuable oil and a kind of vegetable ivory.

49. Deserving blame or censure as being wrong or evil or injurious.

52. A sharp narrow ridge found in rugged mountains.

53. Remote city of Kazakhstan that (ostensibly for security reasons) was made the capital in 1998.

54. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

56. A colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid.

57. A pilgrimage to Mecca.

59. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

62. A small cake leavened with yeast.

65. Make amends for.

68. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

72. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

76. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

77. System of measurement based on centimeters and grams and seconds.

78. A cut of pork ribs with much of the meat trimmed off.

79. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

80. Headdress that protects the head from bad weather.

81. The visual percept of a region.

82. A young woman making her debut into society.

DOWN 1. Sound recording consisting of a disc with continuous grooves.

2. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

3. German chemist who was co-discoverer with Lise Meitner of nuclear fission (1879-1968).

4. A Japanese cheer of enthusiasm or triumph.

5. The capital of Turkey.

6. A radioactive gaseous element formed by the disintegration of radium.

7. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.

8. Red Asian weaverbirds often kept as cage birds.

9. An act or expression of criticism and censure.

10. Goddess of fertility.

11. The basic unit of money in Ghana.

12. Soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired.

13. The villain in William Shakespeare's tragedy who tricked Othello into murdering his wife.

14. The act of scanning.

23. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

25. A cloth used as a head covering (and veil and shawl) by Muslim and Hindu women.

26. The clock time given by a clock carried on board a spacecraft.

28. An outstanding Spanish cellist noted for his interpretation of Bach's cello suites (1876-1973).

29. The mountain peak that Noah's ark landed on as the waters of the great flood receded.

31. A village in eastern Ireland (northwest of Dublin).

33. A character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote.

34. (of tempo) Very fast adv 1.

35. (Old Testament) Hebrew prophet and judge who anointed Saul as king.

38. Australian shrubs and small trees with evergreen usually spiny leaves and dense clusters of showy flowers.

41. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

43. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

46. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

48. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

50. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

51. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

55. A historical region of southwestern India on the west coast.

58. A string of more than 3,000 islands east of Asia extending 1,300 miles between the Sea of Japan and the western Pacific Ocean.

60. Close-fitting pants of heavy denim for casual wear (usually in the plural).

61. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

63. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

64. Strong woody fibers obtained especially from the phloem of from various plants.

66. Edible starchy tuberous root of taro plants.

67. A European river.

69. Set down according to a plan.

70. (of a young animal) Abandoned by its mother and raised by hand.

71. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

73. Of southern Europe.

74. A health resort near a spring or at the seaside.

75. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

In a volatile situation you will need to have your wits about you as you will have a particularly high profile. The trick is to handle it with grace and not let it go to your head, as this too shall pass and you’ll want to look back on a performance that maximized the opportunities dropped into your lap. You are feeling at peace and very good about yourself now. Your friends and loved ones express appreciation for the help and support you have given them, which makes you feel that your efforts have been worthwhile. Your daily life and activities run smoothly and everything seems in good working order. You are particularly well organized now and your domestic life is feels in harmony with you own mood.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) It’s important to reward yourself for the work you’ve been doing, and one way that could appeal to you just now is the planning of a trip or getaway that is probably long overdue. Exotic experiences may appeal to you at this time. You may feel as though you need to share new experiences with a friend or friends. If so, put the word out and others will be quick to join you. This is a good time to spoil yourself and also to spend time with the people who love and appreciate you the most. The craving for sweetness and comfort in the form of loving affection is strong now. Also, you may be feeling rather tender and softhearted, and may do or say something on impulse.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Your intuition is on the mark and your reactions fit in with all around you. It’s easy to agree, and most people will if you let them, so spread as much good cheer as possible. Agreement now will be a benchmark for cooperation down the road.

Avoid conflicts or negativity of any kind. Restlessness and impatience may overcome you throughout the day, and others will wonder what’s really bugging you. You could be very demanding and difficult to please now. You tend to feel like progress is too slow, and you are tired of waiting for the things you want. Try and have a bit of patience.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This is not a period when you feel like pushing your own interests forward, or in which you are especially energetic or full of stamina. Other people’s concerns and needs receive more attention from you now, and you are more inclined to do something which serves others, perhaps a group you are associated with. Cooperating with others for some idealistic purpose is very satisfying for you at this time. Oh yeah time to party! Time for getting a little loose and wild with friends, going dancing, or doing something out of the ordinary that is different and fun. You meet interesting new people and are more open to people who are quite different from yourself. An opportunity for a romance may happen which is likely to be exciting even though short-lived.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Some greater responsibility may befall you today and you probably feel a little more burdened by the commitments that are around you. Major life changes appear to be near. Shedding old, fatigued plans to make room for new approaches will ensure you do well in this period. Key issues now are your closest emotional relationships.

You feel more quiet and reflective and may need to be closer to home and to your loved ones. You can draw a lot of strength and satisfaction from your family friends, but if the emotions attached to these people are in a rocky place you will be able to see any difficulties or inadequacies clearly at this time.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Your feelings may feel exaggerated today, and as a result people don’t understand what your desires or intentions may be. The onus is on you to clearly explain how you feel lest your frustration deepens. This also has a connotation of some spiritual stress where the meaning of your life at its most fundamental level doesn’t quite make sense to you at the moment. Be patient, time tells all stories and certainly won’t omit one as interesting as yours. Watch out for conflicting goals and energy wasting attitudes today. What may seem like deceit could be just mixed emotions, or vice versa. Rather than jump into anyone’s drama, watch a bit and see if it calms down. When all get more certain of what they want, it will be easier to work together.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your long-range goals, life direction, or career aims come into focus now. You gain can clarity or a stronger sense of purpose, which energizes your efforts to get ahead or move toward what you really want. Recognition or support from your superiors or others who are in a position to assist you is likely now, especially if you take some initiative. Telephone storm, hasty social get-togethers, and communication overloads come and go throughout the day. It’s a good time to get quick points across with the minimum effort so it is clear for the future, don’t spend time with wasted words.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Don’t do too much dreaming just now. It would be very easy for you to get carried away with some fancy or another. Your feelings are not in sync with your imagination. You may be hard to satisfy. You’re coming into a period with a greater than usual emphasis on emotional security, which is likely to manifest as putting down roots somehow. Home and family matters can play a big part in this: relatives take on greater importance than ever before. Real estate plays a bigger part in your life goals as you are ready for some real roots.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) What may appear to be bad news today could actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Someone who has been feeling incredibly down in the dumps suddenly takes on a new attitude. Plans could be made to change residence, or renovate/ redecorate your abode. Be brave with color. Your desire for love and affection, as well as beauty and pleasure, are strong now and you can act on feelings and creative impulses more easily than usual. If you are not happy with some aspect of your personal life, these issues arise at this time and there may be disagreements or tension in a close relationship. You can easily discuss your personal needs and desires, but only if you make the effort.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You are bold, daring, and enterprising during this time. You feel hemmed in by present circumstances and feel an uncontrollable urge to enlarge your vistas. Your restless need to accomplish more and break free of present limitations may inspire you to seek a new job, look at new places to live that offer more opportunities, increase advertising of products that you market, or peruse business opportunities in your local area. You may find yourself running into a great deal of opposition from just about every direction you turn today. Instead of relief from others, you may find more complications and misunderstandings than you could have anticipated. Perhaps the thing you need to do is take the situation into your own hands and deal with it all by yourself.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

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

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

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

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Michael has spent two months in rehab

G

eorge Michael has been in a rehab clinic since February. The ‘Careless Whisper’ singer was battling health problems at a £27,000-a-week facility in Australia. The 49-year-old star’s boyfriend Fadi Fawaz was staying with him in one of the site’s luxury homes in Byron Bay, New South Wales. The Sun on Sunday reports the musician was treated for emotional anxiety, among other issues. Both George and his partner have now returned to London after he checked into the clinic two months ago. The news follows a health scare in 2011 when the star was struck down with pneumonia, which almost killed him and - although he was seen at last year’s Olympic closing ceremony he cancelled October tour dates to deal with his health issues. Speaking at the time, he revealed: “I will receive the treatment which is so long overdue. “Doctors recommended post-traumatic counseling but I believed (wrongly) making music and performing would be therapy enough.” The decision came after he realized his immediate reaction to the health scare wasn’t good for him. He had previously said: “What I have learned from coming so close to death, is that it makes no sense to plan for the future in detail. Because you never know what lurks around the corner.

Horan is dating model Zoe Whelan

N

iall Horan is dating model Zoe Whelan after meeting backstage at a show. The couple met at a One Direction concert and she has been travelling around the country to stay in touch with the ‘Little Things’ hitmaker while he’s on tour. An insider told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: “Niall has been secretly seeing Zoe for a couple of months after he met her backstage.

“She’s a Dubliner but is based in London to work on her modeling career. Zoe’s traveled all over the UK to meet up with Niall on the band’s tour. “But the biggest sign he’s really serious about her is that he introduced her to his whole family at his brother’s wedding. The Irish singer took his new partner to his brother Greg’s wedding in his hometown - the first time he’d brought a girl back to Mullingar since his rise to fame. The source added: “Zoe’s the first girlfriend Niall has brought back to his hometown of Mullingar since making it big, so it was a big deal and the talk of his family at the wedding. “Niall’s protective of her as she’s shy, but his family all really took a shine to Zoe.”

Amy Adams’ daughter makes her feel ‘relaxed’

T Harding arrested for using phone while driving

he 38-year-old actress claims spending time with three-year-old Aviana - who she has with her fiancÈ Darren Le Gallo - makes her feel her happiest because becoming a mother has completed her life. Asked what she does in her spare time, Amy replied: “I like spending time with my daughter. I find that very grounding and when I’m grounded, I’m most able to relax. “She has been such a fantastic addition to my life for so many reasons, but one of my favorite things is how I feel when I’m with her, when I look at her and care for her. That makes me feel fantastic.” ‘The Master’ star loves children so much, she confessed if acting hadn’t worked out she would have liked to teach performing arts and share her passion with young kids. Quizzed what she would do if she wasn’t an actress, Amy told Britain’s Hello! magazine: “A dancer; I used to dance. Or I would even have liked to be someone who teaches dances and theatre skills to kids. That would be fun.”

S

arah Harding has been arrested for using her phone while driving and not stopping for police. The former Girls Aloud star was seen talking on her mobile phone as she drove through London on Thursday and she reportedly refused to pull over when asked before being stopped and arrested. She has been charged for both offences and will appear in Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. A source told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “Sarah was driving in a 4x4 when a policeman on a bicycle saw her and tried to make her stop. He was trying to flag her down but she carried on a bit down the road where she was pulled over a couple of minutes later. “She was talking to the police by the side of the road for a while before she was arrested. “Apparently Sarah was very upset when she was arrested and charged. The offences are pretty serious.” She could lose her driving licence and faces a maximum fine of £1,000 for using her phone, with a possible £5,000 fine for failing to stop for the police. The 31-year-old star has had a troubled past, including checking into a rehab clinic for sleeping pill and alcohol addiction in October 2011, one month after splitting from fiance DJ Tom Crane and the recent demise of Girls Aloud. Speaking recently though, she said: “I’m 200 per cent better in terms of my inner strength and attitude. “I’m a lot calmer. I still have my hyper days, but I take one day at a time. I have learned from my mistakes.”

Rebel Wilson is a trained lawyer

W

O’Dowd is terrified by female attention

T

he 33-year-old Irishman became an unlikely sex symbol after starring as Officer Rhodes in comedy ‘Bridesmaids’ and joked having women thrown themselves at him made him so uncomfortable, he married within the year.

Asked what he thought about being a sex symbol, Chris - who tied the knot with Dawn Porter in August 2012 - said: “While it’s nothing that I thought would ever be part of my oeuvre, I will say that it’s kind of fun. As soon as I saw that I was getting any sort of response like that after ‘Bridesmaids’, I found the prospect so terrifying that I was married within the year.” While women are attracted to Chris after seeing him in ‘Bridesmaids’, he admitted he has had a different reaction from the opposite sex after his guest stint on HBO’s ‘Girls’. He told People magazine: “If they are ‘Bridesmaids’ fans, women try to set me up with their sister. I know they are ‘Girls’ fans if they call me a douche and walk away.”

Brad Pitt buys yacht B

rad Pitt has splashed out $5 million on a yacht. The ‘Moneyball’ actor - who has children Maddox, 11, Pax, nine, Zahara, eight, Shiloh, six, and four-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with partner Angelina Jolie - reportedly funded the purchase of the vessel after selling a share of his vineyard to winemaker Marc Perrin and can’t wait to dock the boat at St. Tropez, which is close to his family estate in France. A source said: “Brad is super-excited about his new purchase, and so are their children.” Brad and Angelina are expected to marry at their French home next month and the actor is said to be keen to incorporate his new purchase into the celebrations. The source added to Grazia magazine: “He is now working out how he can incorporate a boat trip into their wedding celebrations, and Angelina fully approves. “She thinks it would be a great idea to spend some of the day on the boat, given their close proximity to the sea, which the children will love.

“The pair have always said that their wedding day will be all about the kids.”

hile the ‘Pitch Perfect’ actress was starting out as a comedian, she also went to law school as a back up and while she has never needed to turn to her alternative career, Rebel hasn’t ruled out working as a lawyer in the future. She said: “I went to law school at the same time [as I was first doing comedy]. I didn’t have an opportunity to practice but you never know. One day if things don’t work out, I might be a barrister.” The ‘Bridesmaids’ actress is confident with her curvy figure and thinks she is a more “normal” shape than most people in Hollywood, so others find it easy to relate to her. She added in an interview with People magazine: “I look more like a normal person that people can relate to. There are so many glamorous actresses but you know what? In the real world, nobody looks like that.”

Chris and Liam Hemsworth great with women

C

hris and Liam Hemsworth “know how to take care of women”. While the brothers are renowned for their action roles on screen, Chris’ wife Elsa Pataky insists they are big softies and a credit to the way they were raised.

She said: “Chris, Liam and their brother Luke are tough and manly but they really know how to take care of women.

Their mom did a great job with them.” Elsa - who has 10month-old daughter India Rose with Chris - also revealed her favorite compliment from her hunky husband is when he compliments her smile. She told People magazine: “He says I’m always smiling. That’s what he likes the most.” ‘The Avengers’ actor Chris recently joked he was like a “daughter” to his mother because he was so sensitive when he was younger. He said: “My mum would probably say, ‘Chris was always the daughter out of my three boys’. I was just far better at talking to my mum about things, while my brothers kept stuff to themselves.” —Bangshowbiz

37

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

US lawmakers seek reason for Beyonce, Jay-Z Cuba trip

T

wo US Republican lawmakers want to know if popular American pop star Beyonce and her husband, rap singer Jay-Z, had the US government’s permission to travel to Cuba despite an economic embargo. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida on Friday sent a letter to Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the US Treasury Department, requesting information on the type of license Beyonce and Jay-Z received before traveling to Cuba. “As you know, US law expressly prohibits the licensing of financial transactions for ‘tourist activities’ in Cuba,” the pair wrote.

The lawmakers went on to say that these restrictions were in place because the Cuban government was listed by the US State Department as one of four state sponsors of terrorism and has “one of the world’s most egregious” human rights records. “Cuba’s tourism industry is wholly state-controlled; therefore, US dollars spent on Cuban tourism directly fund the machinery of oppression that brutally represses the Cuban people,” Ros-Lehtinen and Diaz-Balart wrote. Beyonce and Jay-Z created a stir Thursday as they toured the streets of Old Havana, with hundreds of Cubans turning out to catch a glimpse of the US pop power couple.

Celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary, they visited historical landmarks in the heart of Old Havana, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. They snapped pictures and spoke with local residents. Beyonce-who sang the US national anthem at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January and performed in the Super Bowl half-time show in Februarywas wearing a short mustard yellow dress with black and white accents. After visiting the cathedral, the couple had lunch in a nearby restaurant.

On Wednesday night, they also had dinner at La Guarida, one of Havana’s most exclusive restaurants. Americans are not allowed to visit Cuba and spend mon-

US singer Beyonce is seen in a balcony of the Saratoga Hotel in Havana next to her husband Jay Z. —AFP photos

Beyonce leaves the Saratoga Hotel in Havana.

ey there unless they have special US government permission. According to regulations posted on the Treasury Department’s website, “unless authorized by a general or specific license, any person subject to US jurisdiction who engages in any Cuba travel-related transaction violates the regulations and may be subject to penalties.”

Criminal penalties for violating the regulations could result in up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in individual fines.

Thousands of Americans nevertheless visit Cuba every year without US permission, often via third countries. They are rarely prosecuted back home unless they flaunt their defiance of the rules. Beyonce is a strong and vocal supporter of Obama and helped raise money for his 2012 re-elec-

tion campaign.

In their letter, the Republican lawmakers noted that numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism and that the Cuban government had touted it as such in its propaganda. “The restrictions on tourism travel are common-sense measures meant to prevent US dollars from supporting a murderous regime that opposes US security interests at every turn and which ruthlessly suppresses the most basic liberties of speech, assembly, and belief,” argued Ros-Lehtinen and DiazBalart, both Cuban-Americans. “We support the Cuban people by refusing to sustain their jailers.” Beyonce and Jay-Z were not the only US celebrities to visit Cuba in recent years-actors Sean Penn and Bill Murray did so in 2009. —AFP

Cuban police stop people than want to see Beyonce.

US singer Beyonce is seen in a private restaurant in Havana, next to her husband Jay Z.

‘Evil Dead’ returns to

scare a new generation

I

File photo shows musician Garth Brooks, left, presenting George Strait with the Artist of the Decade award at the ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert in Las Vegas. —AP photos

File photo shows Blake Shelton arrives at the 46th Annual Country Music Awards.

File photo shows country singer Eric Church performs at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

File photo shows country singer Luke Bryan at the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

Men of country dominate lineup at ACM Awards M

ore than a few people have suggested to the producers of the Academy of Country Music Awards that they extend the broadcast delay for last night’s show - just in case. With Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan co-hosting, everyone expects the unexpected - and several off-color, unscripted moments - as country music’s biggest cut-ups collide on stage. A recent interview in Nashville with the two, who’ve given themselves the celebrity couple name “Bluke,” veered wildly from a discussion of Bryan’s unworthiness to host to crude jokes and Taylor Swift’s fans.

“I would tell him to be prepared for the onslaught of hatred that will come from Taylor Swift’s fan base if you say any sort of a joke or if she’s any part of a punch line in the monologue,” Shelton said when asked what advice he’d give Bryan. “By the way, you’re getting all those jokes this year.” The 48th annual awards show kicked off at 8 pm EDT last night live on CBS from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The night will be a showcase for country’s men of the moment - and for its two dominant male stars of the last two decades. Many of the top names in country music will perform or appear, including top nominees Eric Church and Hunter Hayes, but most eyes will be on the marquee meeting of Garth Brooks and George Straight.

Brooks and Strait, two of music’s top-selling artists regardless of genre, have never performed

together. They will help honor the show’s longtime producer Dick Clark, who passed away last year.

The academy is naming its artist of the decade award for Clark, whose tenure with the show began in 1979. The moment will be special - and not just for the millions watching at home. It has country’s biggest stars abuzz as well. “Having George and Garth on stage together at one time on an awards show will become one of the most important pieces of tape in country music history,” Dierks Bentley said.

Church leads all nominees with seven, while Hayes is up for six awards. Shelton, Bryan and Jason Aldean - country’s top three male stars of the moment - are up for the fan-voted entertainer of the year award - though they’re facing off against academy favorite Miranda Lambert, who is Shelton’s wife, and two-time winner Taylor Swift, a heavy favorite to three-peat given her relationship with fans. Shelton is arguably country’s most visible male today. “The Voice” coach has a weekly presence on national television, was the recent winner of the rival Country Music Association’s entertainer of the year award and has risen to platinum status again after a mid-career lull that’s a distant memory.

Aldean is country’s best-selling male artist at the moment and Church and Bryan have recently joined him as acts who can fill arenas and reach multiplatinum sales. They’re so prevalent at this

year’s awards, they’ve elbowed out traditional nominees like Brad Paisley, who was shut out of the nominations for the first time since 1999, and Kenny Chesney, a perennial entertainer of the year nominee who was left out of the category despite putting on 2012’s most talked about event - his stadium tour with Tim McGraw.

Shelton will kick off the show with a performance of his new single “Boys ‘Round Here” that will include appearances by Bryan, Brad Paisley, who’s also hosting the academy’s concurrent Fan Jam a mile down the road at The Orleans, Sheryl Crow and Lambert’s trio the Pistol Annies. Hayes will be joined by another performer who got his start as a precocious teen - Stevie Wonder, making his first appearance on the show. Aldean, Chesney, McGraw, Bentley, Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson also are scheduled to perform. Church was nominated for the second consecutive year for album of the year for his breakthrough “Chief.”

He’s up against Swift’s “Red,” Underwood’s “Blown Away,” Bryan’s “Tailgates & Tanlines” and Little Big Town’s “Tornado.” Producer Jay Joyce has two nominations in the category with Church and Little Big Town. Shelton and Lambert will defend their male and female vocalist of the year wins.

Shelton faces Church, Bryan, Aldean and Toby Keith, while Lambert competes with Underwood, Swift, Martina McBride and newcomer Kacey Musgraves. —AP

n 1982, “The Evil Dead” was one of the countless low-budget, no-star horror pictures that are screened at the Cannes Film Festival, hoping to land distribution. Directed by a 20-year-old unknown named Sam Raimi, with a cast and crew made up primarily of his friends, “The Evil Dead” might have gone unnoticed in the flood of festival films.

Except that Stephen King happened to catch a screening and later, in a review in Twilight Zone magazine, famously called it “the most ferociously original horror film of the year.”

A movie with a low asking price, adorned by a priceless blurb from one of America’s most popular writers, suddenly became a hot commodity. New Line Cinema snagged the US distribution rights; other companies distributed the movie around the world. Released in 1983 in an unrated (now NC-17) version, the film grossed $2.4 million worldwide and millions more when released on video. In 2010, a limited edition two-disc Blu-ray special edition sold out almost immediately.

“King’s quote did two things,” says Robert G. Tapert, who produced both the original and the remake. “It drew the attention of fans, and it made distributors think, ‘Well if we can use that quote in the ad, we can sell the movie.’ ... It was a ready-made piece of advertising material that you could put on a poster or TV spot. It literally changed the destiny of the film.”

Like so many other horror classics from the last few decades (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,”“Halloween,”“A Nightmare on Elm Street,” etc), “The Evil Dead” had enough popularity to be ripe for the remake treatment. But the new “Evil Dead,” which opens Friday, isn’t just an attempt to cash in on a dusty classic by adding more gore and better-looking actors.

This outrageously bloody, violent picture really is one from the heart-a spiked, thorny, bleeding heart. The feature debut of Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez, “Evil Dead” follows the original’s template of stranding five young people in a cabin deep in some haunted woods, where one of them finds a creepy book wrapped in barbed wire that, not surprisngly, unleashes demons that possess the characters and turn them against each other.

There are minor deviations: Instead of Ash (Bruce Campbell), the star of the original “Evil Dead” and its two sequels, the central character this time is Mia (Jane Levy), a young woman with a drug habit who asks her brother (Shiloh Fernandez) and several other friends to accompany her to the remote family cabin and help her detox. But the movie, which runs a lean 91 minutes (only six minutes longer than the original), doesn’t waste much time in getting to the gruesome stuff.

“We knew that fans were going to be very concerned about a remake, because most of them turn out so bad,” says Campbell, who is currently shooting the sixth season of “Burn Notice” in Miami. “But I want them to know that we, the original filmmakers, were even more concerned. This was the movie that got me into this business, so I didn’t take it lightly.

This isn’t a case of producers exploiting their rights to a film. We’ve been vouching this entire production from the start to make sure people get what they paying for, especially ‘Evil Dead’ fans. This is for them.”

Alvarez, 35, landed the job of director by accident. Originally, he had been been meeting with Raimi’s production company about turning his five-minute short thriller “Panic Attack,” about an invasion by robots, into a feature film.

That project never got made. But in one of their meetings, Alvarez let slip that he saw “The Evil Dead” on video when he was 12 and it remained his favorite scary movie of all time. Raimi, who had long wanted to make another “Evil Dead” movie but was too busy making giant films (“Spider-Man,” “Oz the Great and Powerful”), asked Alvarez if he’d be interested in a remake.

The script he and writing partner Rodo Sayagues turned in landed them the job.

“The story that they came up with is much more serious than the original’s,” Tapert says. “Audiences today are much more educated about movies. The first ‘Evil Dead’ is still a hard-hitting horror film, but audiences had never seen anything like it and didn’t know how to respond to it, so they laughed as a protective device. Plus the relationships between the characters were very sketchy.

Since then they’ve seen so many outrageous movies, so the drama in this movie

Jane Levy in TriStar Pictures’ horror, ‘Evil Dead.’ —MCT supports itself. The audience takes the story about a brother and a sister seriously. In the first ‘Evil Dead,’ they were just waiting for something crazy to happen.”

Another sign of the times: While the original film received the equivalent of an “X” rating for its violence and gore, the new version-which is infinitely more violent and grotesque-passed with an “R” after the removal of three or four frames, never an entire scene.

“The ratings board has changed over the years,” Campbell says. “What once might have been an R is now a PG-13. We were concerned with this one, because two of the three ‘Evil Dead’ movies went out unrated. But the ratings board understood our concept that some carnage and mayhem can be exuberant and not depressing. It’s so over the top, you can’t help but laugh. We’re not showing you a guy with a drill drilling into someone’s eye for two hours. This is not one of those movies where you feel like going home and hanging yourself.”

“Evil Dead” is hitting screens just a week short of a year after “The Cabin in the Woods,” the deconstruction of the horror film genre by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard that seemed to guarantee no one would ever be able to take one of these kids-alone-in-the-woods thrillers seriously again. But Alvarez, who says he loved “Cabin,” thinks that movie actually did the genre a big favor. “‘Cabin’ is such a fun movie, made by people who really understand horror,” he says. “There are a lot of things in that film that echo things in our movie. But I don’t think it hurts us on any level. If anything, ‘Cabin’ makes you want to go out and see a real horror movie. And we’re not kidding around with ours.” —MCT

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Shaker Village’s maple syrup goes from its trees to tables

Shaker Village Historic Interpreter Philip McIntosh, of Harrodsburg, center, pours sap from a sap pail into the evaporator as Shaker Village Historic Interpreter, Mark Ross, of Harrodsburg, selects firewood at Shaker Village in Harrodsburg. — MCT photos

G

uests who eat breakfast at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill probably don’t even give a second thought to the syrup that covers their stacks of pancakes. But if they ask, they’ll get a history lesson. The maple syrupwhich is sold in 6-ounce bottles for $6.98 — is processed on the property the same way the Shakers did it in the 1800s.

The Shakers at Pleasant Hill tapped the maple trees, but not to a great extent, said

Ralph E. Ward II, museum program and agritourism manager. “It was not always successful.

It was greatly dependent on the winter variations in the temperature. “This process was much more common in the Northeast-where the harsh winters require the trees to store up more starch in the trunks and roots for cold weather survival. This starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the late winter and early spring.”

Mark Ross uses a brace and bit to drill a hole in a sugar maple tree.

Syrup making is mentioned as early as the 1830s but might have been done on a smaller scale much earlier, Ward said, adding that Shaker Village has been making the syrup for the past five years as an interpretive program.

The yield is about 10 to 15 gallons of finished syrup each spring. “Since the basic process is just cooking down (reducing), there is really no special training required. That being said, experience results in a much better product,” Ward

Philip McIntosh hangs a sap pail from a tap in a maple tree.

said. Among the Shakers, tapping the trees and collecting the sap was men’s work, he explained.

The processing/ cooking would be done by the women. Maple syrup breakfasts are served from 7:30 to 10 am Saturdays during March.

Here is a recipe for fried cornmeal mush that is served at the maple syrup breakfasts.

Fried cornmeal mush 1 cups plain white cornmeal 2 cups water

A pot of syrup that was beginning to complete its final cooking.

teaspoon salt Mix ingredients together and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 7 minutes. Pour into a loaf pan and chill overnight. Unmold and slice into - to inch slices. Dust with cornmeal and fry over moderate heat until golden, turning to make sure surface doesn’t burn. Serve with butter and maple syrup. Makes 10 to 12 slices, depending on size of loaf pan. — MCT

Mark Ross, of Harrodsburg, poures maple syrup into a bottle.

Parents at play:

Making science cool W

hhat image pops into your mind when you hear the word “scientist”? A nerdy guy or gal in a white lab coat hunched over a microscope? A wild-haired Albert Einstein look-alike mixing bubbling liquids in test tubes?

Whether you thought of, we’re betting that you wouldn’t describe a scientist as “cool.”

Unfortunately, that uncool factor keeps a lot of kid from going into science, and that may explain why the US is lagging so

many other first-world countries in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). But there are a number of companies that have set out to turn those old stereotypes on their heads and make science cool. Besides being fun (and educational) for the kids, these science kits are also a fantastic way for parents and kids to play — and learn — together. Here are a few from Discover with Dr. Cool (www.discoverwithdrcool.com) Break open real geodes When you first open up the box, there’s a moment of disappointment. All you find is a pair of safety goggles and plastic bag with six roundish rocks. But

don’t be fooled: there’s a lot more here than meets the eye.

We recommend that you and your child grab a hammer (not included), put on the safety goggles, go outside on the sidewalk, and crack open one or two of the geodes. Once your child has seen the beautiful crystals that are inside, she’ll be much more interested in reading the included Adventure Guide. The first thing you learn is that geodes are formed when gas bubbles get trapped in lava and are penetrated by minerals over millions of years. Knowing that those geodes are so ancient (and yes, they’re real) will make breaking open the next batch a lot more interesting.

Dino dig kit Dinosaurs have fascinated people since the first bones were discovered about 200 years ago, and the Dino Dig Kit gives kids a small taste of what it’s like to be a paleontologist.

Each kit contains a magnifying glass, a brush, a digging tool, and an egg-shaped plaster thing that’s painted to look like a T-Rex head. It’s what’s inside that egg that’s so fun. Use the digging tool to chip away at the plaster, and inside, your young scientist will discover a real dino tooth, a small piece of actual dino bone, and some actual dino poop. Fortunately, all are fossilized. Because the plaster makes an incredible mess, we recommend that you do your excavating outside or, if you’re inside, cover your work surface with lots of newspaper. The included Adventure Guide gives a fun overview of what fossils are and how they’re formed, where they’re found, and even a brief discussion of dino poop (the scientific name is “coprolites,” and the biggest piece ever found was 2 feet long and 6.5 inches wide).

Pan for gold As kids, we all learn about the California Gold rush and we’ve all seen plenty of pictures of miners squatting by the side

Time to get the kitchen knives professionally sharpened

I of a river with a pie pan. If you’ve ever wondered how, exactly, you can find gold with a pie pan, you’ll love this kit. It comes with an actual pan (plastic), two bags of “pay dirt” (which is more like sand), tweezers, and a magnifying glass. Most importantly, there are easy-to-understand instructions on how to use gravity,

water, and the ridges on the inside of the pan to separate tiny nuggets and even tinier flakes (hence the magnifying glass and tweezers) from the sand.

As with the other Dr. Cool kits, this one comes with an informative Adventure Guide and Activity Booklet with trivia, puzzles, and more. —MCT

have beautiful kitchen knives. I received my set of hand-forged J.A. Henckels knives on my first day of cooking school 25 years ago, and the instructor told us that if we cared for them properly we would have these knives for life. I think about that often as I note the knives in their wooden block and think, “Wow, I really have to get these sharpened.”

I don’t use these high-carbon knives, forged from a proprietary mixture of metals that make them very hard and more or less rust-free. When my 10-inch chef’s knife was sharp, it kept a fantastic edge, one that I honed religiously with a hand-held steel.

I can’t remember the last time it was sharp. The Bush administration?

It got dull, as knives do, and needed to be resharpened. I tried, with specialty stones, a diamond-dust-crusted stick, an electric sharpener. I could get an edge, but never one that lasted as well as when I took my knives into a shop to get them professionally sharpened. I would do this more often if I didn’t have other choices stuck in that knife block. There is a dull gray carbon steel knife with a carved wooden handle that my sister picked up at a bazaar in Iran. It is pitted and discolored from the times I left it wet too long. Once in a while, someone will put it in the dishwasher and it emerges with a coating of bright orange rust that I must scour off. “Are you sure that’s safe to use?” my wife always asks warily.

This simple knife doesn’t have any chromium in it to keep it stainless or any molybdenum to make it harder. In fact, it gets dull quickly. But all I have to do is hone this soft steel and I can get that edge back pretty quickly. “You can get a screaming sharp edge on those,” says Matt South, general manager at The Cook’s Warehouse-East Cobb, Ga. “As long as you take care of them, wash them and dry them right away, they get kind of crazy looking but stay extremely sharp. My grandmother had knives like that.”

I called up South not just to brag on my Iranian knife, but to lob the devil’s

advocate question: Do we really need expensive knives? “Well, you get a good knife and it will last you for life,” he said.

“It will keep an edge for a long time if you are careful to hone it regularly. But you should get it professionally sharpened.” I’ve heard all this before. I have the nice knives and never use them.

Know what I use to bone chickens and chop vegetables? A super cheap stamped stainless steel knife with a white plastic handle that I bought at a restaurant supply store. Its days of supreme sharpness are behind it, but I don’t mind whacking a butternut squash with this knife. I also have a Kuhn Ricon utility knife made of a softer high-carbon steel that had been covered with a zebra

striped nonstick coating. It looks like the weapon Cruella de Vil uses to chop off puppy tails. But it keeps a sharp edge that comes back after a swipe or two on the honing steel.

I know that both of these knives eventually will lose their edges enough that I will deem them unusable and push them off to the drawer of unloved kitchen toys.

I can just buy more knives, right? South listens to me, pauses briefly, and says, “Well, think about an iPhone.” An iPhone?

“Yes,” he continues. “People get this nice piece of equipment, but then they replace it a year later. The phones are disposable, upgradeable. People treat knives like that. That’s fine. But you could spend a little more money and have knives that will last you for life.” I’m hearing him loud and clear: Time to get off my butt and sharpen my cooking school knives. —MCT

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Syndicated radio host Casey Kasem and his wife, Jean, are listing their estate on Los Angeles, Californiaís Westside for $42 million. — MCT photos

Hot property: Casey Kasem lists top 40 reasons for selling Westside estate C

asey Kasem, who gained a national radio audience after “American Top 40” launched in 1970, and his wife, Jean, are listing their Westside estate for sale at $42 million. With 12,000 square feet of living space, eight bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, the home has been the site of intimate interviews and sleepovers for as many as 20 youngsters a night. The yard has served as the site of elaborate celebrity-studded gatherings and paintball battles.

The syndicated radio host bought the property for Jean Kasem in 1989 as a gift. “We lived in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel,” she said, “and I didn’t want to leave.” But she was expecting, and his logic won out. “You can’t raise a child in a hotel.” The couple liked the 2.4-acre site near a main artery, which made it convenient for them to commute to their radio and television work. Trees line the streets, and mansions sit on green lawns behind gates and hedges. “It seemed,” she said, “like a place where we could put down roots.”

The footprint of the James Dolena-designed house, where rooms spill off wide hallways, suited their needs. Little else, however, reflected their tastes and preferences. So Jean Kasem began a decades-long project rebuilding, expanding and continually updating the estate.

“We tried to make it a home, not a mansion,” she said, “because mansions are tough to live in.” In fact, she was still making changes as the single-story home was readied for the market. Casey Kasem jokingly calls her “Lady Winchester” in reference to the Winchester Mystery House, the San Jose, Calif., mansion that was continually expanded throughout its owner’s lifetime.

The Kasems’ sensibilities are evident even at the home’s circular motor court. The central fountain was built around an ornate piece of the Brooklyn Bridge. The interiors are filled with antiques the Kasems have collected, and reflect Jean’s love of color and textures. Window treatments include copies of historic fabrics in keeping with the furnishings. She frequently visits Jan’s & Company in Los Angeles to look for antiques.

“Our favorite room is probably the library, where we collected books from all over the world, brokered deals and did our interviews on camera and radio,” Jean said. The comfortable room, near the oval entry, is also where the couple edited “Top 40” scripts. Many spaces are devoted to specific

purposes. There is a hair salon, a design studio and a butler’s pantry. Fireplaces can be found in the family room, the library, the two master suites and even one bathroom. The landscaping includes mature trees, hedges, formal gardens and an expanse of lawn. Par-three golf can be played on a Bobby Trent Jones-designed course. Citrus trees, grapes and strawberries occupy a corner of the yard. Soon after the Kasems bought the estate, they hosted a 5,000-guest benefit. “This property was meant to be used,” Jean said. “The grounds are park-like and taunt you to have fundraisers.”

Perhaps most memorable for the Kasems were the theme parties for family, friends and neighbors.

For an early Sea World party, the former swimming pool took center stage as seals and a whale performed in the water.

Sand was trucked in, Jean recalled. “We brought the beach to the backyard.” In closing down the party, however, the animal handlers encountered some resistance from one of the performers. “They had to drain the pool to get the creature out,” Jean said. She then replaced that pool with a heartshaped one that has two bath houses. Currier & Ives was the theme for a Christmas party with guests arriving by horse-drawn surrey, carol singers and a faux ice-skating rink gracing the lawn. For “American Top 40” brand. He has voiced the character Shaggy, among others, on the “Scooby-Doo” series and videos. Jean has appeared on “Cheers” and “The Tortellis,” among other shows and movies, and runs a baby crib business. Recently, she asked Casey how he viewed himself looking back on his life and career. His reply: “I’m just the guy next door.”

The couple is ready to move on now that their daughter Liberty, 21, is leaving the nest. “It will be easy to sell because it’s a big house for two people,” Jean said. They plan to downsize or perhaps move to the beach. “We’ve tried to make memories here,” Jean said, “because in the end, that’s all you have.”

their daughter’s prom, the Kasems tented the sunken tennis court, which is adjacent to the guesthouse. “I am often stopped on the street by former

Quick fix:

T

angy sweet and sour shrimp over rice is an easy dish. It’s based on prepared ingredients that can be assembled in minutes at home. Best of all there’s no chopping and peeling which means no fuss or mess. Here are a few ingredients that are worth keeping on hand for a quick meal: frozen peeled, deveined shrimp, sweet-sour sauce, frozen chopped onion and bell pepper.

Use the 10-minute rice recipe given or buy quick-cooking rice and follow the package directions.

students who say they will never forget it,” Jean said. Casey, who turns 81 this month, continues to work on syndicated radio shows that spin off the

Looking for two and a half tenants Actress Brooke D’Orsay, who has a recurring role on “Two and a Half Men,” and actor-writer-producer Greg Coolidge have put their house in Hollywood Hills West up for lease at $12,000 a month.

The contemporary-style house, built in 1954, features city views, three bedrooms, three bathrooms and 2,429 square feet of living space.

D’Orsay, 31, has been in the series “Royal Pains”

(2010-12) and “Drop Dead Diva” (2009-11). Public records show the pair bought the house in 2006 for $2.009 million.

House can’t take a bad picture Former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model and cover girl Cheryl Tiegs has listed her home in Bel-Air for $12 million. The Balinese-inspired, resortlike estate sits on nearly 1.5 acres of landscaped grounds with a swimming pool, a guesthouse, pathways and fountains. Designed by interior decorator to the stars Martyn Lawrence Bullard, whose clients have included Cher, Elton John and Kid Rock, the one-story open-plan home features vaulted beamed ceilings, a wine cellar, five bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and 4,770 square feet of living space.

Tiegs, 65, was one of the first supermodels to launch her own clothing and accessories line. She touted cameras on TV commercials for Olympus in the late 1970s. She appeared last year on “The Apprentice” and “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now.” — MCT

Sweet-and-sour shrimp

* Wine suggestion: This shrimp dish would be nicely matched by a tangy, sweet-and-sour gewurztraminer.

Helpful hints: * Your wok or skillet should be very hot so the shrimp will be crisp, not steamed. I add the ingredients in three stages to make sure the pan stays hot while stir-frying.

Countdown: Make rice and set aside.

Make shrimp.

This meal contains 759 calories per

serving with 13 percent of calories from fat.

Sweet and sour shrimp 1 teaspoon canola oil 1 cup frozen diced onion 1 cup frozen diced green bell pepper pound peeled shrimp 1 cup low-salt, bottled sweet and sour sauce 1 cup fresh pineapple cubes Salt and freshly ground black pepper Heat a wok or nonstick skillet over high heat and add oil. When the oil begins smoking, add onion and green pepper. Stir fry 2 minutes or until golden, not brown. Remove vegetables to bowl. Add shrimp to wok, stir-fry 1 min.

Remove to bowl with vegetables. Add sauce and pineapple to wok and immediately return vegetables and shrimp.

Toss 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice and peas. Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 495 calories (10 percent from fat), 5.8 g fat (0.8 g saturated, 1.9 g monounsaturated), 258 mg cholesterol, 36.7 g protein, 75.6 g carbohydrates, 3.7 g fiber, 778 mg sodium.

Quick rice and peas cup long-grain white rice 1 cup frozen peas

2 teaspoons canola oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper Bring a large pot with 2 to 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add rice and boil, uncovered, about 8 minutes. Add peas and continue to boil 2 minutes. Test a grain, rice should be cooked through, but not soft. Drain and place in a bowl. Mix in oil and salt and pepper to taste. Makes 2 servings.

Per serving: 264 calories (17 percent from fat), 5.1 g fat (0.5 g saturated, 3.0 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 7.1 g

protein, 46.9 g carbohydrates, 3.6 g fiber, 83 mg sodium.

Shopping list Here are the ingredients you’ll need for tonight’s Dinner in Minutes.

To buy:1 bag frozen chopped or diced onion, 1 bag frozen chopped or diced green bell pepper, 1 small bag peas, pound peeled shrimp, 1 bottle low-salt sweet and sour sauce and one container fresh pineapple cubes.

Staples: Canola oil, long-grain white rice, salt and black peppercorns. —MCT

US lawmakers seek reason for Beyonce, Jay-Z Cuba trip

37

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013

A worker attaches the name tag of a Buddhist who made a donation to a lantern for upcoming Buddha’s birthday on May 17 at the Jogye temple in Seoul, South Korea yesterday.—AP

inspires other students T

o capture the perfect scene with his point-and-shoot Olympus camera, Milton Young will touch the subject first, his long fingers feeling the contours and angles, the rough surfaces or the smooth facade. He will sniff the air for a familiar scent and turn his face to listen to the sound that echoes off the wall. He gives an example of this technique: “I wanted to take a picture of this bridge and I saw it in my mind because I knew how the wind felt on that bridge. ... I’ve walked that

way so many times.”

At 60, Young is a budding photographer whose unique way of viewing the world has garnered praise from his professor and fellow students at Miami Dade College. Young is also blind. He has no vision in his right eye and makes out only shadows with his left.

That hasn’t stopped him from snapping photos of MDC’s Kendall Campus landmarks: an open breezeway, a stairwell, a crosswalk, the back of a public bus. When prodded, he jokes, “I see with my other senses just fine.”

Photography professor Tony Chirinos says Young has exceeded his expectations. “When I saw his first contact sheet, I was shocked. The composition was really on.” Young’s photos feature his cane in a central role. The

first series taken for his Intro to Photography course was titled “Encountering My World.” “I think that was my unconscious way of trying to tell people the struggle I’m going through,” he says.

Fellow students are his biggest cheerleaders. Jeremy Sabater, 21, was one of the intermediate photo students paired with Young. He quickly discovered that he’d best arrive prepared to answer the dozens of questions his older mentee had. “He has

this personal and intimate way of shooting images that has been a real inspiration for my own photography” says Sabater, a photography technology major. “Milton was an excellent study tool for me because he’s always curious, always inquisitive, wanting to know so much.”

Young smiles, pleased when others remark at his stark images and perfect composition. “I want people to ask, ‘Is that guy really blind?’” His journey to photography-and a college degree-has been a circuitous one, chockablock with obstacles and lessons he now treasures. “Most of my life I held myself back,” he says. “But now I think there’s no limit to what I can do. I’ve crossed that threshold from I can’t to I can.”

Raised in Philadelphia, Young

became a widower 19 years ago when his wife died of an aneurysm six days after their third child was born. At the time, he was a mental-health specialist with the now-defunct Grant Center in South Miami-Dade, Fla, a job he eventually left so he could be home in the evenings with his children.

To help with her grief, he bought his eldest daughter, Ciara, now 27, a camera because he had always admired the art of photography. But he never considered learning himself because he was so focused on “just surviving and on raising the children.” He wanted to make sure they attended college because he never had. And they did.

Ciara is a part-time photographer, middle daughter Alexa, 24, is studying for her master’s degree in nutrition at Florida International University, and David, 19, is a math and economics major at the University of Miami. But even as the children settled into their lives, Young’s travails were by no means over. At 53, working as an operations analyst for Royal Caribbean, he was diagnosed with advanced openangled glaucoma, a hereditary disease that would leave him blind.

“I was so scared, super scared,” he recalls. “I bottomed out. I didn’t know how I was going to get back together.”

For about four years, he didn’t tell anyone at the office, until his uncharacteristic mistakes clued in his supervisor.

Though Royal Caribbean tried to accommodate him, he decided to take a buyout four years ago. Then he began attending the Lighthouse for the Blind, where he learned Braille.

That’s when he decided to fulfill his lifelong dream of attending college.

With the help of MDC Kendall Campus ACCESS (A Comprehensive Center for Exceptional Student Services), he enrolled in a full load of courses, using adaptive equipment, including apps on his iPhone, to help him attend class and study.

At about the same time, photo professor Chirinos approached ACCESS director Elizabeth Smith to suggest a pilot program in photography that would pair blind and visually impaired students with those who can see.

Chirinos developed the idea after his father lost his eyesight, prompting him to question how a photographer might approach his art without that essential sense. “We were looking for

some brave soul who would be willing to try this experiment,” Chirinos says.

Smith recommended Young without hesitation.

Young, on the other hand, was worried. “It was fear,” he says. “I was afraid they were going to find out I was doing real well in all these classes, but that I would fall on my face with this other one.” He didn’t. Chirinos made sure Young had a camera that didn’t need to be focused or adjusted for light. Then he teamed Young with students who would help him mix chemicals and expose the prints properly in an old-fashioned darkroom.

ishing his long list of A’s. He will attend FIU to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology, but plans to continue pursuing his newfound hobby.

Chirinos says Young’s classmates have gained “a deeper appreciation of sight because of Milton. They’ve learned a lot about photography simply by talking to an instinctively talented photographer who cannot see.”

Young says he, too, has discovered something new: “I learned that you can embrace things you were originally afraid of.”—MCT

Milton Young, who is blind, demonstrates how he takes photos.—MCT photos

Young, in turn, photographed his heart out. He took the Olympus everywhere he went. He won over skeptics, attracted fans. In May he graduates with an associate degree in computer engineering. His grade point average?

An impressive 3.93 — only one B blem-