27 Apr 2013

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

JAMADA ALTHANI 17, 1434 AH

No: 15791

3Obama12 48 wants facts

150 Fils

86 deported, strict action against traffic violators

Bangladesh Building disaster toll tops 270

Bulls overpower Nets 79 -76

on Syria chem arms President to discuss Syria with Jordan King

MOSCOW: Ministry for Emergency Situations workers and fire fighters work at a site of a fire of a psychiatric hospital yesterday morning. — AP

Russia psychiatric hospital fire kills 38 RAMENSKY, Russia: Thirty-eight people, mostly psychiatric patients, were killed yesterday in a fire that ravaged a hospital in the Moscow region, with the victims engulfed by flames as they slept behind barred windows.

The deadly night-time blaze raised new questions about security standards at Russia’s medical institutions, in particular at psychiatric hospitals, after a string of fires in the last years.

The fire spread rapidly throughout the wood-and-brick hospital wing in the small town of Ramensky around 100

kilometres (62 miles) outside Moscow as the patients slept heavily after reportedly being given sleeping pills.

Officials said the residents of the wing of Hospital No. 14 apparently died in their sleep from smoke inhalation as the fire spread rapidly through the building dating back to 1940, although three managed to escape in the early stages of the inferno.

“As a result of the fire, 38 people died, three escaped-one nurse and two patients,” the health ministry said in a statement. The emergency situations

Over 100 Gitmo inmates on hunger strike WASHINGTON: More prisoners have joined a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention at the US-run Guantanamo military prison, with 97 out of 166 detainees refusing food, a spokesman said yesterday.

Among the strikers, 19 have been given feeding tubes, and five of those are hospitalized but do not have life-threatening conditions, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House said in a statement. The rapidly growing protest movement began on February 6, lawyers for the detainees said.

Continued on Page 10

ministry listed those believed to have died as two female orderlies and 36 patients.

Acting Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov told Rossiya 24 television that “the investigation must decide whether the (window) bars were the reason or not” for why so few were able to flee to safety. The patients, who may have been sedated, apparently slept through smoke alarms, although the nurse who escaped did wake up and rescued two patients despite heavy smoke. — AFP

11 British Islamists jailed for terror plot Ashik Ali was jailed for 15 years by LONDON: Eleven British Muslims a judge at Woolwich Crown Court were jailed yesterday for planning in southeast London. Eight other what a judge said was a plot with members of the cell which was the blessing of Al-Qaeda to carry based in Birmingham, central out a string of suicide bombings England, were also sentenced to rival 9/11 and the 2005 London yesterday. “Your plot had the attacks. The conspiracy involved at least six of the plotters travel- Irfan Naseer blessing of Al-Qaeda and you intended to further the aims of Alling to Pakistan for terror training and the terror cell aimed to set off eight Qaeda,” Judge Richard Henriques said as rucksack bombs in crowded areas and he began the sentencing with Naseer.

“The only barrier between (Naseer’s) team possibly other timed devices.

Ringleader Irfan Naseer received a life and mass murder was the intervention of sentence, his right-hand man Irfan Khalid the authorities.”

Continued on Page 10 was jailed for 18 years and co-conspirator

Max 33º Min 16º

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is awaiting a “definitive judgment” on whether the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against rebel fighters before taking action, the White House said yesterday.

The United States said on Thursday for the first time that it believed Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime had likely used chemical weapons against opposition forces, though cautioned spy agencies were not 100 percent sure. “We are working to establish credible and corroborated facts to build on this intelligence assessment in order to establish a definitive judgment as to whether or not the president’s red line has been crossed,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

The spokesman said those facts would “inform our decisionmaking about next steps,” adding that “all options remain on the table.” “The president wants the facts. And I’m not going to set a timeline, because the facts need to be what drives this investigation-not a deadline,” Carney said.

“The situation in Syria is and has been grave. The Assad regime has the blood of its own people on its hands.” The spokesman reiterated that Washington backed a United Nations investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday there was limited but growing evidence that Syria had committed a war crime by using chemical weapons. In a cautious assessment mirroring that of US President Barack Obama’s administration, Cameron said the use of chemical weapons was a red line that should trigger greater pressure on President Bashar Al-Assad.

“It is limited evidence but there is growing evidence that we have seen too of the use of chemical weapons, probably by the regime,” Cameron told the BBC. “It is extremely serious: this is a war crime ... We need to go on gathering this evidence and also to send a very clear warning to the Syrian regime about these appalling actions,” he said.

Two Syrian officials meanwhile denied yesterday that government forces had used chemical weapons against rebels, the first response from President Bashar Assad’s regime to US assertions that it had deployed such weapons during the 2-year-old civil war.

Obama was to host Jordan’s King Abdullah II for White House talks yesterday that are sure to focus on Syria, after Washington said Damascus had likely used chemical weapons.

Just over a month after the king welcomed Obama to Amman, the US president wants to discuss “Jordan’s political and economic reforms, the crisis in Syria, and additional regional issues of mutual concern,” the White House said. The two leaders were expected to make brief comments to reporters before their closed-doors talks.

Syria’s opposition urged the UN Security Council yesterday to act immediately, possibly even by imposing a no-fly zone, after the United States said for the first time the regime has probably used chemical weapons. “It is time for the UN Security Council to act” on Syria, an official from the main opposition National Coalition told AFP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. “This is a massive issue, and the Security Council’s paralysis over Syria is no excuse,” the Coalition official said.

“The UN needs to immediately investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Should it find the regime used such weapons, it must act immediately, at least by imposing a no-fly zone,” he added. — Agencies

LOCAL SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

KUWAIT: Chairman of board of Kuwait Banks Club, Ahmed Sultan recently bid farewell a delegation comprising of bankers leaving on a Omrah trip that was organized by KBC for bankers and their families. The delegation, that includes over fifty pilgrims, is headed by board member, Ali Al-Thuwaini, head of the social committee, Reem Al-Waqian, sports committee chairman, Khalil Al-Bloushi and the assistant manager, Abbas Al-Bloushi.

Maid commits suicide

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Security sources revealed that an Indonesian maid has put an end to her life by hanging herself to death in her sponsor’s house at Dasmah. Sources said that the maid was 24 years old and was found dead at dawn in her room.

The housewife looked for the maid all over the house but did not find her. First, she thought that the maid has ran away.

But later she found the maid hanging in her room. She reported matter to her husband who immediately reported the matter to police who started their investigations and carried the maid’s body to medical examiner.

An Egyptian expat aged 52 years was killed in an accident on the Sixth Ring Road yesterday. Two of his companions were injured. While two persons, one bedoun and the other Saudi national were caught with drugs at Al Rawsha area. And another two Jordanian expats were arrested at Hawally for having drugs and drugs taking tools.

Kuwait ambassador meets Maltese education minister VALLETTA: Kuwait Ambassador to Malta, Faisal AlMusaileem, met yesterday with Maltese Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo.

Al-Musaileem said that the meeting with Bartolo focused on means to strengthen bilateral relations and several issues of common concern.

The Kuwaiti diplomat thanked the Maltese official for his country’s care and support of Kuwaiti students in Malta, affirming that such gesture would further develop ties within the Educational domain. For his part, the Maltese official said that he was looking forward to help in strengthening relations between Malta and Kuwait, affirming that his ministry would provide all that is necessary to help Kuwaiti students in their academic careers. —KUNA

Kuwait planning ‘repressive’ law, warns journalist group ‘Unified Media Law’ KUWAIT: Kuwait should scrap plans for a “repressive” new media law, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said over the weekend, saying the draft legislation would severely undermine press freedom. As the government of the Gulf Arab country faces ongoing opposition protests, the law would steeply increase fines on journalists deemed to have insulted the state.

The government passed the “Unified Media Law” earlier this month and it now needs approval from parliament and His Highness the Amir, but the New York-based campaign group

said it would mean “inflated” fines as well as “unjustified restrictions on election coverage, and ambiguous regulations for online media.” Kuwait’s media are among the most free in the Gulf region and the government generally tolerates more political dissent.

However, in recent months dozens of activists have been charged with insulting the emir and several have been handed jail sentences. The draft law proposes fines of up to KD 300,000, up sharply from the previous maximum financial of KD 20,000, the CPJ said.

Insulting HH the Amir or HH the

Crown Prince would carry the largest fines. There would also be fines of up to KD 100,000 for insulting the constitution, the flag, harming public morals, inciting crimes, harming relations with other governments and slandering public servants.

The Ministry of Information has said that the law is positive for journalists because it replaces prison penalties for “secular offences” with fines, but the CPJ said: “the fines are so steep that journalists could be sent to jail anyway...” Kuwait’s main private newspapers have also said the law would violate free speech.

Al-Muosherji to take part in Quran conference KUWAIT: Minister of Justice and Minister Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Shareeda Abdullah Al-Muosherji will partake in the second international Quran recital conference, to kick off in Manama today.

In a press statement, the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs said that the

four-day conference is held under the patronage of Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and in cooperation with the Holy Quran Memorization International Organization.

It pointed out that the conference, which brings together Quran scholars and teachers from around the world, is

meant to improve the performance of Quran teachers and teaching institutions.

The ministry said that AlMuousherji’s attendance at the conference illustrates the ministry’s effective role and cooperation with Muslim organizations to upgrade and facilitate Quran learning and teaching. —KUNA

LOCAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

KUWAIT: Traffic department’s inspection campaign in progress in Shuwaikh.

Strict actions against traffic violators

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs Lt Gen Abdul Fattah Al-Ali said 86 expats have been deported during the past few days, emphasizing that he is implementing the instructions of the First Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud, and the Undersecretary Gen Ghazi Al-Omar. He said that traffic department will not allow any kind of violation of the country’s law.

The traffic department held an extended traffic campaign in Shuwaikh industrial area, with the participation of 72 traffic patrols and 17 cranes. The campaign resulted in more than 300 citations, and the detention of about 70 vehicles, . Lt Gen Al Ali also announced some new procedures to be taken besides activating the existing traffic law articles, to overcome all mistakes that used to happen before.

Al-Ali said: “We have received green light from the minister of interior and undersecretary to take strict actions against expatriates who do not abide by traffic rules, especially those who jump red traffic light and drive without driving license and over speed.

Those instructions have been passed to all patrols, and was given the blessings of first deputy prime minister and minister of interior, which calls for immediate deportation of any expatriate who drives without license.

Also all expatriates who jump red signal or overspeed will be deported. Of course, we will also take strict actions against citizens who commit such traffic violations as those violations endanger the lives of other people.

Therefore, article 33 of traffic law will be strictly implemented, and the vehicle of the citizen who breaks the law will be impounded for three months.”

Al Ali said that new procedures will be taken against owners of the cars that are taken into custody, and they will have to pay all fines in addition o detention charges and cost of transporting the vehicle to the dumping ground. He added that the Ministry of Interior will take strict actions against reckless driving in Wafra, Subhan and Fahaheel.

He added in his report to press reporters

that once the law completely implemented,there will be safety and security on the road and the number of road accidents which costs the state billions of dinars annually will come down. Ministry of Interior started communicating with Ministry of Commerce to cancel the license of any garage found repairing cars without repair permit from the local police station.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Kuwaiti charity continues aid distribution to Syrians AMMAN: Kuwaiti Al-Islah Society-affiliated Al Rahma International is continuing its humanitarian efforts aimed Syrians displaced in neighbouring Jordan.

Recently, a team from the charity provided “material aid” to some 1,143 Syrian families displaced in Irbid, Mafraq, ArRamtha, Kerak and Zarqa over a three-day period, head of the

Mocksville National Guard unit returns from Kuwait NORTH CAROLINA: Members of the Mount Airy National Guard unit returned Thursday afternoon from a mission to Kuwait which began last summer. The local soldiers were mostly tradesmen making up Detachment 2 of the North Carolina Army National Guard’s 882nd Engineer Company, which is based in Mocksville. They were scheduled to arrive Thursday afternoon in Charlotte, to the delight of loved ones gathered to greet them, said Maj. Jennifer Todd, a state National Guard spokesperson.

Along with the National Guard group from Mount Airy, the mission that began last June included other units based at armories in Mocksville and Taylorsville, as part of the US effort to withdrawn from Afghanistan. The unit, nicknamed the “Pirates,” completed an almost year-long tour in Southwest Asia building troop housing, infrastructure and other base improvements in Kuwait. They included carpenters, electricians, masons, plumbers and equipment operators.

“They were building the infrastructure to start the transitional base for the troops’ drawdown,” Todd explained regarding the work by the 882nd Engineer Company, which she described as a “horizontal” engineering unit. Such companies also are involved in road building. Todd added that along with their work in Kuwait, North Carolina troops pushed deep into Afghanistan where the heaviest concentrations of US forces are located. The local unit, based on Patrol Station Road off US 52, has about 50 members, all of whom were part of the deployment to Afghanistan, Army Staff Sgt.

charity’s Jordan office Basil Shahada said.

The current campaign is the 44th in number, with donations provided by Kuwaiti business giants, Al-Sayer Group, and other local benefactors.

Shahada encouraged Kuwaitis to come forward and stand by the Syrians during their time of strife and to ease their suf-

fering.The charity had also overseen a Quran and Hadith recital and literary competition for orphans in Jordan.

Around two million Syrian refuges currently reside in Jordan as a result of an ongoing political conflict between the government and local opposition in their country that began in March, 2011. — KUNA

Kuwait govt urged to solve industrial sector problems 50 percent of Shuwaikh plots not used KUWAIT: Kuwait’s industrial sector is facing major hurdles preventing it from playing its aspired role in the national economy and from being a major source of revenue for the state budget, industrialists warned, urging the government to heed the root causes of the problems to help materialize His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s vision to turn Kuwait into a regional economic hub.

“Among the major problems that face the industrial sector in Kuwait are the lack of storage spaces, plots of lands allocated for industrial purposes and high rents,” Abdul Jaleel Boland, a consultant to Kuwait-based Al-Ahleia Switchgear Company, said.

Unfortunately, he pointed out that there are many plots of land in the industrial zones that have been granted to unserious investors.

“Nearly 50 percent of the plots of lands in Sabahan industrial zone are not used. The government has to intervene and withdraw these plots of land and redistribute them to serious investors,” Boland said.

Boland noted that many countries in the world depend heavily on small enterprises which feed the medium and large ones.

“We need to apply the best practiced examples in this regard in Kuwait.” He went on to say that “the obstacles facing the industrial sector include Kuwaitis’ reluctance to join the private industrial sector due to the unmatchable privileges offered to public servants.” He laid it bare that Kuwaiti industrial investors can’t pay similar salaries or offer privileges to attract Kuwaiti employees “Such a move would lead to a remarkable rise in the production cost and eventually the price of their products which would downsize the competitiveness of the Kuwaiti products.”

“There are other problems facing the industry, including Kuwait’s limited market and long and time-wasting government bureaucracy, dumping practices importers of many products such as aluminum, copper, iron, all materials used in manufacturing electrical panels.”

He underlined the need for a frank and serious dialogue between the competent authorities in the state, the federation of chambers of commerce and industry, companies, investors and young entrepreneurs to find solutions and mechanisms to overcome these obstacles.

For his part, Industrial expert Adel Al-Ghanim said the Kuwaiti industrial sector suffers from the lack of skilled labor, red tape and small market.

He noted that the smallness of the market raise the cost of the production. “Kuwait Industrial sector has nearly two million consumers, while in a neighboring state it has about 16 million,” Al-Ghanim told KUNA. He complained about the meager government support to the industrial sector. “Our neighboring countries are offer generous support to their industrial sector whereas the support in Kuwait is very limited because the yield of industrial production is so small.”

He called for serious solutions to the problems facing the industrial sector through allocating new plots of lands for industrialists and ease procedures for issuing licenses.

In an interview with KUNA, industrial investor Fawzi Al-Dosari echoed complaints about the scarcity of land and protective government measures as well as the bureaucracy. Dosari called for real support to young industrialists and provide them with all they need. He urged the government to stop taking unstudied decisions that have grave impacts on the industrial sector.—KUNA

NBK welcomes students on banking familiarization tour KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) welcomed a group of students from Ahmad al Saqaf Middle School at the bank’s head office in a banking familiarization tour.

NBK’s Public Relations team took the visiting group of students on a tour of the bank’s various departments, including the main banking hall. NBK’s staff then presented to the students a brief lecture on the importance of saving, the services that NBK provides to its customers, the multi-benefits of Al -Azraq and

Al-Shabab accounts and the importance of public relations within the banking sector. At the end of the visit, the students expressed their thanks for having the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the banking industry.

As part of its corporate social responsibility program, NBK hosts students regularly on field trips from both public and private school sectors in Kuwait and provides them with information about the banking industry and career opportunities.

A group picture with NBK Public Relations team

LOCAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Kuwait envoy meets Albanian grand mufti SARAJEVO: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Albania, Najeeb Abdulrahman Al-Bader, met yesterday with the Chairman of Albanian Islamic Community (AIC) and Grand Mufti Sheikh Selim Muca, where they discussed ways of bolstering cooperation between Kuwait and Albania in religious and endowment affairs.

During the meeting, held at the embassy in Tirana, Muca displayed AIC’s project of building a

grand mosque in Albania which would accommodate 5,000 worshipers, Ambassador Al-Bader said.

He noted that AIC’s chairman acknowledged that the project is to become a huge Islamic monument in the Balkan Peninsula, wishing it to be constructed in a way that would serve Muslims religously, socially and culturally.

In addition, the Kuwaiti Ambassador lauded Albania’s respect of religions which reflects posi-

Kuwait allows 159 Filipino workers to be repatriated

Kuwait wants Germany continue action against discrimination GENEVA: The State of Kuwait has recommended that Germany carry on combating all forms of racial discrimination namely those based on religion and “imposing deterrence” against such practices.

Saud Haddad Al-Saeedi, advisor of the Kuwaiti permanent mission at the UN, stressed on the necessity that the German Government repeal laws that bar Muslim women from wearing the veil (hijab) for “it symbolizes adoption of certain beliefs with regard of methods and style of living”-alluding to principles and guidelines of the heavenly religion of Islam.

The diplomat, who was addressing the 16th session of the panel

tasked with regular review of the German human rights file, praised measures that had been taken by Berlin in combatting of racially-motivated crimes (also known as hate crimes), namely formation of a special investigative panel as well as clarifications that had been made public regarding this file.

Al-Saeedi expressed appreciation for the “noticeable improvements” in file of human rights in Germany, such as adoption of national plans to implement the UN Convention for Rights of Disabled People and hosting of the Islamic conference in 2012, hat was aimed at encouraging Muslims’ integration into the German society.—KUNA

tively on human rights and freedoms, and boosts human values.

For his part, Muca praised Kuwait’s role and efforts in strengthening Islamic solidarity, and cooperation among Muslims around the world, expressing his appreciation for Kuwait’s contributions made in support of boosting development in his country and renovating historic and cultural buildings and monuments which are part of Albania’s identity. — KUNA

Cooperation on human rights MANILA: Kuwait has eased a ban on 159 overseas Filipino workers and allowed them to go home to the Philippines, a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The DFA said Kuwait Chief of the Office of Domestic Workers Affairs (ODWA) Gen. Abdullak Al-Ali eased the ban in line with ongoing mutual cooperation with the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait and the Kuwait government on human rights.

The announcement was made on the occasion of the Human Rights Symposium in Kuwait on April 18, and was the result of joint efforts by the Philippine Embassy and

Lucrative offers for Kuwait at Rabat investment forum RABAT: The third Moroccan-GCC investment forum, to be held in Tangier between May 6 and 8 will provide Kuwaiti participants with promising and lucrative offers, said a Moroccan official here yesterday.

Chairman of the forum Mohamed Ait Bouselham told KUNA that the forum would provide 22 Kuwaiti companies and investment institutes with promising offers that would surely further boost relations between Kuwait and Morocco.

The official lauded the Kuwaiti investments in Morocco and stressed that the investments were con-

KUWAIT: Inside view of the kitchens which were ordered closed by the municipal officials.

Municipality inspections in Mangaf

By Hanan Al Saadoun KUWAIT: Field campaigns carried out by Ahmadi municipality inspectors in Mangaf area resulted in the closure of two central kitchens for sweets. These kitchens were operating in buildings basements without obtaining licence from the municipality. The inspection team leader Mishaal Aba Al-Safi told reporters that these inspection campaigns will continue as per the instruction and support of munici-

the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait.

The OFWs will be repatriated in groups of 50 within the next few weeks and are undergoing the last processing stages prior to going home. Recruitment agencies agreed to pay for their airfare after strong representations had been made by POLO. The OFWs had been subject to a bureaucratic ban on fingerprinting as part of the repatriation process. The Embassy made a series of diplomatic representations, culminating in the Human Rights Symposium, where embassy representatives met with and thanked Kuwaiti officials for their cooperation.

pality branch manager Fahad Dughaim Al-Otaibi, to put an end to all negative practices, especially that related to foodstuff.

He said three citations were issued for opening two stores without license from municipality, in addition to one citation for breaking cleanliness rules, as pets and rats were found in one of the kitchens. He pointed out that one of those kitchens was found making sweets and supply large number of shops outside Ahmadi governorate.

tributing to development of the Moroccan economy.

Ait Bouselham said that Morocco has much more to offer Kuwaiti investors and noted that the upcoming forum was an opportunity amongst many to showcase what his country has to offer.

The upcoming event is expected to attract around 400 decision makers in Morocco and from GCC states.

Over 150 business personnel and 100 companies are expected to partake in the forum which will be held under the theme of “strategic partnership for building future economy.”—KUNA

LOCAL SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

KISR inaugurates photovoltaic lab KUWAIT: Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) opened a laboratory for testing the photoelectric panels at its headquarters here on Thursday.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, KISR Director General Dr Naji Al-Mutairi said the lab is a quantum lead in Kuwait’s efforts to domesticate the renewable energy technologies.

“The drive towards taping into the country’s potentials in renewable energies is sponsored by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,” he pointed out.

Dr Al-Mutairi commended the efforts made by the technical team who developed the lab over the last three years, saying: “they have overcome all challenges that faced this ambitious project such as the hot weather and the delicate technicalities.”

With a capacity of 102 kilowatts, the lab is the first of its kind in the Gulf region and meets the international standards; it’s a source of pride for Kuwait, he added. —KUNA

Mexican business leaders paid fruitful visit to Kuwait

Kuwait condemns Israel’s failure to abide by NPT Action plans adopted

GENEVA: The State of Kuwait has condemned in strong terms Israel’s unwavering stance against joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its firm opposition to subjecting to the System of Guarantees of the International Energy Agency, thus hindering efforts for rendering the Middle East free of nuclear arms.

Israel has adamantly objected to implementation of the NPT, unlike all states in the Middle East, thus posing an obstacle in implementation of the treaty, said Ambassador Jassem M. Al-Mubaraki, Director of International Organizations Department of Kuwait Foreign Ministry, in an address at the second session of the conference of the NPT Preparatory Committee. Al-Mubaraki, in the official statement at the conference, due on April 22-May 3, noted that Israel’s intransigence in this respect would encourage other nations to seek to acquire or manufacture nuclear arms.

The guarantees’ regime constitutes

the corner stone for the non-proliferation of the nuclear weapons, “it is the regime that has been approved by the majority of states of the world.

“The additional protocol is complementary to the comprehensive guarantees convention.”

“Kuwait believes that it is of utmost necessity that the Preparatory Committee review progress that has been achieved in the realms of applying highest standards of nuclear safety in states that acquire nuclear installations,” he added.

Elaborating, he said 2010 was a distinguished year at this level, considering the holding of a session of the Security Council on disarmament and proliferation and the agreement that was reached between the US and Russia on cutting their nuclear arsenals. He also indicated in this vein at the holding of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), amid worldwide opti-

mism to intensify the efforts to boost proliferation.

Conferees had adopted action plans including one for holding an international convention in 2012 to make the Middle East clear of nuclear arms.

“Today, three years after we held a meeting in New York, we observe with great regret hike of military spending, states’ retention of huge arsenals of nuclear arms and slack in implementation of the resolutions of the review conference and the 2010 treaty,” Al-Mubaraki pointed out.

Delving further into these issues, the Kuwaiti diplomat noted failure to hold a convention for the Middle East, expressed Kuwait’s readiness to “ensure success” of the review convention due in 2015, maintaining support for disarmament. He also noted states’ right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, according to standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency. —KUNA

NEW YORK: Recent visit by a delegation of leading Mexican businessmen concluded with paramount success which would impact positively on the business cooperation between the two countries, said the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the United Mexican States.

Leaders of the two countries share identical views with regard of elevating level of the bilateral relations at the economic, business and commercial levels, said Samih Johar Hayat at a news conference held here yesterday.

A delegation grouping a number of most active influential leaders in Mexico has recently visited Kuwait. Among the visitors were Chairman of Mexico-Kuwait Friendship Society Carlos Peralta Quintero, Chief Executive Officer of Carso Group Carlos Selim Helu and others.

They praised views and guidelines, presented by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, noting his opinions reflected his long experience and ability to employ Kuwait’s abundant resources for well-being and good future of the natives of the country, the ambassador said during the news conference, held at the Press Club in the Mexican capital.

Peralta, who also spoke during the conference, said the business figures, during the visit to Kuwait, expressed readiness to cooperate with the Gulf State in various sectors, namely infrastructure, commerce and investments, both at the private and public levels.

Affirming the visit was aimed at exchanging ideas and proposals for bolstering the bilateral relations between the two countries, Peralta said the delegation held business talks with officials of the State, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, namely Chairman Ali Al-Ghanem, who briefed the visitors about investment opportunities that could be provided by Kuwait for the Mexican entrepreneurs.

The Mexican delegation toured Kuwait by helicopter, inspecting sites of existing and future enterprises and mega ventures.

Elaborating, Peralta noted that the warm welcome for the visiting Mexican business leaders reflected sincere desire of HH the Amir, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and governments of the two countries for boosting the bilateral relations at all levels. —KUNA

EU-GCC dialogue discusses Myanmar Muslims issue at behest of Kuwait BRUSSELS: The issue of the Muslim minority in Myanmar/Burma was discussed during the 19th session of the EU-GCC political dialogue held in Brussels yesterday, Thursday, on the level of senior officials.

Kuwait’s ambassador to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg, Nabeela Al-Mulla, speaking to the Kuwait news agency yesterday said “Kuwait called for the inclusion of the situation of Muslims in Myanmar and the European side agreed on that,” she noted.

The move was to throw light on the suffering and persecution of the Muslim people in Myanmar, said Al-Mulla who led the Kuwaiti side at the meeting. She also noted the “hastiness” from the European side to lift the EU sanctions on Myanmar last week, and called on the EU to put pressure on the Burmese regime to adopt a just stance towards Muslims in the Asian country. On the issue of Syria, she said, the GGC side expressed its deep concern over the deteriorating situation

there and called for serious efforts to resolve the crisis. “We focussed in this meeting on the humanitarian situation. We pointed out that Kuwait has implemented its commitments which it announced at the international donors’ conference on Syria held in Kuwait in January and that Kuwait has delivered its aid to the UN agencies which are engaged in helping the Syrian people,” said Al-Mulla.

She pointed out that the EU humanitarian aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, speak-

ing in the European Parliament two days ago, praised Kuwait for fulfilling its commitments to help the Syrian people. The issue of Iran is always on our agenda and the Kuwait side voiced concern on the environmental safety from the Iranian nuclear plant in Bushehr after the recent two quakes that struck Iran, she said. Any leakage from the Iranian nuclear plant can pollute the atmosphere and affect the lives of Kuwaiti and Gulf citizens, warned Al-Mulla. —KUNA

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

American jihadi in Somalia tweets on kill attempt

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Gunmen kill 13 in Philippine violence

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Boston bomb suspect moved from hospital

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BAGHDAD: Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad yesterday. The United Nations warned that Iraq is at a “crossroads” and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence killed 195 people. — AFP

UN warns Iraq at crossroads as 195 killed Maliki sees civil war • Bombs explode in Baghdad mosques BAGHDAD: The United Nations warned yesterday that Iraq is at a “crossroads” and appealed for restraint, as a bloody four-day wave of violence, including multiple attacks at mosques, killed 195 people. “I call on the conscience of all religious and political leaders not to let anger win over peace, and to use their wisdom, because the country is at a crossroads,” UN envoy Martin Kobler said in a statement.

The call came a day after Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki warned of a return to “sectarian civil war.” Abdulghafur Al-Samarraie and Saleh AlHaidari, leading clerics who respectively head the Sunni and Shiite religious endowments, have also jointly warned against sectarian strife and called for top politicians to meet at a Baghdad mosque yesterday.

But an official from the Sunni endowment said the meeting was cancelled. Bombs exploded at three Sunni mosques in Baghdad and a fourth north of the capital yesterday, killing at least four people and wounding 50, after more than a dozen people were killed in attacks at Sunni mosques on Tuesday.

Iraqi security forces, meanwhile, began moving back into the northern town of Sulaiman Bek after gunmen who seized it withdrew. The gunmen pulled out of the predominantly Sunni Turkmen town in Salaheddin province under a deal worked out by tribal leaders and govern-

ment officials, local official Shalal Abdul Baban and municipal council deputy chief Ahmed Aziz said. The gunmen had swarmed into Sulaiman Bek on Wednesday after deadly clashes with security forces, who pulled back as residents fled.

Baban also said that helicopter fire wounded six people on the roof of a house in the town early

yesterday. Army Staff General Ali Ghaidan Majeed told AFP on Thursday that the gunmen in Sulaiman Bek, who he said numbered about 175, had been given 48 hours to withdraw or face attack. The gunmen’s seizure of the town came amid a surge of violence which began on Tuesday when security forces moved in against

Afghan bus crash kills 45, Taleban blamed KANDAHAR: A bus collided yesterday with the wreckage of a truck that had been attacked by Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, killing 45 people aboard the bus in a fiery crash, officials said.

The battered oil tanker had been left in the middle of a narrow road near the border of Kandahar and Helmand provinces for several days after insurgents attacked it. Police considered the area too dangerous to enter, the officials said. Before sunrise yesterday, the bus smashed into the truck and burst into flames, said Abdul Razaq, the provincial police chief of Kandahar.

Police, soldiers and ambulances rushed to the

crash site in a desolate area. Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition and it will be difficult to establish their identities, Razaq said.

One survivor, Mohammad Habib, cried as he searched for his brother. “I don’t care about my belongings and money that were burned inside the bus, but please help me find my brother, dead or alive,” he told AP Television News. “How will I face my mother without him?”

Forty-five people were killed and 10 injured, said Javeed Faisal, the spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province. He spoke to The Associated Press at Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar city where many of the victims, including men, women and children, were taken. —AP

anti-government protesters near the Sunni Arab northern town of Hawijah, sparking clashes that left 53 people dead. Dozens more were killed in subsequent unrest, much but not all of it apparently linked to Tuesday’s clashes, bringing the death toll to 195 by yesterday. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shiite-majority country more than four months ago.

The protesters have called for the resignation of Maliki, a Shiite, and railed against authorities for allegedly targeting their community. Seven gunmen died carrying out three separate attacks on security forces south of the northern city of Kirkuk yesterday, a high-ranking army officer and a medical source said.

Gunmen also killed a soldier and wounded two police in an attack on a checkpoint in AlSharqat, north of the capital, late on Thursday, a police colonel and a doctor said.

And three hours of fighting in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killed three federal police and wounded six, police Lieutenant Colonel Yassir Hamid AlJumaili and a doctor said. The clashes saw gunmen take control of three checkpoints on the outskirts of the overwhelmingly Sunni Arab city after they were abandoned by federal police, Jumaili said. He said they then turned the checkpoints over to local police, who returned them to federal police yesterday. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Lebanon dragged in as Hezbollah joins war Funerals daily for Hezbollah soldiers killed in Syria

CAIRO: Leader of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II (left) and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb (right) give a joint press conference after a meeting to discuss the current interfaith situation at the Egyptian Coptic Cathedral in Cairo’s Abbassiya neighborhood yesterday following clashes between Christians and Muslims earlier in the month. — AFP

Egypt’s Pope says Islamist rulers neglect Copts CAIRO: Egypt’s Christians feel sidelined, ignored and neglected by Muslim Brotherhood-led authorities, who proffer assurances but have taken little or no action to protect them from violence, Coptic Pope Tawadros II said. In his first interview since emerging from seclusion after eight people were killed in sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians this month, the pope called official accounts of clashes at Cairo’s Coptic cathedral on April 7 “a pack of lies”.

He also voiced dismay at attempts by President Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist allies to purge thousands of judges appointed under ousted President Hosni Mubarak, saying the judiciary was a pillar of Egyptian society and should not be touched. “There is a sense of marginalization and rejection, which we can call social isolation,” the pope told Reuters on Thursday of the feelings of Christians, who he said make up at least 15 percent of Egypt’s 84 million people. Most Egyptians are Sunni Muslims.

Attacks on churches and sectarian tensions increased significantly after the rise of Islamists to power following the 2011 uprising that overthrew Mubarak, even though Christians had demonstrated alongside Muslims for his removal. Asked about the government’s response to this month’s attacks, he said: “It made a bad judgment and it was negligent... I would have expected better security for the place and the people.” Morsi and his ministers tried to mend fences with the 60-year-old Coptic pontiff after the April 5 clashes in the town of El Khusus, north of Cairo, in which four Christians and one Muslim were killed. Sectarian violence spread to the capital’s sprawling St Mark’s Cathedral, the pope’s headquaters, after the funerals.

“Sometimes we get nice feelings from officials, but such feelings require actions, and the actions are slow, and maybe little, and sometimes don’t exist at all,” the pope said. Riot police appeared to stand aside during what was the first attack on the seat of Christianity in Egypt in more than 1,400 years, although Coptic churches and community centres have suffered periodic violence for years. The pope said he was concerned by signs that some Copts were emigrating “because they are fearing the new regime”. Others were going abroad to study, seek work or join family, he said. —Reuters

BAALBEK, Lebanon: Along north Lebanon’s highways, the portraits of Hezbollah militants who have died in skirmishes with Israel are fading. But there are glistening photos of those killed in Hezbollah’s new fight.

These men died in Syria, battling alongside the army of Hezbollah’s close ally President Bashar Al-Assad against rebel units in a conflict which has killed more than 70,000 people and risks reigniting Lebanon’s 15-year sectarian civil war.

The Shiite Muslim group, designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, is the most effective military body in Lebanon and its growing involvement in Syria’s quagmire has angered Lebanese Sunni rebel sympathisers. The Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, famed for its colossal Roman ruins, now feels like a garrison town.

Hezbollah men in military fatigues and police outfits are everywhere. As are Jeeps and Chevrolets with blacked-out windows the group’s vehicles of choice.

On Wednesday afternoon, machine gun fire rang out through Baalbek’s narrow streets, signalling the arrival of another dead Hezbollah fighter from Syria, 12 km (7 miles) to the east.

Around 30 of his comrades quickly aligned in the street and straightened their green berets, readying themselves to carry the corpse on their shoulders.

“We have one or two of these funerals every day in Baalbek,” said a young electronics shopkeeper, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue. A Hezbollah policeman in a polyester blue shirt told Reuters not to film the public funeral. “There are five or six Hezbollah martyrs every day from northern Lebanon,” he said quietly, ushering the car away.

Lebanon endured a military presence by its historically dominant neighbor for 29 years until 2005 and has tried to maintain a policy of “dissociation” from Syria’s oncepeaceful uprising against four decades of family rule that turned violent after Assad’s men killed and arrested thousands.

But insulating Lebanon’s four million people from Syria proved impossible; refugees flooded in, Sunni villagers along the border began giving shelter, food and medical care to Syrian rebels and rebel supporters in Lebanon sent guns and fighters across the border to fight Assad’s troops.

With no command structure, how many is hard to establish, but 12 Lebanese gunmen were killed by the Syrian army near Homs in November and residents in the

Lebanese coastal town of Tripoli, where Sunnis sporadically clash with Alawites, say some local Sunnis fight in Syria, too.

Assad has told Lebanon, where power is distributed between Sunni Muslims, Maronite Christians and Shi’ite Muslims, it must help him fight what he calls “foreignbacked terrorist groups”.

His men have regularly fired mortars into Lebanon and occasionally entered in pursuit of fleeing Syrian rebels.

Hezbollah, which was formed as a resistance group to the Israeli occupation during Lebanon’s own civil war between 1975 and 1990, has been called in to help. It maintains that it is keeping its weapons and huge mis-

“Hezbollah’s becoming cannon fodder for the Syrian regime, at Iran’s request, is not something the party must relish,” he wrote.

“There is a price to pay for Hezbollah’s pushing the boundaries of Lebanon’s sectarian system to its limits. And this price may be the party’s gradual destruction, or worse, a Lebanese sectarian civil war.”

Late on Wednesday, prominent Syrian opposition figure Moaz Alkhatib issued a direct appeal to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to withdraw fighters from Syria to prevent sectarian war engulfing the Middle East.

“The blood of your sons in Lebanon should not be spilled fighting our

WASHINGTON: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington yesterday after a closed-door briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry and national intelligence advisers on Syria’s alleged use of poisonous gas in its ongoing civil war. —AP sile caches to defend the country, but fighting a foreign war has stretched the definition of the group’s mandate, angering those Lebanese who want to distance the country from Syria.

Officially, Hezbollah denies fighting in Syria. Asked about the latest escalation in the border area, Ibrahim Mussawi, Hezbollah’s media relations officer, said: “For two years it has been our official policy not to comment.” But the secret is an open one. Michael Young, an opinion writer for the Beirut-based Daily Star, said in a column on Thursday that the pressure is likely coming from Shiite Iran, Hezbollah’s main financier and supporter of Assad, who is himself an Alawite, an offshoot of Shiism.

oppressed sons in Syria,” Alkhatib said in a video message, following days of heavy fighting in Syria’s Homs border province where rebels say Hezbollah is most active.

“Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria has complicated matters greatly,” he said.

Alkhatib, a Sunni former preacher in Damascus, said Sunni and Shiite Muslims had to overcome “a thousand years of strife” between their communities, or risk an explosion of sectarian conflict reaching from Syria and Lebanon to Turkey and Iran.

But already there have been calls to arms by influential Sunni Muslim preachers in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the “Party of God”, risking a return to Lebanese bloodshed.

Iranian scientist freed by US reaches Oman MUSCAT: An Iranian scientist held for more than a year in California on charges of violating US sanctions arrived in Muscat yesterday, after being freed in what the Omani foreign ministry said was a humanitarian gesture.

Mojtaba Atarodi, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Sharif University of Technology, had been detained for allegedly buying high-tech US laboratory equipment, previous Iranian media reports said.

The US sanctions are linked to Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, which it says is for peaceful purposes only but Washington says is aimed at manufacturing a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said Atarodi would return

home today. Oman, a US-allied Gulf Arab state which enjoys good relations with Tehran, has previously helped mediate the release of Western prisoners held by the Islamic republic.

Authorities in the Sultanate had worked with US officials to speed up Atarodi’s case and return him home, the Omani foreign ministry said in a statement carried by local media. It said Oman would provide medical attention for Atarodi until his return to Iran, giving no further details.

He had been released after follow-ups by Iran’s foreign ministry, that ministry’s spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA). In a report on its website dated Jan. 7, 2012, Iran’s Press TV said

Atarodi was taken into custody on his arrival in Los Angeles on Dec 7, 2011, accused of buying advanced lab equipment. It said he had been reportedly held at a detention centre about 35 miles (50 kms) southeast of San Francisco.

Iran and the United States severed relations after the overthrow of Iran’s pro-Western monarchy in 1979.

Iran freed two US citizens who had been sentenced to eight years in jail for spying into Omani custody in September 2011.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were among three people arrested while hiking along the Iraq-Iran border in 2009 were flown to Oman after officials there helped secure their release by posting bail of $1 million. They denied being spies. —Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Sarin: A deadly nerve agent said used by Syrian regime NICOSIA: Sarin, the deadly nerve agent the US says the Syrian regime used on a “small scale”, was developed by Nazi scientists in the 1930s. Originally developed as a pesticide, sarin was used to deadly effect in the 1988 raid on the Kurdish village of Halabja in northern Iraq. A Japanese cult also used sarin in two attacks in the 1990s.

The gas works by being inhaled or absorbed through the skin and kills by crippling the nervous system.

Symptoms include nausea and violent headaches, blurred or tunnel vision, drooling, muscular convulsions, respiratory arrest, loss of consciousness and then death, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In high doses, sarin paralyses the muscles around the lungs and prevents chemicals from “switching off” the body’s secretions, so victims suffocate or drown as their lungs fill with mucus and saliva.

Even a tiny dose of sarin-which, like other nerve gases such as soman, tabun and VX, is odorless, colorless and tasteless-can be deadly if it enters the respiratory system, or if a drop comes into contact with the skin.

Even if it does not kill, sarin’s effects can be permanent, inflicting lasting damage to the victim’s lungs, eyes and cen-

tral nervous system. Being heavier than air, sarin can linger in an area for up to six hours, depending on weather conditions.

Abu Tarek, 74, retired officer from the army, member of the Al-Ezz bin Abdul Salam brigade shows how to make a mask using notably a squeeze bottle, coal, cotton, gauze, cola, cardboard in order to protect himself from chemical weapons yesterday in the Latakia province, western Syria. — AFP

Israel forces demolish ‘wildcat’ settler outpost JERUSALEM: Israeli security forces overnight demolished two structures that Jewish settlers had erected to create a “wildcat” outpost in the occupied West Bank, a police spokesman said yesterday. Soldiers and border policemen razed the makeshift structures of the Oz Zion outpost near the central city of Ramallah without incident, Luba Samri told AFP. The security forces have dismantled structures erected at Oz Zion on several occasions in the past-most recently in March-but settlers have persisted in putting up new ones. In a violent confrontation in December, more than 200 stone-throwing settlers drove off an attempt by security forces to dismantle structures put up at Oz Zion, wounding five border policemen. They were demolished the following day. Israel deems settlement outposts built without government approval to be illegal and often sends security personnel to demolish them.

They usually consist of little more than a few trailers, but some have been granted retrospective approval by the government, which is why settler activists keep putting them up. —AFP

Syrian refugees denied healthcare due to cash crunch GENEVA: Doctors at Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan are having to decide between treating acute cancer patients and helping deliver babies due to severe shortages of cash, the United Nations said yesterday.

More than 1.4 million Syrian refugees have now fled their shattered homeland for neighboring countries whose health care systems are straining to meet the needs of their populations, in some cases suddenly swollen by 20 percent, it said. But an appeal

by UN High Commissioner for Refugees for $1 billion through mid-year is only 55 percent covered. This has meant that some of the costly medical care for chronic diseases is being denied, although emergency cases are treated, it said.

“We will prioritise paying for a woman’s delivery instead of paying for treatment of a cancer patient with a poor prognosis.

That is bad, but we have to do it. These are hard decisions,” Dr. Paul Spiegel, UNHCR’s chief medical expert, told Reuters. Acute respiratory infections and diarrhoea are the most common ailments among Syrian refugees, three-quarters of whom are women and children, the UNHCR said in its first report based on medical consultations in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. No data was available from Turkey, it said. Some refugees require treatment for hepatitis A infections, others for skin lesions due to leishmaniasis, it said. Both diseases have broken out in Syria, whose health system and drug industry have collapsed due to the conflict between Syrian government forces and rebels, now in its third year. —Reuters

The most notorious sarin attack occurred in March 1988 in Halabja when as many as 5,000 Kurds were killed and 65,000 injured when the Iraqi military used a combination of chemical agents including sarin, mustard gas and possibly VX. Sarin killed 13 people and injured 6,000 others when the Aum Supreme Truth cult released it in the Tokyo subway in March 1995. The cult had used the nerve agent in a deadly attack the year before in the Japanese city of Matsumoto.

Syria’s stockpiles contain hundreds of tonnes of various chemical agents, according to Leonard Spector of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. “Their arsenal of chemical agents is rather robust, “ said Olivier Lepick of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research. In addition to blister agents known as vesicants such as mustard gas (yperite), Damascus is believed to possess sarin and possibly VX, another nerve agent 10 times more powerful than sarin.

The Syrian regime is also said to possess delivery systems to use its chemical weapons, such as Scud missiles, artillery shells and aerial bombs.— AFP

American jihadi in Somalia tweets on kill attempt ‘Al-Shabab sending forces from multiple directions’ NAIROBI: A most-wanted American jihadi in Somalia said yesterday that the leader of Islamic extremist rebels in Somali was starting a civil war, just hours after an assassination attempt left the Alabama native with a neck wound. Omar Hammami posted on Twitter about what he labeled an assassination attempt late Thursday as he was sitting in a tea shop. He posted four pictures, one of which shows his face with blood on his neck and a dark blood-stained t-shirt.

Hammami, one of the two most notorious Americans in overseas jihadi groups, moved from Alabama to Somalia and joined AlShabab in about 2006. He fought alongside the Al-Qaeda-linked group for years while gaining fame for posting YouTube videos of jihadi rap songs. But Hammami had a falling out with Al-Shabab and has engaged in a public fight with the group over the last year amid signs of increasing tension between Somalis and foreign fighters in the group. He first expressed fear for his life in an extraordinary web video in March 2012 that publicized his rift with Al-Shabab. He said he received another death threat earlier this year that was not carried out. “Just been shot in neck by shabab assassin. not critical yet,” Hammami tweeted late Thursday.

Yesterday he wrote that the leader of Al-Shabab was sending in forces from multiple directions. “we are few but we might get back up. abu zubayr has gone mad. he’s starting a civil war,” Hammami posted. Hammami has been a thorn in the side of al-Shabab after accusing the group’s leaders of living extravagant lifestyles with the taxes fighters collect from Somali residents. Another Hammami grievance is that the Somali militant leaders sideline foreign militants inside Al-Shabab and are concerned only about fighting in Somalia, not globally. Hammami’s yesterday comment about a civil war could refer to violence between those two groups.

Al-Shabab slapped Hammami publicly in a December Internet statement, saying his video releases are the result of personal grievances that stem from a “narcissistic pursuit of fame.” The statement said al-Shabab was morally obligated to stamp out his “obstinacy.”

Hammami has enemies on all sides. The US named Hammami to its Most Wanted terrorist list in March and is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. Al-Shabab fighters are not eligible for the reward.

Along with Adam Gadahn in Pakistan - a former Osama bin Laden spokesman - Hammami is one of the two most notorious Americans in jihad groups. He grew up in Daphne, Alabama, a bedroom community of 20,000 outside Mobile. He is the son of a Christian mother and a Syrian-born Muslim father. Hammami regu-

larly chats on Twitter with a group of American terrorism experts, conversations that are so colloquial and so infused with Americana that many in the counter-terror field have formed a type of digital bond with Hammami. After Hammami publicized the assassination attempt, one of his Twitter followers, a counter-terrorism expert from Canada, wrote that Hammami had nine lives. Hammami

This undated photo downloaded from a file-sharing site linked from the Twitter account of Omar Hammami, a most-wanted American jihadi in Somalia, purports to show Hammami with blood on his neck and shirt following what he labeled an assassination attempt late Thursday as he was sitting in a tea shop. — AP responded with an apparent reference to the movie The Blues Brothers. “‘I’m on a mission from God.’ minus the blues music,” Hammami wrote.

After the shooting, American terrorism expert J M Berger, who has a long-running Twitter relationship with Hammami, posted that it looks like Hammami came within a quarter-inch of death.

“Perhaps it’s time to come in now,” Berger tweeted. Berger wrote on his blog, Selectedwisdom.com, that the attack proves that Hammami should fear for his life. Berger said Hammami’s antiShabab social rants were annoying the militant group and he predicted conflict between Somali militants and foreign fighters. “If there is going to be a war inside Shabaab, I’m guessing it will happen soon,” Berger wrote. — AP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Somalia to restart mail 22 years on GENEVA: Somalis may soon be receiving letters from abroad for the first time in more than 20 years after a deal was struck with the United Nations’ postal agency, the latest step towards ending Somalia’s isolation following two decades of civil conflict.

But the challenges to bringing the Horn of Africa country back into the global postal community are manifold - there are no functioning post offices, only the main roads are named and most houses do not have a number. Add to that the ongoing struggle with Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents, who still control much of the countryside, and parts of the coastline infested with pirates, and it is clear the UN’s Universal Postal Union (UPU) and its partners have their work cut out. The Swiss-based UPU said in a statement yesterday that international postal services could start operating again in Somalia within the next few months.

Somalia’s Minister of Information and Communication Abdullahi Hirsi signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Post Group this week for Dubai to act as a hub for handling mail destined for Somalia, it said. The UPU, which brokered the deal, said its 192 member countries could resume sending mail to Somalia once the arrangements were finalized.

About 2 million Somalis live abroad and 9.9 million in Somalia, served by a postal network that is “basically non-existent”, the UPU said, having dwindled from 100 post offices in 1991.

UPU spokesman Rheal LeBlanc said Somalia had created an office at the airport to handle mail moving in and out of the country, initially to service the government, embassies and universities, “but they seem to have plans to phase in postal services across the country over the next few months and years”.—Reuters

11 British Islamists...

Continued from Page 1 The terror cell was heavily influenced by the teachings of American-born Al-Qaeda preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was killed by a drone strike in Yemen in September 2011, police said.

Prosecutors said the attacks planned by the men would have been the deadliest since the July 7, 2005 London bombings, in which 52 people were killed by three Islamist suicide bombers on subway trains and a fourth bomber on a bus. Khalid meanwhile boasted that the attack would be “another 9/11”, referring to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the trial heard.

The plot was also the most significant terror plan uncovered in Britain since the 2006 plot to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs in drinks bottles, police said.

The judge said the cell had clearly been planning suicide attacks in Britain and that the intended target may have been Birmingham, although police said the planned location was not clear. Naseer, a jobless 31-year-old pharmacy graduate nicknamed Chubbs because of his weight, and Khalid and Ali, both 28, were found guilty by a jury in February of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts.

Naseer and Khalid had visited Pakistan to receive terrorism training, while Naseer also helped four others to travel to the country for the same purpose, although the four had second thoughts on arrival in Pakistan and dropped out.

“Irfan Naseer was the leader, driving force and man in charge and he alone must take responsibility for sending four young men to Pakistan for terrorism training,” the judge said, describing him as a “skilful bomb-maker”. The group’s chief financier Rahin Ahmed, 26, was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to collecting money for terrorism and helping others to travel to Pakistan for terror training.

The group tried to fund their plot by posing as street collectors for a Muslim charity and raised £12,000 ($18,000, 14,000 euros) — but then lost £9,000 playing foreign currency markets and had to apply for bank loans, the trial heard. Ashik Ali’s older brother Bahader, 29, was sentenced to six years and two other cell members, Mohammed Rizwan, 34, and Mujahid Hussain, 21, were jailed for four years each.

The four group members who travelled to Pakistan for terror training but had second thoughts-Shahid Khan, 21, Khobaib Hussain, 21, Ishaaq Hussain, 21 and Naweed Ali, 25 — were each jailed for 40 months. — AFP

BELGRADE: Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic (right) shakes hands with European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fuele (left) prior to their meeting in Belgrade. — AFP

Ukraine marks Chernobyl disaster New shelter sought for stricken reactor KIEV: Ukrainians yesterday lit candles and laid flowers to remember the victims of the world’s worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl 27 years ago, as engineers pressed on with efforts to construct a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken reactor. On April 26, 1986, an explosion during testing sent radioactive fallout into the atmosphere that spread across Europe, particularly contaminating Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

Dozens of people laid flowers and set lit candles in front of portraits at the monument to the Chernobyl victims in the small town of Slavutych, some 50 kilometers from

the accident site, where many of the power station’s personnel used to live. At the same time in the capital Kiev, officials and relatives of the victims also held a pre-dawn remembrance ceremony in front of a memorial.

“The memory of the tragedy calls for unity and consolidation of the efforts of the government and society to solve the problems in implementing projects to create an environmentally safe system at Chernobyl,” said President Viktor Yanukovych in a statement. Ukraine last year launched the construction of a permanent shelter to replace

KIEV: Women hold pictures of their dead relatives during the commemoration ceremony at Chernobyl’s memorial in Kiev yesterday. Ukrainians yesterday lit candles and laid flowers to remember the victims of the world’s worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl 27 years ago, as engineers pressed on with efforts to construct a new shelter to permanently secure the stricken reactor. — AFP

the temporary concrete-and-steel edifice that was hastily erected after the disaster and which has since developed cracks.

“A new confinement is our future, this is something that we awaited for many years,” Alexander Novikov, deputy technical director for security at the Chernobyl power plant, told reporters on a visit to Chernobyl this week. The 20,000-tonne arched structure that spans 257 metres, known as the new safe confinement, is designed to last for a century, and will contain hi-tech equipment to carry out safe decontamination work inside the ruined reactor.

The construction of the new structure is expected to cost 990 million euros, while the decontamination work on the site will push the total cost up to 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion). Completion of the new shelter is expected in October 2015. The plant’s management said it will also soon begin construction of a temporary cover over the section of Chernobyl plant where a part of the roof collapsed this winter under the weight of fallen snow.

Novikov emphasised that the section, which collapsed in February, was not the part of the sarcophagus structure covering the exploded reactor. “The project work is almost completed and we will start construction of temporary cover to close the hole that appeared,” said Novikov.

The general manager of the Chernobyl plant, Igor Gramotkin, added the collapse of the roof section once again underlined the need for the rapid completion of a new arch over the stricken reactor. Chernobyl is only around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Kiev and lies close to the borders with Russia and Belarus. —AFP

Over 100 Gitmo inmates on hunger strike Continued from Page 1 Prison authorities began releasing figures on the strike on March 11, saying nine inmates were participating.

Lawyers for the detainees say the official numbers are too low and that around 130 inmates are observing the hunger strike. The strikers are protesting their incarcera-

tion without charge or trial at Guantanamo in the 11 years since the prison went into use for terror suspects detained in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The hunger strikes began when inmates claimed prison officials searched their copies of the Holy Quarn for contraband. Officials have denied any mishandling of the holy book. “The illegal detentions without charge or

trial at Guantanamo Bay have gone on for more than a decade with no end in sight, so it’s not surprising that detainees feel desperate,” said Laura Pitter, counterterrorism advisor at Human Rights Watch. “The Obama administration simply has to do more to end this unlawful practice that will forever be a black mark on US history,” she added. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Letta scrambles to put together coalition Italian govt swearing in likely today ROTENBURG: Investigators examine a plane wreckage on a field near Rotenburg, northern Germany. Four people died in the crash. There was no immediate information on the victims’ identities or the cause of the crash. — AP

Dutch paedophile creche worker gets 19 years jail THE HAGUE: A Dutch judge upped a convicted paedophile’s sentence on appeal to 19 years yesterday for sexually abusing 67 children, many of them babies, in a criminal case she described as “hardly comparable to any other”. The Amsterdam court last year sent the man only identified as Robert M. to 18 years behind bars, after he admitted to sexually abusing small children and babies as young as eight months while working at nurseries around the Dutch capital.

Judge Helma Tilleman added another year to M.’s sentence after he appealed, saying he had violated the trust parents put in him “in the worst way imaginable”.

“The court therefore sentences the accused to 19 years,” Tilleman said. Prosecutors wanted the maximum of 20 years. Judge Tilleman also ordered M. undergo psychiatric treatment. The judge said his crimes were of such a serious nature that his punishment had to be upped and that judges did not believe his statements that he constantly battled to control his “pedo-sexual urges”. “In fact, he deliberately sought out opportunities to abuse children-and he succeeded,” Tillemans said in a delayed Internet broadcast of proceedings by Dutch national broadcaster NOS. “In this case, the abuse was so horrific and huge amounts of pornographic material were distributed to like-minded individuals,” she said. “It’s a criminal case hardly comparable to any other,” the judge said. Robert M. was arrested in December 2011 at his Amsterdam home after a police investigation into child pornography in the United States uncovered pictures of a two-year-old Dutch child. A few days later police arrested Robert M.’s live-in partner Richard O. who was originally sent to six years in jail for his role. His sentence was reduced to four-and-a-half years yesterday. —AFP

Dutch college in Leiden evacuated after bomb threat THE HAGUE: A technical college in the Dutch city of Leidenwhere schools were closed and armed police deployed early this week after a threat of a mass shooting-was evacuated yesterday because of a bomb alert, police said. “The school (for further education) was evacuated after a bomb threat,” police spokeswoman Welleke van Rantwijk told AFP, adding that there was “apparently no link to the threat” made earlier in the week.

“The school is now empty, the police are there investigating,” she said. Around 300 people were evacuated from the premises after the threat was made “a short time ago,” Van Rantwijk said. “I don’t know how the threat was made,” she said.

The college says on its website that it has around 7,000 students. Authorities in Leiden had decided late Sunday to close secondary schools to thousands of pupils after a tip-off by Swiss police following the online threat.

“I will shoot my Dutch teacher and as many students as I can,” said the anonymous message in English on the 4chan.org website. “It’s at a school in the Dutch city of Leiden” it said, chillingly adding “for more proof, I will be using a 9mm Colt Defender”. “Oh, and I’m using a proxy, the police is not gonna find me before tomorrow,” the message ended. City authorities lowered the threat level on Wednesday after tracing the Internet threat to Costa Rica. Police said yesterday that an 18-year-old Dutch suspect living in Costa Rica was going to return voluntarily to the Netherlands, but could not say when. A former pupil at the British School had initially been arrested over Sunday’s threat. — AFP

ROME: Italy’s prime minister-designate Enrico Letta scrambled yesterday to put together a coalition to end a two-month deadlock as stocks fell in a sign of growing investor impatience. The Milan stock market was down 0.70 percent in afternoon trading as earlier hopes that Letta would unveil his coalition yesterday fell through. The government is expected to be sworn in today, Italian news agency ANSA reported, citing sources in Letta’s staff. The 46-year-old leftist moderate has said he wants to move quickly to tackle the social fallout of a painful recession and ease the austerity measures implemented by outgoing prime minister Mario Monti, who remains in charge.

Letta said on Thursday after talks with the main political forces that his attempt to put together a grand coalition had encountered “difficulties”.

Yesterday, he met with President Giorgio Napolitano and outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti to discuss the political situation. Napolitano nominated Letta on Wednesday and has threatened to resign if no cabinet is formed.

Most analysts were upbeat about his chances despite the delay. “Letta is basically close to forming his government,” said Stefano Folli, a political commentator for business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, adding that the nominee could “scale the mountain by Saturday evening or Sunday morning”. The lower and upper house of parliament are expected to meet on Monday and Tuesday for confidence votes on the new government.

Letta’s leftist Democratic Party, which narrowly won a general election in February that led to the impasse, is deeply divided over going into government with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party. It has already broken with its coalition partner, the small “Left, Ecology and Freedom” party, which has said it will be in opposition.

Letta is also engaged in tricky negotiations with the scandal-tainted billionaire tycoon Berlusconi, whose votes his government will depend on. Letta and Berlusconi could meet later on Friday to hammer out a deal once the former prime minister returns from the United States where he attended the inauguration of former US president George W. Bush’s library in Texas, Italian media reported.

The head of Berlusconi’s centre-right party, Angelino Alfano, said after talks with Letta on Thursday said there had been a general “understanding” on forming a government but there were still “knots left to unravel”. In interviews with Italian newspapers on Friday, Berlusconi indicated his party would not hold up the formation of a government but called for a sharp rejection of Monti’s austerity.

“I think even Brussels is becoming convinced that there has been too much austerity,” Berlusconi told the Corriere della Sera daily. The scandal-tainted tycoon ruled out his own inclusion in the cabinet.

In two trials due to resume next month, Berlusconi is appealing a tax fraud conviction and defending himself on two charges of having sex with an underage 17-yearold prostitute and abuse of power when he was still prime minister. Most analysts say any new government would be short-lived and will be brought down by irreconcilable differences that can only be resolved through another general election.

Meanwhile former comedian Beppe Grillo, head of the Five Star Movement protest party which won a quarter of the vote and came in third place, derided the impending deal between right and left. —AFP

THE VATICAN: Pope Francis (left) shares a word with Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi at the end of private audience with Madagascar President Andry Nirina Rajoelina at the Vatican yesterday. —AP

Bulgaria re-enacts bus bombing SOFIA: Bulgarian investigators yesterday staged a re-enactment of the bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists, the bus driver and the alleged perpetrator at the Burgas airport in July.

The Europol-sponsored experiment, aimed to provide more details about the attack, was done at a police compound near the city of Ihtiman, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Sofia.

Officials said the results confirmed the facts they had previously established.

In February, an official Bulgarian report said investigators had “well-grounded reasons” to suggest that two men suspected in the attack belonged to the militant wing of the Shiite Islamist group Hezbollah.

Iran is said to be a backer of Hezbollah, and Israel has accused Iran of involvement in the bombing.

Bulgarian investigators said they have found no evidence tying Iran to the July 18, 2012, attack.

Georgi Iliev, head of the team of investigators, said that at this stage the investigation cannot say who is behind this act. “We can answer this question only after the perpetrators of this terror act are caught,” Iliev told the Associated Press.

Three men are suspected in the attack including the dead bomber, whose identity has not been established. The names of the two other suspects, believed to still be alive, have not been released to the public. Yesterday, two buses were positioned in the same way as they were at the Burgas airport, while the bomb was a copy of the one that exploded, Iliev said.

Dummies, made of jelly material with silicone-based collagen to correspond to human muscle and bone density, were placed inside and around the buses to match to security camera images and witness accounts, Iliev said. Smoke billowed from the

bus after the bomb exploded yesterday. It was activated remotely, as investigators believe had been done in the attack. Parts of the bus and of the dummies were ripped apart and could be seen as far as 100 meters away from the bus.

The dummy of the alleged bomber with nearly 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of explosives in his backpack was placed half a meter from the luggage compartment with his back toward the bus.

After the blast, the head of the dummy was found 40 centimeters (16 inches) from the spot where the head of the bomber in Burgas had been found, said Boyko Naydenov, director of the National Investigating Service.

“The results are more than satisfying.

All facts that we had established during the investigation so far, were confirmed by this explosion,” Naydenov said but refused to elaborate. —AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Bangladesh disaster toll tops 270 Dozens rescued, hundreds still missing DHAKA: The search for survivors from Bangladesh’s worst industrial accident stretched into a third day yesterday, with the death toll rising to 273 after the collapse of a building housing factories that made low-cost garments for Western brands.

Almost miraculously, 41 people trapped inside the rubble of the eight-storey building were rescued alive late on Thursday, government minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak said, about 40 hours after the disaster on the outskirts of Dhaka. Nanak said they had been working on the fourth floor of the Rana Plaza building and had all been found trapped in one room. Few other details were available. Around 2,000 people have been rescued over the past two days, at least half of them injured, but as many as 1,000 people remain unaccounted for. An industry official has said 3,122 people, mainly female garment workers, were inside the building despite warnings that it was structurally unsafe.

Rescuers from Bangladesh’s army, navy and air force, as well as police and fire services, pored over huge piles of rubble and twisted metal in the search for survivors, using their bare hands as well as mechanical equipment. “We are not sure how many people are still trapped under the rubble,” said Dhaka District police chief Habibur Rahman, who updated the death toll early yesterday to 273.

“Priority has been given to save people who are

still alive,” he said. Wednesday’s disaster refocused attention on Western high-street brands that use Bangladesh as a source of low-cost goods.

North American and European chains, including British retailer Primark and Canada’s Loblaw, said they were supplied by factories in the Rana Plaza building, which is in the commercial suburb of Savar, about 30 km (20 miles) from the capital.

Savar residents and rescuers dropped bottled water and food on Thursday night to people who called out from between floors. Relatives identified their dead among dozens of corpses wrapped in cloth on the veranda of a nearby school.

Police said the owner of the building, Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local politician from the ruling Awami League, was told of dangerous cracks on Tuesday. While a bank in the building closed on Wednesday because of the warnings, the five clothing companies told their workers there was no danger, industry officials said. Rana is now on the run, according to police.

“We asked the garment owners to keep it closed,” said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Mohammad Atiqul Islam.

Despite the overnight rescue of 41 people, officials conceded the chances of finding more alive were growing slimmer. “We can’t be certain of getting them all out alive. We are losing a bit of hope,” fire brigade rescue worker Mizanur

News

in brief

Businessman ‘raped’ US charity worker KOLKATA: Police in eastern India have arrested a local businessman for allegedly raping a US charity worker, an official said yesterday, as anger grows over the high incidence of sexual crime in the country. “Dinesh Burman, 40, was arrested on Thursday after an American woman lodged a complaint with police,” said Kaliappan Jayaraman, the police commissioner of Siliguri town, in West Bengal state, where the crime allegedly occurred. The US national, in her 50s, said Burman, a land broker and businessman, raped her on April 15 and threatened her with violence if she approached the police, Jayaraman told AFP over the telephone. Siliguri, which lies in the foothills of the Himalayas, is located 460 kilometers (290 miles) north of state capital Kolkata.

Militants kill 4 police in Kashmir ambush SRINAGAR: Kashmiri militants killed four Indian police yesterday in an ambush on a patrol near the town of Sopore in Indian-administered Kashmir, a senior officer said. The four had just descended from their vehicle to conduct a routine patrol in the village of Hygam when they came under attack from gunmen, Superintendent Imtiyaz Hussain said.

“Four of our policemen got killed in the ambush by militants,” he said. A hunt for the attackers was now under way, the officer added. The village is around 45 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Srinagar, the summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state. It is the first deadly attack in the region since March 13 when a group of militants disguised as cricketers killed five paramilitary police in an ambush in Srinagar.

15 feared trapped as hospital collapses NEW DELHI: An official says up to 15 people are feared trapped after a hospital building partially collapsed in central India. Mayor Krishna Gaur says a rescue operation has been launched at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh state. Police officer Upendra Jain says four people have been rescued from the debris.

The cause of the collapse Friday was not immediately known.

SAVAR: A Bangladeshi rescue worker, who was injured during a stampede caused by crowd panic over the rumor a section of the building might collapse, is carried at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka yesterday. — AP Rahman said earlier on Thursday. Special prayers will be offered at mosques, temples and pagodas across Bangladesh yesterday for the dead, injured and missing. The government declared a national day of mourning and flags were flown at half mast

at all official buildings. Anger over the working conditions of Bangladesh’s 3.6 million garment workers, the overwhelming majority of them women, has grown steadily since the building collapse.—Reuters

India in talks to end standoff with China Khurshid to visit Beijing on May 9 NEW DELHI: India is holding talks to end a standoff with China after Chinese soldiers infiltrated deep inside Indian-claimed territory, India’s defense minister A K Antony said yesterday. “Negotiations and consultations are going on at various levels to find out a peaceful solution to the Chinese incursion issue,” Antony told reporters.

India says Chinese troops crossed the de facto border between the countries and went 10 kilometers (six miles) into Indian territory on April 15. About 50 Chinese soldiers have pitched tents and are camping in Daulat Beg Oldi in the Ladakh region of eastern Kashmir.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is traveling to Beijing on May 9 ahead of a scheduled visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India. India has asked China to withdraw the soldiers.

China has dismissed reports of an incursion and says the border region is peaceful.

India’s army chief, General Bikram Singh, who has returned to Delhi from a visit to the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, briefed officials from the defense and foreign ministries on the situation in Ladakh. India says Chinese troops have repeatedly crossed the boundary in recent years, leaving trash with Chinese markings as evidence of their presence.

However, Indian officials said the latest incursion was far deeper into Indianclaimed territory than before.

India and China - neighbors with more than 1 billion people each - have had chilly relations since they fought a border war in 1962. China claims about 90,000 square

kilometers (35,000 square miles) of land in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, while India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the western Himalayas. The two have held 15 rounds of talks on their border dispute without making much progress. China is a longtime ally and weapons supplier to Pakistan, India’s bitter rival. The presence in India of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile

also remain a source of tension between New Delhi and Beijing. China is also suspicious of New Delhi’s growing ties with the United States.

Despite the territorial tensions, bilateral trade has soared, with China becoming India’s biggest trading partner. Two-way trade jumped from $5 billion in 2002 to nearly $75 billion in 2011, but declined slightly last year because of the global economic downturn. Trade remains heavily skewed in China’s favor, another source of worry for India. — AP

BANGALORE: India’s ruling Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi (second left) waves to supporters after he was presented a traditional headgear during a campaign rally for the upcoming state elections in Tumkur, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of Bangalore yesterday. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Gunmen kill 13 in Philippine violence MANILA: Gunmen attacked a truck carrying a southern Philippine mayor and his supporters and killed 13 people including his daughter, police said yesterday. The mayor and nine others were wounded in the country’s worst violence in campaigning for May elections.

Nunungan Mayor Abdul Manamparan and his political supporters were riding back from a campaign rally when they were ambushed late Thursday on a remote mountain road, Lanao del Norte provincial police chief Gerardo Rosales said.

About 15 unidentified gunmen carried out the attack, Rosales said. Police investigators suspect that they belong to a rival clan. Manamparan, whose term as mayor ends this year, is running for vice mayor in next month’s elections. Rosales said Manamparan’s daughter, Adnanie, and at least two other relatives were among those killed. Two other relatives, including

a 15-year-old girl, were among the wounded.

“Our latest count is 13 dead and 10 wounded,” Rosales said. A police report said an officer serving as the mayor’s bodyguard was also wounded as he fought off the attackers with an M16 rifle before soldiers and policemen arrived. Election campaign violence is common in the Philippines. In 2009, 58 people, including 32 journalists, were massacred by alleged followers of a powerful southern provincial clan in the country’s worst political violence.

Last week, communist rebels ambushed the convoy of southern Gingoog City Mayor Ruth Guingona, wife of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, killing two of her aides and wounding her and a police escort. The New People’s Army apologized for harming the mayor and her party but said her bodyguards fired at a rebel checkpoint, prompting them to return fire. — AP

PHILIPPINES: Mayor Abdul Manamparan of Nunungan town lies on a bed in a private hospital at Iligan, Lanao Del Norte province yesterday.—AP

S Korea pulling out of joint industrial zone Decision after North shuns talks offer

BANGKOK: Mohammad Khazaei (C), 42, an Iranian suspected of involvement in the February 2012 blasts gestures as he disembarks from a prison bus upon his arrival at the southern criminal court in Bangkok yesterday.—AFP

Iranian pair deny Thai bomb plot BANGKOK: An Iranian man whose legs were blown off during an alleged botched bomb plot last year against Israeli diplomats in Bangkok said yesterday he found the explosives and was trying to dispose of them safely when they detonated. Saeid Moradi, 29, told a Bangkok court that he was about to leave Thailand when he found four bombs hidden inside radios in a cupboard at a rented house in the city. Two of the devices exploded as he ran into the street to throw them into a nearby canal, the second tearing off his legs, he said. Moradi and Mohammad Khazaei, 42, are among five Iranians suspected of involvement in the February 2012 blasts that followed attacks in India and Georgia and saw Israel accuse Tehran of waging a terror campaign. Moradi said he accidentally triggered one of the bombs when he opened a cupboard in the apartment. “I was stunned and threw it into the corner, believing it was a smoke bomb,” the wheelchair-bound suspect said via a translator, adding he grabbed two other bombs and ran outside to throw them into a nearby canal.

He did not refer further to the fourth device. Prosecutors accuse Moradi of hurling one bomb at a taxi and a second at two police officers as they approached him on the street, but it instead detonated near the suspect. However, the defendant said he dropped one of the devices near the taxi by mistake, and tried to throw the other away as the policemen approached, fearing it would detonate and hurt them. “I knew if the police stopped me I’d have to drop the bomb which may have endangered them and people nearby. —AFP

SEOUL: South Korea said yesterday it had decided to withdraw all remaining staff from its joint industrial complex with North Korea for their own safety, after Pyongyang shunned an offer of formal talks. The move comes after months of tension and puts into further doubt the entire future of the Kaesong complex-the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation and a crucial source of hard currency for the impoverished North.

South Korean companies active in Kaesong expressed shock at their government’s announcement and said they would have to deliberate on the next steps. South Korea on Thursday had given the North 24 hours to agree to formal negotiations on restarting stalled operations at Kaesong, warning of “significant measures” if Pyongyang declined.

After the North’s top military body rejected what it described as the “fraudulent” proposal, the South’s Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae said Seoul was left with no option.

“The government has made the inevitable decision to withdraw all the remaining people for their protection,” Ryoo said in a televised press briefing.

“North Korea must guarantee the safe return of our personnel and fully protect the assets of the companies with investment in Kaesong,” he added. The Korean peninsula was engulfed in a cycle of escalating tensions-triggered by the North’s nuclear test in February-when Pyongyang decided on April 3 to block all South Korean access to Kaesong.

Six days later, Pyongyang pulled out its 53,000-strong workforce and suspended operations, angered by the South’s mention of a “military” contingency plan to protect its staff at the site.

While the North has allowed all South Korean personnel to leave the complex, 175 remained as of yesterday. It was unclear how the South Korean government planned to implement its decision, given that representatives of the 123 firms based in Kaesong have vowed to remain and protect their investment whatever steps Seoul announced. An association representing the companies described the government decision as “very shocking” and said it would consult its member firms before conveying its official stance to the government. “We feel very sorry and wretched because our efforts to maintain the Kaesong Industrial Zone with our blood and sweat have been fruitless,” it said in a statement.

One Kaesong factory owner told AFP on condition of anonymity that the companies were still in talks with the government.

“After consultations, we will make a decision on the proposed withdrawal of our remaining staff in Kaesong. We cannot say now when our people in Kaesong will come back.”

Established in 2004, the complex lies 10 kilometres (six miles) inside North Korea. The project was born out of the “Sunshine Policy” of inter-Korean conciliation initiated in the late 1990s by then South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung. It operates as a collaborative economic development zone that hosts South Korean companies attracted by its source of cheap, educated, skilled labour, with turnover in 2012 reported at $469.5 million.

Ryoo’s statement came hours after the North’s National Defence Commission dismissed the offer of negotiations and insisted that any decisive move on Kaesong would come from its side.—AFP

PAJU: South Korean soldiers patrol along a military fence near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas in the border city of Paju yesterday. — AFP

China slams Philippine bid to ‘legalize’ occupation of islands BEIJING: China accused the Philippines yesterday of trying to legalize its occupation of islands in the disputed South China Sea, repeating that Beijing would never agree to international arbitration.

Frustrated with the slow pace of regional diplomacy, the Philippines in January angered China by asking a UN tribunal to order a halt to Beijing’s activities that it said violated Philippine sovereignty over the islands, surrounded by potentially energy-rich waters. Claims by an increasingly powerful China over most of the South China Sea have set it directly against US allies Vietnam and the Philippines. Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia also claim parts of the

waters and China has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea. Manila said on Thursday that a UN arbitration court had set up the tribunal which would hear Manila’s complaint, but China said this was an attempt to steal Chinese territory. “The Philippine side is trying to use this to negate China’s territorial sovereignty and attach a veneer of ‘legality’ to its illegal occupation of Chinese islands and reefs,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

The Philippines must immediately withdraw personnel and facilities from the islands, the ministry added, listing those which it said Manila was occupying. Manila asked the tribunal of the UN

Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to order a halt to China’s activities. But the convention did not apply in this case as what the Philippines was actually asking for was a decision on sovereignty, the ministry said. “China’s refusal to accept the Philippines’ request for arbitration has full grounding in international law,” it said. China had always believed that the two countries should resolve their dispute through direct talks, the ministry added. Southeast Asian nations stepped up efforts on Thursday to engage China in talks to resolve maritime tensions, agreeing to meet to try to reach common ground on disputed waters ahead of planned discussions in Beijing later this year. —Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Boston bomb suspect moved from hospital Police narrate a chilling plot that fell apart BOSTON: The surviving Boston Marathon bombings suspect was released yesterday from a civilian hospital and transferred to a federal medical detention center.

The US Marshals Service said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center overnight and was taken to the Federal Medical Center Devens about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Boston.

The facility, on the decommissioned Fort Devens US Army base, treats federal prisoners and detainees who require specialized long-term medical or mental health care.

The 19-year-old Tsarnaev is recovering from a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway.

The transfer comes a day after it was revealed that Tsarnaev and his brother had planned to go to New York’s Times Square to blow up the rest of their explosives, authorities said. They portrayed a chilling, spur-of-the-moment scheme that fell apart when the brothers realized the car they had hijacked was low on gas.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told interrogators from his hospital bed that he and his older brother had decided spontaneously last week to drive to New York and launch an attack. In their stolen sport utility vehicle they had five pipe bombs and a pressure-cooker explosive like the ones that blew up at the marathon, Kelly said.

“New York City was next on their list of targets,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

The plan fell apart when the brothers got into a shootout just outside Boston that left Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead, Kelly said.

“We don’t know if we would have been able to stop the terrorists had they arrived here from Boston,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. “We’re just thank-

ful that we didn’t have to find out that answer.”

Dzhokhar is charged with carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260, and he could get the death penalty.

Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Carmen Ortiz in Boston, would not comment on whether authorities plan to add charges based on alleged plan

- ethnic Chechens from Russia who had lived in the US for about a decade - were motivated by anger over the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Based on the younger man’s interrogation and other evidence, authorities have said it appears so far that the Muslim brothers were radicalized via jihadi material on the Internet instead of by any direct contact with terrorist organizations, but they have said it is still an open

DEVENS: Two guards are stationed outside the Devens Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Devens, Massachusetts. The US Marshals Service said yesterday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, charged in the Boston Marathon bombing had been moved from a Boston hospital to the federal medical center at Devens. — AP to attack New York. The Middlesex County district attorney’s office also is building a murder case against the surviving Tsarnaev for the death of Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier three days after the bombings, office spokeswoman Stephanie Guyotte said.

Investigators and lawmakers briefed by the FBI have said that the Tsarnaev brothers

Man named in ricin case goes into hiding SALTILLO, Mississippi: A Mississippi man whose home and business were searched as part of an investigation into poisoned letters sent to the president and others has dropped out of sight in order to escape the news media spotlight, but is cooperating with authorities, a friend and his attorney said.

Everett Dutschke, 45, had his home and former business in Tupelo, searched in connection with the letters, which allegedly contained ricin. They were sent last week to President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and earlier to an 80-year-old Mississippi judge, Sadie Holland. Charges were initially filed against an Elvis impersonator but then dropped. Attention then turned to Dutschke, who has ties to the former suspect and the judge and senator.

Dutschke (pronounced DUHS’-kee), who previously had kept in touch with reporters from The Associated Press, did not answer or return calls to his cellphone Thursday, a day investigators spent searching a different home where he had spent time a day earlier about 20 miles from Tupelo.

He just needed to get away from all the news media attention, his friend Kirk Kitchens told the AP. “I just helped him get out of the spotlight,” Kitchens said at his home in nearby Saltillo. Kitchens said he and Dutschke stayed at a home for a while Wednesday before slipping out through the woods to rendezvous with someone who drove Dutschke elsewhere. Earlier in the week, as investigators searched his primary residence in Tupelo, Dutschke had remarked to reporters, “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” —AP

question. Dzhokhar was interrogated in his hospital room over a period of 16 hours without being read his constitutional rights.

He immediately stopped talking after a magistrate judge and a representative from the US Attorney’s office entered the room and advised him of his rights to keep quiet and seek a lawyer, according to a US law enforcement official and others briefed on

the interrogation.

Tamerlan had come under scrutiny from the FBI, the CIA and Russian intelligence well before the Boston attack. The CIA had added Tamerlan’s name to a terrorist database 18 months ago, after Russian intelligence flagged him as a possible Muslim radical, said officials close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

That disclosure is certain to raise questions in Congress over whether the Obama administration missed an opportunity to thwart the Boston attack. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told authorities that his older brother only recently recruited him to be part of the attack, two US officials said Wednesday. Kelly, citing interrogations carried out by the task force investigating the Boston Marathon attack, said that days after the bombing, the Tsarnaev brothers “planned to travel to Manhattan to detonate their remaining explosives in Times Square.” “They discussed this while driving around in a Mercedes SUV that they hijacked after they shot and killed the officer at MIT,” the police commissioner said. “That plan, however, fell apart when they realized that the vehicle they hijacked was low on gas and ordered the driver to stop at a nearby gas station.”

The driver escaped and called police, Kelly said. That set off the gunbattle and manhunt that ended a day later with Dzhokhar captured and 26-year-old Tamerlan dead.

A day earlier, Kelly said that Tsarnaev had talked about coming to New York “to party” after the attack and that there wasn’t evidence of a plot against the city. But Kelly said a later interview with the suspect turned up the information. —AP

Obama, former presidents rally around George W Bush DALLAS: George W Bush basked in warm praise from President Barack Obama and three fellow former US presidents on Thursday as Bush’s library was dedicated in a ceremony that emphasized his resolute response to terrorism while skirting controversies such as his decision to invade Iraq.

Obama and fellow Democrats Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, along with Bush’s father, former President George H W Bush, came together on the campus of Southern Methodist University to honor one of their own. At the end of the hour-long ceremony, Bush - who has largely avoided public life since leaving Washington in January 2009 choked back tears as he concluded his remarks. Obama captured the feeling of the day when he indicated that Bush’s political friends and foes both view the former president as genuine.

“To know the man is to like the man, because he’s comfortable in his own skin,” Obama said. “He takes his job seriously, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s a good man.”

Bush, a Republican, had historically low popularity ratings for a US president - about 33 percent - when he left office. Although most Americans give him credit him for his steadfast response to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, many opposed his decision to go war against Iraq on what turned out to be a

false claim that Saddam Hussein’s regime was stockpiling biological and chemical weapons. By the end of Bush’s term, a oncevibrant economy was collapsing, fueling an image of an administration gone awry.

But time away from the spotlight has helped Bush in the eyes of many Americans.

In the days leading up to the dedication of his

library and museum, a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated that Bush’s approval rating was 47 percent, about equal to Obama’s.

In his speech to an audience that organizers estimated at 10,000 people, Bush alluded to the difficult choices he faced as president, which is a theme that runs through several of the library’s exhibits. —Reuters

TOKYO: Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff speaks during his lecture at Joint Staff College in Tokyo yesterday. Dempsey, who is wrapping up weeklong visit to Asia that included South Korea and China, reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the US-Japan alliance. — AP

Draining cash, Egypt on $30 billion search for aid

16

Speedier loans draw small UK firms to online financing

18

Business SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Hong Kong shares climb to 6-week high

Renault says Nissan to make small cars in France

20 17

ALBANY: In this Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 file photo, Jack Yonally rings out a customer at Lodge’s store in Albany, N.Y. The Commerce Department issues its first estimate of how fast the US economy grew in the January-March quarter yesterday. —AP

US economy accelerates at 2.5% in Q1 Inventories, consumer spending boost growth WASHINGTON: US economic growth regained speed in the first quarter, but not as much as expected, which could heighten fears the already weakening economy could struggle to handle deep government spending cuts and higher taxes.

Gross domestic product expanded at 2.5 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, after growth nearly stalled at 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter. The increase, however, missed economists’ expectations for a 3.0 percent growth pace.

Part of the acceleration in activity reflected farmers’ filling up silos after a drought last summer decimated crop output. Removing inventories, the growth rate was a tepid 1.5 percent.

Given the smaller-than-expected increase and signs the economy has weakened in recent weeks, the GDP data will probably weigh on US stocks. It could also give ammunition for the Federal Reserve to maintain its monetary stimulus.

The US central bank, which meets next week, is widely expected to keep purchasing bonds at a pace of $85 billion a month.

Data ranging from employment to retail sales and manufacturing weakened substantially in March after robust gains in the first two months of the year. There are indications the weakness persisted into April.

The GDP showed contributions to growth from all areas of the economy, with the exception of government, trade and investment by

businesses in offices and other commercial buildings.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, increased at 3.2 percent pace - the fastest since the fourth quarter of 2010. It grew at a 1.8 percent rate in the fourth quarter of last year.

However, households cut back on saving to fund their purchases after incomes dropped at a 5.3 percent rate in the first quarter - a bad sign for future spending growth. The drop in income was the largest since the third quarter of 2009.

The saving rate - the percentage of disposable income households are socking away - fell to 2.6 percent, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2007, from 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Much of the gains in first-quarter spending came from automobile purchases and outlays for utilities, which were boosted by unusually cold temperatures. Consumers managed to step up their spending despite the return of a 2 percent payroll tax and higher gasoline prices.

Despite the spike in gasoline prices, inflation pressures were benign in the first three months of the year.

An inflation gauge in the government’s GDP report rose at a 0.9 percent rate, the smallest increase since the second quarter of 2012.

The personal consumption expenditure index had increased at a 1.6 percent pace the fourth quarter.

A core measure that strips out food and energy costs rose at a 1.2

percent rate, still well below the Fed’s 2 percent target. Core PCE had increased at a 1.0 percent rate in the fourth quarter.

The lack of inflation should come as welcome relief for American households, but it could cause some nervousness at the US central bank, which may see it as a symptom of the economy’s weakness.

Another big contributor to growth in the fourth quarter was inventory accumulation, which added a full percentage point to GDP growth after chopping off 1.5 points from output in the final three months of last year.

Business spending on equipment and software slowed sharply, growing at an only 3.0 percent rate after a brisk 11.8 percent pace in the fourth quarter.

Economists caution that it is too early to blame the cooling in business investment and other more recent signs of economic softness on the $85 billion in mandatory government spending cuts, known as the sequester, that began on March 1.

Homebuilding marked an eighth straight quarter of growth, though the pace moderated from the fourth quarter. Housing added to growth last year for the first time since 2005 and its recovery should help ensure the economy does not contract.

While export growth rebounded, it was outpaced by imports, resulting in a trade deficit that cut off half a percentage point from output. —Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Draining cash, Egypt on $30 billion search for aid CAIRO: During a meeting in a Black Sea resort city, Egypt’s president and members of his government turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin and asked for a sizable loan, according to a Putin aide.

Egypt’s Mohammed Morsi appealed to Moscow and Cairo’s past ties, recalling how the former Soviet Union stepped in to finance the building of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s after the United States abruptly withdrew from the project, according to Russian media.

Still, the Russians’ response seemed rather equivocal: We’ll talk later. Egypt has been knocking on doors around the region seeking billions of dollars in loans, bond purchases and grants, trying to fill rapidly draining coffers so it can keep power stations running and bakeries churning out cheap bread for the country’s millions of poor.

The drive appears to have accelerated ahead of the summer, when the country’s fragile electricity network often breaks down under increased energy use and when officials have predicted a drop in wheat supplies.

Several states - including Qatar and Libya - have responded in recent weeks. But strikingly, a few countries have balked, wary of pouring money into Egypt’s worsening economy without some political stability after two years of turmoil since the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Moreover, economists worry that Morsi’s government is relying on an unsustainable policy, scrambling for foreign cash as a temporary cushion that allows it to put off major and highly unpopular economic reforms and avoid compromise with its political opponents.

The most crucial piece of aid, a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, has been delayed by months of negotiations over how Egypt will reduce its massive system of subsidies, which the poor rely on for cheap fuel and food but which suck up large portions of the budget. The government has taken some limited steps, but many economists believe it is postponing extensive reforms until after parliament elections to avoid austerity measures that could hurt Morsi’s majority Muslim Brotherhood party at the polls.

The problem is: No date has been set for elections, and they won’t be held until the fall at the earliest. That could mean months of economic limbo, with foreign lenders and donors reluctant to give unless there is a clear economic plan. Securing the IMF loan is considered key to boosting investors’ confidence in Egypt and unlocking further aid.

In the meantime, the government has been seeking injections of cash. Overall, Egypt has sought or is in talks for more than $30 billion since the fall of Mubarak - the vast majority since Morsi was inaugurated in June, according to a compilation by The Associated Press of what has been announced. In an email, an official in the president’s office could not confirm exact numbers but said the figure is “close to accurate.”

The official, who was not authorized to talk to reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not give further comment on economic policy.

The search for cash has opened Morsi’s government to embarrassing opposition taunts that it is begging. After Morsi and his team returned from Russia, his minister of industry and trade this week denied they asked Moscow for a loan, despite the Putin aide’s public description of the closed-door meeting.

“Egypt does not beg anyone for aid,” Hatem Saleh said.

“What has been reported in the media is not worth responding to.” Egypt’s need for funds is dire. After the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak, foreign investment in Egypt shriveled and tourism - a top revenue source - took a heavy blow.

Neither has recovered since, with investors and tourists still scared away by the country’s unrest and political uncertainty. With revenues down, the government has been burning through its foreign currency reserves, which have fallen to just $13.4 billion, a third of the pre-uprising level. Much of that has gone to propping up the currency and importing fuel and wheat for the subsidy system. Egypt spends some $14.5 billion a year in subsidizing fuel and $4 billion in food subsidies, the bulk of which goes to bread. Nearly half of Egypt’s 90 million people live near or below the poverty line of $2 a day. Egypt seems to be “reaching out to others as a backstop” until the IMF deal is sealed, said economist William Jackson of the London-based consultancy Capital Economics. He said there is “a real lack of clarity” on what it has received from other countries.—AP

ATHENS: A municipal workers chants anti-austerity slogans as she waves a greek flag during a protest against government plans to lay off thousands of public sector workers as part of its austerity program, in Athens, yesterday. — AP

Japan prices fall in March as deflation drags on TOKYO: Japan’s consumer price index fell 0.9 percent in March from a year earlier, underlining the challenge of ending a long spell of debilitating deflation despite an onslaught of monetary easing and stimulus spending. Citing expectations that the policies will soon turn take hold, the central bank raised its inflation forecast for the coming two years. The Bank of Japan, whose policy board met yesterday but left monetary policy unchanged, said it expects inflation to hit a 2 percent target within that time despite uncertainties in both the domestic and global economies.

In its revised outlook, the central bank said the economy was likely to grow at a “pace above its potential” and return to a moderate recovery by mid-2013. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December vowing to vanquish deflation, or falling prices, that tend to discourage business investment and weaken growth. Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, appointed in late March, has thrown his support behind that effort, committing to reaching the inflation target within two years by stepping up monetary easing so as to double the monetary base - the amount of cash circulating in the economy and held as bank reserves. So far there has been scant sign of any shift, though the economy did emerge from recession, barely, in the last quarter of 2012. Kuroda told reporters that the target could be reached by 2015.

“Consumer spending is showing signs of strength, although so far

there has been no significant shift toward more corporate investment,” he said. The 0.9 percent decline in prices in March compared with a 0.7 percent drop in February, though the inflation benchmark rose 0.2 percent from the month before. Core consumer prices excluding food fell 0.5 percent year-on-year.

The central bank’s forecast on Friday noted a slew of uncertainties that could skew trends in either direction, saying its outlook was based on an assumption that global financial markets will remain stable and that a weakening of the yen would help boost Japan’s exports. It also is assuming a tightening in the labor market that would push wages higher, and increased investment by businesses.

“Given these assumptions, in fiscal 2013 a virtuous cycle among production, income and spending is expected to start working, triggered by increases in public investment and exports,” its report said.

Inflation may be boosted by rising costs for imported energy and other commodities due to the weakening of the Japanese yen against the US dollar and other currencies, the BOJ said.

The inflation forecast includes the impact from anticipated increases in the sales tax, by 3 percentage points in 2014 and another 2 points in 2015. The BOJ said it also took into account expectations that consumers would increase spending so as to make purchases before the tax hikes take effect, as well as the expected ensuing decline in demand.—AP

NEW YORK: In this Tuesday, April 16, 2013, photo, Specialist Michael O’Mara, left, and trader Fred Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stock markets fell yesteray after Japan faced an unwelcome drop in consumer prices. — AP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

EMC reports Q1 2013 financial results DUBAI: EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) today reported first-quarter 2013 financial results that were highlighted by first-quarter records for consolidated revenue, nonGAAP net income, non-GAAP EPS and operating and free cash flow.

First-quarter revenue was $5.39 billion, an increase of 6% compared with the yearago quarter. First-quarter GAAP net income attributable to EMC was $580 million and first-quarter GAAP earnings per weighted average diluted share were $0.26. Non-GAAP1 net income attributable to EMC was $850 million, an increase of 4% compared with the year-ago quarter.

Non-GAAP1 earnings per weighted average diluted share were $0.39, an increase

of 5% year over year.

During the first quarter, EMC increased operating cash flow and free cash flow2 on a year-over-year basis to $1.71 billion and $1.44 billion, respectively. First-quarter GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins grew on a year-over-year basis, and the company ended the quarter with $12 billion in cash and investments.

Joe Tucci, EMC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “EMC’s solid firstquarter financial results speak to the strength of our execution and the soundness of our strategy that offers customers greater efficiency, control, choice and agility. Our three federated businesses - EMC Information Infrastructure, VMware and

Pivotal - are squarely focused on areas of IT that are expected to experience high growth over the next decade: cloud computing, Big Data and trusted IT. Each business is chartered to build its own technology and partner ecosystem necessary to succeed, while staying aligned to leverage one another’s strengths and to create value for our customers and shareholders. I am incredibly energized by the strength of our business model and the way we have positioned the company to lead this transformative era in information technology.”

David Goulden, EMC President and Chief Operating Officer, said, “EMC’s focus on cloud computing, Big Data and trusted IT helped drive solid revenue, non-GAAP

net income and non-GAAP EPS growth in the first quarter. We believe EMC is extremely well-positioned to grow faster than the IT marketplace, produce leverage in the business and continue to innovate and evolve to capitalize on the opportunities ahead.

Our first-quarter results are consistent with the full-year revenue and non-GAAP EPS outlook we provided in January, which remains unchanged. With continued steady execution, we expect that EMC will achieve our previously stated longer-term potential of more than $30 billion in revenue in 2016 with non-GAAP EPS growth outpacing revenue growth during this timeframe.”

Renault says Nissan to make small cars in France Plans to cut 7,500 jobs in France

LUDWIGSHAFEN: In this Feb. 8, 2008 file picture the headquarters of German chemical and oil company BASF is pictured in Ludwigshafen, southern Germany. BASF SE said yesterday, its net profit fell 15 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, when one-time gains from the sale of its fertilizer business boosted earnings. — AP

BASF sales up on farm chemical demand FRANKFURT: Chemicals and oil company BASF SE said yesterday its net profit fell 15 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, when one-time gains from the sale of its fertilizer business boosted earnings.

Otherwise, the company said it had a good quarter, with global revenues up on stronger sales at its oil and farm chemicals businesses. Net profit fell to 1.45 billion euros ($1.9 billion) from 1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012, when the company had one-time gains of 645 million euros from selling its fertilizer business in Antwerp, Belgium, to Russia’s EuroChem.

Revenues for the quarter rose 4.8 percent to 19.74 billion.

The company reaffirmed its outlook for the year, saying it would improve on last year’s sales and earnings. Profit for the quarter beat analysts’ expectations of 1.365 billion euros as compiled by financial information provider FactSet. BASF shares rose 2.4 percent to 70.00 euros in morning trading in Europe. A more detailed look at the results showed that sales and profits jumped at the farm chemicals division thanks to a good start to the growing season in France, Germany and eastern Europe with strong demand for weed killer and fungicides. It said division sales were boosted by the addition of Becker Underwood, the Ames, Iowa-based maker of seed treatments and crop protection products.

The company also said that sales and earnings declined at its specialized chemicals business, which saw lower profit margins due to higher raw materials costs. However, BASF gave a cautious outlook for the global economy. It said it expects global economic growth to pick up “only slightly in 2013” and that the “market environment “remains volatile.”

BASF, which is based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, provides a good insight into the state of the global economy as it makes ingredients or raw materials for a wide range of industries including aerospace, farming, autos, construction, mass transit, packaging, consumer care and pharmaceuticals. — AP

PARIS: Renault said yesterday its Japanese partner Nissan would manufacture the next generation subcompact Micra model at a factory in France, just a month after reaching a wage and working hours deal with French employees.

The new Micra will be manufactured at the Renault plant at Flins, near Paris, from 2016 with output reaching 82,000 vehicles per year, the companies said in a statement.

France’s Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg said the deal “was just the beginning for Renault in France and towards (products) made in France.” Renault said the labour pact signed last month increased “the competitiveness of its French plants, and enabled the company to assign the new Nissan production to the Flins plant.”

Renault’s management had pushed strongly for the labour deal with unions, arguing wages and working hours needed more flexibility if car manufacturing in the country was to survive the severe downturn in the European car market.

The deal is also in line with new labour market flexibility measures that are set to become law next month and which the French government hopes will boost employment and restart stalled economic growth.

“This announcement is good news for Flins, but also for all Renault plants in France,” said Renault Group chief executive Carlos Ghosn. “The efforts committed by our employees under the Renault Agreement are beginning to bear fruit.”

Renault’s pact with unions will see wages frozen in 2013 and working hours increased, but in return, the company has pledged to keep all of its five plants in France open until the end of 2016. Although it plans to cut 7,500 jobs in France, those will be made through natural attrition and early retirement. Under the deal with

PARIS: French Minister for Industrial Renewal, Arnaud Montebourg gives a press conference yesterday in Paris, following the announcement by French carmaker Renault that its Japanese partner Nissan would manufacture its next generation subcompact Micra model at a factory in France, just a month after reaching a wage and working hours deal with French employees. — AFP

Nissan, the French automaker is committed to ramp up its annual production volume by 180,000 cars in plants in France to 710,000. In that increase, 100,000 of the cars will be new Renault products, and the remaining 80,000 will come from partners.

A Renault spokesman told AFP that “other opportunities may present themselves (with the partners) that we won’t fail to study”.

Patrick Lienard, an FO union official at the Flins plant, said other announcements are soon expected to follow “for the two other sites.”

There has previously been talks about producing Nissan Primastar vans at a plant in Sandouville.

Another union representative, Bruno Mathiez of the CFE-CGC, called the announcement “excellent news that we didn’t expect that early. This proves that Nissan has confidence in

us following the agreement”.

Nissan, which has its own European manufacturing sites in Britain, Russia and Spain, said these would soon be at full capacity and it had looked for options within its alliance with Renault.

“The decision to propose the vehicle to Renault to build at one of its European plants benefits Nissan in several ways including capital expense reduction, foreign exchange exposure reduction and working capital reduction through shorter supply chains,” the company said in a statement. Renault, which also owns Dacia and Samsung brands, still managed a net profit of 1.77 billion euros ($2.3 billion) last year as it is less dependent on the European market, where its sales dropped by 18 percent last year. — AFP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Speedier loans draw small UK firms to online financing LONDON: Small British businesses have turned to seeking funding from members of the public online because of the slow speed at which banks process loan applications, a report showed yesterday. Peer-to-peer lending, which allows small investors to earn interest from loaning money to individuals or businesses, is one of several alternative sources of finance that have grown up as banks ration credit in response to tougher capital rules and the economic slowdown.

This week the British government gave banks greater incentives to lend to small firms in a bid to inject new life

into the country’s stagnant economy.

The report, produced by innovation charity Nesta using data from Britain’s largest peer-to-peer business lending website Funding Circle, found the length of time it takes to secure a bank loan, rather than the availability of loans, was the most common reason given by firms for choosing the online route. More than 75 percent of the 89 companies surveyed also said they would go to Funding Circle first for future funding.

“Coupled with the recession, it’s the explosion of social media and the use of (the) Internet that has made it easier

and cheaper to connect those who want to invest with the businesses that need finance,” said Stian Westlake, executive director of policy and research at Nesta.

British and US authorities are working out how best to regulate the wider crowdfunding industry, which also includes sites that enable individuals to buy small equity stakes in companies or fund creative projects in return for nonfinancial rewards, such as a copy of an album. Crowdfunding websites helped companies and individuals worldwide raise $2.7 billion from members of the public in 2012, an 81 percent increase

on the previous year, data showed earlier this month. Regulators are keen to make sure investors are aware of the risks and ensure the sites vet firms adequately to avoid scams.

Nesta said 88 percent of the 630 lenders surveyed had other investments such as stocks or bonds, while 38 percent had more than 10 years experience working with small- and mediumsized firms.

On average, Funding Circle lenders had invested a total of 7,983 pounds and 75 percent said they expected to increase the amount of money they put in over the coming year. — Reutres

Oil falls below $103 on poor growth outlook LONDON: Brent crude oil slid below $103 a barrel yesterday after rising $3 in the past two sessions as investors were cautious over the tepid outlook for growth in the world’s two largest oil consumers, the United States and China.

The oil price is set for its biggest weekly gain since November but is still 7 percent off levels at the start of April after a string of disappointing data stoked fears of global economic slowdown.

Brent slipped 66 cents to $102.75 a barrel by 1030 GMT, after touching a low of $102.56, while US crude was down 63 cents at $93.01. “Crude is being driven by strong momentum from the US, so we’re seeing a bit of profit-taking now,” said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland.

“The US GDP numbers are out later, and that’s something we need to watch. Brent’s premium to US crude futures <CLLCO1=R> edged lower after settling at below $10 on Thursday for the first time since January 2012.

“The market has gone through a period of relatively robust North Sea production, thus weakening the Brent side of the spread, while market participants are less concerned with the overhang of crude oil in the US Midwest as the ability to move oil out of the region continues to increase,” Dominick Chirichella of Energy Management Institute said.

Weak economic numbers from China and the euro zone have weighed on Brent, while better-than-expected US data and the easing of a supply glut at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for US crude futures, have buoyed the US marker.

US crude is on track for its largest weekly rise since July 2012, and prices could climb further if first-quarter GDP growth, due for release later yesterday, meets expectations.

Economists expect a 3.0 percent annualised pace of growth compared with 0.4 percent the quarter before, a Reuters survey showed. “It’s quite a big jump, and if it comes in line with expectations, that will be supportive for markets,” ANZ’s Rampono said.

Oil was also supported by a tightening of global spare inventories over the past two months, according to a report from the US Energy Information Administration, as well as by ongoing tensions in the Middle East. —Reuters

LOS ANGELES: In this April 25, 2013, photo, Los Angeles police officers fill up at a Chevron gas station downtown Los Angeles. Chevron Corp. reported quarterly financial results before the market opened yesterday. — AP

SEATTLE: This photo taken April 23, 2013 shows a Southwest airlines jet waiting to depart in view of the air traffic control tower at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. — AP

Weak earnings halt shares rally in Europe Equities underpinned by stimulus expectations LONDON: Disappointing corporate earnings pushed European shares lower in midsession trade yesterday, halting momentum on indexes which had risen over the previous five sessions.

Recent gains have been driven by expectations that central banks will provide extra economic stimulus following weak data - particularly the European Central Bank when it meets next week.

By 1026 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 was down 7.87 points, or 0.7 percent, at 1,192.77. French fashion firm and luxury goods group PPR missed first-quarter sales forecasts, hit by sluggish trading in Europe and slower growth in China. Its stock fell 6.3 percent.

Telecom equipment maker AlcatelLucent shed 2.1 percent after posting a first-quarter loss, while Norwegian telecoms company Telenor fell 2.5 percent after lowering its revenue growth outlook after a slower quarter.

WPP shed 0.9 percent after its outlook tempered expectations for a stock that has outperformed FTSE 100 by around 16 pct in 2013. “There is a hint of realism from management comments that certain pockets of economic recovery remain challenged,” Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers Market consensus of WPP is

a buy, while top analysts in the stock expect full year earnings per share of 81.80 pence, 1.06 pct above market consensus, according to Thomson Reuters data, suggesting the company has little room to disappoint.

Thomson Reuters StarMine data showed 51 percent of the STOXX Europe 600 companies that have announced results so far have missed analysts’ forecasts, lagging the United States, where only 27 percent companies have missed predictions. “Earnings have recently been mostly lower than expected from bellwether stocks and despite the quantitative easing measures in place one has to wonder just how strong the company earnings would be without the stimulus programs,” Jawaid Afsar, sales trader at SecurEquity, said.

The FTSEurofirst 300 is approaching the five-year high of 1,207 it hit in late March before selling off and remains on track to record its best weekly rise in five months, helped by the stimulus being pumped in to markets by central banks.

“Europe remains vulnerable. With no impetus coming from domestic demand, it remains reliant on the fortunes of the global economic cycle,” Credit Suisse said in a note. “The vulnerability is magnified by the fact that domestic demand in core

Europe is not offsetting the weakness in the periphery,” it said. The European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates next week but that won’t do much to pull the euro zone economy out of recession, a Reuters poll of 76 economists showed on Thursday.

Christian Schulz, Senior Economist, said in a note more likely than not, when the ECB acts it will cut rates by 25 basis points on top of some targeted initiatives to ease the credit crunch for small- and medium-sized enterprises at the periphery. Monetary stimulus erodes the yield value of fixed income assets, encouraging investments in a stock market in which a bubble could form if corporate earnings flag. Miners, which are particularly sensitive to changing economic conditions, led the index lower, shedding 1.8 percent. With growth very much in focus investors will watch for the latest reading of US GDP. US economic growth probably gained steam in the first quarter on strong consumer spending, but the momentum is already ebbing and could slow further as the impact of automatic government spending cuts kick in. “Today’s GDP data will be seen as crucial test to see if the recovery is on track in the US,” SecurEquity’s Afsar said. — Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

S Korea, Indonesia candidates out of WTO race SEOUL: South Korea and Indonesia confirmed yesterday their candidates to head the World Trade Organisation had failed to make it to the final round, saying the mood had been for a Latin American nominee.

Former South Korean trade minister Bark Tae-Ho “unfortunately failed to make it to the third round”, the foreign ministry said in a statement. Indonesia’s former trade minister Mari Pangestu also failed to get through as the candidates from Mexico and Brazil had been selected for the final round,

Indonesian trade minister Gita Wirjawan said in a statement. Mexico’s candidate is Herminio Blanco, a former senior trade negotiator, and Brazil’s is the country’s WTO ambassador Roberto Azevedo. “It is unfortunate but the trade ministry have fought and given full support,” said Wirjawan.

The South Korean foreign ministry said Bark’s candidacy had received considerable support, but was hampered by a desire for “checks and balances” given that a number of South Koreans currently hold key global posts, including UN chief.

“There was also an atmosphere in favour of the Latin American region that has never produced a WTO Secretary General,” the statement said.

Wirjawan said that Pangestu, the only woman to reach the second stage of the selection process, could still take pride in her achievement. “Pangestu will continue to contribute to the development of trade at the national and international level,” he added. There was no immediate comment from the other candidate who failed to get through, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser. — AFP

Commerzbank loses UK banker bonus appeal Bank must pay 104 London bankers around $68m

SHANGHAI: In this April 20, 2013 file photo, Honda Motor Co. President and Chief Executive Takanobu Ito, right, and Seiji Kuraishi, president of Honda Motor (China), pose for photographers with the company’s new Concept M at the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (AUTO Shanghai) media day in Shanghai, China. — AP

Honda’s annual net profit soars to $3.7bn TOKYO: Japanese automaker Honda said yesterday its net profit for the year to March soared 73.6 percent to $3.7 billion, thanks to robust overseas sales, a weaker yen, and cost cutting.

The rosy bottom line figure underscores a recovery among the nation’s major automakers after Japan’s quaketsunami disaster in 2011 devastated sales and production, and highlighted strong demand in the key Asian and US markets.

The yen, which has lost about one-fifth of its value on the dollar since November, has also helped, boosting Japanese firms’ competitiveness overseas and jacking up the value of their repatriated foreign income. Honda, Japan’s third-biggest automaker, said it sold a record 4.01 million vehicles worldwide in the last fiscal year. “In general Japan’s major automakers showed a brisk performance for the past fiscal year on the back of strong demand in North America and the positive impact of the weak yen,” said Shigeru Matsumura, auto analyst with SMBC Friend Securities.

“They are expected to continue to show firm results for the current fiscal year thanks to those issues,” he added.

Yesterday, Honda, Japan’s third-biggest automaker, said it earned 367.15 billion yen ($3.7 billion) on revenue of 9.87 trillion yen, up from 7.95 trillion yen a year earlier. The company’s sales in China have almost returned to normal levels after plunging due to a bitter territorial row between Tokyo and Beijing that fuelled a consumer boycott of Japanese products.

The long-standing dispute flared again in September when Tokyo nationalised some of a tiny East China Sea archi-

pelago that is also claimed by Beijing, setting off huge demonstrations across China and the consumer boycott.

Japanese factories and businesses across China temporarily closed or scaled back operations over fears of being targeted by angry mobs. But “we think the Chinese market will continue to grow, especially having seen the enthusiasm and the number of firms participating in the Shanghai Motor Show” this month, said Tetsuo Iwamura, Honda’s executive vice president.

“Our business (in China) is steadily recovering to the normal level.” The automakers have also been forced to recall millions of vehicles over safety and quality concerns in recent years. But Honda is expecting another strong year to March 2014 with annual net profit of 580 billion yen on sales of 12.1 trillion yen.

Many automakers and durable goods producers are eyeing strong demand before the government hikes the national sales tax to eight percent from the current five percent over the next year, and eventually 10 percent by 2015.

Japanese industry has also benefited from the big-spending and easy-money policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who swept December elections on a promise to inject new life into the world’s third-largest economy. Huge easing measures from Abe’s hand-picked team at the Bank of Japan have also pushed down the yen, with the dollar buying 98.69 yen in afternoon Tokyo forex trade on Friday-from a low around 75 yen in late 2011. Rival automakers Toyota and Nissan report their full-year earnings next month. — AFP

LONDON: Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest lender, yesterday lost a high-profile appeal against a UK court ruling that forces it to pay 104 London-based bankers around 52 million euros ($68 million) in bonuses, plus costs.

Commerzbank had argued that its now-integrated Dresdner Kleinwort subsidiary was justified in slashing 2008 bonuses as losses spiralled to 6.5 billion euros and threatened the survival of the business.

The decision flies in the face of a regulatory clampdown on bonuses, as well as government, public and investor scorn at the size of payouts amid disappointing returns and billions spent on bank bailouts since the 2008 crisis.

“It is a regrettable outcome in view of the on-going regulatory, public and shareholder calls to establish a sound relationship between banks’ performance and variable remuneration,” Commerzbank said.

The Frankfurt-based bank added it was considering its legal options. It has seven days to apply for an appeal to be considered at the Supreme Court.

Some lawyers have said the three-and-a-half year legal battle by the largest group action of its kind at the High Court represents a triumph of David over Goliath.

But they have also warned it sets a worrying precedent for banks that have had informal bonus discussions with staff, or those facing liquidity problems or mergers, which might now be required to honour preagreed bonus terms.

The dispute hinged in part on whether

Commerzbank’s often informal promises of bonuses constituted a contractual agreement and whether it had been within its rights to introduce a “material adverse change” (MAC) clause in bonus letters after the Dresdner takeover in 2009, which the German bank argued allowed it to cut the payouts.

In a unanimous decision to dismiss Commerzbank’s appeal, the Court of Appeal found there was “overwhelming evidence justifying the conclusion that this promise (of bonuses) was intended to be legally binding” and the introduction of the MAC clause amounted to a breach of duty of trust and confidence.

High Court Judge Robert Owen enraged Commerzbank last May by suggesting it had sacrificed the contractual rights of its employees “on the altar of public perception” after being forced to seek a government bailout following the Dresdner deal.

Lawyers for the bankers have said the heavy Dresdner losses had been well known and, in fact, had been the reason the bank had set up a “staff retention plan” to avoid mass defections, promising loyal bankers a share of a minimum 400-million-euro guaranteed bonus pool.

Clive Zietman, representing some the Dresdner bankers, said his clients were delighted with the outcome and doubted that Commerzbank would be granted the right to appeal.

The right to appeal will only be given if Commerzbank’s lawyers can prove there is a point of law to be determined or if there was an error in the ruling. — Reuters

BEIJING: People gather outside a food stall in Beijing yesterday. China’s economic growth likely picked up slightly in the first quarter of this year, according to an AFP poll of analysts on April 15, but they say the rebound is fragile and key data unreliable. — AFP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Philippine Airlines in major route expansion MANILA: Philippine Airlines announced a major route expansion yesteriday to better serve the army of Filipino expatriate workers in the Middle East.

As well as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, PAL added new routes to Australia, China and Malaysia as the company pursues a $10 billion fleet overhaul that will more

than double its current fleet of 44 aircraft. PAL president Ramon Ang said the push into the Gulf states starting in October would serve the region’s large Filipino workforce, which includes many domestic helpers, construction workers and medics.

“From UAE, for example, overseas Filipino workers can easily connect to

other key cities or countries through PAL’s airline partners in the Gulf,” Ang said in a statement.

PAL’s route expansion comes with the Philippine government expressing hope that its aviation safety regime will soon pass audits by regulators in the United States and European Union.

The US blacklist prohibits Philippine

carriers from adding additional flights in the United States apart from their existing services. The EU bar prevents Filipino airlines from serving European routes at all.

The PAL group now serves 28 overseas destinations including four US cities: Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. —AFP

Hong Kong shares climb to 6-week high China weak ahead of holiday HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares rose to their highest since mid-March yesteriday but in weak turnover, as a recovery in physical commodity prices helped magnify earnings-driven strength in Chinese companies showing signs of a turnaround.

Mainland China shares ended April with a whimper, with growth-sensitive counters from railway to shipbuilders leading index losses ahead of a threeday Labour Day holiday next week.

Trading will resume on May 2.

The CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings slid 0.8

0.7 percent to 22,547.7, its highest close since March 14. It rose 2.4 percent this week and has now spiked 4.8 percent from a five-month low on April 18.

The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong rose 0.6 percent on the day and 2.3 percent on the week. This was the best week for both Hong Kong indexes since the week that ended Jan. 4.

But gains in Hong Kong came in weak turnover this week, which was some 13 percent below this year’s average, on a weekly basis. Shanghai volumes in April were its weakest since November.

HONG KONG: Port workers raise pictures and shout slogans during a protest in Hong Kong yesterday. The workers have been on strike since the end of March. They are demanding higher pay and better working conditions from the middleman companies supplying labor to port operator Hong Kong International Terminals, controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing. —AP percent. The Shanghai Composite Index shed 1 percent to 2,177.9, its lowest closing level since Christmas Eve and barely above its 200-day moving average - a technical level that it has tested about six times in April.

They each suffered a third-straight monthly loss, sliding 1.9 and 2.6 percent in April, respectively. Both have unwound more than 10 percent from 2013 peaks in early February and are now down 3 and 4 percent for the year, respectively.

On Friday, the Hang Seng Index rose

“Volumes are still low, but the earnings season is showing some individual companies are starting to show they are not doing too badly, so this might be a good time for value investors to start accumulating some positions,” said Larry Jiang, chief strategist at Guotai Junan International Securities.

The Warren Buffett-backed Chinese automaker BYD Co Ltd surged 12.2 percent in its best day in 17 months in Hong Kong after reporting that quarterly profit tripled and forecasting a surge in first half profit. Its Shenzhen listing

rose 3.1 percent.

Most other Chinese automakers have outperformed this week on improved expectations at the ongoing Shanghai Auto Show, including Great Wall Motor , which reported quarterly results that were broadly in line with expectations.

But investors took that as a sign to take some profit, trimming strong weekly gains after UBS downgraded their view on Great Wall Motor’s H-share listing from “neutral” to “sell,” believing earnings growth expectations from its new models are too high.

Great Wall shed 2.3 percent in Hong Kong, trimming gains on the week to 15.8 percent. Its Shanghai listing skidded 2.7 percent on the day.

Another company that could see more investor’s interest following robust quarterly earnings is China Unicom after China’s second-largest mobile operator posted an 89 percent rise in net profit for the January-March period due to a rising number of subscribers spending more on data.

Its shares in Hong Kong climbed 2.6 percent yesterday to extend a recent recovery of its share price to close at its highest since March 8.

Bank of China rose 1.4 percent after the country’s fourth-largest lender posted quarterly net profit that grew 8 percent, broadly in line with expectations.

The bank said its non-performing loan ratio was 0.91 percent, down from 0.95 percent at the end of last year. Its net interest margin widened to 2.22 percent from 2.15 percent a year ago, setting the stage for the earnings of its “Big Four” Chinese banking peers later in the day In Hong Kong, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.7 percent, while China Construction Bank added 0.8 percent ahead of quarterly reports after market close yesterday.

China Southern Airlines slid 4 percent in its worst loss in three weeks in Hong Kong after its quarterly net profit slumped a worse-than-expected 82 percent. Yesterday’s losses trimmed its 2013 gains to 4.3 percent.

China Southern is now trading at a 37 percent discount to its forward 12month earnings multiple, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine. This is much bigger than Air China’s 27 percent discount, but smaller than China Eastern Airlines’ 47 percent discount. —Reuters

TOKYO: A Japan Airlines Boeing 787 plane, foreground, sits on a tarmac with others at Haneda Airport in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s transport minister said yesterday the government is poised to allow Japanese airlines to resume flying grounded Boeing 787s once they complete installation of systems to reduce fire risk in problematic lithium ion batteries. —AP

Japan allows airlines set to resume 787 flights TOKYO: Japan’s transport minister said yesterday the government will allow Japanese airlines to resume flying grounded Boeing 787s once they complete installation of systems to reduce fire risk in problematic lithium ion batteries.

The ministry gave the official approval Friday evening following a formal safety order from U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. “We have reached a conclusion that there is no problem with the judgment by the FAA,” Transport Minister Akihiro Ohta told reporters. “We believe all possible safety measures would be taken to prevent recurrence of similar problems.”

The 50 Dreamliner jets in service worldwide were grounded in mid-January after incidents with smoldering batteries occurred aboard two different planes. Japan’s All Nippon Airways was the launch customer for the technologically advanced airliner and has 17 of the jets. Japan Airlines has seven.

The groundings have led to hundreds of canceled flights and big revenue losses.

A resumption of Dreamliner commercial flights would be around June, as safety improvements are expected to take several weeks to finish, airline officials said. The FAA posted a safety order online Thursday allowing 787 flights to resume once the batteries are replaced with a revamped system that manufacturer Boeing Co. says sharply reduces the risk of fire.

Japan is requiring ANA and JAL to take additional safety measures, including installation of a system that allows monitoring of battery voltage on the ground and test flights of all 787 aircraft. A first test flight is expected Sunday.

ANA said yesterday it plans to complete the safety improvement work, which would require about one week per aircraft, by the end of May for its entire 787 fleet.

Engineering crews are working to retrofit new systems on each of its 17 Dreamliner aircraft, ANA said. The measures involve replacing existing batteries with new ones, installing new chargers, containment boxes and a venting system. —AP

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Royals spend magic day at film studios

www.kuwaittimes.net

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Stars take stage at Billboard Latin Music Awards PAGE 27

Models present creations for Fall/Winter 2013/2014 collection by Georgian designer Tamar Chabukiani during Tbilisi ’Fashion’ Week, yesterday. — AFP

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Zayn Malik and Perrie Edwards

celebrate first anniversary

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Ben Affleck

getting an honorary degree

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he ‘Argo’ actor and filmmaker has been elected to receive a Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) degree from Brown University for his achievements in cinema. Although the star missed out on the coveted Best Director Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony in February, he will be rewarded for his work behind the camera when he picks up the prize next month. Ben was nominated and voted on by the Board of Fellows in September, before his CIA thriller ‘Argo’ took awards season by storm, receiving the Best Motion Picture of the Year Oscar, Best Film BAFTA and Best Director at the Golden Globes, amongst many other accolades.

Pulitzer-winning author and MIT professor Junot Diaz and four others will also be honoured at Brown University’s commencement ceremony on May 26. Ben joins the likes of Daniel Day Lewis, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and even Kermit the Frog who have picked up honorary degrees for their film work. After his whirlwind year in 2012, Ben is looking forward to spending time at home with his children, Violet, seven, Seraphina, four, and 13-month-old Samuel, while wife Jennifer Garner concentrates on her acting career. He joked earlier this month: “I’m preparing myself to take on some more of the burden at home. “[Jennifer’s] got a couple of movies coming up, so it’s going to be a little Mr Mom action, and I’m going to get back in the ring and we’re going to see if I still have it.”

Peaches Geldof has given birth to a boy

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he socialite - whose father is Sir Bob Geldof, one of the founders of Band Aid - and her husband Tom Cohen welcomed their second child, Phaedra - the same day as her late mother Paula Yates’ birthday. A source told The Sun newspaper: “They are absolutely over the moon about their new arrival. It all went smoothly and Peaches will be in hospital for a while to recuperate. Bob is absolutely over the moon-the whole family are. “They are particularly pleased about the significance of the date as it makes Peaches feel she is keeping her mum’s memory alive.” Peaches - who also has12-month-old son Astala with Tom - gave birth via caesarian section on April 24 and reportedly planned to honour her mum with the birth of her first child last year, but missed the date. Little Phaedra’s date of birth marks what would have been Paula’s 54th birthday. The former ‘Big Breakfast’ host died from a drug overdose aged 41 in 2000. The 24-year-old star’s siblings, Fifi, 30, Pixie, 22, and half sister Tiger Lily, 16, have reportedly been close by at her hospital bedside since giving birth. Peaches - who married S.C.U.M. rocker Tom last year - is thought to have named her new bundle of joy after her favourite band Tangerine Dream’s 1974 album, ‘Phaedra’.

he One Direction hunk treated the Little Mix singer to a romantic evening enjoying the views of Paris from the vantage point of one of the world’s most iconic landmarks. A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “1D are performing out there this week so Zayn flew out early to spend a couple of precious days with Perrie. “They wanted to mark their first year together and it means a lot that they’ve made it this far despite their hiccups.” The Little Mix girls were in Paris to perform an intimate gig at the VIP Rooms Theatre, so Zayn whisked Perrie off to see the sights after the show and spend some rare quality time together.

Zayn, 20, was accused of cheating on Perrie, 19, earlier this year with bar worker Courtney Webb, but the couple appear to have put the rumours behind them. Perrie recently insisted the ‘Kiss You’ heartthrob treats her better than any other boyfriend she’s ever had and insisted the pair shared a special bond. She gushed: “Zayn is so lovely. You know things are good when you can’t wait to see the other person. “It’s a sense of friendship. The main thing I looked for is if he’s fun to be around, if I can have a laugh with him.”

Reese Witherspoon is ‘trying to lay low’

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he ‘Walk the Line’ actress - who was charged with disorderly conduct after confronting a police officer who had arrested her husband Jim Toth on suspicion of DUI in Atlanta last week is said to be “devastated” by the events and is hoping things will blow over soon.

A source told E! News: “She is trying to lay low and spend time with her family. It’s going to take her a long time to get over and she knows she let her family down.”

However, it seems the 37-year-old actress - who has seven-month-old son Tennessee with her CAA agent husband, as well as Ava, 13, and Deacon, nine, with ex-husband Ryan Philippe - is getting plenty of support from her friends. The source added: “[She] has a very close net-

work of girlfriends who are being very supportive and have been keeping her busy. She’s trying to move on, but she’s definitely nervous about the future.” The ‘Mud’ star and her husband were pulled over by police in the early hours of Friday morning last week and Reese reportedly became agitated when the officer questioned Jim, 42, on suspicion of DUI. According to a police report, she said: “Do you know my name? You are going to be on national news.”

The actress later apologised for the incident, explaining that she had “one too many” drinks and was “deeply embarrassed” by her behaviour.

Gwyneth Paltrow feels guilty for being a working mom

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he ‘Iron Man 3’ actress has kids Apple, eight and Moses, seven, with husband Chris Martin and admits her career is a constant source of guilt. She said: “I feel guilty all the time!

But they are my priority. “I only do one movie a year now and I look for something that’s not going to take me away.

And it’s really more like I’ll miss them too much.” Gwyneth also revealed becoming a mother changed her life forever. She said: “When I met my daughter I was looked into her eyes and I was like, ‘What was I doing until this moment?’ It changed my life forever. “It changed the way I saw myself, the way I saw my own mother, it changed the way that I wanted to live for the rest of my life.” While she is a busy working mom, there is nothing the actress loves more than spending time with her kids. She added in an interview with People magazine: “Moses likes me to lie down with him until he goes to sleep. “He’s so cuddly right now and last night he put his head on me and put his leg over my body and I’m like, ‘I’m in heaven’.”

Selena Gomez has a cr ush on Ryan Gosling

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

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he ‘Love You Like A Love Song’ hitmaker - who has reportedly reconciled with Justin Bieber hasn’t yet met the ‘Notebook’ actor because she “freaked out” the last time she saw him. During an interview on Elvis Duran’s radio show in New York, Selena said “Ryan Gosling is such a given, but he’s super-cute.

I’ve not met him yet. I’ve seen him on a plane - and I didn’t - I freaked out so I didn’t even - I don’t even think he saw me so ... but that one.”

Ryan isn’t the only celebrity to fluster Selena, 20, she recently revealed her awkward encounter with Brad

Jessica Simpson’s Chloe Moretz parents get a divorce says she’s just a T

ina Simpson - who also has daughter Ashlee Simpson with her former husband Joe - filed for divorce in September 2012 after 35 years of marriage and the union has now been dissolved, according to TMZ. While details of the settlement have not been made public, it was recently claimed Tina, 53, was so sick of fighting with Joe that she was willing to willing to give into his demands for an equal split of everything under the family name, including the multi-million dollar clothing line she manages for Jessica. A source said: “An offer of a 50 percent split of everything under the Simpson name has been offered to Joe. “That includes the coveted Jessica Simpson Collection, which Joe desperately wanted because that’s the real cash cow. “Even though he has nothing to do with the fashion label, Tina just wants an end to the saga and if that means giving Joe what he wants, so be it.” However, those close to Jessica - who is expecting her second child with fiance Eric Johnson - insisted she would be unhappy with any such deal as relations are strained between herself and her dad. The source added: “The offer will certainly irk Jessica, because she doesn’t want her dad getting his hands on any of money she earns for the family and they still aren’t getting along. “But Tina is tired of arguing, tired of fighting and just wants it all to end.”

normal teenager W

hile the 16-year-old actress is often spotted in designer outfits on the red carpet, she insists it is all part of the job and she is a typical teen when she’s not working. Speaking in May’s Young Hollywood’ edition of NYLON magazine, Chloe said: “I’m a normal 16-year-old girl who’s no different from my friends, but on the other hand, I have to portray that glamorous image of, like, Dior Couture! Chanel! Prada! That’s a character. It’s ‘the star,’ not ‘the girl.’ So in my brand, it’s all in one package. That’s just what you have to do.”

Chloe will next star in the remake of Carrie, playing a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her, and the young star admitted the dark character took its toll on her. She explained: “I tried a new style of acting that I’ve never tried before.

When I do a crying scene, I’m the type of actor who usually breaks right out of it afterwards, and I’m laughing and being silly. But with ‘Carrie’, I wanted to try staying in character and being in that dark space all day. I’m not very serious Method. It’s not like I didn’t talk to my family or go crazy and not eat, but with the director and the actors I was Carrie all the time on set. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, but it was one of the darkest, and I’m terrified to see the movie because it’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever been.” — Bangshowbiz

Pitt, where she hid under a table because she was so in awe of him. She said: “I was in my dressing room and I had just finished performing. They knocked on my door and they said Brad Pitt would like to come in and I was like, ‘He can come in.’ I was trying to play cool and be really nice.

As soon as he walked out I ran and I hid under the craft service table for like two minutes because I couldn’t believe it was happening. “He was like, ‘Can I have a picture with you?’ I was like, ‘Can I have a picture with you?!’ “I was so nervous. Like that stresses me out, but it was fine. I actually had fun and I got to meet Brad Pitt, so...”

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Napoleon’s ring, Franz Joseph’s hair sold in Vienna

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silver lock of an Austrian emperor’s hair and a ring containing a jewel unearthed

by Napoleon in Egypt and then given to his wife Josephine have been auctioned in Vienna. Franz Joseph’s hair lock went for 13,720 euros ($17,870) to an unidentified buyer while an unnamed Italian telephone bidder bought the ring for 97,900 euros, the Dorotheum auction house said. Napoleon (1769-1821) discovered the antique gemstone during his militarily disastrous but scientifically successful expeditionit also turned up the famed Rosetta Stone-to Egypt in 1798-99.

Pocketing it in the ruins of Pelesium, Napoleon gave the jewel to general Antoine-Francois Andreossy, an antiquities buff, but then asked for it back and presented it to Josephine. She then had it

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A lock of hair from Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria is seen prior to an auction of Imperial Court Memorabilia and Historical Objects at the Palais Dorotheum in Vienna. —AFP

made into a ring, and as a wealth of surviving accompanying documents show, she then gave it to her private secretary Count Vincenz Brunetti. Later it ended up in Vienna.

Also under the hammer was Napoleon’s “personal drinking glass”, the Dorotheum said, engraved with the letter “N” and an imperial crown, snapped up for 6,250 euros. The lock of hair from Franz Joseph, the tragic figure who died in 1916 after 68 years on the throne just as his empire was crumbling in World War I, belonged to the estate of his valet, Eugen Ketterl. Also sold on Thursday were the emperor’s cufflinks for 8,750 euros a cigar holder for 4,750 euros, a gold hunting pin for 6,875 euros and a handkerchief with his initials for 2,750 euros. —AFP

The fresh, mainstream look of vegetarian cooking

ot so long ago, there was a certain image associated with being vegetarian. It usually involved Birkenstock sandals, lentil loaf and an agenda. There still are plenty of all three in the meatless movement, but a growing number of Americans are finding they can have cauliflower and kale at the center of the plate without a side of ideology.

That’s because at the same time people are eating less meat, vegetables have gained respect as worthy ingredients in their own right, not just as the garnish for a steak. There even are celebrity vegetables (ramps and Brussels sprouts, anyone?).

And perhaps most telling, the word “vegetarian” has moved from the center of cookbook covers to the margins, if it’s seen at all.

“I’ve always struggled with the ‘vegetarian’ label,” says Deborah Madison, whose cookbook “Vegetable Literacy” (Ten Speed Press, 2013) is the most recent in her 30-year career of writing about vegetables. “When I began writing it was so much about a lifestyle. You were or you weren’t and people didn’t cross that line.”

Today that line is fluid. Movements such as “Meatless Mondays,” as well as concerns about food quality and a tighter economy, have more Americans treating meat as the side dish. And it shows in how we shop. The number of farmers markets has more than doubled during the last 10 years, and meat consumption is down 12 percent since 2007.

Shifting attitudes regarding what and how we eat also come into play. Americans today eat more casually than previous generations. The idea of a “center of the plate” - a large piece of meat surrounded by a starch and a vegetable - has loosened. Many Americans happily graze on Mediterranean tapas, indulge in sushi or slurp Asian soups like Vietnamese pho, where meat is an afterthought.

As our concept of what constitutes a meal has widened, so has the range of vegetarian options.

During the ‘70s and ‘80s, lentil loaf was a very real and terrifying thing. Meanwhile, in a search to replace the “missing” meat, many chefs loaded up on cheese, eggs and cream, trying to fill diners up and prove that vegetarian food could be satisfying. And brown rice and other bland ingredients made eating healthy seem like punishment.

“I was going for bulk, for comfort food,” says Mollie Katzen, whose 1977 “Moosewood Cookbook” (Ten Speed Press) made her a pioneer

in the movement. “Now I wouldn’t serve one heavy clunker in the center of the plate. My cooking is far more modular - a little bit of whole grains, some legumes. I like to call it ‘the peace sign plate.’”

If chefs have changed, so have their audiences.

The culinary revolution of the 1980s introduced Americans to a greater range of flavors and to the idea of fresh produce artfully deployed. A greater awareness of international cuisines also has opened doors to a new kind of vegetable-oriented cooking.

“We’ve brought so many cultural influences

summer from Chronicle Books. “The French Market Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter, 2013) seizes on the idea that while classic, Escoffier-style cooking is meat-oriented, the poorer food of the French countryside is vegetable-focused. Seizing on dishes such as these, which are designed to be eaten without meat, says author Clotilde Dusoulier, makes the whole category more appealing.

“When you come from a very meat and potatoes diet, it’s hard to imagine adapting those dishes,” Dusoulier says. “You just feel like you’re removing meat. If you focus on natively vegetari-

in magazines and on restaurant menus. “I’m seeing cauliflower everywhere.” But perhaps the biggest change is that eating vegetables is no longer about avoiding meat. While early chefs tried to reconfigure vegetables and grains to resemble meat in taste and texture as closely as possible, today’s vegetable cooking focuses on the best qualities of the produce. And yes, sometimes meat is even involved. This vegetable-forward approach can be seen on cookbook covers, where the word “vegetarian” has either disappeared or been minimized.

“Vegetables Please” by Carolyn Humphries (DK

into the conversation,” says Diane Morgan, author most recently of “Roots” (Chronicle Books, 2012), which celebrates turnips, sunchokes and other underground vegetables. “The granola-era people weren’t making risotto. They were turning spaghetti and meatballs into something else - the meatballs had brown rice, but they weren’t sophisticated. Now the volume of ethnic cookbooks coming into the conversation changes that.”

And many of these ethnic cookbooks are vegetable-centered. “The Duke’s Table” (Melville House, 2013) offers a comprehensive collection of Italian vegetarian recipes first published in the 1930s. “The Glorious Vegetables of Italy,” also offering vegetarian Italian recipes, is due out this

an dishes, those are meant to be meat-free, so they’re perfect without a meat component.” And a growing number of “celebrity” vegetables have replaced the tired portobello mushroom that began standing in for burgers on restaurant menus in the 1980s. Once reviled items like Brussels sprouts - which Katzen says “were almost a punch line” - are being roasted, grilled and julienned. Kale salad is on trendy menus across the country, and kale chips - which Katzen says she made in the ‘90s to great guffaws - are on grocery store shelves. Ramps, in season right now, are yet another hip, cool plant to munch. Cauliflower may be next.

“Cauliflower is the new kale,” says Katzen, noting the prevalence of roasted cauliflower “steaks”

Publishing, 2013) bills itself as “The more vegetables, less meat cookbook.” “Eat Your Vegetables”

by Arthur Potts Dawson (Octopus Publishing, 2012) extolls the virtues of chilled pea soup, but also offers recipes such as lamb tagine with sugar snap peas. Morgan’s “Roots” mixes purely vegetarian recipes such as raw beet salad with beefwrapped burdock root.

“It’s safe to come out now and say ‘Here’s a bunch of vegetarian food,’” says Katzen, author of the forthcoming “The Heart of the Plate” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Sept. 2013). “It’s a mainstream choice. I can confidently put it right at the top of my cover and people won’t run away from it. They won’t think ‘It’s a handbook for a club I didn’t join.’” —AP

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Britain’s Kate the Duchess of Cambridge looks at the costume for the character Hagrid in the Harry Potter films.

Britain’s Kate the Duchess of Cambridge watches her husband Prince William as he sits on the ‘Batpod’.

William, Kate and Harry... Potter?

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Royals spend magic day at film studios

ritain’s Prince William, his wife Catherine and Prince Harry had a wizard time yesterday as they visited the Warner Brothers studios where the Harry Potter and Batman movies were filmed. The junior royals, who were officially opening the studios at Leavesden, north of London, got to try out props and costumes and waved wands on the set of the movies about the teenage wizard.

They were shown around the “Making of Harry Potter” tour, a popular tourist attraction for fans of the films based on the books by JK Rowling. Second-in-line to the throne William then took the wheel of a Batmobile that featured in the recent trilogy by British director Christopher Nolan. “Christian Bale’s getting old and tired... I will stand in if I have to,” the 30-year-

old Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot joked, referring to the star of the series about the caped crusader.

He also jumped astride a bat bike and turned on the engine as younger brother Harry put his fingers in his ears because of the noise. Kate, 31, who is around six months pregnant, let the boys play with their toys but still cast a spell in a black jacket and polka dot dress from the British high street retailer Topshop that showed off her baby bump. The child, who will be the couple’s first, is expected to be born in July. —AFP Britain’s Prince William (right) and his brother Prince Harry look at a ‘Batsuit’ used in the Batman films as they attend the inauguration of “Warner Bros Studios Leavesden” near Watford, approximately 18 miles north west of central London, yesterday. —AP photos

African diva Kidjo wins Songlines Best Artist award

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Angelique Kidjo

frican diva Angelique Kidjo was named Best Artist in Songlines magazine’s annual world music awards yesterday, lauded for her highenergy shows and her championing of social causes. French veterans Lo’jo, who mix French folk with African and Arabic sounds, picked up the Best Group award and the young Zimbabwean band Mokoomba was chosen as top Newcomer. The Best Cross CulturalCollaboration went to Dub Colossus for the blend of Ethiopian roots, reggae and dub beats on their latest album “Dub Me Tender Vol. 1+2”.

Kidjo, orginally from Benin, is one of

Africa’s biggest singing stars. Over the years she has worked with Prince, sang at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and sold out New York’s Carnegie Hall. The Best Artist award was given for her live “Spirit Rising” album but was also recognition of her career achievements, Songlines editor-in-chief Simon Broughton told Reuters. “She’s been around a long time but she’s always inspiring,” he said. “What clinched it was a concert she gave in London in March for Women’s Day. It was breathtaking. I’ve never seen her so exuberant. She bonds people and really makes it special.”

Kidjo, 52, has adopted the mantle of

the late South African singer Miriam Makeba as a political voice and campaigns for women’s rights and education in Africa. “The award is also for what she stands for,” Broughton said. Lo’jo, from southwest France, has also been around a long time and the band’s latest album, “Cinema el Mundo”, showed them to be as strong as ever. “They are much better known in the Francophone world than elsewhere. They’ve not been tempted to become more mainstream,” Broughton said. “They are a quality act, an unusual, interesting group, especially in their connections with West and North Africa.” —Reutes

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Visitors take a tour of contemporary art installation with a red light illuminating hanging neon tubes by Helsnki, Finland, artist Villu Jaanisoo displayed at the war bunker, near town of Konjic, 80 kms south of Sarajevo, Bosnia, yesterday. —AP

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Man seeks joy at end of life in debut novel by 69-year-old

alesman or scammer, Jim makes and loses several fortunes in North America and the Brazilian jungle, but then loses himself as he runs over anyone who gets in his way. Old and broke he falls in love with or at least has serious desires for - Mara, a beautiful and ambitious woman 50 years his junior. Strangely and perhaps even more unlikely, Mara falls for Jim - or perhaps what he could be if he could again rise from poverty.

“The Dream Merchant: A Novel”, published by Thomas Dunne Books for St. Martin’s Press in March, is a first novel for Fred Waitzkin, 69, a non-fiction author and journalist known for his critically acclaimed and bestselling 1984 memoir about his chess prodigy son, “Searching for Bobby Fischer”.

Waitzkin talked to Reuters about his new book and why his first novel is only coming out as he nears his 70th birthday.

Q: What took you so long to write this book?

A: I always wanted to write a novel. When I was younger, I wanted to start writing fiction but I was not good at it. In the middle part of my career I wrote for the big magazines and I learned a lot about stories.

Journalism is tremendous training ground as

Fred Waitzkin a novelist. It took me 10 years to write (this book). I am also a slow writer. And I did a tremendous amount of research. I wanted to

smell the jungle, go to the brothels, go to the gun shops. I have to see it and feel it as a writer.

Q: You describe great and numerous intimate scenes. What does that say about you?

A: Obviously, I like scenes. There is not a lot written about old men who have love affairs with young women. But it’s part of the human condition. Most old men would love to have an affair with a young woman. Men of power do have relationships with young woman. It rejuvenates them. The women who read the book like it.

Q: It’s a man’s book. Why would women read it?

A: For any reason a woman would read a good book, it speaks to the human condition.

It tells a story about the world we live in, the people who live in it. A good book is a good book.

Q: What did your wife and daughter think of the intimate scenes, that you their husband/father wrote them? How long have you been married?

A: My daughter (28) was more uncomfortable than my wife (69) but ultimately they loved it. Forty-nine years.

Q: Is this the life you wish you had lived?

A: In fantasy, sure. When I went to Brazil (to

do research) I found it intoxicating. Vicariously, I feel I have lived that life. I would not replace my own with it. Writing for six months about certain characters I felt I lived those characters.

Q: Was writing the book therapy for you?

A: All my books are therapy. You live so intensely. You empty out everything that is important to you. I have felt a purging of myself every time I write a book.

Q: Are you a happy man?

A: Yes, but I am a complicated guy. How can you live a life and not feel angst, sadness, nostalgia.

Q: Who was “Jim” in real life?

A: I admired my father hugely. He was a super salesman but he crossed a lot of people, he ruined people. Frankly my father has shown up in all of my books. Jim is not Abe Waitzkin but he is inspired by Abe Waitzkin.

Q: Without giving anything away, was there an alternative ending?

A: The way I write, the greatest things are the surprises. I did not have this novel blocked out. I did not have the last 30 pages at page 150 but I knew the last line 200 pages ahead.

It’s not a Dick and Jane novel. There are a lot of ruined women in Jim’s wake. In his attempts to remake himself, there are a lot of people ruined. —Reuters

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Paulina Rubio performs at Billboard Latin Music Awards 2013 at Bank United Center on April 25, 2013 in Miami, Florida. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;AFP photos

Ana Barbara performs.

Stars take stage at

Billboard Latin Music Awards T

he stars of Latin music are taking the stage in Miami for the annual Billboard awards honoring Spanish-language songs and performers. Up for the top prize of artist of the year are Don Omar, Prince Royce, Romeo Santos and Jenni Rivera. Rivera was killed in a plane accident in Mexico last year.

The California-born singer was a superstar of Mexican-American music and adored by millions. The three-hour show will feature performances by Marc Anthony, Daddy Yankee and Carlos Vives, among others. The Billboard Latin Music Awards are being broadcast live on Telemundo. They come at a time when digital sales of Latin music are rising following a downturn in album sales during the recession. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;AP

Daddy Yankee performs.

Emilio Estefan

Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas arrives.

Frankie J

Marc Anthony

Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Dieselon perform onstage.

Wilmer Valderrama

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Country singer charged with threats

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olice suspect country singer Billy Currington may have videotaped himself chasing a 70year-old tour boat captain along a coastal Georgia creek and threatening to “finish him off” in a tirade filled with profanities, according to court documents filed Thursday. The boat captain, Charles Harvey Ferrelle, and his two passengers told police Currington was holding a camera when he became outraged and made the threats April 15 after they passed him on the dock of a $3.5 million waterfront home near Tybee Island.

“They were in fear of this man and a possible attack against Mr Ferrelle, and possibly everyone there, as his behavior was ‘out of control’ as described by all three persons,” Savannah-Chatham County Police Detective Alycia Rice wrote in an affidavit filed in Chatham County Superior Court. Currington, 39, turned himself in Thursday afternoon at the county jail, where he was booked on charges of making terroristic threats and abuse of an elderly person.

Sheriff’s Cpl. Rhonda Bryant Elleby said bond had been set at $27,700. Each of the charges is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

Police got a warrant to search Currington’s home Tuesday and seized four digital video files, 27 digital photos and a memory card. The affidavit said police believed Currington might have recorded the confrontation. Currington is a native of the Georgia coast.

His hits include “Pretty Good At Drinkin’,” “That’s How Country Boys Roll” and “People Are Crazy.”

The singer’s attorney, Alex Zipperer, did not immediately return phone messages. In a court filing April 19, the attorney said Currington denied “each and every allegation” from Ferrelle. Two days after the incident, the singer sent a message to more than 200,000 Twitter followers saying “Harrassing (sic) artists often at their home by boat should be illegal. thas all i know.”

Currington thanked fans Wednesday on Twitter for their support but said he couldn’t comment because of the ongoing investigation. Lori Christian, a spokeswoman for Universal Music Group in Nashville, declined to comment Thursday. Universal owns Currington’s record label. Ferrelle, who conducts boat

tours from Tybee Island east of Savannah, told police he was cruising past Currington’s home on Tybee Creek when his two passengers told Ferrelle someone on the property was yelling at them and “flipping a double bird,” the affidavit said.

Billy Currington arrives at the 59th Annual BMI Country Awards in Nashville on in this file photo. —AP Ferrelle told police he was floating with the current far from the docks, but he throttled up and moved away when he saw the angry man, whom he later identified from a photograph as Currington.

Ferrelle told officers that when he passed by again on the return trip, Currington got in his own boat

with a camera and chased him to the dock where Ferrelle keeps his tour boat. “If I hadn’t gotten into my slip fast enough, I believe he would have run me over,” Ferrelle told police.

Ferrelle and his passengers told police Currington pulled up to the dock, but didn’t get out of his boat.

They said he called Ferrelle foul names and said, “I am going to (expletive) you up you mother (expletive) old man,” according to the police affidavit. It says Currington told Ferrelle that he and his brother would “catch him in the river” and “finish him off.”

Ferrelle did not immediately return phone messages from The Associated Press. One of his passengers, Curt Reinelt, declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday. A second charter boat captain, Elizabeth Johnson, later told police Currington made similar threats to her and a passenger last October when they were fishing not far from the singer’s home.

A separate police report filed soon after the incident indicates that those living at Currington’s home had problems with boats passing by too closely or too fast. A woman who said she was the caretaker of an elderly man at the same address called police to complain a passing boat nearly knocked the man off the home’s dock and into the water. The police report said the woman was talking about the events that led to Currington chasing after the tour boat.

“Well, what is it we can do to keep people from coming up on our docks or swamping our docks?” the woman asked.

Currington told The Tennessean newspaper in 2007 that he sometimes struggled to control his anger as a result of suffering childhood abuse while growing up in Rincon, near Savannah. In the interview, conducted after he completed a 30-day trauma recovery program in Arizona, Currington said a small part of him remained “hurt, sad and furious.” “When he comes out, he comes out very quickly and it goes away very quickly,” Currington told the newspaper.

“And in those instances, that rage can destroy relationships, whether it’s with a girlfriend or a business partner or a fan. It doesn’t take long to screw it all up.” —AP

Al Madrigal of ‘Daily Show’ goes solo in special

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here’s the Al Madrigal who speaks in the crisp, skeptical tones of a “Daily Show” correspondent, whether grilling Arizona foes of Latino studies or questioning the sanity of Puerto Ricans who want statehood in a dysfunctional United States of Sequester. Then there’s the comedian showcased in his first hour-long stand-up special, a tour guide through the life of a family man dealing with lippy kids, urban absurdity and angst. Gone is the bravado of the faux TV reporter he plays for Jon Stewart, replaced by a bemused grin and an appealing touch of goofiness. Although no swashbuckler takes the stage in “Why is the Rabbit Crying?” debuting 11 pm EDT Friday on Comedy Central, don’t be fooled by his modest soft-shoe - a few hesitant steps toward the audience, a few steps back: Madrigal is relishing success after a determined march toward a place in show business.

And he’s done it on his terms, as a Mexican-Italian-American from San Francisco who crafts a wry storyteller’s take on the world for his comedy act and “Daily Show.” “I’m proud that I’ve been able to go into any (nightclub) room and do the same

material and not change it up for them,” said the bearded, bespectacled Madrigal, 41, who lives in Los Angeles and commutes to New York for Stewart’s program.

His universal family-guy humor makes translation unnecessary, a la Bill Cosby, one of his comedy influences (Franklin Ajaye and Patton Oswald are others). There’s the bit, for instance, about his young son picking his own clothes for a party, then shrugging off his tattered look: They’re your friends, dad.

Or his account in an interview of coming to realize how spoiled his daughter has become. The family, tagging along with Madrigal for a club gig, had checked into a modest motel in upstate New York.

“The 6-year-old looks at me and says, ‘Ummm, why am I staring at the parking lot?’” Madrigal recounts. “I had to tell her, ‘Cause you’re on the road, baby, and this is what you do. You think it’s glamorous?

We’re going to fight a businessman for a pancake after this.’”There are times that some background is required, including the bit that gives his special its name. “Why is the rabbit crying?” is the nervous question the family raises about the tattoo they spot on an LA “cholo,” a young Latino with a

gang-member air about him.

Some background, but less than you might think, according to Madrigal: “I think there’s cholos everywhere. There’s cholos in all of us, and they don’t necessarily need to be Mexican.” The comedian and his material are more than ready for the spotlight, said Jonas Larsen, Comedy Central’s senior vice president for talent and specials.

“A one-hour special is, in a sense, showing that you’ve arrived as a comic ... It takes a lot of work to get there,” Larsen said, adding that Madrigal is an outstanding storyteller with a fresh take on family life and a “Latino point of view but not exclusively Latino, that reaches a broader audience.” Or, as Stewart put it in an email, he brings a “laid-back, zenlike comedy ninja quality that we didn’t even know we were missing.” Madrigal’s show-biz dream meant ditching a career at his parents’ San Francisco business that provides staff management for other companies. Among his responsibilities: To caution and, in some cases, fire workers. He moved his wife, Krystyn, an educator, and their two children to Los Angeles, encountering both opportunity and lean times over the past decade. —AP

This image shows Al Madrigal from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” during the taping of his comedy special, “Why is the Rabbit Crying”. —AP

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

This photo shows guitarist Robert Johnson, who played in the 1970s with Isaac Hayes and John Entwistle’s Ox, talking about the Chet Atkins and Johnny Cash guitars he donated to the National Music Museum in Vermillion. —AP photos

US museum adds Elvis’ guitar to vast collection

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16th-century Amati violoncello displayed in the National Music Museum has long been nicknamed “The King,” but the ghost of a legendary rock ‘n’ roller has arrived in South Dakota to reclaim his regal moniker. A slightly smashed acoustic guitar played by Elvis Presley on his final tour in 1977 now greets visitors in front of the museum’s main galleries. The Martin D-35 was tossed aside by “The King” during a St. Petersburg, Fla, concert after suffering a broken strap and string, said Robert Johnson, a Memphis-based guitarist who donated the item.

“He broke the strap and at the same time he broke a string,” said Johnson, noting Presley’s frustration. “He tosses it straight up in the air and it just comes down.” Johnson, who played with singer Isaac Hayes and the band John Entwistle’s Ox in the 1970s, donated the Elvis guitar and four other celebrity items to the National Music Museum, which is tucked away in an old Carnegie library building on the University of South Dakota campus. The museum’s trustees also purchased Johnson’s 1967 Gibson Explorer Korina wood guitar, formerly owned by Entwistle, who’s best known as a member of The Who. Johnson, a longtime collector, also donated a Chet Atkins hollow body guitar given to country pianist Floyd Cramer and later played by Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley, a 1966 custom Grammer guitar made for Johnny Cash, a 1961 Kay Value Leader guitar signed by blues legend Muddy Waters and one of Bob Dylan’s Hohner Marine Band harmonicas.

“These instruments probably make the biggest splash of any celebrity things that we’ve had before,” said museum director Cleveland Johnson. “We have some nice things, but this is a degree of magnitude higher.” Cleveland Johnson, who is not related to Robert Johnson, took over as director in November after the retirement of Andre Larson, who’d been at the helm since it was established in 1973. The museum’s holdings grew out of a private collection owned by Larson’s father, Arne B. Larson, who continually added items while serving as a public school music director.

Robert Johnson said he owns some 600 guitars and another 2,000 to 3,000 artifacts, so he began discussions

This image shows Elvis performing with the Jordanaires’ Gordon Stoker (left) and Hoyt Hawkins.

with Andre Larsen in 2010 to get involved with the museum. “I was trying to find a place to hoard the rest of my stuff so it could be in place,” said Johnson, 61. “It gets to be an overwhelming, oppressive burden to keep up with all this stuff.”

The museum’s 800 or so instruments on public display are the superstars of a broader collection of more than 15,000 pianos, harpsichords, guitars, horns, drums and other musical items. It includes a rare Stradivarius violin with its original neck, saxophones built by inventor Adolphe Sax, and the earliest French grand piano known to survive, an ornate green and gold instrument built by Louis Bas in Villeneuve les Avignon in 1781.

Cleveland Johnson said it has always been easy to drop names like Stradivari and Amati (whose centuries-old violins are considered the finest ever made) when he talks to people in classical music circles, but the new items will help the museum reach a different demographic. “The motorcycle guys rolling across the state on their way to Sturgis, this would be a nice detour,” he said. “Or a bus tour going from Sioux Falls to Memphis or down to Branson, this would be a perfect stop off on the way.”

A $15 million expansion plan calls for tripling its 23,000 square feet (2,137 square meters) of gallery space, improving the entrance and revamping the vast archives where music scholars can peruse the thousands of instruments and documents not on public display. The limited space has not only prevented instruments from getting their proper display, but also has hampered curators’ efforts to find creative and hands-on ways to program and teach visitors and school groups.

The plan recently earned a federal seal of approval with the awarding of a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, whose chairman Jim Leach called the facility “a national treasure.” Cleveland Johnson said the museum is shifting its focus from acquisitions to developing programs to get the attraction better known around the country. “I’m tired of being the best-kept secret,” he said. “I’m over that. I’m ready to be the best-known musical instrument museum and not the best- kept secret. “These instruments will take us in that direction, will take the veil off, I hope, for much of the American public.” —AP

Zachary Quinto to make Broadway bow

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nother Tennessee Williams masterpiece is coming to Broadway and it’s bringing Zachary Quinto and Cherry Jones along for the ride. Producers Jeffrey Richards said Thursday he’ll transfer the American Repertory Theater’s production of “The Glass Menagerie” to New York for a 17-week engagement starting this September. Quinto, who plays Spock in the “Star Trek” reboots and wowed audiences in a recent offBroadway production of “Angels In America,” will be making his Broadway debut as Tom. Jones, the two-time Tony Award winner for “Doubt” and “The Heiress” who played President Allison Taylor in the TV series “24,” will play Amanda Wingfield. They’ll be joined by Celia Keenan-Bolger, fresh off her role as Wendy in Broadway’s “Peter and the Starcatcher,” and Brian J Smith, recently in “The Columnist.” John Tiffany, who helmed “Once,” will direct. Performances begin Sept, 5 with an opening night set for Sept 26. The venue will be a Shubert Theatre that has yet to be announced. The show originated at the acclaimed American Repertory Theater outside Boston this winter.

The play centers on an aging Southern belle who hopes her son can fulfill her dreams of finding the perfect “gentleman caller” for her shy and damaged daughter. The last time “The Glass Menagerie” hit Broadway was 2005 starring Jessica Lange and Christian Slater. The latest revival comes on the heels of “A Streetcar Named Desire” last year with Blair Underwood and Nicole Ari Parker, and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” this year with Scarlett Johansson. —AP

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Yahoo chairman joins recent boardroom exodus SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo could use a revolving door in its boardroom. In the latest exit, Chairman Alfred Amoroso will become the eighth Yahoo Inc. director to depart since early last year. He will leave the board on June 25 at Yahoo Inc.’s annual shareholders meeting, the company said Thursday.

Amoroso, 63, is giving up the chairmanship immediately, prompting Yahoo to appoint Maynard Webb Jr. to handle the duties on an interim basis. Yahoo indicated it won’t add another director after Amoroso departs, leaving the Internet company with 10 directors.

Amoroso and Webb joined Yahoo’s board 14 months ago when four longtime directors stepped down under shareholder pressure. Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang had gotten the exodus started when he left the board a month earlier. Finally, late last year, Intuit Inc. CEO Brad Smith and Weather Channel CEO David Kenny stepped down.

Tax-free Internet shopping in jeopardy WASHINGTON: Internet shoppers are moving closer to paying sales taxes for their online purchases. But the fight is far from over. The Senate voted 63-30 Thursday to advance a bill that would impose state and local sales taxes on purchases made over the Internet. An agreement among senators delayed the Senate’s final vote on passage until May 6, when senators return from a weeklong vacation.

Opponents hope senators hear from angry constituents over the next week, but they acknowledged they have a steep hill to climb to defeat the bill in the Senate.

Their best hope for stopping the bill may be in the House, where some Republicans consider it a tax increase. President Barack Obama supports the bill.

The bill would empower states to reach outside their borders and compel online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. Under the bill, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.

Under current law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers an advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.

“We look forward to passing this landmark bill in 11 days and call on the House to stand up for America’s Main Street businesses with us,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said shortly after Thursday’s vote. Senate Democratic leaders wanted to finish work on the bill this week, before leaving town for the recess.

But they were blocked by a handful of senators from states without sales taxes.

Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire and Delaware have no sales taxes, though the two senators from Delaware support the bill. “I think it’s going to be interesting for senators to get a response from constituents over this upcoming week,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “I’m not sure that the country knows that something like this coerces businesses all around America to collect other people’s sales taxes.”

The bill pits brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart against online services such as eBay. The National Retail Federation supports it. And Amazon.com, which initially fought efforts in some states to make it collect sales taxes, supports it, too.

Retailers who have lobbied in favor of the bill celebrated Thursday’s vote. “The special treatment of big online businesses at the expense of retailers on Main Street will soon be a thing of the past,” said Bill Hughes of the Retail Industry Leaders Association. “The overwhelmingly bipartisan support for leveling the playing field is rare in today’s political environment and paves the way for a level playing field once and for all.”

Supporters say the bill is about fairness for local businesses that already collect sales taxes, and lost revenue for states.

Opponents say the bill would impose complicated regulations on retailers and doesn’t have enough protections for small businesses. Businesses with less than $1 million a year in online sales would be exempt. Many of the nation’s governors Republicans and Democrats - have been lobbying the federal government for years for the authority to collect sales taxes from online sales.—AFP

Former accounting executive Sue James is now Yahoo’s longest-serving director. She came on board three years ago. The other directors, including Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, have been appointed since February 2012. The rapid turnover probably suits Mayer, who has been trying to infuse Yahoo with new talent and ideas since she defected from a longtime job at Google Inc. to tackle the challenge of turning around one of the Internet’s best-known companies.

Although Yahoo’s website remains one of the Internet’s top destinations, Web surfers had been visiting less frequently and staying for shorter periods. That problem has made it more difficult for Yahoo to sell the online advertising that generates most of its revenue.

Until a slight increase last year, Yahoo’s revenue had been steadily declining since 2008 while rivals such as Google and Facebook Inc. reveled in robust growth.

The financial funk exasperated Yahoo shareholders,

triggering a backlash that ultimately reshaped the board. One of the dissident shareholders, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, won a board seat, along with two of his allies, turnaround specialist Harry Wilson and MTV executive Michael Wolf.

Amoroso became Yahoo’s chairman 11 months ago after the company parted ways with one of its former CEOs, Scott Thompson, in a flap over a fabricated academic degree listed on Thompson’s official bio. In a Thursday statement, Amoroso said he only intended to serve as chairman for a year. After dumping Thompson, Yahoo’s board lured Mayer away from Google, where she had worked for 13 years. Yahoo’s stock has climbed by about 60 percent since Mayer became CEO last July.

The shares dipped 1 cent to $25.19 in Thursday’s extended trading. Amoroso, former CEO of TV listings provider Rovi Corp, said he is proud of Yahoo’s progress since he became chairman.—AP

Samsung releases S4, posts record profit Faster chip, thinner and lighter SEOUL: Samsung yesterday released the latest version of its flagship Galaxy smartphone, as it announced record first-quarter profits driven by surging sales growth in its mobile division. The Galaxy S4, armed with eye motion control technology that pauses a video when the user looks away, comes with a faster chip and is thinner and lighter than the previous S3 model.

Unveiled last month at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, the touchscreen device hit South Korean stores on Friday ahead of a global roll-out over the weekend. Samsung said unexpectedly high demand for the new model was behind shipping issues that resulted in the postponement of its scheduled sales release in the US market. After years of following and refining the iPhone’s pioneering innovations a strategy that resulted in bitter patent battles-Samsung has dethroned arch-rival Apple as the world’s top smartphone maker.

But mixed reviews for the Galaxy S4 reflect the increased pressure that comes with that title for Samsung to shed its copycat label and show it can match Apple’s creative clout. “Samsung has entered territory that it hasn’t been in before, and sales of the S4 will show if it can sustain its newfound status in the market,” James Song, analyst at KDB Daewoo Securities, told AFP. The release of the S4 came as Samsung announced a 41.6 percent yearon-year surge in net profit to a record 7.15 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2013. Operating profit stood at 8.8 trillion won, of which the IT and Mobile Communications division accounted for 6.51 trillion won, with sales of 32.82 trillion won in the three months to March. Samsung Electronics share price closed down 0.54 percent Friday at 1,486,000 won.

The general critical consensus on the new S4 model is that it lacks the “wow” factor to really set it apart from its market rivals. “Make no mistake about it, the Galaxy S4 is a great phone, and easily one

of the best you can buy right now,” said Business Insider.

“But is it the best phone? No. You’re still much better off with the iPhone 5, or the HTC One if you like Android,” the technology news website said.

While there was general praise for the S4’s performance, especially its screen and camera resolution, reviewers suggested Samsung had largely played it safe in terms of innovation and design.

“The S4 is still made of plastic-lightweight and grippy, but not as classy as the iPhone’s glass or the HTC One’s metal,” the New York Times said.

“All told, nobody at the office will notice that you’ve bought the latest and greatest,” the newspaper said.

But business was brisk at Samsung’s flagship retail store in Seoul’s upscale Gangnam district where the S4 was selling for 890,000 won ($800).

Housewife Hwang Hee-Sun, buying her first Samsung phone, said she had been attracted by the S4’s eye motion

and air touch controls, which enable users to accept calls or browse the web with a hand gesture near the screen.

“When you have a young child climbing all over you, it should make things a lot easier. And it’s very light,” said the 30year-old who also cited the new model’s humidity sensor as a useful childcare device. College student Kim Yu-Ri was upgrading from a Galaxy S2 she bought more than two years ago.

“I don’t know that it’s that different from the S3, but it’s a big upgrade from my old one, and I want to stick with an Android phone,” Kim said.

An estimated 60 million units of the Galaxy S3 have been sold globally since its release last May, while the first and second editions racked up sales of 25 million and 40 million respectively.

In its earnings statement Friday, Samsung said “sound sales” of the S3 smartphone had aided profit margins, but cautioned that second quarter global demand was “forecast to dampen”.—AP

SEOUL: Visitors operate Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S4 smartphones at a showroom of its headquarters in Seoul yesterday. Samsung Electronics Co. said yesterday its first-quarter net income jumped to a record high because sales growth in smartphones continued even before the launch of the Galaxy S4 during a typically slow season for the electronics market. — AP

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

AT&T to sell home automation, security packages NEW YORK: AT&T Inc. is launching its home security and automation service in 15 cities yesterday, with an eye toward getting customers hooked on security cameras, thermostats and locks they can control from phones and tablets.

AT&T’s “Digital Life” packages will be sold in cellphone stores in markets including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami. The company plans to roll the offering out to 50 markets by the end of the year.

The home monitoring and automation field is dominated by security firms such as ADT Corp. Other phone and cable companies sell security packages, but AT&T is going further than competitors by developing its own technology and selling it nationwide, not just where it provides local phone service. It has set up monitoring centers, in Dallas and Atlanta.

The entire US home security market is worth about $18 billion per year, said Glenn Lurie, who is in charge of expanding the reach of AT&T’s network to new types of devices.

That’s small compared to AT&T’s $127 billion in annual revenue. But only 20 percent of homes have security systems, so there’s an opportunity to expand the market, Lurie said.

The initiative comes as the wireless industry has slowed after a decade of heady growth. Now that nearly everyone has a cellphone, wireless companies are looking for other sources of growth.

“We see huge opportunity here. This is a significant, billion-dollar opportunity for AT&T,” Lurie said. AT&T is also hoping to get customers to pay more than the typical $40 per month for home security alone, by providing connections to wireless cameras and other sensors.

AT&T will charge $250 for the equipment and installation of a home security package, plus $40 per month. Options include a camera package for $10 per month plus equipment and installation, climate control for $5 per month, and a remote water main shutoff control for $10 per month.

The equipment ties into a central control panel which can be programmed through the app or Web interface to, for instance, shut off the water main if the water sensor detects a leak. A basic, security-only package will cost $150, plus $30 per month. Ralph De La Vega, head of AT&T’s wireless division, said employees who tested Digital Life in Atlanta and Dallas last year bought a lot more cameras than the company had been expecting. One of them set a camera to be triggered by motion sensor on the front porch, and nabbed a thief who had been stealing packages.

Only about 1 percent of homes have automation systems, and De La Vega said this could be a big opportunity as well.

He’s happy he can now check whether his garage doors are open and close them from his phone.—AFP

Videogame titan Electronic Arts to lay off more workers SAN FRANCISCO: Electronic Arts on Thursday said that more layoffs were in store at the console videogame titan as it adapts to the popularity of play on smartphones, tablet computers and online social networks.

“In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile,” the California-based company said in a blog post.

“This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations.” EA referred to the latest round of layoffs as “hard but essential changes.”

EA did not specify the number of workers being let go, but videogame news website Kotaku cited unnamed sources saying the company would cut employee ranks by 10 percent.

In March, EA chief executive John Riccitiello stepped down.

EA veteran Larry Probst was appointed to lead the company’s executive team while the board of directors searches for a replacement for Riccitiello, whose tenure as chief executive began in 2007. EA is among the longtime videogame industry companies striving to adapt to an industry being transformed by the popularity of free play on smartphones, tablet computers and online social networks.—AFP

NEW YORK: Three PhoneSats, like the one seen here during a high-altitude balloon test, were launched into space on Sunday.

The PhoneSats, which cost just a few thousand dollars each, could usher in big changes for the satellite industry.

Cellphone satellites transmit data, images back to Earth ‘Robust bits of technology’ NEW YORK: Smartphones can check e-mail, record videos and even stream NPR. Now NASA has discovered they make pretty decent satellites, too. Three smart phones launched into space last Sunday are orbiting above us even now, transmitting data and images back to Earth. The PhoneSats, which cost just a few thousand dollars each, could usher in big changes for the satellite industry.

The PhoneSats started as a project among young engineers working at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Jim Cockrell, the project’s manager, says it began as a hallway conversation. One noted that smartphone microprocessors are cheaper than those in satellites. So why not just use a smartphone as a satellite?

“It was sort of a whimsical notion,” Cockrell says. But it also made sense. Modern satellites are used for communication and navigation, and so are smartphones. And the phones have things that satellites have, too, like accelerometers, gyroscopes and cameras. At 53 years old, Cockrell is the self-described “graybeard” of the small team of 20-somethings. With decades of experience, he had good reason to think the project might not work. The phones would have to survive the violent shaking of their launch into orbit. Once in space, they would need to withstand extreme temperatures and intense radiation that doesn’t exist on the Earth’s surface.

“I was really skeptical at first, because I said, ‘OK, there’s a reason why NASA develops these expensive satellites and tests them extensively,’ “ he says.

But the team’s younger members were more optimistic. “The mobile phones are designed to be thrown around the room and for people to drop them in water. They’re really robust bits of technology,” says Jasper Wolfe, a 22-year-old engineer on the project.

Wolfe, Cockrell and the rest of the team got a couple of Nexus smartphones from Amazon. They added extras, like plus-sized batteries and a powerful transmitter. They put it all in a metal case about the size of a Kleenex box. But the phones were still ordinary smartphones; they still had games on them. “We played around with Angry Birds on the ground,” Wolfe says.

The PhoneSats hitched a ride on the very first flight of a commercial rocket called Antares, which NASA hopes will soon be resupplying the International Space Station.

“Within the first orbit after being released

from the launch vehicle, we started receiving signals,” Cockrell says. The signals from the satellites, which are named “Alexander,” “Graham” and “Bell,” are actually picked up by ham radio operators all over the world, who send them to the team at NASA Ames. The team is now in the process of using the small data packets to piece together photos taken by the different PhoneSats’ cameras.

The achievement could mark big changes in the satellite business. Peter Platzer, CEO of NanoSatisfi, a startup company that’s about to launch a small satellite into space using money raised on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, sees a world in which satellites aren’t owned solely by powerful corporations and governments.

“The same way the computer morphed into becoming a personal computer, we could see a future where the satellite morphs into becoming a personal satellite,” he says.

The satellite he’s working on will actually take apps. Users can program them here on Earth and beam them up into orbit. They might make the satellite take a customized photo of the Earth’s surface. Or they could turn it out toward space to watch for asteroids.

“I think whenever you create this flexible platform that you let people program and decide what their own use is, it becomes really, really hard to predict where the combined genius of mankind will lead that platform,” Platzer says.

The PhoneSats will eventually run out of juice and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. But Cockrell’s going to keep working with Wolfe and the young team - “the kids,” he calls them.

He finds it inspirational. “They don’t know what they can’t do; they haven’t been told it’s not possible,” he says. “That really opens up a lot of creative thinking that somehow tends to go away with time.” — AFP

NASA selects small businesses for innovative research projects WASHINGTON: NASA has selected 44 additional proposals from 42 small hightechnology companies to enter into negotiations for Phase 2 contract awards through the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

Valued at about $30.7 million, these selections complement 39 Phase 2 proposals announced in November. “These additional Phase 2 SBIR selections continue the successful legacy of the SBIR program to bring needed new technologies to NASA and the American marketplace,” said Michael J. Gazarik, associate administrator for space technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“Small businesses are the innovation incubators of the new global technology economy. These companies conduct the early stage research and development that enables future NASA missions in aeronautics, science, and exploration.”

NASA’s SBIR Program partners with small businesses to catalyze efforts to develop new technologies to support the agency’s technology needs. The program addresses specific technology gaps in agency missions and also strives

to complement other NASA research investments.

In addition to meeting NASA’s needs, the Phase 2 proposals also provide innovative research in areas that have commercial applications. SBIR is a competitive, awards-based program that encourages US small businesses to engage in federal research and development and bring new technologies to the global marketplace. It enables businesses to explore new technologies and potentially profit from development of new commercial products and services.

SBIR’s three-phase award system provides qualified small businesses, including those owned by women and the disadvantaged, with opportunities to propose unique ideas that meet specific research and development needs of the federal government. Phase 1 is a feasibility study to evaluate the scientific and technical merit of an idea. Awards last as long as six months. The selected Phase 2 projects will expand on the results of Phase 1 projects selected last year, with as much as $700,000 to support research lasting as long as two years. —AP

TV listings

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

00:45 01:35 02:25 03:15 04:05 04:55 05:20 05:45 06:35 07:00 07:25 08:15 09:10 Baker 10:05 10:30 11:00 11:25 11:55 12:50 13:45 14:40 15:35 16:30 17:25 18:20 19:15 20:10 21:05 22:00 22:55 23:20 23:50

Monster Bug Wars Untamed & Uncut Wildest Islands Shark Attack File 3 Whale Wars Call Of The Wildman Orangutan Island Last Chance Highway Wildlife SOS Meerkat Manor Dogs 101 Crocodile Hunter Weird Creatures With Nick Monkey Life Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Bondi Vet The Really Wild Show Wildest Latin America Wildest Islands Wildest Islands Wildest Islands Wildest Islands Wildest Islands Wildest Islands Queens Of The Savannah Queens Of The Savannah Killer Crocs Wildest Latin America My Cat From Hell Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer Untamed & Uncut

00:40 Come Dine With Me 01:30 Masterchef: The Professionals 02:15 Gok’s Fashion Fix 03:05 Coastal Kitchen 03:25 Cash In The Attic 04:10 Bargain Hunt 04:55 Britain’s Dream Homes 05:45 Gok’s Fashion Fix 06:35 New Scandinavian Cooking 07:00 Homes Under The Hammer 07:55 Homes Under The Hammer 08:50 Homes Under The Hammer 09:45 Homes Under The Hammer 10:40 Cash In The Attic 11:25 Come Dine With Me 12:15 Perfect Day 12:40 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 13:05 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 13:30 The Good Cook 14:00 The Roux Legacy 14:40 Bargain Hunt 15:25 Antiques Roadshow 16:20 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 17:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials 19:00 Come Dine With Me: Supersize 20:30 Come Dine With Me 21:20 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Specials

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 03:00 03:10 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:10 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:10 10:30 11:00 11:10 11:30 12:00 12:10 13:00 13:10 13:30 14:00 14:30

BBC World News America BBC World News America BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News Our World BBC World News Weekend World BBC World News BBC World News Horizons BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Fast Track BBC World News Working Lives BBC World News Middle East Business Report BBC World News Click BBC World News Weekend World BBC World News BBC World News Football Focus Horizons BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News World Features Newsnight BBC World News Our World

THE RESIDENT ON OSN ACTION HD 15:00 15:10 15:30 16:00 16:15 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:15 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:10 23:30

BBC World News Weekend World Talking Movies BBC World News Sport Today Fast Track BBC World News Dateline London BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Final Score BBC World News Working Lives BBC World News Sport Today Fast Track BBC World News Click BBC World News World Features Dateline London

00:45 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:00 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:00 05:25 05:45 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:15

Wacky Races Duck Dodgers Duck Dodgers Dastardly And Muttley Dastardly And Muttley Dexter’s Laboratory Wacky Races Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Bananas In Pyjamas Gerald McBoing Boing Jelly Jamm Ha Ha Hairies Baby Looney Tunes Cartoonito Tales Krypto: The Super Dog

07:40 11:50 12:15 12:40 13:00 13:50 14:40 15:30 15:55 16:20 16:45 17:10 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:30 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:50

Lazy Town Gerald McBoing Boing Baby Looney Tunes Jelly Jamm The Looney Tunes Show Taz-Mania Tom & Jerry Tales The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Dexter’s Laboratory Moomins The Looney Tunes Show Taz-Mania The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Moomins Duck Dodgers

00:30 Grim Adventures Of...

01:20 Johnny Test 02:10 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 02:35 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 Thundercats

07:25 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 07:50 Young Justice 08:15 Hero 108 08:40 Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated 09:35 Ben 10 Omniverse 10:00 Dreamworks Dragons: Riders Of Berk 10:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 11:15 Evil Con Carne 12:05 Adventure Time 12:55 Regular Show 13:45 Angelo Rules 14:10 Ben 10 Omniverse 14:35 Dreamworks Dragons: Riders Of Berk 15:00 Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated 15:50 The Amazing World Of Gumball 16:40 Adventure Time 17:05 Regular Show 17:30 Ben 10 17:55 Hero 108 18:20 Young Justice 18:45 Total Drama World Tour 19:10 Total Drama World Tour 19:35 Total Drama World Tour 20:50 Starwars: The Clone Wars 21:40 Evil Con Carne 22:00 Ben 10 22:25 Ben 10 22:50 Mucha Lucha !

23:15 Mucha Lucha !

23:40 Powerpuff Girls

00:00 Amanpour 00:30 World Sport 01:00 Piers Morgan Tonight

02:00 02:30 03:00 04:00 05:00 05:45 06:00 07:00 07:30 07:45 08:00 08:15 08:30 09:00 09:15 09:30 10:00 10:30 10:45 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:15 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 21:45 22:00 23:00 23:30

World Report World Sport Anderson Cooper 360 Piers Morgan Tonight Quest Means Business CNN Marketplace Africa The Situation Room World Sport Leading Women Fusion Journeys World Report CNN Marketplace Africa Backstory World Report CNN Marketplace Middle East Sanjay Gupta MD World Sport Winning Post The Gateway The Best Of The Situation Room World Report The Brief Amanpour Inside Africa Talk Asia I Report For CNN World Report On China News Special Backstory International Desk African Voices CNN Marketplace Europe CNN Marketplace Africa The Brief World Sport Open Court International Desk Inside Africa International Desk Leading Women Fusion Journeys The Best Of The Situation Room World Report News Special

00:15 00:40 01:10 02:05 03:00 03:55 04:20 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:30 11:25 12:20 12:45 13:15 13:40 14:10 14:35 15:05 15:30 16:00 16:25 16:55 17:20 17:50 18:15 18:45 19:40 20:35 21:30 21:55 22:25 22:50 23:20 23:45

Crash Course Crash Course Overhaulin’ 2012 Fifth Gear Mythbusters Border Security Auction Hunters Baggage Battles How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Sons Of Guns Magic Of Science Magic Of Science You Have Been Warned Moonshiners How Not To Become Shark Bait River Monsters Animal Cops South Africa Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Crash Course Gold Rush Jungle Gold Sons Of Guns Baggage Battles Baggage Battles Baggage Battles Baggage Battles Baggage Battles Auction Hunters

00:05 The Tech Show 00:30 Weird Connections 01:00 Building The Future 01:50 The Science Of Fear And Lust 02:45 Tech Toys 360 03:10 Tech Toys 360 03:35 Building The Future 04:25 Man-Made Marvels Asia 05:15 Gadget Show - World Tour 05:40 The Tech Show 06:05 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 07:00 Storm Chasers 07:50 X-Machines 08:40 Gadget Show - World Tour

09:05 09:30 10:25 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:20 14:45 15:10 16:00 16:55 17:45 18:10 18:35 19:00 19:30 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

The Tech Show Kings Of Construction Kings Of Construction Kings Of Construction Kings Of Construction Man-Made Marvels Asia Weird Connections Gadget Show - World Tour The Tech Show X-Machines Scrapheap Challenge Space Pioneer Food Factory Food Factory Tech Toys 360 Tech Toys 360 Storm Chasers X-Machines Gadget Show - World Tour The Tech Show Storm Chasers Dark Matters: Twisted But True Gadget Show - World Tour

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:35 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 12:35 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:30 22:55 23:20 23:45

Hannah Montana Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Suite Life On Deck A.N.T Farm Cory In The House Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Austin And Ally Jessie A.N.T. Farm That’s So Raven Toy Story A.N.T. Farm Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie A.N.T Farm Hannah Montana Shake It Up Austin And Ally Jessie A.N.T. Farm High School Musical 2 Shake It Up Jessie Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Jessie Jessie Jonas Los Angeles Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Stitch

00:00 Dirty Soap 00:55 Style Star 01:25 THS 03:15 Style Star 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 THS 05:05 THS 06:00 THS 07:50 Style Star 08:20 E! News 09:15 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 10:15 THS 11:10 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Scouted 14:05 Giuliana & Bill 15:00 Giuliana & Bill 16:00 Opening Act 17:00 Opening Act 18:00 E! News 19:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:00 Keeping Up With The

TV listings

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013 Kardashians 21:00 Chasing The Saturdays 21:30 Fashion Police 22:30 E! News 23:30 Chelsea Lately

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:05 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:15 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 23:15 23:40

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45 02:10 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:50

Dr G: Medical Examiner A Haunting Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Most Evil I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner A Haunting Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Murder Shift Disappeared Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Disappeared Murder Shift Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill Deadly Affairs Stalked: Someone’s Watching Stalked: Someone’s Watching On The Case With Paula Zahn

00:45 Cracking The Ice Road 01:40 Tossachs 02:05 Lake District 02:35 Rocco Goes To Camp 03:00 Room With A View 03:30 Spain - Barcelona 03:55 Germany - Berlin 04:25 Hanoi 04:50 Marrakech 05:20 Ep 4 05:45 Ep 5 06:15 Ep 6 06:40 Ep 7 07:10 The Roof Of Africa 08:05 Barca! Barca! Barca!

08:30 Crossing The Rhone 09:00 Muay Thai 09:55 Hugh’s Three Hungry Boys, 4 10:50 Into The Lost Jungle 11:45 Caldicot 12:10 Prembrokeshire 12:40 Italian Superstition 13:05 Boys Night Out 13:35 Thailand - Bangkok 14:00 Turkey - Istanbul 14:30 Amsterdam 14:55 Napoli 15:25 Prague 16:20 Barca! Barca! Barca!

16:45 Crossing The Rhone 17:15 Muay Thai 18:10 Hugh’s Three Hungry Boys, 4 19:05 Ep 4 19:30 Ep 5 20:00 Ep 6 20:30 Ep 7 21:00 The Roof Of Africa 22:00 The Ice Men 22:55 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita, 5 23:20 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita, 6 23:50 Mexico City

00:00 Devil’s Playground-PG15 02:00 No Man’s Land: The Rise Of Reeker-18 04:00 True Justice: Angel Of DeathPG15 06:00 Carjacked-PG15 08:00 The Man Inside-PG15 10:00 Green Lantern-PG15 12:00 True Justice: Dead Drop-PG15 14:00 The Man Inside-PG15 16:00 Burden Of Evil-PG15 18:00 True Justice: Dead Drop-PG15 20:00 Mad Max-18 22:00 The Resident-18

01:00 The Marc Pease ExperiencePG15 03:00 A Dog Named Duke-PG15 05:00 The Proud Family Movie-FAM 07:00 Espions-PG15 09:00 The Marc Pease ExperiencePG15 11:00 The National Tree-PG15 13:00 The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice-PG15 15:00 Call Of The Wild-PG15 17:00 33 Postcards-PG15 19:00 Joyful Noise-PG15 21:00 Cowboys & Aliens-PG15 23:00 A Little Bit Of Heaven-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The Ricky Gervais Show 03:30 The Simpsons 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 09:30 30 Rock 10:00 30 Rock

11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 14:00 The Simpsons 14:30 30 Rock 15:00 30 Rock 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:30 Happy Endings 19:00 The Neighbors 19:30 The Office 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Supernatural Survivor: Caramoan Smash Greek American Idol Smash Supernatural Smallville The Closer Glee American Idol Survivor: Caramoan Smallville The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer Supernatural Smallville The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Closer The Glades Criminal Minds The Mob Doctor Sons Of Anarchy Greek

00:00 A Dangerous Man 02:00 Devil’s Playground

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Outrageous Food Unwrapped Unwrapped Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Heat Seekers Heat Seekers Unique Eats Andy Bates Street Feasts

04:15 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 04:40 Chopped 05:30 Iron Chef America 06:10 Food Network Challenge 07:00 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 07:25 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 07:50 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 08:15 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 08:40 Cooking For Real 09:05 Cooking For Real 09:30 Cooking For Real 09:55 Cooking For Real 10:20 Tyler’s Ultimate 10:45 Tyler’s Ultimate 11:10 Tyler’s Ultimate 11:35 Tyler’s Ultimate 12:00 Staten Island Cakes 12:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 13:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Kid In A Candy Store 14:30 Kid In A Candy Store 14:55 Kid In A Candy Store 15:20 Kid In A Candy Store 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Barefoot Contessa 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Barefoot Contessa 17:50 Barefoot Contessa 18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Ultimate Recipe Showdown 22:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 23:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

04:00 No Man’s Land: The Rise Of Reeker 06:00 True Justice: Angel Of Death 08:00 Carjacked 10:00 The Man Inside 12:00 Green Lantern 14:00 True Justice: Dead Drop 16:00 The Man Inside 18:00 Burden Of Evil 20:00 True Justice: Dead Drop 22:00 Mad Max

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 PG15 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Switch-18 Grabbers-PG15 House Arrest-FAM Smooch-PG15 Snow Day-PG House Arrest-FAM My Dog’s Christmas Miracle-

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:30 17:30 21:00 23:30

The Key Man-PG15 Gardens Of The Night-18 Dragonfly-PG15 The Alamo-PG15 Project Nim-PG15 Loosies-PG15 Jane Eyre-PG15 Project Nim-PG15 Neverland-PG15 Biutiful-18 25th Hour-18

Snow Day-PG Beware The Gonzo-PG15 Analyze That-PG15 The Switch-18

00:00 Seeking Justice-PG15 01:45 Footloose-PG15 03:45 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-PG 06:00 Flicka: Country Pride-FAM 08:00 The Birth Of Big Air-PG15 09:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked-PG 10:30 Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer-PG 12:15 John Carter-PG15 14:30 Dolphin Tale-PG 16:30 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked-PG 18:00 Safe House-PG15 20:00 Damsels In Distress-PG15 22:00 Scream 4-18

01:00 Pacific Pirates 02:45 The Great Bear 04:15 Snowmen 06:00 Lady And The Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure 08:00 A Very Fairy Christmas 10:00 The Muppets 11:45 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil 13:15 The Lucky Dragon 15:00 Snowmen 16:45 Dragon Hunters 18:15 The Muppets 20:00 Sammy’s Adventure: The Secret Passage 22:00 The Lucky Dragon 23:45 Dragon Hunters

A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN ON OSN CINEMA

00:00 MSNBC Hardball With Chris Matthews 01:00 MSNBC Politicsnation 02:00 Live NBC Nightly News 02:30 ABC World News With Diane Sawyer 03:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 04:00 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 05:00 MSNBC The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell 06:00 NBC Nightly News 06:30 ABC World News With Diane Sawyer 07:00 Live NBC Nightly News 07:39 ABC Nightline 08:06 Live MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 10:00 MSNBC Morning Joe 13:00 MSNBC Caught On Camera 14:00 Live NBC Saturday Today Show 16:00 MSNBC Up With Chris Hayes Saturday 17:57 Live MSNBC Hardball With Chris Matthews

18:38 Live MSNBC The Ed Show 19:19 Live MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show 20:00 Live ABC 20/20 21:00 Witness 23:00 MSNBC News

00:00 Another Harvest Moon-PG15 02:00 Happy Feet Two-PG 04:00 The Ides Of March-PG15 06:00 Flower Girl-PG15 08:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 10:00 American Girl: McKenna Shoots For The Stars-PG 12:00 Chronicle-PG15 14:00 Three Inches-PG15 16:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 18:00 The Help-PG15 20:26 The Woman In Black-PG15 22:01 Snow White And The Huntsman-PG15

01:00 01:30 05:30 06:00 10:00 10:30 14:30 16:00 18:00 22:00

Futbol Mundial Super Rugby PGA European Tour Weekly Live PGA European Tour ICC Cricket 360 Live Super Rugby Super League Live European Challenge Cup Live Super Rugby Live PGA Tour

01:00 03:00 04:30 06:30 07:00 10:00 10:30 14:30 16:30 20:00 21:00

European Challenge Cup Super League NRL Premiership ICC Cricket 360 Live AFL Premiership Futbol Mundial Live NRL Premiership Super Rugby Live Snooker Championship UFC Countdown Live Snooker World

00:00 ICC Cricket 360 00:30 Super League 02:00 Snooker World Championship 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 European Challenge Cup 09:00 Super League 10:30 Trans World Sport 11:30 ICC Cricket 360 12:00 Live Snooker World Championship 16:00 Futbol Mundial 16:30 AFL Premiership 19:00 ICC Cricket 360 19:45 Live Super League 21:45 Live Champions Tour

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 04:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 15:30 16:30 18:30 19:30 20:00 21:30 22:30

UFC Countdown WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line NHL WWE NXT WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection UAE National Race Day Series Mobil 1 The Grid Live AFL Premiership WWE Vintage Collection WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line Mobil 1 The Grid Live PGA Tour UFC Countdown WWE SmackDown

01:20 Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid 03:20 Hotel Paradiso-PG 05:00 Kismet-FAM 07:00 The Left-Handed Gun-PG 08:45 High Sierra-PG 11:00 An American In Paris-FAM 12:50 Brigadoon-FAM 14:35 Seven Brides For Seven Brothers-FAM 16:15 Where Eagles Dare-PG 18:45 It Happened At The World’s Fair-FAM 20:30 Billy The Kid-PG 22:00 Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid

W H AT â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S O N SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Kokan Welfare Society (KWS Kuwait) holds AGM

K

okan Welfare Society (KWS Kuwait) conducted its annual general body meeting in Salmiya on April 12, 2013.The program started with recitation of verses from the Glorious Quran by master Nawaf Ibrahim Bhaldar and Imad Kasim. This was followed by naat and nasheet by a group of children.

The president Dr Abdulrazak Rumane welcomed the members of the society.

This was followed by the annual report

by Dr. Rahmattullah Galsulkar. He, in detail, informed the audience of the various activities the society conducted throughout the year and the benefits achieved by the Kokani community. He elaborated the aims & objectives of the society and their future plans. He stressed for a commom platform for the welfare of community and requested the people to support the society in its welfare works.

The treasurer Mohammed Shafi Alware then presented the financial report to the audience.

Mufti Hamzaa then spoke to the

audience of the concept of collective community work in Islam for the benefit of humanity.

The Advisor Mohammed Saleh Burud proposed the nominations for new executive committee for the year 20132014 as follows: Dr AbdulRazzak Rumane, President, Maulan Nisar Daroge Vice-President, Dr Rahmattullah Galsulkar General Secretary, Ashraf Hajwane Joint Secretary Mohammed Shafi Alware Treasurer, Taj Ahmed Khan Joint Treasurer; And Yacoub Solkar, Khalil Kapdi, Amanullah Yelukar, Ashfaque Solkar, Mufti Hamza Falahi, Mujahid Mulla, Iqbal Dave, Hasrat Walile, Amanullah Popere, Shahid Bamne, Shaukat Firfiray, Umm Salmaan (Ladies Wing) as Executive Committee Members.

Salim Desai advisor seconded and the general body approved unanimously. Mohammed Saleh Burud and Salim Desai agreed to work as Advisors to the society.

Sami Bubere an eminent journalist

was appointed as Patron of KWS Society Mohammed Saleh Burud, the visionary behind forming this society, appreciated the welfare works of Kokan Welfare Society and spoke to the community about benefits of collective works.

Salim Desai expressed his desires towards the societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s welfare works and how the community can benefit and support the society in turn.

Mukhtar Marouf, President of FIMA was invited and he expressed his views on how the Kokan community can benefit by working towards unity. He appreciated the works of the society.

The event was well compeered by Yacoub Solkar and Ashraf Hajwane.

Another well appreciated event of the evening was a quiz competition where in children and elders participated. The exciting prizes were given to the winners. Vote of thanks was by the Vicepresident Maulana Nisar Daroge and the programme concluded with duaa by Shaukat Firfiray. Dinner was served after the Ishaa prayers.

Blessen George memorial volleyball tournament

T

he tournament commenced on 24th Wednesday. First match was won by Nepali Club against Amas Shipping (3 - 1). Second match was won by Asharafiya Club walkover against Chemmannur International, who skipped the match and the third match was won by ACME against Nepali Club in 3 straight sets.

W H AT ’ S O N SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Seminar on Haj for Al-Najat School students

T

eacher Rifat Awadh Sadeeq from Al-Najat School in Hawally, gave a model lesson on Haj Pillars. He explained to students what important steps that must be followed during the pilgrimage in the Holy City of Makkah. Students were responsive, and appreciated their teachers’ efforts in enlightening them on one of the most important pillars of Islam.

Tala with her sister Danah Al-Sham

Fajr Al Sabah Private School honours students

Queen Elizabeth’s birthday at KNES

T

oday the children in the Early Years Department of Kuwait National English School (KNES) celebrated the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. The children were prepared for this special occasion by the British staff at Kuwait National English School. A short assembly

explained to the children why we celebrate this special event to the pupils of Kuwait National English School, Reception classes sang the British National Anthem before Madame Chantal cut the cake for everyone to share. The children waved their flags and enjoyed the birthday cake.

F

ajr Al Sabah Private School celebrated the Science Day, and honored the student who have achieved honors positions in all educational phases in the school in the presence of teachers and students and parents. Among the outstanding student Tala Mutaz Al Hallaw from the third group in the elementary phse and received her honoring certificate in the presence of her elder sister Danat Al Sham. Congratulations!

HEALTH

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

HIV vaccine experiment ends in disappointment US govt halts study

NUREMBERG: A red panda rests on a branch on April 25, 2013 at the zoo in Nuremberg, Germany. — AFP

Chicken, ground beef are ‘riskiest meats’ WASHINGTON: An analysis of more than 33,000 cases of foodborne illness shows that ground beef and chicken have caused more hospitalizations than other meats. The report by the Center for Science in Public Interest says chicken nuggets, ham and sausage pose the lowest risk of foodborne illness. The group used government data on 1,700 outbreaks over 12 years to analyze salmonella, E coli, listeria and other pathogens that were definitively linked to a certain meat.

To calculate which meats were riskiest, CSPI ranked the foods in which contamination was most likely to cause hospitalizations. Some meats may have had more illnesses but were less likely to cause severe illness. After ground beef and chicken, CSPI categorized turkey and steak as “high risk” and deli meat, pork, roast beef and beef or pork barbeque as “medium risk.”

Salmonella and E coli, pathogens that contaminate meat and poultry during slaughter and processing, accounted for a third of the illnesses surveyed. Clostridium perfringens, a lesser-known pathogen that usually grows after processing when foods are left at improper temperatures for too long by consumers or food establishments, accounted for another third. While a large number of chicken illnesses were due to clostridium perfringens, chicken led to many hospitalizations partly because of the high incidence of salmonella in chicken that isn’t properly cooked. —AP

WASHINGTON: The latest bad news in the hunt for an AIDS vaccine: The government halted a large US study on Thursday, saying the experimental shots are not preventing HIV infection. Nor did the shots reduce the amount of the AIDS virus in the blood when people who’d been vaccinated later became infected, the National Institutes of Health said.

“It’s disappointing,” said Dr Anthony Fauci, head of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. But, “there was important information gained from this” study that will help determine what to try next. The study had enrolled 2,504 volunteers, mostly gay men, in 19 cities since 2009. Half received dummy shots, and half received a two-part experimental vaccine developed by the NIH. All were provided free condoms and given extensive counseling about the risks for HIV. It’s a strategy known as “primeboost.” A DNA-based vaccine made with genetically engineered HIV material is given to prime the immune system to attack the AIDS virus. Then a different vaccine, encasing the same material inside a shell made of a disabled cold virus, acts as a booster shot to strengthen that response. Neither vaccine could cause HIV. The idea: Train immune cells known as T cells to spot and attack the very earliest HIV-infected cells in someone’s body. The hope was that the vaccine could either prevent HIV infection, or help those infected anyway to fight it. A safety review this week found that slightly more study participants who had received the vaccine later became infect-

ed with HIV. It’s not clear why. But the difference wasn’t statistically significant, meaning it may be due to chance.

Overall, there were 41 HIV infections in the vaccinated group and 30 among placebo recipients. When researchers examined only participants diagnosed after being in the study for at least 28 weeks - long enough for the shots to have done their job - there were 27 HIV infections among the vaccinated and 21 among the placebo recipients.

The NIH said Thursday that it is stopping vaccinations in the study, known as HVTN 505, but that researchers will continue to study the volunteers’ health.

Josh Robbins, 30, is among the participants who became infected. He said he is glad he was in the study, because its close monitoring meant he was diagnosed and treated much sooner than

most people - and he is feeling great and because the findings help science.

“We’ve got to keep moving forward,” Robbins said. The study “certainly can lead us down a new direction to hopefully find something that might work.”

Multiple attempts at creating an AIDS vaccine have failed over the years. A 2009 study in Thailand is the only one ever to show a modest success, using a somewhat different prime-boost approach. Newer research suggests another approach - to try creating powerful antibodies that could work a step earlier than the T-cell attack, before HIV gets inside the first cell. Both approaches need continued research funding, said Mitchell Warren of the international AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition.

“Clearly an AIDS vaccine remains critical,” he said. — AP

China finds new bird flu case BEIJING: Chinese authorities discovered yesterday the first case of a new strain of bird flu in the eastern province of Fujian, signalling the spread of the virus which has killed 23 people in China, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The flu was first detected in March. This week, the World Health Organisation called the virus, known as H7N9, “one of the most lethal”, and said it is more easily transmitted than an earlier strain that has killed hundreds around the world

since 2003. Fujian’s health authority said a 65-year-old man surnamed Luo had tested positive for the virus, Xinhua reported. Thirty-seven people who had been in close contact with the man had not shown symptoms of the flu. Chinese scientists confirmed on Thursday that chickens had transmitted the flu to humans. This week, a man in Taiwan become the first case of the flu outside mainland China. He caught the flu while travelling in China. — Reuters

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Mukthiyar.

ACCOMMODATION

Al-Madena Al-Shohada’a Al-Shuwaikh Al-Nuzha Sabhan Al-Helaly Al-Fayhaa Al-Farwaniya Al-Sulaibikhat Al-Fahaheel Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh Ahmadi Al-Mangaf Al-Shuaiba Al-Jahra Al-Salmiya

22418714 22545171 24810598 22545171 24742838 22434853 22545051 24711433 24316983 23927002 24316983 23980088 23711183 23262845 25610011 25616368

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO FRI NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) SHARQIA-2 TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) THE HOST (DIG) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) SHARQIA-3 Seats-225 THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) FIRE WITH FIRE (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) FIRE WITH FIRE (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) MUHALAB-1 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) FRI THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO FRI NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 5:30 PM 8:15 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM 2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM 12:45 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM 12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:15 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:00 PM 10:45 PM

MUHALAB-2 THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) FIRE WITH FIRE (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:15 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM

MUHALAB-3 TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) THE HOST (DIG) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

FANAR-1 OBLIVION (DIG) 1:45 PM OBLIVION (DIG) 4:15 PM IT TAKES A MAN AND A WOMAN (DIG) (FILIPINO) 6:45 PM OBLIVION (DIG) 9:15 PM OBLIVION (DIG) 11:45 PM NO SUN+ TUE+WED

For ladies or bachelor Filipino only near big Jamiya Farwaniya. Available on April 25, 2013. Contact: 66158188.

25-4-2013

I, Pallemeera Mutterahamath, holder of Indian Passport No: E5586374 issued at Hyderabad on 13-06-2003, change my name to Pa Pallemeera

Prayer timings 03:45

Shorook

05:10

Duhr:

11:46

Asr:

15:21

Maghrib:

18:21

Isha:

19:44

SITUATION VACANT Required for a Kuwaiti family a female cook, salary KD 100.

Contact: 99304076.

(C 4388) Required driver for a Kuwaiti family, 3 years experience, salary KD 100. Contact: 99304076.

(C 4389) 25-4-2013

112 Fajr:

(C 4386)

CHANGE OF NAME

condition, one owner, original paint, full options, price KD 3,100, negotiable.

Contact: 66416391. (C 4392) 27-4-2013

MATRIMONIAL Marthomite MCA Boy 28/179, employed as Web Marketing Executive with a reputed automobile company in Kuwait, invites proposals from professionally qualified employed girls. Contact: proposal2013q8@gmail.com

FOR SALE Delivery van box, Nissan Frezer 2004, Mazda 2005. Ph: 66052331. (C 4391) Chevrolet Lumina 5 model 2008, 43,000 km, excellent

Looking for groom for an Ezhava, Hindu girl (Msc Botany) 25 years, hailing from Malappuram Dist (Parappanangadi), interested please contact email: shanish200@gmail.com (C4390) 25-4-2015

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (25/04/2013 TO 01/05/2013) FANAR-2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:00 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-3 THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) THE HOST (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) THE HOST (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG)

2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-1 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2

1:45 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 10:45 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-2 FIRE WITH FIRE (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) FIRE WITH FIRE (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) FIRE WITH FIRE (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:15 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-3 TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) EMPEROR (DIG) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D)

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 THE HOST (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 THE HOST (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-2 THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED AVENUES-3 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG)

2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

2:15 PM 4:15 PM

NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG)

6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

360º- 1 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) 360º- 2 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2

2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:30 PM

360º- 3 EMPEROR (DIG) EMPEROR (DIG) EMPEROR (DIG) EMPEROR (DIG) EMPEROR (DIG) EMPEROR (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM 1:00 AM

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:15 PM 11:15 PM 1:15 AM

AL-KOUT.1 TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) FIRE WITH FIRE (DIG) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG)

1:00 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:15 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.3 OBLIVION (DIG) 2:00 PM OBLIVION (DIG) 4:30 PM OBLIVION (DIG) 7:00 PM IT TAKES A MAN AND A WOMAN (DIG) (FILIPINO) 9:30 PM OBLIVION (DIG) 12:15 AM BAIRAQ-1 TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) TAD, THE LOST EXPLORER (DIG-3D) THE CROODS (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D) SPIDERS (DIG-3D)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM

SPIDERS (DIG-3D)

11:30 PM

BAIRAQ-2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:15 PM 4:30 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:15 PM 12:05 AM

BAIRAQ-3 OBLIVION (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) EMPEROR (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

PLAZA SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) THU SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) THU SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) FRI+MON SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) NO THU SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) NO THU LAILA THE HOST (DIG) OBLIVION (DIG) EMPEROR (DIG) AJIAL.1 SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) FRI+SAT+MON SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU) SHADOW (DIG) (TELUGU)

7:00 PM 10:00 PM 3:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM 3:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:45 PM

AJIAL.2 AASHIQUI 2 (DIG) (HINDI) AASHIQUI 2 (DIG) (HINDI)

6:15 PM 9:15 PM

AJIAL.3 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG)

6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

AJIAL.4 SOUND THOMA (DIG) (MALAYALAM) FRI+SAT+MON SOUND THOMA (DIG) (MALAYALAM) SOUND THOMA (DIG) (MALAYALAM)

4:00 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM

information SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers use seats Airlines BBC QTR JZR JZR SAI ETH GFA PIA UAE ETD QTR FDB RBG MSR QTR OMA DHX THY FDB KAC BAW KAC JZR KAC KAC JZR FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE KAC ABY QTR IRM FDB ETD GFA IAW IZG JZR IRM MSC KAC JZR JZR UAE MSR KNE KAC QTR FDB KAC IRC MSR SVA JZR KNE SYR KAC KNE KAC RJA KAC JZR QTR JZR ETD JZR UAE ABY SVA GFA UAL JZR KAC JZR KAC IZG KAC

Arrival Flights on Saturday 27/4/2013 Flt Route 43 DHAKA 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 239 ISLAMABAD/SIALKOT 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 6130 DOHA 67 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 643 MUSCAT 170 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 69 DUBAI 412 MANILA/BANGKOK 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 503 LUXOR 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 362 COLOMBO 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 1186 TEHRAN 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 157 BAGHDAD/NAJAF 4161 MASHAD 165 DUBAI 1188 MASHAD 401 ALEXANDRIA 284 DHAKA 325 NAJAF 241 AMMAN 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 480 TAIF 672 DUBAI 140 DOHA 57 DUBAI 790 MEDINAH 6692 MASHAD 575 SHARM EL SHEIKH 500 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 472 JEDDAH 341 DAMASCUS 788 JEDDAH 470 JEDDAH 538 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 640 AMMAN 118 NEW YORK 535 CAIRO 134 DOHA 125 BAHRAIN 303 ABU DHABI 357 MASHAD 857 DUBAI 127 SHARJAH 510 RIYADH 215 BAHRAIN 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 177 DUBAI 176 GENEVA/FRANKFURT 777 JEDDAH 502 BEIRUT 4167 MASHAD 542 CAIRO

Time 0:05 0:15 0:20 0:40 1:30 1:45 1:55 2:05 2:25 2:30 2:35 3:10 3:15 3:15 3:30 4:20 4:20 4:35 5:50 6:15 6:30 6:35 6:40 7:25 7:30 7:40 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:20 8:25 8:45 8:50 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:30 10:40 11:00 11:05 11:35 11:45 12:00 12:05 12:25 12:35 12:45 13:00 13:25 13:40 13:45 13:50 13:55 14:00 14:15 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:40 15:55 16:00 16:10 16:15 16:25 16:35 16:50 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:45 17:50 18:00 18:05 18:15

QTR KAC FDB NIA GFA KAC KAC KAC MSC JAI RBG KAC FDB OMA ABY IRA JZR MEA KNE AXB MSR KLM ALK UAE ETD QTR DHX GFA QTR FDB AIC KNE JZR JZR UAL KAC KAC DLH JAI JZR THY

144 104 63 251 219 618 674 774 405 572 553 562 61 647 129 607 189 402 462 489 618 415 229 860 307 136 370 217 146 59 975 474 239 185 981 786 614 636 574 513 772

DOHA LONDON DUBAI ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI RIYADH SOHAG MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA AMMAN DUBAI MUSCAT SHARJAH MASHAD DUBAI BEIRUT MEDINAH COCHIN/MANGALORE ALEXANDRIA AMSTERDAM COLOMBO DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI CHENNAI/GOA JEDDAH AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN JEDDAH BAHRAIN FRANKFURT MUMBAI SHARM EL SHEIKH ISTANBUL

18:25 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:05 19:10 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:10 20:15 20:35 20:35 20:40 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:40 21:45 22:00 22:20 22:25 22:25 22:30 22:40 22:40 22:40 23:00 23:10 23:20 23:20 23:45

Airlines AIC JAI UAL DLH KLM BBC JZR THY SAI ETH PIA UAE FDB RBG QTR MSR ETD QTR QTR OMA FDB GFA THY JZR JZR KAC BAW FDB JZR JZR JZR KAC KAC ABY KAC UAE FDB QTR

Departure Flights on Saturday 27/4/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 413 AMSTERDAM 44 DHAKA 502 LUXOR 773 ISTANBUL 442 LAHORE 621 ADDIS ABABA 240 SIALKOT/ISLAMABAD 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 556 ALEXANDRIA 6131 DOHA 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 644 MUSCAT 70 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 240 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 537 SOHAG/SHARM EL SHEIKH 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 324 NAJAF 789 MEDINAH 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA

Time 0:05 0:20 0:25 0:30 0:55 1:30 1:30 2:20 2:30 2:45 3:35 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:15 4:20 4:25 5:15 5:20 6:30 7:00 7:10 7:10 7:25 7:45 8:25 8:25 8:50 9:10 9:10 9:15 9:25 9:30 9:35 9:50 9:55 10:00

ETD KAC IRM JZR GFA KAC KAC KAC IAW IZG JZR MSC IRM JZR JZR MSR KNE UAE FDB KAC QTR IRC MSR KAC KNE KAC SYR KAC SVA JZR KNE RJA KAC JZR JZR QTR ETD JZR ABY UAE SVA GFA JZR JZR UAL IZG QTR FDB GFA NIA KAC RBG MSC JAI FDB ABY KAC OMA KAC IRA MEA KAC MSR KNE DHX KLM ETD ALK UAE KAC QTR KAC GFA DHX FDB KAC QTR JZR KNE KAC KAC

302 101 1187 356 214 541 165 501 158 4162 776 406 1189 176 124 611 481 872 58 561 141 6693 576 673 473 617 342 773 505 188 461 641 785 238 512 135 304 538 128 858 511 216 184 266 982 4168 145 64 220 252 613 554 402 571 62 120 331 648 351 604 403 543 607 475 171 415 308 230 860 381 137 301 218 371 60 205 147 554 471 411 283

ABU DHABI LONDON/NEW YORK TEHRAN MASHAD BAHRAIN CAIRO ROME/PARIS BEIRUT NAJAF/BAGHDAD MASHAD JEDDAH SOHAG MASHAD DUBAI BAHRAIN CAIRO TAIF DUBAI DUBAI AMMAN DOHA MASHAD SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA DAMASCUS RIYADH JEDDAH DUBAI MEDINAH AMMAN JEDDAH AMMAN SHARM EL SHEIKH DOHA ABU DHABI CAIRO SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN MASHAD DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT COCHIN ISFAHAN BEIRUT CAIRO LUXOR JEDDAH BAHRAIN DAMMAM/AMSTERDAM ABU DHABI COLOMBO DUBAI DELHI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI ISLAMABAD DOHA ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BANGKOK/MANILA DHAKA

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

10:15 10:25 10:30 11:00 11:25 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:25 13:00 13:10 13:20 13:30 14:00 14:15 14:15 14:30 14:40 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:30 15:45 15:55 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:05 16:55 17:00 17:05 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:50 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:40 19:05 19:25 19:35 19:50 20:00 20:00 20:20 20:30 20:35 20:40 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 22:05 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:20 23:25 23:40 23:45

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 1 7 2

ACROSS 1. A solution containing a phosphate buffer.

4. Supplementary material that is collected and appended at the back of a book.

12. The law enforcement agency in the Justice Department.

15. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

16. A native or inhabitant of Bahrain.

17. The network in the reticular formation that serves an alerting or arousal function.

18. British dominion over India (1757-1947).

19. Wild ginger.

20. Metal shackles.

22. Two surfaces meeting at an angle different from 90 degrees.

24. A rare heavy polyvalent metallic element that resembles manganese chemically and is used in some alloys.

25. Relatively small fast-moving sloth.

26. A Powhatan Indian woman (the daughter of Powhatan) who befriended the English at Jamestown and is said to have saved Captain John Smith's life (1595-1617).

30. A fraudulent business scheme.

32. Nocturnal fruit-eating bird of South America that has fatty young yielding an oil that is used instead of butter.

33. A Loloish language.

34. (informal usage) A general feeling of boredom and dissatisfaction.

37. Date used in reckoning dates before the supposed year Christ was born.

41. A deep bow.

45. Earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something.

46. Belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler.

48. God of fire.

49. Swelling from excessive accumulation of serous fluid in tissue.

51. (law) Lacking any legal or binding force.

52. (Islam) The man who leads prayers in a mosque.

53. Destruction of heart tissue resulting from obstruction of the blood supply to the heart muscle.

54. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

56. A white trivalent metallic element.

57. The arch of bone beneath the eye that forms the prominence of the cheek.

60. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

62. An advantageous purchase.

65. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight.

69. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

71. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

72. French filmmaker (1908-1982).

73. A close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities.

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

78. The compass point that is one point east of due south.

79. Elder brother of Krishna.

80. The organ of sight (`peeper' is an informal term for `eye').

Daily SuDoku

DOWN 1. Meat from a domestic hog or pig.

2. Pompous or pretentious talk or writing.

3. A mountain peak in the Andes in Bolivia (21,391 feet high).

4. At or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane.

5. A path set aside for walking.

6. The title of the ancient Egyptian kings.

7. To make a mistake or be incorrect.

8. Of or relating to the nervous system.

9. Costing 10 dollars.

10. Not out.

11. Denoting a quantity consisting of 12 items or units.

12. Compound leaf of a fern or palm or cycad.

13. Obvious and dull.

14. An important question that is in dispute and must be settled.

21. European freshwater fish resembling the roach.

23. Arboreal snake of central and southern Africa whose bite is often fatal.

27. The third month of the civil year.

28. Humorously vulgar.

29. (of persons) Highest in rank or authority or office.

31. United States poet and critic (1916-1986).

35. Washing out a hollow organ (especially the stomach) by flushing with water.

36. Before noon.

38. Molten rock in the earth's crust.

39. Occurring at or forming an end or termination.

40. (Jungian psychology) The inner self (not the external persona) that is in touch with the unconscious.

42. A strong solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide.

43. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan.

44. Especially fine or decorative clothing.

47. A preacher of the Christian gospel.

50. A dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon.

55. Any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes.

58. A poplar that is widely cultivated in the United States.

59. An assertion of a right (as to money or property).

61. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

63. A village in eastern Ireland (northwest of Dublin).

64. A city in northern India.

66. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

67. Continuing or remaining in a place or state.

68. An officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer.

70. An accountant certified by the state.

74. A metallic element having four allotropic forms.

75. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

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

Yesterdayʼs Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

SPORTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Red Sox hammer Astros AL Capsules BOSTON: David Ortiz went 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, boosting his batting average over .500 as the Boston Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 7-2 Thursday night to win their eighth straight series opener. Ortiz, who also scored three runs, is 11 for 20 (.550) with five RBIs since returning last weekend. He missed 71 of last year’s final 72 games and most of the first three weeks this season because of a heel injury. Boston has won 10 of its last 13 and taken the first eight series openers of a season for the first time in team history. Clay Buchholz (5-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 7 2-3 innings with 10 strikeouts and two walks. His ERA rose from 0.90 to 1.19.

YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 3 With Derek Jeter making his first visit to the Bronx this season, Robinson Cano hit a three-run homer and New York used a flurry of early long balls to outslug Toronto. Vernon Wells homered again against Mark Buehrle, and Francisco Cervelli also connected for New York in its third win over the Blue Jays in a week. The Yankees took two of three in a weekend series in Toronto. Jeter, out until probably mid-July because of a broken ankle, watched a no-frills New York lineup improve to 12-9. The Yankees captain said he was meeting some of his teammates for the first time.

Rangers 2, Twins 1 Nick Tepesch pitched six strong innings for his second win, and Elvis Andrus and Nelson Cruz each drove in runs to lead Texas to its sixth victory in seven games. Tepesch (2-1) allowed five hits in 6 2-3 innings. He shut the Twins out through six before Josh Willingham homered in the seventh inning to make it 2-1. The rookie right-hander had allowed only two baserunners up to that point and showed no lingering effects from taking a liner off his right forearm in his previous start against Seattle last weekend. Minnesota starter Vance Worley (0-3) allowed two runs and six hits in five innings.

WHITE SOX 5, RAYS 2 Chris Sale overcame a shaky first inning to combine with two relievers on a five-hitter and Adam Dunn homered to lead Chicago over Tampa Bay. Desmond Jennings walked leading off the game and scored on Evan Longoria’s single, but Sale (2-2) settled down and won for the first time since opening day. He allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings, struck out seven and worked around four walks. Sale has 31 strikeouts in five appearances against the Rays. He is 11-3 with a 2.26 ERA at home in 17 starts dating to the beginning of the 2012 season. Matt Lindstrom worked a scoreless eighth, then Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his seventh save in seven chances for Chicago.

ROYALS 8, TIGERS 3, 10 INNINGS Alex Gordon’s grand slam highlighted a five-run 10th inning for the Kansas City, which rallied against Detroit’s bullpen after Justin Verlander left with a thumb injury. George Kottaras put the Royals ahead 4-3 with a bases-loaded walk off Phil Coke (0-3). Darin Downs came on for Detroit after that, but Gordon broke the game open one out later with his homer over the center-field wall. Verlander is dayto-day with what the team said was cracked skin on his throwing thumb. The right-hander allowed two runs - one earned - in seven innings and left with a 3-2 lead. Bruce Rondon gave up the tying run in the eighth in his major league debut. Tim Collins (1-0) got the win.

ORIOLES 10, ATHLETICS 2 Nate McLouth reached base four times and scored twice, Nick Markakis drove in two runs, and the Orioles opened their longest road trip of the season by routing the Athletics. Chris Davis homered and had two RBIs, Adam Jones added three hits and Jason Hammel (3-1) pitched six strong innings to help the Orioles win for just the fourth time in their last 20 games at the Coliseum. Baltimore had a seasonhigh 15 hits, with all nine starters getting at least one. Six players drove in runs. Josh Donaldson doubled in two runs for the Athletics, who have dropped six of seven. Jarrod Parker (0-4) took the loss.

MARINERS 6, ANGELS 0 Carlos Peguero hit a mammoth homer in his first at-bat of the season and Kyle Seager had a two-run shot to help the Mariners beat the Angels. Peguero hit his solo shot on a 3-2 pitch from Garrett Richards (1-1) in the third, 451 feet to deep center. The only two longer home runs in the stadium’s 121/2-year history were 462 feet by San Francisco’s Barry Bonds (June 16, 2006) and 460 feet by Mariners’ Raul Ibanez (June 20, 2007). It’s believed Peguero is the second player ever to hit the centerfield batter’s eye. The other was Mike Napoli in 2008.

Rookie Brandon Maurer (2-3) went 6 1-3 innings to pick up the victory. He allowed seven hits, struck out six and walked one.— AP

PHOENIX: Arizona Diamondbacks’ Gerardo Parra (left) tries to avoid the tag of Colorado Rockies’ Josh Rutledge while advancing on a fly out during the eighth inning of a baseball game, on Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Phoenix. — AP

Valbuena lifts Cubs NL Capsules MIAMI: Luis Valbuena hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the ninth inning to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 4-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night. The Marlins fell to 5-17, matching the worst start in franchise history through 22 games according to STATS. Miami had the same record in 1995. Shawn Camp (1-1) pitched the eighth and Carlos Marmol got the final three outs for his second save in four opportunities. Nate Schierholtz doubled and homered for Chicago, which scored the final three runs of the game. Valbuena put the first pitch he saw from Steve Cishek (1-3) into the Marlins bullpen in right-center field with two outs in the ninth breaking a 3all tie.

NATIONALS 8, REDS 1 Gio Gonzalez allowed just one hit in eight innings, and Denard Span and Danny Espinosa drove in three runs each to lead Washington to the victory over Cincinnati.

Gonzalez, who allowed 12 runs in his previous nine innings, retired the first 11 Reds batters before Joey Votto homered with two outs in the fourth. He struck out seven and walked two. By the time Votto homered, Gonzalez (2-1) had a 6-0 lead. Washington had lost nine of 12 and their previous six home games. Cincinnati lost for the sixth time in its last seven road games.

DODGERS 3, METS 2 Andre Ethier hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and Los Angeles, boosted by a sharp outing from Hyun-Jin Ryu, defeated New York. After Ryu and Mets starter Jeremy Hefner each threw seven impressive innings and left with the score 1-all, the Dodgers won a game decided by the bullpens. Nick Punto opened the

ninth with a double off Scott Rice (1-1) and moved to third on a grounder to the right side by Adrian Gonzalez.

After an intentional walk to Matt Kemp, Mets manager Terry Collins visited the left-handed Rice on the mound.

The left-handed Ethier put the Dodgers ahead with his hit, and Juan Uribe drove in another run with an infield single for a 3-1 lead.

PIRATES 6, PHILLIES 4 Gaby Sanchez homered and drove in three runs, and Garrett Jones hit a go-ahead, two-run double to lead Pittsburgh to a comeback victory over struggling Philadelphia. Justin Wilson (2-0) pitched two hitless innings in relief of James McDonald, and the Pirates won their third straight and 10th in 13 games. Taking the fourgame series gave Pittsburgh its first series win in Philadelphia since April 4-6, 2003, at now demolished Veterans Stadium. Ryan Howard went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs and Domonic Brown had a pair of doubles with an RBI for the Phillies, who have lost three straight and eight of 11.

DIAMONDBACKS 3, ROCKIES 2 Paul Goldschmidt’s two-run home run in the fourth inning powered the Diamondbacks to a win over the Rockies. Goldschmidt’s fifth homer of the year followed a single by Martin Prado and snapped a 1-1 tie.

Goldschmidt’s towering drive down the left field hit near the top of the foul pole, and increased his team-leading RBI total to 18. Trevor Cahill (1-3) earned his first win of the season, giving up an unearned run in five innings.

Jorge Del La Rosa (2-2) allowed three runs in six innings for Colorado.— AP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Barnes sets record-tying pace Chinese teen Guan opens with a level-par 72 LOUISIANA: Long-hitting American Ricky Barnes made a welcome return to form after two months of struggle as he charged into a one-shot lead in Thursday’s opening round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in Avondale, Louisiana. The 32-year-old, who is bidding for his first victory on the PGA Tour, took advantage of receptive, rain-softened conditions at the TPC Louisiana to fire a sizzling eight-under-par 64. With players permitted to lift, clean and replace golf balls on the fairway after more than an inch of rain had saturated the layout on Wednesday, Barnes birdied six of his last eight holes to tie the course record. Boo Weekley and former US Open champion Lucas Glover also made the most of the low-scoring conditions with opening 65s, finishing a stroke in front of fellow Americans D.A. Points and PGA Tour rookie Morgan Hoffmann. Four-times major winner Ernie Els was among a group of 10 players on 67, while defending champion Jason Dufner, who clinched last year’s title in a playoff with South African Els, launched his defence with a level-par 70.

China’s 14-year-old prodigy Guan Tianlang also flourished in the opening round, upstaging several big names as he rebounded from two early bogeys to card a level-par 72. Competing this week on a sponsor’s exemption, Guan has been one of the biggest talking points in golf after becoming the youngest player to make the cut in a major championship at the Masters earlier this month. Barnes, however, commanded most of the early spotlight as he shrugged off memories of seven missed cuts in his last eight starts on the PGA Tour after beginning the season in reasonably good form.

STORMED HOME He eagled the par-five second before reaching the turn in two-under 34, then stormed home in six-under 30 to surge to the top of the leaderboard. “It was good today,” Barnes told Golf Channel after piling up seven birdies along with his eagle and a lone bogey at the sixth. “It has been a long past two months, especially after starting off so well in Hawaii and Palm Springs. “I was really hitting the ball pretty well early on on the West Coast (swing).” Barnes, whose best PGA Tour finish was joint second at the 2009 U.S. Open, tied for 20th at the Sony Open in Hawaii and shared 16th place at the Humana Challenge before his 2013 campaign unravelled.

“I started working on stuff and it just wasn’t clicking for me,” he said. “I knew I was going in the right direction with what I was working on. I just wasn’t grasping it and the results weren’t giving me any confidence as well. “Good shots usually lead to confidence and I wasn’t really hitting it good and I wasn’t swinging good. And the short game wasn’t very good. “I have been working pretty hard on all aspects of the game for the past two months, especially on the short game ... and today it kind of proved that is starting to pay off.”

Weekley, who won the most recent of his two PGA Tour titles at the 2008 Verizon Heritage, was in an upbeat mood after recording three birdies in his last five holes. “It was good, it could have got real good if some of them putts would have fell early in the round,” said the laid-back Floridian, who is known for his love of shooting and fishing. “I just felt good over it today.” World number four Justin Rose, the highest-ranked player in the field, opened with a 68 while last year’s Masters champion Bubba Watson, who clinched the New Orleans title in 2011, battled to a three-bogey 73. — Reuters

Wrestling: US, Iran duel to promote Olympic bid LOS ANGELES: Wrestlers from political foes Iran and the United States will compete in a friendly international meet in Los Angeles on May 19 as part of an international push to keep the sport in the Olympics. Dubbed “United 4 Wrestling,” the freestyle event is being organized by USA Wresting and youth development agency Beat the Streets-Los Angeles as part of World Wrestling Month, which was declared by the international wrestling federation (FILA) in April after the February 12 recommendation by the International Olympic Committee Executive Board that wrestling not be a core sport at the 2020 Olymplic Games.

A final decision on the program of the 2020 Games is to be made by the IOC in September. “It is an exciting opportunity for wrestling to show the world its ability to bring together nations of different political, cultural and geographic backgrounds,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. The Los Angeles event will follow a May 15 event at New York’s Grand Central Station involving the United States, Iran and Russia. — AFP

AVONDALE: Ricky Barnes hits his second shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana. — AFP

Garcia ready to defend light welterweight belt NEW YORK: Unbeaten Danny Garcia says he’s “100 percent ready” to defend his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association light welterweight belts on challenger Zab Judah’s home turf in Brooklyn today. “I’m ready to take over Brooklyn,” Garcia said, predicting fans from his hometown of Philadelphia would out-number Judah’s supporters. “I guarantee I’ll have more fans than Zab has coming to the fight,” he said. Garcia, 25-0 with 16 knockouts, was to have defended his 140-pound (63.5 kg) titles against Judah on February 9, but the bout was postponed when he sustained a rib injury in training.

With the injury behind him, Garcia said his preparation has been “perfect”. “I think it was the best training camp I’ve ever had,” he said. “Everything was on point-sparring, running, training, conditioning. Everything went perfect.” Plenty of verbal sparring has marked the build-up to the fight, including Judah crashing a Garcia media availability at a New York sporting goods store. Promoter Oscar de la Hoya, citing “tension in the air,” took the unusual step of holding a split prefight press conference on Thursday. “I’m a little disappointed,” Garcia said, “because I couldn’t wait to look in his eyes and snatch his soul right out of his body.”

Judah, a 35-year-old veteran who boasts a record of 42-7 with 29 knockouts, was incensed at being kept out of the press conference until Garcia was finished. “This is crazy, insane,” he said when his turn came. “They’re trying to make me look like some savage or something ... Why? Because of Danny Garcia and his crew’s insecurities? It’s not right.” Judah reinvigorated his career in March of last year with a ninthround technical knockout of Vernon Paris in a non-title bout.

That came eight months after Britain’s Amir Khan delivered a dominating fifth-round knockout of Judah on July 23, 2011.

Garcia beat Mexico’s Erik Morales with a unanimous 12-round decision in March of 2012 to claim the WBC crown, then took the WBA from Khan with a fourth-round stoppage last July. In November, Garcia knocked out Morales in the fourth round in a rematch in the first boxing card at Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center, the venue for today’s fight. —AFP

Boxing: Khan thinks big despite defeats LONDON: Amir Khan has not been dissuaded from thinking big by two defeats in his last three fights and claims victory today will give him the opportunity to become undisputed world light-welterweight champion later this year. The 26-year-old must first come through a catchweight (143 pounds) 12-round non-title contest with Mexican Julio Diaz at the Motorpoint Arena in his home city of heffield, northern England, in his first fight back in Britain for two years.

Victory over Diaz, a former world lightweight champion, will keep Khan on course for a possible rematch with either Lamont Peterson or Danny Garcia. Defeat to the 33-year-old Diaz will finish Khan’s career at the elite level.

Khan, who is due to get married in New York next month, is desperate to avenge both defeats to Peterson-to whom he lost controversially on points in December 2011 and the American subsequently tested positive for a banned substance-as well as Garcia, who stopped the Briton in four rounds last July.

Both Peterson, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion, and Garcia, holder of the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) titles, have defenses to make before Khan can start plotting revenge. Garcia takes on fellow American Zab Judah later while Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse is set to challenge Peterson on May 18.

Khan claims he has been told by his promoter Golden Boy that the winners of Garcia-Judah and PetersonMatthysse will then face each other and the victor of that world title unification fight will box him later in 2013. “I need to keep winning and work my way back to the world titles,” Khan said. “I’m determined to win them again. “I’m staying at light-welterweight because I want to fight Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia again-I have unfinished business with them and want to avenge my losses.

“This fight will take me to a world title shot, hopefully in my next bout. “Julio has a good KO ratio, I have a lot of respect for accepting this challenge. Diaz is an experienced fighter and they are the difficult ones to beat.

While Khan sees his future at the 10 stone (63.5-kilogram) light-welterweight division, he was surprisingly elevated to number two in the WBC welterweight rankings recently. Defeats dashed Khan’s hopes of facing boxing’s pound-for-pound number one Floyd Mayweather Jr, the American, who holds the WBC welterweight title.

But Khan has not given up on a future fight with Mayweather. “But I have to take care of the light-welterweight division first. I want to clean it up and get revenge on either Garcia or Peterson later this year,” he added. “I will fight twice this year because (the Muslim holy month of)Ramadan is in the middle of the year.

Then I will move up to a super fight at 147 pounds (welterweight) next year. “Mayweather is still possible. Not many people are in the same league as fighting him but as long as I don’t make many any more mistakes, then why not?”

Diaz is the second fight for Khan since suffering a third professional defeat to Garcia in July last year. Khan’s dominant win over Carlos Molina in December was his first training with coach Virgil Hunter in San Fransisco, California. He said Hunter helped him to work on his defense, making him a more complete fighter. Khan’s younger brother Haroon, who won bronze for Pakistan at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, faces fellow Englishman Brett Fidoe over four rounds in his professional debut as a super-flyweight.

Haroon, 21, has been distracted in his preparations by a court appearance and fine for speeding earlier this month. Also on the same bill, unbeaten US heavyweight Deontay Wilder, 27, will be looking for his 28th stoppage victim in his 28th fight against Britain’s Audley Harrison, a former world title challenger and 2000 Olympic gold medalist. Harrison, 41, was stopped in three rounds by fellow Briton David Haye for the WBA heavyweight title in 2010 before being wiped out in just 82 seconds by David Price for the British title last year. — AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Maracana re-opens amid concerns of elitism RIO DE JANEIRO: For the first time in two-and-a-half years, a ball will be kicked at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium today after an almost complete makeover which many fear will cost the spiritual home of Brazilian football its popular appeal. The 900 million reais ($448 million) refurbishment has been dogged by delays, labor disputes and protests and the controversy is set to drag on long after today’s exhibition match between teams led by former Brazil forwards Ronaldo and Bebeto.

The new stadium will be reduced to around two fifths of its original capacity while plans to build a shopping centre and car park alongside at the expense of an existing sports complex have led to a judicial battle and fears of elitism. Furthermore, only the interior is completely finished as workers race against the clock to complete the paving and land-

scaping of the surrounding area in time for the June 2 friendly between Brazil and England, the first official match. “This re-opening represents the return of football to Rio de Janeiro,” former Brazil playmaker Zico, one of the country’s finest players, told Reuters.

“During this period that the Maracana was shut, the Cariocas felt like orphans.”

LEGAL QUAGMIRE The Maracana, built for the 1950 World Cup, will take centre stage again when Brazil hosts the competition for a second time next year. The final is among the seven matches scheduled to be played at the famous arena. It will also be one of six venues for the Confederations Cup in June which is regarded as a test event. Soccer’s governing body FIFA had demanded that the stadium be ready last December,

but various problems have delayed the opening by nearly five months. Even now, there is still a lot of work to be done. The area outside the stadium has still to be paved while remodeling of the rest of the complex will only be completed next year, provided it does not get bogged down in a legal quagmire.

A shopping centre and car park will be built on the site of the athletics stadium and Olympic-sized swimming pool, prompting athletes who use the facilities for training to accuse authorities of elitism. The public attorney’s office attempted to suspend the tendering process for the work, because of the demolition of the facilities as well as a local school plus a neighboring building which houses indigenous groups. However, the Brazilian government won an injunction allowing the process to continue and is expected to announce the winning bid in the next few days.—Reuters

NFL-Offensive tackle Fisher No 1 at Draft Tackles dominate first picks of draft NEW YORK: The Kansas City Chiefs opened the 2013 National Football League (NFL) Draft by selecting offensive tackle Eric Fisher of Central Michigan as the number one overall pick, establishing a trend at the top of the draft. The 6-foot 7-inch, 306-pound Fisher became the first offensive tackle to go number one since Jake Long was chosen by the Miami Dolphins in 2008 and only the fourth tackle ever taken first.

Fisher added his name to a select list that also included Orlando Pace (1999 St Louis) and Ron Yary (1968 Minnesota), the only other offensive tackles named as the top overall picks. “This is so surreal. This is a dream come true,” Fisher said from the Radio City Music Hall stage after being congratulated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The lack of interest in offensive playmakers also strained the usual sensibilities as the first skills player, wide receiver Tavon Austin, was not taken until the eighth pick by St Louis and he was alone in that distinction for another eight until quarterback EJ Manuel was taken by Buffalo at No 16. Noted for his athleticism, Fisher played quarterback and linebacker in his first two seasons of high school football in Michigan before moving to the offensive line, whose practitioners dominated the top of the draft. Picking second in the worst-to-first order of selection, the Jacksonville Jaguars made it back-to-back tackles at the top by taking Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M. Joeckel, winner of the Outland Trophy awarded to the best college football interior

lineman by the Football Writers Association of America, was followed two picks later by tackle Lane Johnson of Oklahoma, taken by the Philadelphia Eagles. “Three tackles in four picks. That’s a lot of love for the big boys up front, which we usually don’t get,” said Fisher, who rocketed up the draft charts with his late season performances and eye-catching workouts. The Chiefs had the first pick of the draft, the primary way NFL teams build their rosters, by posting the league’s worst record last season, going 2-14.

When tackles were not tabbed, teams looked to pass rushers at the start of the draft.

Miami traded their first-round pick (No. 12) and second-round pick to Oakland for the third choice, which they used to snare defensive end Dion Jordan of Oregon. The fifth and sixth picks were also on the defensive side with Detroit taking defensive end Ezekiel Ansah of Brigham Young, a native of Accra, Ghana, followed by Cleveland’s selection of defensive end/linebacker Barkevious Mingo of LSU. Austin finally dented the draft board for the offensive skills players when St Louis traded for Buffalo’s number eight slot and used it to grab the wide receiver from West Virginia. The first quarterback taken was something of a surprise as Florida State signal caller EJ Manuel jumped over other higher-profile passers when Buffalo nabbed him at 16th. Manuel and Austin were the only offensive skill players taken through the top 20 picks, which saw eight offensive linemen selected.— Reuters

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Sharapova toils on way to Stuttgart quarters STUTTGART: French Open champion Maria Sharapova admitted she had dug deep to reach the quarter-finals of Stuttgart’s WTA tournament after her three-hour marathon victory over claycourt specialist Lucie Safarova on Thursday. Sharapova, who won last year’s Stuttgart title en route to her Roland Garros victory, needed three hours, nine minutes to squeeze past her Czech opponent for a 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 second-round victory.

With a 5-2 lead in the third set and serving for the match, Sharapova squandered three match points as Safarova broke her, before the Russian returned the compliment to claim the match. “I’ve had a few three-hour games in my career, so I knew I just had to keep fighting until the end,” said the statuesque Russian, who faced former world number one Ana Ivanovic in yesterday’s quarter-finals.

“That’s when it’s the time to get the game-plan going and

calm down a little bit. “Clay is one of her favorite surfaces and I knew this was going to be a tough game, so I am glad to get through. “The first match of the claycourt season is always tough, it’s nothing like practicing.” Sharapova’s last eight opponent Ivanovic beat Russia’s Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-3 in her second round game, having dropped to 17th in the world rankings. Earlier second-seed China’s Li Na has admitted she has one eye on a brand new sports car, the winner’s prize here, as she prepares to face Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals.

Li, who reached January’s Australian Open final, breezed through Thursday’s second-round match in 74 minutes to see off Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1, 6-2 in straight sets in her first match of the claycourt season. Kvitova made the last eight after beating Germany’s Julia Goerges 2-6, 7-6(7/4), 6-2 in her second round match. “I have a lot of room in my garage for a

new car and it’s a pretty nice car,” joked Li, with a brand-new Porsche parked at the side of the court, ready for the winner of tomorrow’s final to drive away.

“It’s always tough when you change surface, so I’m excited to win my first match on clay for the season. “Mirjana plays flat, so I had to prepare for that. “I thought it would be a tough match because she has a lot of experience. “I was happy I could play more aggressive and had the right game plan to win.” Third-seed Angelique Kerber, ranked sixth in the world, also had no problems as she blasted past Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final clash with Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova. Former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia crashed out in the second round when she was beaten in straight sets 7-6(7/3), 7-5 by Germany’s Sabine Lisicki.— AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

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Wenger plans to upset Man United title party LONDON: Arsene Wenger insists he has no problem asking his Arsenal players to form a guard of honor for Manchester United tomorrow, but the Gunners boss is determined to send the newly-crowned champions home empty handed as the race for the top four heats up. With United ending Manchester City’s reign as champions on Monday, the focus this weekend turns to the tense battle to qualify for the Champions League.

City are well set in second place, so the pressure is on third-placed Arsenal, who take on United at the Emirates Stadium, fourth placed Chelsea, who face Swansea at home tomorrow, and fifth placed Tottenham, who travel to Wigan today. Arsenal are one point ahead of Chelsea and two in front of Tottenham and their hopes of cementing that position may have been aided by United having wrapped up the title already.

Some Arsenal fans are upset with Wenger’s decision to mark United’s title triumph with a guard of honor before the match, returning the respect shown by Alex Ferguson’s men when they did the same soon after George Graham’s Gunners team were crowned champions in 1991. Those supporters, irritated by the presence of former Gunners captain Robin van Persie in the United line-up, plan to turn their backs on the pitch during the guard of honor.

But Wenger is keen not to rile United unnecessarily and he said: “We will respect the players that have played for us a long time as we always have done and treat them well before and after the game. “As a champion or not as a champion it is exactly the same.

“What I want is for us to have a good game and to beat them, it doesn’t matter what kind of status they come with.” While Arsenal scrap to retain their place among Europe’s elite, United’s 20th English title allows Ferguson’s players to dream of further success in the coming years.

In addition to van Persie, the likes of Danny Welbeck, David de Gea, Phil Jones, Tom Cleverley and Shinji Kagawa had also never won the Premier League until Monday. And United defender Jonny Evans thinks the memories of the celebrations following the win over Aston Villa will fuel a desire for more success.

Asked if United have a bright future, Evans said: “Definitely. The first title just makes you more hungry.

You experience that feeling and you don’t want anyone else to have it. “You develop a selfishness and a determination to experience that feeling again and again. It’s a great motivation for everyone.”

Spurs have the first chance to steal a march in the top four battle as they play 24 hours before their rivals and boss Andre Villas-Boas is confident last weekend’s 3-1 win over Manchester City will prove the springboard to a successful run-in. “It was inspirational,” he said. “Hopefully with the motivation we had from that game we can get the result we want this weekend and for the rest of the season.” But Wigan also need the points at the other end of the table. The FA Cup finalists are third bottom and three points from safety after two successive defeats, prompting boss Roberto Martinez to put all contract talks with his players on ice.

Martinez has been unable to agree new deals with Maynor Figueroa, Franco di Santo and Antolin Alcaraz, whose current contracts all expire at the end of the season. “Right now, all the individual decisions are not important,” he said. “Everything is surrounding the final five games in the league and making sure we achieve our aim. The club is the priority.” Tomorrow, bottom club Reading face second bottom QPR at the Madejski Stadium with the losers knowing they are certain to be relegated. A draw would also relegate both clubs if fourth bottom Aston Villa draw or win against Sunderland on Monday. —AFP

MUSCAT: Competitors perform during Red Bull Soap Box Race in Muscat, Oman. — www.redbullcontentpool

Arsenal accept the pain of applauding Van Persie LONDON: Applauding former teammate Robin van Persie will be a painful moment for Arsenal’s players when they welcome Premier League champion Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium tomorrow. It has become tradition in England for opponents to give the new champions a guard of honor before kick-off but venerating Van Persie, who left Arsenal to join Manchester United last year, will be a particularly uncomfortable experience for the Gunners.

Van Persie, whose 24 goals have been instrumental in United’s title triumph, spent eight seasons at Arsenal before quitting the club. Despite some supporters’ objections, however, manager Arsene Wenger said there was never a possibility of Arsenal refusing to follow tradition tomorrow. “When you work somewhere abroad, you have to respect the culture of the country,” Wenger said. “That is part of the tradition of English football and I want that to be respected. “We respect Robin van Persie like every other player who has left us and come back to the Emirates. I want the player to be respected like everybody else.”

Arsenal cannot afford to concede ground in the race for the Champions League qualification spots but it should not expect any favors from United, who can break the league’s record points total of 94 if it wins all four of its remaining games. “We’ve won the league but we won’t go there and relax,” United midfielder Michael Carrick said. “We want to put on a good performance and try to play as if the title depended on it, that’s how we’ll approach it.”

Arsenal is a point ahead of Chelsea and two points clear of Tottenham but has played a game more than both in the chase for the top four places. Tottenham plays first of the three teams this weekend and can put pressure on their rivals by moving into third with a win over relegation-struggler Wigan today.

Wigan has lost two consecutive games but Tottenham will be on guard because its opponent, which plays Manchester City in the final of the FA Cup, is known for recording surprise victories late in the season. “We have to be ready,” Tottenham captain Michael Dawson said. “Wigan are fighting for their lives but they are a good team, they are in the final of the FA Cup and they will want to pick up points just as much as we do, for different reasons.

“It’s about us though, about what we do and as long as we’re on top of our game, we’ll look to come away with the three points.” In what could turn out to be a top four decider,

Tottenham still has to play Chelsea. But the Blues first play Swansea at home as they look to bounce back from conceding a late equalizer against Liverpool last weekend. Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez is likely to rotate his side for the match, playing only three days after beating FC Basel 2-1 in the semifinals of the Europa League.

The game will also see Chelsea winger Eden Hazard face the club he was sent off against for kicking a ball boy during the League Cup semifinals in February. Manchester City has little to play for in the league after its 3-1 loss to Tottenham allowed United to wrap up the title, but City can cement its position in second place by beating West Ham at home today.

Everton’s hopes of finishing in the top four look to be over but the team will be eager to maintain its lead above rival Liverpool by beating Fulham at home. Liverpool travel to Newcastle. —AP

City vow to bounce back MANCHESTER: Kolo Toure believes his Manchester City team-mates will be stronger for losing the English Premier League title even though he will not be part of the challenge to reclaim it next season. Bitter rivals Manchester United were confirmed as champions this week after their lead at the top of the table became unassailable. Already the talk in the blue half of Manchester has focused on how City will wrest the title back off the Red Devils next season.

City play West Ham today in their first match since losing the title and Toure, who will leave City at the end of the season when his contract expires, said important lessons have been learnt. “This club has great players and fans but when you play against a team like United, it is hard. They have been more consistent than us and we have to learn from that,” he told a news conference. “We need to know that to be champions doesn’t mean winning it once. You need the right mentality every season and we have learnt that. You can’t sleep once you have won something. You then need to go out and do even better. —AFP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Gulf Bank and NBK face off in KBC Cup KUWAIT: The first semi-final match in KBC’s Soccer Cup Championship will be at 8:30 tonight at Kazema Sports

Club field where Gulf Bank and NBK teams will meet.

Notably, the Gulf Bank, NBK, KFH and Boubyan Bank

(the previous championship winner) soccer teams have qualified for the semi-finals.

SPANISH LEAGUE PREVIEW

ITALIAN LEAGUE PREVIEW

Napoli looking to cement second as Juve await title MILAN: Napoli have all but given hope of snatching the Serie A title from Juventus, but have no intention of giving up a coveted runners-up spot that would guarantee their return to the Champions League next season. With an 11-point cushion on Napoli and requiring only four points from their last five games, Juventus are virtually assured what would be their 29th league title, their second under coach Antonio Conte. The Bianconeri even have the chance to secure the championship tomorrow if they prevail over city rivals Torino and Pescara do the unthinkable and defeat visiting Napoli.

Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini, for one, does not expect Juventus to break open the bubbly this weekend.

“I don’t believe Napoli will slip up, they’re in the hunt for second place,” said Chiellini. “Honestly, I don’t think (Walter) Mazzarri’s team will have any problems.” Having suffered only four defeats away from home, from five in total this season-while the biggest of Pescara’s six wins came away to Fiorentina-Napoli are expected to account for Pescara at the Stadio Adriatico. Arguably the bigger question on the Napoli fans’ minds, however, is how well they would fare in next season’s Champions League without star striker Edinson Cavani.

Uruguayan international Cavani tops the Serie A scoring charts with 23 goals from 30 appearances, five ahead of inform Udinese veteran Antonio Di Natale. Cavani’s performances, however, have alerted a number of top clubs with media reports suggesting Real Madrid are set to break the bank to release Cavani from a contract which has a release clause in excess of 60 million euros. Napoli ‘keeper Morgan De Sanctis, meanwhile, admitted in a radio interview Thursday the club had harbored bigger expectations.

“We thought we could win the league title,” De Sanctis, who grew up in Pescara, told Radio Marte. “But after our 1-1 draw, Juventus have won all of their games and collected 18 points while we’ve taken 13.” Now with a seven-point deficit to Napoli following their 1-0 defeat at Juventus last week, AC Milan face a potential banana skin at home to Catania as they look to secure at least third place, which offers a Champions League place through preliminary qualification.

Having accounted for a number of ‘bigger’ sides including Lazio (4-0), Roma (1-0) and Fiorentina (2-1), the Sicilians have punched above their weight this season, although not always away from home. Striker Alejandro Gomez is hoping Catania can make up for recent setbacks including conceding a late draw against Palermo last week-by grinding out a result at the San Siro that would allow them to set a new points record in Serie A. “It’s a shame because if we hadn’t lost points at the end of the (Palermo) match we would be in the Europa League (qualifying) zone,” said Gomez, who would love nothing better than to score at the San Siro. “I would love to score at Milan, the match will be shown all around the world and it’s one of the few major grounds I haven’t scored at.” Fellow Sicilians Palermo, meanwhile, could not have picked a better time to host Inter Milan.

Inter moved up from seventh to fifth last week thanks to a late win at Parma, but are still missing over a dozen players as they battle for a place in the Europa League next season.

Palermo have plenty of incentive - they are third from bottom on 29 points, the same as second-from-bottom Genoa and one shy of Siena in the safety zone. —AFP

Atletico looking for a long-awaited win MADRID: Atletico Madrid captain Gabi believes his side have a great opportunity to end their hoodoo against neighbors Real Madrid when they host the Spanish champions this weekend.

Atletico have not won a Madrid derby since 1999, but have rarely had a better opportunity as Real are expected to rest plenty of first-team regulars with Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal second-leg against Borussia Dortmund in mind. “There are 14 years worth of desperation to win this game,” he told a press conference on Thursday.

“Obviously it is an opportunity for us. It has been a long time since we arrived at a derby so evenly matched and a long time since we beat them.

“We have spent a long time talking about the best way to win a derby and now we have to go and do it.” Real will arrive at the Calderon on the back of a devastating 4-1 defeat to Dortmund on Wednesday night and Gabi is hoping that result means Jose Mourinho will reserve the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil for the second-leg.

“We expect that Madrid will come here to win the game, regardless of which players play. The result yesterday was one no one expected, not them, nor the people who watched it from the outside, but they know how to get over this. “It is obvious that at the end of the season those special players like Cristiano or Ozil are the ones that win you most points. If Mourinho doesn’t think they should play then it is better for us.” Atletico were also handed a huge boost with the news that Diego Costa’s yellow card against Sevilla last weekend has been rescinded so the Brazilian will be available to continue up front alongside Radamel Falcao.

For Real, meanwhile, the focus remains trying to somehow overcome their 4-1 deficit against Dortmund, but captain Iker Casillas said no matter what happens today he doesn’t think it will influence how next month’s Copa del Rey final between the two will go.

“The calender has been capricious and certainly it is difficult for us to think that before Tuesday we have a match.

And on top of that it is against Atletico at the Calderon. “It has been 14 years since they beat us and I suppose for them it is an important match, but I don’t think it will make a big difference to what happens in the cup final.”

An Atletico win would also ensure Barcelona are officially crowned champions today’s night should they manage to win away to Athletic Bilbao.

Barca suffered their own disappointment with a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich in midweek which all but ended their chances of reaching the Champions League final. However, manager Tito Vilanova is also likely to make a number of changes ahead of Bayern’s visit to the Camp Nou on Wednesday with the likes of Thiago

Alcantara, Cesc Fabregas and Cristian Tello coming into the side.

Tomorrow night meanwhile the focus turns to the race for the final Champions League spot as Real Sociedad host Valencia.

Sociedad currently hold a two-point advantage over Valencia with just six games remaining, but will be without influential winger Antoine Griezmann as he is suspended. And it is another crucial weekend in the battle to avoid relegation with the bottom five sides all separated by just three points.

Defeat to Celta Vigo on Monday dropped Real Zaragoza to the foot of the table and they host fellow-strugglers Mallorca in a crucial clash for both sides today’s night. — AFP

MATCHES ON TV ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Man City v West Ham 14:45 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Everton v Fulham 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Southampton v West Brom 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Stoke v Norwich City 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Wigan v Tottenham 17:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Newcastle v Liverpool 19:30 Abu Dhabi Sports HD SPANISH LEAGUE Levante v Celta de Vigo 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 Athletic de Bilbao v Barca 19:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Atletico de Madrid v Real Madrid 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Real Zaragoza v Real Mallorca 23:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 ITALIAN LEAGUE Atalanta v Bologna 19:00 Aljazeera Sport +1 Cagliari v Udinese 19:00 Aljazeera Sport +7

Pescara v Napoli Aljazeera Sport +1

21:45

GERMAN LEAGUE Bayern v Freiburg 16:30 Dubai Sports Bayer 04 v Werder Bremen 16:30 Dubai Sports Wolfsburg v Borussia 16:30 Dubai Sports Hoffenheim v Nuremberg 16:30 Dubai Sports Augsburg v Stuttgart 16:30 Dubai Sports Fortuna v Dortmund 19:30 Dubai Sports FRENCH LEAGUE Lorient v Marseille 18:00 Aljazeera Sport +4 Girondins de Bordeaux v Stade Reims 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +8 Bastia v Toulouse 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 AC Ajaccio v Montpellier 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 Valenciennes v Nancy 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +10

SPORTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Euro success underlines Bundesliga’s rise STUTTGART: The emphatic nature of both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League semi-final victories over Spain’s top sides only confirms the rise of the Bundesliga, according to the boss of the German football association. Bayern were the last German team to win the Champions League in 2001 and

the Bavarians are on course to reach the Wembley final on May 25 after flooring Barcelona 4-0 at Munich’s Allianz Arena in Tuesday’s semifinal, first-leg.

Dortmund, who were European champions in 1997, then posted another advert for the Bundesliga 24 hours later when they hammered

DORTMUND: Dortmund’s Serbian defender Neven Subotic (left) catches Real Madridís defender Sergio Ramos (right) with his foot during the UEFA Champions League semi final first leg football match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid in Dortmund, western Germany.

Dortmund won 4-1. — AFP

German League Preview

Euro stars Dortmund, Bayern set to rotate BERLIN: Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund get back to Bundesliga business today, fresh from their midweek Champions League semi-final triumphs, and with both teams set to rotate their squads ahead of the return legs. With Bayern having long-since been confirmed as league champions and Dortmund eight points clear of the chasing pack in second, both teams can be forgiven for being preoccupied by their forthcoming trips to Spain. Bayern romped to a 4-0 win over Barcelona at Munich’s Allianz Arena on Tuesday and goalscorers Thomas Mueller, who netted twice, Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben can all expect to sit out the home match against Freiburg.

On Wednesday, Dortmund followed the Bavarians’ example by flooring Real Madrid 4-1 at Signal Iduna Park with Poland striker Robert Lewandowski becoming the first player to score four goals in a Champions League semifinal. Despite their 20-point lead in the league and seven Bundesliga records broken, Captain Philipp Lahm has said Bayern are eager for a few more. “We want to crack one or two more records, we don’t want to let up,” said Lahm, ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final, second-leg at Barcelona.

Bayern need just one more point to claim the record for the most points in a league season, as their current tally of 81 points matches Dortmund’s record haul from last season. With four games left, Bayern are 12 short of beating their own record of 101 for the most goals in a season, set in 1972. Having conceded only 14 goals all season, they are also on course to break their own Bundesliga record of 21, from 2007/08, for the fewest goals leaked in a campaign. Freiburg, fifth in the league, are looking to bounce back from back-to-back defeats to VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup, then the league, and need points to keep their dreams

of a European place alive. But coach Christian Streich admits they will have their work cut out with Bayern having scored 20 goals in their last four games. “They will get one or two scoring chances for sure,” said the Freiburg boss. “We go into the game with 0-0 scoreline. “Normally, you can expect between five to eight goals, nevertheless, we’re not going to be depressed about it, it’s good to be in the same league as Bayern.”

Dortmund are at strugglers Fortuna Duesseldorf today night with right-back Lukasz Piszczek out of the game and is struggling to be fit for Tuesday’s return match in Madrid with a groin injury. “He will definitely miss the Duesseldorf game and it will be tight for the Real match,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp, with his team travelling to Madrid for Tuesday’s return match in the Champions League. “We will definitely think about making one or two changes. “I don’t know how many there will be, it will depend on how the players feel.” Dortmund fans had to stomach some bad news on Tuesday when it was announced 20year-old midfield star Mario Goetze will join rivals Bayern on July 1 having actioned a release clause in his contract. Borussia are facing a fight to keep the key components of their squad together as Lewandowski’s agent has said the Poland star is set to leave Dortmund at season’s end, despite having a year left on his contract. There is an intriguing race for fourth place, which carries a Champions League place, with four teams, Hamburg, Freiburg, Frankfurt and Borussia Moenchengladbach, all within two points of current occupants Schalke 04.

Schalke host Hamburg with Thorsten Fink’s team having won their last two games while Schalke suffered a nervous 1-0 defeat at Frankfurt. Frankfurt are at mid-table Mainz tomorrow, while ‘Gladbach travel to Wolfsburg today. — AFP

Real Madrid 4-1 at Signal Iduna Park as Poland’s Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals.

Germany daily Bild allowed for some gloating under the headline: “Germany 8, Spain 1: Bayern and Dortmund have over run all of Europe!”

While an inquest has begun in Spain as to why Barcelona and Real fared so badly against Bundesliga opposition, Germany is dreaming of “Der Klassiker” should Bayern face Dortmund in the final at London’s Wembley stadium on May 25. “Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have handed out first-class business cards for German football,” said German Football Association (DFB) president Wolfgang Niersbach. “Everyone saw Germany is a top football address in Europe. “This applies to the Bundesliga, the individual clubs and, of course, the national team.

“We can now dream of an all-German final at Wembley.” Germany coach Joachim Loew said with 14 of his national players still involved in the competition, including Real’s Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, the experience can only help ahead of next year’s World Cup in Brazil. “It was very impressive how organized and dominant Bayern and Dortmund played,” said Loew, Germany’s coach since 2006. “The results and margin of victory were richly deserved. “You have to pay both (Dortmund coach) Jurgen Klopp and (Bayern trainer) Jupp Heynckes a big compliment for preparing their teams.”

Bild also measured the German teams success compared to the failure of the four English Premier League sides, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, to make

the quarter-finals. Having last won silverware in May 2010, Bayern have smashed a host of Bundesliga records on their way to winning this season’s league title and the Munich squad show no sign of letting up. The Bavarians have made no secret of their desire to become the first German team to win the treble of European, league and cup titles and they ran 112 kilometers as a team, compared to Barca’s 106 in the firstleg, match statistics indicated.

Dortmund also covered 119 kilometers compared to Real’s 113, while Munich director of sport Matthias Sammer has often spoken of his side’s “greed and hunger” for titles. Bayern goalscorer Thomas Mueller, who netted twice in the win over Barcelona quipped: “I am not the type to sprint past four opponents, but I’m pretty good over 14 kilometres!”. But Bundesliga boss Christian Seifert said this season has shown a shift from England to Germany as the main powerhouse in European football.

“It is important that two German clubs have produced excellent performances and now the whole world is looking at the Bundesliga,” said Seifert, chief executive of the German football league (DFL). “Whether it is now the strongest league in the world, you can’t tell after one season, but it was not so long ago that there were three English teams in the semi-finals. “For the moment, every fan should be very proud. “The Bundesliga is currently very much in the foreground and anyone interested in football can’t fail to pay respect to Bayern and Dortmund.”— AFP

KOTC shooting tournament

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: Kuwait Oil Tankers Company Cup Tournament will be concluded today in the presence of KOTC Chairman of the Board and Managing Director Bader Nasser Al-Khashti and Kuwait Shooting Sport Club board members at Shekh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic shooting complex. The tournament includes the Olympic Pistol and Rifle in addition to Archery for both men and women.

KSSC and Arab Shooting Federation Secretary General Obaid Al-Osaimi lauded the role of KOTC in supporting shooting. He said that this year’s tournament enjoyed the participation of a large number of shooters reaching more than 100, and wished them all success. He lauded the efforts of the technical and administrative departments in ensuring the success and development of the noble sport. The results of the first day of the tournament were as follows: 10 M pistol women First: Iman Bouland

Second: Huthama Al-Baghli Third: Israa Dhashti 10 M pistol women, juniors First: Sheikha Al-Obaidly Second: Dana Al-Ali 10 M rifle women First: Mriam Erzouqi Second: Zahraa Al-Saffar Third: Heba Erzouqi 10 M rifle juniors First: Heba Erzouqi Secong: Zahraa Al-Saffar Third: Shaimaa BuHamad 10M Air Rifle, Shooting School First: Hamad Owaisher Second: Khalid Al-Rowaisan Third: Abdelmalik Al-Enezi 10 M pistol, Shooting School First: Theeb Al-Ajmi Second: Fahad Al-Jeeran

Heba Erzouqi in action.

SPORTS

SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2013

Rangers claim playoff spot Ducks beat Canucks 3-1 as NHL contenders clash RALEIGH: Rangers captain Ryan Callahan scored 2:55 into overtime, and New York rallied to clinch a third straight Eastern Conference playoff berth by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Thursday night. Brad Richards tied it for the Rangers with 2:57 remaining in regulation after New York blew an early 2-0 lead and fell behind already-eliminated Carolina. Derek Stepan and Derick Brassard staked the Rangers to the lead in the first period, and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 18 shots for New York, which jumped over the rival Islanders and into seventh place in the East with one game left. Jiri Tlusty had two goals and Tuomo Ruutu also scored for Carolina, which played without injured forward Alexander Semin. Dan Ellis finished with 34 saves for Carolina.

en by Montreal. The Jets were ahead 2-1 as they started the third but already knew whatever they did wouldn’t be enough. Both the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators won to clinch the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. David Desharnais, Rene Bourque, Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty scored as the Canadiens broke out of a slump in which they had lost five of six.

James Wright and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets, who finished the season 24-21-3.

RED WINGS 5, PREDATORS 2 Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and two assists, and Detroit moved a step closer to its 22nd straight playoff appearance by beating Nashville. The Red Wings, who moved into

place due to the non-shootout wins tiebreaker. Columbus needs to beat the Predators today, and have the Stars beat the Red Wings in regulation today, or have the Wild earn no more than one point in their two remaining games, for just the second postseason berth in franchise history and first since 2009.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, PANTHERS 0 Phil Kessel scored two goals to lead playoff-bound Toronto over last-place Florida.

Clarke MacArthur and Leo Komarov also scored for the Maple Leafs. James Reimer stopped 34 shots for his fourth shutout of the season. Nazem Kadri had a pair of assists.

Jacob Markstrom made 13 saves for Florida, which played its final home game of the sea-

DEVILS 3, PENGUINS 2 Ilya Kovalchuk scored his first goal since sustaining a shoulder injury last month, giving New Jersey a victory over Pittsburgh.

Kovalchuk’s goal with 6:10 remaining helped New Jersey overcome a 2-0 deficit and win its home finale. Travis Zajac and David Clarkson also scored for the Devils, who have already been eliminated from playoff contention.

Johan Hedberg made 15 saves in his first start since March 19 and earned his sixth win of the season. Matt Cooke scored in the first period, and Jussi Jokinen added a second-period goal for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves. Penguins star Sidney Crosby missed his 10th straight game because of a broken jaw, but he was cleared by medical personnel to

DUCKS 3, CANUCKS 1 Brad Staubitz’s second-period goal sent Anaheim over Vancouver. Staubitz’s goal on a shot from right wing at 8:21 of the second proved to be the winner as it gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead that held up after 40 minutes before a Vancouver rally fell short in the third. The Ducks improved to 30-11-6 in their final road game of the regular season. The loss ended Vancouver’s home win streak at eight games as their record dropped to 26-14-7. The Canucks finished with a 15-6-3 home mark. Matt Beleskey, also in the second period, and Andrew Cogliano, with a short-handed empty netter in the final minute of the third, scored for the Ducks. Jason Garrison scored for the Canucks during a 5-on-3 power play late in the third period.

SENATORS 2, CAPITALS 1, OT Sergei Gonchar scored 47 seconds into overtime, Erik Karlsson set up Ottawa’s first goal in his sooner-than-anticipated return from a torn Achilles tendon, and the Senators clinched a playoff berth by beating Washington. Craig Anderson made 19 saves.

The only shot that got past him was Alex Ovechkin’s NHL-leading 32nd goal, which tied the game 81/2 minutes into the third period.

But ex-Capitals defenseman Gonchar put the winner past Michal Neuvirth, who made 39 saves. Jakob Silfverberg deflected in Karlsson’s shot 12:35 into the second period against the Southeast Division champion Capitals, who had nothing at stake. The overtime wins by the Senators and New York Rangers eliminated the Winnipeg Jets from the playoff chase. The Senators, who have two games remaining, moved up to sixth in the East. If they remain there, Ottawa would face the Capitals, who have won 10 of 12 overall - with the only losses against the Senators.

FLYERS 2, ISLANDERS 1 Oliver Lauridsen and Danny Briere scored to lead Philadelphia over the New York Islanders, who dropped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Lauridsen scored his second career NHL goal on a slap shot high above the circle late in the third period to lift the Flyers to a win in their home finale. They will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2007. John Tavares scored for the Islanders, who are headed to the playoffs for the first time in six seasons. They dropped to eighth place after failing to earn a point for the first time in 12 games.

CANADIENS 4, JETS 2 The Winnipeg Jets saw their playoff hopes end on the scoreboard before they were beat-

PHILADELPHIA: New York Islanders’ Kevin Poulin (right) leaps over Philadelphia Flyers’ Claude Giroux in the second period of an NHL hockey game on Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Philadelphia. — AP seventh place in the Western Conference, need one more point to secure their spot in the postseason. They own the longest current playoff streak in North American professional sports. Detroit has one regular-season game remaining. Johan Franzen had a goal and an assist, and Valtteri Filppula, Patrick Eaves and Justin Abdelkader also scored for Detroit.

Jimmy Howard stopped 20 shots. Mike Fisher and Craig Smith each had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which got 33 saves from Chris Mason. The Red Wings scored three times in the second period to take a 4-2 lead.

BLUE JACKETS 3, STARS 1 Cam Atkinson scored two goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves and Columbus stayed alive in the Western Conference playoff race with a victory over Dallas. Mark Letestu snapped a 1-1 tie in the third period for the game-winner. Before the game ended, the Stars were eliminated from playoff contention when Detroit defeated Nashville 5-2, moving past Minnesota into seventh in the Western Conference. The Blue Jackets are even in points with the Wild, who hold eighth

son. The Panthers clinched the worst record in the NHL for the first time in franchise history.

Toronto snapped out of a 1-3, scoring four goals on just 17 shots. The Maple Leafs can’t finish lower than sixth in the Eastern Conference.

BRUINS 2, LIGHTNING 0 Tuukka Rask stopped 30 shots for his second shutout in two starts and Boston beat Tampa Bay, keeping the Bruins in control of the tight race for the Northeast Division title.

The Bruins and Canadiens are tied with 61 points, but Boston has two games remaining while Montreal has only one. Dennis Seidenberg and Daniel Paille scored in the second period, and Rask took care of the rest as the Bruins won despite being outshot 3024. Rask’s previous start was a 3-0 shutout against Florida on Sunday, when he faced just 28 shots.

He was tested by the Lightning, who entered the game with the NHL’s top two scorers in Martin St. Louis (58 points) and Steven Stamkos (56 points). Anders Lindback had 22 saves for the Lightning.

return to hockey-related activity.

BLUES 4, FLAMES 1 Ryan Reaves scored twice and Brian Elliott earned his NHL-leading 10th win in April in St Louis’ win over Calgary. St Louis, which has won five of six, moved into fourth place in the Western Conference. The Blues have 58 points, one ahead of Los Angeles and San Jose. They can clinch the No 4 seed and home ice in the opening round of the playoffs with a victory over Chicago today. The Blues have won a season-high five straight home games.

Calgary will miss the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Elliott made 18 saves in improving to 10-2 in April. He has three shutouts in the month and has allowed only 15 goals.

Andy McDonald and Alexander Steen also had goals for St Louis, which scored three times in the second period to take a 3-1 lead.

It was the Blues’ first three-goal period since the second period of a 6-3 win at Phoenix on March 7. Chris Stewart and Adam Cracknell added two assists each for the Blues, who scored more than three goals for the first time in 11 games. — AP

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Sports

Four days to win NBK’s UEFA travel packages

43

Heat push Bucks to brink of elimination Bulls overpower Nets 79 -76 MILWAUKEE: The NBA champion Miami Heat moved within one game of ousting the Milwaukee Bucks from the first round of the playoffs Thursday, closing strong in a 104-91 victory. LeBron James scored 22 points, Chris Bosh notched a double-double and Ray Allen added 23 points and set a record for threepointers in the post-season as Miami took a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-seven firstround series.

No NBA team has come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. Miami was slow out of the blocks, but out-scored the Bucks 56-41 in the second half en route to the key victory. James connected on 9-of14 from the field and Bosh added 16 points with 14 rebounds. Allen went 5-for-8 from three-point range and now has 322 threepointers in the post-season in his career. That surpassed the playoff record of 320 held by Reggie Miller.

Dwayne Wade had a disappointing shooting night, connecting on just one of 12 shots.

But he contributed 11 assists, nine rebounds and five steals. Once again Milwaukee’s top players struggled, with Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis combining for 23 points. The game was one of two Eastern Conference contests on Thursday’s slate with the Chicago Bulls hosting the Brooklyn Nets in a series tied at 1-1 after two games in Brooklyn.

BULLS 79, NETS 76 Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Luol Deng added 21 points and 10 boards, and Chicago held off Brooklyn in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. The Bulls had no field goals and two foul shots in the final 5:46 of the game, but still managed to beat the Nets for the second time in the postseason. They will try to grab a 3-1 lead when the series resumes in a quick turnaround Saturday afternoon. Brooklyn shot 35 percent for the second straight game. Brook Lopez had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Deron Williams finished with 18 points on 5for-14 shooting.

GRIZZLIES 94, CLIPPERS 82 Zach Randolph had 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Memphis beat Los Angeles to pull to 2-1 in the series. Memphis snapped the Clippers’ nine-game winning streak by outrebounding and dominating on second-

Sex-for-fixing suspect hit with theft charge

MILWAUKEE: Milwaukee Bucks’ Larry Sanders dunks during the first half of Game 3 in their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Miami Heat in Milwaukee. — AP chance points, the same things Los Angeles did so well on its home court to start the series.

Marc Gasol accepted his trophy as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year before

tipoff, then scored 16 points Blake Griffin scored 16 points for the Clippers. Chris Paul had eight points on 4-of-11 shooting and added six assists. Game 4 is today in Memphis. — Agencies

SINGAPORE: The Singaporean businessman at the centre of a sex-for-match fixing case has been given a fresh charge of theft for allegedly stealing evidence, state prosecutors said yesterday. Eric Ding Si Yang, 31, who is accused of trying to rig an AFC Cup football match by procuring sex workers for three Lebanese referees, was given seven days in custody because of the new charge.

Ding was being interviewed at the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau on Wednesday when he tried to hide a personal receipt issued by a law firm, according to court documents seen by AFP. Local media reports said Ding stuffed the receipt in his sock after he was asked to open a safe containing his belongings.

The significance of the receipt was unclear.

“The prosecution sought an order that Ding be remanded for a further period of seven days for further investigations,” a spokesman from the Attorney-General’s Chambers said. “The court granted the application.” If convicted of theft, Ding faces a maximum of seven years in jail and a fine. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to three counts of corruption, and was granted bail at Sg$150,000 ($121,000) on April 9.

Ding is accused of supplying free prostitutes to persuade the three referees to fix an AFC Cup match in Singapore on April 3. The referees were replaced before the match and are now being held at Singapore’s Changi Prison. The case is a colorful addition to Singapore’s long history of match-fixing scandals, including allegations that syndicates in the citystate organized the rigging of hundreds of games worldwide. Ding and the three referees face maximum prison terms of five years and fines of up to Sg$100,000 for each count of corruption in relation to the match-fixing case. — AFP