9 May 2013

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THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

JAMADA ALTHANI 29, 1434 AH

www.kuwaittimes.net

Lawmaker condemns anti-expats measures ‘Punish visa traders not their victims’; MPs fume over Dow payment

Max 36º Min 20º High Tide 11:16 Low Tide 05:33 & 18:23

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

KUWAIT: A lawmaker called on the government yesterday not to adopt excessive punishments against expatriates and to rationalize the use of deportation as a penalty against expatriates who break the traffic law, amid reports the latest anti-expats measures have increased the cost of recruitment of laborers as well as domestic helpers.

MP Saad Al-Bous said penalties applied against expatriates should be proportionate to the violations they commit without the need for rash and unfair decisions that may adversely impact Kuwaiti democratic system.

The lawmaker said that before deporting expatriates for grave traffic offenses, they should be given at least three opportunities before deporting them.

He also said that with regards to laborers recruited by visa traders, these people should not be deported and instead be given enough time to legalize their stay by obtaining residence permits from other companies, because these laborers have committed no mistake as they entered the country through a proper work permit.

In this case, visa traders should be punished and not the laborers who normally pay their savings to come to Kuwait and then when they arrive we force them to leave. “This is illogical to punish the victim and spare the perpetrators” he said in a statement. Bous urged Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rasheedi not to take rash decisions that may contribute to distorting Kuwait’s image abroad, especially with regards to deporting laborers who are found to work for employers other than their sponsors, adding that these people should be allowed to transfer their residence permits.

Continued on Page 3

Crocodile tears

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

N

ow we are crying over the Dow Chemical compensation but when it was first signed and designed, we all attacked it. Like vultures parliaments attacked the former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser. They used it as a tool against the government. Even without studying the files and the benefits, the advantages and the disadvantages of the deal, for a change, they all united to cancel the deal.

The cancellation was meant just to attack Sheikh Nasser on a personal level. It was done out of bad intentions and just to attack the man himself because if they had studied the Dow deal they would not have attacked the Prime Minister even if they opposed him. This is the problem with us Arabs. We are emotional people and we never learn.

We build all our life on emotions. If I love someone and I agree with him, I will pass anything for him. If I dislike anyone I will not pass any legislation or I will not do a favor for him even if it was in the best interest.

In Kuwait we work for our own interests and not for the interests of Kuwait. We gang-up against our country. Just look at what is happening in the country today. People are very short-sighted. That is why our development, if it exists, is moving at a snail’s pace. I am not thrilled with Rola Dashti’s announcement that we topped Arab countries in the development category. Excuse me Rola, with all due respect!

Back to Dow Chemical. Of course, at that time Sheikh Nasser was under a lot of attacks from the Honorable Gentlemen on many fronts and for everything he did. The war launched against him was like Dahis wa Ghabra (a war that lingered between two tribes for 40 years in the pre-Islamic times; this war became a proverb in history.)

Sheikh Nasser was also accused for the demolition of an illegal prayer house in the middle of nowhere. Sheikh Nasser had no option but to tell MPs that if they were not satisfied with the deal they could cancel it. Why was he involved in the nitty gritty details? Where were the Parliament committees? Why was the blame thrown on him alone?

Now we are crying over spilled milk. It is too late, my dear friends. Just go and sing the song: Don’t cry for me Argentina. Do not shed crocodile tears. I hope the Dow deal is a lesson for all ministries to study thoroughly the decisions they make and implement in the fields of social affairs, traffic, deportation etc. Take it easy! See the impact of your decisions on the country. Ask experts if you don’t have the knowledge. It is the quality of intelligent people to ask others and learn more. It is not shameful to consult and ask. It is a shame not to know and take your own decisions.

Kuwait tries to connect with youths

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson ()

End of an era as Ferguson retires LONDON: Alex Ferguson, Britain’s longest-serving and well as the FIFA Club World Cup. Former Chelsea manmost decorated soccer manager, will retire at the end ager Jose Mourinho and Everton’s long-serving boss of the season after more than 26 years and nearly 1,500 David Moyes, a Scot like Ferguson, are the bookmakers’ matches at the helm of Manchester United, he favorites to take over. Ferguson arrived in Manchester announced yesterday. The 71-year-old Scot in 1986 after Ron Atkinson was sacked and, See Page 20 ended intense speculation that he was about after a difficult start, began building an to call time on his career by confirming he empire that shows no sign of crumbling with would step aside after champions United’s last game of the club recapturing the English title from Manchester the season at West Bromwich Albion on May 19.

City this season. “The decision to retire is one that I His decision ends a glittering era at Old Trafford in have thought a great deal about and one that I have which the club won 13 English league titles, two not taken lightly.

European Cups, five FA Cups and four League Cups as Continued on Page 13

Designers bling up Abaya

DOHA: A Qatari woman covered from head to toe enjoys her early morning walk at the Doha Corniche in Qatar. — AP

DUBAI: Just a few years ago, Gulf Arab women usually only felt comfortable showing off their fashion sense at ladies-only parties or family gatherings. In public, at least in their home countries, the standard all-black abaya - a simple floor-length covering and accompanying head scarf - was the only culturally accepted option.

But now, a new generation of abaya designers is giving the traditional garment a twist with choices of fabric, designs and even some expensive bling to allow Gulf women a host of style options. The basic look of the abaya remains unchanged: black with long sleeves and a flowing form that somewhat conceals the shape of the body.

Gulf culture and government directives encourage “national dress” for both sexes: Men wear full-length robes that are mostly white, but include other colors such as beige and blue. Designers, however, have increasingly recognized the demand for abayas with a bit of extra flair.

It can be as subtle as embroidery on the sleeves and hems or as eye-catching as gems stitched into the fabric.

Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: On a January afternoon in Kuwait City, a group of bloggers gathered around three men they would not normally expect to see in a downtown coffee shop, clutching lattes and mochas. Education Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf, Commerce and Industry Minister Anas Al-Saleh and Sheikh Mohammad AlMubarak Al-Sabah, all in their early 40s, had come for an informal meeting with some 30 Kuwaiti bloggers and online journalists to discuss issues that concern young people.

“It was an ice-breaking action,” Sheikh Mohammad, a member of the ruling family who is Kuwait’s minister for cabinet and municipal affairs said. “We wanted them to hear what we had to say. We wanted to hear what they had to say,” he said in the April interview.

Like most countries in the Gulf region, Kuwait has seen little of the kind of turmoil that turfed out entrenched rulers in other Arab countries in 2011. But opposition politicians and a youth movement have been emboldened.

Dozens of activists and political figures have been charged since late last year with insulting 83-year-old ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, mainly in comments made online. Young people regularly spill out onto the street to protest over local issues. Most of the gatherings are peaceful, but some have resulted in clashes with police.

In an attempt to prepare for the future of a country where more than half of citizens are under 25, Kuwait Continued on Page 13

Emiratis held over Tanzania bombing DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said three of its citizens had been arrested in Tanzania in connection with the bombing of a church on Sunday that killed two people and wounded six. Tanzanian officials initially said four Saudis were being held after the attack on a Catholic church in Arusha in north Tanzania but the government subsequently identified them only as “foreigners of Middle Eastern origin” without giving their nationalities.

A diplomat from Saudi Arabia has been quoted as saying only one of those held was from the kingdom. “We are following with interest the issue of the three citizens who are being held in Tanzania,” the UAE Foreign Ministry of the US-allied Gulf state said on its Twitter account.

Investigators said they were still determining the type of device used in the attack on the church in Tanzania, a nation of about 45 million people roughly split evenly between Muslims and Christians.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE foreign minister, on Monday condemned the attack, which has heightened sectarian tensions in the east African country.

Continued on Page 13

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

LOCAL

Embassies deny change to Schengen visa regulations

By Nawara Fattahova

NBK sponsors LOYAC KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) sponsors LOYAC as part of its commitment toward corporate social responsibility.

NBK Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer Isam Al Sager received LOYAC Chairman and Managing Director Fareah Al Saqqaf and LOYAC Co-founder and Treasurer Abeer Al Essa at NBK Head Office.

“NBK’s sponsorship is part of its ongoing drive to fulfill its corporate social responsibilities”, said Isam Al Sager, NBK Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer. “NBK endeavors to shoulder its social responsibilities and share with the various private and public sector institutions and departments the burdens and responsibilities of broader national efforts towards social advancement”.

Al Sager added “NBK’s sponsorship and support comes in line with the bank’s customary and ongoing spirit of corporate citizenship as well as the vital role it plays in supporting all students, youths and educational issues.”

During the past years, NBK has promoted a range of philanthropic missions and social welfare programs as part of the humanitarian dimension of its corporate social responsibility (CSR). NBK continues to be a leader in CSR, standing as a model in serving all aspects of Kuwait`s community.

LOYAC is a nonprofit organization that runs several programs for the youth to develop their professional skills, enhance their personal growth and to help them find their sense of purpose by extending themselves to others.

KUWAIT: Isam Al Sager, NBK Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer receiving LOYAC Chairman and managing director, Fareah Al Saqqaf and LOYAC Co-founder and Treasurer, Abeer Al Essa.

KUWAIT: With travel season approaching, more and more people have started planning their holidays abroad, a long winded procedure that could include making many arrangements. Obtaining a visa is one of them, and one for Europe has many requirements. The most popular is the Schengen Visa that makes traveling across its 25 member countries - 22 European Union states and three nonEU members - much easier and involves less bureaucratic red tape.

The 25 countries covered by Schengen Visa are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungry, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Traveling on a Schengen Visa means that the visa holder can travel to any or all of the member countries using one single visa, thus avoiding the hassle and expenses in obtaining individual visas for each country. This is particularly beneficial for persons who wish to visit several European countries as part of the same trip. The Schengen visa is a “visitor’s visa” and is issued to citizens of countries who are required to obtain a visa before entering Europe.

Expats and Kuwaiti applicants shared about the difficulties they encounter in obtaining this visa related to the long period of waiting, besides requirements like the eye scan and fingerprints that are now applicable. In general, it is easier for Kuwaitis applying for this visa than for people of other nationalities living in Kuwait, people knowledgeable of the visa

process said. Further, in some embassies, the expats have to fulfill more requirements. Several embassies denied any additional requirements were introduced this year for the Schengen visa and claimed that all norms remain as usual.

According to the Spanish Embassy, there are no new requirements for the Schengen visa. “The requirements are different for the Kuwaiti citizens and people of other nationalities living in Kuwait. The visa takes three working days at the maximum for Kuwaitis, while it may take up to 21 days for non-Kuwaitis. The fees paid for the visa are nonrefundable. Also, the applicant must have the airline ticket, hotel reservation, etc. For a long time now, we have not changed the requirements,” the visa officer at the Embassy of Spain in Kuwait said.

The German Embassy is applying similar rules for the visa applicants.

“The visa costs KD 23 and the applicant has to fill out the application form and provide all necessary documents also mentioned on our website. Also, the expats living in Kuwait and applying for the visa have to provide salary certificate and a bank statement, which is not required in case of Kuwaitis,” said the employee in charge. “ The Schengen visa should be issued by the embassy of the country where the traveler will stay for a longer period than other countries. If the duration of stay was the same, then it should be issued by the embassy of the first visited country.

Until now, only the fingerprint is required, and the applicants provide this at the Al Qabas center,” she added.

The Al Qabas Assurex exclusive Visa Application Center handles the issuing of visas for the Embassies of Germany and Italy in Kuwait. This center may

process the visa application including the fingerprint for the German visa, while for the Italian visa they have to do it at the Italian Embassy. “We charge KD 33 for the German visa and KD 26 for the Italian visa. The visa takes four days for Kuwaitis and 15 days in case of expats,” stressed the employee of the Center.

More about the Schengen visa: The purpose of the visit must be leisure, tourism, or business. Upon the issuance of the visa, the visa holder is allowed to enter all member countries and travel freely throughout the Schengen area. It is strongly recommended to plan your journey within the timeframe of the Schengen Visa as extensions can be very difficult to obtain, thus forcing you to leave to remain in compliance with the Schengen rules and regulations. A Schengen visa allows the holder to travel freely within the Schengen countries for a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a six month period.

All Schengen countries are in Europe. However, it should not be confused with the EU (European Union). Schengen and European Union are two different agreements between European countries. A total of 25 countries, including all European Union countries (except Ireland and United Kingdom) and three non-EU members (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland) have signed the Schengen agreement. However, only 15 countries have implemented the common border control and visa provisions. The Schengen Visa holders are not allowed to live permanently or work in Europe. Schengen Visa holders only have the right to travel as temporary visitors to the member countries.

Bad teachers to lose their jobs KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education is in the midst of separating out Kuwaiti teachers and non-Kuwaiti ones with unacceptably low performance levels to be stripped of their teaching duties, said Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf, minister of education and higher education in a meeting today with a number of school administrators.

The Kuwaiti teachers who are unfit for their jobs will be relegated to administrative duties only and their non-Kuwaiti peers who fall in the same category will face not having their contracts renewed as teachers, said the minister.

He touched on a number of topics in his meeting with the school administrators from the Ahmadi governorate, among them that up to 100 high school graduates from the governorate will have the opportunity to complete their college education abroad in the field of becoming teachers of students with learning disabilities.

As for acceptance to Kuwait University, he said no change has been done to entry requirements and required GPA averages will

be this year the same as the last. Regarding the ministry’s budget, Dr al-Hajraf said it would probably be increased for the upcoming school year, noting that it was the ministry’s objective to foster an educational plan that would graduate knowledgeable individuals with competitive abilities to excel in their chosen fields of interest.

The minister further said that beginning with the next school year teachers in schools will be less burdened with non-teaching duties, giving them thus more time to concentrate on their core duties.

Addressing the ubiquitous problem of student- -cheating at examinations, the minister promised strict monitoring rules and punitive measures against apathetic monitors who allow students to cheat with impunity.

He also promised that school curriculums at all learning levels will be revamped and updated under the guidance of Kuwaiti educators and curriculum planners. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait municipality in cooperation with the Kuwait Ports Authority carried out a cleaning campaign at the Shamlan harbor near Souq Sharq this week. Al-Shamlan harbor is being cleaned periodically due to the amount of remains which piles up in the harbor on daily basis.

Telecom regulatory body reshuffled KUWAIT: The Kuwait Minister of Communications Salem Mutheeb Al-Utheina issued a resolution yesterday reshuffling the telecommunication and internet regulatory committee. In a press statement, the Ministry of the Communications said the new line-up includes the Ministry Undersecretary Hameed H. Al-Qattan as chairman and the Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary Mansour Al-Bader as deputy chairman. In addition to Al-Qattan and Al-Bader, the line-up will comprise 13 of the ministry’s top officials.

The ministerial resolution, No 2747 of 2013, detailed the duties and roles of the regulatory committee.

Among the duties of the committee as per the resolution; are monitoring tariffs and preventing non-competitive behavior; overseeing the application of local and international quality standards; and issuing, amending, renewing and annulling company licences.

The committee also supervises the work of internet providers and issuance of new internet licenses. — KUNA

Unpaid phone bills lead to disconnection KUWAIT: Ministry of Communication called on its subscribers to pay their dues for the telephone service to avoid programmed disconnection this month.

Director of Public Relations at the Ministry Dr. Ahmad Al-Husaini told the press yesterday, the ministry will send an initial warning notification on May 12 as a reminder to pay the bills, and a second notice on May 19.

The ministry, however, will start disconnecting unpaid phone lines May 26, after the second message is sent out.

Home phone lines exceeding KD 50 in overdue bills and commercial lines topping KD 100 will be automatically listed for disruption.

The programmed disconnection will include phone lines that were pre-agreed to be paid according to an installment plan but the payment was delayed. It will also include annual fees of six months and more for home and business lines for non-Kuwaitis and business lines for Kuwaitis.

An early payment will guarantee a continuation of phone service, Ramadan advised. He further added that the ministry provides an online payment option through its website or through the official “e-gate” w e b s i t e. S u b s c r i b e r s c a n a l s o c a l l ( 1 2 3 ) fo r a ny inquires. —KUNA

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

LOCAL

OFWs, community leaders call on DFA to recall Vice Consul Inaction and incompetence

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: A number of Filipino community organizations and OFWs in Kuwait have appealed for the immediate recall of current Philippine Vice Consul Sheila Monedero. Some community leaders and OFWs have accused her of inaction, incompetence and “showing no sympathy and kindness” to Filipino overseas workers seeking her help here.

Rod Cerezo, the President of Philippine Amateur Basketball Association in Kuwait (PABAK), said Monedero was no longer welcome as Philippine Vice Consul to Kuwait and it was time for her to leave. “She has to go. She has to leave Kuwait because Filipinos in Kuwait want a public servant, not a princess or a person without her heart in public service. She has to return to base and be trained again on the art of diplomacy and how to help OFWs,” Cerezo said.

The Filipino community in Kuwait has launched a signature campaign as well as an online petition, addressed to the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in the Philippines to recall Monedero. A two-page petition, signed by almost 5,000 OFWs, will be sent to DFA Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario, with an appeal to recall Monedero to the Philippines or reassign her to another post. Cerezo, who is the heading campaign for the immediate removal of Monedero, said public servants should have their heart in public service.

“I have myself experienced the undiplomatic approach of Monedero,” Cerezo said. “Way back in 2011, I approached her to help me fast-track the papers that were badly needed by my daughter so she could take the nursing exams. I learned that it would take six months, as per the National Statistics Office (NSO), for the documents to be issued. That made it almost impossible for my daughter to take the exams, so I sought guidance and assistance from Monedero.

I only wanted an official recommendation from her so the papers could be fast-tracked-but she refused. Where should we go in that case? These people are posted here by the DFA to help us and make our lives easier, but she’s making it miserable instead,” he said in a high-pitched voice. “Of course I was disgusted and I raised my voice as well, but she shouted back at me and told me to get out of her office. What kind of public servant is she,” Cerezo asked.

In earlier interviews with the media regarding this incident, Monedero vehemently denied Cerezo’s accusations, claiming that Cerezo shouted at her and became unruly, forcing her to send him and his wife out of her office. Cerezo said: “I’m angry and sometimes you feel like losing your trust in the government. I filed that complaint against Monedero in 2011 and now a

lot of OFWs have come out with different complaints against her and she’s still here sitting at the embassy.” Cerezo told Kuwait Times that his problem was eventually solved when another Vice Consul, Rea Oreta, intervened. “Oreta was able to help us. She took my papers and attached a note on it and it passed through the tedious process. How come Oreta could do something and Monedero couldn’t? What for is she posted in that position when she is unfriendly to us OFWs,” he asked.

Another complaint against Monedero was in connection with the alleged raid conducted by

Sheila Monedero Kuwaiti police authorities last February, against a rally inside the Hawally gym where Filipinos hold sports tournament every Friday. Cerezo organises the basketball tournament committee in that gym. “Monedero had a hand in that incident because she was the chargÈ d’affaires at that time (February 1, 2013). Who will write and inform the police authorities that there was a rally in the gym when in fact there was none. I told the police, ‘See, you have basketball here and badminton there, and people are having coffee but there is no rally,” stated Cerezo.

He alleged that Monedero had approved the request to raid the gym because she suspected that a signature campaign against her was ongoing in the gym. “Who will sign that request

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti artist Aliya Abdal presented a project titled ‘Al-Sejadah’ (the carpet) during a workshop she held recently in Madrid and sponsored by the Al-Bayt Al-Arabi (the Arabic House) Foundation.

letter addressed to the CID? We’re all shocked.

The games stopped. Why would she put us all in danger when the embassy is supposed to protect its own nationals?” stressed Cerezo. He reiterated her request to the DFA, seeking Monedero’s removal from the post. He also urged DFA not to wait for the results of the the Filipino Community’s petition for her recall.

One of the signatories in the petition accused Monedero of her reluctance to see them at her office when they went to her for advice and help. “I accompanied one of my friends who had a problem in renewing the passport and had been already paying penalty for 6 months due to a problem in the passport. I asked one of the embassy staff if we could see Vice Consul Monedero, but all we got was the run-around.

We were sent up and down the consular office, and finally when her secretary called her up to ask if we could see her, she refused and we went home without a solution to our case,” complained the petitioner. She cited that what Monedero did to them was very unprofessional and against the mandate of public service. “We just wanted a little help. We have the right to ask. We want to know why the processing of my friend’s passport was delayed,” the petitioner asked.

Another case was of a husband and wife who were allegedly refused a meeting with her. “We went to the embassy at around 8am to get a ‘Same Person Certificate’ for my wife. We already got that certificate last October but we needed another original copy. So we waited till 12 noon for the release. But at around 11 am, I went to the counter and ask if I could see Vice Consul Monedero to request for a little consideration for the early release of the certificate so I could still report for work that day. Unfortunately, the Vice Consul refused to see me, so my wife and I were absented from work,” recounted another petitioner. “We’re all Filipinos here, so please treat your fellow Filipinos appropriately. We want to request the DFA to please reassign Vice Consul Monedero somewhere else and give the embassy a fresh start,” the petitioner urged.

When reached for comment, Monedero refused to be interviewed by the Kuwait Times.

Meanwhile, Charge d’ Affaires Atty Raul H Dado said he would look into the allegations against Monedero and will processed the case according to DFA procedures. “We would have to look into the allegations and deputations of the complaints based on the rules of the department and also on the mandate given to us by our secretary. Later, witnesses will be able to explain and the respondent will be able to explain her side of the story in the interest of justice and equity and to determine the truth of the matter,” stated Dado.

News

in brief

Lawmaker condemns anti-expats...

Continued from Page 1 He said that according to statements by officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, there are around 1,000 paper companies and if we suppose each company employs around 10 expats on average, then that means we have to deport about 10,000 workers. Instead of deporting them and recruiting new workers from abroad, it is better to allow them to legalize their stay and benefit from their experience, Bous said.

The lawmaker ’s statements come amid reports that the cost of recruiting workers or domestic helpers from outside has jumped sharply due to the minister’s statements and measures adopted by authorities. Rasheedi said two months ago, that Kuwait plans to deport around 100,000 expatriates every year over the next 10 years to reduce the number of foreigners by one million people.

Foreigners currently number 2.6 million against 1.2 million Kuwaitis.

But the minister later explained that the decision aims at organizing the expatriate workforce in the country, adding that it does not mean having to deport people. The minister has not revealed what measures will be followed to apply the decision. In addition, the traffic department has deported more than 300 expatriate drivers for committing grave traffic offenses like breaking the red traf-

fic light for a second time, speeding, using private car to carry passengers and driving without a driver’s license.

In another development, MPs yesterday strongly lashed out at the payment of $2.2 billion to Dow Chemical as a penalty for scrapping a $17.4-billion joint venture in December 2008. MP Saadoun Hammad charged that a delegation by Kuwait Petroleum Corp that went to the United States apparently did not negotiate with Dow Chemical about the issue but only made the payment and came back.

He said a parliamentary panel probing the deal will recommend that people who benefited from the deal - or were responsible for the whole issue should be interrogated by the public prosecution. MP Khaled Al-Adwah however wondered why the payment was made to the company before two probe panels - one by the government and the other by the Assembly, have not yet completed their work.

MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan said MPs will demand in the next session to form a new probe committee to investigate the whole issue. Some MPs and former opposition MPs held the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad AlAhmad Al-Sabah responsible for the huge fine because it accepted the penalty provision and then scrapped the deal while aware of the penalty.

Record revenues KUWAIT: Informed sources at the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) have revealed that its consumer department collected yesterday a record KD 1.4 million in revenues. The sources said all offices of the department, across the six governorates, contributed to the achievement. The largest part of the revenue was raised from chalet owners who had to pay long-standing dues to the ministry. The department is determined to overcome all administrative obstacles so both citizens and expats can benefit from MEW services.

Therefore, the consumer department’s offices across all governorates will continue their efforts to improve revenue collection of the ministry by making sure that all parties pay their dues, as such debts are public money which must be protected.

Traffic lecture held KUWAIT: Al-Ruya Bilingual School organized a traffic awareness lecture delivered by assistant public relations officer, Colonel Emad Bader Al-Mulla, and media officer, First Lt. Israa Boland.

Al-Mulla emphasized on the importance of good morals, abiding by traditions, respecting parents apart from continuing research and studies to achieve highest levels in different fields in order to serve our dear country Kuwait.

Al-Mulla explained the continuing cooperation among the offices of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Education that guarantees more information about traffic

and thus ensures security. Such information is imparted to the students as per various age groups. He also pointed out the importance of working as per the advice of the teachers.

On her part, First Lt. Israa Boland explained the importance of focusing on one’s aim in life and work hard to achieve it.

She said seriousness, hard work in studies and a quest for perfection helps in achieving this objective.

She emphasized the importance of protecting school utilities and always keeping these clean. Examples of undesirable conduct were exhibited.

Electronic archives KUWAIT: The Central Bureau dealing with stateless residents (bedoons) has allocated KD 2.4 million to establish electronic archives that would include files pertaining to all the Bedouin residents in Kuwait. Sources said that the project was aimed at addressing the Bedouin problem and will be executed in a year’s time from the date a contract is signed with the executing companies. Sources emphasized that the Bureau aimed at listing the names of all the Bedouins electronically after certain aberrations and forgeries were noticed in documents related to them, besides cases of fake passports coming to light.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

LOCAL

KUWAIT: The 10th meeting of Deewan Al-Khair in progress.

Kuwait distinguished for organized charitable activities KUWAIT: Kuwait is distinguished since long decades for its organized charitable activities, which local and international institutions highly admire, upon instructions of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahma Al-Jaber AlSabah, Chairman of Al-Eslah Society (Islamic Society for Social Reform) Humoud Hamad AlRoumi said.

Kuwait is a pioneer in the field of charity with all its various forms, Al-Roumi added in a

speech he gave on Tuesday night at the 10th meeting of Deewan Al-Khair, an event organized by the society as part of Kuwaiti forum for charity work. Head of Al-Rahma International Charity’s Palestine Office Dr. Waleed Al-Anjari offered a presentation about Gaza reconstruction project which reached the cost of $25 million, including various forms of humanitarian relief, like the planting of 50,000 palms and trees, and project of supporting poor families.

Kuwait lauds ties with Hungary VINNEA: Relations between Kuwait and Hungary are excellent and both states are willing to further enhance the bilateral ties in the near future, said Undersecretary of Kuwait’s Ministry of Finance Khalifa Hamad here yesterday.

The official said that his meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was very fruitful and reflected the Hungarian authority’s interest in developing relations with Kuwait.

He noted that Prime Minister Orban was keen on supporting any initiatives by the Hungarian-Kuwaiti joint committee, adding that the Hungarian leader also expressed his country’s desire to enhance relations with Kuwait within the private and public sector domains.

In regards to the joint committee’s meeting, the Kuwaiti official indicated that several agreements within the IT, education, and research domains are to be signed at the conclusion of the meeting.

The official also pointed out that the Kuwaiti participants in the meeting briefed their Hungarian counterparts on Kuwait’s development plan and offered Hungary to partake in joint ventures within the framework of the plan.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Australia Khalid AlShaibani met with National Union of Kuwait University Students in Australia Mohammad Al-Neshmi and discussed some of the issues facing Kuwait students there.

Students in Australia are having problems regarding their visas’ issuance and their academic learning, Kuwait’s embassy said in a statement on Wednesday.

Al-Shaibani encouraged Kuwaiti students to achieve their academic goals and abide by Australian laws and regulations.

On his part, Al-Neshmi highlighted that the union will hold its annual meeting, with the sponsorship of the Kuwaiti embassy, at the capital Canberra next year. — KUNA

It also included building the hospital of Kuwait in Gaza, besides many other health centers in north and south of Gaza, building mosques and houses for families in need and adoption of orphans in cooperation with Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Gulf cooperation Council (GCC).

Al-Rahma center for orphan’s adoption in Al-Jahra governorate in Kuwait is looking after a total of 500 orphans, offering them shelter,

food, clothes, and work hardly to meet all their needs, Head of Al-Jahra zakat committee and head of orphan’s house in the governorate, Abduallah Al-Ajmi, said. The committee built two residential compounds for the orphans, and this project won the first rank among all charity projects in the GCC countries, while a delegation from Al-Eslah Society offered the prize shield to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sanah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Head of

the Al-Rahma International Charity’s Djibouti Office, Sa’ed Al-Otaibi, tackled his experience of charity work in Djibouti with the participation of 12 young Kuwaitis, beside three from Bahrain, in a journey they called “Life that has no life” in a country of total population of one million people. The majority of them are suffering from severe poverty, living on a barren land, which did not receive any rains for the last ten years.—KUNA

Expats deportation hurts Kuwait labor market Visa trafficking flourishing KUWAIT: The announcement of a government plan to deport 100,000 expatriate laborers annually has negatively impacted the labor market as the cost of recruitment has gone up while visa trafficking has increased, a top unionist said in a recent statement. Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi had announced in last March her plan aimed at restoring Kuwait’s demographic balance. Kuwait is home to around 2.6 million expatriates who make up nearly two thirds of the state’s total population of 3.8 million, according to official statistics. The announcement had since garnered widespread criticism focusing mostly on the plan being described as ‘impractical’, and sometimes even as ‘inhuman’ by rights groups. Most recently, a senior official at the Kuwait Trade Union Federation indicated that private companies raised costs after workers’ daily wage increased from KD8 to KD15 following the announcement of the plan.

“The state is looking to construct mega projects which require thousands of technical labor forces; an important asset which will be in short supply

should the government go ahead with the annual deportation plan,” said Abdurrahman Al-Ghanim, who is the President of the Expatriate Labor Forces Office in the KTUF. Details of the plan, by which the government looks to deport a million foreigners in ten years, are yet to be revealed, but Al-Rashidi had previously hinted that individuals to be targeted will mainly be ‘marginal labor forces’ or workers who usually accept to do menial labor and often live without valid visas.

“Canceling the sponsorship system is the only solution for the country’s demographic imbalance problem besides stopping visa trafficking,” AlGhanim further told Al-Jarida, and added that the ministry has no legal right to cancel contracts signed between workers and employers.

The sponsorship or ‘kafala’ system contains loopholes that are often exploited by visa traffickers to release work permits in the name of fake companies or non-existent job openings which are then sold to unskilled labor forces looking for a chance to work in

the oil-rich Gulf region. It has thus been the subject of regular criticism by international organizations for human right violations recorded in Kuwait and the entire region.

Meanwhile, Al-Jarida reported that directors of labor departments expressed disapproval about the workers’ reduction mechanism discussed during a meeting held by minister AlRashidi recently which was also attended by Undersecretary Abdulmuhsin AlMutairi. According to sources with knowledge of the case, the officials believe that Kuwait is ‘in need’ of the workers that the plan targets to ensure that the country can carry out construction projects effectively. “Kuwaitis do not accept working in a majority of technical and construction works that these workers perform,” said the sources who requested anonymity to speak.

According to the same sources, the proposed strategy consists of steps that include suspending work visas; either issuing new ones or transferring commercial and family visas to working ones, as well as suspending the transfer of article 20 visas issued to domestic

workers to article 18 visas which is issued to private sector labor forces.

“The directors told the minister during the meeting that such steps contradict with the state’s development plan which needs nearly two million expatriate labor forces of different specialties to finish planning and infrastructure works,” the sources said.

They also suggested that the strategy should be to instead focus on visa traffickers “by introducing tougher penalties and more effective prosecution steps.” In the meantime, the sources revealed that the Labor Public Authority, a proposed body to replace the sponsorship system in handling expatriate labor recruiting duties, is expected to be announced in two months “as its executive regulations have already been finalized.”

In other news, Al-Jarida reported that at least 1,000 expatriates with article 18 and 20 visas were issued smart civil IDs in the first 48 hours since the Public Authority of Civil Information started releasing them last Sunday, as per estimates by a PACI employee who did not wish to be named.

UN urged to act against Israel UNITED NATIONS: The Arab Group has urged the United Nations to take action and put an end to recurring Israeli attacks on Syria and violations of the Lebanese air space.

Egypt’s Ambassador to the UN Mutaz Ahmad Khalil said in a statement that he addressed a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and the Chairman of the Security Council requesting condemnation of the recent Israeli offensive on Syria. The council should shoulder its responsibilities in this respect and put an end to such recurring attacks, he noted in the letters.

Ambassador Khalil, who addressed the letters on behalf of the Arab Group in the UN, noted Arab states were against bids by “some powers” to take advantage of current turbulent conditions in Syria to launch attacks and infringe on its sovereignty, alluding to recent Israeli air strikes that destroyed military facilities on outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The international community is currently at a test, Khalil said, urging the UN to confront the “Israeli breaches and seek to maintain international security and peace.”

The Arab Group explicitly condemned the Israeli aggression on Syria, warned of prospected dire consequences and called for immediate action to prevent its recurrence. Such aggression is tantamount to serious breach of sovereignty of an Arab state, will lead to more complex conditions in Syria and put security and stability of the region “in serious dangers.”

Khalil indicated that the Arab Group, in the letters, condemned recurring Israeli breaches of the Lebanese airspace and UN resolutions, namely Security Council Resolution 1701 that stipulated end of tit-for-tat offensives between Israel and Lebanon in the end of the 2006 wide-scale Israeli aggression on the country. —- KUNA

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

LOCAL

Europe Day

By Martin Vavra Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Kuwait

O

n May 9, 1950, Robert Schuman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, took a fundamental step towards the current European Union. He proposed to place the Franco-German coal and steel production, the basis of military power, under a common High Authority within the framework of an organization open to the participation of other countries of Europe. Such a step was believed to rule out a war between traditional rivals France and Germany and thus make Europe a more peaceful part of the world. This has become a successful project for a fractured continent has been delivered political stability and economic prosperity.

The present EU has twenty-seven member states on 4 million square kilometres with 495 million inhabitants, one acceding country, five candidate countries, and three potential candidates. The main values are peace, democracy, human rights, solidarity, and the rule of law. Various cultures have been accommodated under the motto - “united in diversity ”. The EU is open to any European country which fulfils the political and economic criteria and which wins the unanimous approval of all member states. The EU absorption capacity, however, is to be taken into account too.

Operating as a single market, the EU has become a major world economic and trading entity. To support poorer countries, the EU actively promotes global development. It is the world’s

biggest donor of development aid since more than half the money spent to help poor countries comes from the European Union. Trade and aid are the twin pillars of its development policy.

The EU also provides substantial humanitarian assistance.

With regard to relations between the European Union and the countries in the Gulf region, the EU established bilateral relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries through the 1988 Cooperation Agreement which also forsees the establishment of an annual meeting between foreign ministers as well as senior officials. On the basis of the Cooperation Agreement, both sides also entered into not yet concluded negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement in 1990. The EU is the GCC’s first trading partner and the GCC is the EU’s fifth largest export market. There has been an agreement on a joint Action Programme hr 2010-13 with a wide range of cooperation opportunities in the fields of economy, finance, investment, trade, energy’, environment, currency, transport, industry, telecommunications, education, science, and culture.

The European Union has the instruments 11r cooperation with rich countries too. One of these is called “Financing Instrument for Cooperation with Industrialized and Other HighIncome Countries and Territories”, of 2007, and GCC countries are also eligible. The aim is to nurture political and commercial ties. Funding is available in the form of grants agreements, procurement contracts, employment contracts and financing agreements.

Both blocks share interest in a number of regional and international political issues, especially in the Middle East, they also stress the importance of combating terrorism, piracy, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. They are aware of’ the importance of dialogue and respect of all cultures.

For all its accomplishments, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012. Let us wish the EU to continue to serve as a model for integration based on mutual respect and preserve May 9 deservedly as one of its visible symbols.

A group photo in Boubyan’s booth at the Fair.

Boubyan Bank sponsors GUST Job Fair KUWAIT: Boubyan Bank announced its participation as a platinum sponsor in GUST Job Fair which started yesterday and will last till May 9. This step comes in manifestation of the Bank’s continuous support for the Kuwaiti youth from all sections and categories; especially, those newly entering labor market.

Adel Al-Hammad, GM- Human Resources Group at the Bank said: “As usual, Boubyan Bank is always keen on participating in the activities and events aiming at supporting labor market and providing it with distinguished national cadres needed to achieve economic development in Kuwait.”

“Boubyan Bank represents an

example for the private sector in general and the banking sector in particular as to the care given to national cadres and the keenness to create more distinguished opportunities for them in a way that contributes to achieving human development as planned and sought by the State,” he added.

Al-Hammad pointed out that the Bank’s participation this time is different from the previous times as it comes in the wake of launching ITQAN Academy in cooperation with GUST to serve as a training and development center for the Bank’s human resources in an academic manner through providing the most advanced specialized courses,

GCC mulls industrial integration RIYADH: Industry ministers of states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) discussed here yesterday in their 36th meeting the hindrances obstructing industrial integration among Gulf nations as well as a number of plans to develop the industrial sector. “The conferees have mulled several key measures to upgrade the GCC industrial sector,” Fahad Al-Mutairi, deputy director general of the Public Authority for Industry’s Standards and Industrial Services Affairs (KOWSMD) and member of the Kuwaiti delegation to the GCC meeting, said.

“This included an industry input exemption resolution,” he said.—- KUNA

about the experience of ITQAN Academy’s youth by meeting them and getting acquainted with their experience in the Academy; especially considering that they represent the kernel for the Academy launched last July.

The Academy provides the Bank’s staff with training opportunities throughout a whole year in many fields comprising specialized training programs in financial management, financial statements analysis, business administration, communication skills, human resources development, as well as advanced, distinguished programs in customer service and professional sales of banking products.

Search for parliament bombing prank caller Runaway suspects returned KUWAIT: Search is on for a person believed to be mentally unstable after he made a hoax call about a bomb having been planted in the parliament building. Security was increased at the National Assembly building on Tuesday night after the call was received, even as Jahra police simultaneously zeroed in on a travel agency in the area from where the call had originated.

They were met by an Egyptian employee who claimed that the man behind the emergency call was mentally unstable, and gave his identity and address. The non-Kuwaiti man was not found at his house as investigations were on.

Thief daughter A Jahra resident dropped theft charges he had pressed against his housemaid after being told that the KD800 that went missing from the house were actually stolen by his daughter.

Officers at the Jahra police station summoned the domestic worker for investigations after her Kuwaiti employer charged her with theft. The woman denied the accusations, and went on to tell the officers that the house she worked in was ‘a mess’. When asked to explain, the maid said that one of her employer’s daughters had asked her to hand money to her boyfriend outside the front door on multiple occasions. Based on this information, police asked the man to bring his daughters for investigations; during which one of them confessed to having stolen the cash. The girl was released as her father opted against continuing with legal procedures.

KUWAIT: Hawally municipality continued its inspection campaigns on all cars sale offices and public squares in all governorate areas, in cooperation with public relations and support from ministry of interior. The campaigns are based on instructions from General Director of Municipality Eng. Ahmad Al-Subaih to remove all kinds of violations by cars sales offices who make use of public yards and violates the law and regulation, set forth by municipality in this respect, in addition to lifting neglected cars in those yards. Cleaning dept. director AbdulAziz Al-Yahya said that administration is continuing in its campaigns in all governorate areas and implementing regulation. Pointing that campaign resulted in lifting 8 cars exhibited for sale and another 8 cars exhibited in front of unlicensed cars sales offices and lifting six neglected cars and 16 unlicensed umbrella and the cleaning of 4 yards from old furnitures and 10 unlicensed containers.

administrative sciences and programs accredited by international agencies, which correspond with the Bank’s work environment and complies with the Islamic Shari’ah.

In addition, Al-Hammad said that the staff present at the Bank’s booth from those who joined ITQAN Academy as well as the specialized academic cadre will be in direct communication with GUST youth; especially those approaching graduation to show them the key advantages of ITQAN Academy and the educational and job opportunities it provides to promising Kuwaiti youth.

Boubyan Bank’s booth will give GUST students the chance to know

Runaway suspects Kuwait received two Lebanese nationals accused of forgery, theft and money laundering cases in the country as a result of coordination between the Kuwaiti Interpol and its Iraqi counterpart. The suspects had been reportedly arrested at the Safwan border checkpoint in Iraq where they were being smuggled as stowaways inside suitcases. Two Iraqi nationals who had managed to smuggle them from the Kuwaiti border were also arrested. The two Lebanese brothers were on trial in Iraq for having entered the country illegally, while at the same time Kuwait launched negotiations to reclaim them to make them serve jail terms in cases filed against them in 2008. The suspects were found guilty of stealing public funds from a Kuwaiti ministry by forging bank documents, as well as

involvement in money laundering.

School fight A student was seriously injured while a number of teachers suffered mild injuries during a massive brawl reported recently inside a girls’ school in Um Al-Haiman. According to the police report, it all began when two classmates scuffle with each other with one using a heavy stick to hit the other. Teachers eventually managed to separate the two students, but the ‘armed’ one was soon joined in by five other girls who stormed the school after arriving there, apparently on her call for help. A massive brawl ensued during which a number of teachers sustained contusions while trying to save the girl who became a victim in this unequal fight where six girls assaulted the lone victim. The suspects escaped in cars driven by male suspects who reportedly waited outside the school’s gates and

prevented anyone from entering as fighting raged. . Eyewitnesses managed to note down the license plate numbers of the suspects’ cars.

Work mishap A construction worker died in an accident reported in Al-Rai on Tuesday while investigations were on to rule out suspicions of any foul play. The Arab man was pronounced dead on the scene. A caller informed that he lost balance and fell from a high rise during restoration work at a shop in the area. A case was filed. Meanwhile, a family driver was found dead inside an Abdullah Al-Mubarak house in a case classified as suicide.

The 28-year-old Indian man was reportedly found hanging dead by his Kuwaiti employer who called the police. The body was taken to the forensic department after criminal investigators examined the scene and reportedly found no evidence suggesting homicide.

Four injured in accident

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Four expats, including three Egyptians, were injured in a car accident in Abdali, opposite the Veterinary Hospital. While a 60-year-old Egyptian expat received injuries in his stomach, a 34-year-old compatriot of his was injured in the left ear and also complained of pain in the back. The third Egyptian, a 39-year-old, received multiple injuries in the mishap while an Indian expat was injured in his left ear. All were taken to the Jahra Hospital.

A car accident on the Second Ring Road opposite Al-Faiha left a 22-year-old Kuwaiti man with multiple injuries. He was taken to the Amiri Hospital.

A 37-year-old Bangladeshi expat was hit by a car and suffered a head injury when he was crossing the Sixth Ring Road. He was taken to the Al-Sabah Hospital and admitted to its intensive care unit.

A car accident on Gulf Road opposite Liali Al-Hemiya Cafe left an 18-year-old Kuwaiti man with a head injury and pain in the back.

He was taken to the Mubarak Hospital.

A car accident on the Seventh Ring Road between Mubarak Al-Kabeer and Jaber Al-Ali left a 38-year-Afghani expat with a fracture in his left hand. He was taken to the Al-Adan Hospital. A car accident at the Sixth Ring Road opposite Ishbiliya resulted in a stomach injury for a 48-year-old Pakistani expat. A 42-year-old Kuwaiti man suffered a head injury in the same accident, and was rushed to the AlSabah Hospital where he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

Three fighting A 26-year-old Egyptian expat suffered a head injury when a scuffle broke out at AlMaseela, opposite Platinum Institute. He was taken to the Mubarak Hospital.

In another incident of fighting at Salmiya, in Salem Al-Mubarak Street, a 47-year-old Kuwait man suffered multiple injuries. A 30year-old Tunisian complained of dizziness.

Both were taken to the Mubarak Hospital.

In a scuffle that broke out in Shuwaikh opposite Al-Bahar Hospital, a 33-year-old Bengali expat suffered a head injury and was taken to the Al-Sabah Hospital.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

kuwait digest

An Omrah after forty

Work towards bridging gaps

By Muna Abduljaleel

By Bassem Youssef

I

received a warm invitation from my friend Um Amira to join her on a trip to Makkah for Omrah. It was my first trip to the holy city in more than 15 years. As I entered the holy mosque, I found myself shaking uncontrollably; a feeling that I could not understand. The closer I moved towards the blackclothed house, I could feel my heart filled with something.

While standing in the space between Maqam Ibrahim and the Kaaba, lifting my head up sometimes and then looking at the ground, I could feel a strange feeling the meaning of which I could not understand.

I still strongly remember the feeling I had during my first visit to Makkah with my father and brothers. It was a wonderful feeling which brought me tears of joy as I saw the Kaaba for the first time in my life. But the feeling was different this time. It was like a feeling of ‘fullness’ of something that until this day I could not understand. After we finished our prayers, we returned to the hotel to have some rest and come back the following day with hope of reaching the Black Stone. That night I couldn’t sleep as the mysterious feeling was buzzing within.

The following day we went to Medina in order to visit the tomb of the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).

Unfortunately, we arrived too late before the gates of the Roudha (a space within the Nabawi Mosque adjacent to the Prophet’s tomb) were closed. We prayed at the Nabawi Mosque and then prepared to return to Makkah. I was very excited that night for the opportunity to discover the mystery behind the feeling that filled me: was it love, fear, joy, discovery, catharsis? I could not tell for certain.

We reached Makkah after nightfall, yet insisted to go to AlMasjid Al-Haram instead of going to our hotel rooms. What followed was the moment which gave my soul the most beautiful lesson I had ever experienced. As I approached the Black Stone, the Kaaba’s door and other corners of the Kaaba, I realized the truth. The fact that the mission of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) began when he was forty years of age was not a coincidence. The maturity of the soul, mentality and emotion starts at that age.

My Omrah trip came this time when I had turned forty. By this time, my ideology and ways of searching for the truth became different compared to when I was in my twenties and thirties. I sat down contemplating the philosophy behind ‘seven rounds’ chosen for the circumambulation of the Kabaa and Sa’ie (traveling back and forth) between the (mountains of ) Al-Safa and Al-Marwa. Beside me sat an old man from Uganda praying in his language, and in front of me there was an Indian woman with tears running down from her eyes while praying in her mother tongue. What kind of magnetic force that draws humans from all over the world towards this place? I looked up and saw birds (pigeons and Little Swifts) flying around the Kaaba during a time in which they were supposed to be in their nests (it was past midnight at the time). I started looking at several things from a different perspective. Things that we always knew about, now seemed different, and had different meanings; meanings which were more beautiful and deeper; meanings that calmed the wandering mind and soothed an agitated soul.

What caught my attention the most during that moment was the sight of families who brought their children as they marched towards the Kaaba and merged with the circumambulating crowds. A mother carrying her baby while the father held his children; it was an image of a family and an emotional cohesion, and a struggle to document the symphony of divine love. A wonderful image that will forever remain etched in my mind. — Al-Qabas

I

kuwait digest

Why does Iraq not stabilize?

S

ectarian violence in Iraq has increased to a point when leader of the Sadr faction Moqtadha Al-Sadr has accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki of amassing Shiite forces to subdue the Sunnis. Meanwhile, Al-Maliki considers that Iraq was still facing the same threats as earlier since the region is experiencing the challenge of sectarianism.

He has attacked the tribal army formed by protesters in Anbar and Kurdistan. On the other hand, the Kurds have ended their boycott of the cabinet and have returned to Baghdad.

The question is till when will Iraq continue to remain unstable and torn apart? Everyone expected Iraq to emerge as an example of a pluralist democratic regime, and that justice, equality and freedom will prevail as the new leaders will seek to rebuild the country, its constitutional institutions and ensure a democratic transformation ably and efficiently.

What happened in Iraq after the American withdrawal is a living example of the failure of Arab leaders and people in instilling democracy. The unified Iraq that we see today is being torn apart internally, and division and strife dominate besides a raging power struggle between various parties.

They do not recognize the freedom to have differences and not distancing each other.

All the initiatives aimed at ensuring a national dialogue in Iraq have failed to make it come out of the morass of sectarian violence. This was on account of sectarian zealousness, partisanship, inflexibility and an intense desire of the ruling alliance to dominate totally the state established by law. The political scene in Iraq indicates that the internal struggle between various political powers will continue, as also their inability to run the state. They would not be able

By Dr Shamlan Yousuf Al-Essa to move towards a peaceful democratic transformation.

Why does Iraq not stabilize? What are the reasons that keep it from stabilizing? Are they internal reasons or foreign pressures that keep it from enjoying stability? Did the crossborder alliances succeed? The situation in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon is hardly encouraging, but is being meddled in by major powers in the region such as Iran.

Can the Iraqi leadership forego the sectarian choice and call for building a new unified Iraq that is far from religious, sectarian, nationalist and populist loyalties while the sectarian calls are expanding in the region as a whole?

Can the infant democracy in Iraq succeed as people are losing confidence in their representatives who are more interested in their partisan and personal interests that they are trying to achieve at the expense of those who elected them? All this while, no reforms happen, there is lack of essential services, and unemployment is increasing among the youth.

The question is whether Iraq’s neighboring countries, mainly Turkey and Iran, contribute towards solving Iraq’s problems and call various parties to a path of reconciliation and unity? It seems impossible because Iran has become part of the problem by supporting the Iraqi Shiites. As for Turkey, it works on supporting the Sunnis through its alliance with the gulf countries by forming a front against the Iranian expansion in the region. Where does the solution lie? If the Iraqi government is serious about calming down the situation, then it should review the justice and equality law which is considered discriminatory by the Sunnis. Also, the Sunnis are required to stop attacking police in their areas. The government and the Sunni tribes must cooperate and negotiate to reach satisfactory solutions for all and not tear Iraq apart. — Al-Watan

kuwait digest

Bureaucracy still in power

By Sami Al-Nisf

W

e talk very much in our country about progressing and we actually formed a growth ministry to ensure development while the truth is that our growth chariot is about to turn turtle just like the turtle of King Farouq which died last week at Giza Zoo in Egypt.

In the Gulf, there is no growth ministry, yet these countries are growing at lightning speed. But, no doubt we are much better than our brothers.

We talk more about changing, about our plans to become a financial center as part of our strategy to develop an alternative source of income other than the oil. But we still remain a country very closed security wise and socially. It is bureaucracy that is still in power, and we are still fighting strongly for our national airline, which is the main demand for us to emerge as a financial center. The other countries in the gulf have gone ahead and become financial centers in reality. These are visited by tens of millions every year and they are very close to shift from oil as their primary source of income. They have an airline that is the largest in the world. However, we remain, without any doubt, much better than our brothers.

No one beats us when it comes to fighting corruption. We have been doing that for decades through elected councils and enacting independent laws, having a free media and other things. Yet, everyone is complaining of corruption. Our brothers have none of these aforementioned things, but all international transparency indicators rank them far ahead of us when it comes to honesty, while we trail way back. But we are much better than our brothers.

Geographically, we are in the middle of the urban areas, and we are ahead when it comes to the inhabited lands of the largest three countries of the region.

Yet, the re-export business in our state is almost zero and we keep repeating that our geographic position is a “disaster for us.” The brothers are situated between the sea and the barren desert, and no one lives in either, and yet their trade with others is thriving.

Re-export in their country has become one of the alternatives to oil income, and yet, for sure, we are much better than them because we have the freedom to spread more confusion and continue with demonstrations and shouting. What a joyous situation we have in Kuwait!

NOTE: I do not know what is meant by the lawyers of a former MP demanding a compensation of KD one million for the loss that his client has caused by leading to the dissolution of the NA Council. We know that the total salary of any MP will not reach to one tenth of this sum.

Personally, I believe that the loss caused by his filing a case like this has more effect on the respected MP who is well known as a reform oriented person then the loss caused by dissolution of the council. — Al-Anba

n the immediate aftermath of the Egyptian revolution, there emerged a general approach towards reconciliation among all Egyptian sects. This could be clearly seen in the scenes around the Tahrir Square where everyone called for burying the hatchet.

Many of us harboured bright hopes about uniting under one national umbrella without any differences based on religion, race or color. By that time, the memory of the Saints’ Church in Alexandria being blasted had long been forgotten. There was no need to fear or suspect the wonderful Salafi youth who stood side by side with the liberals, leftists, Muslims and Christians.

Unfortunately, this did not last long as a few weeks later, fear and suspicions were back. That happened because instead of using their power to bring people closer and promote the main purpose of revealed heavenly doctrine of spreading love amongst the people, clergymen appearing on the satellite TV channels and sheikhs became involved in issuing Fatwas that made the rest of the community mock the Salafi youth and cast them aside.

Such clergymen failed their first test because they approached a very sensitive issue of Muslims’ relationship with our fellow citizens, or ‘partners in nation’ as we in the media refer to them. The famous Fatwas equating congratulating Christians on their feats as ‘Haram’ have always existed but, the problem is that we expected some change after the revolution. We had expected that the security forces will stop pursuing and oppressing the religious youth and the clergymen would accordingly make amends in their religious rhetoric and work towards bridging the gaps.

Unfortunately, they went even further and widened the gulf of hatred between the people. In the past, a famous clergyman aired a YouTube video in which he considered celebrating Easter (Cham Al-Naseem), going out on the day, doing transactions with the Christians, purchasing and selling eggs and salted fish as Haram. He seemed just a step away from proclaiming even waking up and living through the day as Haram. All this used to happen before the revolution but nowadays, such Fatwas and the people asking clergymen whether one or the other thing or action is Haram or Halal has become an integral part of everyday life. Even the so-called moderate group, the Muslim Brotherhood, failed the test. Last year, we all saw Doctors Morse and Katatni visiting the Cathedral on Easter to underline their respect for our Christian brothers and then leaving before the sermons could begin. This was justified by their supporters who argued that the sermons were non-Islamic and that it was sinful for Muslims to attend these. Naturally, this did not happen when they came to power. I do like the justification, though. How dare you take part in and attend other religions’ rituals? You would be sinful if you did. Well, the professional politicians of the Muslim Brotherhood who plan to become masters of the world forgot that the White House holds an annual collective Iftaar banquet in the first week of Ramadan for representatives of all the American Muslim organizations where the Maghreb call for prayer (Azan) is said and once the guests break their fast, they are invited to a large White House hall lined with a huge praying carpet heading towards Qebla (Ka’ba) for the Maghreb prayer. The Americans do this though Muslim Americans comprise no more than six percent of the total population.

To come back to our dear Egypt, in fact, I did not pay much attention to those Fatwas because I do not need to do so, thanks to the way I have been brought up all my life. Yet, what really surprises me is watching a talk show with Khairi Ramadan who hosted a panel of religious figures such as Khaled Saeed and father Felopateer a few months ago. They talked about Muslim-Christian relations before a phone-in call made by the head of the Salafis clergyman, Yasser AlBorhami. He explained how we, Muslims, should treat Christians and stressed loving them was different from being loyal to them. He said that as a Muslim, he should be fair and just towards them but he could not love them because love ‘uncontrollably stems from the heart’. I kept on watching this legendary show while Ramadan was trying to get him to admit that we share this nation and must love our fellow-citizens but he insisted on quoting some Quranic verses and sayings, explaining these with references that only convinced him and his fellow-Salafis.

Father Felopateer then replied: “But I love you.

What do you have to say?” Another phone-in call came from Al-Habib Ali Al-Jeffri who announced his unconditional love for Christians.

I went on watching this absurd show thinking what non-Muslims’ reaction would be if it was to be subtitled and they had watched it. What kind of message would these sheikhs convey? How on earth would more people embrace Islam of they saw such people speaking about such rules that talk about hatred, and then look for support in Sharea? Had Dr. Al-Borhami and others not thought that setting such peculiar conditions would alienate others from Islam? How can we be proud that Islam is a religion of love, peace and coexistence while we are setting conditions to love fellow-human beings and citizens?

Such fanatic people deal with Islam just as a group of fanatic soccer fans would deal with rivals. They hate and despise others. How can you make people hate Islam while you were ordered to spread it? How can you declare your hatred for and despise other religions and curse them in sermons in the mosque? Do you expect a Jew, a Christian, a Baha’ie or even a nonbeliever to come to you and ask for more to repent?

Have those people erased the verses calling for spreading Islam through wisdom and setting good example as per the teachings of the holy Quran?

Those Fatwas are not strange anymore because their advocates lack the simplest humane principles and have set rules for the sweetest feeling Allah has created in our hearts - Love. Instead, they manifest hatred. So one should not wonder if a sectarian tumult or dispute breaks out because someone built a church or practiced some rituals as there are such merciless and loveless people around. Therefore, I have decided not to congratulate Christians this year because a feast for a fellow human being is only for one who belongs to us. Hence, many happy returns to all of us, only. — Al-Jarida

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

Jordan boils as Israel quizzes Muslim cleric

Congress party wins key state election Page 11

Page 8

CLEVELAND: Beth Berry Serrano, the sister of Amanda Berry, speaks to the press after Amanda Berry arrived at her sister’s home yesterday in Cleveland, Ohio. Three brothers have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping of three women, including Amanda Berry. They were found safe in a home after being missing for a decade, authorities said. — AFP

Amanda Berry’s sister offers thanks Relative of three brothers ‘totally shocked’ CLEVELAND: Amanda Berry, who was held captive for about a decade before being rescued from a house along with two other women, arrived at her sister’s home yesterday morning to the cheers of hundreds of neighbors and swarms of journalists.

Berry’s sister, Beth Serrano, spoke briefly to the crowd after their arrival, thanking the community for their support but asking for privacy during this difficult time. Her homecoming comes as more details about the women’s years-long ordeal were revealed, including that chains and ropes were found in the home where they had been imprisoned.

The owner of that home, Ariel Castro, and his two brothers are in custody after a frantic 911 call led police to his run-down house, where authorities say Berry and the two other women missing for about a decade were held captive. Authorities have until today evening to bring charges against the men. Berry, 27, Michelle Knight, 32, and Gina DeJesus, about 23, had been held in the house since their teens or early 20s, police said.

Police would not say how the women were taken captive or whether they were sexually assaulted. Police spokesman Sammy Morris confirmed yesterday that the ropes and chains were among evidence collected inside the house by law enforcement officials.

Police Chief Michael McGrath told NBC’s “Today” show yesterday that the women were restrained and “released out in the back yard once in a while.” McGrath said he was “absolutely” sure police did everything they could to find the women over the years. He disputed claims by neighbors that officers had been called to the house before for suspicious circumstances. “We have no record of those

calls coming in over the past 10 years,” he said.

As word of Berry’s homecoming spread, a large crowd swelled in the street outside the home decorated with dozens of balloons, and homemade signs, one reading “We Never Lost Hope Mandy.” A 6-year-old girl believed to be Berry’s daughter also was found in the home Monday, police Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said.

He wouldn’t say who the father was. About a week ago, Castro took the 6-year-old girl to a nearby park, where they played in the grass, said Israel Lugo, a neighbor who lives down the street. “I asked him whose kid was it, and he told me his girlfriend’s daughter,” Lugo said.

The women were rescued after Berr y kicked out the bottom portion of a locked screen door and used a neighbor’s telephone to call 911. An officer showed up minutes later and Berry ran out and threw her arms around the officer, a neighbor said.

Police identified the other two suspects as the 52-year-old Castro’s brothers, Pedro Castro, 54, and Onil Castro, 50. Calls to the jail went unanswered, and there was no response to interview requests sent to police, the jail and city officials.

A relative of the three brothers said their family was “totally shocked” after hearing about the missing women being found at the home. Juan Alicea said the arrests of his wife’s brothers had left relatives “as blindsided as anyone else” in their community. He said he hadn’t been to the home of his brother-in-law Ariel Castro since the early 1990s but had eaten dinner with Castro at a different brother’s house shortly before the arrests were made Monday.

Investigators also are talking with relatives of at least one other missing woman from the

neighborhood. The aunt of a 14-year-old girl who disappeared in 2007 near the house where the missing women were found says the girl’s mother has spoken with the FBI about her niece.

“We’re hoping for our miracle too,” said Debra Summers, who described her niece, Ashley Summers, as not the type of girl who would leave without coming back. Ariel Castro owned the home where the three girls were found in a neighborhood dotted with boarded-up houses just south of downtown.

His son, Anthony Castro, said in an interview with London’s Daily Mail newspaper that he now speaks with his father just a few times a year and seldom visited his house. He said on his last visit, two weeks ago, his father wouldn’t let him inside.

“The house was always locked,” he said.

“There were places we could never go. There were locks on the basement. Locks on the attic. Locks on the garage.” Anthony Castro, who lives in Columbus, also wrote an article for a community newspaper in Cleveland about the disappearance of Gina DeJesus just weeks after she went missing, when he was a college journalism student.

“That I wrote about this nearly 10 years ago - to find out that it is now so close to my family - it’s unspeakable,” he told The Plain Dealer newspaper. Most everyone in the neighborhood knew Ariel Castro.

Neighbors say he played bass guitar in salsa and merengue bands and gave neighborhood children rides on his motorcycle. Tito DeJesus, an uncle of Gina DeJesus, played in bands with Castro over the last 20 years.

He recalled visiting Castro’s house but never noticing anything out of the ordinary. Juan

Perez, who lives two doors down from the house, said Castro was always happy and respectful. “He gained trust with the kids and with the parents. You can only do that if you’re nice,” Perez said.

Castro also worked until recently as a school bus driver. He was friends with the father of Gina DeJesus, one of the missing

31 detained in diamond heist BRUSSELS: Authorities claimed a major breakthrough yesterday in their investigation of a spectacular $50 million diamond heist, detaining at least 31 people in a three-nation sweep some three months after robbers pulled off the theft with clockwork precision at Brussels Airport. A Frenchman who is believed to have been one of the actual robbers at the airport was arrested in France, while six to eight people were detained in Geneva, and 24 in and around Brussels. Police did not indicate what the other suspects’ roles might have been.

What’s more, police say they have proof that diamonds found in Switzerland were part of the cache that was spirited away in the brazen Feb 18 robbery that ranks among the biggest diamond heists of recent times. After two months of investigation on some of the suspects, police moved in. Suspects in France and Switzerland were detained on Tuesday, and the following day Belgian police carried out a massive operation, with 250 police involved in 40 house searches.

“In Switzerland, we have found diamonds that we can already say are coming from the

heist, and in Belgium large amounts of money have been found. And the investigation is still ongoing,” said Jean-Marc Meilleur, a spokesman for the Brussels prosecutor’s office. He said police had also found luxury cars. Meilleur was scant on detail, yielding no clues how police got on the trail of the suspects. Authorities were expected to announce later how many of the detainees would be charged and arrested.

In Geneva, a police statement said that “a very important quantity of diamonds was seized” during the sweep “coming from the spectacular heist at Brussels airport.” While Belgian authorities spoke of six detentions in Switzerland, Geneva police put it at eight, including a businessman and a lawyer.

Authorities were alerted when suddenly a member of a major criminal organization appeared in their city. The value of the diamonds was still being estimated. It was the first breakthrough in a robbery that many had started comparing to an “Ocean’s Eleven”-type Hollywood script for its clinically clean execution during which no one was injured.

On a cold winter evening, the diamonds had

been loaded on a plane bound for Zurich when robbers, dressed in dark police clothing and hoods, drove through a hole they had cut in the airport fence in two black cars with blue police lights flashing. They drove onto the tarmac, approached the plane, brandished machine guns, offloaded the diamonds, then made their getaway in an operation that barely took five minutes. Later that night, investigators found the charred remains of a van most likely used in the heist, but little else. The stolen parcels contained both rough and polished stones. The trail ran dry until the surprise announcement yesterday. Meilleur said that the man held in France is suspected to be one of the robbers. “This person has a very heavy judicial background in France and his extradition to Belgium has been requested.” Belgian authorities said that about 10 of the 24 people detained in Belgium were known criminals. The suspects ranged in age from 30 to 50, they said. The diamond industry, too, was totally caught by surprise by yesterday’s developments. “But we can only be happy,” said Caroline De Wolf, spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Center.— AP

women, and helped search for her after she disappeared, said Khalid Samad, a friend of the family.

“When we went out to look for Gina, he helped pass out fliers,” said Samad, a community activist who was at the hospital with DeJesus and her family on Monday night. “You know, he was friends with the family.” — AP

Bus plunges into river, killing 33 SHIMLA: At least 33 people died yesterday when an overcrowded bus skidded off the road into a fast-flowing river in northern India, police said. “So far, 33 bodies have been retrieved from the river and 14 other people are injured and have been rushed to hospital,” local police chief RS Negi said from the crash site in Hamachal Pradesh state.

The accident occurred near the popular summer resort of Kullu, 250 kilometers from Himachal Pradesh state capital Shimla. Negi said the death toll was likely to rise as some victims appeared to have been washed away in the fast-flowing waters of the Beas river which courses through the mountainous Indian state.

The officer said it was not immediately clear how many people were on board the bus, which was on its way to a village from Kullu when it slid off the road. Local

reports said the bus was completely submerged in the water. Yesterday’s crash is the worst reported road accident in India since March, when 37 people were reported dead after a passenger bus plunged off a bridge spanning a river in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

A total of 131,834 people died in road accidents in India in 2011, according to the government’s National Crime Records Bureau, which works out at 15 an hour.

Bad roads, speeding vehicles and poor driving were among the contributing factors, and bus crashes with a double-digit death toll are far from rare. The World Health Organization’s global status report on road safety 2013 found that eight percent of India’s road user deaths were bus drivers or passengers while 32 percent were riders of motorbikes or three-wheelers.— AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

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

Syrian rebels skeptical as US, Russia seek new peace talks Threat of conflict spilling over triggers alarm

RAMALLAH: In this Sept. 19, 2006 file photo, Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, pauses during a media conference in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Israeli police detained Mufti Hussein, a top cleric in the Palestinian territories, and are questioning him over his role in disturbances at a holy Jerusalem shrine Tuesday. — AP

Jordan boils as Israel quizzes Muslim cleric JERUSALEM: Israeli police briefly detained a top Muslim cleric yesterday as Israel marked Jerusalem Day, sparking a furious response from Jordan, whose MPs unanimously demanded the expulsion of the Israeli envoy.

In Jerusalem’s Old City police arrested more than a dozen people for what they said was disruption of public order, as Jews passed through Arab-dominated areas on their way to holy sites.

Police said Jerusalem Mufti Mohammed Hussein was questioned by detectives in connection with an incident at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound a day earlier in which “chairs were thrown at a group of Jews.” After six hours of questioning, he was released without charge, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “The mufti was investigated for six hours over what happened at Temple Mount yesterday and over his recent declarations about the situation there,” he said, using the Israeli term for the sprawling plaza in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques and is the third holiest site within Islam. It is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place as it was the site where the First and Second Temples once stood.

The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Hussein’s detention was condemned by the Palestinians and sparked a furious response from Jordan, which has custodianship over Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem.

During a parliamentary session in Amman, MPs unanimously demanded the

government expel Israeli Ambassador Daniel Nevo and recall its own envoy from Tel Aviv, the official Petra news agency said. The vote came in response to “Israeli occupation measures at Al-Aqsa mosque.” Addressing the MPs, Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur said one of the reasons was “the detention of Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Mohammed Hussein.” “If things develop, the government will ask the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting,” Petra quoted him as saying.

There was no immediate response from Israel’s foreign ministry. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas “condemned the occupying Israeli authorities’ detention” of Hussein, his office said. Abbas demanded that the Israeli government “release the mufti immediately” describing his detention as “an audacious challenge to freedom of worship.” After Hussein’s release, police arrested several people as Israelis were celebrating Jerusalem Day, which marks the “reunification” of the city after Israel captured the Arab eastern sector from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognized by the international community. Thousands of Israelis joined marches and rallies throughout the city yesterday, including a “flag march” that passed through Damascus Gate on its way to the Western Wall. Police, who were deployed in their thousands on Wednesday, arrested 13 people including two “Arab youths” suspected of throwing water at Jews participating in the flag dance near Damascus Gate, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement. —AFP

MOSCOW: Russia and the United States agreed to seek new peace talks with both sides to end Syria’s civil war, but opposition leaders were skeptical yesterday of an initiative they fear might let President Bashar Al-Assad to cling to power. Visiting Moscow after Israel bombed targets near Damascus and as President Barack Obama faces renewed calls to arm the rebels, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia had agreed to try to arrange a conference as early as this month.

An East-West disagreement that has seen some of the frostiest exchanges between Washington and Moscow since the Cold War has deadlocked UN efforts to settle the Syrian conflict for two years, so any rapprochement could bring an international common front closer than it has been for many months. Israeli air strikes, reports of the use of chemical weapons and the increasing prominence of Al- Qaeda-linked militants among the rebels have all added to international urgency for an end to a war that has killed more than 70,000 people.

But with Syria’s factional and sectarian hatreds more entrenched than ever, it is far from clear the warring parties are ready to negotiate with each other.

Most opposition figures have ruled out talks unless Assad and his inner circle are excluded from any future transitional government. “No official position has been decided but I believe the opposition would find it impossible to hold talks over a government that still had Assad at its head,” said Samir Nashar, a member of the opposition’s umbrella National Coalition body.

“Before making any decisions we need to know what Assad’s role would be. That point has been left vague, we believe intentionally so, in order to try to drag the opposition into talks before a decision on that is made.” In the past, the United States has backed opposition demands that Assad be excluded from any future government, while Russia has said that must be for Syrians to decide, a formula the opposition believes could be used to keep Assad in power.

Opposition members said they were concerned by comments from Kerry in Moscow, echoing Russia, that the decision on who takes part in a transitional government should be left to Syrians. “Syrians are worried that the United States is advancing its own interests with Russia using the blood and suffering of the Syrian people,” said National Coalition member Ahmed Ramadan. “We are in touch with the US side and need to be assured that there is no change in its position on Assad.”

Inside the country, where rebel groups are numerous and have disparate views, a military commander in the north, Abdeljabbar Al-Oqaidi, told Reuters he would want to know details of the US-Russian plan before taking a view. “But,” he added, “if the regime were present, I do not believe we would want to attend.” There was no immediate response from the Syrian government, which has offered reforms but dismisses those fighting it as terrorists and puppets of outside powers - the West, Turkey and Arab states opposed to Assad’s ally Iran.

Speaking before the announcement in Moscow,

DAMASCUS: A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) yesterday, shows Syrian police officers giving blood for, according to SANA, their injured colleagues during the conflict in the Syrian capital Damascus. — AFP Assad sounded his usual defiant tone. “The recent Israeli aggressions expose the extent of the complicity between the Israeli occupier, regional countries and the West in promoting the current events in Syria,” he was quoted as saying by a Lebanese televisions station. “The Syrian people and their heroic army ... are capable of confronting this Israeli adventure, which represents one of the faces of terrorism that is targeting Syria every day.”

COMMON INTERESTS Alarmed at the prospect of the conflict spilling across a volatile region central to global energy supplies and transit routes, the major powers have, as Kerry told Putin on Tuesday, “very significant common interests” in pushing for a settlement. “The alternative,” Kerry later told a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, “is that Syria heads closer to an abyss, if not over the abyss and into chaos.”

Both sides fear a failed state in Syria could provide a base for hostile militants willing to strike around the world. Last June, at a conference in Geneva, Washington and Moscow agreed on the need for a transitional government in Syria but left open the question of whether Assad would be excluded.

Diplomacy has foundered since then, and the mediator of the Geneva conference, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, quit in despair, saying differences among powers were too wide.

Rejecting a characterization of Moscow as the protector of Assad, to whom it still provides arms, Lavrov said Russia was not concerned by the fate of “certain” individuals. “The task now is to convince the government and all the opposition groups ... to sit at the negotiating table,” he said. Kerry said the conference

should be held “as soon as is practical - possibly and hopefully by the end of the month”. Neither he nor Lavrov said where it might take place. Russia, backed

by China, has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions hostile to Assad. Alarmed at Western powers’ use of a UN mandate to oust Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Moscow and Beijing are wary of such interference in their own affairs.

ASSAD DEFIANT Recent developments have focused minds on the risks of wider war in the Middle East. The White House said last month that Assad’s troops had probably used chemical weapons - which Obama has called a “red line” that would mandate a strong, if unspecified, response. The Syrian government and the rebels have each accused the other of using poison gas, a charge both sides deny. Islamist fighters have pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda, highlighting the risk to the West that a poorly managed change of leadership in Syria could bring hostile militants to power. And Israeli air strikes in recent days - which Israeli officials said hit Iranian arms headed for Assad and Tehran’s Lebanese allies Hezbollah - underlined the risk of escalation and cross-border conflict in the heart of the Middle East.

The violence has inflamed a confrontation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the Middle East, with Shiite Iran supporting Assad and Sunni powers like Saudi Arabia backing the rebels.

Tehran warned of unforeseeable consequences if Assad were toppled and said only a political settlement would avert a regional conflagration. “God forbid, if there is any vacuum in Syria, these negative consequences will affect all countries,” Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in Jordan. “No one knows what will happen.” —Reuters

Bahrain accused of failing to protect workers’ rights WASHINGTON: The United States has accused Bahrain of failing to protect workers’ rights in its response to a March 2011 general strike at the time of the Arab Spring and asked for formal consultations under a free trade pact. “Ensuring that workers in Bahrain - and in other countries - can exercise their fundamental labor rights is a top priority for the Obama Administration,” acting US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said in a statement.

Bahrain, a small island country off the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, is home to the US Fifth Fleet. Washington’s request for talks came about two years after the AFL-CIO, the largest US labor organization, first complained that the Bahrain government’s brutal crackdown on the general strike violated commitments to protect workers’ rights under the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, which went into force in 2006.

“We’re pleased the US government is moving ahead with consultations even though we had hoped this announcement would have been issued months ago. Unfortunately, the campaign to dismantle the Bahraini labor movement has been moving much faster than the US response,” AFL-CIO trade and globalization specialist Celeste Drake said in a blog. The US Labor Department issued a report in December, some 20 months after the general strike, that faulted the Bahrain gov-

ernment for the actions it took. “In the widespread dismissals after the March 2011 general strike, trade unionists and leaders were targeted for firing and, at times, criminal prosecution for their role in the strike, and Shiite workers and political critics of the government faced discrimination,” the US report said. “The reinstatement process for these dismissed workers has raised additional concerns of violations of freedom of association and political and sectarian-based discrimination against Shiite workers, which reflect the larger context of a deteriorating labor rights environment in Bahrain,” it said.

Talks between the two countries are expected to begin within 30 days, unless both sides agree to a delay. “My sincere hope is that these consultations will produce a concrete plan of action, based on the recommendations in the Labor Department’s report that will strengthen labor protections in Bahrain and help prevent violations of workers’ rights,” said acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris.

A spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative’s office said the United States was optimistic that the talks with Bahrain “will yield a satisfactory outcome.” If not, the next step would be to convene a joint US-Bahrain subcommittee on labor affairs, which could turn to a mediator or conciliator to resolve differences, she said. — Reuters

Kurdish rebels begin pullout from Turkey SEMDINLI: Kurdish militants began to withdraw from Turkey yesterday, pursuing a peace process meant to end a threedecade insurgency that has killed 40,000 people, ravaged the region’s economy and tarnished the country’s image abroad.

Turkish security forces manned checkpoints along the mountainous border with Iraq, keeping watch as the agreed pullout started by the first small groups of up to 2,000 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters.

The withdrawal, ordered late last month by top PKK commander Murat Karayilan, is the biggest step yet in a deal negotiated by the group’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan with Turkish officials to end almost 30 years of conflict. The PKK has accused the army of endangering the pullout with reconnaissance drones and troop movements they said may trigger clashes. But there was no sign of military activity in the grey skies over southeast Turkey.

“I can say the withdrawal began today based on the information we have,” proKurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-leader Gultan Kisanak said. “Local sources report that the armed PKK militants are on the move.” Security sources did not confirm the withdrawal. Fighters are accustomed to moving furtively and are expected to move in groups of around half a dozen in a process likely to take several months. “We have observed movement among (PKK) group members, but have not been able to establish whether this is regrouping or preparation for a withdrawal,” a security source told Reuters.

The PKK force is small but dogged, with 3,000-4,000 fighters based in Iraq and 1,500-2,000 in Turkey, where they have targeted Turkish troops as well as bombed cities including Istanbul and beach resorts.

The withdrawal will be monitored on the Turkish side by the MIT intelligence agency and across the border by the Kurdish regional government of northern Iraq. The first fighters were expected to arrive at PKK bases in northern Iraq within a week.

But a PKK commander for the Semdinli area told a local source that guerrillas were

unable to cross into Iraq because of increased security, including new checkpoints and soldiers deployed on mountainsides. On the road to Semdinli, where the PKK launched their insurgency with an attack on Aug. 15, 1984, soldiers and police appeared to be mostly waving regular traffic through. “I think this is our best chance yet for peace. On the front line, both sides want the bloodshed to stop,” said a 30year-old sergeant among a group of soldiers drinking tea behind a row of sandbags at a checkpoint. —Reuters

BRASILIA: This handout picture released by Brazilian Presidency shows Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (L) shaking hands with Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi (R) during a meeting at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, yesterday. Morsi is on 2-days official visit to Brazil. — AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

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

8 feared dead as ship crashes

GENOA: Rescue workers inspect the scene near a damaged control tower (C) in the port of Genoa, yesterday, after a container ship smashed into the tower leaving at least three people dead and several missing in a night-time accident. — AFP

The architect of Putin’s political system ‘quits’ MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday dismissed his influential deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov credited with designing the country’s tightly-controlled political system. Surkov had left his post voluntarily, the Kremlin said in a statement. His departure comes amid what observers describe as signs of growing infighting among Kremlin elites during Putin’s controversial third term and an ongoing probe of a high-tech fund backed

by Surkov.

Surkov declined immediate comment to

Vladislav Surkov reporters but Kommersant FM radio, citing the former official, said he tendered his resignation on April 26. Putin’s spokesman said Surkov’s departure should not be seen in connection with the investigation at the Skolkovo fund. Instead, he suggested that the deputy prime minister quit because of the government’s poor implementation of Putin’s election promises. “Indeed, Surkov has quit voluntarily, it is related to the priority topic and the high-priority task of implementing presidential decrees,” Dmitry Peskov told the Kommersant FM radio.

Peskov told Echo of Moscow radio that he did not know what Surkov would do next. Surkov had served as deputy prime minister after being dismissed from the post of first deputy Kremlin chief of staff in a shakeup in December 2011 following huge opposition protests that shook Russia that winter. Surkov, 48, has been considered the ideologue of Putin’s domestic political strat-

egy who oversaw political parties in parliament, electoral campaigns and the tightly controlled media.

He worked in the Kremlin administration from 1999 before his unexpected transition to the government seen at the time as the Kremlin’s reaction to the mass anti-Putin protests in 2011. He is known for coining the term “sovereign democracy” to describe Russia’s controlled political system and was once called the “Kremlin puppeteer” by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. The departure of Surkov, who had for the past year and a half been in charge of modernizing the Russian economy, comes as Russian investigators are probing the Skolkovo hi-tech fund where Surkov sits on the supervisory board.

Last month, the hugely powerful Investigative Committee, Russia’s equivalent of the FBI in the United States, accused one of the fund’s senior executives of giving $750,000 to an opposition lawmaker. Surkov has publicly defended the fund, saying in a recent speech at the London School of Economics that investigators should not come to any premature conclusions. In the speech on May 1, he said the Investigative Committee’s press department’s “artillery fire” on Skolkovo may damage the sensitive project. “Maybe one should not speak so loudly about possible violations before a court decision,” he said in televised remarks.

The speech proved largely controversial and drew a sharp rebuke from the chief spokesman of the Investigative Committee.

In an acidly-worded letter published on Tuesday on the front page of the proKremlin newspaper Izvestia, the spokesman Vladimir Markin accused Surkov of criticizing Russian officials from abroad. “How long would a member of Her Majesty’s Cabinet be able to hold on to his post if he, while on a private visit to Moscow, publicly condemned Scotland Yard for performing its direct duties?” Markin said. When asked to comment on Markin’s article, Surkov, known as a media-shy intellectual and art lover who himself dabbles in literature, said he would not comment on “graphomania”. Observers say the highly unusual spat between Surkov and Markin highlights increasing rifts between the powerful Kremlin elites, particularly the security hardliners and more liberal officials that have supported Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.—AFP

GENOA: Eight people were feared dead after a container ship lost control in the night and smashed into a control tower in Italy’s busiest port in Genoa where rescue workers plucked a badly injured survivor from the ruins yesterday. The 50-metre high glass-topped tower was destroyed when the ship ploughed into the dock. Some people were thrown into the cold water, while others were trapped in a lift which plunged into the sea, Italy’s fire brigade said. A 50-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble 12 hours after the accident and rushed to hospital while seven bodies were recovered-several by rescue divers from the water, the police said.

One person is still believed to be missing. The ‘Jolly Nero’ was following protocol by navigating towards the control tower and should have then turned into the open sea to its next port of call, Naples, but it

instead hit the shore. The crash revived painful memories in Italy of the Costa Concordia cruise ship tragedy last year in which 32 people were killed when the luxury liner crashed into an island in Tuscany.

The Costa Concordia had been performing a risky “salute” manoeuvre close to the island of Giglio and six people face charges of manslaughter including the captain, Francesco Schettino. Initial reports suggested the ‘Jolly Nero’, built in 1976, had suffered a mechanical failure. “We do not know much about what caused it. It is so unexpected that it is inexplicable. It was a routine manoeuvre,” Daniele Bo, spokesman for the ship’s owner Ignazio Messina & Co said.

“There were industrial vehicles and a trailer truck on board, as well as several containers. It was a mixed cargo,” he said.

Prosecutors opened an investigation into the crash and the ship was sequestered by

police, while the captain detained for questioning. Prosecutor Michele Di Lecce was quoted by Italian media as saying that one possibility investigators were looking into was that engine failure steered the ship off its course although he stressed that the inquiry had only just begun.

The tower crushed two adjacent threestorey office buildings in the port-which sees 6,600 ships transit through each year, carrying a total of more than 50 million tons of cargo. Claudio Burlando, governor of the local Liguria region in northwest Italy, told news channel Sky Tg 24: “The ship was being steered by an on-board pilot and two tug boats, one in front and one behind. It was a manoeuvre done hundreds of times.”

Luigi Merlo, head of Genoa’s port authority, said: “Weather conditions were perfect, there was no wind, there were no other ships on the move.” —AFP

No room for ‘careerists, social climbers’ among clergy: Pope ‘Theoretical poverty’ harms Church VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis said yesterday that clergy who were “careerists” or “social climbers” were doing serious damage to the Catholic Church, his latest utterance aimed at instilling a sense of frugality and service in the Vatican and beyond. Francis, 76, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, made the comments while addressing a gathering of superiors general of orders of nuns from around the world.

“Men and women of the Church who are careerists, social climbers, who use the people, the Church, brothers and sisters those they should serve - as a springboard for their own ambitions and personal interests do great damage to the Church,” he said. “We learn poverty from the

humble, the poor, the sick,” he added, urging clergy to work with those on the margins of society and shun the “idols of materialism” that cloud the true meaning of life. “We have no use for theoretical poverty,” Francis said, departing from his prepared text.

Since his election on March 13, Francis has made it clear through his words and example that he wants clergy to live simpler lives, to serve the poor and shun temptations of power. He has decided not to live in the spacious, luxurious papal apartments in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors, opting instead for a small suite in a guest house, where he shares meals with other residents. In his address, Francis appeared to be

sending a message not only to priests, nuns and bishops around the world who serve the 1.2 billion-member Church, but also to bureaucrats in the Vatican itself.

Francis has inherited a Vatican rocked by a scandal in which documents leaked to the media spoke of alleged corruption in its administration and depicted prelates as fighting among themselves to advance their careers. Last month he set up an advisory board of eight cardinals from around the world to help him reform the Vatican administration, known as the Curia.

They will help him put into place changes in an administration which has been held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of

Pope Benedict before he resigned in February.

Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the problems in the administration, which came to light when sensitive documents were stolen from the pope’s desk and leaked by his butler in what became know as the “Vatileaks” scandal. Before the conclave that elected Francis, cardinals called for changes to the Curia to make it a model of good governance, including introducing term limits on Vatican bureaucrats.

Anger at the mostly Italian prelates who run the Curia was one of the reasons that cardinals chose the first non-European pope for 1,300 years and quashed the chances of one of the frontrunners, Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola.— Reuters

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

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

Family of bride killed in US limo fire in grief MANILA: The grief-stricken Filipino family of the bride killed in a limousine fire in California had been preparing to welcome her home, but now await the return of her remains and hope to learn what caused the horrific accident that left five people dead.

“We want to find out why the fire broke out, and why the driver reportedly did not help,” Carlito Fojas, father of Neriza Fojas, said by telephone yesterday from the family’s northern hometown of Camiling in Tarlac province. His 31-year-old daughter had married Carlo Moya - a physical therapist also originally from the

Philippines - in a civil ceremony in Las Vegas last year, but they had planned another wedding June 19 at a hilltop church south of Manila. Her father said her gown was ready for fitting, and they had been looking forward to her June 2 homecoming.

Neriza, a registered nurse living in Fresno, and four of her nurse friends died when their limousine burst into flames Saturday night on one of the busiest bridges on San Francisco Bay as they were celebrating Neriza’s impending wedding. The driver survived, as did four other women who escaped by squeezing

through a narrow partition separating the front seat from the rest of the car.

Authorities are investigating what sparked the blaze and why those killed were unable to escape. Neriza Fojas had been calling home daily to get updates on preparations. During a call via Skype the day before she died, she excitedly showed her parents gifts she was going to bring home, including a bag for her mother and T-shirts for her cousins.

Her mother’s grief could not be contained. “I have been crying and crying,” Sonia Fojas said Tuesday, sob-

bing. Carlito Fojas said funeral plans have not been finalized, and that it was not yet clear when his son-inlaw could bring home his daughter’s remains.

Neriza, the youngest of the Fojases’ three children, was a naturalized US citizen. Sonia Fojas said she only recently found out that her daughter had already married. The US ambassador to the Philippines, Harry Thomas Jr., on Tuesday expressed condolences to the family. “Mystery surrounds deadly limo fire,” he said in a Twitter message. “Condolences to the Fojas family in the Philippines and the US and other nurses.” — AP

Canada becoming a nation of immigrants Christian dominance slips; Muslims and ‘no religion’ rise

ECATEPEC: Friends and family carry the coffins containing the remains of victims of a gas tanker explosion in a funeral procession in Ecatepec, a Mexico City suburb, yesterday. — AP

Military sexual assault cases go unreported WASHINGTON: They are young, often low-ranking service members out on the weekend in the late night and early morning hours. Sometimes they’ve been drinking. Often those who sexually assault them are in the armed forces, too.

But in the vast majority of military sexual assault cases - as many as 22,000 in 2012 - the victim chooses not to report the attack or unwanted sexual contact.

Sexual assaults across the military are a growing epidemic. In releasing a massive report Tuesday, Pentagon leaders continued to struggle with how to combat the problem and give victims enough confidence in the system to come forward.

Despite a slew of new oversight and assistance programs, troubling new numbers estimate that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, according to results of a survey. Of those, fewer than 3,400 reported the incident, and nearly 800 of them simply sought help but declined to file complaints against their alleged attackers.

The statistics emerged against a backdrop of scandals, including an ongoing investigation into more than 30 Air Force instructors for assaults on trainees at a Texas base. And the report comes just days after the Air Force’s head of sexual assault prevention was arrested on charges of groping a woman in a Northern Virginia parking lot.

Congressional outrage over these incidents and a decision by an Air Force officer to overturn a jury’s guilty verdict in a sexual assault case is producing sweeping legislation that two House members plan to introduce today.

Reps. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., are proposing stripping an officer’s authority to change or dismiss a court-martial conviction in major cases, such as sexual assault. Their bill would also require that an individual found guilty of rape, sexual assault, forcible sodomy and an attempt to commit any of those offenses be either dismissed or dishonorably discharged.

“Our effort is to try to get some standardized guidelines as to punishment for sexual assault convictions, taking it out of the chain of command and instilling some standards that can have a preventive effect on perpetrators,” Turner said Wednesday. “We want the stories to stop of people who are guilty of sexual assault and then stay around to the anguish of the victims.”

Turner said they worked with the Pentagon and the Senate on the bill that likely will be included in the massive defense policy measure that the House will consider this summer.

In a sharp rebuke Tuesday, President Barack Obama said he has no tolerance for the problem and said he had talked to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about it.

He said any military member found guilty of sexual assault should be held accountable, prosecuted and fired.

“I don’t want just more speeches or awareness programs or training, or ultimately folks look the other way,” the president said. “We’re going to have to not just step up our game, we have to exponentially step up our game to go after this hard.”

Hagel later gave a grim assessment, saying the military “may be nearing a stage where the frequency of this crime and the perception that there is tolerance of it could very well undermine our ability to effectively carry out the mission and to recruit and retain the good people we need.” The documents show that the number of sexual assaults reported by members of the military rose 6 percent to 3,374 in 2012. But a survey of personnel who were not required to reveal their identities showed the number of service members actually assaulted could be as many as

26,000, but they never reported the incidents, officials said Tuesday.

That number is an increase over the 19,000 estimated assaults in 2011. The statistics highlight the dismal results that military leaders have achieved in their drive to change the culture within the ranks, even as the services redoubled efforts to launch new programs to assist the victims, encourage reporting and increase commanders’ vigilance.

Hagel ordered a series of steps and reviews to increase officers’ accountability for what happens under their commands and to inspect workstations for objectionable materials, according to memos and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Hagel also told military leaders to develop a method to assess commanders and hold them accountable on their ability to create a climate “of dignity and respect.” He has given commanders until July 1 to visually inspect workspaces to make sure they are free of degrading materials, and military leaders have until Nov. 1 to recommend ways to assess officers and hold them accountable for their command climates.

“Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military service and has no place in this department,” Hagel said in a new response plan. “It is an affront to the American values we defend, and it is a stain on our honor. DoD needs to be a national leader in combating sexual assault and we will establish an environment of dignity and respect, where sexual assault is not tolerated, condoned or ignored.”

Across Capitol Hill, lawmakers demanded the Pentagon take more aggressive steps to address the growing problem and they announced renewed efforts to pass legislation to battle the problem.

This week’s sexual battery arrest of Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, who headed the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit, provided a rallying point for lawmakers, who held it up Tuesday as an example of the Pentagon’s failure to make progress despite the increased effort.

Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., introduced legislation Tuesday to provide any victim with a special military lawyer who would assist them throughout the process, prohibit sexual contact between instructors and trainees during and within 30 days of completion of basic training or its equivalent, and ensure that sexual assault response coordinators are available to help members of the National Guard and Reserve.

“Not only are we subjecting our men and women to this disgusting epidemic, but we’re also failing to provide the victims with any meaningful support system once they have fallen victim to these attacks,” Murray said.

The report says that of the 1.4 million active duty personnel, 6.1 percent of active duty women or 12,100 - say they experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012, a sharp increase over the 8,600 who said that in 2010. For men, the number increased from 10,700 to 13,900. A majority of the offenders were military members or Defense Department civilians or contractors, the report said.

Within the specific services, the Army showed a 16 percent decrease in the number of reported sexual assault cases, from 1,695 in 2011 to 1,423 in 2012.

The Navy said it saw a 32 percent increase, jumping from 550 in 2011 to 726 in 2012. The report said the Marines had more than a 30 percent increase in reported sexual assaults, from 333 in 2011 to 435 in 2012. And the Air Force had a 33 percent increase in reports, from 594 in 2011 to 790 in 2012.— AP

OTTAWA: Canada is more than ever a nation of immigrants, with one in five Canadians born outside the country, according to a 2011 survey released by Statistics Canada yesterday. That 20.6 percent proportion of people born abroad, up from 19.8 percent five years previously, is far bigger than in most other rich industrialized countries. Statscan said 12.9 percent of US residents were born outside the country, and 11.5 percent of people in Britain. Australia’s rate is higher, at 26.8 percent.

But the federal agency also admitted that it was “difficult to anticipate the quality level of the final outcome” of its survey after changes were made in the way it sought information. In the past, Statscan sent a mandatory long-form census to 20 percent of the population. But the Conservative government abandoned that

approach in favor of a voluntary national household survey, which went to one in three Canadians.

Statistics Canada assumed only 50 percent of those who got the survey would respond to a voluntary questionnaire, while the mandatory form had a much higher response rate. The government argued the mandatory long census was too intrusive, and its decision prompted the resignation in 2010 of Statistics Canada’s chief statistician, who said the decision could endanger the survey’s usefulness. Business groups and social activists also said Statistics Canada needed the fuller information of the long-form census so it could assist them with planning and funding.

Canada, with a population of 32.9 million in 2011, aims to take in about 250,000 immigrants each year, partly because of a low birth rate

among its citizens. Immigration brought in 1.2 million people between 2006 and 2011, and a total of 6.8 million people in Canada were born outside the country. Almost 57 percent of the immigrants in the 2006-11 period came from Asia, with the Philippines topping the list, followed by China and India.

The survey also shows that the number of Muslims in Canada is rising strongly, while fewer people identify themselves as Christian and more say they have no religious affiliation. The number of Christians fell to 67.3 percent of the population in 2011 from 77.1 percent in 2001, while the number with no religious affiliation rose to 7.9 million from 4.9 million in 2001. The Muslim population nearly doubled during the decade to 1.05 million.

Muslims now make up 3.2 percent of the population, up from 2.0 percent in 2001. — Reuters

Benghazi probe stokes controversy WASHINGTON: House Republicans insist the Obama administration is covering up information about last year’s deadly assault on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, rejecting administration assurances to the contrary and stoking a controversy with implications for the 2016 presidential race.

Republicans on five House committees are pressing ahead with their own investigations despite an exhaustive independent review that blistered the State Department, more than 25,000 pages of documents sent to Congress and hours of testimony from former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Three State Department witnesses, including the former deputy chief in Libya, are scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at a session certain to attract attention after recent disclosures from the panel’s Republicans.

The panel’s Republican chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, said the witnesses deserve to be heard as the session got underway. The hearing is the latest in a long-running and bitter dispute between the administration and congressional Republicans who have challenged the White House’s actions before and after the Benghazi attack.

Democrats see it differently. “It’s politics,” said Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat and a member of the Oversight panel. “If it’s a fair-minded question of what we could do better (on security), that would benefit us all. But if it’s intended to embarrass the president or perhaps Hillary Clinton then it will be damaging no matter who the next secretary of state is or who the next president is,” Welch added.

The target of much of the conservative wrath is Clinton, a potential presidential candidate in 2016 who stepped down after four grueling years as the nation’s top diplomat with sky-high approval ratings. In her last appearance before Congress in January, a defiant Clinton took responsibility for the department’s missteps leading up to the assault while rejecting suggestions that the administration had tried to mislead the country about the attack. The scheduled witnesses were Mark Thompson, acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism; Gregory Hicks, the former deputy of mission in Libya; and Eric Nordstrom, a former regional security officer in Libya who testified before the panel in October.

On Sept. 11, 2012, two separate attacks hours apart on the US facility in Benghazi killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. An independent panel led by former

WASHINGTON: Family members of Americans killed in the September 11 attack on the Benghazi consulate listen as State Department foreign service officer and former deputy chief of mission/charge d’affaires in Libya, Gregory Hicks testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a hearing titled, “Benghazi: Exposing Failure and Recognizing Courage” in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill yesterday in Washington. — AFP top diplomat Thomas Pickering and retired Gen. Mike Mullen concluded that management and leadership failures at the State Department led to “grossly” inadequate security at the mission. The panel’s report singled out the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near East Affairs.

The report failed to placate Republican lawmakers, conservatives and outside groups, some of whom contend Benghazi is comparable to the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals and deserves a thorough examination. Two of the outside groups Special Operations Speaks and Special Ops OPSEC have been raising money on the issue.

The Watergate scandal brought down President Richard Nixon in the 1970s and Iran-Contra arms deal tarnished the administration of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

In her January testimony Clinton insisted that requests for more security at the diplomatic mission in Benghazi didn’t reach her desk. “I did not see these requests,” she said. “They did not come to me. I did not approve them. I did not deny them.”

Yet Republicans are pressing ahead, holding hearings and issuing an interim report that criticized her. “It looks pretty clear that there was some

catastrophic decision-making that in some way contributed to the death of those four Americans,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. “And that part I think is what the investigation will unfold.”

The Pentagon provided Congress with a timeline of the actions of security personnel and other senior officials around the attack last November, but Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday that it was insufficient.

The Oversight committee is looking to its witnesses to “put forward information about Benghazi that the Obama administration has tried to suppress,” said Frederick Hill, a spokesman for the panel. Last week , Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican and another possible 2016 candidate, said Clinton’s “dereliction of duty” in handling Libya should preclude her from holding office. Committee Democrats argue that the investigation has become politicized, pointing to their exclusion from much of the inquiry. Two Democratic staffers participated in an April 11 interview with Hicks, but the panel’s top Democrat said their efforts to find out about Thompson have been thwarted and they’ve been unable to talk to the witness. — AP

Britain’s PM vows immigration curbs LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged a fresh clampdown on immigration in the Queen’s Speech yesterday, seeking to bolster his right-wing credentials against the rise of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

The measures were at the heart of a string of solidly Conservative proposals in the speech, which sets out the British government’s legislative plans for the year ahead but is read out by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony full of historical symbolism.

Heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla attended the state opening of parliament alongside the queen in a sign of their increasing role as the 87-year-old monarch scales back some of her duties. Ministers drew up the address before the anti-immigration, eurosceptic UKIP won a quarter of the vote in local elections last week, but its key themes still appeared designed to confront the growing threat to Cameron’s Conservatives from the upstart party.

“Our resolve to turn our country around has never been stronger,” Cameron and his Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said in a foreword to the speech. The speech itself referred several times to “people who

work hard” and offered a strong conservative message to appeal to the traditional and often older voters who have flocked to UKIP, many of them former Tories alienated by Cameron’s shift to the centre ground.

Read out by the queen in a stately monotone, the address restated the government’s commitment to restore Britain’s faltering economic growth, slash the deficit and boost jobs through investing in infrastructure and helping small businesses. And it set out plans for an immigration bill that would aim to “ensure that this country attracts people who will contribute and deter those who will not”. The bill would restrict migrants’ use of the free-toaccess National Health Service (NHS), tighten the use of human rights law to make it easier to deport people, and introduce fines for landlords who rent homes to illegal immigrants.

As expected there was no mention of the European Union, an issue which has shot up the political agenda following the crisis in the euro-zone and has contributed to UKIP’s surge in support. Cameron has been resisting pressure to bring forward a promised referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU to before the next election in 2015. That pressure was

stepped up this week when former finance minister Nigel Lawson became the first senior Tory to call for Britain to leave the EU-something UKIP has long been urging.

The Queen’s Speech takes place every year or so at the start of a new parliamentary session, and contains all the pageantry expected of a state occasion. The monarch arrives at parliament in a horse-drawn carriage, dons a crown and sits on a throne to deliver the address to elected lawmakers and peers clad in scarlet, gold and ermine robes. This year’s speech was relatively short, containing proposals for 20 new laws, and opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband said it fell short of what was required to address Britain’s problems.

“Today’s Queen’s Speech should respond to the deep problems the country faces. On the evidence so far, it is not up to the scale of the task,” Miliband said. His party added that the measures on immigration were likely to have only a limited effect. One trade union leader, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, said the measures were “more about trying to head off UKIP and quell a backbench revolt than deliver a legislative program to get Britain back on track.” —AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

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

Indonesia anti-terror squad kills 3 militants BANDUNG: Indonesia’s anti-terrorism squad fatally shot three suspected militants and arrested two others yesterday after an all-day standoff at a village hideout in West Java. Officials said they were investigating whether the group was connected to an alleged plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy.

The three militants were killed after firing on police and hurling bombs at them, National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said after arriving at the scene. No officers were injured. Two other suspects were taken into custody after one surrendered and another was caught after trying to escape tear gas in the house, he said. Police also confiscated three pistols and four pipe bombs along with the remnants of two bombs that exploded at the house, where they had been living for

the past four months, Pradopo said.

“We have tried everything to prevent fatalities,” Pradopo told reporters. “But during three and a half hours of negotiations, they resisted using gunshots and explosions.” He said the five men were believed to have been involved in several robberies. Police are investigating whether they are connected to two suspects who were arrested last week in Jakarta with five homemade bombs in a backpack, he said. Their interrogation led to a rented house in the city where other explosive materials were found.

Those militants told authorities they wanted to retaliate against Myanmar for recent attacks on Muslims there by attacking the country’s embassy in Jakarta. Sectarian violence in Buddhist-majority

Myanmar has killed scores of people, and thousands of Muslims have been driven from their homes.

In a separate raid yesterday, anti-terror police in Central Java’s Batang town fatally shot a suspected militant and arrested another for their alleged connection to a March jewelry shop robbery in Jakarta, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said in a text message. A semi-automatic pistol and ammunition were also seized. Abu Roban, the alleged Jakarta branch leader of a terrorist group led by convicted militant Abu Omar, was killed after drawing his gun on police, Amar said. Sugiyanto, who uses only one name, was detained after resisting arrest, he said. The men are suspected of being part of a larger group involved in robberies to fund terrorist

activities, mainly aimed at police. It was unclear whether the two raids were related. Pradopo said another raid involving three more suspected militants was also under way in the Central Java town of Kebumen, where police were trying to persuade them to surrender. Another suspect who was a gun maker was arrested Tuesday in West Java’s Cipacing village, he said.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has been battling terrorists since bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. Terrorist attacks aimed at foreigners have been largely replaced in recent years by smaller, less deadly strikes targeting the government, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces. — AP

Bangladesh closes 18 factories after disaster Death toll hit 803

BANGALORE: Party workers belonging to the Karnataka State Congress Committee (KPCC) celebrate their party’s victory in the recently held state Assembly elections, in Bangalore yesterday. The Congress party will form the next government in the state without help as the party is leading in 120 seats, which will gives it a majority in the 224-seat Assembly. — AFP

Congress party wins key state election NEW DELHI: India’s ruling Congress party was set for a resounding election victory in the southern state of Karnataka yesterday, early results showed, a rare win the party hopes will put the wind in its sails ahead of general elections. Election commission results showed the centre-left Congress leading in 113 of 223 seats after Sunday’s vote, ousting the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after five years of rule marred by scandal.

Final results were due later. The win is a bright spot for Congress, which itself is on the back foot at the national level over a series of scandals. In one of the biggest cases, federal police are investigating how the government awarded coal field concessions to private and state companies.

Opposition parties say the process was corrupt.

“So many scams, so many scandals, this will be a bit of a booster dose,” said Vinod Sharma, a Congress party expert and a political editor at the

Hindustan Times newspaper. Congress is expected to do less well in at least four other state elections scheduled for this year. General elections are due to be held by May 2014. Uproar at the coal scandal and another involving a relative of the railway minister obstructed parliament for two weeks, and yesterday the speaker cut the current session short by three days. The mayhem in the lower house meant the Congress party was unable to pass its signature food security bill, which is seen as crucial to the party’s hopes of reelection. The election in Karnataka was widely seen as a barometer for voter anger at crony capitalism that has plagued India’s economic boom in the past decade. The BJP’s image in the state was tarnished by a $3 billion illegal mining scandal that ended India’s reign as the world’s third-largest iron-ore exporter. The infighting that ensued toppled two chief ministers in five years. —Reuters.

DHAKA: Bangladesh has shut down 18 garment plants for safety reasons after a building housing five of the factories collapsed and killed more than 800 people, a minister said yesterday. The move comes days after Bangladesh agreed with the International Labor Organization to give safety “the highest consideration” amid government fears that Western garment firms might start sourcing goods from other countries.

“Sixteen factories have been closed down in Dhaka and two in Chittagong,” textile minister Abdul Latif Siddique told reporters, adding that more plants would be shut as part of strict new measures to ensure safety. “We’ll ensure ILO standards in terms of compliance,” said Siddique, who heads a newly created high-powered panel to inspect the country’s 4,500 garment factories in an effort to avoid fresh disasters.

“We have seen that those who claim to be the best compliant factories in Bangladesh have not fully abided by building regulations,” he added.

The confirmed death toll from Bangladesh’s worst industrial disaster hit 803 yesterday as rescuers pulled dozens more bodies from the rubble of the nine-storey building in the town of Savar, a suburb of Dhaka. More than 3,000 garment workers were on shift on April 24 when the Rana Plaza complex crumbled as they were turning out clothing for Western retailers such as Britain’s Primark and the Spanish label Mango.

A total of 2,437 people were earlier rescued from the ruins. Cranes and bulldozers kept clearing debris yesterday as workers drawn from the army and fire service wore masks to ward off the smell of decomposing bodies. Brigadier General Siddiqul Alam Sikder said the stench of bodies trapped in the lower floors and under beams indicated the death toll would rise. “We’re expecting to find some bodies because we still

In Pakistan’s Baluchistan, death squads, rebels overshadow vote QUETTA: Naimatullah Gichki prays his party can win Saturday’s election and stop shadowy death squads killing members of his ethnic group in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan. But now insurgents from his own Baluch community are attacking his party for standing in the polls.

“We are attacked from all sides,” said the slight, bespectacled spokesman of the Baluchistan National Party. “For the separatists, we are targets because we are standing in elections. The death squads kill us because we are Baluch.”

Media attention in the run-up to the polls has focused on the Pakistani Taleban, who have denounced the vote as un-Islamic and attacked rallies, killing more than 90 people since April. But gas- and mineral-rich Baluchistan is bloody even when there are no elections. Kidnappings and killings are common. Ethnic Baluch guerrillas have been fighting for independence from Pakistan for decades. They attack teachers, government officials and members of other ethnic groups who they see as unfairly exploiting their province’s resources.

In response, death squads that human rights groups and Baluch activists say are organized by the security forces have rounded up and killed hundreds of Baluch, a tactic the rights groups call “kill and dump”. “This is not counterinsurgency - it is barbarism,” the Human Rights Watch said in a 2011 report in which it accused the security forces of being responsible for dozens of cases of abduction, abuse and killing.

The military denies running death squads.

The Supreme Court is hearing a case regarding the fate of hundreds of missing Baluch and one security official told Reuters that paramilitary forces began dumping bodies in the port city of Karachi after the court’s increased scrutiny. The separatists want Baluchistan to secede, a nightmare scenario for Pakistan that evokes the national trauma of losing East Pakistan, which fought a bloody war for independence and became Bangladesh in 1971.

Most separatist groups condemn the election and threaten to kill anyone who takes part. Grenades have been thrown at BNP offices and on Monday, three schools and a clinic designated as polling stations were blown up. “We are fighting a war, not an election,” Gichki said. The BNP’s decision to contest polls has split families. Two BNP candidates have brothers accused of leading insurgent groups. Many hope the party’s participation will help ease the violence in Baluchistan, an arid land whose barren hills hide big reserves of natural gas as well as rich deposits of copper and gold.

Baluchistan makes up 44 percent of Pakistan’s land mass but is home to only 10 million of its 180 million citizens. Its revenues from resources have enriched officials but there is little sign of the cash on Quetta’s dusty streets, where campaign posters are plastered over crumbling walls.

FEAR AND HOPE Baluchistan’s instability is fueled in part by its location, with Afghanistan to the northwest, Iran to the west and the Arabian Sea to the south. Baluch gun-

ISLAMABAD: Supporters of Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan flash victory signs as they take part in an election campaign rally in Islamabad yesterday. Doctors said they expect Pakistani politician Imran Khan to make a full recovery despite fracturing his spine in a fall at a campaign rally just days before the general election. — AFP

men control smuggling routes for everything from heroin flowing out of Afghanistan onto the international market to cheap oil pouring in from Iran. In the port city of Gwadar, Imam Bheel, a Baluch businessman who the United States has designated a global heroin “kingpin” is hosting election campaign meetings despite being wanted by police over the murder of an official.

Bheel is supporting a bid by his son, Yaqoob Bizenjo, for a provincial assembly seat, two Baluch senators who know Bheel said. “Imam Bheel is campaigning for his son just like others are, by meeting important people,” former senator Malik Baloch said. “He faces threats from various elements, including Baluch rebels, so he is very careful.” Bheel and Bizenjo were not immediately available for comment. Bizenjo has previously denied that his father is involved in drug smuggling or murder.

The nationalist rebels are not the only ones attacking election candidates.

Dr Ruquiya Hashimi has received numerous death threats from rightwing Sunni militants because she is a Shi’ite from the Hazara ethnic minority.

Militants killed her brother-in-law three years ago. Another Hazara candidate narrowly escaped a suicide car-bomb attack near a political meeting last week. But she says she will not give up.

Like Gichki, she hopes to win power in the polls and protect her people. Nearly 200 Hazaras were killed in two sectarian bombings this year.

The Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which subscribes to the hardline Takfiri Deobandi school of Islam, claimed responsibility. They consider Shiites apostates. The LeJ, historically supported by Pakistan’s spy agency as a proxy force to further the military’s aims, is banned. But the flags of an ideologically affiliated party flutter from lamp posts in Quetta. “We have fear and hope all mixed together,” said Hashimi, a dark shawl covering her pink shalwar khameez tunic and trousers. “We have no choice. We cannot stand there and do nothing.”

The polls will mark the first time a civilian government has completed its full term and handed over power to another in Pakistan’s coup-prone history. But despite the change of civilian guard, real power lies with the military.

New political leaders will find it impossible to stop the death squads, the nationalist killings or sectarian attacks without the support of the security forces. “The civilian government has been totally powerless. Baluchistan is controlled by the military,” said Malik Siraj Akbar, a Baluch journalist living in Washington. — Reuters

DHAKA: Bangladeshi garment workers, employed in the building which collapsed a fortnight ago killing hundreds, wait in line to claim their salaries in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka, yesterday. Recovery teams have so far recovered 782 bodies and that figure is expected to rise still further as bulldozers continue to churn through the rubble. — AFP haven’t reached the bottom. We’ve finished around 70 percent of the job,” he said.

Efforts to identify bodies were being hampered by their decomposition of bodies, officials added. Many bodies were found in the staircases.

Panicked garment workers had raced to stairwells in a rush to get out of the building after hearing a loud noise but the compound collapsed within five minutes, trapping them.

The disaster was the latest in a string of deadly accidents to hit the nation’s textile industry.

Just last November, a factory fire last November killed 111 garment workers. The government at the weekend in a joint statement with the ILO

and factory owners promised to submit to the next parliamentary session a labor law reform package. It pledged the package would allow “the right to collective bargaining” and provide for “occupational safety and health”. A preliminary government investigation blamed the collapse on the vibrations of giant electricity generators. Police have arrested 12 people including the complex’s owner and four garment factory owners. Impoverished Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment exporter and the industry accounts for over 40 percent of its industrial workforce and 80 percent of the nation’s exports.— AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

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

Japan pulls back on denials of WWII sex slavery

SEOUL: In this Friday, March 1, 2013 file photo, a South Korean protester playing the role of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kneels down on a Japanese flag during a rally demanding full compensation and apology for wartime sex slaves from Japanese government and criticizing the Japanese government’s recent claim over the disputed islets called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. —AP

TOKYO: Japan has acknowledged that it conducted only a limited investigation before claiming there was no official evidence that its imperial troops coerced Asian women into sexual slavery before and during World War II. A parliamentary statement signed Tuesday by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged the government had a set of documents produced by a postwar international military tribunal containing testimony by Japanese soldiers about abducting Chinese women as military sex slaves.

That evidence apparently was not included in Japan’s only investigation of the issue, in 1991-1993. Tuesday’s parliamentary statement also said documents showing forcible sex slavery may still exist. The statement did not say whether the government plans to consider the documents as evidence showing that troops had coerced women into sexual slavery.

Over the past two days, top officials of Abe’s conservative government have appeared to soften their stance on Japan’s past apologies to neighboring countries for wartime atrocities committed by the Imperial Army, saying Japan does not plan to revise them. The backtracking appears intended to allay criticisms of Abe’s earlier vows to revise the apologies, including an acknowledgment of sexual slavery during the war, and calm tensions with neighbors South Korea and China. The US government also has raised concerns about Abe’s nationalist agenda.

Abe has acknowledged so-called “comfort women” existed but denied they were coerced into prostitution, citing a lack of official evidence. He also has repeatedly vowed to reassess apologies by past Japanese administrations.

The parliamentary statement, released Tuesday and seen by the Associated Press yesterday, was in response to an

official inquiry last month to the upper house of Parliament by opposition lawmaker Tomoko Kami, who said the government’s investigation into sex slavery was “insufficient” and documents it claimed to have collected were incomplete.

Kami, of the Japan Communist Party, also asked whether the government had ever updated its archives to reflect more recent findings than the earlier investigation. The answer was no. The statement acknowledged documents produced by the 1946-1948 International Military Tribunal for the Far East, held in Tokyo, but said they were not in the Cabinet Secretariat’s archives. It did not say when the documents were found or whether they are reflected in any official statements about sexual slavery.

Abe also has criticized the tribunal’s decisions as “condemnation by the allied victors’ judgment,” but has said he’s in no position to object to the rulings Japan had already accepted. The parliamentary statement described the 1993 findings as “the result of an all-out and sincere investigation” that brought “closure.” But it said the government is open to updates if new findings are valid.

“Due to the nature of the issue, there is a possibility that previously unavailable documents may be discovered. In such a case, we are asking related ministries and offices to report to the Cabinet,” it said. The documents quote testimony from Japanese soldiers saying they recruited women by posting advertisements for factory workers and “threatened them and used them as prostitutes for the bestial lust of the troops.” One army lieutenant testified that he helped set up a brothel for soldiers including himself, forcing five women in the city of Guilin in southern China to work as prostitutes for eight months.

Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said yesterday that Japan recognizes the harm it caused during its invasion and occupation of much of Asia, and that it has repeatedly and clearly stated that position. “The Abe government has expressed sincere condolences to all victims of the war, in and out of the country, and there is no change in that,” Suga said in response to a question about a comment by South Korean President Park Geun-hye, published in The Washington Post this week, asserting that Japan should correct its view of its wartime history.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida echoed Suga’s remarks. “The Japanese government has accepted the facts of history in a spirit of humility, expressed once again our feelings of deep remorse and our heartfelt apology, and expressed our feelings of profound mourning for all victims, both at home and abroad,” he told reporters.

“And Prime Minister Abe shares the same view.” China and South Korea have reacted harshly to recent nationalistic events and remarks, including visits by several Japanese government ministers and nearly 170 lawmakers to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes 2.3 million war dead, including 14 wartime leaders convicted of war crimes. Rancor over territorial disputes has further strained relations between Japan and its neighbors.

Only in the past two decades has Japan acknowledged some of its past brutalities, including medical atrocities and use of poison gas, as well as sexual slavery - a legacy that still haunts Tokyo’s relations with its neighbors. Before he took office in December, Abe had advocated revising a 1993 statement by thenPrime Minister Yohei Kono expressing remorse for the suffering caused to the sexual slaves of Japanese troops. —AP

China extending growing international influence Israeli PM in Beijing BEIJING: Chinese leaders welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Beijing yesterday as China tries to bring its growing international influence to an area where it has had little impact - the Middle East peace process.

Greeting the Israeli leader at the Great Hall of the People, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made no

also on regional issues such as the question of Palestine and the Middle East process,” Li told Netanyahu before the two sat down to talks on the peace process and other regional issues. The near simultaneous visits to China by Abbas and Netanyahu underscore China’s desire to play a greater role in the Middle East, a region Beijing

BEIJING: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, center left, walks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center right, as they review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. —AP direct mention of his meeting two days earlier with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads his people’s efforts to achieve statehood. Talks between Israel and the Palestinians on the statehood issue have been deadlocked for four years, despite pressure on Jerusalem from the United States, Russia and the European Union, long the major players in Middle East diplomacy.

“I’m ready to exchange views with you today on how to strengthen our bilateral relationship, how to enhance our bilateral cooperation and

has long seen as a key source of energy.

“The Middle East confuses the Chinese,” said China expert Yoram Evron of Israel’s University of Haifa. “But in the past two years, there are people in China who think it needs to expand its activities in the region in order to safeguard its interests.” Evron’s view was echoed by Middle East expert Li Weijian of the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Studies, who said the region was far too important for China to ignore, particularly in light of Beijing’s increased economic and political clout elsewhere in the world.

“China needs to play a role in major international affairs, including the affairs of the Middle East, and China has been stepping up efforts in this respect,” he said. Last week, China’s Foreign Ministry said it would be willing to arrange a meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu, but with the Israeli side casting Netanyahu’s visit in largely commercial terms, the meeting didn’t take place. Instead, Netanyahu devoted much of his time on his trip to pressing for an expansion of his country’s $8 billion annual trade with China, and encouraging Chinese investment in Israeli industry.

Following their meeting, Li and Netanyahu presided over the signing of five agreements on aerospace, agricultural research, financial cooperation, science and technology, and on Chinese language instruction. Details were not immediately provided. “There is a perfect marriage between our mutual capabilities,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony marking the signing of business agreements between Israeli and Chinese companies. “ The Israeli government stands firmly behind cooperation between Israeli and Chinese companies, (and) between Israeli research institutes and Chinese research institutes.”

Netanyahu’s emphasis on his trip will likely win only partial approval from Beijing, which for decades has taken a strong position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with very little to show for it. Adopting a strongly pro-Palestinian stand in the mid-1950s, Beijing recognized Palestinian statehood in 1988, four years before establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

While ties between Jerusalem and Beijing have expanded rapidly over the past 15 years China is now a major purchaser of Israeli knowhow, from high-technology to agriculture, engineering and military-related services - it maintains its Palestinian sympathies, amid a general critique of what it sometimes sees as Israeli belligerence in the area. After last weekend’s Israeli airstrike on a Syrian military complex, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying avoided criticizing Israel by name, but left little doubt that Beijing saw it as an unwelcome curtain raiser to Netanyahu’s visit. “We oppose the use of force and believe any country’s sovereignty should be respected,” she said. —AP

Thousands rally against Malaysia election result KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of Malaysians dressed in mourning black gathered yesterday to denounce elections which they claim were stolen through fraud by the coalition that has ruled for 56 years. The rally was called by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who has vowed a “fierce” campaign for electoral reform after losing Sunday’s vote and has said he would soon produce evidence of fraud by what he calls an “illegitimate” government. Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition government has hotly denied the opposition’s numerous allegations of cheating.

It also denounced the gathering in a 25,000-seat stadium on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur. In a statement, the coalition said Anwar has “deliberately chosen a small stadium to ensure it will spill onto the streets. His protest is calculated to create unrest.”

Previous election reform protests have ended in wild scenes, with police using tear gas and water cannon. Police had earlier threatened to arrest participants

in yesterday night’s rally.

But with tension high over the country’s closest-ever election result, police backed off and a festive atmosphere prevailed as rally-goers waved opposition party flags and blared vuvuzela horns. “I think they should redo the election,” said university student Tan Han Hui. “I’m here to support democracy. I feel the election is so unfair and there are so many dirty tricks.” Participants filled the stadium’s stands and spilled onto the football field. Anwar has battled Barisan since he was ousted from its top ranks in 1998 and jailed for six years on sex and corruption charges widely seen as trumped-up. He says the election was stolen via “unprecedented electoral fraud”.

Anwar, who was due to address the gathering later in the evening, has called on Malaysians across the country to wear black in protest. Among other allegations, voters complained that indelible ink-meant to thwart multiple voting-easily washed off. Accounts of

suspected foreign “voters” being confronted by angry citizens at polling centers went viral online. Anwar had alleged a government scheme to fly tens of thousands of “dubious” and possibly foreign voters to flood key constituencies.

The government has poured scorn on the allegations. But a report released yesterday by two independent watchdogs said the polls were marred by pro-government bias and irregularities that indicate “serious flaws” in the electoral system. The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs and Centre for Public Policy Studies cited concerns including partisan use of government machinery, progovernment media bias and doubts over the integrity of voter rolls. The election was “only partially free and not fair”, the report said.

The vote was touted as the first in which the opposition had a chance to unseat the ruling coalition, which has governed since independence in 1957.

Barisan retained a firm parliamentary

majority despite winning less than half the popular vote, a factor blamed on gerrymandering and Barisan tinkering with electoral districts. Police originally said the rally was illegal as organizers did not give authorities the required 10 days’ notice. Yesterday they said it could go ahead but warned participants could face subsequent legal action for any “seditious” speech.

Both the United States and European Union congratulated Najib on his win but urged him to address reports of irregularities. Anti-graft watchdog Transparency International said in a statement the vote showed that electoral reforms were “urgently required”. Suspicion over the result could cause an extended period of unrest, according to Joshua Kurlantzick, a Southeast Asia Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. “Anger is going to simmer for weeks or months, and is already growing fiercer on Malaysia’s free online media,” he wrote in an analysis. —AFP

SINGAPORE: Rick (L) and Mary Todd (R), the parents of an US scientist Shane Todd arrive at Changi International airport in Singapore on May 6, 2013. The parents of a US scientist found hanged last year in Singapore arrived in the city-state ahead of a coroner’s inquiry into his death at which they will testify. —AFP

Parents of US engineer push for murder verdict SINGAPORE: The parents of Shane Todd, an American engineer found dead in Singapore last year, intend to prove at a coroner’s inquiry that he was murdered over a project they say involved the illegal transfer of sensitive technology to China.

But Rick and Mary Todd said they would push for an investigation by the US Congress no matter what verdict emerges from the inquiry in Singapore that starts next Monday.

“We believe China and Singapore are illegally transferring technology, our technology, from the United States,” Mary Todd, a Christian pastor, said in an interview on Wednesday. “We believe it’s so high up that if our son was murdered, the implications for Singapore and China are so extreme that they will go to any lengths to make it look like suicide.” An autopsy in the Southeast Asian city-state concluded that Todd, 31, died by hanging after his body was found suspended from a door in his apartment on June 24, two days after he quit his job at Singapore’s Institute of Microelectronics (IME).

The Todds said they had proof, on a hard drive they say they found in the apartment, that their son worked on a project between state-linked IME and Chinese telecommunications company Huawei involving the advanced semiconductor material gallium nitride, which has commercial and military purposes. Huawei and Singapore officials have denied the allegations. The Chinese company, which has been blocked from some projects in Australia and deemed a security risk by the US Congress on the grounds its equipment could be used for spying, said in February it had not worked with IME on any projects involving gallium nitride (GaN).

Colleagues of Todd’s at IME told Reuters he had worked on a routine project testing semiconductors for Huawei. “We feel we know what happened to our son and we want it to come out and to be exposed,” Mary Todd said. “If they come out with a verdict of suicide, that’s too bad for Singapore.

This is not going to go away. Our government, our FBI, has the proof. We have it.”

Todd “was involved in a small project with Huawei that lasted nine months”, K Shanmugam, Singapore’s foreign minister

and law minister, told Reuters in an interview in late March. “IME discussed a project involving GaN with Huawei. This GaN project has been the subject of much, and sometimes breathless, media speculation.

The reality is IME and Huawei could not agree terms on the project and thus the project never materialised.”

Singapore’s state coroner, Imran Abdul Hamid, has set aside 12 days to review the forensic reports and weigh testimony from the police, experts and other witnesses. The Todds can testify and ask questions themselves or through their lawyer. Imran, a former prosecutor at the Attorney General’s Office, has a reputation for being tough with police if he thinks their work has been sloppy. “It will be a public and transparent process,” Shanmugam, who discussed the Todd case with US officials during a visit to Washington in March said. Interviews by Reuters with Todd’s family, colleagues and friends last July revealed conflicting views on his state of mind before his death, the nature of his work and how he died.

Colleagues said Todd was depressed in his last few months, his concerns appearing to centre on a sense of failure about his work and ambivalence about returning to the United States. The Todds dispute that, saying they were in frequent contact with their son and he had expressed fears for his life related to his work at IME. IME is part of a network of research institutes managed by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*Star. During his visit to Washington, Shanmugam said IME was subject to a “very rigorous audit” to ensure there was no improper transfer of technology.

Senator Max Baucus, who represents Todd’s home state of Montana, has said he will “stop at nothing” to satisfy the Todd family or determine there had been no transfer of technology that might jeopardize US security. “This is far bigger than our son’s death. This is a matter of national security. Our goal is to take it to a congressional investigation,” said Rick Todd, an airline pilot. “When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what they decide. It matters for Singapore because it shows how they run things. It will come out in the trial, but the significance for the world is what we’re concerned about.” —Reuters

14

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

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Issues

Is Europe losing faith in the EU?

By Frederick Kempe

H

appy Europe Day! If you don’t know May 9 is Europe Day, then you find yourself in good company with a majority of Europeans. Even in the most buoyant time, this holiday - marking the Schumann Declaration, presented by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950, that launched the European Coal and Steel Community - doesn’t come with the transcontinental fireworks of America’s July 4.

It does, however, provide occasion to reflect on the growing perils to Europe, and the enormous risks they pose to both the United States and the global future. For all the talk of Europe’s fiscal deficits, or the “democracy deficit” that leaves European Union institutions lacking accountability and legitimacy, the most dangerous deficit is one of Europeans.

Last week, no less an authority than Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Council president, lamented in a speech that the European dream was under threat from a “resurgence of populism and nationalism” across the 27 countries and 500 million people of the European Union.

Barroso said: “At a time when so many Europeans are faced with unemployment, uncertainty and growing inequality, a sort of ‘European fatigue’ has set in, coupled with a lack of understanding. Who does what? Who decides what? Who controls whom and what? And where are we heading?

And, let us be clear, the indifference of many proEuropeans is also a risk.”

The percentage of European nationals who distrust the European Union is growing with alarming speed, according to the Eurobarometer, a public opinion service of the European Commission. In November 2012, some 72 percent of Spaniards said they “tended not to trust the EU,” compared to just 23 percent five years earlier. In Italy, the figure has spiked to 56 percent from 41 percent. Concern should be greatest in Germany, where public opinion toward Europe could be most decisive to the continent’s future. Europeanism was long a welcome identity for a country that after World War II was more than happy to embrace an alternative. That attitude has eroded with increased distance from the country’s Nazi past and growing doubts about Europe’s future - as well as the economic cost to Germans of the euro zone crisis. Though Germans by a 75 percent majority still prefer remaining in the euro, some 56 percent have no trust in the EU, and fewer than a third have a positive image of the EU. German Chancellor Angela Merkel dare not ignore the emotion behind the emergence of Germany’s first antieuro party, the Alternative for Germany. Though its support in September elections is likely to be small, its ideas are influencing the public debate. A senior German policymaker told me recently that Merkel is an even more passionate European than is commonly understood, and that she would never abandon the euro. “But it is increasingly difficult,” this official said, “to keep the German electorate with her.” In a European Council on Foreign Relations paper, experts Jose Ignacio Torreblanca and Mark Leonard wrote: “What is striking is that everyone in the EU has lost faith in the project, both creditors and debtors In southern European countries, the EU looks like the IMF [International Monetary Fund] did in Latin America: a golden straitjacket that is strangling the space for national politics and emptying their national democracies of content. In northern European countries, the EU is increasingly seen to have failed as a controller for the policies of the southern rim.

The creditors have a sense of victimhood that mirrors that of the debtors.” Key Obama administration officials have come to recognize the enormous stakes for the United States and the world of European unity and effectiveness.

The United States, with just 19 percent of global gross domestic product, can only shape the future global system through closer collaboration with its most important European allies.

It isn’t just that the European Union is the world’s largest economy, it has also been the world’s most effective force in extending democracy and free markets over the past 20 years - embracing 15 new member states in a manner that has expanded rule of law and reduced ethnic conflict.

Geostrategic purpose is perhaps the most important motivator behind President Barack Obama’s decision to highlight the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations in his State of the Union message.

Former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told Globsec, an annual security conference in Bratislava, that, though the agreement will be hard to negotiate and implement: “Eventually, it can create additional transatlantic bonds that will dramatically alter the geopolitical realities of the world as a whole. It can shape a new balance between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceanic regions, while at the same time generating in the West new vitality, more security and greater cohesion.”—Reuters

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

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

Libya in crisis as militias hold state hostage

By Youssef BA

T

he Libyan militiamen who have besieged two ministries in Tripoli for more than a week appear determined to press their protests to squeeze more concessions from the government, analysts say. Initially these armed groups called for the adoption of a law to bar officials who served under the ousted regime of Muammar Gaddafi from government and political posts. Under intense pressure from the groups, the General National Congress voted through the law on Sunday. But now some of these groups are pushing ahead with demonstrations and openly demanding the head of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan as well. These militias say they are the “Thunar” (revolutionaries) who battled Gaddafi’s troops until the fall of his regime in October 2011. But in reality, they are a motley mix of “armed fighters and civilians with varying political beliefs, motivated by personal ambition, even if their stated goal is to ‘correct the revolution’ they believe has been skewed by the presence of former Gaddafi collaborators in the administration,” said political analyst Issam Zubeir.

According to Mohammed Al-Senussi, professor of international relations at Benghazi University, “These protesters have no base in the national public opinion.” “Every time these militias take advantage of legitimate demands to resort to shows of force to impress and to make up for their declining influence over Libyan society,” he added. After the end of the conflict in Libya in 2011, the former rebels were hailed as heroes for their part in toppling the Gaddafi regime.

Since then, however, they have formed militias with different ideologies and motivations, and today stand accused of many of the country’s ills, notably the instability that still plagues parts of the north African nation. “These armed men are young people who made sacrifices during the war, but who found themselves marginalized at its end. They think they are the cast-offs of the Libyan revolution,” said Ibrahim alKaraz, professor of political sciences at Tripoli University. “They were disappointed by the new authorities who have failed to bring about their aspirations,” he added.

These armed groups received salaries and other perks from the transitional government, in addition to reportedly benefiting from smuggling and extortion with impunity. The government regularly promises to be firm with “illegal militias,” but in practice it has avoided any use of force to “save lives,” it has said. Politicians often manipulate these former rebels, although no political party or group has openly claimed responsibility for the armed protest movement.

But some observers and politicians have pointed the finger

at the Muslim Brotherhood, which was behind the controversial exclusion law. They have also sought to bar their rivals, particularly Mahmud Jibril, who heads the liberal National Forces Alliance that dominated the July 7 elections. Jibril was an economic adviser to the Gaddafi regime in its final years,

before joining the revolution in 2011 and briefly serving as prime minister. Zeidan, who is thought to be close to the liberals, recently accused certain figures who lost out in the last election of being behind the protest movement, without naming any names. — AFP

Romania, Bulgaria seek EU acceptance

By Ethan Bilby

A

ddressing an audience of dignitaries in Luxembourg in 2005, Bulgaria’s then prime minister extolled the virtues of European Union membership, declaring his nation ready to take its place at the heart of the continent.

“Bulgaria is returning politically to the family of European nations to which it has always belonged,” Simeon SaxeCoburg announced as Bulgaria and Romania signed the documents that would bring them into the EU two years later, in 2007. The rhetoric was full, matching the occasion, and heartfelt, with the memories of Soviet influence fresh in the minds of most Bulgarians and particularly Saxe-Coburg, the country’s child tsar before the monarchy was overthrown in 1946.

But eight years on from that upbeat spring day in Luxembourg, and as a divided Bulgaria prepares for parliamentary elections on May 12, the gap between the onetime aspirations of EU membership and the everyday reality of belonging grows wider. Rather than feeling pulled into the heart of Europe, Bulgaria and Romania find themselves on the edge of the debate, with questions frequently raised by their EU partners about their commitment to the rule of law and willingness to crack down on corruption, organized crime and illegal migration.

Membership has not delivered a one-way ticket to democratic stability, economic growth and greater opportunity for all. Diplomats from other member states often quietly question the wisdom of allowing them in. “The European Union was seen as some sort of golden rainbow on the horizon,” Amanda Paul, an east Europe expert at the European Policy Centre, a think tank, said of the image many Romanians and Bulgarians had in their minds before joining. “As a whole I think both Romanian and Bulgaria have benefited from membership, but they still have significant democratic deficits,” she said, explaining that if citizens wanted to understand the gap between expectation and

reality, they should look first to home, not to Brussels. “They should be more disappointed in their own leaders and politicians rather than in the EU institutions and what the EU has been able to do for them.”

FROM AFAR Whether living in their home countries on the southeastern periphery of Europe or working in Brussels, Romanians and Bulgarians increasingly have a sense of isolation. While per capita incomes have risen steadily since joining the EU by around 30 percent between 2006-2011 for both, according to IMF data - and opportunities to move and work across Europe have increased, there is still not a feeling of being fully integrated into the union of European states.

Romania and Bulgaria remain outside Schengen, the agreement that allows for the free movement of citizens across 26 European countries, and plans to join the euro currency are on hold for the immediate future.

When either country pops up for discussion in EU debates, it is all too often about whether they are meeting targets for bolstering their judicial systems or doing enough to combat smuggling and limit the influx of migrants from further east. “We are second-class citizens of the union and we are being left out of major decisions taken in Brussels,” said Ion Miciu, a 64-year-old engineer living in Bucharest.

“Our politicians are incompetent and have not fought in the last six years for Romania to have a more important voice.”

At EU summits, the leaders of Romania and Bulgaria have just the same opportunity as any other head of state or government to speak up, and often do. But when it comes to decision-making, especially during the last three years of economic crisis, Sofia and Bucharest barely figure.

“You see two countries that have to spend quite a lot of negotiating capital and goodwill on key issues for them, like Schengen membership,” said one EU diplomat familiar with dealing with both and who has seen the limits of their influence. — Reuters

Pakistan votes in historic polls under Taleban shadow

By Jennie Matthew

M

illions of Pakistanis go to the polls Saturday in elections overshadowed

by Taleban threats but marking a historic democratic transition of power in a nuclear-armed state used to military rule.

Taleban attacks have so far killed more than 100 people on the campaign trail and forced the main parties in the outgoing government, singled out by the insurgents for their alliance with the United States, to scrap major rallies. The race has been dominated by opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and former cricket star Imran Khan, who is looking to make a breakthrough for his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Sharif, a steel tycoon, is considered the front-runner and tipped to become the first politician to serve three terms as prime minister. He was first in the post from 1990-93, until he was sacked for corruption, and from 1997-99, when he was deposed by a military coup. Khan, who won only one seat in 2002 and boycotted polls in 2008, has led an electric campaign, galvanizing the middle class and young people in what he has called a “tsunami” of support that will propel him into office.

The former Pakistan cricket captain suffered head injuries after falling from a lift winching him up to the stage for an election rally on Tuesday, but recovered to make an appeal for voter support from his hospital bed. The main outgoing Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has run a lacklustre, rudderless campaign without a leader. Its election advertising still stars Benazir Bhutto, its charismatic prime minister assassinated in 2007. Her son, Bilawal, is too young to run for

parliament and Taleban threats have prevented him from addressing public rallies.

His father, President Asif Ali Zardari, is barred from campaigning as head of state and is anyway deeply divisive and unpopular. The polls are considered critical to strengthening democracy in Pakistan, marking the first time that an elected civilian government completes a full term and hands over to another in a country ruled by the army for half its existence.

Pakistan’s more than 86 million voters have the choice of 4,670 candidates standing for the 342-member lower house of parlia-

ment and nearly 11,000 people running for four regional assemblies. More than 600,000 security personnel will be deployed across the country to guard against Taleban strikes and around half the estimated 70,000 polling stations have been declared at risk of attack.

Turnout will be crucial. Commentators are divided on whether a wealth of enthusiastic first-term voters and Taleban threats will make turnout higher or lower than the 44 percent at the last elections in 2008.

“I want every person in this nation to have equal living standards, equal education, equal career opportunities,” said Rohail Khan,

KARACHI: Pakistan soldiers dismount from a truck as they patrol a street in Karachi yesterday. Pakistan goes to the polls on May 11 to elect lawmakers to the lower house of parliament and four provincial assemblies. It is the first time that a civilian government has completed a full term and handed over power through the ballot box in Pakistan’s 66-year history.— AFP

21, a student in the southwestern city of Quetta, excited about voting for the first time. The main issues are the tanking economy, an appalling energy crisis which causes power cuts of up to 20 hours a day, the war on Islamist militants, chronic corruption and the dire need for development. Khan has sought to put policies and issues at the front of the campaign, promising to stamp out corruption, but personality politics and kinship ties traditionally determine voting in Pakistan.

Sharif has presented himself as a statesman-in-waiting, the man who presided over economic growth in the 1990s and the man who knows how to deliver. Both he and Khan have backed talks with the Taleban and criticized US drone strikes against Islamist militants, although it remains unclear if or how policy towards extremism would change under a new government. Raza Rumi, the director of the Jinnah Institute think tank, says the Taleban threat to the campaign has been alarming. “It is the first time that nonstate actors are even now determining the course of elections. That is a major worry,” he said. “The surprise is Imran Khan’s growing support in the country. Whether he wins or not is a separate issue, but the fact that he mobilized so many people, he gave confidence to so many people, is good for the democracy” If PML-N and PTI perform well, they are likely to face criticism that they were helped to their victories by the Taleban, which singled out the PPP and its secular partners, the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

But Taleban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, referring to PTI and PML-N said: “If they also come into conflict with Islam, then we will decide to target them.” — AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

S P ORT S

Ashraf’s appointment as PCB chairman challenged

IRB unveil new plan to counter scrum chaos

ISLAMABAD: A former member of the PCB’s board of governors filed a petition in Lahore High Court yesterday against the election of Zaka Ashraf as the new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman.

Mohammad Anwar said in his petition that “unbridled powers are conferred upon the patron for the appointment of the chairman without following the open and transparent selection process.” The PCB’s 11-member board of governors earlier chose Ashraf after he was recommended by its four-member nomination committee.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the patron of the PCB, had shortlisted Ashraf and Aftab Ahmad Khan - a former chairman of Lahore Stock Exchange - for the post. Both were interviewed by the nomination committee yesterday.

Zardari directly appointed Ashraf as chairman last year.

However, a new election process was triggered when the PCB’s constitution was amended after the International Cricket Council set a June deadline requiring more independence for cricket boards. Two members of the nomination committee - a retired judge and a government official - were directly appointed by Zardari, while the other two were from the board of governors. Lahore High Court judge Abid Aziz Sheikh has asked the PCB to file their comments by June 18. —AP

DUBLIN: Rugby chiefs unveiled yesterday their latest bid to cope with the persistent problem of scrum collapses in major international matches by announcing the global trial of a new “crouch, bind, set” engagement sequence.

Fans at major matches have had to put up with repeated instances of re-set scrums slowing down the flow of the game.

Indeed it has become something of an event in a top-class rugby union fixture for a scrum to be completed first time and without either side conceding a penalty.

Although designed as a safety measure, the likes of ex-England hooker Brian Moore believe all ‘engagement sequences’ have done is create a situation where either the two front rows charge at one another or, as can happen, deliberately hold back to try to win a penalty against their opponents.

In a statement, the IRB said it hoped “crouch, bind, set” would reduce impact on engagement by up to 25 percent in elite competition. Implementation will begin at the start of the next season in both hemispheres. In a revision of the ‘crouch, touch, set’ engagement sequence currently being trialled, props will be expected to bind using their outside arm after the referee has called “bind” in the sequence. The front rows will maintain the bind until the referee calls “set”. At that point, the two packs will engage.

Karl, Coach of the Year DENVER: George Karl led the Denver Nuggets to a team-record 57 wins without a big name on his roster. For that endeavor, Karl earned the NBA’s Coach of the Year yesterday. He received 62 first-place votes, followed by Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat with 24 votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. New York’s Mike Woodson finished third and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, who won the award last season, was fourth. The Nuggets went 57-25 - the league’s fourth-best record - and captured the No. 3 seed. But the Nuggets were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors 92-88 in Game 6 last Thursday night.

“I am honored and energized to represent coaching and be their ambassador as coach of the year and continue to symbolize the great coaching there is in the NBA,” Karl said in a statement. “There are probably seven or eight guys who are deserving of it and another 10 or 15 other coaches who have done a great job and aren’t getting any recognition.” It’s the first time Karl has won the award in 25 seasons in charge. He joined Doug Moe as the only Denver coaches to earn the honor.

The Nuggets surged down the stretch, winning a team-record 15 straight at one point and going 24-4 after the All-Star break. They also won a franchise-best 38 games at the Pepsi Center.

Denver relied on its up-tempo offense and a deep bench to wear out opponents. The team led the league in scoring, fast-break points and points in the paint, with a roster that hardly contained a household name. Speedy point guard Ty Lawson led the team in scoring with 16.7 points a game, which was 31st in the league.—AP

Mets roll over White Sox

SAN JOSE: Joe Thornton No. 19 of the San Jose Sharks attempts to control the puck under pressure from Alexander Edler No. 23 of the Vancouver Canucks in Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.— AFP

Sharks sink Canucks UNIONDALE: Patrick Marleau scored a powerplay goal 13:18 into overtime and the San Jose Sharks completed their first playoff sweep in franchise history, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 Tuesday night. Joe Pavelski scored his second power-play goal of the game to tie it with 4:27 left in regulation. Brent Burns also scored for the Sharks, who will now get a break before beginning the second round of the playoffs next week.

Mason Raymond, Alex Burrows and Alexander Edler scored for the Canucks, who were unable to hold onto a late third-period lead for the second time this series.

Cory Schneider made big stops early in the overtime, but gave up the rebound that led to Marleau’s series-clinching goal.

With Daniel Sedin sent off for boarding Tommy Wingels, the Sharks came through with their third power-play goal of the night to win it.

Joe Thornton’s shot hit off Schneider and the puck was bouncing in the crease when Marleau just got his stick on it to score the winner, setting off a wild celebration at the Shark Tank and sending Vancouver to another early playoff exit.

The Canucks have lost 10 of their past 11 playoff games to raise major questions about the future of a franchise that made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals just two years ago.

ISLANDERS 6, PENGUINS 4 In Uniondale, John Tavares scored with 9:49 left, and the New York Islanders tied their firstround series with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night with a wild 6-4 victory. Only the final lead was safe in Game 4.

Tavares slammed in his own rebound in front after Brad Boyes fed him following a turnover by Penguins star Evgeni Malkin. It was the Islanders’ third one-goal advantage in the game and the one that earned them a 2-2 tie in the highly entertaining series that has featured 5-4 and 6-4 finishes at Nassau Coliseum. Tavares was serenaded with cheers of “M-V-P” from the frantic

crowd that is believing an upset is possible.

Casey Cizikas shoved in a shot with 1:16 left to add some much-needed insurance.

Captain Mark Streit scored twice, and Brian Strait and Kyle Okposo also had goals, and Evgeni Nabokov made 27 saves for the eighthseeded Islanders. Game 5 is today in Pittsburgh.

Senators 3, Canadiens 2 In Ottawa, Kyle Turris scored 2:32 into overtime, lifting the Senators into a 3-1 lead. Turris’ shot from the sideboards sneaked past Montreal backup goalie Peter Budaj, who came on for the injured Carey Price at the start of overtime.

Cory Conacher scored with 22.6 seconds to go in regulation to force overtime. Mika Zibanejad had the other goal for the Senators, who got 26 saves from Craig Anderson.

PK Subban and Alex Galchenyuk scored 62 seconds apart in the second period for Montreal.

Price made 30 saves two nights after allowing all six goals in Ottawa’s 6-1 victory in Game 3. He was injured on Conacher’s tying goal late in the third period. Game 5 goes tonight in Montreal in a series that has seen a little bit of everything.

BLACKHAWKS 3, WILD 0 In St. Paul, Patrick Sharp scored two goals for Chicago, and the Blackhawks ratcheted up their defense, putting the Wild on the brink of elimination. Bryan Bickell also scored and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for the Blackhawks, who built a 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven matchup.

The Wild had another goalie get hurt when Josh Harding’s injury forced Darcy Kuemper into action after the first intermission. Sharp scored on Chicago’s first shot at the rookie 62 seconds into the second period.

Minnesota, the only one of the 16 NHL playoff teams without a power-play goal this postseason, went scoreless in six man-advantage situations and is 0 for 15 in the series. Game 5 is back in Chicago tonight. — AP

Sibanda century propels Zimbabwe to series win BULAWAYO: A sparkling century from opener Vusi Sibanda propelled Zimbabwe to a seven-wicket win and a series victory over Bangladesh after the third and final one-day international in Bulawayo yesterday. Set 248 to win, Zimbabwe never looked in trouble with Sibanda leading from the front. He hit the winning runs to go to his second one-day international century off 135 balls with nine fours and two sixes as he finished unbeaten on 103.

Sibanda was given excellent support by Sean Williams, who went to his second halfcentury in as many matches and finished on 55 not out. “ To lose so convincingly in the first game and come back and put together two

important wins shows a lot of character and that we are moving in the right direction,” said Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor.

“We have always rated Vusi Sibanda very highly, I think it has been seven years since his last hundred so we are pleased for him. I am sure he will kick-on now.”

Asked to bat first, Bangladesh were reeling at 110 for five wickets before Nasir Hossain (63) steadied the innings in partnership with Mahmudullah who hit an unbeaten 75.

Their efforts took Bangladesh to a respectable 247 for nine but it was a target that Zimbabwe always looked likely to chase down. —Reuters

SCOREBOARD BULAWAYO: Scoreboard at the end of the third and final one-day international between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Bulawayo yesterday: Bangladesh innings Tamim Iqbal c Taylor b Chatara 32 Mohammad Ashraful c Sibanda b Vitori 5 Jahurul Islam b Vitori 0 Mushfiqur Rahim c Chatara b Utseya 32 Shakib Al Hasan c Sibanda b Williams 18 Nasir Hossain c Taylor b Jarvis 63 Mahmudullah not out 75 Ziaur Rahman c H Masakadza b Chatara 5 Abdur Razzak c Taylor b Jarvis 4 Shafiul Islam run out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-9, nb-2) 12 Total (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 247 Fall of wickets: 1-15 2-15 3-77 4-84 5-110 6-189 7-194 8-211 9-247.

Did not bat: Robiul Islam.

Bowling: K. Jarvis 10-0-63-2 (w1), B. Vitori 9-0-432 (nb1, w5), E. Chigumbura 0.5-0-2-0, H. Masakadza 5.1-0-16-1, P. Utseya 9-1-34-1 (w1), T.

Chatara 10-0-59-2 (nb1, w2), S. Williams 6-0-29-1.

Zimbabwe innings V. Sibanda not out 103 H. Masakadza c Mushfiqur Rahim b Robiul Islam 41 Sikandar Raza c Nasir Hossain b Ziaur Rahman 37 B. Taylor c Mushfiqur Rahim b Mahmudullah 2 S. Williams not out 55 Extras (lb-7, w-5, nb-1) 13 Total (for three wickets, 47.1 overs) 251 Fall of wickets: 1-79, 2-135, 3-142.

Did not bat: M. Waller, E. Chigumbura, P. Utseya, K. Jarvis, B. Vitori, T. Chatara.

Bowling: Shafiul Islam 10-0-58-0, Abdur Razzak 10-1-44-0, Robiul Islam 7.1-0-45-1, Ziaur Rahman 5-0-25-1, Shakib Al Hasan 9-1-43-0, Mahmudullah 6-0-29-1.

NEW YORK: Matt Harvey pitched one-hit ball for nine innings in a nearly perfect performance and the New York Mets permitted just one baserunner all game in beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0 in the 10th inning on Tuesday night.

Harvey allowed only an infield single by Alex Rios with two outs in the seventh - he was safe, barely. The right-hander struck out a career-high 12 and was pulled when the game went to extra innings.

Pinch-hitter Mike Baxter lined an RBI single with one out in the 10th off Nate Jones (0-3).

Mets reliever Bobby Parnell (3-0) retired all three batters he faced. It was a rare interleague matchup. Because of scheduling quirks, the Mets and White Sox had played just three previous games since AL vs. NL action began in 1997.

Only Texas and St. Louis have met so infrequently - they’ve played three games in the regular season, plus seven in the 2011 World Series.

PIRATES 4, MARINERS 1 In Pittsburgh, Jeanmar Gomez pitched five shutout innings while making a surprise spot start to help Pittsburgh down Seattle in an interleague game.

Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 4 with an RBIdouble and Garrett Jones hit a two-run homer in the eighth to pad the lead. Jason Grilli pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 13th save.

Gomez (2-0) allowed just two hits, striking out five and walking two. He was forced into action after scheduled starter James McDonald was sent to the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his right (throwing) shoulder less than two hours before the first pitch. Aaron Harang (1-4) posted his second strong outing, but received little help from Seattle’s anemic offense. Raul Ibanez provided a pinch-hit RBIdouble in the seventh to pull the Mariners within a run, but Seattle couldn’t keep Pittsburgh from improving to 14-0 when leading after seven innings this season.

ROCKIES 2, YANKEES 0 In Denver, Jorge De La Rosa pitched six scoreless innings in a steady rain and Carlos Gonzales hit his seventh homer in Colorado’s win over New York.

Despite a stellar start from Hiroki Kuroda, the Yankees lost their fifth straight game at Coors Field, dating to an interleague series in 2002.

They were swept in a three-game set in 2007 in their last trip to Denver’s downtown ballpark.

Gonzalez broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the sixth when he sent a 3-2 pitch from Kuroda (4-2) into the right field bullpen with a runner on to give Colorado a 2-0 lead. His homer followed a two-out single by Josh Rutledge.

Kuroda De La Rosa (3-3) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out a pair in improving to 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA lifetime against the Yankees.

BREWERS 6, RANGERS 3 In Milwaukee, Yuniesky Betancourt’s eighth homer of the season capped a five-run first inning and Milwaukee snapped a season-high five-game losing streak.

Aramis Ramirez also homered for the first time this year and NL batting leader Carlos Gomez added a two-run double in the interleague matchup.

Wily Peralta (3-2) gave up three runs - two earned - and five hits in six innings. Three relievers followed with an inning each for the Brewers, including Jim Henderson in the ninth for his seventh save. Mitch Moreland homered for the Rangers, who lost consecutive games for the third time this year. They also lost their seasonhigh fourth straight on the road.

Justin Grimm (2-2) gave up five earned runs on eight hits in five innings after entering the game with a total of six earned runs allowed this year. The right-hander struck out seven and walked three.

REDS 5, BRAVES 4 In Cincinnati, Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo hit two-out homers in the ninth inning to rally Cincinnati to victory.

Mesoraco connected for his first career pinchhit homer off Craig Kimbrel (0-1), who blew a save for the second time in five days. Kimbrel went to a full count on Mesoraco before the catcher homered into the first row in center.

Four pitches later, Choo hit his second homer of the game, giving him a team-leading seven. It was his second career game-ending homer.

Kimbrel fanned the first two batters in the ninth and was one strike away from getting his 100th career save. He’d allowed only one homer this season, but gave up two in a five-pitch sequence. Jonathan Broxton (1-1) retired three batters in the ninth for Cincinnati’s fourth win in five games.

CUBS 2, CARDINALS 1 In Chicago, Travis Wood pitched impressively

NEW YORK: Mike Baxter No. 23 of the New York Mets celebrates hitting the game winning RBI single in the tenth inning against the Chicago White Sox. — AFP

into the seventh inning to outduel Lance Lynn, Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run homer and Chicago snapped St. Louis’ six-game winning streak.

The Cardinals’ streak was their longest since an eight-game run July 11-21, 2010. Wood (3-2) allowed one run and five hits while striking out eight in 6 2-3 innings for his first win since April 27 at Miami. Carlos Marmol relieved Wood with two outs in the seventh and pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings. In the eighth he allowed a single to Yadier Molina and walked Jon Jay before getting out of the inning by picking Molina off between second and third. Lynn (5-1) was trying to become the NL’s first pitcher to win six games.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, DODGERS 3 In Los Angeles, Paul Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the ninth inning off closer Brandon League and Arizona sent lastplace Los Angeles to its sixth straight loss.

League (0-2) walked Gerardo Parra to open the ninth and struck out Didi Gregorius.

Goldschmidt fouled off five full-count pitches before driving his seventh home run into the left-field pavilion.

David Hernandez (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Arizona closer J.J. Putz left with an injury after issuing a leadoff walk in the ninth to Nick Punto, but Heath Bell got three outs for his second save.

PADRES 5, MARLINS 1 In San Diego, Eric Stults pitched seven-hit ball

into the seventh inning, Will Venable hit a tworun homer and drove in three runs, and resurgent San Diego sent Miami to its fifth loss in seven games.

Stults (3-2) walked two and struck out four in 6 1-3 innings as the Padres won for the 10th time in 13 games. San Diego, which began the season 5-15 and has won eight of its last nine at Petco Park, improved to 15-18.

The Marlins have the second worst record in baseball at 10-24. The Padres touched up Miami starter Alex Sanabia (2-5) for four runs in the first two innings, highlighted by Venable’s two-run homer, his fourth of the season.

PHILLIES 6, GIANTS 2 In San Francisco, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard homered to help Philadelphia beat Tim Lincecum (2-2) and San Francisco.

Utley had three hits and two RBIs, Howard reached base four times and Kyle Kendrick (4-1) pitched seven strong innings to win his third consecutive decision. The right-hander extended his scoreless streak on the road to 25 innings before giving up a sacrifice fly to Angel Pagan in the third.

Philadelphia has won two straight against the World Series champions since two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Halladay met with a specialist in Southern California earlier in the day. Kendrick yielded six hits and two runs, needing only 88 pitches to get through seven innings. — AP

MLB results/standings Baltimore 4, Kansas City 3; Cleveland 1, Oakland 0; Pittsburgh 4, Seattle 1; Minnesota 6, Boston 1; Cincinnati 5, Atlanta 4; NY Mets 1, Chicago White Sox 0 (10 innings); Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 4; Chicago Cubs 2, St. Louis 1; Milwaukee 6, Texas 3; Houston 7, LA Angels 6; Colorado 2, NY Yankees 0; Arizona 5, La Dodgers 3; San Diego 5, Miami 1; Philadelphia 6, San Francisco 2.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Boston 21 12 .636 20 13 .606 Baltimore NY Yankees 18 13 .581 Tampa Bay 14 18 .438 Toronto 13 21 .382 Central Division Detroit 19 11 .633 17 12 .586 Kansas City Cleveland 16 14 .533 Minnesota 14 15 .483 Chicago White Sox 13 18 .419 Western Division Texas 20 13 .606 18 16 .529 Oakland Seattle 15 19 .441 LA Angels 11 21 .344 Houston 9 24 .273

GB 1 2 6.5 8.5 1.5 3 4.5 6.5 2.5 5.5 8.5 11

National League Eastern Division Atlanta 19 13 17 15 Washington Philadelphia 16 18 NY Mets 13 16 Miami 10 24 Central Division St. Louis 20 12 Pittsburgh 18 14 Cincinnati 19 15 Milwaukee 15 16 Chicago Cubs 13 20 Western Division Colorado 19 13 San Francisco 19 14 Arizona 18 15 San Diego 15 18 LA Dodgers 13 19

.594 .531 .471 .448 .294

2 4 4.5 10

.625 .563 .559 .484 .394

2 2 4.5 7.5

.594 .576 .545 .455 .406

0.5 1.5 4.5 6

p15_Layout 1 5/9/2013 12:04 AM Page 1

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

S P ORT S

Ashraf’s appointment as PCB chairman challenged

IRB unveil new plan to counter scrum chaos

ISLAMABAD: A former member of the PCB’s board of governors filed a petition in Lahore High Court yesterday against the election of Zaka Ashraf as the new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman.

Mohammad Anwar said in his petition that “unbridled powers are conferred upon the patron for the appointment of the chairman without following the open and transparent selection process.” The PCB’s 11-member board of governors earlier chose Ashraf after he was recommended by its four-member nomination committee.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the patron of the PCB, had shortlisted Ashraf and Aftab Ahmad Khan - a former chairman of Lahore Stock Exchange - for the post. Both were interviewed by the nomination committee yesterday.

Zardari directly appointed Ashraf as chairman last year.

However, a new election process was triggered when the PCB’s constitution was amended after the International Cricket Council set a June deadline requiring more independence for cricket boards. Two members of the nomination committee - a retired judge and a government official - were directly appointed by Zardari, while the other two were from the board of governors. Lahore High Court judge Abid Aziz Sheikh has asked the PCB to file their comments by June 18. —AP

DUBLIN: Rugby chiefs unveiled yesterday their latest bid to cope with the persistent problem of scrum collapses in major international matches by announcing the global trial of a new “crouch, bind, set” engagement sequence.

Fans at major matches have had to put up with repeated instances of re-set scrums slowing down the flow of the game.

Indeed it has become something of an event in a top-class rugby union fixture for a scrum to be completed first time and without either side conceding a penalty.

Although designed as a safety measure, the likes of ex-England hooker Brian Moore believe all ‘engagement sequences’ have done is create a situation where either the two front rows charge at one another or, as can happen, deliberately hold back to try to win a penalty against their opponents.

In a statement, the IRB said it hoped “crouch, bind, set” would reduce impact on engagement by up to 25 percent in elite competition. Implementation will begin at the start of the next season in both hemispheres. In a revision of the ‘crouch, touch, set’ engagement sequence currently being trialled, props will be expected to bind using their outside arm after the referee has called “bind” in the sequence. The front rows will maintain the bind until the referee calls “set”. At that point, the two packs will engage.

Karl, Coach of the Year DENVER: George Karl led the Denver Nuggets to a team-record 57 wins without a big name on his roster. For that endeavor, Karl earned the NBA’s Coach of the Year yesterday. He received 62 first-place votes, followed by Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat with 24 votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. New York’s Mike Woodson finished third and San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, who won the award last season, was fourth. The Nuggets went 57-25 - the league’s fourth-best record - and captured the No. 3 seed. But the Nuggets were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors 92-88 in Game 6 last Thursday night.

“I am honored and energized to represent coaching and be their ambassador as coach of the year and continue to symbolize the great coaching there is in the NBA,” Karl said in a statement. “There are probably seven or eight guys who are deserving of it and another 10 or 15 other coaches who have done a great job and aren’t getting any recognition.” It’s the first time Karl has won the award in 25 seasons in charge. He joined Doug Moe as the only Denver coaches to earn the honor.

The Nuggets surged down the stretch, winning a team-record 15 straight at one point and going 24-4 after the All-Star break. They also won a franchise-best 38 games at the Pepsi Center.

Denver relied on its up-tempo offense and a deep bench to wear out opponents. The team led the league in scoring, fast-break points and points in the paint, with a roster that hardly contained a household name. Speedy point guard Ty Lawson led the team in scoring with 16.7 points a game, which was 31st in the league.—AP

Mets roll over White Sox

SAN JOSE: Joe Thornton No. 19 of the San Jose Sharks attempts to control the puck under pressure from Alexander Edler No. 23 of the Vancouver Canucks in Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.— AFP

Sharks sink Canucks UNIONDALE: Patrick Marleau scored a powerplay goal 13:18 into overtime and the San Jose Sharks completed their first playoff sweep in franchise history, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 Tuesday night. Joe Pavelski scored his second power-play goal of the game to tie it with 4:27 left in regulation. Brent Burns also scored for the Sharks, who will now get a break before beginning the second round of the playoffs next week.

Mason Raymond, Alex Burrows and Alexander Edler scored for the Canucks, who were unable to hold onto a late third-period lead for the second time this series.

Cory Schneider made big stops early in the overtime, but gave up the rebound that led to Marleau’s series-clinching goal.

With Daniel Sedin sent off for boarding Tommy Wingels, the Sharks came through with their third power-play goal of the night to win it.

Joe Thornton’s shot hit off Schneider and the puck was bouncing in the crease when Marleau just got his stick on it to score the winner, setting off a wild celebration at the Shark Tank and sending Vancouver to another early playoff exit.

The Canucks have lost 10 of their past 11 playoff games to raise major questions about the future of a franchise that made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals just two years ago.

ISLANDERS 6, PENGUINS 4 In Uniondale, John Tavares scored with 9:49 left, and the New York Islanders tied their firstround series with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night with a wild 6-4 victory. Only the final lead was safe in Game 4.

Tavares slammed in his own rebound in front after Brad Boyes fed him following a turnover by Penguins star Evgeni Malkin. It was the Islanders’ third one-goal advantage in the game and the one that earned them a 2-2 tie in the highly entertaining series that has featured 5-4 and 6-4 finishes at Nassau Coliseum. Tavares was serenaded with cheers of “M-V-P” from the frantic

crowd that is believing an upset is possible.

Casey Cizikas shoved in a shot with 1:16 left to add some much-needed insurance.

Captain Mark Streit scored twice, and Brian Strait and Kyle Okposo also had goals, and Evgeni Nabokov made 27 saves for the eighthseeded Islanders. Game 5 is today in Pittsburgh.

Senators 3, Canadiens 2 In Ottawa, Kyle Turris scored 2:32 into overtime, lifting the Senators into a 3-1 lead. Turris’ shot from the sideboards sneaked past Montreal backup goalie Peter Budaj, who came on for the injured Carey Price at the start of overtime.

Cory Conacher scored with 22.6 seconds to go in regulation to force overtime. Mika Zibanejad had the other goal for the Senators, who got 26 saves from Craig Anderson.

PK Subban and Alex Galchenyuk scored 62 seconds apart in the second period for Montreal.

Price made 30 saves two nights after allowing all six goals in Ottawa’s 6-1 victory in Game 3. He was injured on Conacher’s tying goal late in the third period. Game 5 goes tonight in Montreal in a series that has seen a little bit of everything.

BLACKHAWKS 3, WILD 0 In St. Paul, Patrick Sharp scored two goals for Chicago, and the Blackhawks ratcheted up their defense, putting the Wild on the brink of elimination. Bryan Bickell also scored and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for the Blackhawks, who built a 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven matchup.

The Wild had another goalie get hurt when Josh Harding’s injury forced Darcy Kuemper into action after the first intermission. Sharp scored on Chicago’s first shot at the rookie 62 seconds into the second period.

Minnesota, the only one of the 16 NHL playoff teams without a power-play goal this postseason, went scoreless in six man-advantage situations and is 0 for 15 in the series. Game 5 is back in Chicago tonight. — AP

Sibanda century propels Zimbabwe to series win BULAWAYO: A sparkling century from opener Vusi Sibanda propelled Zimbabwe to a seven-wicket win and a series victory over Bangladesh after the third and final one-day international in Bulawayo yesterday. Set 248 to win, Zimbabwe never looked in trouble with Sibanda leading from the front. He hit the winning runs to go to his second one-day international century off 135 balls with nine fours and two sixes as he finished unbeaten on 103.

Sibanda was given excellent support by Sean Williams, who went to his second halfcentury in as many matches and finished on 55 not out. “ To lose so convincingly in the first game and come back and put together two

important wins shows a lot of character and that we are moving in the right direction,” said Zimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor.

“We have always rated Vusi Sibanda very highly, I think it has been seven years since his last hundred so we are pleased for him. I am sure he will kick-on now.”

Asked to bat first, Bangladesh were reeling at 110 for five wickets before Nasir Hossain (63) steadied the innings in partnership with Mahmudullah who hit an unbeaten 75.

Their efforts took Bangladesh to a respectable 247 for nine but it was a target that Zimbabwe always looked likely to chase down. —Reuters

SCOREBOARD BULAWAYO: Scoreboard at the end of the third and final one-day international between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Bulawayo yesterday: Bangladesh innings Tamim Iqbal c Taylor b Chatara 32 Mohammad Ashraful c Sibanda b Vitori 5 Jahurul Islam b Vitori 0 Mushfiqur Rahim c Chatara b Utseya 32 Shakib Al Hasan c Sibanda b Williams 18 Nasir Hossain c Taylor b Jarvis 63 Mahmudullah not out 75 Ziaur Rahman c H Masakadza b Chatara 5 Abdur Razzak c Taylor b Jarvis 4 Shafiul Islam run out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-9, nb-2) 12 Total (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 247 Fall of wickets: 1-15 2-15 3-77 4-84 5-110 6-189 7-194 8-211 9-247.

Did not bat: Robiul Islam.

Bowling: K. Jarvis 10-0-63-2 (w1), B. Vitori 9-0-432 (nb1, w5), E. Chigumbura 0.5-0-2-0, H. Masakadza 5.1-0-16-1, P. Utseya 9-1-34-1 (w1), T.

Chatara 10-0-59-2 (nb1, w2), S. Williams 6-0-29-1.

Zimbabwe innings V. Sibanda not out 103 H. Masakadza c Mushfiqur Rahim b Robiul Islam 41 Sikandar Raza c Nasir Hossain b Ziaur Rahman 37 B. Taylor c Mushfiqur Rahim b Mahmudullah 2 S. Williams not out 55 Extras (lb-7, w-5, nb-1) 13 Total (for three wickets, 47.1 overs) 251 Fall of wickets: 1-79, 2-135, 3-142.

Did not bat: M. Waller, E. Chigumbura, P. Utseya, K. Jarvis, B. Vitori, T. Chatara.

Bowling: Shafiul Islam 10-0-58-0, Abdur Razzak 10-1-44-0, Robiul Islam 7.1-0-45-1, Ziaur Rahman 5-0-25-1, Shakib Al Hasan 9-1-43-0, Mahmudullah 6-0-29-1.

NEW YORK: Matt Harvey pitched one-hit ball for nine innings in a nearly perfect performance and the New York Mets permitted just one baserunner all game in beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0 in the 10th inning on Tuesday night.

Harvey allowed only an infield single by Alex Rios with two outs in the seventh - he was safe, barely. The right-hander struck out a career-high 12 and was pulled when the game went to extra innings.

Pinch-hitter Mike Baxter lined an RBI single with one out in the 10th off Nate Jones (0-3).

Mets reliever Bobby Parnell (3-0) retired all three batters he faced. It was a rare interleague matchup. Because of scheduling quirks, the Mets and White Sox had played just three previous games since AL vs. NL action began in 1997.

Only Texas and St. Louis have met so infrequently - they’ve played three games in the regular season, plus seven in the 2011 World Series.

PIRATES 4, MARINERS 1 In Pittsburgh, Jeanmar Gomez pitched five shutout innings while making a surprise spot start to help Pittsburgh down Seattle in an interleague game.

Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 4 with an RBIdouble and Garrett Jones hit a two-run homer in the eighth to pad the lead. Jason Grilli pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 13th save.

Gomez (2-0) allowed just two hits, striking out five and walking two. He was forced into action after scheduled starter James McDonald was sent to the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his right (throwing) shoulder less than two hours before the first pitch. Aaron Harang (1-4) posted his second strong outing, but received little help from Seattle’s anemic offense. Raul Ibanez provided a pinch-hit RBIdouble in the seventh to pull the Mariners within a run, but Seattle couldn’t keep Pittsburgh from improving to 14-0 when leading after seven innings this season.

ROCKIES 2, YANKEES 0 In Denver, Jorge De La Rosa pitched six scoreless innings in a steady rain and Carlos Gonzales hit his seventh homer in Colorado’s win over New York.

Despite a stellar start from Hiroki Kuroda, the Yankees lost their fifth straight game at Coors Field, dating to an interleague series in 2002.

They were swept in a three-game set in 2007 in their last trip to Denver’s downtown ballpark.

Gonzalez broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the sixth when he sent a 3-2 pitch from Kuroda (4-2) into the right field bullpen with a runner on to give Colorado a 2-0 lead. His homer followed a two-out single by Josh Rutledge.

Kuroda De La Rosa (3-3) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out a pair in improving to 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA lifetime against the Yankees.

BREWERS 6, RANGERS 3 In Milwaukee, Yuniesky Betancourt’s eighth homer of the season capped a five-run first inning and Milwaukee snapped a season-high five-game losing streak.

Aramis Ramirez also homered for the first time this year and NL batting leader Carlos Gomez added a two-run double in the interleague matchup.

Wily Peralta (3-2) gave up three runs - two earned - and five hits in six innings. Three relievers followed with an inning each for the Brewers, including Jim Henderson in the ninth for his seventh save. Mitch Moreland homered for the Rangers, who lost consecutive games for the third time this year. They also lost their seasonhigh fourth straight on the road.

Justin Grimm (2-2) gave up five earned runs on eight hits in five innings after entering the game with a total of six earned runs allowed this year. The right-hander struck out seven and walked three.

REDS 5, BRAVES 4 In Cincinnati, Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo hit two-out homers in the ninth inning to rally Cincinnati to victory.

Mesoraco connected for his first career pinchhit homer off Craig Kimbrel (0-1), who blew a save for the second time in five days. Kimbrel went to a full count on Mesoraco before the catcher homered into the first row in center.

Four pitches later, Choo hit his second homer of the game, giving him a team-leading seven. It was his second career game-ending homer.

Kimbrel fanned the first two batters in the ninth and was one strike away from getting his 100th career save. He’d allowed only one homer this season, but gave up two in a five-pitch sequence. Jonathan Broxton (1-1) retired three batters in the ninth for Cincinnati’s fourth win in five games.

CUBS 2, CARDINALS 1 In Chicago, Travis Wood pitched impressively

NEW YORK: Mike Baxter No. 23 of the New York Mets celebrates hitting the game winning RBI single in the tenth inning against the Chicago White Sox. — AFP

into the seventh inning to outduel Lance Lynn, Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run homer and Chicago snapped St. Louis’ six-game winning streak.

The Cardinals’ streak was their longest since an eight-game run July 11-21, 2010. Wood (3-2) allowed one run and five hits while striking out eight in 6 2-3 innings for his first win since April 27 at Miami. Carlos Marmol relieved Wood with two outs in the seventh and pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings. In the eighth he allowed a single to Yadier Molina and walked Jon Jay before getting out of the inning by picking Molina off between second and third. Lynn (5-1) was trying to become the NL’s first pitcher to win six games.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, DODGERS 3 In Los Angeles, Paul Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the ninth inning off closer Brandon League and Arizona sent lastplace Los Angeles to its sixth straight loss.

League (0-2) walked Gerardo Parra to open the ninth and struck out Didi Gregorius.

Goldschmidt fouled off five full-count pitches before driving his seventh home run into the left-field pavilion.

David Hernandez (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Arizona closer J.J. Putz left with an injury after issuing a leadoff walk in the ninth to Nick Punto, but Heath Bell got three outs for his second save.

PADRES 5, MARLINS 1 In San Diego, Eric Stults pitched seven-hit ball

into the seventh inning, Will Venable hit a tworun homer and drove in three runs, and resurgent San Diego sent Miami to its fifth loss in seven games.

Stults (3-2) walked two and struck out four in 6 1-3 innings as the Padres won for the 10th time in 13 games. San Diego, which began the season 5-15 and has won eight of its last nine at Petco Park, improved to 15-18.

The Marlins have the second worst record in baseball at 10-24. The Padres touched up Miami starter Alex Sanabia (2-5) for four runs in the first two innings, highlighted by Venable’s two-run homer, his fourth of the season.

PHILLIES 6, GIANTS 2 In San Francisco, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard homered to help Philadelphia beat Tim Lincecum (2-2) and San Francisco.

Utley had three hits and two RBIs, Howard reached base four times and Kyle Kendrick (4-1) pitched seven strong innings to win his third consecutive decision. The right-hander extended his scoreless streak on the road to 25 innings before giving up a sacrifice fly to Angel Pagan in the third.

Philadelphia has won two straight against the World Series champions since two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Halladay met with a specialist in Southern California earlier in the day. Kendrick yielded six hits and two runs, needing only 88 pitches to get through seven innings. — AP

MLB results/standings Baltimore 4, Kansas City 3; Cleveland 1, Oakland 0; Pittsburgh 4, Seattle 1; Minnesota 6, Boston 1; Cincinnati 5, Atlanta 4; NY Mets 1, Chicago White Sox 0 (10 innings); Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 4; Chicago Cubs 2, St. Louis 1; Milwaukee 6, Texas 3; Houston 7, LA Angels 6; Colorado 2, NY Yankees 0; Arizona 5, La Dodgers 3; San Diego 5, Miami 1; Philadelphia 6, San Francisco 2.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Boston 21 12 .636 20 13 .606 Baltimore NY Yankees 18 13 .581 Tampa Bay 14 18 .438 Toronto 13 21 .382 Central Division Detroit 19 11 .633 17 12 .586 Kansas City Cleveland 16 14 .533 Minnesota 14 15 .483 Chicago White Sox 13 18 .419 Western Division Texas 20 13 .606 18 16 .529 Oakland Seattle 15 19 .441 LA Angels 11 21 .344 Houston 9 24 .273

GB 1 2 6.5 8.5 1.5 3 4.5 6.5 2.5 5.5 8.5 11

National League Eastern Division 19 13 17 15 16 18 13 16 10 24 Central Division St. Louis 20 12 Pittsburgh 18 14 Cincinnati 19 15 Milwaukee 15 16 Chicago Cubs 13 20 Western Division Colorado 19 13 San Francisco 19 14 Arizona 18 15 San Diego 15 18 LA Dodgers 13 19

Atlanta Washington Philadelphia NY Mets Miami

.594 .531 .471 .448 .294

2 4 4.5 10

.625 .563 .559 .484 .394

2 2 4.5 7.5

.594 .576 .545 .455 .406

0.5 1.5 4.5 6

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

S P ORT S

Messina out to avenge defeat BELGRADE: Back for his second spell in charge of CSKA Moscow, coach Ettore Messina aims to lift the weight of last season’s Euroleague defeat by Olympiakos Piraeus from his players’ shoulders when the two teams meet in the 2013 Final Four in London tomorrow.

The semi-final contest will be a repeat of the 2012 final in Istanbul, when six-time winners CSKA blew a 19-point lead in the second half and saw Olympiakos forward Georgios Printezis sink the game-winning shot on the buzzer.

Messina, who had joined the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach after steering CSKA to a pair of Euroleague titles during his first spell in charge from 20052009, then replaced Lithuanian Jonas Kazlauskas in a bid to restore the Russian club’s domination in Europe.

“I can only say that I am new and fresh and didn’t go through the difficult night that some of my players did in that game,” the Italian told the competition’s official website (www.euroleague.net). “I don’t think those memories can be erased. It’s part of life and they can live with it and deal with the bad memories if they are surrounded by support, but no one can really know what shadow will be on the minds of the players from last year.

“Apart from that, we need to treat this as just another game. To be in the Final Four again means that we took the right decisions and that the players we chose showed they deserved the trust of the club,” he said.

Having won four Euroleague titles and reached nine finals from as many attempts, the 53-year-old from Catania will bank on his record as much as on the quality of his talent-packed roster which includes four Serbia internationals and former Toronto Raptors guard Sonny Weems.

Olympiakos will again be the dark horses but their coach Georgios Bartzokas, who succeeded Serbian Dusan Ivkovic at the helm, was confident his team could repeat last year’s feat against their stronger and wealthier rivals.

“We are the outsiders again but I will try to convince my players that the same can happen as last year,” he said. “There are a lot of differences, as both CSKA and Olympiakos have new coaches and some different tactics but once again CSKA will be under big pressure because they are perhaps the best team in Europe with the

biggest budget and an experienced coach.”

The second contest for a berth in Sunday’s final features Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, who will head into the O2 Arena in contrasting moods after taking different routes to reach the showpiece event.

Eight-times winners Real, who are seeking their first title in Europe’s premier club basketball competition since 1995, enjoyed a 3-0 sweep of Maccabi Tel Aviv in their best-of-five quarter-final series, having also secured the top spot in the Spanish league ahead of the playoffs.

Barcelona, champions in 2003 and 2010, have had a topsy-turvy season and reached the Final Four only after a dramatic 3-2 defeat of Panathinaikos Athens, having fought back from a 2-1 deficit in their gruelling series marred by crowd trouble in the Greek capital.

Barca will sweat on the fitness of their towering Australia centre Nathan Jawai, who faces a race against time to recover from a foot injury, while influential American forward Pete Mickeal is out with long-term illness.

Coach Xavi Pasqual acknowledged that Barcelona’s entire roster would have to carry extra weight to compensate for Mickeal’s absence and will in all likelihood rely on the versatility of Croatia centre Ante Tomic, named in the Euroleague’s 2012-13 first team.

“Pete is a unique player due to his own particular skills and a lot of the things we did were based on those skills, so we had to adapt and find another way to win games,” said Pasqual.

“The series against Panathinaikos wore us down a lot and contrary to previous years there is less time to recover but I think we will arrive in London in good shape.”

Pasqual’s Real counterpart Pablo Laso, whose team warmed up for the Clasico with a 78-65 Spanish league win over Barcelona on April 28, said containing Barcelona playmaker and the Euroleague’s all-time leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro would be crucial.

“We know that Navarro is a special player, hard to guard and able to generate baskets on his own,” he said. “But if you try to cover Navarro you will be left uncovered somewhere else and players like Jawai, Tomic and (Brazil point guard Marcelinho) Huertas can damage you.” — Reuters

OKLAHOMA CITY: (Left to right) Serge Ibaka No.9 of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Zach Randolph No. 50 of the Memphis Grizzlies, Nick Collison No. 4 of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Marc Gasol No. 33 of the Memphis Grizzlies and Derek Fisher No.6 of the Oklahoma City Thunder wait for a rebound during Game Two of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs. — AFP

Knicks pound Pacers NEW YORK: Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points, 16 during a 30-2 New York onslaught in the second half, the Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers 10579 on Tuesday night to even the Eastern Conference semifinals at one game.

Iman Shumpert added 15 points, including a sensational follow dunk in the first half, and Raymond Felton scored 14 as the Knicks turned a close game into a blowout over the final 15 minutes. Paul George scored 20 points for the Pacers, who had a two-point lead and momentum when coach Frank Vogel called timeout with a little more than 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

By the time the Pacers got on the board in the final period, the Knicks had opened a 26-point advantage. Game 3 is Saturday at Indianapolis.

David West scored 13 points for the Pacers, who committed 21 turnovers that led to 32 points, negating their height advantage that loomed so large in their Game 1 victory.

GRIZZLIES 99, THUNDER 93 In Oklahoma, Mike Conley scored 26 points, Marc Gasol added 24 points and Memphis used a late run to beat Oklahoma City and even the Western Conference semifinals at one game.

Conley hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:58 left to put the Grizzlies ahead to stay and spark a string of 10 straight points for the Grizzlies.

He added an 18-foot jumper to stretch the lead to 94-90, then hit one of two free throws with 29.4 seconds left. After hitting the key baskets in Game 1, Kevin Durant couldn’t provide an answer for the Thunder. He missed his last three

shots, including a pair of 3-point attempts, and finished with 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

The Thunder caught a break when Tony Allen tipped the ball away and Conley saved it from going out of bounds, only for it to end up in Durant’s hands in the corner. But Durant was off-

target on a 3-pointer, and Oklahoma City was forced to foul. Zach Randolph tacked on two free throws, and Allen then stole the ball from Durant and provided the finishing touches with a dunk.

Derek Fisher hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer for Oklahoma City. Game 3 is Saturday in Memphis.— AP

NEW YORK: Kenyon Martin No. 3 of the New York Knicks fights for the ball with George Hill No. 3 of the Indiana Pacers during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs. — AFP

Fernando Alonso

Alonso must make the most of being at home LONDON: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso needs to make the most of home advantage when Formula One’s European season starts up in Barcelona on Sunday.

The Spaniard has ground to make up on Red Bull’s triple champion Sebastian Vettel after four races in Asia and the Middle East.

“If I was to score our overall performance, I would only give it a six out of 10,” Ferrari chief designer Nikolas Tombazis told the Ferrari website (www.ferrari.com) ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. “We are not yet quite where we want to be,” he added. “In the first four grands prix we were not really able to fight for pole position and that is one of our main objectives at the moment.”

The days when Alonso could count on the emotional boost of two home grands prix are gone. The Spaniard won in Valencia last year, but that race in the indebted port city is off the 2013 calendar, and he needs to get back on top of the podium at the Circuit de Catalunya.

This time a year ago, Alonso arrived in Barcelona 10 points adrift of world champion Vettel in a battle that ultimately went down to the wire in the German’s favour.

Now, despite Ferrari having a much more competitive car and Alonso winning in China, the gap between them is already 30 points and all the top teams are bringing new developments to the track now that they are back in Europe.

Alonso suffered a retirement in Malaysia in March, after losing his front wing when he tagged Vettel at the start, and finished only eighth in Bahrain last month when his rear wing DRS system failed to function.

That problem has been solved and Ferrari have updates to the bodywork, floor and wings.

“With any new component, the difficulty lies not so much in its development but in deciding whether or not it is working on track as well as we had hoped,” said Tombazis.

“By Friday evening in Barcelona, our

objective is to have a clear view on what we will take forward to use in the race.”

There are more questions than answers at this stage of the season and McLaren, regular title challengers who ended last year with the fastest car and started 2013 well off the pace, have plenty to deal with.

“I think returning to a circuit where we undertook two of the pre-season tests will give us a useful benchmark of our progress so far,” said McLaren’s 2009 champion Jenson Button in a preview of the race.

“I’m pragmatic about what we’ll discover next weekend. I’m hopeful that it’ll move us a step closer towards the destination.”

Vettel has already won twice this season and his form in Bahrain looked ominous.

Stopping that momentum is the big challenge. Kimi Raikkonen, now second overall for Lotus and chasing his 22nd successive points finish this weekend, is 10 points behind and only too aware of what needs to be done.

“It’s going to be hard to catch Sebastian if he keeps taking good results so we need to start taking more points from him,” said the Finn.

“It’s no secret that we want more speed from the car in qualifying. It’s so tight up there at the front and we really need to be on the first two rows to fight for victories every time.” That is more than ever the case in Barcelona, where 18 of the last 22 winners have started on pole and only one driver - the now-retired Michael Schumacher - has ever won from anywhere other than the front row.

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado won last year for Williams, the team’s first grand prix success in nearly eight years, but lightning is unlikely to strike twice with the former world champions still chasing their first point of 2013. “Following a good aero test last week at Idiada (in Spain) and a number of upgrades coming for this race, hopefully Barcelona can be the start of improved performance for us this year,” said the team’s Finnish rookie Valtteri Bottas. —Reuters

Allison leaves Lotus F1 LONDON: Highly-rated technical director James Allison is leaving Lotus and will be replaced by Nick Chester, the Formula One team said yesterday.

The announcement before the first race of the European season in Spain this weekend will be seen as a blow for Finnish Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion who is second in the standings to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

Allison has been with British-based Lotus, previously Renault, since 2005 after previous stints in the 1990s when they raced as Benetton.

No details were given about his likely destination, although early speculation focused heavily on Ferrari given his past employment there.

Allison worked for the Italian team for five

years - during Michael Schumacher’s dominant years - overseeing trackside aerodynamic operations prior to joining Renault.

“It’s just a rumor,” Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo told a corporate presentation at Maranello when asked about the speculation surrounding Allison.

Chester was previously Lotus’s engineering director. He worked for now-defunct Arrows before moving to the Enstone factory in 2000.

“He is already directly involved with this and next year’s cars, ensuring a smooth transition which has been underway for some time,” said team principal Eric Boullier.

“The 2014 technical regulation changes present many challenges, while our current position of second place in both the constructors’ and drivers’ world championships mean we cannot lose sight of this year’s develop-

ment battle,” he added.

“Nick really has his work cut out, but we know he is more than capable of handling the tasks ahead.” Formula One faces major rule changes at the end of the season, with a switch from the current 2.5 litre V8 engines to a new 1.6 litre turbocharged hybrid V6 unit.

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff said last month that they expected to have more than half their workforce devoted to the 2014 car by sometime in May. “There is no doubt that at a point in the summer everybody will switch their main resources to the 2014 car, as this is a very complex and complicated machine,” he said.

“Of course, it all depends where you are in the standings. Those who are fighting for the title will of course concentrate longer on this year’s car.” — Reuters

ABK honored by Kuwait Basketball Association KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait was honored by the Kuwait Basketball Association, for its steadfast support and active participation during the recently held Basketball Championship, where ABK had initiated the “Best Player” Trophy at the Semi-final matches.

Ali Al Baghli, Assistant PR Manager at ABK said “I would like to thank the Kuwait Basketball Association for honoring ABK and giving us a chance to make our humble contribution to encourage youth in sports, especially outstanding athletes”.

He added “Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait reaffirms its social responsibility under the framework of the ongoing CSR campaign “ Our Society...Our Responsibility.”

ABK is delighted to support The Basketball Championship and felicitate our players’ efforts, we take this opportunity to wish them continuous success.”

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

S P ORT S

MADRID: Rafael Nadal from Spain returns the ball during the match against Benoit Paire from France at the Madrid Open tennis tournament. — AP

MADRID: Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka serves against Russian player Ekaterina Makarova during their tennis match at the Madrid Masters at the Magic Box (Caja Magica) sports complex. — AFP

Nadal through, Azarenka out MADRID: Rafael Nadal made a comfortable start to his quest for a third Madrid Masters title yesterday but Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka slumped to a shock exit.

Nadal eased past Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-4 and will next face either compatriot Nicolas Almagro or Mikhail Youzhny of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals.

One break in each set was enough for Nadal as he overcame some impressive variety and touch shown by Paire early on to break when the world number 37 was serving at 2-3 down in the opening set, before eventually sealing it 6-3.

Paire had his only look at a break point on the Nadal serve early in the second set but couldn’t take advantage, and in typical Nadal fashion he upped the pressure to break at 4-4 before serving out to book his place in the last 16. Nadal insisted that it would be “arrogant” to consider himself the title favourite following the shock exit of world number one Novak Djokovic at the hands of Grigor Dmitrov on Tuesday.

“I’m not looking beyond the next round, it would be arrogant to do that so I am not going to do it,” said Nadal.

The seven-time French Open champion has compiled a 27-2 match record this year after

missing seven months of with a knee injury.

That run has included trophies in Sao Paulo, Acapulco, Indian Wells and Barcelona. Last year’s finalist and sixth seed Tomas Berdych stayed on course for a quarter-final meeting with Andy Murray as he recovered from a set down against Jerzy Janowicz to win 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2.

German 13th seed Tommy Haas, the champion in Munich last weekend, saw off Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-5 while French seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Dutchman Robin Haase 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1). Japanese 14th seed Kei Nishikori will face Roger Federer in the third round after he beat Victor Troicki 7-5, 6-2.

On the women’s side there was a big upset as world number three Azarenka crashed out to Russian Ekaterina Makarova 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Azarenka had looked as if she would cruise into the last 16 early on as she dominated the world number 24 in the first set.

However, Makarova turned the match on its head in the second set as she broke early on and again with Azarenka serving at 2-5 to force the match into a decider.

There were even more twists and turns in the third as Azarenka again appeared to take control as she surged into a 2-0 lead, but the double Australian Open champion then fell to

pieces with a string of unforced errors that allowed Makarova back onto level terms at 3-3.

Azarenka was then unhappy when she was docked a point by the umpire for smashing her racket in the next game as Makarova moved ahead for the first time in the set.

Makarova broke the former world number one to serve for the match and Azarenka barely even made the Russian earn it in the final game as she sailed well long three times to bow out with a whimper.

Azarenka, who had a 17-0 winning record on court this year going into the tournament, blamed her exit on a lack of match practice due to an injury that had kept her out for two months.

“I think it was really noticeable. I made mistakes that I don’t normally do, but that’s what comes after not playing for a long time,” she said.

“I still have another tournament before the French Open to compete in, and I’m going to go back on the practice court as I always do and work hard to improve.”

German sixth seed Angelique Kerber was the first woman into the quarter-finals with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over former French Open and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. — AFP

Singapore to host WTA Championships SINGAPORE: Singapore will host the glittering annual finale of the women’s tennis season from 2014 until 2018, the WTA said yesterday.

The Southeast Asian city-state beat Tianjin in China and Mexico’s Monterrey for the right to stage the WTA Championships after Turkey’s Istanbul ends its three-year stint in October.

“Your sensational city, the amazing city of Singapore, has won the right to host the WTA Championships for the next five years from 2014,” WTA chairman and chief executive Stacey Allaster told reporters. Allaster called the agreement a record breaker and “the largest and most significant WTA partnership in our history”, with prize money increased to a record $6.5 million.

The season-ender is the most prestigious women’s tennis event outside the four grand slam tournaments — the Australian, French and US Opens plus Wimbledon.

The top eight singles and doubles pairs over the season qualify for the event which was won last year by American world number one Serena Williams. Russian pair Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova took the doubles title.

The event was first staged in 1972 in the United States but has moved around the world since 2001 with Munich, Madrid and Doha joining New York and Los Angeles in staging it.

The hosting rights are a major coup for Singapore, which has not held a top level tennis event since the 1999 Heineken Cup on the men’s ATP Tour. Lower ranked challenger events and exhibition tournaments have struggled to attract crowds. The event will take place at the Sports Hub complex, which is due to be finished by the first quarter of 2014 at a cost of S$1.3 billion ($1.05 billion).

The impressive complex will feature a 55,000seater stadium with retractable roof, a 13,000 indoor stadium, aquatics centre and water sports centre. The indoor stadium will host the show court with the other facilities to be used in a entertainment filled “10 day fan fest.”

The venue could be key for sports and entertainment businesses to tap into the lucrative southeast Asian market with Singapore’s low crime rate and overall ease of doing business a rarity amongst nearby nations. —Reuters

Singh sues PGA Tour over deer antler doping charge

MATERA: Germany’s John Degenkolb celebrates on the podium after winning the 5th stage of 96th Giro d’Italia cycling race. — AFP

Degenkolb wins Giro stage MATERA: Germany’s John Degenkolb of the Argos-Shimano team won a rainsoaked fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday, held over 203km from Cosenza to Matera, to claim his first victory in the race.

Most of the main peloton, including race leader Luca Paolini (Katusha) and main favourite Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, were held up by several crashes on a dangerous left-hand corner inside the final 1.5km. However Paolini, who is not a contender for overall victory, and the rest of that peloton benefited from race rules allowing anyone caught up or delayed by crashes inside the final 3km to be given the same time as the winner.

Paolini, 36 years old but only making his Giro debut this year, claimed the race lead with victory on stage three.

He will now wear the jersey for a third full day today when the peloton tackles the mainly-flat sixth stage over 169 km from Mola di Bari to Margherita di Savoia.

Paolini leads Sergio Henao of Team Sky by 17secs with the real contenders for the race’s main prize not far behind.

Former Tour of Spain champion Italian Vincenzo Nibali is fourth at 31, defending champion Ryder Hesjedal of Canada is fifth at 34, Wiggins is sixth with the same deficit and Australian Cadel Evans, a former Tour de France winner, is 10th at 42.

Degenkolb, meanwhile, had done well to stay near the front of the peloton as it approached a bend in the road which had been singled out as potentially dangerous.

When a number of riders slid to the ground, it left Marco Canola racing off excitedly on his own hoping to emulate the stage victory of Bardiani teammate Enrico Battaglin on Tuesday.

However the young Italian’s bid foundered in the closing 200 metres when Degenkolb dug deep to close the gap. “It was a hard finish, especially the last kilometre,” said the German after winning his maiden stage on the race having won five on the Tour of Spain last year.

“It was super fast and then there was the crash. I saw I had a gap and so I had to go full gas for the last 800 metres.

“I was empty when I hit the line but it’s great to win.” BMC rider Daniel Oss explained: “The crash was simple: the guys in the front took the turn too fast and slid out on the white pavement lines.”

Britain’s Mark Cavendish, the opening stage winner in Naples, was one of several top sprinters tipped to contend the stage win.

But, like many of his rivals, the OmegaPharma fast man began sliding towards the back of the peloton as the pace increased on the way up the Montescaglioso climb.

With a number of other teams picking up the pace on the 20km descent to the finish, Cavendish eventually trailed home over six minutes in arrears.

The Manxman, who has 11 Giro stage wins and 23 from the Tour de France, will look to make amends on the flat finish of the sixth stage.— AFP

NEW YORK: Vijay Singh sued the US PGA Tour yesterday, claiming the tour damaged his reputation with an “unwarranted” pursuit of an antidoping case against him that was dropped last week.

“I am proud of my achievements, my work ethic, and the way I live my life,” Singh said in a statement issued through is attorney, Peter R. Ginsberg. “The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game.” The lawsuit, filed in the New York state supreme court, charges the tour with violating its duty of care and good faith in failing to determine that Singh had, in fact, not violated the tour’s anti-doping policy with his use of deer antler spray, which he acknowledged in a Sports Illustrated article published in January.

Analysis showed the spray contained the hormone IGF-1, a substance listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and PGA Tour prohibited lists and one the tour had warned players against using in August of 2011. However, the lawsuit contends that the IGF-1 contained in the spray was inactive, and could not have affected Singh’s performance in any way-and that tour officials could have ascertained that before proceeding against the three-time major champion.

Court documents show that the lawsuit also says that other players who admitted using the spray were not sanctioned, and that the case against Singh during which his earnings were held in escrow-affected his focus and play. Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced on April 30 that Singh would not be suspended, after WADA had informed the tour that the world anti-doping body no longer considered

using the deer antler spray to be prohibited unless it resulted in a positive test, which never happened in Singh’s case.

“After exposing Singh, one of the PGA Tour’s most respected and hardest working golfers, to public humiliation and ridicule for months, and forcing Singh to perform the type of scientific

analysis and review that the PGA Tour was responsible for performing, the PGA Tour finally admitted that the grounds on which it sought to impose discipline were specious and unsupportable,” the lawsuit says. Singh has won three major titles-the 2000 Masters and the 1998 and 2004 PGA Championship. — AFP

Vijay Singh

Woods returns to action at The Players Championship PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Tiger Woods returns to action for the first time since the Masters this week, the world number one heading a stellar field at the US PGA Tour’s flagship Players Championship.

Woods finished tied for fourth at Augusta National last month, but his 2013 season has so far included three titles and a return to the world number one ranking.

Although his only victory at TPC Sawgrass came back in 2001, Woods said he was looking forward to the challenge posed by the course.

“I feel like I’ve done some very good work, basically a continuation of what I’ve done for the past couple months,” he said.

“I took a week off, didn’t really do any golf at all right after the Masters, and then started kind of training and getting back into it and getting

into full swing here probably the last week and a half.” Before getting down to business in Florida this week, Woods took the time to accompany girlfriend Lindsey Vonn on the red carpet of a gala in New York on Monday night-Woods in a black tuxedo and ski champion Vonn in a white gown.“It was certainly different,” Woods said.

“Lindsey wanted to try and grow her brand. She’s come out with a new perfume and makeup line, so that was a big thing for her, and I’m supporting it.” This week’s field includes all of the world’s top 30 players, and 46 of the top 50 in the rankings. Matt Kuchar, who posted four straight subpar rounds to beat four players by two strokes last year, will try to become the first to win backto-back titles in the prestigious tournament.

Kuchar’s final-round 70 was enough for him to take home the trophy as third- round leader

Kevin Na closed with a 76. “I’m so excited to be back,” Kuchar said. “It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year.”

Kuchar’s 2013 season has already included an elite win, with his victory in the World Golf Championships Match Play Championship.

He beat 2012 champion Hunter Mahan in the championship match at Dove Mountain in February. His three other top-10 finishes this season included a tie for eighth at the Masters.

“My game’s been on a really nice trajectory,” Kuchar said. “I feel like I’ve continued to improve.

I had a breakout year in 2010 winning the money title and the scoring title.

“It’s hard to kind of go up from there but I feel like I’ve gotten a little bit better each year and in 2012 to win The Players Championship was a real thrill and put a real feather in my cap.”— AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

S P ORTS Ferguson’s Memorable quotes

M

anchester United manager Alex Ferguson’s time at Manchester United has produced some memorable

quotes.

Following is a selection of some of them: AFTER WINNING THE 1999 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL WHEN THEY CAME BACK FROM A GOAL DOWN WITH TWO STOPPAGE-TIME GOALS “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Football.

Bloody hell!”

ON ARCH RIVALS LIVERPOOL: “My greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their perch.

And you can print that.”

DURING THE 2003 PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE RACE: “It’s getting tickly now - squeaky bum time, I call it.”

ON RYAN GIGGS “The first time I saw him, he was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of paper in the wind.”

AFTER KICKING A BOOT THAT HIT DAVID BECKHAM IN THE FACE: “It was a freakish incident. If I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn’t happen again. If I could I would have carried on playing.”

SOON AFTER ARSENE WENGER WAS APPOINTED ARSENAL MANAGER: “He’s a novice and should keep his opinions to Japanese football.”

ON HIS RETIREMENT PLANS BEFORE A UTURN IN 2002: “I will be leaving Manchester United at the end of the season and that is it. Then I will have to decide what I want to do. There are some offers and options, so I will make a decisions over the next few months.”

ON NOTION OF SELLING CRISTIANO RONALDO TO REAL MADRID, MONTHS BEFORE DOING JUST THAT:

“Do you think I would enter into a contract with that mob? Absolutely no chance. Jesus Christ, I wouldn’t sell them a virus. That’s a ‘No’ by the way. There is no agreement whatsoever between the clubs.”

ON JOSE MOURINHO: “He was certainly full of it, calling me ‘boss’ and ‘big man’ when we had our post-match drink after the first leg. But it would help if his greetings were accompanied by a decent glass of wine. What he gave me was paint-stripper.”

ON RAFA BENITEZ AFTER SPANIARD’S ‘FACT’ RANT “I think he was an angry man. He must have been disturbed for some reason. I think you have got to cut through the venom of it and hopefully he’ll reflect and understand what he said was absolutely ridiculous.”

ON REFEREE ALAN WILEY, EARNING HIMSELF A TOUCHLINE BAN: “The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game.

You see referees abroad who are as fit as butchers’ dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn’t fit. He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.”

ON HIS INFAMOUS HAIRDRYER TREATMENT: “Myths grow all the time. If I was to listen to the number of times I’ve thrown teacups then we’ve gone through some crockery in this place. It’s completely exaggerated, but I don’t like people arguing back with me.”

ON RETIRED ITALIAN STRIKER FILIPPO INZAGHI “Inzaghi was born in an offside position.”

DURING WAYNE ROONEY’S CONTRACT SAGA IN 2010: “Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think it’s a better cow than the one you’ve got in your own field. It’s a fact.

Right? And it never really works out that way.”

Photo of the day

Three competitors perform at the Red Bull Crashed Ice in Quebec, Canada. www.redbullcontentpool.com

Tributes to Ferguson MANCHESTER: Reaction to yesterday ’s announcement by Premier League champions Manchester United that manager Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of the season: David Gill, Manchester United chief executive, in a statement: “We knew that his retirement would come one day and we both have been planning for it by ensuring the quality of the squad and club structures are in firstclass condition. What he has done for this club and for the game in general will never be forgotten. It has been the greatest experience of my working life being alongside Alex and a great honour to be able to call him a friend.”

Joel Glazer, Manchester United co-owner, in a statement: “Alex has proven time and time again what a fantastic manager he is but he’s also a wonderful person. His determination to succeed and dedication to the club have been truly remarkable. I will always cherish the wonderful memories he has given us, like that magical night in Moscow (in the 2008 Champions League final win).”

Sepp Blatter, FIFA president, on Twitter: “His achievements in the game place him without doubt as one of the greats. Was (an) honour to present Sir Alex with award at 2011 Ballon D’Or. Will his longevity at the top ever be repeated?”

Michel Platini, UEFA president, on uefa.com website: “Sir Alex has made a massive contribution to football, not only in Scotland and in England but across Europe and beyond.

His dedication, his attention to detail and his unique eye for talent, as both the manager of Manchester United FC and Aberdeen FC, has brought rich rewards over a 30-year period.

His CV is almost unique in a results-based profession that normally focuses on shortterm solutions rather than long-term vision.

“He is a true visionary and I hope that, having helped us in the past through various coaching initiatives, he will continue to collaborate with UEFA to share his fantastic knowledge with the next generation of up-and-coming European coaches who all wish to emulate his achievements in the sport.”

Roy Hodgson, England manager, in a statement: “The unexpected news this morning that Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to retire marks the end of an era in football management. No one will be able to match his achievements, his dedication, his support for colleagues in need and his team building know-how. This is a sad day for English football. I personally wish him a happy and successful retirement.”

Richard Scudamore, Premier League chief executive, on Sky Sports News: “You know it’s one of those things you know is going to happen one day but you never really expect it to happen. It’s a big shock. (The Premier League’s) absolute leading club and its standard-bearing club has been Manchester United... nobody has been a bigger star on our stage than Sir Alex Ferguson...

It’s an unbelievable footprint he’s made on the Premier League.”

Gordon Taylor, chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), to local media: “The game of football will be a lot poorer place without him. He has been quite simply the best. He followed in Sir Matt Busby’s footsteps and even surpassed him. He will also be the toughest act to follow. I will miss him - he has been a very good friend of the PFA throughout his career. Of course, at times it has not always been smooth and we have had a difference of opinion but we always respected each other and we have had a lot more agreements than disagreements.”

David Bernstein, chairman of the Football Association, on the fa.com website: “Sir Alex Ferguson’s achievements are truly remarkable - he is genuinely one of the greatest managers of all time and certainly of the modern era. His contribution to English football has been outstanding in every regard and, in the FA’s 150th year, it is something that should be celebrated. On behalf of the FA I’d like to wish him a happy and healthy retirement.”

Howard Wilkinson, chairman of the

League Managers Association, in a statement: “Today’s news draws to a close the career of a man and a manager, the likes of which we will never see again. His public face was always that of the ultimate professional with a fierce pride and determination to do the very best for his club... He is the epitome of the mantra ‘Survive, Win, Succeed’. But, in private, with those he trusted, he was the very best sort of friend you could ever wish for.”

Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid and Portugal forward and former Manchester United player, on Twitter: “Thanks for everything, Boss.”

Paul Ince, former Manchester United player, to Sky Sports News: “ The man was immense. I’m totally shocked. What he’s done is unbelievable. You’ll never see anyone of his

United striker and the club’s former reserve team coach, on Norwegian television: “What he has done at United is completely unique. I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of it, both as a player and a coach. I’m completely certain they’ve found their man (to succeed Ferguson), and I think I know who it is. The club faces a great challenge in finding the right man, but I’m sure they have done so.”

Clayton Blackmore, former Manchester United player, to BBC Radio 5 Live: “It comes with a heavy heart. We have heard the rumours and the papers speculating, and I didn’t want to believe it as he has done such a fantastic job and we wanted to keep him there. He deserves his time to sit back and enjoy what he has done. It is going to be

Manchester United’s manager Alex Ferguson kind again. Two weeks ago he was talking about staying on for another two years, so it’s a massive, massive shock. The way he treated me was like a son.”

Dwight Yorke, former Manchester United player, to Sky Sports News: “He took the footballing world by surprise in retiring. With his hip replacement, and with David Gill going as well, that probably pushed him a bit into thinking he was going to retire. He wanted to regain the Premiership this year; he’s done it.

In many respects it’s probably the right time to go. It will take some getting used to.”

Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, in a statement: “Like United fans all over the world we will be sad to see Sir Alex go. Simply he is a one-off and irreplaceable. Our first reaction is an overwhelming feeling of immense gratitude towards Sir Alex for the truly outstanding contribution he has made to our football club. We are sure his influence will continue to be felt directly at Old Trafford, in the dressing room and in the stands, for some time to come and his legacy will last forever.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, former Manchester

emotional on Sunday. I’m sure the manager knows who will replace him and he will have his say. It would not surprise me if David Moyes takes over.”

Bryan Robson, former Manchester United captain, to Sky Sports News: “It doesn’t become a real shock as he had considered it before, I just think with winning the title and getting it back from City this year, I think maybe it (was time to spend) time with his grandchildren, the timing is right. You’ve got to say he has been the greatest club manager there’s ever been anywhere in the world.”

Denis Law, former Manchester United striker, on Sky Sports News: “He will probably... be the greatest manager ever but he’s in that category of great managers... He has created, like (Matt) Busby did many years ago the Busby Babes, young players coming into the team all together... he has created, like Busby did, three or four great teams in his spell as manager.

“When I heard Alex had retired I couldn’t believe it. I was with him last week and there didn’t seem anything at all (to suggest it might happen now).

Bobby Charlton, former Manchester United player and current club director, quoted by local media: “He is such a fantastic manager... He is a sensational person in every form and I am really delighted for him. I am a director but I hardly do anything because we are winning all the time and it is all down to Sir Alex Ferguson.

“He would get up in the middle of the night and travel 300 miles if he thought there was a schoolboy that he could sign. He loves the game and we at the club have had nothing to do really.”

Vincent Kompany, Manchester City captain, on Twitter: “Sir Alex, one of the best managers of all time. After 26 years of success in the game, we all owe him a tribute.”

Michael Owen, former Manchester United striker, on Twitter: “It’s just not sinking in!

Manchester United with no Sir Alex just doesn’t feel right. What a man and great that it has ended on his terms... his record will surely never be eclipsed.”

Peter Schmeichel, former Manchester United goalkeeper, to Sky Sports News: “I can’t make sense of the timing. It has come as an absolute bombshell. I’m disappointed and shocked.”

Edwin van der Sar, former Manchester United goalkeeper, on Twitter: “Was coming for some time now but still a shock that hasn’t sunk in yet!! Great manager and remarkable person!”

Dennis Irwin, former Manchester United player, to MUTV: “It’s a sad day for Manchester United. It’s a day we should celebrate what he’s done for Manchester United. It was always going to come as a shock. Without doubt the best manager that’s ever lived.”

Sergio Busquets, Barcelona and Spain midfielder, at a news conference: “An historic coach is leaving us, a coach who will always be remembered in the world of football. It’s a loss both for United and for the football world. The career he has had is spectacular, with everything he has won. He is an example for clubs who want a coach to stay on for so many years, always able to compete and be among the best. I want to congratulate him on his career. He will be missed for sure.”

Radamel Falcao, Atletico Madrid striker, on Twitter: “Stand up, put your hands together and give him a big round of applause! Sir Alex Ferguson is retiring. Congrats for an amazing career!”

David Gold, chairman of West Ham United, on Twitter: “Sir Alex, why are you retiring? I could understand it if you were old.

Good luck in your future endeavours.”

David Cameron, British Prime Minister, on Twitter: “Sir Alex Ferguson’s achievement at #MUFC has been exceptional. Hopefully his retirement will make life a little easier for my team #AVFC (Aston Villa).”

Patrick Vieira, former Arsenal and Manchester City player, on Twitter: “It is the end of an era for a truly great ambassador, not only for the Premier League but for football overall. Best of luck to Sir Alex.”

Steve Bruce, Hull City manager and former Manchester United defender, to Sky Sports News: “We’re shocked, nobody saw it coming. He’s obviously been thinking about it for a long, long time. He will be a big hole to replace. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s David (Moyes as next manager) and we wish him well. Whoever takes over... he’s going to be some act to follow. It doesn’t seem quite right that Fergie won’t be in charge any more.

I don’t think the next manager will do 27 years.”

Ron Atkinson, Ferguson’s predecessor at United, on MUTV: “The significant thing might be the 20th (league title). I honestly didn’t think he would finish, I thought he’d have at least another two years at it, maybe try to nick the European Cup back.”

Avram Grant, former Chelsea manager, on Sky Sports News: “It was a shock. Alex always looked very passionate about football, especially in the last year, more than any other year. He looked like he would be forever at Man United. You never know what’s happening in the head of a person until you know their decision.” —Reuters

Key moments LONDON: Following are the key moments in Alex Ferguson’s managerial career following the announcement he will retire as Manchester United’s manager at the end of the season. * Managed Scottish sides East Stirlingshire, St Mirren and Aberdeen and was Scotland’s caretaker manager at the 1986 World Cup finals before moving to United. * After starting his managerial career at tiny East Stirlingshire in 1974, he left soon after for St Mirren, who in 1978 became the only club to sack him. * Became Aberdeen’s manager in 1978 and led them to the first of three league titles under his tenure in 1980. * At Aberdeen he broke Rangers’ and Celtic’s Old Firm domination in Scotland, following the 1980 title with two more in 1984 and 1985. He also won three Scottish FA Cups in a row in 1982, 1983 and 1984 before another success in 1986. * As well as those domestic honours, his Aberdeen side stunned Europe when they beat Real Madrid to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983. * While still at Aberdeen in 1984 he was given the chane to become Arsenal and then Tottenham Hotspur’s manager. Discussions with Arsenal did not progress far but they did with Spurs, who offered him a three-year contract when he wanted a five-year deal. He decided to stay at Aberdeen instead. * Ferguson left Pittodrie for Old Trafford on Nov. 6, 1986, after the dismissal of Ron Atkinson. * A turning point in United’s fortunes came on Jan. 7 1990. After winning nothing in his first three years at Old Trafford, and with fans demanding his sacking, Mark Robins scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup third round replay. United went on to win the trophy beating Crystal Palace in the replayed final for a first trophy under Ferguson. * Another key moment was bringing Eric Cantona to Old Trafford from Leeds United in November 1992.

Ferguson has described the Frenchman as his single most important signing for the club. * United won the inaugural Premier League title in 1993 to end a 26-year wait following Matt Busby’s last title success in 1967. * The following season United won the league and FA Cup double for the first of three times under Ferguson. The catalyst was Cantona, whose two penalties in the 4-0 Cup final victory over Chelsea were among the 25 goals he scored in 48 appearances in all competitions that season. * Ferguson stood solidly behind Cantona in January 1995 when he was banned for eight months following his kung-fu attack on a fan after being sent off in a match at Crystal Palace. * Ferguson ordered United’s players to change their shirts from grey to red at halftime during a defeat at Southampton claiming “the players couldn’t see each other at a distance when they lifted their heads”. United have never worn grey since. * After another double in 1995-96, and a league title in 1997, United became the first Englsih team to win the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble on a momentous night in Barcelona, coming from behind to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 on what would have been Matt Busby’s 90th birthday. * Further titles followed in 2000, 2001 and 2003 with the team based around the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and David Beckham. During this period, in 2002, Ferguson signalled his intention to retire, but later changed his mind. * He also coined the expression “squeaky-bum time” during a tense title run-in with Arsenal in 2003. * The beginning of the end of Beckham’s United career came on Feb. 15, 2003 when, after an FA Cup defeat by Arsenal, Ferguson launched a boot at Beckham in the changing room after the game. Beckham needed stitches above his eye. The England midfielder left for Real Madrid a few months later. * In the same year, another landmark signing arrived at Old Trafford when Cristiano Ronaldo joined United to start an incredible six year career at the club. Wayne Rooney was another key Ferguson signing the following year. * In November 2005 the inspirational heart of United on the pitch, Roy Keane, left after falling out with Ferguson.

The manager had pulled an interview Keane did for the club’s in-house TV channel MUTV in which the midfielder had strongly criticised his team mates. * United’s ninth title of the Premier League era followed in 2007 and a Champions League and Premier League double arrived in 2008 after a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the showpiece European final in Moscow. * Another classic Ferguson quote enters football’s folklore when he describes Manchester City, enriched by new wealthy Arab owners, as the “noisy neighbors”. * Vows to regain the title from Manchester City, who end a 44-year wait for the championship with a last-gasp goal in their final match at home to Queens Park Rangers in 2012. * Ferguson achieves his target on April 22 when a Robin Van Persie hat-trick clinches United’s 13th title of the Premier League era, and 20th in all, with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa. * May 8, 2012 announces his retirement.— Reuters

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

S P ORT S

Real dismantle Malaga, delay Barca title party MADRID: Real Madrid once again ensured Barcelona will have to wait a few more days before sealing the La Liga title as they beat nine-man Malaga 6-2 in a wildly open game at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Raul Albiol headed the hosts into an early lead, but Roque Santa Cruz levelled on 15 minutes before Malaga were reduced to 10-men when Sergio Sanchez was given his marching orders for pulling Cristiano Ronaldo down in the box.

Willy Caballero saved the Portuguese’s penalty with an outstretched foot, but Ronaldo only had to wait four more minutes to get on the scoresheet before he then teed-up Mesut Ozil to make it 3-1.

Vitorino Artunes momentarily reduced the deficit with a wonder strike but Karim Benzema made it 4-2 just before the break and goals from Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria rounded off the scoring in the second-half.

With any form of Madrid slip up mathematically handing Barca the title, Pepe’s name was the big absence from Jose Mourinho’s starting line-up as despite an injury to Sergio Ramos, the Portuguese international was not even named on the bench after his outspoken comments that Mourinho ought to have more respect for captain Iker Casillas.

Handily for Mourinho it was Pepe’s replacement who got Madrid off to the perfect start as Albiol got on the end of Modric’s corner to turn in his first league goal in four years with the club. The lead only lasted 13 minutes though as from Isco’s corner at the other end, Diego Lugano headed the ball down and an unmarked Santa Cruz side-footed home at the back post.

Ronaldo then prodded wide a great chance after an excellent reverse ball from Modric and saw another effort from point-blank range blocked by Caballero.

However, the former Manchester United man’s insatiable running took him in behind the Malaga defence once more on 21 minutes and when he was pulled to the ground by Sanchez, the referee had little option but to award the penalty and show the Malaga defender a straight red card.

Caballero did excellently to block the ensuing spot-kick with his trailing leg, but Madrid were back in front just four

SPAIN: Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric (second right) celebrates with Real Madrid’s midfielder Xabi Alonso (right) and teammates after scoring their fifth goal during the Spanish League football match against Malaga. — AFP minutes later in slightly bizarre circumstances.

Ignacio Camacho was adjudged to have deliberately played the ball back to Caballero after the Argentine pounced on it just outside his six-yard box.

The Malaga players and goalkeeper all then seemed to

EPL results/standings Chelsea 2 (Oscar 10, Ramires 39) Spurs 2 (Adebayor 26, Sigurdsson 80) Played Tuesday Manchester City 1 (Dzeko 35) West Bromwich Albion 0; Wigan Athletic 2 (Espinoza 45+1, McCarthy 53) Swansea City 3 (Rangel 50, Shechter 59, Tiendalli 76).

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

36 27 4

Man City Chelsea Arsenal Tottenham Everton Liverpool West Brom Swansea West Ham Stoke Fulham

36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36

22 20 19 19 15 14 14 11 11 9 10

9 9 10 9 15 13 6 13 10 14 10

5 79 37 85 - champions 5 62 31 75 7 71 37 69 7 67 36 67 8 63 45 66 6 52 38 60 9 67 42 55 16 48 48 48 12 46 46 46 15 41 49 43 13 32 42 41 16 46 57 40

Aston Villa Southampton Sunderland Norwich Newcastle Wigan Reading

36 36 36 36 36 36 36

10 9 9 8 10 9 6

10 12 11 14 8 8 10

44 65 40 47 58 39 40 52 38 34 56 38 43 66 38 44 67 35 41 67 28 - relegated QPR 36 4 13 19 29 57 25 - relegated Note: Top four teams qualify for Champions League; bottom three teams relegated

Spanish La Liga table after yesterday’s game (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Barcelona 34 28 4 2 105 37 88 Real Madrid 35 25 5 5 95 35 80 Atletico Madrid 35 22 6 7 61 28 72 Real Sociedad 34 16 10 8 62 43 58 Valencia 34 16 8 10 58 50 56 Malaga 35 15 8 12 49 45 53 Real Betis 34 14 7 13 51 54 49 Getafe 34 13 8 13 42 51 47 Sevilla 34 13 7 14 52 47 46 Rayo Vallecano 34 14 4 16 43 57 46 Espanyol 34 11 10 13 42 46 43 Levante 34 11 8 15 36 53 41 Valladolid 34 10 10 14 45 50 40 Athletic Bilbao 34 10 8 16 38 60 38 Granada 34 9 8 17 30 51 35 Osasuna 34 8 9 17 28 42 33 Real Zaragoza 34 9 6 19 35 53 33 Deportivo La Coruna 34 7 11 16 44 65 32 Celta Vigo 35 8 7 20 34 51 31 Real Mallorca 34 7 8 19 37 68 29 Note: Teams in top four qualify for Champions League and bottom three clubs are relegated

Ronaldo, but Malaga were given a lifeline when Artunes also scored a fine goal as he cut inside and curled into Diego Lopez’s top left-hand corner.

An increasingly disjointed first-half still had one more goal in it though as two minutes before the break three Madrid players were allowed to bear down on the Malaga goal and Ronaldo squared for Benzema to roll into an empty net. Unsurprisingly the pace and number of chances dropped after the break, but there were still two more sublime strikes to come from Madrid as firstly Modric cracked a shot in off the inside of the post from 25 yards just after the hour mark.

Malaga’s miserable evening continued when Martin Demichelis saw a second yellow card 17 minutes from time and Di Maria struck the final blow in stoppage time as he curled into the far corner from just outside the area.

Earlier in the evening Atletico Madrid guaranteed they will play Champions League football next season with a 3-1 win over Celta Vigo.

Diego Costa, Juanfran and Radamel Falcao got the goals for Diego Simeone’s side which leaves Celta still rooted in the relegation zone. — AFP

Chelsea 2

Tottenham 2

LONDON: Substitute Gylfi Sigurdsson scored an 80th-minute equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw for Tottenham Hotspur at Chelsea yesterday that prevented their opponents from effectively securing a place in the Champions League.

A goal from Ramires looked to have taken Chelsea to the brink of a top-four finish, after Oscar’s opener for the hosts had been cancelled out by a fine solo goal from Emmanuel Adebayor on a night of high tension at Stamford Bridge.

However, Adebayor created a late opening for Sigurdsson with a delightful back-heel, and the Iceland midfielder swept home to keep Spurs’ hopes of Champions League football alive and kicking.

With two games to play in the Premier League and only the top four teams qualifying for the Champions League, Chelsea, in third, lead fourthplace Arsenal by two points, with Spurs just a point further back in fifth.

Alex Ferguson’s impending retirement as Manchester United manager means interim Chelsea coach Rafael Benitez looks set to go down as the last manager to ever get the better of him, but that was of little consolation after his side spurned a gilt-edged opportunity to book a place in the Champions League. “We had the chance today. Twice we had the advantage, and we could have killed the game,” rued the Spaniard.

“We always try to win, and it’s clear we want to finish in the top three or four. We have to win one more match and we can guarantee that top four.” The result will also complicate Benitez’s preparations for next week’s Europa League final against Benfica, but it did allow Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas to depart with a smile after his first game back at Stamford Bridge since he was sacked by Chelsea last year.

“Now somebody else will have to drop points, but our focus is on us doing our job in the remaining fixtures and in the Premier League

LONDON: Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder Victor Moses (right) vies with Tottenham Hotspur’s English defender Kyle Walker (left) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP anything can happen. Keep the faith,” said VillasBoas.

“The Premier League is completely unpredictable. The next fixtures, before the emotions of the last games of the season, can be decisive.”

Eden Hazard’s recovery from the calf strain that kept him out of Sunday’s 1-0 win at Manchester United allowed Chelsea to line up with all three of their nimble attacking technicians in Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata.

Mata was the first player to announce himself, swivelling to lift a half-volley over the bar in the seventh minute, and shortly afterwards, he created Chelsea’s opener.

The Spaniard’s right-wing corner was headed on by Gary Cahill and Oscar pounced to nod the ball in from close range. With man of the season Gareth Bale starved of possession, Spurs did not look likely to reply, but in the 26th minute, Adebayor produced a moment to remember to haul his side level.

Collecting the ball midway inside his own half, the lolloping Togolese striker exploited generosity in the home defence by ambling downfield and then shaped a sumptuous shot into the top-

Fiorentina to third place after La Viola prevailed 1-0 away to Siena. Whoever secures third place will have to successfully negotiate a qualifying round to get to the lucrative group stage.

“We only have two games left now and it’s up to us to protect this lead,” said Allegri, whose job could depend on a third-place finish. “But we all know that anything can happen in football. We have to stay focused.”

Elsewhere Inter Milan’s hopes of playing any kind of European football next season were derailed by a 3-1 defeat at home to Lazio.

Inter were the last Italian team to win the Champions League, under Jose Mourinho in 2010, but their 15th defeat in what has been an injuryplagued campaign left them 33 points behind Juventus and seven behind fifth-placed Udinese in the final Europa League spot as Lazio moved up to sixth. Inter had a terrible start when ‘keeper Samir Handanovic turned the ball into his own net following a cross by Antonio Candreva.

The hosts levelled just after the half hour when Ricardo Alvarez beat Federico Marchetti with a header which left the forward nursing a sore face.

Inter missed several chances and paid the price

when Lazio were awarded a penalty on the stroke of half-time following Andrea Ranocchia’s blatant trip on Sergio Floccari.

Anderson Hernanes stepped up to give Lazio the lead and Inter suffered more misfortune in the second half when Alvarez slipped and missed from the spot after Fredy Guarin had won a penalty.

Lazio virtually killed the game off when 20-yearold Nigerian Ogenyi Onazi, a second-half substitute, scored a screamer from 25 metres.

Parma secured a 1-0 win at Cagliari, a result which kept both sides in mid-table, while Torino and Genoa, both sitting just above the relegation zone, played out a scoreless draw. Palermo, meanwhile, had been looking for the points that would pull them clear of the drop zone but despite their endeavours in a fivegoal thriller with Udinese they were left third from bottom, four points adrift of Genoa.

After a fairly eventless first half Hamsik broke the deadlock for Napoli when he collected Blerim Dzemaili’s short pass on the left to send a swerving shot inside the post of ‘keeper Dejan Stojanovic.

Cavani doubled Napoli’s lead just after the hour mark from the spot after the teenage ‘keeper had hauled the Uruguayan down as he chased the ball. — AFP

right corner from 25 yards.

Briefly, Spurs were on top, Cahill sliding in to block from Bale and Adebayor volleying a difficult chance over the bar, but six minutes before the interval, Chelsea restored their lead.

Fernando Torres’ pass from wide on the right may have been intended for Oscar, but Ramires burst in front of his Brazilian countryman to toe a shot past Hugo Lloris.

Chelsea began the second half like a side determined to put the game to bed, with Torres scuffing a shot at Lloris from a David Luiz cross and Cesar Azpilicueta almost embarrassing the Spurs goalkeeper with a dipping cross from the right.

As gentle rainfall began to slicken the playing surface, Hazard shot over from barely six yards after cutting inside Kyle Walker, before Ramires fell victim to the weather, slipping at the vital juncture after Mata played him in.

The Champions League nonetheless beckoned, only for Sigurdsson to seize on Adebayor’s audacious flick before wrapping a low shot around Petr Cech to maintain the suspense in the race for the top four. — AFP

Italian League results/standings

Champs League for Napoli, Inter miss out MILAN: Edinson Cavani stretched his tally to a league-leading 27 goals as Napoli secured Serie A’s runner-up spot and Champions League football next season with a 3-0 win over Bologna yesterday.

Napoli are 11 points behind Juventus, who secured their 29th league title last weekend and beat Atalanta 1-0 for their 27th win of the campaign, but cannot now be caught by AC Milan who are seven points adrift.

“We’re really happy about second place, it’s like a Scudetto for us,” Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik, who scored Napoli’s opener, told Sky Sport Italia.

“Now we’re in the Champions League.” With Cavani a target for several top European sides, Hamsik admitted, however, it would be strange to play in the competition without the free-scoring Uruguayan. “It’s difficult to think we could be without him next season, but that’s football and we just have to get on with it.” Earlier Wednesday a Mario Balotelli brace and one apiece from Sulley Muntari and Mathieu Flamini put Milan within sight of the Champions League thanks to a 4-0 rout of already-relegated Pescara.

However Massimiliano Allegri’s side face a nervous last two games of the season, at home to Roma and away to Siena, before seeing if they will beat

Celta Vigo 1 (Fernandez 84) Atletico Madrid 3 (Diego Costa 47, Juanfran 66, Falcao 86); Real Madrid 6 (Albiol 3, Ronaldo 26, Ozil 33, Benzema 45+1, Modric 63, Di Maria 90+1) Malaga 2 (Santa Cruz 15, Antunes 36).

Spurs keep Chelsea in top-four suspense

16 15 16 14 18 19 20

ITALY: Napoli’s Italian forward Roberto Insigne (left) vies with Bologna’s French midfielder Saphir Taider (right) during their Serie A football match. — AFP

guard the near post from the resulting free-kick allowing Xabi Alonso to set-up Ronaldo to fire into a huge space in the opposite side of the goal.

Ozil then added the third at the end of a flowing counter-attack after being released by a fantastic pass by

Spanish League results/standings

Pescara 0, AC Milan 4 (Balotelli 9-pen, 57, Muntari 33, Flamini 51); Atalanta 0, Juventus 1 (Matri 18); Bologna 0, Napoli 3 (Hamsik 53, Cavani 63-pen, Dzemaili 67); Cagliari 0, Parma 1 (Rosi 80); Inter 1 (Alvarez 33) Lazio 3 (Handanovic 22-og, Hernanes 45+4, Onazi 76); Palermo 2 (Miccoli 34-pen, Hernandez 81) Udinese 3 (Muriel 9, Angella 64, Benatia 83); Sampdoria 1 (De Silvestri 36) Catania 1 (Spolli 68); Siena 0, Fiorentina 1 (Rodriguez 14); Torino 0, Genoa 0.

Played Tuesday Roma 0, Chievo 1 (Thereau 90).

Italian Serie A standings after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Juventus Napoli AC Milan Fiorentina Udinese Lazio Roma Inter Milan Catania Parma Chievo Cagliari

36 27 5

4 68 20 86 - Champions 36 22 9 5 70 33 75 - qualify for Champions League 36 20 8 8 65 38 68 36 19 7 10 66 43 64 36 16 12 8 52 42 60 36 17 7 12 49 41 58 36 17 7 12 69 55 58 36 16 5 15 53 52 53 36 14 10 12 47 44 52 36 12 10 14 42 43 46 36 12 7 17 34 49 43 36 11 10 15 41 54 43

Bologna 36 10 10 16 44 52 40 Atalanta 36 11 8 17 36 52 39 Sampdoria 36 10 10 16 40 47 39 Torino 36 8 14 14 43 52 37 Genoa 36 8 12 16 38 52 36 Palermo 36 6 14 16 33 50 32 Siena 36 9 9 18 34 53 30 Pescara 36 6 4 26 26 7822 relegated Note: Sampdoria (one point), Torino (one point), Atalanta (two points) and Siena (six points) all docked points for involvement in the “Calcioscommesse” illegal betting scandal.

Nadal through, Azarenka out

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

17

Real dismantle Malaga, delay Barca title party

19

Alonso must make the most of being at home

Page 16

Ferguson of Manchester United to retire List of honors LONDON: Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of the season as the most successful manager in British soccer and Manchester United’s league title success last month was his 49th club trophy since he began his managerial career with East Stirling in 1974.

The following is a list of his honors: • St Mirren 1 Scottish First Division (second tier) title 1976-77

LONDON: Alex Ferguson will retire as Manchester United manager at the end of the season, the Premier League champions announced yesterday, ending the most successful managerial reign in English football.

The shock announcement led to a flurry of speculation about who would take on one of the most coveted jobs in world football, with Everton’s David Moyes widely tipped to replace his fellow Scot in the Old Trafford hot seat.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, who established a friendly rivalry with Ferguson while in charge of United’s rivals Chelsea, has also been touted for the role. However, Moyes was the odds-on favorite with all the leading British bookmakers.

Ferguson, 71, has guided United to 13 Premier League titles and two European Champions League crowns in 26 years in charge at Old Trafford that yielded an astounding 38 major trophies in total.

Rumors of Ferguson’s retirement only began circulating late on Tuesday, but he said it was a decision he had been considering for some time.

“The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time,” Ferguson said in a statement.

“It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so,” added Ferguson, who will bow out with United having wrested back the Premier League title this season from local rivals Manchester City.

Ferguson will remain at United as a director and club ambassador, and said he was confident he was stepping down as manager with the team in good shape.

“The quality of this league-winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level, whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one,” he said.

“Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability,” he added in a reference to the club’s USbased owners.

David Gill, who forged a highly succesful partnership with Ferguson as United’s chief executive, paid tribute to the veteran manager.

“Alex’s vision, energy and ability have built teams-both on and off the pitch-that his successor can count on as among the best and most loyal in world sport,” said Gill, who is also leaving the club this season.

Arguably the highlight of Ferguson’s career was the unprecedented Treble of 1999, which included the Premier League, FA Cup and a thrilling come-from-behind win against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

Ferguson’s final game in charge will be away to West

Bromwich Albion on May 19.

Former United winger Cristiano Ronaldo led the tributes from the players to have played under Ferguson at the club.

The Real Madrid superstar posted a picture on Twitter of his first day at Old Trafford with Ferguson in 2003, alongside the message: “Thanks for everything, Boss.”

Such has been Ferguson’s impact upon United, the club’s shares fell by more than four percent in early trading on the US Nasdaq exchange following the announcement of his retirement.

Bobby Charlton, one of the United directors who appointed Ferguson in 1986 and who persuaded the club’s board against sacking him four years later during a run of poor results, hailed a “sensational person”. Ferguson is due to have a hip replacement operation after the end of the season and Charlton, a member of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup, said that had played a part in his retirement.

“He has made his decision on various grounds like (because of) his family and because of the hip operation he will have this summer,” said Charlton, who captained the United team that became the first English club to win the European Cup in 1968.

Ferguson said Charlton’s backing had been crucial before he ended the club’s 26-year wait for an English title in 1993.

“In my early years, the backing of the board, and Sir Bobby Charlton in particular, gave me the confidence and time to build a football club, rather than just a football team,” Ferguson said yesterday.

The owner of several racehorses, Ferguson was due yesterday to have a day out with his players at the Chester racecourse near Manchester.

It is not the first time that Ferguson has announced he was quitting. In 2002 it seemed as if Ferguson was on the brink of retirement, only for him to make a dramatic U-turn.

The former Rangers’ striker’s managerial career began with Scottish lower-league club East Stirlingshire in 1974 and saw him win 49 major trophies in all.

Ferguson forged his managerial reputation in charge of Aberdeen, taking the Dons to a trio of Scottish league titles and the 1983 UEFA Cup’ Winners Cup before joining United in 1986.—-AFP

• Aberdeen: 3 Scottish Premier League titles: 1979-80, 1983-84, 1984-85 4 Scottish FA Cups: 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86 1 Scottish League Cup: 1985-86 1 European Cup Winners Cup: 1982-83

1 UEFA Super Cup: 1983 • Manchester United 13 Premier League titles: 1992-93, 1993-94, 199596, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13 5 FA Cups: 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2003-04 4 League Cups: 1991-92, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10 10 Charity/Community Shields: 1990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 2 Champions League: 1998-99, 2007-08 1 European Cup Winners Cup: 1990-91 1 UEFA Super Cup: 1991 1 Intercontinental Cup: 1999 1 FIFA Club World Cup: 2008

Business

Abu Dhabi financial zone set to challenge Dubai Page 22 China swings back to trade surplus in April Page 23

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

Usain Bolt golden again with unique Nissan GT-R

Mercedes-Benz Kuwait launches daring A 250 Sport Page 26 Page 25

Zain Group achieves $184m net income for Q1 2013 A 3% increase in fourth quarter of 2012 KUWAIT: Zain Group, the pioneer of mobile telecommunications across the Middle East and North Africa, announced yesterday its consolidated financial results for the three months ending 31 March, 2013.

Zain Group added 3.9 million new active customers over the past twelve months to now serve 44.1 million, reflecting a 10 percent growth rate.

The Group added 1.4 million customers during the first three months of 2013. Zain is a market leader in six of its eight operations.

For the first quarter of 2013, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of $1.06 billion (KD299 million), and the company’s consolidated EBITDA for the same period reached $449 million (KD127 million), reflecting a healthy EBITDA margin of 42.4 percent.

4. Shareholders receive $685 million (KD195 million) cash distribution after Annual General Assembly Meeting approved dividends of 50 percent of share face value (50fils).

5. Benefits of Vodafone Partner agreement began to take effect as Zain agrees to pilot the ‘joyn’ Rich Communications Services initiative formulated by the GSM Association. The service will allow the company to compete more effectively against OTT players by providing customers access to leading-edge technology and services in a shorter period of time. The Zain brand was also exposed to a global motor racing audience as the Vodafone Mercedes McLaren cars and team were branded Zain during the recent Bahrain Grand Prix.

terms and despite intense competitive challenges, they are all attaining the targets set at the beginning of the year. The adverse effect on our financial results by the devaluation of the Sudanese pound,

the more significant and promising for Zain when one considers that a large number of the Group’s customers do not yet have smartphones and are located in rural areas across several

wide 4G LTE with year-on-year customer growth of 9 percent.

Bahrain: Customer base grew by 30 percent; recently launches 4G LTE.

Q1, 2013 Key Performance Indicators (USD and Kuwaiti Dinars) Total Managed Active Customers Consolidated revenues EBITDA EBITDA Margin Net income EPS

44.1 million $1.06 billion $449 million 42.4% $184 million $0.05

Consolidated Net Income reached $184 million (KD52 million), representing a 3 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2012. Earnings per share for the quarter stood at $0.05 (KD0.013).

Key Group Quarter Operational Notes: 1. Adverse currency translation impact in Sudan costs the company the equivalent of $179 million in revenues, $76 million in EBITDA and $44 million in net profit for the quarter.

2. Although Zain Saudi Arabia continues to narrow its operating loss, Zain Group’s increased ownership from 25 percent to 37 percent pressures Group operating results.

3. The gap between traditional voice and data revenues reduce as data revenues see impressive 14 percent growth.

up 10% on Q1, 2012 (KD 299 million) (KD127 million) (KD52 million) (KD 0.013)

Commenting on the results, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Group, Asaad AlBanwan said: “It is promising from a forward-looking perspective to see the addition of 3.9 million customers notwithstanding the Group’s key financial indicators having been impacted by adverse currency fluctuations, and to a lesser extent by the Group’s increased stake in Zain Saudi Arabia.”

The Chairman also noted, “Our substantial investment in expanding and upgrading our 3G and 4G networks across our markets are paying off and continual attention to such areas is necessary to maintain the company’s growth momentum.”

On his part, Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer noted, “Operationally our Group companies are performing well in local currency

Asaad Al-Banwan which fell by 53 percent against the US dollar over the last 12 months, is unavoidable as there is no effective hedge on the currency.”

Gegenheimer added, “Our focus today is to drive efficiency and to build on our many competitive strengths with the aim to cement our market leadership position in the countries we serve. Empowering our customers with the latest innovative technologies is a critical focus and the 14% growth in data revenues reflects positively on our efforts and investments in this area.

We expect data revenue growth to continue, in line with industry trends worldwide”.

The percentage growth in data revenues is all

Scott Gegenheimer countries that are vast in their geographies.

With regard to ongoing dealings that will be further elaborated in the near future, Gegenheimer noted that the Group is currently examining several prime adjacent business and key partnership opportunities that if successfully completed, will be accretive to both operational efficiency and shareholder value. The company is also in the final stages of entering into numerous commercial and customer enhancing agreements that will improve the Zain service experience.

Zain countr y operational year-on-year growth highlights: Kuwait: Launched nation-

Iraq: Customer base grew by 9 percent as operation expands network to North Iraq.

Jordan: Maintains customer and value leadership through dynamic marketing campaigns Lebanon: Management contract extended to 30 June 2013.

Saudi Arabia: 4G LTE network and aggressive marketing campaigns contribute to 32 percent customer growth, revenue growth of 17 percent.

Sudan: In SDG currency terms, revenues grew by 25 percent year-on-year, net income grew by 57 percent.

South Sudan: Customer base grew by 44 percent while revenues grew by 8 percent.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

BUSINESS

Abu Dhabi financial zone set to challenge Dubai Plan to recycle more of its own oil wealth ABU DHABI/DUBAI: For a decade, Dubai has prospered as the Middle East’s top financial centre, handling tens of billions of dollars of oil wealth. That dominance may now be threatened as neighboring Abu Dhabi demands a piece of the pie.

Last week, Abu Dhabi outlined plans for a full-service financial zone on an island near its downtown area that will have its own administration, court system and tax incentives to lure banks and other firms from around the world. The announcement caused consternation among thousands of bankers, fund managers and other finance professionals in Dubai, some of whom may in future have to commute along the 130 kilometer (80 mile) highway linking the desert cities - or even move permanently to Abu Dhabi. Dubai has big competitive advantages, including its entrenched status, a creative business culture and a cosmopolitan lifestyle which persuades many expatriate executives to settle there.

But Abu Dhabi has been narrowing the gap in many of those areas, and it has more money than Dubai, which it bailed out with $10 billion in emergency loans during the global credit crisis of 2009. If it deploys its money aggressively, financial firms will find it hard to resist.

“Abu Dhabi makes a tough competitor for Dubai,” said Jim Krane, Gulf economic analyst at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School in Britain, and author of “Dubai: The Story of the World’s Fastest City”. Explicitly or implicitly, Abu Dhabi could use access to business with its state-owned institutions as a way to persuade financial firms to set up there.

“If Abu Dhabi plays tough, giving banks an ultimatum - move to Abu Dhabi or else - few of them will be able to resist, given the much larger economy and liquidity pool across the border.”

Over the decades, several cities have laid claim to being the Middle East’s top financial centre, including Alexandria in the 1950s and then Beirut until the Lebanese civil war in the 1970s allowed Bahrain to emerge. Dubai snatched the title after the opening in 2004 of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), offering foreign investors benign regulation and efficient infrastructure.

The DIFC continued to grow during the global crisis and it has so far maintained its lead over nearby Qatar, which is also promoting itself as a financial

centre. The number of registered firms in the DIFC rose 7 percent last year to 912, while workers at those firms jumped 16 percent to 14,000.

But Abu Dhabi, a fellow member of the United Arab Emirates, may pose a stronger challenge. The emirate has roughly the same population as Dubai, at just over 2 million, but it has massive oil wealth which Dubai lacks - its 2011 gross domestic product of about $220 billion was well over twice Dubai’s.

Abu Dhabi has one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), with assets estimated at $400-600 billion. The UAE’s two biggest banks by market value, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank, are headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

In last week’s announcement, the Abu Dhabi government left no doubt that it was prepared to compete with Dubai in all areas. It said it would host various types of bank, foreign exchange and commodity trading firms, brokerages, pension and investment funds, Islamic financial firms and many others. It even claimed that its new zone, to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2013, would fill the gap in the global trading day between when Tokyo starts to wind down and London gets fully underway - a role that Dubai says it already fills.

Niall O’Toole, managing partner at law firm Clyde & Co’s Abu Dhabi office, said statements so far suggested the financial centre would have a legal system based on English common law, similar to global centers like the City of London and Hong Kong. “The full arrangements will take years to implement but they are very serious about this. This is a very big initiative on the part of Abu Dhabi,” O’Toole said.

Abu Dhabi is already spending billions of dollars to diversify its economy beyond oil, into areas such as tourism and light industry. By recycling more wealth within the emirate, the financial zone could provide a major economic boost.

“The locational advantage of such a new district is extremely important for Abu Dhabi,” said Gurjit Singh, chief operating officer of Sorouh Real Estate, the second largest property developer in the emirate. “It will have a multiplier effect for real estate in Abu Dhabi.”

Partly because of the presence of ADIA, one of the world’s big portfolio investors, wealth manage-

ment may be one area in which Abu Dhabi quickly lures some business from Dubai.

“The reality is that the liquidity and wealth is here and asset management companies want to be close to their clients,” said Karim El Solh, chief executive of Gulf Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based firm which recently moved its offices to the future site of the financial zone.

Many big companies already have substantial operations in both cities and others may follow this model, adjusting their presence in line with changing business needs.

“Financial institutions and law firms that serve the oil and gas industry, for example, would likely open in Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone whether or not they already operate in DIFC,” said David Cynamon, managing partner at law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

Bankers and analysts said competition between Abu Dhabi and Dubai would not necessarily be a zero-sum game. The ruling families of the two emirates are related, and have cooperated as well as competed since independence from Britain in 1971.

Abu Dhabi established its fast-expanding Etihad airline in 2003 without ending the explosive growth of Dubai’s carrier Emirates. The two emirates have pushed ahead with massive plans to expand their ports, so far without any clear sign that they are creating overlapping capacity.

“There are synergies to be reaped from what may turn out to be a ‘clustering’ of financial districts,” said Krane. “Even if Dubai loses some of its big bank headquarters, its more developed services sector will see gains from supplying specialized services.”

Some bankers suggested the DIFC, which declined to comment on Abu Dhabi’s plans, might benefit in regulatory areas from the existence of another financial centre in the UAE. Firms in the DIFC are subject to regulation by the UAE central bank and the federal Securities and Commodities Authority; the DIFC may now have an ally when it discusses policy with those bodies.

Nevertheless, even the Gulf’s oil wealth is not unlimited, and Dubai will now have a powerful rival next door when it bids to store and manage those funds. “Dubai’s success has turned its neighbors into competitors,” Krane said. —Reuters

ITALY: People take pictures of Lamborghini cars yesterday in Milan. Two hundred and fifty vintage and modern Lamborghini cars will parade through Italian cities, starting from downtown Milan, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the brand. —AFP

Lamborghini hits road on anniversary tour of Italy MILAN: Hundreds of luxury Lamborghini cars powered through Milan yesterday at the start of a tour of Italy to mark the 50th anniversary of the company, which started out making tractors. The 350 sleek roadsters with a combined horsepower of 190,000 formed a four-kilometer (2.5-mile) long convoy that began the tour from the Sforza Castle in Milan city centre and will end on Saturday at the company’s headquarters near Bologna. Drivers from 29 countries are taking part in the Lamborghini tour, which includes cars owned by the company and as well as aficionados, organizers said.

The biggest representation was from Britain, with 71 cars, followed by Germany, Italy and Switzerland with 30 Lamborghinis each. Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Singapore, South Korea, Tunisia and Ukraine

Bayt.com to host 5th Virtual Education Fair from May 13-16 DUBAI: Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one job site, has announced that it will host the 5th Bayt.com Virtual Education Fair for students and universities across the region, from May 13 to May 16. The online education fair, which sees Manchester Business School as an Official Sponsor and IDP as Official Language Partner, provides a convenient platform from which students and educators can interact directly without the need for a physical forum.

The Bayt.com Virtual Education Fair offers users an interactive environment modelled after a physical event, allowing students to interact live with universities and educational advisors. Students, parents and guidance counsellors are able to explore various universities, colleges and training providers, all from the convenience of their personal computers, without needing to travel or commute.

“Convenience is key to everyone in this day and age, and the Bayt.com

Bayt.com Virtual Education Fair have direct access to representatives from top regional institutes, and can request more information on courses, degrees and programs as well as ask for specific advice, by chatting online with educational institute representatives.

Meanwhile, participating educational institutes can communicate live with prospective students, parents and guidance counsellors without being restricted to traditional geographic boundaries. They can showcase their unique brand in an innovative manner and elaborate on courses offered as well as specific programs, degrees, educational styles, curricula and philosophies.”We encourage educational institutions both in the region and abroad to take advantage of this opportunity,” said Masri. “There are many thousands of students with diverse backgrounds, interests and aptitudes across the Middle East and North Africa interested in immediately furthering their education, and there is

Virtual Education Fairs provide students and leading educational institutes with the means to connect quickly, efficiently, and with minimum fuss. This direct method of contact has proved highly successful across the region as an ideal solution for students to explore as many possibilities as possible, and for educational facilities to reach the maximum number of potential candidates,” said Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com. “At Bayt.com, we want to empower the future workforce by giving them access to leading educational institutions via a highly accessible online virtual environment. The highly successful last Bayt.com Virtual Education Fair in 2012 saw over 15,000 visitors over only a five day period, and all were able to successfully interact on a realtime basis with top leading regional and international educational providers offering varying curricula and a broad spectrum of academic choice.”

Students participating in the

no better place to meet and communicate with them than the Bayt.com Virtual Education Fair. The pioneering online Fair is very cost-effective for educators and also highly efficient, enabling educators to ensure that they can maximize their reach, choice, and ROI.” Bayt.com’s exciting Virtual Fair series is unique in that it allows educators to fully interact with prospective students through an immersive, interactive state-of-the-art virtual environment. The platform presents numerous advantages, not least of which is easy instant accessibility from anywhere in the world and the significantly minimized logistical and planning constraints compared to traditional bricks and mortar education fairs. Educational institutes can reserve their booth today to be part of the 2013 Bayt.com Virtual Education Fair, while students wishing to participate in the Bayt.com Virtual Education Fair can register for free immediately at http://www.vefme.com.

were also among those represented.

“Lamborghini has been the dream and the symbol of Made in Italy for 50 years,” said company chief executive Stephan Winkelmann, adding that the tour “reflects the global dimension we have attained”.

The tour will cruise through high-end beach resort Forte dei Marmi and Rome, as well as the mediaeval towns of Orvieto and Arezzo.

Lamborghini started out in 1948 as “Lamborghini Trattori”, which has since been sold off, while the luxury car division was founded in 1963. It now has 120 dealerships around the world and is part of the Volkswagen Group. Dubai police last month announced they had bought a Lamborghini patrol car valued at $550,000 (418,000 euros) to reinforce an image of “luxury and prosperity” in tourist-heavy areas. —AFP

Iraq to rebuild rail system BAGHDAD: In a shabby, rusty train that had just left Baghdad for the southern city of Basra, Riyadh Saleh moved restlessly from carriage to carriage, searching for a comfortable, air-conditioned seat. Saleh was one of about 200 passengers taking a 25-year-old diesel train to Basra last week; he was enticed by fares as low as 7,500 dinars ($6.50) for a seat on the 600 kilometer (375 mile) journey. But like many others, he felt the experience - especially the train’s top speed of 60-70 km/hour - left much to be desired. “The train is not comfortable, it is rocking. I do not feel secure - I feel it will turn over at any moment.

Besides, it is slow,” said the retired civil servant, who was travelling with 10 other family members to attend a relative’s wedding in Basra.

Iraq’s infrastructure is dilapidated after decades of war, sanctions and economic decline. In a country where piles of rubble and incomplete buildings are commonplace, almost every sector needs investment, including electricity and the sewage system.

But the country is laying plans to rebuild its historic railways and become a transit hub for goods that would be shipped from Asia to Iraq’s neighbors and beyond. Iraq’s railways date back 100 years; the foundation of the first line was laid by the Germans under the Ottoman Empire in 1912. That line, connecting Baghdad with the town of Dujail, 60 km to the north, was completed in 1914.

The network has been neglected during the past several decades of political and economic turmoil. The country has only two working passenger trains at present, and officials in the

state-run railway company admit that the volumes of passengers and freight which it carries do not generate enough income to cover employees’ salaries, let alone revamp the network. That leaves Iraq with little public transport connecting regions of the fractious country.

Most people rely on minibuses and taxis to make national journeys, which can be expensive and dangerous on poorly maintained roads.

“Our passengers have a right to complain because when they go abroad and see modern trains with new and developed technology, while our lines are the same old thing, they say ‘I want our trains to be like the rest of the world,’” said Hadi Ali, manager of the train station in central Baghdad.

Plans to revive the rail system are gaining pace along with the country’s oil boom and general reconstruction. If successful, this could not only have economic benefits by facilitating trade and domestic tourism, but by making travel easier, maybe even contribute to the country’s political unity. Last year the railway company finished building a 32 km line between Mussayab, south of Baghdad, and the holy city of Kerbala to transfer hundreds of thousands of pilgrims during Shiite religious festivals. It is also building a new railway parallel to the old Baghdad-Basra line at a cost of about $700 million; the line is due to be in service by the end of this year.

Currently only around 250 passengers travel on Iraq’s railways on most days, but when the new Baghdad-Basra line is finished, the number could jump to between 2,000 and 3,000, officials say. —Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2770000 .4310000 .3680000 .3020000 .2780000 .2940000 .0040000 .0020000 .0771240 .7513970 .3930000 .0720000 .7366120 .0370000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2841000 .4338920 .3707360 .3043390 .2795430 .0497330 .0443660 .2963730 .0365940 .2291130 .0029600 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0773800 .7538810 .0000000 .0757800 .7382100 .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso

ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.884 5.266 2.896 2.259 3.305 232.220 36.776 3.652 6.987

.2880000 .4470000 .3760000 .3170000 .2920000 .3020000 .0069000 .0035000 .0778990 .7589480 .4110000 .0770000 .7440150 .0440000 .2862000 .4370990 .3734770 .3065880 .2816100 .0501010 .0446940 .2985640 .0368650 .2308060 .0028810 .0052870 .0022880 .0029190 .0036810 .0779520 .7594530 .4048090 .0763400 .7436660 .0069870

Thai Baht Malaysian ringgit Irani Riyal Irani Riyal

Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

9.659 94.221 0.271 0.273

740.69 78.59 76.02

743.000 78.500 76.400

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd GCC COUNTRIES 76.137 78.450 741.590 758.340 77.744

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 40.400 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.536 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.332 Tunisian Dinar 175.960 Jordanian Dinar 403.190 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.915 Syrian Lier 3.102 Morocco Dirham 33.976 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 285.400 Euro 375.870 Sterling Pound 443.230 Canadian dollar 284.860 Turkish lira 158.720 Swiss Franc 304.190 US Dollar Buying 284.200 GOLD 298.000 150.000 77.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL DRAFT 299.45 285.97 306.21 376.06 284.60 444.81 2.98 3.675 5.263 2.245 3.313 2.896 77.55 757.78 40.62 405.45

Selling Rate 285.100 286.510 444.700 374.180 304.790 754.940 77.615 78.270 76.005 401.965 40.530 2.257 5.271 2.894 3.654 6.969 699.490 3.875 9.695 4.065 3.380 94.985

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

SELL CASH 298.000 285.000 307.000 374.500 285.500 449.000 3.300 3.720 5.450 2.430 3.400 2.953 78.000 756.800 40.500 410.000

British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Scottish Pound Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar Uganda Shilling Canadian Dollar Colombian Peso US Dollars Bangladesh Taka Cape Vrde Escudo Chinese Yuan Eritrea-Nakfa

SELL CASH Europe 0.4349968 0.0061642 0.0460352 0.3688111 0.0448336 0.4320145 0.0396656 0.2985181 Australasia 0.2806787 0.2314327 0.0001130 America 0.2767070 0.0001451 0.2830500 Asia 0.0036123 0.0031639 0.0452927 0.0164800

SELLDRAFT 0.4439968 0.0181642 0.0510352 0.3763111 0.0500336 0.4395145 0.0446658 0.3055181 0.2926787 0.2414327 0.0001130 0.2857070 0.0001631 0.2852000 0.0036673 0.0033939 0.0502927 0.0195800

Guinea Franc Hg Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Jamaican Dollars Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar Sri Lankan Rupee Thai Baht Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Ethiopeanbirr Ghanaian Cedi Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Sudanese Pounds Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.0000443 0.0342000 0.0052083 0.0000243 0.0028494 0.0027987 0.0033471 0.0906975 0.0031459 0.0028721 0.0065279 0.0000728 0.2274634 0.0022159 0.0092509 Arab 0.7500723 0.0385123 0.0128886 0.1484588 0.0000793 0.0001735 0.3966874 1.0000000 0.0001749 0.0220208 0.0012123 0.7297687 0.0776821 0.0755200 0.0463721 0.0031824 0.1738323 0.0762221 0.0012866

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 284.900 375.350 445.000 284.450 2.920 5.265 40.540 2.252 3.652 6.965 2.900 758.350 77.550 76.000

0.0000503 0.0373000 0.0052723 0.0000295 0.0038494 0.0029787 0.0035771 0.0976975 0.0033459 0.0029121 0.0069979 0.0000758 0.2334634 0.0022579 0.0098509 0.7585723 0.0405423 0.0193886 0.1502488 0.0000798 0.0002335 0.4041874 1.0000000 0.0001949 0.0460208 0.0018473 0.7407687 0.0784651 0.0761600 0.0469221 0.0034024 0.1798323 0.0776721 0.0013866

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

BUSINESS

China swings back to trade surplus in April Analysts say figures may not reflect reality

BRUSSELS: The European commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Malta’s Tonio Borg (right) speaks during a press conference with European commissioner for Internal Market France’s Michel Barnier (left), on the adaptation of a proposal for a directive on bank accounts at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels yesterday. —AFP

EU outlines draft for bank accounts open to all BRUSSELS: The European Commission outlined yesterday plans to ensure all EU citizens can access banking services that would have to become more transparent and user-friendly.

One measure is designed to make it easier to switch banks, similar to EU measures to open up utility markets in recent years. Finally, according to proposals seen by AFP the regulations will insist on transparent cost information for consumers.

Transforming the draft into law will require the approval of EU member governments and the European Parliament however, and are to include detailed industry submissions.

Assuming the plans are approved, accounts available to all are to offer the possibility of funds transfers, but no credit-card nor overdrafts, as is frequently the case at present where banking restrictions are imposed on individuals with poor credit ratings.

“Banks will not be allowed to refuse to open a payment account guaranteeing the minimum essential payment services to a consumer with poor credit history or any other type of financial difficulty,” the Commission documents state. Exceptions to these rights would be where individuals are found guilty of breaches of money-laundering or anti-terror legislation, or if a similar type of account already exists in the country concerned. Consumers should be able to switch banks within 15 days if they chose one in the same country, and within 30 days if they look across

borders, as political leaders seek to create a true EU-wide banking union.

In some countries, the proportion of citizens without current accounts is especially high-the Commission estimates, for instance, that 25 million people in Bulgaria and Romania do not have payment accounts, meaning they operate largely on a cash or barter basis. “Whilst single market legislation has ensured that banks can operate throughout the European Union and offer their services cross-border, this mobility is not mirrored for citizens who are often unable to open an account in another member state or to easily switch from one bank to another,” the Commission said.

“Not having access to a basic bank account makes everyday life difficult and more expensive,” said the man behind the legislative proposals, EU Markets Commissioner and a former French foreign minister Michel Barnier.

He added: “By making it easier to compare fees and change bank accounts, we also hope to see better offers from banks and lower costs.

“The proposal will also benefit the financial services industry by providing additional incentives to offer products cross-border and enter new markets.”

EU Consumer Commissioner Tonio Borg said the changes would “favor competition in the retail financial services sector and reward businesses that offer consumers a better choice and price.” —AFP

Indian banks suspend staff in money laundering probe MUMBAI: Leading Indian banks have suspended staff on government orders after a media sting operation revealed suspected money laundering at more than 20 financial institutions, reports said yesterday.

Indian news outlet Cobrapost made the allegations on Monday based on two undercover investigations carried out by its team, leading the finance ministry to call for immediate action against any staff involved. “The Secretary, Financial Services has also asked for a detailed report on utmost priority with the name of the employee/designation and action taken,” said the statement on the ministry website late Monday.

Media reports quoting the ministry yesterday said 15 employees of various public sector banks have been suspended, while another 10 officers have been divested of their work and six have been asked to take leave. The banks named for business irregularities include the country’s largest bank State Bank of India and state-run insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). The New Delhi-based Cobrapost website calls the

scale of money laundering “vast and unfathomable”.

In its latest sting operation “Operation Red Spider 2” Cobrapost released some recordings of conversations it made with officials from banks and insurance firms on their site.

Bank officials were heard confirming that money laundering-whereby the source of money obtained by illicit means is concealed-was common and they would “help” people who wished to do it.

“Money laundering practices are part and parcel of banking and insurance business across the board,” Cobrapost said in a statement on its website on Monday, based on its months-long investigations.

In March, Cobrapost carried out a similar operation, claiming it had evidence against three private banks-ICICI, HDFC and Axis-for facilitating money laundering. India’s central bank is investigating those allegations, but has downplayed the evidence provided so far. —AFP

BEIJING: China swung back to trade surplus in April after posting a rare deficit the previous month, official data showed yesterday, but analysts cautioned the better-than-expected figures may not reflect reality.

The world’s second-largest economy recorded an $18.2 billion trade surplus last month, Customs said in a statement, higher than the median forecast of $15.6 billion in a poll of 12 economists by Dow Jones Newswires. April imports increased 16.8 percent year-on-year to $168.9 billion, Customs said, while exports rose 14.7 percent to $187.1 billion.

In March, the country had posted a deficit of $880 million.

With the euro-zone mired in a debt crisis and US growth still unsteady, many hope that the Chinese economy can be a driver of a global recovery. But statistics have painted a mixed picture for it in recent months. Economists were sceptical about the trade figures, suggesting they were driven by capital inflows rather than the effects of a rebound in the real economy. “We believe the strong trade growth is not indicative of a growth recovery,” said Zhang Zhiwei, a Hong Kong-based economist with Nomura International, said in a research note.

Importers and exporters may have overstated their business to seek to evade Chinese government controls on capital movements and channel funds into the country, he said. Chinese officials vowed earlier this week to clamp down on misreporting, and Zhang said “trade growth will likely slow” in future months as a result. Royal Bank of Scotland economist Louis Kuijs estimated China’s exports rose only 5.7 percent year-on-year in April after adjusting for discrepancies

between data from China and figures from the importing markets.

“Subdued actual export growth in April points to sluggish global demand and the impact of (yuan) exchange rate appreciation,” he said in a report. But “reasonable import growth suggests domestic demand

a rebound to 7.9 percent in the final quarter of 2012, raising hopes of recovery, but in the first three months of this year growth slowed to 7.7 percent. Other indicators released recently also pointed to further weakness in the Chinese economy. The official purchasing

in the first quarter to 9.5 percent, from 10 percent in OctoberDecember. China’s total trade grew just 6.2 percent last year, well below the official target of about 10 percent.

The government has set a growth goal of eight percent for

QINGDAO: A shipping container is craned to a containership at a port in Qingdao in east China’s Shandong province. China’s trade accelerated last month in a possible positive sign for its shaky economic recovery. Exports rose 14.7 percent over a year earlier, up from March’s 10 percent growth, customs data showed yesterday. —AP has held up better so far,” he added.

China grew at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012, with gross domestic product expanding 7.8 percent in the face of weakness at home and in key overseas markets. There was

managers’ index (PMI), a widely watched indicator of the health of the Chinese economy, slowed to 50.6 in April from 50.9 the month before. Industrial output, which is crucial to job creation, also slowed

two-way trade this year. Customs said total trade increased by 14 percent year-on-year to $1.33 trillion in the January-April period, when China had a trade surplus of $61.0 billion. —AFP

UK shale gas company plans summer drilling

INDIANAPOLIS: A “Sold” sign is posted outside a home in Indianapolis.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac earned $4.6 billion from January through March of 2013, helped by a stronger housing market. The government-controlled company has turned a profit in the past six quarters. —AP

LONDON: UK shale gas company Cuadrilla Resources plans to undertake four months of exploration drilling work this summer at a site to the south of London, it said yesterday.

The company intends to drill a vertical well 3,000 feet deep near the village of Balcombe in West Sussex to take samples of the underground rock, with a possible horizontal leg extending 2,500 feet from the vertical section.

Cuadrilla said neither the horizontal or vertical well will be hydraulically fractured. Fracking is a way to retrieve gas trapped in tight layered rock formations by injecting highpressure water, sand and chemicals.

Fracking remains extremely controversial in the United Kingdom, with the government only just having lifted an almost year-long ban imposed after work triggered small earthquakes near the northern seaside resort of Blackpool.

A short flow test will be carried out at the Balcombe site if any oil or gas is discovered, Cuadrilla said. “It is envisaged that the work will take no more than four months and the site cleared of equipment no later than the end of September this year,” it said.

Cuadrilla, which won planning permission for the work in 2010, promised to hold extensive technical, environmental and public consultations if it finds oil or gas. —Reuters

Somali banker sees hope in business order after chaos NAIROBI: Somalia’s government must lure more investors to drive the private economy because business owners have an interest in cementing fragile security gains, the chief executive of Somalia’s biggest financial firm said. Abdirashid Duale’s company, Dahabshiil - which with a handful of others has survived the anarchy of the past two decades exemplifies a strong entrepreneurial spirit, he says.

Its flagship operation is an international money transfer business handling hundreds of millions of dollars a year sent to Somalia, a country still grappling with an Islamist insurgency.

“The more people invest in the country, the more they have ownership ... the more they will look after their security and have an interest in the future of their community,” Duale said in a telephone interview. He was speaking while attending a conference

in London this week to attract international support for rebuilding Somalia, where guns are rife and a new government has only tenuous control beyond the limits of the capital Mogadishu.

Though still fragile, the leadership elected last September marks a dramatic advance after 20 years of turmoil when the nation fell apart. A patchwork of warlords gave way to Islamist militants, while transitional governments came and went.

That chaos swept away the state-run economy of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and left a vacuum in which some innovative Somalis created private airlines, set up 3G mobile services and kept finances flowing without a functioning financial authority.

“The government can come and go, it is the people who stay in the country,” said Duale, who joined his father’s business while at school. “Somalis are very

entrepreneurial.” His family business testifies to that view. Founded in 1970, Dahabshiil collapsed in 1988 when civil conflict took a hold, but has since been rebuilt with offices in Somalia, other African states, London and Dubai.

“There is a Somali style of dealing with challenges,” Duale said, explaining how his company has faced hurdles few others in the financial world have to deal with. His money transfer and banking business has had to build a high degree of trust from customers, who send their cash to a nation without a fully functioning regulator. It requires overcoming suspicions between clans that were deepened by conflict. “We cross the clan line,” said Duale, running what he calls Somalia’s biggest private sector employer. “We employ lots of people who have local knowledge.” —Reuters

BOE may hold rates after upbeat data LONDON: The Bank of England is expected this week to hold record-low interest rates and its quantitative easing cash stimulus, after encouraging British economic growth data and despite fresh moves elsewhere to loosen monetary policy, dealers said.

The nine members of the British central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) — which includes governor Mervyn King who steps down next month-will cast their votes on Thursday at the conclusion of their regular two-day meeting in central London.

The BOE’s key lending rate has stood at a record low level of 0.50 percent for more than four years, while it has also injected £375 billion ($582 billion, 443 billion euros) under its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program since March 2009.

King, who will be replaced by Canadian central bank chief Mark Carney

in July after he retires from the role, has called at the previous three meetings for more emergency QE to stimulate economic growth and fend off the threat of recession. However, recent official data showed that Britain has avoided falling into its third recession since the 2008 global financial crisis. British gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.3 percent in the January-March period, rebounding from a 0.3-percent contraction in the fourth quarter of 2012, in a major boost to Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition government.

The economy-which has been hit hard in recent times by government austerity measures and the euro-zone debt crisisoutperformed market expectations for more modest first-quarter expansion of 0.1 percent. The technical definition of a recession is two successive quarters of economic contraction.

“The odds favor the Bank of England continuing to hold off from more stimulus on Thursday,” said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer. “GDP growth of 0.3-percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter and an improved set of purchasing managers’ surveys for April has eased pressure on the Bank of England for immediate further action to support the economy.”

However, he cautioned that the committee could still decide to implement another tranche of QE cash, in line with recent calls by Mervyn King.

“It is by no means a nailed-oncertainty that the MPC will sit tight on Thursday, and it is far from inconceivable that they could go for a further £25 billion of QE.” Since the last BOE gathering, the British government has overhauled and extended its “funding for lending” scheme

(FLS) in a bid to boost the flow of credit from banks to struggling small businesses, and thereby aid economic growth.

The Bank of England and the Treasury last month revealed that the FLS will now make central bank funds available for an extra year, until January 2015.

“A resumption of quantitative easing (QE) looks unlikely this month,” said Capital Economics analyst Vicky Redwood. “The preliminary estimate of first-quarter GDP was better than expected and some MPC members will feel that they have done enough to support the economy by extending the Funding for Lending Scheme.

“Accordingly, Mervyn King looks unlikely to get his wish for more asset purchases fulfilled before he leaves at the end of June,” she added. Britain, though not a member of the euro-zone, counts the single currency bloc as its main trad-

ing partner and has therefore been struck by fallout from the region’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis.

Added to the picture, the European Central Bank last week trimmed its key interest rate to a record low level of 0.50 percent as it sought to boost the crisis-hit euro-zone. Also last week, the US Federal Reserve maintained its stimulative monetary policy stance. And this Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut rates to a record low. “We are in era of global ultra-easy monetary policies which is unprecedented in the modern era,” said VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon.

“However, tight fiscal policies designed to reduce government debt levels pulls in the opposite direction, as far as the impact of economic growth is concerned. “In the UK, the economic outlook is still uncertain and requires a looser monetary policy,” he added. —AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

BUSINESS

Oil below $104 as fears outweigh China data LONDON: Oil slipped below $104 a barrel yesterday as a rise in crude imports by China and a surprise jump in German industrial output could not shake off persistent concerns about global demand. China’s daily crude imports in April rose 3.7 percent from a year ago and 3.5 percent from March, customs data showed, as refiners in the world’s No 2 consumer took advantage of lower prices to replenish stocks.

German industrial output unexpectedly rose 1.2 percent on the month in March, contrasting with recent gloomier data.

Brent slipped 55 cents to $103.85 a barrel by 1115

GMT, after reaching its highest level in over a month on Tuesday. US oil dropped 5 cents to $95.57.

“We are lacking the catalyst in the numbers to suggest we could go back to the highs reached earlier this year,” Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix, said.

The strong data boosted world shares and other commodities despite doubts about the quality of the Chinese data. Oil prices remained under pressure after the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) on Tuesday estimated ample supplies in 2013 and 2014. “Even with the news from China and Germany, the background is still pretty weak on the oil side as

the market is well supplied and we are still in a seasonal demand low,” said Simon Wardell, analyst at Global Insight.

Prices may stay under pressure, given projections of a well-supplied market and bleak global demand.

The EIA cut its forecast for demand growth for this year to 890,000 barrels per day (Bpd) and pared its 2014 estimate to 1.21 million bpd, or just over 2.1 million bpd demand growth over two years. At the same time, the EIA sees supplies from countries outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries growing by 1.11 million bpd in 2013 and

by a further 1.77 million next year. Further strengthening the global supply outlook, Sudan said on Tuesday it had received the first crude shipments from South Sudan since 2012.

In the near term, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed US crude inventories rose 680,000 barrels for the week to May 3, falling short of a Reuters poll forecast of an average increase of 1.9 million barrels. Concerns that Syria’s civil war could deteriorate were eased after Russia and the United States announced plans to convene international talks to end the strife. —Reuters

TOKYO: Businessmen are reflected on a share prices board in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s share prices rose 191.41 points to close at 14,371.65 points at the morning session of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as investor sentiment was buoyed by US shares powering to new record highs while the dollar notched up gains against the yen. —AFP

Exodus of young Bulgarians drains the economy SOFIA: As her master’s degree in economics is proving of little use in her job at a Sofia call centre, Rumyana Ganeva, 26, is thinking of leaving Bulgaria. “I could do this without a diploma,” she says bitterly and she is now planning another master’s, but this time in Britain, which her grandmother will help pay for by selling her apartment.

Ganeva is joining an exodus of the best and brightest that is draining EU-member Bulgaria-which holds elections on Sunday — and exacerbating the problem of an ageing population.

According to a study by the Podkrepa trade union, between 20,000 to 25,000 Bulgarians aged between 25 and 39 years old emigrate every year to another EU country with some even younger in their wake.

“Most of our graduates can’t wait to get their diplomas to leave for somewhere in Europe,” says Ginka Slavcheva, a teacher in one of Sofia’s best high schools. And those who study abroad often stay there, knowing that if they return, a monthly salary of 1,000 leva (511 euros, $670) awaits. Polls have shown Bulgarians are among the most upbeat in the European Union about membership of the 27-nation bloc, even if it remains the poorest member six years after joining.

But as the Trud newspaper joked, “the main reason behind Bulgarians’ love for Europe is the chance to escape there.” Other aspects of life besides wages also make it difficult to stay. Hristo Mihaylov, who returned to Bulgaria after completing a law degree in France and works in a legal office in Sofia, says he is having trouble getting used to the culture again. Money and arrogance are glorified, and petty corruption is rampant with bribes to doctors or police officers part of daily life, he complains.

It was public anger about rising poverty levels and graft that forced the fall of government in February, and it is unclear how the new government-if one can be formedwill tackle the country’s problems. A poisonous cocktail for the economy-This mass departure of skilled workers has created a

severe labour shortage in crucial sectors such as healthcare and engineering, figures show.

But less skilled migrants also leave for Europe, where they work in construction, wait on tables or take care of the elderlymostly in Germany, Britain, Greece and Italy.

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, about 1.5 million Bulgarians have emigrated, cutting the country’s population to 7.3 million in 2012, according to the national statistical institute (NSI).

Coupled with deep gaps between outdated university curriculums and the needs of economy, this has created “a poisonous cocktail”, says Bozhidar Danev, chairman of Bulgaria’s largest industrial association BIA. Universities produce too few engineers and professionals, he says, and companies can no longer find enough qualified workers.

As a result, youth unemployment has increased to 38 percent of the population under 30, according to recent BIA data.

Alarming illiteracy rates, especially among the Roma minority-who are expected to make up 23 percent of the working-age population in 2020, according to the World Bank-also threaten to produce many unskilled workers.

Meanwhile, the exodus of young people is ageing the nation, endangering a retirement system already burdened by severe underfunding. In 1990, about 21.6 percent of the population had yet to enter the workforce, while 22.9 percent had left it, according to NSI data. In 2012, the share of the population still under the working age was just 14.4 percent, while pensioners made up 23.8 percent.

Worryingly, the situation is not expected to improve. “Both the brain drain and the immigration of ordinary, lesser qualified young people to Europe will continue,” says Ognyan Minchev, director of Sofia’s Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS).

“Decades will pass before the Bulgarian economy and society can offer comparable conditions for work and life for its young people,”he warns. —AFP

‘Africa’s Davos’ to plot continent’s rise CAPE TOWN: The great and good of global commerce descended on Cape Town yesterday take part in “Africa’s Davos,” which hopes to flesh out the promise of a continent-wide economic revolution. More than 1,000 delegatesincluding heads of state, captains of industry and assorted onlookers-will gather for the World Economic Forum’s annual Africa gathering, which runs until tomorrow. They will discuss a continent long-defined by poverty, disease and war, but one that is expected to grow at more than five percent this year.

Yet amid the rosy prognosis, a plethora of problems and potential pitfalls remain. Titled “Delivering on Africa’s Promise” the meeting will discuss how to improve lives and make Africa a real player on the world stage. Panels will mull how to ease dependence on natural resources, how to build infrastructure that would improve trade and bind disparate economies and how to unleash

Africans’ talent.

Recent softness in commodity pricesmost dramatically the drop in gold prices-has underscored the potential for growth to be undercut. And as if to illustrate the challenges ahead, the World Economic Forum, which also organizes the famed Davos conference, itself recently ranked host country South Africa’s system of teaching maths and science as the second worst in the world, ahead of Yemen.

But there is little doubt that the mood is upbeat. “The narrative around the continent is now dominated by business, rather than the traditional development issues,” said Frontier Advisory, a consultancy for developing world investment.

“But for Africa to deliver on its growth promise, its governments must create environments of opportunity.”

Among those expected to take part in the three-day talk shop are the leaders of South Africa, Nigeria and Ethiopia.—AFP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

BUSINESS

Mercedes-Benz Kuwait launches daring A 250 Sport Fascinating design-Sporty, unique and luxurious

KUWAIT: A R Albisher and Z Alkazemi Co - the exclusive distributor for Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait - has entered an entirely new segment with the launch of the new A 250 Sport, setting a fresh luxury compact car benchmark with a power ful, sporty and luxuriously designed and appointed hot hatch that will excite and enthral the nation’s aspirational gogetting next-big-things. The May launch of the A 250 Sport was held in Kuwait’s Avenues Mall.

Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co senior representatives were present at the launch, where General Manager - Michael Ruehle, unveiled the A 250 Sport and announced its arrival as the hottest hot hatch in its segment.

Ruehle, said: “No other car in this segment is as progressive as the A 250 Sport. MercedesBenz has gone back to the drawing board for the new A-Class and come up with an ingenious concept for the luxury compact car segment while retaining the very distinctive Mercedes-Benz character. There has been so much talk about the launch of the new A-Class and it did not disappoint; Mercedes-Benz is even setting a new benchmark for compact sports cars worldwide.”

Markedly emotive AMG bodystyling design combines with agile handling and a powerful four cylinder, two liter turbocharged direct injection engine with 7G-DCT dual clutch automatic transmission that produces a roaring 211 hp and 350 Nm of torque, thundering a market that demands success to 100km/h in just 6.6 seconds. GCC standard specifications come fully loaded compared to the international market, including AMG Sport Package with a very sporty interior design with red stitching, red seat belts, red framed SLS AMG style air vents, comfortable sport seats, aggressive exterior look with diamond grille, red brake callipers, 18” five spoke AMG lightalloy wheels in high sheen black finish and headlamps with red marker rings.

At the same time the new model underlines that for Mercedes-Benz, safety is not a question of price - the standard specification includes, amongst other things, the radarbased COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST system.

Smiles will broaden when learning that ownership of a car sporting the unmistakable status of the sparkling three pointed star starts at just KD 11,900 in Kuwait. GCC options in addition to the standard specification include Xenon Lights, Active Parking Assist, COMAND online, THERMATIC Automatic climate control, Media Interface, fire extinguisher and a Light Sight Package (Interior Ambient Lighting).

Additional safety options include Distronic Plus, and Blind Spot Assist.

The timing of the launch into an entirely new segment for Mercedes-Benz Kuwait forms an important pillar of the Mercedes-Benz global and regional strategy to become the globe’s number one premium brand by 2020.

Mercedes-Benz has built on a historically large Middle East market share for luxury sedans such as the E- and S-Class models in recent years, by expanding its market share in other segments.

This achieved a best sales year ever in 2012, contributed to by Mercedes-Benz Kuwait’s sales for passenger cars up by 21% on 2011, with AMG sales lead by a 56% hike followed by SUVs (41%). All whilst changing the regional perception of Mercedes-Benz to be recognized as a more attainable, sporty and youthful brand proudly boasting the prestige and status of the three pointed star.

Launched with the tagline ‘Drive yourself’, the arrival of the A 250 Sport to Kuwait aims to turn the luxury small car segment on its head and marks a new direction for Mercedes-Benz in the country. With the A-Class, Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co. is targeting a growing ambitious, affluent, young and aspirational new market, providing a car with the three pointed star that boasts good looks, performance, prestige and attitude, at a price point that makes attainability of the brand a reality for those that may consider owning a Mercedes-Benz as ‘something they want but sometime in the future’.

In a class of its own in the segment, the A 250 Sport makes the dream of Mercedes-Benz ownership a reality, initiating a lifelong relationship with its customers far earlier than before. The design: the most progressive in the compact class. The A 250 Sport communicates

design and dynamism at the very first glance.

This radical form language, presented and enthusiastically acclaimed around the world with the Concept A-Class, was consistently implemented in the series production car.

The appearance of the new A 250 Sport reflects this new Mercedes-Benz design strategy. The result is what is known as a two-box design with a distinct character of its own, a sportily emotive exterior and an exceptionally high-quality feel to the interior. Defined edges and tautly drawn surfaces mark out the exteri-

or design of the new A 250 Sport. The constant interplay between concave and convex surfaces creates a characteristic play of light, particularly along the sides of the car, which contributes to its unique appearance.

Typical features of the long, sporty front are its pronounced V-shape, the separate headlamps, the diamond grille with central Mercedes star and single louver, as well as the additional air intakes on the sides. The “dropping line” apparent in the side profile dissipates towards the vehicle’s front end. The design of the headlamps, together with the configuration of the light functions within them are key elements of the design concept.

The light modules and LEDs behind the headlamp cover glass have been arranged in such a way as to create the characteristic “flare effect” for the daytime driving lights and indicators.

The perfect interplay of dynamic design and excellent aerodynamics is nowhere more apparent than in the roof, with its smooth surfaces and taut, arcing curve. The silhouette reveals smooth, flowing lines finishing in a flat edge. The roof spoiler, which conveniently hides all the aerials, provides an extra sporty touch and gives structure to the roof assembly.

The broad emphasis of the tail end is revealed in an interplay of convex-concave surfaces and edges. The tail lights continue the line of the muscular shoulders back towards the rear, while their horizontal orientation emphasizes the car’s powerful width.

The light functions by fibre-optic cables and LED modules. Here, too, the interaction between design and aerodynamics is very clear: the surface finish of the tail lights is not only an interesting design feature, but also improves the air flow around the vehicle thanks to defined airflow break-away edges in the rear section.

High value impression The interior of the A 250 Sport represents a big step forward in terms of quality - both in the materials used and in the consistency of the design. Both objectives have been achieved with the help of a specific design idiom and through the various combination options possible with the high-quality materials selected. All trim elements have been given an electroplated finish, resulting in real metal

surfaces with “cool touch” effect. The work has been executed with considerable care and attention to detail, so that they appear to have been molded in one piece.

The instrument panel incorporates five round vents. The outer rings of the round vents have a high-quality red electroplated finish.

The airflow direction is governed by an insert that is reminiscent of an aircraft turbine and reveals a meticulous attention to detail. This too has an electroplated finish in silverchrome. The free-standing display screen fea-

tures a black piano-lacquer-look front panel and a flush-fitting silver frame.

The instrument cluster comprises two large round instruments, each with a small dial set within it. When at rest, the dial needles stand at 6 o’clock. The pointer inlays are red. The dials are silver with a chequered flag effect. The 3-spoke steering wheel comes with 12 function buttons and an electroplated bezel. The fact that the new A 250 Sport is a sporty hatchback model with a low centre of gravity is reflected in its dimensions: measuring 4292 x 1780 x 1433 mm (length x width x height), it hugs the road.

The A 250 Sport is a five-seater model. The rear seats provide room for three passengers, despite looking like two individual seats with their sporty design. The boot volume is 341 liters, which jumps to 1157 liters with the rear seat backrests folded down. The seat backrests feature a 60:40 split can be folded forward individually. The width of the luggage compartment between the wheel housings is 1050 mm.

Available appointments, many familiar from higher vehicle classes, include the LED xenon Light System, front sports seats with integrated head restraints and contrasting red stitching.

Further sporty details designed to appeal to the vehicle’s young target group include designo seat belts in red and silver instrument cluster with red dial pointers.

Agility, refined sportiness Refined sportiness means maximum agility combined with the sense of safety, unspoilt driving stability and high levels of ride comfort which are all typical of the brand. The suspension of the new A 250 Sport has a four-link rear axle, electromechanical power steering with

assistance functions and ESP(r) with “Extended Traction Control” (XTC). During development, the suspension experts made intensive use of simulations and the driving simulators at the Mercedes development centre in Sindelfingen as part of the so-called digital ride and handling test.

The preconditions for achieving dynamic handling are excellent in the A 250 Sport. A fourlink rear axle ensures forces are absorbed by three control arms and one trailing arm per wheel. This means that longitudinal and lateral dynamics are virtually independent of one another. Wheel carriers and spring links are made of aluminum to reduce the unsprung masses. The goal was to achieve high lateral agility with high driving stability thanks to small sideslip angle on the rear axle. The new A 250 Sport comes with a sporty, “engineered by AMG” high-performance suspension. Altogether this results in low dynamic rolling behavior and low start-off pitch angle.

Furthermore, the vehicle also has a reduced tendency to understeer in the higher lateral acceleration range: the driver is therefore able to control changes in direction with low steering

input but high steering precision. When accelerating out of bends taken at speed, the tendency to understeer is reduced even further by “Extended Traction Control” (XTC): with this function, ESP provides support in the form of directional stability by generating a yaw moment on the front and rear wheels located on the inside of the bend.

Safety: Highest standard In an innovative move in the compact segment, the A 250 Sport is equipped as standard with a radar-based collision warning system with adaptive Brake Assist, a combination which lowers the risk of rear-end collisions. The COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST system gives a visual and audible warning to alert a possibly distracted driver to identified obstacles, and prepares Brake. Assist for the most precise braking response possible. This is initiated as soon as the driver operates the brake pedal decisively. The democratisation of safety encompasses an array of assistance systems which have been adopted into the A 250 Sport from the larger model series, or sometimes developed further in the A 250 Sport. These include: Adaptive Highbeam Assist; Blind Spot Assist and Lane Keeping Assist; ATTENTION ASSIST (standard); Speed Limit Assist (speed limit sign recognition); Active Parking Assist with parking guidance; Brake hold function; Hill-Start Assist; LINGUATRONIC and Reversing camera.

Distronic plus Premiere in the compact class: PRE-SAFE available for the first time The availability of the PRE-SAFE(r) anticipatory occupant protection system for the A 250 Sport marks another first in this vehicle category. This represents a further step in the ongoing democratization of this innovation, which was premiered in the SClass in 2002.

Core features of PRE-SAFE are reversible belt tensioning, the closing of side windows and sliding sunroof in case of critical lateral dynamics and adjustment of the fully electric front passenger seat with memory function to an ideal position for maximum effectiveness of the restraint systems. PRE-SAFE is always activated in response to critical longitudinal and lateral dynamics and may also be triggered upon intervention by certain assistance functions.

Body: Intelligent protection The new A 250 Sport has passed the brand’s rigorous program of crash tests. This includes not only some 30 different impact configurations, which are laid down as requirements for safety ratings and international type approval, but also nine proprietary crash tests, such as the roof-drop test or the pole impact test, developed by the brand itself.

The ability of the new A 250 Sport to satisfy requirements which go far beyond the statutory conditions in some cases is also demonstrated by an internal offset front collision test against a future luxury-segment saloon from Mercedes-Benz: despite the high impact speed and the fact that it is the smaller accident participant, the A 250 Sport offers its occupants an intact passenger compartment and excellent chances of survival.

The scope of the restraint systems takes special account of the A 250 Sport’s use as a family car. Great importance has been attached to the safety of the rear occupants. Belt tensioners, belt-force limiters and belt height adjusters come as standard on the outer seats.

Rear sidebags are optionally available. The driver and front passenger are provided with new thorax-pelvisbags which are able to cover the pelvis and the entire upper part of the body. A windowbag is fitted as standard for head protection.

“For the first time Mercedes-Benz has engineered a car targeting young, aspirational individuals who know what they want in life and are chasing their dreams today. They are the ‘driven generation;’ the up and coming leaders of tomorrow,” added Ruehle. “With whole new segment opening its doors, 2013 is expected to become a landmark year for Mercedes-Benz globally and for us in Kuwait. We are confident of achieving strong sales growth prospects as we continue to deliver exceptional cars and trustworthy after-sales services.” The A 250 Sport is now available for test drives at A R Albisher and Z. Alkazemi Co’s showroom in Kuwait.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

BUSINESS

Preserving Dhofar’s Cloud Forests Applications to Ford Grants accepted until 1 July, 2013 MUSCAT: With more than 900 plant species, including over 50 endemic ones not available anywhere else on Earth, the mountains of the Dhofar region in Southern Oman are a biodiversity hotspot of unique value. Every summer, while the rest of the Arabian Peninsula is scorched by the heat, the slopes around Salalah turn green due to moisture from the Indian Ocean monsoon, locally known as Khareef.

The unique cloud forests, sustained by the monsoon, have supported generations of traditional herders in Dhofar. But over the past four decades a rapid increase in population has driven up the pressure with the forests now increasingly turning into grasslands. Overgrazing by camels and other domestic animals, as well as the rapid development of infrastructure, are the main causes for the disappearance of trees, said Dr. Mehdi Ahmed Jaaffar, Vice President, the Environment Society of Oman (ESO), which is working to protect the forests.

“People tell us that, less than 20 years ago, they could have easily hidden their

herds of camels in the woodlands,” he said.

At present, in comparison, the hills are “barren” in many places, he said. With the help of the Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants and other donors, ESO is working to educate people about the value of the forests and the ways to protect them. In 2012, ESO became one of nine recipients of funding under the Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental grants scheme. Altogether $100,000 were given to environmental projects in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, the UAE and Oman, with ESO receiving $27,500 in funding. The Ford grants scheme, which has given out a total of $1.3 million since 2000 to environmental organizations in the region, is open to participants from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. The program is accepting applications for funding via Ford Middle East’s Facebook page until 1 July 2013.

“The Grants made us feel confident that we were on the right track,” said Dr Jaaffar. It also provided the funding to cover the

logistics and the cost of printing educational materials for the “Let’s Plant One” treeplanting campaign, which ESO just concluded in Dhofar.

“The campaign aims at developing awareness of the importance of indigenous trees and the role they have played throughout history,” he said. “The idea is to leave behind education and awareness of the need for different parties to take this issue as seriously as we would like them to.”

Over five days starting from 31 March, ESO planted native trees, such as Boswellia sacra, commonly known as the frankincense tree, at several locations, including Dhofar University, the Jebel Samhan’s Nature Reserve Visitors’ Centre, the Deputy Wali’s Office as well as schools in Rakhyut, Dhalkut and Rabkoot. Educational talks and competitions were also held.

Future plans include selecting a suitable area where the forest cover could be rehabilitated. Dr Jaaffar said the chosen area will have to be fenced to ensure protection from domestic animals.

But saving Dhofar’s forests will require more than planting trees and running awareness campaigns, said Dr Jaaffar. For the problem to be solved, its causes need to be addressed. “All the different entities are doing their best, but if you are in crisis, new tools need to be employed and new avenues pursued,” he said.

A key issue will be reducing grazing pressure by ensuring that the number of camels and other animals corresponds to the carrying capacity of the area.

“You need to strike a balance between what it is you do in order to help communities in Dhofar and what it is you do to safeguard the environment around them,” he said. Better planning of new infrastructure and development projects is also needed.

Protecting the rare forests will require updating the current legislation, as well as spending more effort to ensure rules are implemented, said Dr Jaaffar. “You need to couple legislation with education, by-laws and a roadmap where you refrain from developments that are too harmful to the

environment,” he said.

The Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants are part of the company’s efforts to support grass-roots level initiatives that protect and preserve the environment and natural resources in the GCC and Levant countries, and have awarded a total of US$1.3 million to more than 150 projects since the program’s inception in 2000.

Individuals, community and non-profit groups that have projects currently running in the areas of preservation of the natural environment, environmental education and conservation engineering can apply.

Deadline to apply for the program is on 1 July 2013. The GCC and Levant Chapter of the Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grants has seen support from various governmental and non-governmental environmental authorities including the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Emirates Wildlife Society, the Arab Forum for Environment & Development (AFED) and UNESCO Doha.

Usain Bolt golden again with unique Nissan GT-R Nissan gives an exclusive gold-painted GT-R to Usain Bolt DUBAI: Nissan has delivered a special GT-R, bathed in exclusive gold paint, to Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt in appreciation for his contributions as a Nissan brand ambassador for GT-R. Bolt, known as “the world’s fastest man,” has been promoting the company’s brand awareness in association with the Nissan Global Brand Campaign, which kicked off in April 2012 and

has been running in markets around the world ever since.

It was love at first sight for Bolt, already a GTR owner, when the one-of-a-kind “Bolt Gold” GTR was unveiled as the top prize in an online global charity auction held in late 2012. The proceeds of the auction went to the Usain Bolt Foundation.

The special Gold GT-R that Nissan presented to Bolt is based on the 2013 model year Nissan GT-R. It has been customized to suit Bolt’s driving style, based on the data Nissan engineers recorded during his test drive of the GT-R lineup when he visited the company headquarters in October 2012. The uniquely gold-painted Nissan GT-R features a flamboyant white interior, BOSE audio system and 10-spoke RAYS aluminum-alloy forged wheels. These specially-fitted, hyper-titanium color-coated wheels add extra flair to an already bold exterior that is highlighted by an exclusive “Spec Bolt” emblem.

The visual specs of the car, including exterior color, interior color and wheels, were selected

by Bolt himself.

The handover event took place on May 5, 2013, at Bolt’s home training facility in Jamaica that overlooks the mountains of his home country. Jose Rom?n, vice president of Nissan Latin America and the Caribbean, who attended on behalf of Nissan, handed over the keys to the Gold GT-R to Bolt. Bolt then become the owner of one of only two Gold GT-Rs in existence, the other belonging to the charity auction winner who will take delivery of his special car before the summer of 2013.

Tunisia stock market stirs, points to solid economy TUNIS: Tunisia is struggling with rising inflation, a big external deficit and an uncertain political outlook. These obstacles did not deter local businessman Mohamed Frikha from launching an initial public offer of shares in his fledgling carrier Syphax Airlines last week. Syphax, founded in 2011, operates three planes, competing with state-owned flag carrier Tunisair. The IPO, which will run until May 20, aims to raise 25 million dinars ($15.5 million).

Frikha said he was encouraged to list the airline on the local stock market by his success in 2011 in listing Telnet , a software and technology consulting firm.

“The Tunisian stock exchange has become a real alternative for the mobilisation of financial resources,” he said, adding that Syphax’s listing would help the airline buy more planes and develop routes to the United States and Asia. Over two years after Tunisia’s revolution ushered in an era of political and economic instability, the Syphax IPO points to an encouraging trend for the economy: the gradual revival of the stock market as a place for companies to raise money.

Three companies have conducted IPOs so far this year - a technology consulting firm, a cheese maker and a garment producer - compared to two in all of last year.

Mohamed Bichiou, general director of the Tunis Stock Exchange, says 15 more firms have applied to conduct IPOs, which should bring the number of listed companies up to 75

by the end of 2013.

“I am optimistic...Tunis’s bourse will achieve a real take-off this year,”Bichiou said in an interview at the exchange’s modern new headquarters, opened last month in an upscale neighbourhood of Tunis. If this expectation is borne out, the listings could in the long term help to boost growth of the economy. Moez Joudi, a financial analyst and economics professor in Tunis, estimates banks still provide nearly 85 percent of funding for Tunisian companies - a dependence which constrains the companies and poses risks for the banks.

In addition, a string of IPOs would send a powerful signal of returning confidence in Tunisia, by showing that businessmen were willing to entrust their firms to the stock market and investors were ready to stump up their money.

Though still in its early stages, the revival of IPOs in Tunisia contrasts with neighbouring Egypt, another economy hit by instability after a 2011 revolution. There, equity issuance has largely ground to a halt since the revolution, and some businessmen have been taking steps to delist their firms from the stock market, potentially to move their wealth abroad. The last two years have not been kind to Tunisia’s economy. The official inflation rate hit a fiveyear high of 6.5 percent in March, while the International Monetary Fund estimates Tunisia will post a big deficit in trade of goods and services of 7.3 percent of gross domestic product this

year; it predicts GDP growth in 2013 of 4.0 percent, not enough to make much dent in poverty and unemployment.

The stock market was hit in February by the assassination of opposition politician Chokri Belaid, which ignited the worst street violence since the revolution. Elections expected towards the end of this year will involve fresh uncertainty.

The main Tunisian stock market index has reflected these reverses; it sank 7.6 percent in 2011 and a further 3.0 percent last year, and is up just 1.4 percent this year even as some other Middle Eastern markets have surged.

Foreign investment inflows totalled 394 million dinars ($244 million) in the first quarter of this year, down 10.6 percent from a year earlier and down 17.2 percent from the first quarter of 2010, before the revolution, according to the government’s investment promotion agency. The vast majority of inflows in this year’s first quarter were direct investment in companies; only 20 million dinars were portfolio investment in securities.

Nevertheless, there have been positive signs for the long term. Tunisia’s new, democratic political system reacted with some flexibility to the February unrest, forming a new Islamist-led government that included independents.

If this year’s elections go smoothly, they may be seen by investors as setting the seal on the country’s democratic transition.

The government has moved more actively than Egypt to introduce eco-

nomic reforms such as cuts in subsidies, and last month the International Monetary Fund agreed to extend it a $1.75 billion loan, easing though not removing the pressure on Tunisia’s external finances.

Joudi said a major problem still overhanging the stock market - and deterring any major influx of foreign money - was a lack of transparency.

Some listed companies do not disclose their earnings regularly and regulators do not have the courage to punish offenders, he said.

Bichiou denied there was any lack of transparency, insisting that the law compelled all firms to provide quarterly results, though he acknowledged that sometimes there were delays.

Both he and Joudi agreed that to attract major foreign investment to the market, which has a capitalisation of only about $9 billion, Tunisia would need to list big state-owned companies such as steel producer Foulahdh and Tunisie Telecom. The government has been looking at such a possibility but preparing the companies for listings could involve cutting staff, and that may be politically impossible, at least before the elections. In February 2011, a month after the overthrow of president Zine alAbidine Ben Ali, Tunisie Telecom said it had cancelled plans for a joint IPO on the Tunis and Paris stock exchanges after consultations with trade unions.

Workers at the company had been threatening industrial action if there were job losses. — Reuters

SAMENA Council white paper on potential SDL services DUBAI: The SAMENA Council yesterday released a white paper to give operators, broadcasters and regulators across the region, insights into a technology solution called SDL (Supplemental Downlink) which could increase the capacity and QoS (Quality of Service) of mobile broadband networks using HSPA+ and LTE-advanced standards.

With SDL being endorsed by operators and regulatory bodies across the globe, Samena Council is taking the lead in having a discussion around the potential of SDL technology with stakeholders across the region through this white paper to present relevant technology alternatives to enhance the delivery of mobile broadband services.

According to the white paper, the MENA region could benefit from the technology through enhanced user experience (faster download speeds, larger capacity and richer new content) and low cost rollout of rural services by using the 1.4 GHz spectrum through SDL. The technology could also be used to drive more innovation in specific sectors such as education through professional tele-education, webcasts etc., improve government services through online access to public services and enhance healthcare services through applications such as online health record, emergency room consultation to name a few.

Speaking on the release of the white paper, SAMENA Policy Board Chairman - Dr Mustafa AYKUT ( Turk Telekom) said: ‘As mobile data traffic continues to grow exponentially, greater bandwith is required now more than ever. Given that two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by

2017, new and innovative solutions are needed to increase mobile broadband capacity and enhance quality of service which has the potential to benefit the MENA region by $26 billion over the next 10 years.

In this respect, SDL technology is not only a promising solution but a technological breakthrough that offers smoother user experience through faster download speeds, larger capacity and richer new content. With SDL, operators can now manage and optimize mobile communication networks of the future.’ Mobile Supplemental Downlink (Mobile SDL) is a feature within a mobile broadband system, which by means of base station transmitters in the network, is able to provide a supplemental downlink capacity to efficiently carry comprehensive text, voice, images, sound and video content to mobile devices.

Mobile broadband traffic and especially downlink traffic in the MENA region are forecasted to grow rapidly over the next 10 years and it is possible that countries in the MENA region may face a spectrum shortfall unless operators undertake costly investment in network infrastructure to support this traffic growth. The 1452-1492 MHz spectrum frequency range, largely unused in much of the MENA region and in Europe, presents a real option to address this shortfall of downlink capacity. In some countries of the MEA region, the mobile data traffic has jumped over 450 percent year-on-year between 2011 and 2012. The exponential traffic growth is estimated to continue to be strong in many countries in this region due to the increasing consumption of multimedia services.

Ex-Murdoch stalwart Mockridge to run rival Virgin Media LONDON: Tom Mockridge, who worked closely with Rupert Murdoch in more than 20 years at News Corp, is to take over at Virgin Media, pitting the two men against each other in a battle for British pay-TV viewers. Mockridge will take his in-depth knowledge of the European media market into the camp of Murdoch’s long-time American rival John Malone - who is in the process of acquiring Virgin - and follows the New Zealander’s obvious displeasure at missing out on a top job at News Corp in New York late last year.

Speaking of the move, however, he was anxious to play down industry chatter of boardroom betrayal and a thirst for revenge. “I have 22 years of experience in News Corp, across multiple markets, but it’s not like I’m taking a box of secrets out from News International that

is going to be relevant here,” Mockridge told Reuters. “Frankly I’ve got a lot to learn and absorb.” Mockridge ran News International, the British newspaper unit, for 18 months, replacing Murdoch protegee Rebekah Brooks in 2011 after the News of the World was hit by scandal over its hacking of the voicemails of celebrities and crime victims.

Mockridge, 57, will take over as chief executive of Virgin once Malone’s cable firm Liberty Global completes its $15.75-billion purchase.

He will replace Neil Berkett, who has said he would stand down as part of the takeover. A newspaper reporter in his youth, a decade of success at Italian pay-TV arm Sky Italia had made Mockridge’s name as a key executive and loyal lieutenant to the Australian-born mogul. —Reuters

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

technology

Is time’s forward motion a fundamental condition?

Explaing the features of the universe

BEIJING: Large solar panels are seen in a solar power plant in Hami, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on yesterday. The EU executive yesterday proposed heavy anti-dumping tariffs of around 47 percent on imports of Chinese solar panels, a European Union source said. —AFP

EU readies heavy tariff on China solar panels BRUSSELS: The European Commission proposed yesterday to hit imports of Chinese solar panels, claimed to be unfairly subsidized by Beijing, with a heavy, 47-percent anti-dumping levy, an EU source said yesterday.

The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is now canvassing member states to see if they agree with the proposal, aiming to announce a formal decision on June 5, the source said.

“The consultation process has been launched,” the source said.

In a series of tit-for-tat trade disputes with China, the Commission launched an anti-dumping probe into imports of Chinese solar panels in September.

It then opened an anti-subsidy probe in November as China in turn decided to launch a similar investigation into European exports of polysilicon, a key component for solar panel makers.

Brussels upped the ante in February with an anti-dumping probe into imports of solar glass made in China and in March said it would begin recording all imports of

Chinese solar panels and components as part of its investigation.

European manufacturers, who pushed for the investigations, claim that China sells its panels at below cost on the back of subsidies given by Beijing to support the industry.

EU rules allow authorities to begin registering contested products before an initial ruling so that levies can be retroactively imposed if fault is found.

EU ProSun industry association head Milan Nitzschke said in March that “dumping is the fundamental problem in the European solar market.”

The EU is China’s largest export market and a major trading partner for the bloc but the relationship has been marked by disputes over market access and issues such as protection of intellectual property.

Brussels views ties with China as amongst the most important but because it does not view the communist country as a fully-fledged open market, it remains cautious about the government’s role in the economy. —AFP

NEW YORK: The aim of science is to explain all the features of the universe, from the mass of the Higgs boson to the fact that the night sky is filled with stars. Perhaps the most obvious feature of all is that time in our universe only travels in one direction: forwards. We remember the past but not the future, and most things about our world are irreversible, from a glass of spilt milk to the birth of a child.

No single feature of our universe is more in need of explanation than the forward march of time, yet physics and cosmology have so far failed to explain this basic fact of nature. It’s time for a radical approach. We need a new starting point for explaining the directionality of time.

Physicists speak about arrows of time. One such arrow is visible in the light we see coming to us from distant stars: all of it comes from the past, showing us what they were once like, with none coming from the future. This is mysterious because the equations we use to describe light are unchanged if we reverse the direction of time. Consequently these equations have two solutions: waves that propagate energy and information from the past to the future, and waves that do the reverse, moving backwards in time.

But nature only seems to use the first kind.

This is called the electromagnetic arrow of time.

To explain it we have to impose a harsh condition on the theory of electromagnetism, which rules out most of its solutions, leaving only those that propagate from past to future. Within the big bang cosmology this amounts to imposing the condition that there were no light waves travelling freely at the first moment of time. But this drastic condition requires explanation and so far there is none.

The best known arrow is the thermodynamic arrow of time, which refers to the irreversibility of processes such as broken porcelain. To explain this we invent a quantity that increases whenever an irreversible process happens?- entropy?which the second law of thermodynamics asserts can only increase. In the 19th century, Ludwig Boltzmann proposed that the second law can be understood as a consequence of the hypothesis?- then unproven?- that matter is made of atoms. Entropy, Boltzmann proposed, is a measure of the disorder of atoms, and its tendency to increase is a consequence of the observation that random processes are more likely to introduce disorder than order.

Boltzmann’s atomic hypothesis was correct.

Yet he faced critics who were quick to point out a paradox lurking in his reasoning. The laws that describe the motion of atoms are reversible in

time. So how come the second law of thermodynamics isn’t? The closest we can get to a timesymmetric form of the second law says that if we find a system with low entropy it is most probable that entropy will increase in the future and that it was higher in the past.

Yet this still doesn’t explain why our universe has such a strong arrow of time. As physicist Roger Penrose pointed out in 1979, the only thing that can explain the thermodynamic arrow of time is that the entropy of the initial conditions of the universe was very low. But this is extremely improbable too.

So both the electromagnetic and thermodynamic arrows of time require that the initial conditions of the universe were extraordinarily special. But why is this? The only way we can explain the time asymmetry of our universe is some mathematical trickery which involves choosing special solutions to time symmetric laws. Which is to say it is not explained at all.

I would like to propose a radically different approach. In my book Time Reborn I take up Penrose’s suggestion that the truly fundamental laws are time asymmetric, making time’s irreversibility a fundamental condition of the universe. The laws we had thought fundamental up until now?- general relativity, quantum theory and the standard model?- must then be approximations of a more fundamental time-asymmetric law which would explain the otherwise improbable initial conditions.

This proposal has huge implications for the question of the nature of time. One big question is whether time is fundamental or an illusion.

Many of my fellow theorists argue that it is an illusion. In accordance with this view, there are proposals for fundamental laws that don’t mention time at all. Physicist Julian Barbour argued in his book The End of Time that time disappears completely from the fundamental theory that merges quantum theory with cosmology. I hold a contrary view that time is real, which means that the distinction between the past and the future must be fundamental as well. I have been developing this view in collaboration with the Brazilian philosopher Roberto Mangabeira Unger.

It might be a funny thing to say, but the idea that time is real requires a radical departure from the standard paradigm of physics. This is because the effect of 400 years of the development of physicists’ conception of nature has been to devalue time and ultimately to remove it from the fundamental aspects of nature. Ever since the era of RenÈ Descartes in the 17th century, time has been represented as if it were just a

dimension of space. This culminated in the “block universe” conception of general relativity in which the present moment has no meaning?all that exists is the whole history of the universe at once, timelessly. When laws of physics are represented mathematically, causal processes which are the activity of time are represented by timeless logical implications.

But the real universe has properties which are not representable by any fact about a mathematical object. One of them is that there is always a present moment. Mathematical objects, being timeless, don’t have present moments, futures or pasts. However, if we embrace the reality of time and see mathematical laws as tools rather than as mystical mirrors of nature, other stubbornly inexplicable facts about the world become explicable, such as the laws themselves. If the laws are just true, timelessly, there is no way, within science, to explain why the particular set of laws we observe are the true ones. But if time is real, laws can evolve and hypotheses about the process of evolution become testable, and hence offer the basis for a scientific explanation of why the laws hold.

Can it work to reverse the standard idea in which irreversible phenomena emerge from reversible laws? In work in progress with the cosmologist Marina CortÍs at the University of Edinburgh, UK, we have constructed simple models of systems governed by rules which are irreversible in time, from which emerge approximately time-symmetric behaviours. These models may be simple, but they are a first step to developing a new approach to the arrows of time.

The idea that nature consists fundamentally of atoms with immutable properties moving through unchanging space, guided by timeless laws, underlies a metaphysical view in which time is absent or diminished. This view has been the basis for centuries of progress in science, but its usefulness for fundamental physics and cosmology has come to an end due to its inability to answer key questions such as what chose the laws of nature or why the universe is so asymmetric in time. Some people have confused the reliance on timeless laws with science itself, but this is wrong.

A new scientific world view is emerging based on the principles that time is real, laws evolve and irreversibility is fundamental. It is already clear this view has the capacity to explain?- in ways that are testable by experiment?- basic facts about our universe that otherwise appear to be inexplicable.

Is time’s forward motion a fundamental condition of our universe? —MCT

US prosecution ‘threatens Internet freedom’

BEIJING: Staff of a solar power plant works on their solar panels in Hami,northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region yesterday. The EU executive on May 8 proposed heavy anti-dumping tariffs of around 47 percent on imports of Chinese solar panels. —AFP

T-Mobile USA sells 500,000 iPhones in a month FRANKFURT: Deutsche Telekom said yesterday it stopped losing US customers in the first quarter after it dropped conventional two-year contracts, the German company said yesterday. While reporting a modest increase in first quarter net profit, Deutsche Telekom said its T-Mobile USA division saw a small increase in customers under its own brand for the first time in four years. The company, which had been losing contract customers, switched to a new “un-carrier” approach in March and started selling phones on installment plans. Branded customers rose by a slight 3,000; overall, the company added 579,000 customers to its base of 34 million in the US market.

It said it is getting a further boost from adding the iPhone to its lineup; since the quarter ended, the company began selling the iPhone April 12 and has sold 500,000 since then to new and existing customers.

The company, based in Bonn, Germany, discussed the US business as it reported a 3.5 percent increase in net profit in the first quarter to 564 million euros ($739 million) from 545 million euros in the same quarter a year ago. Earnings rose in part because the company saw smaller deductions for the depreciation of its U.S. business.

The company also said it had 300 million euros less in accounting-related reductions

related to T-Mobile USA and its merger with MetroPCS, which was completed on April 30 - after the quarter ended. The merger is central to Deutsche Telekom’s efforts to turn around its business in the United States, where as the No. 4 mobile provider it has struggled against bigger competitors.

Otherwise, sales and earnings slipped.

Revenue fell 4.5 percent to 58.7 billion euros, while adjusted operating earnings - which exclude financial items such as depreciation related to the merger - declined 4.3 percent to 4.29 billion euros. That still exceeded the analyst predictions for 4.24 billion euros compiled by financial information provider FactSet. At T-Mobile USA, the company made 5.32 billion euros in operating earnings, down 5.6 percent in euro terms, as revenue slipped 8 percent to 15.37 billion euros. The company said service revenue fell as more customers opted for the new contracts, reducing operating earnings.

Elsewhere, the company said its subsidiaries in Europe battled a slow economy and increased regulation. The company’s expenditure on capital investments rose some 40 percent to over 3 billion euros as it spent money on acquiring radio frequencies in the Netherlands. Deutsche Telekom shares rose 3.4 percent to 9.44 euros in morning trading in Frankfurt. —AP

WELLINGTON: Lawyers for Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom accused the US government yesterday of launching a flawed prosecution against their client with “frightening” implications for all Internet users.

The New Zealand-based Internet tycoon’s legal team released a “white paper” to coincide with a visit to Auckland by US Attorney General Eric Holder, which argues that online piracy allegations against Dotcom are baseless.

The 38-page document says that while copyright issues were normally treated as a civil matter, US prosecutors were trying to use anti-racketeering criminal statutes normally used against gangsters to press their case. “ The US actions against Kim Dotcom set a frightening precedent for the basic rights of Internet users and innovators of new technologies,” it said.

“Frankly, the lies that were told to friendly governments and the illegal spying on Kim Dotcom demonstrate a gunslinger attitude to rule of law.”

Dotcom, a German national with New Zealand residency, was arrested in an armed raid on his Auckland mansion in January last year and his Megaupload empire was shut down.

US authorities allege Megaupload and related file-sharing sites netted more than US$175 million and cost copyright owners more than US$500 million by offering pirated copies of movies, TV shows and other content.

The US Justice Department and FBI hope to extradite him to face charges of racketeering fraud, money laundering and copyright theft in a US court, which could see him jailed for up to 20 years if convicted.

One of the white paper’s coauthors, London-based human rights lawyer Robert Amsterdam, said Washington had bowed to pressure from the film industry to pursue

Dotcom because it was a major contributor to Democratic Party coffers.

He said copyright holders had failed to adapt to new technology and wanted to make an example of innovators such as Dotcom, a pioneer in “cloud” computing, to protect their interests.

“These are the guys who opposed the record player, the photocopier, the Sony Betamax,” he told AFP in a telephone interview.

“The copyright lobby has to be controlled.”Amsterdam said that even though Dotcom was living in New Zealand and the majority of his business was outside America, US prosecutors seized his multi-million dollar business without giving him a hearing.

Dotcom, a larger-than-life character known for his luxurious lifestyle, said he was singled out as prosecutors believed he was unlikely to garner public sympathy when he was arrested.

“I am an easy target. They needed a villain who’s rich, flamboyant and over the top like me,” he said in a live chat yesterday on the New Zealand Herald website.

Amsterdam said there was nothing to stop the United States taking similar criminal action against ordinary Internet users if it continued to act as “the international bully” on copyright control. “It’s that important for freedom of expression,” he said.

“There are no guarantees if they get away with this.”

During his trip, Holder is expected to hold discussions with New Zealand authorities on the Dotcom case, which is the subject of numerous legal challenges and appeals in the South Pacific country’s courts.

Dotcom is free on bail in New Zealand ahead of an extradition hearing in August and has started a new file-sharing venture called Mega. He said he was not confident about receiving a fair trial in the United States but did not allow the prospect of extradition to weigh on his mind.

“I am innocent. I have done nothing wrong,” he said. “I sleep good at night and I know that everything will be OK in the end.” —AFP

MUMBAI: In a picture taken on May 7, 2013, Indian software developer and entrepreneur Nischal Shetty, who developed Twitter application “justunfollow”, poses in his office in Vashi on the outskirts of Mumbai. It is seen as a land of entrepreneurs, economic growth and huge business potential, but India appears to be failing its promising startup companies which are struggling to find investors. —AFP

30% of companies don’t use client management tools DUBAI: According to the results of research conducted by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab in November 2012, 30% of companies worldwide don’t use modern automated client management tools. In other words, a large number of companies still inventory software and hardware, manage software licenses, and update operating systems and applications without the help of dedicated solutions that can greatly simplify and accelerate these operations.

The need to automate specific areas of IT infrastructure operations, like the need to protect against cyber-threats, does not

appear to be that obvious for many companies. This may be why 30% of companies globally don’t use modern client management tools and 14% of these do not plan to do so in the future. But when implemented, these tools can make a significant contribution to a company’s security and, as well as reducing IT-related workloads and expenses.

For example, being able to remotely install an operating system within a local network saves IT specialists from having to physically go to each of the company’s workstations. But this facility is utilized by only 42% of those companies that have

already implemented client management tools. Only half the companies that do use client management tools have automated their software installation process, while 51% have automated their tracking systems for corporate hardware, applications and software licenses. And the automated installation of updates, used by only 35%, considerably reinforces workstation protection against ‘exploits’ - malicious programs that use vulnerabilities in the OS and other software to infect the system.

A high-quality client management solution should help the company’s IT department track and eliminate software

vulnerabilities, conduct an inventory of corporate hardware and software, install applications and operating systems remotely and assign access rights to local network resources. Kaspersky Systems Management, included in Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business providing flexible, offers all these functions, providing reliable protection for a company’s IT infrastructure. Key benefits of Kaspersky Systems Management include broad automation capabilities for all featured processes and centralized management tools giving control over tasks performed on every corporate workstation.

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Landsat 8 sending more than 400 images per day New satellite appears to be working flawlessly

AMRITSAR: Indian medical students give blood during a donation drive to mark World Red Cross Day in Amritsar yesterday. World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, observed annually in celebration of the organization’s humanitarian movement, coincides with the birthday of Henry Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). — AFP

FDA warns pregnant women of migraine drug risk WASHINGTON: US health regulators are warning doctors and women of child-bearing age that half-a-dozen medications used to treat migraine headaches can decrease children’s intelligence if taken while their mothers are pregnant. The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that the drugs, including Depakote and Depacon, should never be taken by pregnant women for the prevention of migraine headaches.

The pills, which all contain the ingredient valproate sodium, already carry a boxed warning about the risk of birth defects. But the FDA said it is adding new warnings to the drugs after a study showed they decreased IQ scores in children whose mothers took them while pregnant.

“We have even more data now that show the risks to the children outweigh any treatment benefits for this use,” said Russell Katz, the FDA’s director for neurology drugs.

Earlier this year, researchers at Emory University reported that valproate-containing drugs were connected with an 8 to 11 point reduction in IQ scores for children at age 6. The study compared children whose

mothers had taken different classes of neurological drugs while pregnant. The results supported similar findings from when the children were age 3.

Depakote and similar drugs are also used to treat bipolar disorder and seizures.

While the FDA said it would not contraindicate the drugs for those uses, the agency said women of child-bearing age should only them as a last resort. “Women who can become pregnant should not use valproate unless it is essential to managing their medical condition,” the agency said in a statement.

Depakote is marketed in the US by AbbVie, which was spun off earlier this year from parent company Abbott Laboratories.

AbbVie also markets several other versions of the drug, including Depacon, an injectable formulation. The FDA’s warning also affects Stavzor, a pill marketed by Noven Pharmaceuticals for bipolar disorder. The FDA said it is working with the drug manufacturers to change their products’ pregnancy code for migraines to X. The code indicates that the drug’s risks outweigh its benefits for the given use. — AP

Hepatitis B no barrier to health practice: Feds WASHINGTON: Peter Nguyen was a promising medical student when his school learned that he had tested positive for the hepatitis B virus. He said he was blackballed by school administrators and forced to halt his studies. “I knew the stigma” that came with a hepatitis diagnosis, Nguyen said. But he thought that a medical school, of all places, would understand. “I came there expecting help. Instead, I was greeted with discrimination.”

Nguyen’s prospects of becoming a physician are a lot brighter today. The US Depar tment of Justice recently declared in a legal settlement that hepatitis B patients are protected by federal disability law. And, separately, federal health officials have issued a revised set of guidelines that make it clear that health care workers and students who carry the hepatitis B virus - HBV for short - generally pose little or no risk to patients. Taken together, advocates say, the new health guidelines and the Justice Department settlement remove barriers to practice, handing HBV-positive health professionals and students a pair of powerful tools to combat discrimination. “It gives us so much more leverage.

We no longer have to wring our hands,” said Joan Block, executive director and co-founder of the Hepatitis B Foundation, a nonprofit in Doylestown, Pa. She said Nguyen was among several students who contacted the foundation in 2011 to report they’d either been forced out of school, or had their admissions rescinded, because of an HBV diagnosis.

Hepatitis B is a contagious and potentially fatal liver disease spread through blood and other bodily fluids.

The virus that causes it is most commonly transmitted through unprotected sex. Intravenous drug use is another major risk factor.

It can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby at birth, which is how Nguyen contracted it. Even though he’d been vaccinated as a child, the virus was already in his body.

As many as 1.4 million Americans have chronic hepatitis B. It’s not clear how many of them are health practitioners. But some 25 percent of medical and dental students - and many practicing doctors, surgeons and dentists - were born to mothers from countries in Asia and other regions of the world where the virus is endemic, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC last issued guidelines for management of health workers and students with hepatitis B in 1991. A lot had changed in two decades. Universal infant vaccination had slashed the number of new cases by more than 80 percent. New drug therapies had proved effective at reducing the amount of virus in a carrier’s blood to very low or undetectable levels, greatly minimizing the risk of transmission.

And there had been only a single

case of hepatitis B transmission from a health provider to a patient at least since 1991 - an orthopedic surgeon who was unaware of his hepatitis infection and had a very high amount of the virus in his body. He infected two to eight patients, according to the CDC. While the old guidelines stated that a hepatitis B diagnosis by itself shouldn’t preclude doctors, dentists, nurses and other health professionals from seeing patients, “we were concerned that with a 20-year-old set of guidance, it was not really considered as relevant as it could be,” said Dr. John Ward, director of the CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis.

He said the new guidelines offer a “powerful message that in the great majority of clinical encounters between a health care provider and a patient, there is minimal or no risk of hepatitis B virus transmission.” Released last summer, the updated CDC guidelines were cited by the Justice Depar tment in March as the agency announced a settlement with a New Jersey medical school over claims it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by excluding two applicants with hepatitis B. While the state -run University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey denied liability, it agreed to admit qualified HBV-positive students and provide training to staff.

It was the first case in which the Justice Department pursued an ADA complaint on behalf of people with hepatitis B. “This is a historic decision,” Block said. “We can now pull out the DOJ settlement and really guide these people: ‘What you’re facing is discrimination, and here are the tools to help.’ That’s powerful.” Nguyen said he had no idea he was a carrier until he started medical school. That’s when he began to feel persistently tired and lost the ability to concentrate. Given a family history of liver cancer — of which hepatitis is the leading cause - his doctor had him tested. It came back positive. Nguyen alerted the school and said he was told by an administrator that he would never be able to complete the required surgical rotation because “no operating room in the country will let you in.”

“That’s when I started almost panicking,” Nguyen said. “To this point I had been a good student. All the sudden my world was crashing, with all this debt and all the things I had worked for in jeopardy.”

He said the school began making life more difficult for him, to the point where he felt he had no choice but to leave.

With successful treatment, the virus is now undetectable in his blood and Nguyen said he is feeling better - and plotting a return to his medical studies.

He said he’s leaning toward a career in hepatology, so he can help others like him. The specialty is “definitely at the top of the list,” Nguyen said. “I understand the risk and the mental strain. I have a lot of compassion for those individuals.” — AP

SIOUX FALLS: A new satellite hovering nearly 450 miles above the Earth appears to working flawlessly as it embarks on a 10-year mission to document the planet’s surface, scientists and engineers at the US Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science Center said.

Landsat 8 is sending more than 400 data-filled images per day back to the EROS center north of Sioux Falls, where they will be archived and made available for free download by scientists or anyone else who’s interested. The center’s mission requires images to be publicly available within 48 hours of their capture, those most will be ready within 24 hours, said project scientist Tom Loveland.

The new orbiter has several advantages over its still-functioning predecessor Landsat 7, which captures just 250 images a day. Landsat 8 also boasts two new spectral bands, one to see deeper into oceans, lakes and rivers and another to detect cirrus clouds and correct for atmospheric effects, Loveland said. The new satellite’s infrared band is split into two, allowing for more accurate surface temperature readings, he added. “It should really make a difference in our ability to map and characterize changes going on in the surface of the Earth,” Loveland said.

NASA launched Landsat 8 into space in February. Since then, teams have been running it through a barrage of tests before placing the satellite into orbit 438 miles above the planet’s surface. “The spacecraft has been extremely healthy,” said Jim Nelson, ground systems manager. “The instruments have performed really well.” The EROS Center, the main federal repository for satellite images, will officially take over the mission May 30 from NASA. Since 1972, Landsat satellites have been continuously snapping pictures across the globe as part of a 40-year mission to document the planet. Landsat 8, which is about the size of UPS truck with a 30-foot-long deployed sheet of solar panels, is stocked with a 10-year supply of fuel. It travels at a speed of 17,000 miles per hour.

Landsat 8 will work in tandem with Landsat 7,

launched in 1999, to take pictures of each inch of the planet’s surface every eight days.

Landsat 7 continues to operate despite a faulty scan line corrector that leaves zigzag gaps in some images. Landsat 5, which dates back to 1984, worked decades past its expected mission end but began failing in November. Landsat 6 never reached orbit after its 1993 launch because of a ruptured manifold. Nelson said the EROS Center has been preparing for the wave of new data, upgrading its ground station near Sioux Falls as well as partner facilities in Alaska and Norway. It also overhauled its data process-

ing and storage systems, “so we can get as much data as possible online for the users to get direct access to,” Nelson said. Loveland said there’s a huge demand for the images in the scientific community, giving an example of a recent Brazilian Remote Sensing Symposium that drew more than 800 people looking to tap into the data. “There’s a great deal of planning going on from people ready to use the images,” Loveland said. The center used to charge for the images, but for years now, they’ve been free. “When you put all this free stuff in universities, innovation happens,” Loveland said.”— AP

This undated photo provided by Genomic Health shows Andy Dang, a lab assistant at the company, labeling cancer tissue sample transfer tubes for an RNA extraction process. The company’s new genetic test to gauge the aggressiveness of prostate cancer may help tens of thousands of men each year decide whether they need to treat their cancer right away or can safely monitor it. — AP

Judge criticizes FDA move on Plan B NEW YORK: A federal judge criticized the US Food and Drug Administration over its refusal to make emergency contraception available to girls of all ages without a prescription, saying the agency’s move to restrict distribution to consumers aged 15 and older was not realistic.

US District Judge Edward Korman on April 5 ordered the FDA to lift age restrictions on all levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception - also known as the “morning-after” pill or “Plan B” - to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

At a hearing in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday, he said he would rule by the end of the week on the FDA’s request to stay the order, which is slated to take effect May 10. The FDA has appealed the ruling to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

“I do think there is a principle that is a dangerous one of a court ordering the FDA to approve a drug,” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told the Reuters Health Summit in New York on Monday ahead of the hearing. “You have to step back and look at this not just in terms of Plan B but in terms of the precedent.” Late last month, the FDA said it would allow girls as young as 15 years old to buy Plan B One-Step contraception, made by a unit of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, without a prescription. Cashiers will still have to verify the customer’s age before selling it. The agency said the move was based on data provided by Teva that showed girls of that age could safely use the drug without the intervention of a healthcare provider.

Korman called the decision “a

lot of nonsense,” saying that 15and 16-year-olds may not have photo identification needed to buy the drug. The judge noted that the FDA’s restrictions still apply to other forms of emergency contraception, including a two-pill version of Plan B and its generic equivalents. These are only available to women 17 and older with identification.

Korman also questioned the timing of the decision, made one day before the FDA filed its notice of appeal of the April order.“I’m convinced the only reason you decided it when it was decided was to sugarcoat this appeal,” Korman told a lawyer for the FDA, Farzin Franklin Amanat.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Janet Crepps of the Center for Reproductive Rights, countered that the different access rules for

Plan B One-Step and other forms of emergency contraception had created a “convoluted” system for girls and women seeking the drug in its brand name and generic forms.

“That’s what happens when you let politicians instead of scientists make these decisions,” Korman replied. Emergency contraceptives generally sell for $10 to $80.

Although they can work as long as 120 hours after unprotected sex, they are most effective in the first 24 hours.

Asked about the ongoing court case, Teva Chief Executive Jeremy Levin said the company provides medicines where they are needed.

“I’m not interested in getting into politics,” he told the Reuters Health Summit. “The bottom line is that we believe we are providing an important medicine.” — Reuters

The European migration evident in DNA patterns LOS ANGELES: The histor y of Europe is written in its people’s DNA. The Huns and the Slavs made incursions into Eastern Europe about 1,500 years ago. Migrants moved from Ireland to England in recent centuries. Populations in Italy and Spain have been comparatively stable. None of this is breaking news. But scientists were able to see it anew by examining the patterns of genes in 2,257 people

now living in 40 countries on the continent. It’s surprising “how much past history was still evident in the patterns we’ve seen,” said Peter Ralph, a computational biologist at the University of Southern California who reported the findings Tuesday in the journal PLOS Biology.

Ralph and his former postdoctoral adviser, Graham Coop, a geneticist at the University of

HANOI: A woman sells live chickens and ducks in downtown Hanoi yesterday. Live poultry markets can act as hotbeds for H5N1 bird flu, but simple measures such as disinfecting trucks, equipment and market space could help stop the virus from spreading, according to researchers. A team of French, British and Vietnamese researchers interviewed vendors at live bird markets in northern Vietnam and tracked how outbreaks could move as if via social network, even into remote areas. — AFP

California, Davis, conducted their analysis by looking at the Population Reference Sample data.

The data include language and country-of-origin information for several thousand European people, along with DNA sequences covering 500,000 locations on the genome that are known to vary from person to person.

Coop and Ralph used computer programs to ferret out sequences that were identical or nearly identical and used the matches to figure out who was related to whom.

Following the DNA trails they encountered, the researchers were able to confirm that Europeans living near one another were more closely related than Europeans living farther apart.

They were also able to put a time frame on the genetic relatedness they saw, by examining the length of the DNA segments the people shared. The DNA sequences you have in common with each of your parents are quite long, the chunks you share with each of your four grandparents are half as long, and the bits you share with each of your eight great-grandparents are half as long again. “The longer ago an ancestor is, the shorter the chunk is likely to be,” Ralph said.

Out of the roughly 3 billion base pairs in the human genome, Coop and Ralph looked for shared segments that were on the order of millions of base pairs long; statistically, matches any shorter could be a chance result. They calculated that these segments could reveal shared ancestry stretching back about 100 generations, or 3,000 years. It turned out that pairs of people living as far away from each other as Britain and Turkey shared the DNA chunks 20 percent of the time, the researchers discovered.

That meant that each pair would have to have had at least thousands of common ancestors over the last 1,000 years, they wrote.

Going back a few thousand years, Coop and Ralph were able to show that everyone on Earth is

related to everyone else. “It’s a nice illustration of how interconnected human ancestr y is,” said John November, a professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the research. “It’s been expected theoretically, but here they show it empirically.”

Coop and Ralph also looked at the length of the shared DNA segments to link genetic differences among populations to historical events and trends. Among other things, they found that modernday Italians were not as closely related to one another as people in other countries were. That could reflect relative stability in the region that is now Italy, they said.

The researchers found more recent shared ancestry - that is, longer chunks of shared DNA - among some people from southeastern Europe. That could be a genetic signature of the influxes of Huns and Slavs into the region around the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, they wrote.

John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who was not involved in the research, said that although the new research was interesting, there were many “key insights” about humanity’s past still waiting to be revealed in the human genome. “Europe happens to have a really good genetic sample and really good match of geography to genetic variation,” Hawks said. “In some other parts of the world, like Africa, things are not so simple.”

Researchers have examined the genomes of African-Americans to try to learn about their recent history, Ralph said. The technique could also prove useful in studying other living things, he added: A survey of humpback whale DNA could shed light on population sizes in the prewhaling era, for instance, or the genes of a particular kind of tree might tell scientists something about how that species has responded to glaciation in the past.— MCT

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Decades-old question: Is antibacterial soap safe?

WASHINGTON: It’s a chemical that’s been in US households for more than 40 years, from the body wash in your bathroom shower to the knives on your kitchen counter to the bedding in your baby’s basinet. But federal health regulators are just now deciding whether triclosan - the germ-killing ingredient found in an estimated 75 percent of antibacterial liquid soaps and body washes sold in the US - is ineffective, or worse, harmful.

The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to deliver a review this year of whether triclosan is safe. The ruling, which will determine whether triclosan continues to be used in household cleaners, could have implications for a $1 billion industry that includes hundreds of antibacterial products from toothpaste to toys. The agency’s review comes amid growing pressure from lawmakers, consumer advocates and others who are concerned about the safety of triclosan.

Recent studies of triclosan in animals have led scientists to worry that it could increase the risk of infertility, early puberty and other hormone-related problems in humans. “To me it looks like the risks outweigh any benefit associated with these products right now,” said Allison

Aiello, professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. “At this point, it’s just looking like a superfluous chemical.” The concerns over triclosan offer a sobering glimpse at a littleknown fact: Many chemicals used in everyday household products have never been formally approved by U.S. health regulators. That’s because many germkilling chemicals were developed decades ago before there were laws requiring scientific review of cleaning ingredients.

The controversy also highlights how long it can take the federal government to review the safety of such chemicals.

It’s not uncommon for the process to drag on for years, since regulators must review volumes of research and take comments from the public on each draft.

In the case of triclosan, Congress passed a law in 1972 requiring that the FDA set guidelines for dozens of common antibacterial chemicals found in over-thecounter soaps and scrubs. The guidelines function like a cookbook for manufacturers, detailing which chemicals can be used in what products, and in what amounts.

In 1978, the FDA published its first tentative guidelines for chemicals used in

liquid hand soaps and washes. The draft stated that triclosan was “not generally recognized as safe and effective,” because regulators could not find enough scientific research demonstrating its safety and effectiveness. The FDA published several drafts of the guidelines over the years, but the agency never finalized the results. So, companies have not had to remove triclosan from their products.

Meanwhile, the agency did approve triclosan for use in Colgate’s Total toothpaste in 1997, after Colgate-Palmolive Co. submitted data showing that the ingredient helped fight gingivitis. Then, last summer, the FDA said its review of triclosan would be complete by late 2012. That target date then slipped to February, which has also come and gone. But pressure on the agency from outside critics didn’t let up.

In March, a federal appeals court said a lawsuit by the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council aimed at forcing the FDA to complete its review could move forward. A three-judge panel reinstated the 2010 lawsuit, which had been tossed out by a lower court, saying the nonprofit group presented evidence that triclosan could potentially be dangerous.

Now, four decades after it was charged

with reviewing triclosan, the FDA is planning to complete its review.

FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Yao said evaluating triclosan and other antibacterial agents is “one of the highest priorities” for the agency, but did not offer an explanation for the delay. The FDA’s website currently states that “the agency does not have evidence that triclosan in antibacterial soaps and body washes provides any benefit over washing with regular soap and water.” The American Cleaning Institute, a cleaning products trade organization, says it has provided reams of data to FDA showing that triclosan is both safe and effective.

“Triclosan is one of the most reviewed and researched ingredients used in consumer and health care products,” says Brian Sansoni, a spokesman for the group, whose members include ColgatePalmolive and Henkel Consumer Goods Inc., maker of Dial soap. While it can take years for the government to make rules, members of Congress say there is little precedent for the FDA’s four-decade review of triclosan.

“When FDA first started evaluating the rules governing triclosan’s use, Richard Nixon was still president,” said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass, who asked the

FDA to take a closer look at triclosan in 2010 after the European Union banned the chemical from products that come into contact with food. “Science has evolved, and so should FDA’s regulations guiding the use of this chemical in consumer products,” he says. US scientists agree that the FDA’s review is overdue.

The Endocrine Society, a group of doctors and scientists who specialize in the hormone system, flagged triclosan four years ago as an ingredient that alters levels of thyroid hormones and reproductive hormones like testosterone and estrogen. “I think the FDA is behind the curve,” said Dr. Andrea Gore of the University of Texas at Austin, who was the lead author of the Endocrine Society’s statement on hormone disrupting chemicals. “At what point do you draw a line and say we need to take this out of products that are being applied to our skin? What is enough evidence?” Some Americans are shocked that the FDA has taken so long. Mallory Smith is troubled to learn that the government has never confirmed the safety of antibacterial soap’s key ingredient.

Smith, who works for the federal government, says she keeps antibacterial soap in the kitchen to clean her hands after she’s handled raw meat.—AP

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N Announcements The TIES Center’s ‘trip’ he TIES Center cordially invites those who are interested in its trip to the Historical, Vintage and Classic Car Museum, which is the first museum in Kuwait specializing in old cars on May 30th at 6:00 pm. Revisit past memories or learn something new.

If you love cars then this is the trip for you. Even if you don’t love cars, come anyway; you will enjoy the trip. For more information/registration, log onto: www.tiescenter.net.

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GRAMOLSAV on May 10 ottayam Association, Kuwait is conducting Malayalam Arts competitions - Gramolsav’ 2013 on 10th May 2013 at United Indian School by 4:00pm. The winners of this prestigious competition will be awarded with trophies and medals. The competitions are for Solo Nadan Pattu, Poetry Recitation and Kadaprasamgam. The competitions are meant for children as well as adults. The group is divided as Sub-Junior, Junior, senior and Super Senior where as Kadaprasamgam is only for Junior and Senior groups. The closing date of receiving entry forms is 7th May, 2013. For entry forms please email to gramolsav2013@gmail.com and the entry forms are available at Family Super Market and Al-Watan Restaurant, Abbassiya.

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Expat communities enjoyed a day out on Mesillah Beach on Friday, where various types of contests were held, a music concert by Mahmoud Al-Laithi and Louai, both from Egypt were performed. The festivities also included a color festival, which was held for the first time in Kuwait. Sponsors including Kuwait Times and AlSanabel Al-Thahabiya distributed gifts to all those present at the event.— Photos by Joseph Shagra

NAFO ‘Samanwayam’ tomorrow he 10th anniversary of NAFO Kuwait will be celebrated on May 10 at the American International School Auditorium from 6pm onwards. Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta will inaugurate the event. Former Indian Ambassador to the US and the United Nations T P Sreenivasan and NSS Director Board Member Pandalam Sivankutty will be guests of honor. NAFO will also present an eclectic dance drama ‘Krishna’ which is conceived and choreographed by Padmashri Shobana. She will be accompanied by a 15-member troupe from Kalarpana Chennai and supported by Oscar winner Rasool Pookkutty. It has voice-overs in English by film personalities such as Irrfan Khan, Konkonasen, Shabaana Azmi, John Abraham, Prakash Raj, Stephen Devassy and P Rajeevan.

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Konkani musical show nited Friends Club - Kuwait presents Kuwait Trio’s Konkani Songit Sanz (a Konkani musical evening) with fun filled comedy and songs, starring: Gracy Rodrigues, Clemmie Pereira, Irene Vaz, Lucy Aranha, Espy Crasto, Bab. Agnel, Katty de Navelim, Salu Faleiro, Gasper Crasto, Braz de Parra, Anthony D’Silva, Agnelo Fernandes, Seby & Seby, Zeferino Mendes, Lopes Bros., Comedian Nelson, Laurente Pereira & Cajetan de Sanvordem-Michael D’SilvaMario de Majorda (Kuwait Trio). The show will be held on Friday, 10th May 2013 at 4 pm at the Indian Community School (Senior), Salmiya, Kuwait. Music will be provided by Maestro Shahu.

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Basketball Academy he new Premier Basketball Academy offers coaching and games every Friday and Saturday from 10 am onwards for 6 to 18 year olds, boys and girls. Located in Bayan Block 7, Masjed Al-Aqsa Street

by Abdullah Al-Rujaib High School. Free Basketball and Tee Shirts for all participants, with certificates and special awards on completion of each 6 week course. Qualified and experienced British and American Coaches, Everyone Welcome.

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IMA IMAX film program

Pakistan Progressive Forum Kuwait (PPFK) celebrated the May 1, (Labour Day) in Riggae. The function was presided by comrade Ali Murad and the chief guest was Mathi from Tamil Nadu. All comrades sang the International Anthem and jointly cut the ceremonial cake.

The Regency scoops two global accolades at World Travel Awards

Greetings

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he Regency has been named Kuwait’s Leading Luxury Hotel and Kuwait’s Leading Conference Hotel at the glittering ‘World Travel Awards’ ceremony held in Dubai on 5th May 2013. Attended by industry leaders from all over the region, The Regency won the two hard-fought accolades from a tightly fought field.

General Manager, Aurelio Giraudo, said late last night after clinching the prizes “We are thrilled to be named not just Kuwait’s Leading Luxury Hotel but also Kuwait’s Leading Conference Hotel by the World Travel Awards jury. It is an honour for me as General Manager, as much as for all our associates, who have worked so far to take up to the top. It just proves that as a wholly independent, family-owned property since 1981, The Regency is now the benchmark for

excellence in hospitality and an internationally recognized leader in Kuwait’s hospitality industry”. The Regency recently announced it had won the contract to manage the Pearl and Derwaza Lounges at Kuwait International Airport and new contracts with major institutions for laundry and catering.

The two World Travel Awards come on the back of another milestone, on Wednesday 8th May 2013 The Regency will be celebrating 150 days at the top of the hotel rankings on the website www.Trip Advisor.com. The hotel is ranked by votes made by its guests and the league covers no less than 52 hotels in Kuwait. The Regency prides itself on representing the spirit of Arabian and international hospitality and is considered a landmark beachfront property since its establishment in 1981.

Thursday ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Flight of Butterflies 3D 10:30am, 5:30pm, 8:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 11:30am Tornado Alley 3D 12:30pm, 7:30pm, 9:30pm To The Arctic 3D 6:30pm Notes All films are in Arabic. For English, headsets are available upon request.

“Fires of Kuwait” is in English. Arabic headsets are available upon request.

Film schedule is subject to changes without notice.

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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nother year has passed. May you have all that you wish for to come true. Have a happy birthday Mde. Delia Arcayera from your loving Husband Nasser and children Sarah, Ahmed, Sherine, Tareq and ate Jovi and children relatives and friends.

Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy

Sebamed on Instagram

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ebamed contest is going on and gaining steam...go ahead and take a snap of Sebamed product with your family using your digital device and send it via instagram to (#sebamedkuwait), (@sebamedkuwait) or email it to: sanabel@qualitynet.net and be one of the lucky winners.

The three winning pictures will be chosen by a committee and selected products from Sebamed will be given as prizes.

Captain Yasser Dawwy with the winners at the Squash Tournament at Stretch Fitness Center.

Holiday Inn Kuwait drawing smiles on children’s faces

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s part of its corporate social responsibility, Holiday Inn choose to draw priceless smiles on the faces of little children that have struggled through part or most of their lives suffering from different types of illnesses.

The event was held at Amiri Hospital in Kuwait City

and in coordination with Kuwait’s Association for the Care of Children in Hospital (KACCH). Holiday Inn arranged for an entertaining program for the children to enjoy.

Colors filled the room with their gorgeous painted faces, moreover aside to the various amusing games

Kuwait school leaders hear exciting opportunities in finance profession

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uwait school leaders hear about exciting opportunities in the finance profession Ernst & Young, British Council and ACCA work together to highlight opportunities for students.

The exciting opportunities available to young people studying in Kuwait considering a career as finance professionals were outlined to senior school managers in an event run by the British Council, Ernst & Young Academy and ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). Career counsellors, principals and senior staff from 10 schools in Kuwait attended the event at the Ernst & Young Academy in Kuwait on 22 April.

They heard about the rewarding careers which can be pursued by professional accountants, as well as hearing what employers expect from potential recruits in today’s demanding business environment.

The event also looked at how young people can begin their journey as a finance professional while still at school. As part of its involvement in the event, ACCA outlined its competency framework to the attendees, showing the various accounting and finance roles in different sectors and the competencies required for those roles.

ACCA also explained how schools could introduce its entry level Foundation in Accountancy qualification, which would give students a head start in their finance studies.

This message was underlined by Hassan Choudhry, a Senior Manager Assurance at Ernst & Young, who explained how he began his studies with ACCA’s Certified Accounting Technician qualification, then went on to complete the professional level ACCA qualification with minimal costs and is now enjoying a bright career with a Big Four firm. Ernst & Young outlined the tuition support it provides its own students which has earned it the unique honor of

being the only ACCA Approved Learning Provider to have Gold status in Kuwait.

Nadeem Shafi, Partner, Assurance and MENA Leader-Financial Accounting Advisory Services (FAAS), Ernst & Young, Kuwait says: “We saw this as an opportunity to raise the bar for professionals and the industry in general. There is a strong need to develop talent and equip them with the skills to become world class professionals.

Working in today’s dynamic global economy, a world class business certification like the ACCA and FIA is absolutely vital for Finance & Accounting professionals looking to develop their careers.”

Rathna Kishore, Examinations Services Manager of the British Council Kuwait, said: “British Council has a long tradition of working with UK professional bodies and educational institutions to promote professional and vocational qualifications overseas. As part of this ongoing educational mission, we are delighted to be working with ACCA and Ernst & Young to promote ACCA and raise international students to a high standard in business and financial studies.

Anis Motorwala, ACCA’s Head of the Northern Gulf, said: “There are some excellent opportunities for young people who are interested in pursuing a career in finance and accounting, and we were delighted to be able to explain those to senior managers and careers counselors from the schools. We also shared the findings of ACCA’s research into the Complete Finance Professional, which showed that employers want new recruits to have a wide range of financial and business skills something which the ACCA Qualification provides.”

the children participated in; their little gleaming eyes were set on the magician as he demonstrated his astonishing tricks. Holiday Inn Kuwait has always been known for being a responsible business, always considering the Kuwaiti community in many different means.

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EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcccom for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, Email: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, AlMutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday. nnnnnnn

Indian Frontliners part 17 book release art 17 Book on “Indian Achievers” was released on 3rd May 2013 at Kuwait Medical Association hall, Jabriya to a rapturous applause of prominent dignitaries and audience. The national Integration Cultural Show started with the lighting of lamp/Kuthuvilakku and salutation to the National Anthems of Kuwait and India. Mrs Santha Maria James, the President of Indian Frontliners and Mohandoss, Founder and Coordinator of the Indian Frontliners welcomed all the guests and thanked each and everyone present for their time, assistance and participation. Eminent Guests and Personalities including Ambassador of India to Kuwait, Shri.

Satish C. Mehta and the Chief Guests Justice Dr A R Lakshmanan & Dr Seetharaman addressed the spell bound audience.

Dr. AR Lakshmanan released the Indian Fronliners Part 17 book on “Indian Achievers” and the book was received by Ambassador of India to Kuwait, Satish C. Mehta & Dr Seetharaman, CEO, Doha bank group. Justice AR. Lakshmanan assured everyone present of his help for any genuine cause in India. Dr. Seetharaman eloquently thundered “21st Century Belongs to India and be Proud to be an Indian”.

Secretary of Indian Frontliners K. Mathi and the Welfare Team were honoured for their tireless services to help the standard workers in Kuwait. Sponsors of the Event and Contributors were felicitated and the history, contribution and achievement of the Indian Frontliners Forum were presented. Indian Frontliners have contributed to many genuine causes such as Cancer Patients, HIV/AIDS affected people, Education, people affected by natural calamities, physically challenged persons, old-age

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homes. Artists - Nethran, Dharsini, Jenifer, Sujeetha, Swetha from the Tamil Screen along with a number of lovely children, colourfully dressed up and all smiles and with full of energy, together with the Indian Frontlines’ back stage and front stage contributors, choreographers showcased a tremendous spectacle of Cultural Show, enthralling the audience with music, dance songs and oration. The contents, rendering, dynamism and energy levels displayed by the children and artists were amazing and the hall was overflowing with audience enjoying the Cultural Show. The audience was thoroughly enjoying the Show and roared with laughter and they were encouraging the performing artists with applause and cute verbal comments.

The Programme was compered by Senthamilarasu, Mythili and Sujeetha. The show came to an end with whole hearted Vote of Thanks by Shibu and presentation of lovely mementos and certificates. Earlier in the same morning Indian Frontliners organized an “Interactive Session” on 03 May 2013 morning with the distinguished Chief Guests, Dr. AR. Lakshmanan, former Supreme Court Judge of India and Dr. Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, Qatar for an elite panel of Kuwait personalities at Kuwait Medical Hall Auditorium, Jabriya, Kuwait. The Chief Guests were introduced by the Fronliners Office Bearers and the Session was conducted by Senthamil Arasu and Mrs Nita Bhatkar and spanned lively for about two hours, preceded by a nice and hot traditional South Indian Breakfast. The elite crowd enjoyed the special speaches of guests and the interaction.

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on short-stay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database.

Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, first-time applicants will have to appear in person when lodging the application, in order to provide their fingerprints. For subsequent applications within 5 years the fingerprints can be copied from the previous application file in the VIS. The Cypriot Presidency would like to assure the people of Kuwait and all its permanent citizens that the Member States and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, have taken all necessary technical measures to facilitate the rapid examination and the efficient processing of visa applications and to ensure a quick and discreet procedure for the implementation of the new VIS. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa will be closed on Tuesday, 28 May 2013, for an official event. The Embassy will resume it’s normal working hours on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the Working hours will be from 8h00 to 16h00 & the Consular Section operation hours will be from 8h30 to 12h30, for any emergencies please contact: 94924895. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY GREECE The Embassy of Greece in Kuwait has the pleasure to announce that visa applications must be submitted to Schengen Visa Application Centre (VFS office) located at 12th floor, Al-Naser Tower, Fahad Al-Salem Street, AlQibla area, Kuwait City, (Parking at Souk Watia). For information please call 22281046 from 08:30 to 17:00 (Sunday to Thursday). Working hours: Submission from 08:30 to 15:30. Passport collection from 16:00 to 17:00. For visa applications please visit the following website www.mfa.gr/kuwait. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Kuwait will organize 2013 K-POP Contest on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 6:00 pm. The aim of the contest is to provide an opportunity to the participants to showcase their exciting talents to the audience. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the contest. Application forms can be downloaded from the Embassy’s website: http://kwt.mofa.go.kr (Select English from the menu at the top of the page then Bilateral Relations) or visit the “Korean Culture Diwaniya” Facebook Group. Interested applicants must send their application forms to Kuwait@mofa.go.kr by 24 May 2013.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 01:35 I’m Alive 02:25 Roaring With Pride 03:15 Wildest Africa 04:05 Wild France 04:55 Call Of The Wildman 05:20 Cheetah Kingdom 05:45 SSPCA: On The Wildside 06:10 SSPCA: On The Wildside 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 The Really Wild Show 07:25 Groomer Has It 08:15 Cats 101 09:10 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 10:05 Roaring With Pride 11:00 Animal Cops Houston 11:55 Call Of The Wildman 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 Safari Vet School 13:15 Safari Vet School 13:45 Animal Precinct 14:40 Roaring With Pride 15:30 Cheetah Kingdom 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Cats 101 17:25 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 18:20 Your Very First Puppy 19:15 Monkey Life 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Call Of The Wildman 20:35 Cheetah Kingdom 21:05 Roaring With Pride 22:00 Biggest And Baddest 22:55 Untamed China With Nigel

00:40 Come Dine With Me 01:30 Masterchef: The Professionals 02:15 Gok’s Fashion Fix 03:05 Coastal Kitchen 03:30 Cash In The Attic 04:15 Bargain Hunt 05:00 Holmes On Homes 05:45 Gok’s Fashion Fix 06:35 New Scandinavian Cooking 07:00 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 07:25 The Good Cook 07:50 Baking Made Easy 08:15 Homes Under The Hammer 09:10 Bargain Hunt 09:50 Antiques Roadshow 10:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 11:25 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:10 Come Dine With Me 13:00 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 13:30 New Scandinavian Cooking 13:55 Bargain Hunt 14:40 Cash In The Attic 15:25 Antiques Roadshow 16:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:00 Homes Under The Hammer 17:55 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 18:20 The Roux Legacy 18:55 Perfect Day 19:20 New Scandinavian Cooking 19:45 Come Dine With Me 20:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 21:20 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Homes Under The Hammer

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 01:45 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30

BBC World News America BBC World News America Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report

05:45 Sport Today 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 BBC World News 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 BBC World News 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 14:30 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 Hardtalk 18:00 Global With John Sopel 18:30 Global With John Sopel 19:00 Global With John Sopel 19:30 World Business Report 19:45 Sport Today 20:00 BBC World News 20:30 BBC Focus On Africa 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 21:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 Business Edition With Tanya Beckett 23:30 Hardtalk

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 07:40 08:05 08:30 08:55 09:20 09:45 10:10 10:35 11:00 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:40 13:00 13:25 13:50 14:20 14:45 15:10 15:35 16:00 16:25 16:50 17:15 17:40 18:05 18:30 18:55 19:20 19:45 20:10 20:35

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 Bananas In Pyjamas Lazytown Krypto: The Super Dog Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Cartoonito Tales Ha Ha Hairies Lazytown Baby Looney Tunes Krypto: The Super Dog Cartoonito Tales Jelly Jamm Gerald McBoing Boing Lazytown Baby Looney Tunes Jelly Jamm Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Moomins Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries The Looney Tunes Show The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Taz-Mania Tiny Toon Adventures Moomins Tom And Jerry Tales What’s New Scooby Doo The Looney Tunes Show The Garfield Show Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Tom And Jerry Tales What’s New Scooby Doo Tiny Toon Adventures Puppy In My Pocket

21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15 23:05 23:30 23:55

What’s New Scooby-Doo? Looney Tunes Dexter’s Laboratory Tom & Jerry Tales Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Moomins

00:30 Grim Adventures Of...

01:20 Johnny Test 02:10 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 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 Ben 10 Omniverse 07:25 Johnny Test 07:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 08:10 Evil Con Carne 08:55 Adventure Time 09:45 Regular Show 10:35 Angelo Rules 11:25 Ben 10: Alien Force 11:50 Ben 10: Alien Force 12:15 Hero 108 12:40 Hero 108 13:05 Mucha Lucha !

13:30 Angelo Rules 14:20 Evil Con Carne 15:10 The Amazing World Of Gumball 15:35 Adventure Time 16:00 Regular Show 16:30 Johnny Test 17:00 Ben 10: Omniverse 17:25 Dreamworks Dragons Riders Of Berk 17:50 Gormiti New 18:15 Young Justice 18:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 19:05 Total Drama: Revenge Of The Island 19:30 Total Drama: Revenge Of The Island 19:55 Mucha Lucha !

20:20 Ben 10: Omniverse 20:45 The Amazing World Of Gumball 21:10 Adventure Time 21:35 Regular Show 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 Live 02:00 CNN Newsroom Live From Hong Kong 03:00 Anderson Cooper 360 04:00 Piers Morgan Live 05:00 Quest Means Business 06:00 The Situation Room 07:00 World Sport 07:30 Talk Asia 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Business Traveller 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 World One 12:30 Mainsail 13:00 Amanpour 13:30 CNN Newscenter 14:00 Piers Morgan Live 15:00 News Stream 16:00 World Business Today 17:00 International Desk 18:00 Global Exchange 18:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 19:00 CNN Football Club 19:30 Mainsail 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business

THE WARD ON OSN ACTION HD

21:45 CNN Marketplace Europe 22:00 Amanpour 22:30 CNN Newscenter 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

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

You Have Been Warned Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Mythbusters Mythbusters Border Security Auction Hunters Storage Hunters How Machines Work How It’s Made Sons Of Guns Mythbusters Futurecar Flying Wild Alaska Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings How Machines Work How It’s Made You Have Been Warned Magic Of Science Magic Of Science Mythbusters Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings Fast N’ Loud Flying Wild Alaska Mythbusters Sons Of Guns How Machines Work How It’s Made Auction Hunters Storage Hunters Heroes Of Hell’s Highway Glory Hounds

00:05 How Tech Works 00:30 Patent Bending 01:00 NASA’s Greatest Missions 01:50 The Colony 02:45 Space Pioneer 03:35 NASA’s Greatest Missions 04:25 Superships 05:15 The Gadget Show 05:40 How Tech Works 06:05 Prophets Of Science Fiction 07:00 James May’s 20th Century 07:25 James May’s 20th Century 07:50 Food Factory 08:15 Food Factory 08:40 The Gadget Show 09:05 How Tech Works 09:30 Ldrs (Large Dangerous Rocket Ships) 10:25 Ecopolis 11:20 Man-Made Marvels Asia 12:10 Race To Mars 13:00 Food Factory 13:25 Food Factory 13:50 Patent Bending 14:20 The Gadget Show 14:45 How Tech Works 15:10 James May’s 20th Century 15:35 James May’s 20th Century 16:00 Da Vinci’s Machines 16:55 What’s That About?

17:45 Superships 18:35 Prophets Of Science Fiction 19:30 James May’s 20th Century 19:55 James May’s 20th Century 20:20 Curiosity 21:10 The Gadget Show 21:35 How Tech Works 22:00 James May’s 20th Century 22:25 James May’s 20th Century 22:50 The Colony 23:40 The Gadget Show

00:00 Hannah Montana 00:45 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:30 Emperor’s New School 02:15 Replacements 02:35 Replacements 03:00 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 03:20 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 03:45 Emperor’s New School 04:30 Replacements 04:50 Replacements 05:15 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 05:35 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 06:00 Prankstars 06:25 Suite Life On Deck 06:45 Cory In The House 07:10 A.N.T. Farm 07:35 Austin And Ally 07:55 Jessie 08:20 Good Luck Charlie 08:45 Doc McStuffins 09:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:30 A.N.T. Farm 09:55 Jonas 10:15 So Random 10:40 Hannah Montana 11:05 Sonny With A Chance 11:25 Kim Possible 11:50 Shake It Up 12:15 Shake It Up 12:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place 13:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 13:25 Austin And Ally 13:45 Jessie 14:10 A.N.T Farm 14:35 So Random 14:55 The Adventures Of Disney Fairies 15:20 Good Luck Charlie 15:45 Jessie 16:10 Shake It Up 16:35 A.N.T. Farm 17:00 Austin And Ally 17:20 Suite Life On Deck 17:45 Suite Life On Deck 18:10 Cory In The House 18:30 Wizards Of Waverly Place 18:55 That’s So Raven 19:20 A.N.T. Farm 19:40 Good Luck Charlie 20:05 Jessie 20:30 Wizards Of Waverly Place 20:50 Wizards Of Waverly Place 21:15 So Random 21:40 Hannah Montana 22:00 Jonas 22:25 Sonny With A Chance 22:50 Sonny With A Chance 23:10 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:00 Opening Act 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E! Investigates

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

Style Star Extreme Close-Up E!es E!es THS Style Star E! News Ice Loves Coco Ice Loves Coco THS E! News Chasing The Saturdays Chasing The Saturdays Kourtney & Kim Take New Kourtney & Kim Take New Style Star THS Extreme Close-Up Playing With Fire E! News E!es Kourtney And Kim Take Miami Chasing The Saturdays Fashion Police E! News Chelsea Lately

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:55 Unwrapped 01:20 Unwrapped 01:45 Charly’s Cake Angels 02:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 02:35 Unique Sweets 03:00 Unique Sweets 03:25 Food Wars 03:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Unique Eats 04:40 Chopped 05:30 Iron Chef America 06:10 Food Network Challenge 07:00 Guy’s Big Bite 07:25 Guy’s Big Bite 07:50 Reza’s African Kitchen 08:15 Kid In A Candy Store 08:40 Unique Sweets 09:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:30 The Next Food Network Star 10:20 Extra Virgin 10:45 Extra Virgin 11:10 Cooking For Real 11:35 Food Crafters 12:00 Ultimate Recipe Showdown 12:50 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 13:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Food Wars 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 14:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 15:20 Guy’s Big Bite 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:25 Food Wars 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:40 Guy’s Big Bite 19:05 Reza’s African Kitchen 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Amazing Wedding Cakes 22:00 Food Network Challenge 22:50 Food Network Caters Your Wedding 23:40 Food Wars

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 23:40

Dr G: Medical Examiner A Haunting Nightmare Next Door Nightmare Next Door I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner A Haunting Nightmare Next Door 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 On The Case With Paula Zahn I Escaped Death I Almost Got Away With It

00:15 Travel Madness 00:45 Deadly Arts 01:40 Deadliest Journeys 02:05 The Best Job In The World 02:35 Bondi Rescue 03:00 Bondi Rescue 03:30 Danger Beach 03:55 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 04:25 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 05:20 Departures 06:15 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 06:40 Market Values 07:10 Travel Madness 07:35 Travel Madness 08:05 Deadly Arts 09:00 Deadliest Journeys 09:25 The Best Job In The World 09:55 Bondi Rescue 10:20 Bondi Rescue 10:50 Danger Beach 11:15 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 11:45 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 12:40 Departures 13:35 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:00 Market Values 14:30 The Frankincense Trail 15:25 Deadly Arts 16:20 Deadliest Journeys 16:45 The Best Job In The World

IN TIME ON OSN CINEMA 17:15 Bondi Rescue 18:10 Danger Beach 18:35 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 19:05 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 20:00 The Frankincense Trail 21:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:30 Market Values 22:00 Departures 22:55 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 23:20 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita

00:00 The Ward-18 02:00 AVP: Alien vs Predator-PG15 04:00 Mission: Impossible-PG15 06:00 The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption-PG15 08:00 Goal!-PG15 10:00 Green Lantern-PG15 12:00 True Justice: Vengeance Is Mine-PG15 14:00 Goal!-PG15 16:00 Burden Of Evil-PG15 18:00 True Justice: Vengeance Is Mine-PG15 20:00 Meskada-PG15 22:00 The Running Man-18

01:00 03:00 PG 05:00 07:00 PG15 09:00 11:00 PG15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Second Chances-PG15 Marley & Me: The Puppy YearsEspions-PG15 Ike: Countdown To D-DaySecond Chances-PG15 Love Will Keep Us TogetherBeverly Hills Chihuahua 2-PG And Soon The Darkness-PG15 Footloose-PG15 In Time-PG15 Martha Marcy May Marlene-18 The Devil Inside-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Weeds 02:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 02:30 The Big C 03:00 Ben And Kate 03:30 The Simpsons 04:00 Seinfeld 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Til Death 06:00 Arrested Development 06:30 Samantha Who? 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 Til Death 09:00 Ben And Kate 09:30 Modern Family 10:00 The Mindy Project 10:30 Samantha Who? 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Arrested Development 12:30 Seinfeld 13:00 Til Death 13:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 The Simpsons 14:30 The Mindy Project 15:00 Modern Family 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Arrested Development 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 New Girl 18:30 Friends 19:00 Community 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The League 22:30 The League 23:00 The Big C 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 Breakout Kings 01:00 The Client List

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

Castle Treme Bones Castle Breakout Kings Emmerdale Coronation Street C.S.I. New York Bones Castle Touch Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. New York Breakout Kings Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. New York Switched At Birth American Idol The Hollow Crown Treme

00:00 The Perfect Host 02:00 The Ward 04:00 AVP: Alien vs Predator 06:00 Mission: Impossible 08:00 The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption 10:00 Goal!

12:00 Green Lantern 14:00 True Justice: Vengeance Is Mine 16:00 Goal!

18:00 Burden Of Evil 20:00 True Justice: Vengeance Is Mine 22:00 Meskada

00:00 Slums Of Beverly Hills-PG15 02:00 Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy-PG15 04:00 Nacho Libre-PG 06:00 Wayne’s World-PG15 08:00 Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach-PG15 10:00 The Waterboy-PG15 12:00 Nacho Libre-PG 14:00 Police Academy 6: City Under Siege-PG15 16:00 The Waterboy-PG15 18:00 I Think I Do-PG15 20:00 The Romantics-PG15 22:00 Slums Of Beverly Hills-PG15

01:30 Middle Men-18 03:30 Walk The Line-PG15 05:45 The Chorus-PG15 07:30 Hindenburg-PG15 10:30 Christmas Comes Home To Canaan-PG15 12:00 Nomads-PG15 13:30 Senna-PG15 15:30 Christmas Comes Home To Canaan-PG15 17:00 Planet Of The Apes (1968)PG15 19:00 Red Riding Hood-PG15 21:00 Oscar-PG15 23:00 Catch Me If You Can-PG15

01:00 Columbus Circle-PG15 03:00 Three Inches-PG15 05:00 The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice-PG15 06:30 The Help-PG15 09:00 Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG 11:00 A Better Life-PG15 13:00 Waiting For Forever-PG15 15:00 The Artist-PG 17:00 Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG 19:00 The Darkest Hour-PG15 21:00 We Need To Talk About KevinPG15 23:00 Horrible Bosses-18

01:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs.

Evil 02:45 The Three Bears: Dreadful Dangers 04:30 D’Fenders 06:00 A Fairy Tale Christmas

08:00 The Fantastic Adventure Of The Ugly Duckling 10:00 The Legend Of Sasquatch 11:30 101 Dalmatians 2 13:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules 14:45 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 16:30 Rango 18:15 The Legend Of Sasquatch 20:00 The Muppets 22:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick

03:30 Trans World Sport 04:30 NRL Premiership 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 PGA Tour Players Championship 08:00 Super Rugby 10:00 ICC Cricket 360 10:30 NRL Full Time 11:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 12:00 Super Rugby 14:00 PGA Tour Players Championship 15:00 Futbol Mundial 15:30 AFL Premiership 18:00 PGA European Tour Weekly 18:30 Inside The PGA Tour 19:00 PGA Tour Players Championship 20:00 Live PGA Tour

00:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 01:00 NRL Full Time 01:30 Futbol Mundial 02:00 Super League 03:30 AFL Premiership 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Futbol Mundial 07:30 Super League 09:00 NRL Full Time 09:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 10:00 Inside The PGA Tour 10:30 Trans World Sport 11:30 ICC Cricket 360 12:00 Super League 13:30 Futbol Mundial 14:00 Super Rugby 16:00 PGA Tour Highlights 17:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 18:00 NRL Full Time 18:30 Futbol Mundial 19:00 WWE NXT 20:00 UFC Unleached 21:00 Trans World Sport 22:00 Live Premier League Darts

00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:30 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00

ICC Cricket 360 World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool Pro 12 NRL Full Time ICC Cricket 360 Trans World Sport Golfing World Asian Tour Golf Show Total Rugby World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool Pro 12 Golfing World Asian Tour Highlights Asian Tour Golf Show Top 14 Top 14 Highlights Total Rugby World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool Futbol Mundial Super Rugby Highlights AFL Premiership Highlights Trans World Sport

00:00 00:30 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:30 20:30 22:30

UIM Aquabike Champs UIM F1H2O Nations Cup NHL Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL WWE SmackDown Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line Mass Participation Ironman Prizefighter UFC TUF Prelims UFC TUF Finale

Classifieds THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines BBC QTR JZR JZR SAI THY ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB RBG MSR QTR THY DHX FDB KAC JZR BAW JZR KAC KAC JZR FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE IRA IZG KAC ABY QTR IRA FDB ETD SYR GFA MEA ABY JZR KAC JZR MSC UAE MSR THY KNE KAC QTR FDB KAC JZR SVA KNE KAC OMA ABY KAC KNE QTR AFG RJA KAC JZR JZR JZR ETD UAE ABY SVA GFA UAL JZR KAC JZR KAC TAR KAC QTR KAC KAC FDB NIA GFA KAC AXB KAC KAC KAC JAI RBG OMA FDB ABY JZR MEA MSC MSR KNE MSC ALK UAE ETD QTR GFA QTR FDB AIC JZR JZR UAL DLH DLH JZR JAI KLM THY

Arrival Flights on Thursday 9/5/2013 Flt Route Time 43 DHAKA 00:05 148 DOHA 00:15 267 BEIRUT 00:20 539 CAIRO 00:40 441 LAHORE 01:30 764 SABIHA 01:40 620 ADDIS ABABA 01:45 211 BAHRAIN 01:55 853 DUBAI 02:25 305 ABU DHABI 02:30 67 DUBAI 03:10 555 ALEXANDRIA 03:15 612 CAIRO 03:15 138 DOHA 03:30 770 ISTANBUL 04:35 170 BAHRAIN 05:10 69 DUBAI 05:50 412 MANILA 06:15 555 ALEXANDRIA 06:20 157 LONDON 06:30 529 ASSIUT 06:40 206 ISLAMABAD 07:25 382 DELHI 07:30 503 LUXOR 07:40 53 DUBAI 07:45 302 MUMBAI 07:50 332 TRIVANDRUM 07:55 352 COCHIN 08:05 855 DUBAI 08:25 605 ISFAHAN 08:40 4161 MASHAD 08:45 362 COLOMBO 08:45 125 SHARJAH 08:50 132 DOHA 09:00 617 AHWAZ 09:10 55 DUBAI 09:15 301 ABU DHABI 09:30 341 DAMASCUS 10:10 213 BAHRAIN 10:40 404 BEIRUT 10:55 121 SHARJAH 11:25 165 DUBAI 11:35 284 DHAKA 12:05 241 AMMAN 12:35 403 ASSIUT 12:40 871 DUBAI 12:45 610 CAIRO 13:00 766 ISTANBUL 13:10 480 TAIF 13:25 672 DUBAI 13:40 140 DOHA 13:45 57 DUBAI 13:50 546 ALEXANDRIA 14:15 257 BEIRUT 14:30 500 JEDDAH 14:30 472 JEDDAH 14:35 562 AMMAN 14:40 645 MUSCAT 14:40 123 SHARJAH 14:50 788 JEDDAH 15:00 470 JEDDAH 15:05 134 DOHA 15:45 407 KABUL 15:50 640 AMMAN 15:55 118 NEW YORK 16:00 535 CAIRO 16:10 787 RIYADH 16:15 125 BAHRAIN 16:25 303 ABU DHABI 16:35 857 DUBAI 16:55 127 SHARJAH 17:10 510 RIYADH 17:20 215 BAHRAIN 17:20 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 17:25 177 DUBAI 17:30 176 GENEVA 17:45 777 JEDDAH 17:50 502 BEIRUT 18:00 327 TUNIS 18:00 542 CAIRO 18:15 144 DOHA 18:25 786 JEDDAH 18:30 104 LONDON 18:45 63 DUBAI 18:55 251 ALEXANDRIA 19:00 219 BAHRAIN 19:05 618 DOHA 19:10 393 KOZHIKODE 19:15 774 RIYADH 19:25 674 DUBAI 19:25 614 BAHRAIN 19:35 572 MUMBAI 19:35 553 ALEXANDRIA 19:40 647 MUSCAT 20:00 61 DUBAI 20:00 129 SHARJAH 20:05 189 DUBAI 20:10 402 BEIRUT 20:15 405 SOHAG 20:25 618 ALEXANDRIA 20:30 474 JEDDAH 20:45 401 ALEXANDRIA 21:05 229 COLOMBO 21:10 859 DUBAI 21:15 307 ABU DHABI 21:30 136 DOHA 21:35 217 BAHRAIN 21:45 146 DOHA 22:00 59 DUBAI 22:20 981 CHENNAI 22:25 239 AMMAN 22:30 185 DUBAI 22:40 981 BAHRAIN 22:40 636 FRANKFURT 23:10 636 FRANKFURT 23:10 513 SHARM EL SHEIKH 23:20 574 MUMBAI 23:20 411 AMSTERDAM 23:40 772 ISTANBUL 23:45

Departure Flights on Thursday 9/5/2013 Airlines Flt Route Time AIC 976 GOA/CHENNAI 00:05 AXB 490 MANGALORE 00:15 JAI 573 MUMBAI 00:20 UAL 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 00:25 DLH 637 FRANKFURT 00:30 JZR 502 LUXOR 01:30 BBC 44 DHAKA 01:30 THY 773 ISTANBUL 02:20 SAI 442 LAHORE 02:30 THY 765 ISTANBUL 02:40 ETH 621 ADDIS ABABA 02:45 UAE 854 DUBAI 03:45 FDB 68 DUBAI 03:50 RBG 556 ALEXANDRIA 03:55 MSR 613 CAIRO 04:15 ETD 306 ABU DHABI 04:20 QTR 139 DOHA 04:25 QTR 149 DOHA 05:15 FDB 70 DUBAI 06:30 GFA 212 BAHRAIN 07:00 JZR 240 AMMAN 07:10 THY 771 ISTANBUL 07:10 KAC 545 ALEXANDRIA 07:20 JZR 164 DUBAI 07:25 FDB 54 DUBAI 08:25 BAW 156 LONDON 08:25 JZR 256 BEIRUT 08:50 JZR 534 CAIRO 09:10 KAC 561 AMMAN 09:25 KAC 671 DUBAI 09:25 ABY 126 SHARJAH 09:30 KAC 787 JEDDAH 09:35 IRA 606 MASHHAD 09:40 IZG 4162 MASHHAD 09:45 UAE 856 DUBAI 09:50 FDB 56 DUBAI 09:55 IRA 616 AHWAZ 10:10 ETD 302 ABU DHABI 10:15 KAC 101 LONDON 10:25 QTR 133 DOHA 10:25 SYR 342 DAMASCUS 11:10 GFA 214 BAHRAIN 11:25 KAC 541 CAIRO 11:30 KAC 165 ROME 11:45 MEA 405 BEIRUT 11:55 KAC 501 BEIRUT 12:00 ABY 122 SHARJAH 12:05 JZR 776 JEDDAH 12:25 JZR 786 RIYADH 12:50 KAC 785 JEDDAH 13:00 JZR 176 DUBAI 13:20 JZR 124 BAHRAIN 13:30 MSC 406 SOHAG 13:40 MSR 611 CAIRO 14:00 THY 767 ISTANBUL 14:10 UAE 872 DUBAI 14:15 KNE 481 TAIF 14:15 FDB 58 DUBAI 14:30 QTR 141 DOHA 14:55 KAC 673 DUBAI 15:05 ABY 124 SHARJAH 15:30 KNE 473 JEDDAH 15:30 OMA 646 MUSCAT 15:40 KAC 617 DOHA 15:45 JZR 188 DUBAI 16:00 KAC 773 RIYADH 16:00 SVA 505 JEDDAH 16:00 KNE 471 JEDDAH 16:05 KAC 613 BAHRAIN 16:35 AFG 408 AMMAN 16:50 RJA 641 AMMAN 16:55 JZR 238 AMMAN 17:05 JZR 512 SHARM EL SHEIKH 17:15 QTR 135 DOHA 17:15 ETD 304 ABU DHABI 17:20 JZR 538 CAIRO 17:40 ABY 128 SHARJAH 17:50 UAE 858 DUBAI 18:15 SVA 511 RIYADH 18:20 GFA 216 BAHRAIN 18:20 JZR 184 DUBAI 18:30 JZR 266 BEIRUT 18:40 UAL 982 BAHRAIN 18:40 TAR 328 TUNIS 18:50 QTR 145 DOHA 19:25 FDB 64 DUBAI 19:35 GFA 220 BAHRAIN 19:50 NIA 252 ALEXANDRIA 20:00 AXB 394 KOZHIKODE 20:15 RBG 554 ALEXANDRIA 20:20 JAI 571 MUMBAI 20:35 FDB 62 DUBAI 20:40 ABY 120 SHARJAH 20:45 KAC 331 TRIVANDRUM 20:50 KAC 343 CHENNAI 20:55 OMA 648 MUSCAT 20:55 KAC 351 KOCHI 21:05 MEA 403 BEIRUT 21:15 MSC 404 ASSIUT 21:25 MSR 619 ALEXANDRIA 21:30 KAC 543 CAIRO 21:30 KNE 475 JEDDAH 21:45 DHX 171 BAHRAIN 21:50 MSC 402 ALEXANDRIA 22:05 ETD 308 ABU DHABI 22:15 ALK 230 COLOMBO 22:20 UAE 860 DUBAI 22:25 QTR 137 DOHA 22:35 KAC 301 MUMBAI 22:40 GFA 218 BAHRAIN 22:45 FDB 60 DUBAI 23:00 KAC 205 ISLAMABAD 23:00 QTR 147 DOHA 23:15 JZR 554 ALEXANDRIA 23:20 KAC 411 BANGKOK 23:40 KAC 283 DHAKA 23:45 KAC 415 KUALA LUMPUR 23:50 JZR 528 ASSIUT 23:55

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for decent bachelor/family, non-smoking, one big room, Amman Street, opposite to AlRashid Hospital. Contact: 66232356. (C 4408) Sharing accommodation available for ladies or bachelor Filipino only near Big Jamiya Farwaniya. Available from May 10, 2013. Contact: 66158188.

Accommodation available for non-smoking decent bachelors, with separate bathroom and C-A/C, sharing with Sri Lankan family in Khaitan near Carmel School. Contact: 66704630.

(C 4409) 7-5-2013 MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for a born again Christian girl, 31 years, 165cm height, working in Kuwait Multinational Company, completed B.A Literature and Masters in Management Hospital.

Interested parents of professionally qualified boys working in India or abroad please contact: Email: lijotk@gmail.com (C 4410) 9-5-2013 Proposals invited for a Jacobite Christian girl, 27 years, 160cm, masters in occupational therapy, from parents of professionally qualified boys working in India or Abroad. Contact: lalu@kic.com.kw (C 4404) 5-5-2013 FOR SALE Jeep Mitsubishi (ASX) 2011, dark gray color, full options, excellent condition, 68000km, price KD 3,300/-. Contact: 66729295.

(C 4406) KIA Sorento - SE Jeep, model 2006, full options, sky blue color, excellent condition, price KD 1,750.

Contact: 50994848.

(C 4407) 7-5-2013 Nissan Infiniti G37, 2009 model, 6 cylinder, automatic, 6 CD changer, mobile connectivity, rear view camera, sunroof, sand color, GPS, excellent condition, 60,000 Kms. KD 7,000.

Contact: 99742340.

(C 4394) 4-5-2013

Prayer timings For sale car Corolla model 2000, price KD 700/-.

Contact: 99017342.

CHANGE OF NAME I, Yodati Mahesh, holder of Indian Passport No. H0552947 hereby change my name to Yedoti Mahesh.

(C 4411) 9-5-2013 SITUATION WANTED Indian experienced generator operator/ mechanic seeking suitable job.

Contact: 66368027.

(C 4405) 7-5-2013 Storekeeper, experience 4 years, Civil ID expir y 4/8/2013. Contact: sanalkumartm12@gmail.com / 69966306. (C 4403) 5-5-2013

Fajr:

03:32

Shorook

05:00

Duhr:

11:44

Asr:

15:20

Maghrib:

18:29

Isha:

19:54

No: 15803

112

34

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

stars CROSSWORD 184

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) There is a drive to work through some strong internal changes. You may be ready to move into new directions with regard to work or education. Obstacles to self-discipline or to your sense of organization may appear—careful—move slowly.

Authorities and red tape may stand between you and your goals, so planning is the key for now. Easy does it today! Your mind tends to settle on issues of security—home, family and such. Your sense of beauty and grace is heightened. Your self-awareness is increased as well as your interaction with others. Beautify your life with art and flowers—surround yourself with harmonious vibrations. Your thoughts have great substance and you could find yourself involved in deep discussions with loved ones this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) This is actually a good time to settle down to the process of work and rising above any challenges. This is also an excellent time for dealing with people in positions of power and leadership. At this time you will be inclined to dig deep into mysteries such as why the human psyche is motivated. Also, you may seek for the key that makes people want to purchase an item and what it is that catches the eye. If you are in some form of teaching or working with others, you could work up some sort of questionnaire that will give your clients or students insight into many life situations. Conversations with others have the potential to profoundly affect your own beliefs. You may look to your social connections to improve your professional standing.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. A genetic disorder of metabolism.

4. Small fatty fish usually canned.

11. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

15. (Greek mythology) The winged goddess of the dawn in ancient mythology.

16. Of or relating to or characteristic of Uganda or its people.

17. Located in or toward the back or rear.

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

19. In a slow and lazy manner.

21. United States physicist (born in Austria) who proposed the exclusion principle (thus providing a theoretical basis for the periodic table) (1900-1958).

23. The 26th letter of the Roman alphabet.

25. The eleventh month of the civil year.

26. Something that hinders as if with bonds v 1.

28. Capital and largest city of the Czech Republic.

31. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

33. Measure of the US economy adopted in 1991.

34. A lateen-rigged sailing vessel used by Arabs.

35. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

37. A Hindu prince or king in India.

39. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

43. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

46. A rare polyvalent metallic element of the platinum group.

48. A strategically located monarchy on the southern and eastern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula.

49. (British) A local tax on property (usually used in the plural).

51. Having a horizontal surface in which no part is higher or lower than another.

52. A coenzyme derived from the B vitamin nicotinic acid.

53. French revolutionary leader (born in Switzerland) who was a leader in overthrowing the Girondists and was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday (1743-1793).

54. Expressive of contempt.

57. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

59. A republic in central Europe.

62. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

66. An organic compound that contains a hydroxyl group bonded to a carbon atom which in turn is doubly bonded to another carbon atom.

67. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

70. Covered with beads of liquid.

72. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

73. Constituting the full quantity or extent.

76. A sudden short attack.

77. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

79. A river in central Europe that arises in northwestern Czechoslovakia and flows northward through Germany to empty into the North Sea. 80. (used with singular count nouns) Colloquial for `not a' or `not one' or `never a'.

81. United States evangelical preacher famous as a mass evangelist (born in 1918).

82. No longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life.

DOWN 1. The short weak cry of a young bird.

2. Tree bearing large brown nuts containing e.g. caffeine.

3. Capital of modern Macedonia.

4. A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (trade name Clinoril).

5. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

6. Harass with persistent criticism or carping.

7. A river that rises in Russia near Smolensk and flowing south through Belarus and Ukraine to empty into the Black Sea. 8. Person who does no work.

9. A negative.

10. Half the width of an em.

11. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

12. A young woman making her debut into society.

13. The capital and chief port and largest city of Senegal.

14. An anti-TNF compound (trade name Arava) that is given orally.

20. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun.

22. A complex polymer.

24. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

27. A person forced to flee from home or country.

29. Altered to accommodate to certain requirements or bring into a proper relation.

30. Cause to become awake or conscious.

32. Swelling from excessive accumulation of serous fluid in tissue.

36. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

38. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

40. Common Old World thrush noted for its song.

41. In bed.

42. Exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health.

44. A large fleet.

45. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

47. A region of northeastern France famous for its wines.

50. (Judaism) Not conforming to dietary laws.

55. Something that remunerates.

56. An associate degree in nursing.

58. (trade mark) A soft form of cereal for infants.

60. Lake in northwestern Russia near the border with Finland.

61. Of or relating to or affecting a lobe.

63. Worn or shabby from overuse or (of pages) from having corners turned down.

64. Tropical American trees with palmately compound leaves and showy bell-shaped flowers.

65. Combined or joined to increase in size or quantity or scope.

68. Indicating the most important performer or role.

69. A major god.

71. (British) An open river valley (in a hilly area).

74. A Turkish unit of weight equal to about 2.75 pounds.

75. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

78. 1/1000 gram.

You might spend a great deal of time communicating with co-workers and people outside the workplace today. You have enough enthusiasm to do your work well. There could be an air of seriousness to your business dealings or with superiors today. Give yourself time to complete projects. Say “no” if you are asked to do extra work that will cause you less sleep. You enjoy correct and neat results and you may decide to stay a little later today to make sure your desk is in order before leaving work. You are good at organizing and are always improving. A list will create a plan and before you know it, you will have everything in its place. Visitors may request a pamphlet or book to show others how to organize— think this possibility over.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Work on new ideas today. It is time for enthusiasm and new beginnings.

Everything points to your taking the initiative. However, you could find yourself in the midst of highly emotional individuals that slow your progress. You can be troubled by all that gets too pushy, physical and gushy. You will find ways to help others and this is comforting. This is an optimistic time; better things to come are indicated. Now is the time to consolidate your ideas. If you want a permanent home, today is a good day to deal with real estate. It is also a perfect day to become engaged.

Marry a person that you love to talk with—it will be important in old age. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important to you now and you will do all you can to create tranquility.

Leo (July 23-August 22) This is a great time to clear up any unfinished business and look to the future with shrewd speculation. Take time to examine all aspects of your dealings in order to be successful. This is the best time for becoming involved with new things and for planting the seeds of your future successes. You take on a new interest toward your creative endeavors. During this period, additional responsibilities may be placed on you in the context of the home setting. Also, you should open up to relatives since it is a good time to give or receive emotional support. This could be the perfect time to indulge a little.

Romance is strong and the opportunity to express affection is great. Your powers of creativity are good. Laughter fills the air this evening; enjoy.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You are career-oriented and your personal reputation and honor are of the utmost importance. You possess a natural sense of organization and practical insight and may find you are managing or supervising others. At least that opportunity will be opened to you. A career in one of the service or health occupations is where you might find yourself now. You may find yourself automatically taking care of the needs of others today. Your occupation involves health, food and all attempts to restore, salvage and make the best out of things. Be careful this afternoon as you may be under a lot of pressure to perform quickly. This is actually one of your best days this month—much can be accomplished and realized. This evening is for fun!

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) This seems to be a very superficial morning. It may not be possible for you to comprehend anything remotely meaningful or moving. Considering you are very seldom lazy or idle, you will probably do well to rearrange your desk or prepare for the next project. This afternoon you are better able to contend with any work issues and carry through with any responsibilities. Fortunately, this is all short lived as the energies this evening call for a pleasant evening. You may see value in or feel love for an older person or someone in authority. It is good to take the time to be helpful. Everything works together to bring out your exceptional qualities. Robust, healthy and good in sports, you may be planning your next physical challenge.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) There may be an air of seriousness with your partners or co-workers today. People that come to know you, value your ability to make practical decisions. You have a natural sense of what the public wants and can put together advertisement ideas at the drop of a hat—most of the time. If you are not in advertising, some form of advertising work is advisable. Perhaps you would be interested in a job as a manager for entertainment personalities or a casting director. You may spend a great deal of time communicating with co-workers and people apart from work this evening. You are so sensitive that you may appear psychic and tonight is a great time to tell the future of others or to learn how to develop your own psychic talents.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) There are lots of activities in the home before you even prepare for work. Perhaps young people need help or a loved one needs your emotional support. Whatever the case, there is a strong feeling that you are needed and can contribute to those around you. Work should go rather smoothly today. If you pay attention to what others are saying to you, you will probably find that you are appreciated in the workplace as well as on the home front. You are wise to remain humble and can teach others what the word, “self-esteem” really means. This afternoon is a good day to purchase a new appliance, begin a new relationship, pull in a favor or obtain a loan. You may have the urge to work in the yard for a while this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) CAPRICORN There is time to reflect and understand your own job situation. Your emotions, as well as the emotions and feelings of others, may be very clear. Clear decisions affecting others could be made. Someone could challenge you, but instead of jumping to conclusions—you have learned to look at the whole picture. Given time, someone will set things right and you will not have to enter into any sort of emotional dialogue. Your inner nature seems sensitive to the outward nature today and you could find yourself benefiting from soaking up good sunshine or some good music during the noon hour break. Your purchasing power is strong and you may consider a new investment, such as a piece of art.

Someone compliments your tastes this evening.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) The type of mental stimulation from others this morning is contagious.

A round table discussion or some other way to encourage participation in a conversation is strong and competitive. There is a great deal of attention to your own ideas. This is a fine time to try out some new type of business dealings or investments. Your inner resources and emotions are accented—you can expect a sense of support and goodwill.

You are buoyed with confidence now to succeed at any project you attempt. Lovers, children and other people dear to your heart are emphasized this evening and your good day seems to carry right over to the evening hours. You enjoy the positive feedback and admiration from people that are close to you.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You may feel like being different and trying something new and unusual today. This is a perfect time for new ideas, a breakthrough in thinking. Another who may not know your practical side could challenge your actions today. Harsh energies could leave you feeling emotionally blocked. You draw emotional sustenance and a sense of security from ideals, friends and social involvement. You have a great interest in matters that concern society and the environment and you may be able to help make a positive difference with an ecology project around your living area. Since you enjoy beautifying your surroundings, you might consider working in or owning a health spa or gym, selling beauty products and perhaps teaching young people’s beauty care.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

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23927002

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THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

B

ritney Spears has to work hard to keep her looking good now she’s in her 30s. The ‘Scream & Shout’ singer has noticed changes in her body and metabolism since she started the third decade of her life and to keep her derriËre in the condition it is famous for she has to exercise even more. Talking about the changes to her rear, Britney told the new issue of Shape magazine: “I like it, then again, I hate it. I’m

in my 30s now, so I have to work harder to keep it up.” The 31-year-old pop superstar - who appears on the cover of the publication says her favourite way to keep trim is to do yoga every week.

Britney also credits the Nutrisystem weight loss programme - which is comprised of easy to cook, nutritional meals - for keeping her weight in check but she admits she sometimes struggles not to indulge in some of her favourite calorific

T

he ‘Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters’ star was born and raised in the sundrenched US State famous for having beautiful beaches and clean waves to ride. However, Renner never had the urge to grab a board and dive in the sea or partake in some of the extra-curricular activities associated with the pastime which meant he was considered an outcast. The 42-year-old actor revealed: “I grew up in California and Hawaii but I don’t surf or smoke weed, so everybody considered me a weirdo; which I probably am!”

Renner has achieved huge success in his career in recent years with starring roles in ‘The Bourne Legacy’, ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol’. He has also experienced happiness in his personal life with her and his girlfriend, Canadian model Sonni Pacheco, welcoming a daughter, Ava Berlin Renner, into the world in March. However, Renner insists he has no plans to marry in the near future and admits his parents divorce when he was 10 has been a factor in his decision. In an interview with Italian mag-

T

he ‘R.I.P.’ singer got the inking of the bird - an international symbol of peace - in New York City by tattoo artist Bang Bang. After the work was complete she posted a picture of the design on her Twitter page with the message: “My new baby bird thank you @bangbangnyc (sic)”Rita also followed in a tradition set up by Bang Bang - who has tattooed stars including Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Nicole Scherzinger and Rihanna - by then taking up the needle herself and leaving her mark on the artist.

Rita copied her own version of the dove design onto the tattooist, a shaky approximation with her name on its wing. Next to a picture comparing the two, she wrote: “His and hers! HA look at the difference ... It’s the once in a lifetime Rita Ora tattoo HA! (sic)” During her trip to America, it has been claimed Rita, 22, has struck up a romance with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris.

treats. The blonde beauty - who has two sons, Sean Preston, seven, and Jayden James, six, from her marriage to Kevin Federline - admitted: “Dieting is tough ... because my specialities are spaghetti, brownies and chocolate chip cookies!”

azine Best Movie, he said: “I’m married to my career and for now that’s the only kind of commitment I’m planning to have.

Coming from a family with many divorces, I vowed not to make the same mistakes.”

T

he reality TV star was charged with one count of each misdemeanour after allegedly attacking a photographer and stealing her equipment in an altercation in Los Angeles in March. The criminal charges come shortly after the alleged victim, Andra Vaik, filed a lawsuit for alleged robbery and assault over the row, which was sparked by her taking a shirtless picture of him as he worked out at the gym. Andra’s lawyer said last month: “While this case is still in the preliminary stage, it is clear from our investigation that Robert Kardashian’s violent behavior and his use of force towards Ms Vaik was completely unjustified.” Rob - who has been struggling with his weight ever since breaking up with singer Rita Ora last December - insists the paparazzo was trespassing on private property in order to get a shot of him. He says he was justified in snatching the memory card out of the camera, with eyewitnesses backing up his claim the photographer was lying in wait in her car in the garage at his West Hollywood gym. Andra filed a robbery report at the time, despite the 26-year-old star insisting he would pay her back.

Tory Burch had ‘stylish’ parents

T

he American designer admits she wasn’t always interested in fashion after growing up in a rural location, but was captivated by her mum and dad’s trendy ensembles when they’d leave for a night out. She recalled: “I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. Most days I’d be outside with my three brothers and I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about fashion. “But I had two very stylish parents. I remember just looking at them when they’d go out at night; they were incredibly glamorous. So I was surrounded by it - but I wasn’t interested in fashion, probably until college. I was more of a tomboy.” Since launching her name-sake label in 2004 Tory feels incredibly “lucky” when seeing celebrities wearing her pieces, naming a few stars in particular who have donned her items.

She said: “I feel really lucky as we’ve had so many great people; Carey Mulligan, Jennifer Lawrence, Reese Witherspoon, Emily Blunt - I love Emily Blunt. “For me, it’s great seeing anyone wearing it there are so many options, so it’s really nice when they choose our collection.”

T

he ‘Charmed’ actress gave birth to son Milo Thomas 20 months ago and she and husband David Bugliari are so happy, they are already talking about having a second baby. She told People: “You think you know what love is before you have [kids] and then you have the baby and it completely shatters whatever concept of [what] love was before you met them. “I’m enjoying this one right now. We’re talking about baby number two, but we’re not actively trying yet.” Alyssa, 40, also revealed she tried not to put pressure on herself to lose the baby weight because she wanted to spend time with Milo rather than go to the gym. She added: “I just was very kind to myself and gave myself a lot of time. No pressure. “I find any sort of weight loss is about eating less and moving more, so I just did that and took my time. “Our bodies are not made to look good in a string bikini!

Our bodies are made to nurture and cuddle and all of those amazing things that come along with being a mom.” — Bangshowbiz

G

illian Anderson’s daughter wishes her mother would take a role in something she likes. The 44-year-old actress has declined exciting parts in the past to focus on caring for her kids, and 18year-old Piper is left disappointed when she learns what parts her mum - who also sons Felix and Oscar with ex-boyfriend Mark Griffiths could have had if she’d said yes. When asked whether she has turned down parts because of family commitments, Gillian told Stylist magazine: “Yes, but also because I don’t like the roles very much. Not that they’re not good! “Whether it’s ‘Game of Thrones’ or ‘Downton Abbey’, my 18-year-old daughter cannot believe I’ve turned down things she loves. But with a four and six year old, I can’t justify spending that kind of time away from home, unless I’m working with (Martin) Scorsese.”

The ‘X Files’ actress - whose latest project is British thriller series ‘The Fall’ - shies away from the limelight because she would rather spend time with her family than attending glitzy showbiz events. She added: “I read things in an attempt to ground myself and remind me to stay in the here and now, rather than jump too much into the future of planning and organising the chaos of life. “I try not to spend too much time on screens, which is a challenge today ... I enjoy the work I do and I’m very grateful because I like being on a set. I like being part of a production and the creative process. I get a lot of enjoyment and reward from that. “But I’m happiest when surrounded by my kids, whether that’s in a house or a park or whatever, and there’s laughter. That brings me most joy.”

37

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

LIFESTYLE

K

ids who balk at the idea of wearing head protection for outdoor activities might find it harder these days to argue that helmets aren’t cool. From dry-erase helmets to ones shaped like animals and bugs to others in bright colors, many of today’s helmets are designed to make kids want to wear them long after the bike is parked or the snowboard stowed. “We’ll lay out 10 different character helmets at a skate park and let 20 kids try them on and play with them. We’re able to see immediately which designs resonate with them,” says Brad Blankinship, a spokesman at Los Angeles-based C-Preme, which makes helmets and other skate and bike gear.

Some of what’s new: C-Preme’s helmet line Raskullz has a wide range of styles shaped or painted like dinos, sharks, ladybugs and pussycats complete with appendages like fins, antennae and ears. There are lightning bolts, zebra stripes and a Mohawk trim. A new toddler Miniz version of the lineup was added this spring, and in May the Raskullz line adds additional 3-D animal attachments like raccoon tails and feathers. Helmet Zoo makes colorful, elasticized fleece helmet covers on themes like sea, farm and woodland creatures, and fantasy characters. Pandas, tigers, skunks, snakes, pink poodles, devils and a generic version of those popular ill-tempered birds are all available, as are multi-legged spiders and a pink fairy princess with tiara and veil. The covers will fit any style of helmet, and are cleanable.

Low-key-cool Burton has the RED helmet line that includes kids’ Avid Grom, a cross-sport helmet for snow and pavement. No wild graphics, but hip colors like green, white, red, black and orange branded with a logo. Smith Optics makes the Gage snow helmet in matte black or white, or more vivid hues like cyan, bright green and violet.

They’re embellished with an understated, stylized graphic on one side.

Also from Smith, a combo of Cosmos Jr. helmet with Galaxy goggles; a magnet and slide-release buckle keep the two pieces together. The Zoom Jr. has a soft, fuzzy lin-

ing, and all have lots of head vents, since kids’ heads get sweaty quickly. Swedish company POC makes a helmet named Pocito Light. In-mold technology means the outer hard shell is thinner, and there’s expanded polystyrene foam all through the inner layer to disperse impact. A fluorescent orange would stand out on a snowy hill, and there are options for different weather conditions, too: Neck and ear pads may be removed for warmer-weather skiing and snowboarding.

Biking and scootering kids might like the imaginative range of helmets from Scotts Valley, Calif-based Giro, with names like Rascal, Rodeo, Flume and Slingshot. Graphics such as red flames and silver skulls might appeal to older children, while cartoon airplanes, firefighters and bunnies could attract younger - or goofier - kids.

If your creative kid would just like to jazz up an existing helmet, check out the funky line of helmet accessories from Fauhaux, started by two former ToysRUs executives

T

T

he colorful handmade giraffes, elephants and warthogs made in a Nairobi workshop were once only dirty pieces of rubber cruising the Indian Ocean’s currents.

Kenya’s Ocean Sole sandal recycling company is cleaning the East African country’s beaches of used, washedup flip-flops. Workers in Nairobi make about 100 different products from the discarded flip-flops. In 2008 the company shipped an 18foot giraffe to Rome for display during a fashion week. Company

founder Julie Church says the goal of her company is to create products that people want to buy, then make them interested in the back-story.

Workers wash the flip-flops, many of which have been repaired several times. Artisans then glue together the various colors, carve the products, sand and rewash them. — AP

In this photo, carver Jackson Mbatha, 40, poses next to an unfinished large toy giraffe he is making from pieces of discarded flip-flops, in front of a painted workshop wall at the Ocean Sole flip-flop recycling company in Nairobi, Kenya. — AP

om Stoppard is writing a new stage play. At 75, he says it might be his last because he is slower now and his “brain cells are dying in their trillions”.

Then again, he’s not entirely sure, because he dislikes “furtive competitiveness” and as he puts it, “to hell with it, I’m not dead yet!”The prospect of one of Britain’s greatest living playwrights drawing a line under his illustrious career will sadden many theatre-goers.

Writing original works for the stage is what Stoppard calls his “day job”.

But distractions abound: he is a sought after screenwriter, work he enjoys greatly; has four children and seven grandchildren-”that’s a lot of interruption”-and is committed to a number of roles such as president of the London Library. “I might write one more play and give up.... I don’t know,” he said recently in Paris. “When I was 20 or something the idea of having a play on anywhere at all was just beyond my dreams really... so I ended up having quite a few of them on but it never stopped feeling like the thing which I ought to do and would want to do.

“I don’t think that I’d feel I was in disgrace if I just stopped now and enjoyed myself reading books, just doing adaptations.” Stoppard describes the pleasures of screenwriting as “considerable” and has a diverse list of film credits. He won an Oscar with Marc Norman for the screenplay of “Shakespeare in Love”. Others works include “Empire of the Sun”, “Brazil”, “Enigma”, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” for Joe Wright’s 2012 adaptation starring Keira Knightley.

“I love adapting, it’s a holiday (because) somebody else has done what for me is the hard part, which is to create a narrative and characters,” he said. “So to be asked to adapt something is always a great temptation away from writing the only original work I ever write which is stage plays.”

‘I’ve seldom enjoyed a job more’ Stoppard’s last “temptation” was Ford Madox Ford’s “Parade’s End” set mainly in England and on the Western Front from 1912-1918, and chronicling the lives of Christopher Tietjens, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, and his “caustic” and unfaithful wife Sylvia, played by Rebecca Hall. “I’ve seldom enjoyed a job more than ‘Parade’s End’,” he says of the 15 months he spent writing the screenplay for the BBC/HBO television production first broadcast last year. “I was so saturated by it that I began to identify with it in a way one normally does not with an adaptation.”

Stoppard regards “Parade’s End”, originally four related novels later combined in one volume, as “great literature” but believes it is not as famous as it should be due to the moral ambiguity of the characters. “One went from thinking this man (Tietjens) is a complete prig and God knows you can’t blame his wife for being so angry with him, but then one has a response to his rather pathetic, outdated sense of honour.

“And the wife who is famous in society for more or

and moms, Jocelyn Fine and Kelly Dineen. The embellishments are made of lightweight foam and attach with Velcro. Dreadlox come in black, green, blue or multicolored; spiky Punkrox come in pink or red.

Anna Luther of Cincinnati, who blogs about life as a mom of three got out the colored duct tape when her daughter’s Barbie helmet lost its charm but still fit fine.

Enlisting the help of both her daughter and son, “we had a ball designing the helmets,” she says. Her daughter opted for pink and purple hearts. For her son, they created a blue and green helmet cover. “With a project this simple and cheap, we can re-design them every summer,” Luther says.

Also for the DIY crowd, Wipeout has helmet and dryerase marker kits. White, black, pink and green helmets can be decorated with kids’ own designs or the stencils provided. Those include rockets, peace signs, clouds and stars.

Finally, some tips from safety experts: The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute says the best way to get your child to wear a helmet is to wear one yourself. Start the helmet rule early, be consistent, point out sports pros wearing helmets, and teach kids that having a bike is really owning one’s first vehicle - and responsibility comes with the privilege. They should be able to see the bottom rim. Straps should form a “V” under the ears and be slightly tight. When a child opens her mouth wide, the helmet should hug her head.

There should be no rocking of the helmet at any time. You don’t need to replace a helmet each year if your child’s helmet has thick and thin pads so you can adjust the fit. But do take your child with you when buying the first helmet, and buy from the right category - toddler, child or youth.

Replace the helmet if there’s been a crash. — AP

less being a whore, completely unjustly by the way... (and then) the whole thing shifts and one has a deep sympathy for her and an admiration for her.” Stoppard does not usually attend filming but felt so “possessive” about “Parade’s End” he turned up on set for half of the 80-day shoot and got involved in casting as an executive producer.

“I’d invested too much emotionally into it and I kind of used up the time which I would have otherwise used in trying to write a stage play,” he added. Now Stoppard is once again focused on the day job and says he also feels optimistic about the dramatic creativity he sees around him. It’s been clear for around 15 years, he says, that American cable was “beginning to lead the way for television drama” while on the big screen there are films at “every level”.

“Films are pitched to every audience. I end up thinking it’s really okay if things are done well... it might be a cop show, it might be a doctor show, it might be Dostoevsky, it might be a stand-up comic but in the end you give yourself to things according to the quality.” The London fringe theatre, meanwhile, is expanding. And although he worries about a shift in balance to musicals and their “untold riches”, in contrast to five years ago he can think of half a dozen new plays he’d like to see. “I don’t know why young writers want to write for live theatre but they do. It’s miraculous,” he said. “When I started off there were maybe three or four fringe theatres in London now there’s about 40 and most of them are looking for new plays. In that sense it’s a very good period,” he added. — AFP

Tom Stoppard

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

lifestyle

Champions start early art competition winners speak out

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The winners of the recently concluded Art Competition organized by the Kuwait Times are already well recognized previously for their work featured in various art competitions in Kuwait. Immanuel Adriana Rakshana, 16, who competed in the 15-17 years category and comes from Kuwait English School, was once named Grand Champion in the art competition organized by the American Society of Safety Engineers. She also took home the grand prize at the recent Centerpoint Art Olympiad competition.

Vasanthi Hariharan, a 13-year-old from the Fahaheel Al Wataniah Indian Private School and winner of the 12-14 years category, won the Centerpoint Olympiad Art III where she walked away with the grand champion prize in the junior category. She also emerged as a champion in the art competition organized by Sahj Marg Association.

Nandhakrishnan Mukundan, a 10-year-old from I.E.S Bhavans School and the grand winner in the 9-11 years category, was previously recognized as a grand champion by the Kerala Muslim Kuwait Association. Haneen Fares Othman, an eight-year-old from Nafeesa Bent Al-Hassan School and winner in the 6-8 years category was named the ‘best in art’ student in her school.

“We did not know about the background of the children when they submitted their work. We were completely clueless about them. So, it means a lot to us when we find out that they were already known and were winners even before,” Adnan Saad, Kuwait Times Marketing Director, said about the winners.

Saad was behind the success of the ‘Art Competition’ organized by the Kuwait Times and sponsored by Chevron and Crowne Plaza Hotel. Over 10,000 students from public and private schools submitted their work under the theme ‘Keep Kuwait Beautiful and Green.’ During the awards ceremony held at Crowne Plaza Hotel’s Al-Baraka Ballroom on Monday, Kuwait Times was appreciated by the Ministry of Information for its positive media campaign aimed at enhancing awareness about caring for and protecting Kuwait’s environment.

The well-attended gathering was graced by Yousef Mustafa Abdullah, the Assistant Undersecretary for Broadcasting Affairs, Ministry of Information, Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd AlRahman Al-Alyan and officials from Chevron and Crowne Plaza.

Hundreds of students, principals, head teachers and art enthusiasts from various schools in Kuwait attended.

“I started painting when I was eight,” said Vasanthi Hariharan, winner of the 12-14 years category. “I imagined a lot of things then and I am expressing it through my drawings. I love landscapes, though I love to draw portraits, but the drawing which won the award was a product of my imagination. I imagined the greenery and the trees and fresh air, and then put it on the canvas,” she said.

Hariharan was thankful to Minal and Nageshwar for their guidance in her coming up as an artist. “My parents are very supportive of my talent, but I owe my interest in painting to these two individuals who are my mentors. Thanks for encouraging me to continue,” she said.

Steven Raj spoke on behalf of her daughter, Immanuel Adriana Rakshana, the winner of the 15-17 years category. She was taking school examination when Kuwait Times called her yesterday. Immanuel’s hobby has always been drawing. “She has been drawing almost every day. We support her a lot and provide all required materials just like her big sister,” her father said. “We, as parents are not into painting but are thankful because two of my children are into it. Both of my children have won several competitions before,” the father noted about his children.

Immanuel has been inspired by two of her art teachers, Minal and Nagish Rao from Fahahael Al-Watanieh Indian Private School.

“Their hobby probably would not have been honed without their teachers. Both are inspired by these two people who are very supportive of our children’s hobby. They grew up among a circle of friends who are into arts and so they are good in that,” the father told the Kuwait Times.

Zainab Kalamad, who taught the winner of 6-8 years category, was elated when she came to know that one of her students

Some of the winning paintings are seen.

(From left to right) Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief, winner Mohammed Al-Marri, Yousef Mustafa Abdullah, the Assistant Undersecretary for Broadcasting Affairs, Ministry of Information and Khalil Mubarak, Chevron Vice President for Administration are pictured.

An excited young visitor is caught on camera.

Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan is pictured with Patrick Samy Yousef from Ekhlas School and his father while Kuwait Times Marketing Manager Taleb Kanjo looks on.

Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan is pictured with the officials, judges, winners and special invitees at the art competition awards ceremony.

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

lifestyle

Faninda Onggono, The British School of Kuwait

Immaneal Rakshana, First Prize winner in the 15-17 category, Kuwait English School

Winners from Talal Aljari School are pictured with their teachers.

Khalil Mubarak, Chevron Vice President for Administration

Many visiting families were pictured admiring the art work. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and Joseph Shagra

Yousef Mustafa Abdullah, the Assistant Undersecretary for Broadcasting Affairs, Ministry of Information and Elina Ibrahim Khabazy, one of the jury members for the Ages 15-17 category are pictured with the winners.

was named KT winner. “I was so happy and impressed. It is one more feather in my cap. The girl is really good in painting and she loves to draw. She wanted this recognition. Her objective is to win, that is why she tries to do things perfectly,” Kalamad, who is the head teacher, said.

“We are ready to support her until she graduates from the grade school and hope she continues with her craft even if she is transferred to another school or a senior school,” she noted.

The Kuwait Times’ panel of judges admitted that selecting winners from thousands of paintings was the hardest part as many of the paintings deserved awards and recognition.

The four-member panel of judges, who were all professionally inclined artists in their own right, was headed by Abul Karim Al-Enezi. Other judges were Svitlana Arndt, Abulazis Arti and Ellen Khabazy. The art competition was divided according to age groups; 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17 years. Each student was provided with a special recyclable sheet of paper (70x90 pristol 240 gm) to draw on, bearing in mind the subject about saving the environment, green lands and preventing human destruction of plants. The painting contest that started on March 5 and lasted till April 11 was sponsored by Chevron, a Saudi Arabia-based oil company, along with the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

The awards ceremony was held under the patronage of Sheikh Salman Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah. KSA’s Chevron Co, Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Kuwait Times have been organizing this painting competition for students of public, private and foreign schools in addition to those from Special Needs Schools for the past six years.

Kuwait Times Marketing Manager Taleb Kanjo (left) and Crowne Plaza Banquet Manager Kamal Kokash

What’s new in kids’ helmets this season

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

J

ohnny Woodside’s cycling clothes are almost as cool as his name. The 30-year-old Minneapolis hydrogeologist dons flannel shirts, Red Wing boots and has a tapered mustache.

Forget the blinding neon spandex get-up. “The last thing I want to do is walk into the bar and hear, ‘Lance Armstrong’s here!’?” said Woodside, who bikes to work, to happy hour and everywhere in between.

As more people trade four wheels for two, retailers are courting bike lovers by tapping into the cycling lifestyle. From boutiques that carry commuter-friendly clothing lines to hip bike hangouts with craft beer and coffee, every corner of the local cycling scene has a pit stop for people with a fashion sense.

“It’s not a bunch of bike geeks anymore,” said Luke Breen, owner of Calhoun Cycle in Uptown Minneapolis. Minneapolis has the nation’s second-highest bike commuter rate behind Portland, Ore. - and the number is growing. Bike traffic in the city rose by 47 percent between 2007 and 2011, according to the US Census Bureau.

The Twin Cities area is home to a busy schedule of bike events that bring together this well-dressed community. The recent Artcrank show drew more than 6,000 people to celebrate bikes, posters and fashion. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is often overrun with cyclists for its annual Bike Night (July 18).

But for most who attend these gatherings, bike fashion is more than a passing fad. “The bike has become a part of my identity,” said Katrina Wollet, a 24-year-old marketing specialist

who gave up her car last month, but not her style. “Just like clothing, it’s an extension of my taste, personality and lifestyle.”

To feed this common philosophy, grease-stained repair shops are transforming into stylish hangouts. With its mix of bikes and artisanal coffee, Angry Catfish has become a thriving hub of local bike culture in south Minneapolis. Over at the new Handsome Cycles shop in Minneapolis’ North Loop, smart wool is the new Lycra. Custom bike frames line the back of the store.

In front, tables display neutral-colored streetwear designed for cycling: from jeans with reflective lining and hidden pockets to polo shirts that will take you from the bike to the golf course.

One wall features an impressive collection of shoes - even waterproof leather options for a business suit.

Looking for jerseys plastered with sponsorships or loud prints? “Not here. So much of that stuff is just so ugly,” said Handsome co-owner Ben Morrison. “A full Lycra kit looks great on you if you’re 6 foot 1 and 150 pounds. But for most people it’s not comfortable and it’s just not them.”

Suit and tie (and cycle) Until recently, commuting to work often meant packing an extra set of clothes and announcing your arrival at the office in an outfit of unflattering spandex and clickety-clack cycling shoes. “There hasn’t been a lot of gear out there that you can wear comfortably in the office,” said Greg Kurowski, who commutes 25 miles from Victoria, Minn., to downtown Minneapolis several days a week. The president and CEO of Periscope advertising agency said he’s had to wear his racing gear on hot days.

“Now, there are cycling-specific technical clothes that breathe better, wick moisture _ they don’t look like normal cycling clothes,” Morrison said. “You can wear this stuff to the office and it’s making commuting by bike a lot more feasible.”

But commuter-friendly clothing isn’t cheap. The pants in Levi’s commuter line ($78) are water- and odor-resistant, feature reflective tape on the cuffs and a loop for a bike lock at the waist band. A Lands’ End bike blazer ($250) also has reflective tape, hidden pockets and a spot for earbuds. Mostly, it just looks like a stylish sport coat.

Are you cycle chic?

When Lisa Austin started biking frequently in the early ‘90s, she recalls having zero options for women’s bike clothes. Not even a Lycra jersey. Now the options are wide open. “It’s refreshing to see people biking and wearing anything they want,” she said. For her that means skirts - and even heels.

“They’re totally easy to ride in,” Austin said. Cyclists are hitting the local runways, too. “All of this is helping to redefine our bike culture,” said Patty Soldner, events manager for the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, which plans to hold its second bicycle fashion show next year. Then there are the blogs, such as San Francisco-based Bike Pretty, which inspires people to, well, ride a bike and look pretty. Blog entries include: “How to ride in a maxi skirt” and “How to dominate hills in a dress.”

Zachariah Schaap ascribes to a larger movement called “cycle chic,” which refers to cycling in everyday fashionable clothes.

The 27-year-old graphic designer and co-founder of “30 Days of Biking” shows up to meetings on his bike wearing button-up

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custom-made shirts and ties, and leather-soled dress shoes.

Schaap says cycling in streetwear requires no more effort than any other commute in Minnesota’s temperamental weather and provides much more of a payoff. “Being stuck in a car during rush hour is the bane of my existence,” he said. “I’d much rather look fancy on my bike.” — MCT

Wear a skirt: You can do it without flashing people. Aline or wider styles work best. Equip your bike with a skirt guard or fashion a garter out of a headband and safety pin. Skirt weights keep hems in check.

Wear heels: Pedaling in heels is easier than walking in them. Just make sure they fit properly.

Suit up: Invest in a pannier bag made to carry a suit without wrinkling it.

Stay dry: Invest in fenders if you commute yearround.

Safety first: Always wear a helmet (hopefully a stylish one), plus reflective tape and lights.

Don’t sweat: Racing around like you’re in the Tour de France will only make you perspire. Slow down and savor the views.