15 May 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

Rohingyas drown off Myanmar trying to flee storm

Bibi meets Putin in bid to sway Russia on Syria

Nokia unveils new metal-body Lumia smartphone

8

Man City sack Mancini, Pellegrini may replace him

27

18

Cabinet ministers resign amid standoff with MPs

40 PAGES

NO: 15809

150 FILS

7

www.kuwaittimes.net

RAJAB 5, 1434 AH

Govt boycotts Assembly sessions amid talk of dissolution

Max 40º Min 28º High Tide 04:03 & 14:05 Low Tide 08:53 & 21:37

By B Izzak KUWAIT: In what appears to be the first confrontation with supposedly loyal MPs, the government boycotted the parliamentary session yesterday as all Cabinet ministers submitted their resignations to the prime minister a day after five MPs filed to grill the oil and interior ministers. National Assembly Speaker Ali Al-Rashed told reporters after a meeting with Justice Minister Shareeda Al-Maousherji that he has been informed that “Cabinet ministers submitted their resignation to the prime minister and accordingly they will not attend the Assembly session tomorrow (today)”.

Rashed insisted that the step is not a Cabinet resignation as only ministers have submitted their resignations. Under Kuwaiti law, the Cabinet resigns when the prime minister submits his resignation and the resignations of Cabinet ministers to HH the Amir. It becomes effective only after the Amir accepts it. Rashed Ali Al-Rashed said that as the government has its measures, the Assembly also has its constitutional methods.

Earlier in the day, Rashed could not open the Assembly session because of the absence of the government which boycotted the session in protest against the two grillings against the two ministers. Rashed told MPs present in the chamber that “due to the absence of Continued on Page15

KUWAIT: Arrested women are herded into a bus during a surprise raid in Shuwaikh Industrial area yesterday.

400 in police net amid crackdown

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Around 400 foreign workers were rounded up in flash raids in Shuwaikh Industrial area yesterday. The arrested people were found in violation of the residency law, including those without residency permits, those working for unauthorized employers, “free laborers” and domestic maids under Article 20.

Acting Interior Ministry Undersecretary

Gen Sulaiman Al-Fahd said in a statement that the campaign covering Shuwaikh Industrial area was one of several such campaigns carried out in coordination with the citizenship and passport department. Fahd said the campaign owed its success to the security men and also to the fact that the instructions given to them were precise and they implemented these efficiently. He said the campaigns were being carried out in coordination

and cooperation with different sectors of the ministry that acted in a civilized way, guaranteeing everyone’s legal rights. He said the drive will continue. The campaigns are aimed at tracking down outlaws, residency law violators, those working for others and runaways.

Fahd termed the campaign successful as several violators and wanted persons who were trying to escape the law were arrested. He said such suspects were

Jolie tells world about her double mastectomy LONDON: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer and says she hopes her story will inspire other women fighting the lifethreatening disease. Jolie wrote in the New York Times yesterday the operation had made it easier for her to reassure her six children that she will not die young from cancer, like her own mother did at 56. “We often speak of ‘Mommy’s mommy’, and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me,” wrote Jolie, 37. “I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a ‘faulty’ gene.”

The Oscar-winning actress said her doctors had estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

“Once I knew this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy,” she said. Partner and fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt was by Jolie’s side through three months of treatment that ended late in April, she said. The two became engaged last year. “Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie’s choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic,” Pitt told London’s Evening Standard newspaper. “All I want is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family.”

Jolie said that even though she had kept silent about her treatment while it was going on, she hoped her story would now help other women. “I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer.

It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested.” Breast cancer alone kills about 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization. It is estimated that one in 300 to one in 500 women carry a BRCA 1 or BRCA

under the illusion that the security men are only looking into particular cases, adding the surprise campaign will continue to achieve the goals and targets set for it. Fahd also called upon all citizens and expats to ensure that they always carry their identification papers in order to be identified by security men and smart patrols equipped with computers can trace all details of anyone during an inspection.

Canada astronaut returns as a star

MoH issues guidelines on new virus 6 new Saudi cases KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ministry of Health made an administrative decision announcing strict guidelines on how to handle acute respiratory cases, particularly the novel coronavirus (nCoV), which it described as “a dangerous communicable disease”. This came after Saudi Arabia detected six new cases of the deadly coronavirus, the health ministry said, raising the number of people infected from the SARS-like virus in the kingdom to 30, half of them fatalities.

Continued on Page 15

PAGE

PAGE

India unveils vaccine for diarrhoea virus

Russia arrests CIA ‘spy’ US diplomat tried to recruit local agent

Angelina Jolie 2 gene mutation, as Jolie does.

CNN anchor Zoraida Sambolin announced yesterday that she had breast cancer and was also getting a double mastectomy. Sambolin, who anchors CNN’s “Early Start” morning show, discussed her condition on the show while talking about Jolie’s procedure. “I struggled for weeks trying to figure out how to tell you that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was leaving to have surgery,” Sambolin, 47, said on Facebook.

“Then ... Angelina Jolie shares her story of a double mastectomy and gives me strength and an opening.” — Reuters (See Page 40)

MOSCOW: Russia yesterday ordered the expulsion of an alleged American CIA agent working undercover at the US embassy who was discovered with a large stash of money trying to recruit a Russian agent. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB, ex-KGB) identified the man as Ryan C Fogle - third secretary of the political section of Washington’s embassy in Moscow and said he had been handed back to the embassy after his detention. The foreign ministr y said it was summoning US ambassador Michael McFaul today for an explanation and slammed Washington for what it described as “provocative acts in the spirit of the Cold War”.

It declared Fogle to be persona non grata who had to return to the United States “as soon as possible” - a complete contrast to the joint pledges for intelligence cooperation after the Boston bombings. Photographs published by state English language television RT showed a baseball-capped Fogle being pinned face down to the ground and having his hands put behind his back for the arrest. He was then shown being questioned at the Federal Security Service while documents such as his passport and a stack of Ä500 notes along with some letters were displayed. The FSB footage also displayed supposed espionage equipment including two wigs as well as a Continued on Page 15

MOSCOW: Wigs and spying gadgets carried by a man claimed by the Russian FSB to be Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the US Embassy in Moscow, when he was detained (inset), are shown at the FSB offices early yesterday. — AP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Residency violators being rounded up from Shuwaikh industrial area yesterday. The field operations were carried out with the supervision of Acting Undersecretary General Sulaiman Al-Fahad in coordination with the public administration for immigration. Over 400 people were arrested in the fresh crackdown.

Egyptian wanted for raping wife’s friend Driver killed in Subbiya crash KUWAIT: Abu Halifa police plan to summon an area resident for questioning after a woman pressed sexual assault charges. Identifying herself as his wife’s friend, the Egyptian woman told the local police that the suspect, also an Egyptian, told her on the phone that his wife was sick and needed to meet her for an urgent matter. When she went to her friend’s apartment and did not find her friend there, the woman realized she has been trapped and fell victim to an assault by the suspect.

The Sebamed booth at the conference venue

Conference focuses on diabetes in children KUWAIT: Pediatric Diabetes Society (PDS) held its two-day conference under the theme “Pediatric Diabetes - Where is it going?” in cooperation with the diabetes clinic, pediatrics department at Sabah Hospital.

PDS chairperson Dr. Nada Al-Tarkeet said the conference will focus on diabetes in children in Kuwait and will discuss the current situation besides the

KUWAIT: Dr Nada Al-Tarkeet addresses the conference on pediatric diabetes

major challenges that the treatment of this group faces.

Dr. Al-Tarkeet said the increasing number of fast food restaurants and soda drinks factories around the world, apart from the ease with which children can access these products, are all key causes for the affliction. Children are becoming addicted to these substances which are fuelling obesity and diabetes in our societies. Dr. Al-Tarkeet said the society needs to make certain dietary changes as it lacks a culture of daily sports, a factor that has led spread of diabetes which has assumed epidemic proportions now.

She said that the latest statistics about type 2 diabetes among adults showed that Kuwait was at sixth place worldwide, according to the IDF. She said as far as pediatric diabetes (type 1) was concerned, it has risen from 18 cases per 100,000 children in 2005 - 2006 to almost 37 cases per 100,000 as per latest statistics gathered by Dasman Diabetes Institute last year.

Bone density reduction and tooth decay also increased, being related diseases. She said the current situation requires more efforts and studies in diagnosis and follow up, apart from the need to use modern technology to treat the afflicted.

Kuwait marks 50th ’versary of UN membership UNITED NATIONS: Kuwait’s Permanent Representative at the UN Mansour Al-Otaibi held a ceremony yesterday to mark the 50th anniversary of Kuwait’s UN membership obtained on May 14, 1963. Al-Oteibi was scheduled to address the reception on the history of the relationship between the State of Kuwait and the UN. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of the UN General

Assembly Vuk Jeremic was also expected to deliver speeches during the event.

The ceremony features a photography exhibition and a documentary highlighting Kuwait’s activities in the international organization over the last fifty years, with booklets to be handed out to the participants on the Gulf country’s political, economic and social achievements.—KUNA

Fatal accident A male driver died after he sustained a fatal head injury in an accident reported in AlSubbiya on Monday. Paramedics accompanied by police reached the scene shortly after the accident was reported. They pronounced the victim, a 60-year-old Egyptian man, dead on the scene. The body was taken to the forensic department. An investigation was opened to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

Stamp recycling gang Investigations are on to catch the suspects in a case involving theft of stamps from passports left in travel agencies across Kuwait.

According to a news report, the scam was discovered after officers at the Sharq police station received reports from Arab men who found that KD10 government stamps were missing from their passports which they had left earlier with the travel agencies for obtaining Omra visas. Investigations revealed that the suspects scraped off government stamps from the expired work visas in the passports. It is likely that they the stamps later at below par prices. Detectives also believe that thousands of stamps could have been stolen in the same fashion in cases yet to be discovered by the passport owners.

Suicide prevented A man was hospitalized in a critical condition on Monday after his attempt to commit suicide was foiled by a woman driver who intervened in time to save his life. Police, accompanied by medical staff, rushed to a street in Abdullah Al-Salem where a Kuwaiti woman reported witnessing someone stabbing himself. The Asian man was found bleeding as a result of several stab wounds and was rushed to the Amiri Hospital. He is currently recovering at the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The police plan to question him later in a suicide case filed at the Abdullah Al-Salem police station.

Businesswoman questioned Hawally police arrested a businesswoman during a patrolling operation on Monday after discovering that she was wanted for KD500,000 nonpayment. She was taken to authorities for questioning, during which she claimed she had fallen victim to a conman who stole her money and left her in a financial crisis

that rendered her unable to honor obligations she made with companies she was supposed to supply automobiles to. The Arab woman remains in custody for further action.

Man arrested A man faces multiple charges following his arrest Monday for involvement in several traffic violations and possessing contrabands. Patrol officers pulled over the suspect who was driving an American-made vehicle which carried no license plate. The man failed to produce an ID card, a driver’s license or the car’s registration papers, but gave his name through which police found out that he was a Kuwaiti wanted in a KD2000 default payment case. When police searched the man and his car, they

found an MB5 firearm with a magazine containing 20 rounds, a collection of daggers, 31 plastic cases of crystal meth, 40 drug pills and a variety of drug related paraphernalia. He was referred to the proper authorities for further action.

Auto theft A man stole a woman driver ’s car in an unusual manner. In her statements to Maidan Hawally police, the Italian woman explained that she stopped to check out her car’s tire after a pedestrian signaled to her that it was flat, but taking advantage of the situation, the same person jumped into the driving seat of the luxur y vehicle and drove away.

Investigations were on. —Al-Anbaa, Al-Rai

107 abandoned vehicles removed from Amghara

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A total of 107 abandoned cars were lifted from the Amghara scrap yard and sent to a car detention garage in the area as part of the second phase of a cleanliness campaign carried out by the AlJahra municipality on the instructions of its Director, Eng. Sami Al-Saeedan.

The Director of General Cleaning told reporters that removal of abandoned cars will continue across different streets and public yards at Amghara in order to clean up the entire area of such vehicles.

Pointing out that a number of real estate owners have been using their front yards as car workshops leave the discarded parts from such cars there, he said at times they park many of those cars outside their plots and even encroach upon vast swathes of public land, roads and yards for such business. He explained that the campaign started by affixing

warning signs on the abandoned cars, directing that these be removed by their owners within 24 hours. He said the warnings and transportation of vehicles is documented in the municipality records.

He said after the grace period granted to the owners of such cars, there will be no further warning and the vehicles would be removed and taken to the detention garage. Detained vehicles will not be released without payment of the necessary fees.

On his part, supervisor Faisal Al-Otaibi said that leaving abandoned cars along the streets and public yards reflects poorly on the area and hinders road cleaning operations besides acting as a shelter for stray dogs and other animals. He said the governorate’s municipality was keeping track of such cars and will ensure these are removed. Necessary legal action will be taken against the owners of these vehicles.

He explained that the campaign will continue, especially in the industrial areas, public yards and streets.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

LOCAL

PIC borrowed $194m to pay fine: Report ‘K-Dow deal cancellation a political error’ KUWAIT: The Petrochemical Industries Company borrowed $194 million from the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation in order to finalize a $2.2 billion payment to Dow Chemical in penalties over a canceled joint venture, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting sources familiar with the issue.

The American-based company won last year an international court order stipulating that the Petrochemical Industries Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, pays a $2.16 billion fine for canceling the contract to establish a $7.4 billion joint venture project. Dow Chemical announced last Tuesday that the PIC paid $2.2 billion after an agreement was reached which saw nearly $300 million in delay penalties written off in exchange of assurances that there would be no further fallout for its operations in the region.

“The PIC had nearly $2 billion in liquidity by the time the payment was made,” said the sources who spoke to AlAnba on the condition of anonymity.

They added that the amount was lent based on an agreement in which the PIC will have to repay the amount within

three months. “As per an earlier KPC board decision, the PIC was to pay the fine using its current liquidity and borrow the rest from the KPC while repayments are realized from the PIC’s profits,” the sources added.

The Kuwaiti government had called off the deal to establish what was to be known as K-Dow Petrochemicals in late 2008 under pressure from the opposition in the parliament, prompting Dow Chemical to sue for damages as per a penalty clause in the contract.

“The decision to call off the K-Dow deal was a political error and a case in which the government submitted to parliamentary demagoguery,” former Supreme Petroleum Council member Musa Maarafi told Al-Jarida newspaper on Monday.

According to the official who was a member of the highest oil body in the country at the time when Kuwait was negotiating the contract, the government had given assurances that the deal would go through, regardless of MPs’ criticism. “But everything change during the last moments,” he said.

“We live today in an era in which the executive and legislative authorities are

tampering with the country’s capabilities, and what is happening in the parliament currently is the newest episode in this approach,” Maarafi said, adding that the ongoing events are meant to “distract attention away from the main mistake of cancelling the deal, and instead focus on the penalty clause.”

In this regard, Maarafi indicated that the controversial penalty clause was not unprecedented in Kuwait’s oil-related partnership deals. “Similar clauses are mentioned in several previous deals but were never activated because the projects went through,” he explained. While indicating that Oil Minister Hani Husain could not be involved in the cancelation decision “because he was not a member of the SPC or the KPC’s board at the time,” Al-Maarafi indicated that every party which had a hand in canceling the deal “knew about the penalty clause.”

Asked about skepticism concerning the deal mainly with regards to allegations that Dow Chemical planned to sell out-of-date factories to Kuwait, Maarafi said that “reviewing Dow’s financial data which shows the profits that these factories made” proved things were otherwise. —Al-Anba & Al-Jarida

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday at Seif Palace, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and his accompanying delegation, on the occasion of his official visit to the country. The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah and Head of the Mission and Advisor in HH the Premier’s Diwan Sheikh Dr Salem Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.—KUNA

Promotion tests see crisis at MOE KUWAIT: Even as the ministry of education recently adopted a new policy to promote employees to higher positions by first enrolling them in special training courses and then putting them through a written exam and an interview, a number of educationists recently filed complaints about the new system. They noted that the written test was too difficult and they had not been taught what was asked in

the tests during the training course, as a result of which they flunked the exam.

In this regard, well-informed ministry of education sources said that the assistant undersecretary for public education, Mohammed Al-Kandari, met with supervisors of various subjects to discuss the training courses and the questions included in the exam. The sources stressed that most

supervisors insisted that these questions were taught during the training courses and those who failed had not prepared well for the exams.

Further, the sources stressed that success rate was too low and that many of the applicants could not score the 70 per cent minimum grade required to qualify for the third step of the promotion process - the personal interview. —Al-Jarida

Amnesty for illegal residents likely

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received at Seif Palace yesterday Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina Husein Kavazovic. The meeting was attended by Minister of Justice, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Shareed Abdullah Al-Muosherji. — KUNA

KUWAIT: A proposal was made to grant amnesty to residency violators and waive the penalties imposed on their violations, giving them an option to return to Kuwait after correcting their residency status, sources said.

Immigration detectives headed

by Ghazi Auamie has made the pro-

posal to First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud, through the Assistant Undersecretary Lt General Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawwaf.

The proposal suggested that the period given must be in summer so that expats who have children in schools can leave without affecting

their children’s study. According to the proposal the violators from different nationalities have reached more than 100,000 and that the campaigns carried out by the ministry of interior have not succeeded in detaining all of them.

The decision in this matter now is in the hands of minister of interior.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

kuwait digest

A nut country

A little harsh assessment

By Mohammad Hayat

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

K

uwait is a country that prospered, thanks to immigrants who have been coming here from neighboring areas for hundreds of years now. Its unity was solidified by the economic challenges that these immigrants faced through hard work both on the land as well as on the sea.

The Kuwaiti society is therefore characterized as being multiethnic, multicultural, multidimensional and able to adapt itself to host this multitude. This has enabled the Kuwaiti society to become an example of coexistence, unity and cooperation through which our forefathers sought to establish a productive society that thrives to achieve decent living standards.

The discovery of oil launched Kuwait towards economic prosperity, and this was followed by the formulation of constitution that our forefathers worked upon in cooperation with the late HH Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah whose vision was to transform Kuwait into a civilized state where the government shares wealth and administrative duties with the people, in its quest for establishing a civil state based on the basic human values of equality, justice and freedom.

All these elements of success helped Kuwait assume pioneering positions in the years that followed in international politics, economy, culture and sports.

What a beautiful country ours is. It was built through the hard work and cooperation of our forefathers, and earned several monikers throughout its history including being known as a country of safety, security, freedoms, institutions, charity, humanitarian work, achievements and ambitions.

We hear so many terms associated with our country’s name so proudly; until one of our ministers came up with a title that we had never heard of before.

To be honest, I was upset at first when I heard that Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, had compared Kuwait with a nut “which is hard to break but is worth trying.” But when I thought about it, I realized that the ‘nut country’ title which the ‘young minister’ has chosen was never truer to describe the current situation in Kuwait. Here are some proofs: When ministers are appointed on the basis of favoritism instead of competency and vision, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When people are rewarded with a senior government post (undersecretary assistant for example) for defending the government’s repeated decisions that were only examples in mismanagement, then we are indeed living in a nut country.

When the development plan is only found on paper while the public remains unaware about the fate of KD37 billion allocated for it, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When we take several steps backwards in the domains of culture, literature, sports, theater and academics despite record surpluses year after year, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When ambitious young people see their aspirations of serving their country crash as the state prefers to retain senior officials in their posts for over 35 years, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When the health and education sectors continue to deteriorate in a country credited for contributions that helped build many countries worldwide, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When unemployment rate rises and Kuwaiti job hopefuls are handed after months of waiting a position in a field that is not in keeping with their field of study, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When the state is unable to resolve an issue due to which 120,000 human beings are suffering as they are living without an identity, education, health, marriage certificates and even death certificates, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When a person is beaten and faced with tear gas for expressing his opinion peacefully in the ‘land of freedoms’, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When people are disrespected and we see sectarianism spreading in society because the state is unable to stop a bunch of xenophobic individuals, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When a senior official violates sports laws regulated by the parliament and the government stands and watches as it happens, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When the state pays billions of dollars to Dow Chemical as per a penalty clause in a joint project that was canceled because the government could not face threats from an oppositionist minority in the parliament, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When people elect their representatives on sectarian, racial and tribal basis while ignoring candidates’ legislative capabilities, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When political groups shape freedom of expression only in accordance with their own interests, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

When we have a government that works without a clear plan and approach, combined with an opposition which cannot make up its mind on a strategy or approach they want to follow, then we indeed are living in a nut country.

All these and others are reasons why I could not agree more with Minister Sheikh Mohammad AlSabah on anything except for his comparison between Kuwait and a hard-shelled nut.

Oh, and I forgot this one last reason: when a debutant minister is hired to practice at the cost of our destiny and future because of his or her linage, then we indeed are living in a nut country. —Al-Rai

L

kuwait digest

Of strange things

By Omar Al-Tabtabaei

I

t is not strange to see everyone, including patriotic young citizens or volunteering groups, jump to the defense of Kuwait when daily theft of the country’s wealth has become visible to all. It is not strange when someone makes a mistake when working, or while making a statement in a moment of anger, particularly when speaking from the heart, with concern about the nation. It is not strange, too, when everyone has ambitions for a prosperous country that befits generous people and has oil wealth through which the impossible can be achieved. But let me tell you about what is strange in my society: It is strange when our greatest hope is to dream of having a ‘state’. It is strange when we have hearts empty of love. It is strange when idols are made out of the vainest of people. It is strange when we have hospitals that lack health. It is strange when we have schools that lack education.

It is strange when we have clubs that lack sports. It is strange when we have creative minds that find no encouragement. It is strange when we have ideas that lack execution.

It is strange when we have a constitution that is not applied. It is strange when we have a cabinet but not a government. It is strange when we have freedom but no principles of proper dialogue. It is strange when we have a parliament that represents the cabinet more than it does the people.

It is strange that despite rampant corruption, we are yet to see anyone facing trial over corruption charges. It is strange that there are people among us

who criticize corrupt individuals during the day but shake their hands the same night. It is strange when MPs who are supposed to be the voice of the people are instead silencing the public.

It is strange that among us there are people who feel the need for periodic events to renew their ‘pledge of allegiance’ to the ruling family. It is strange that some honorable members of the ruling family are in support of such events.

It is strange when your patriotism becomes the reason you swim against the tide in the society.

It is strange when the Jaber Stadium ... I’d rather not complete this sentence! It is strange that after all of this, some people criticize citizens for public movement and even accuse them of destabilizing security and stability.

It is strange that only a minority of us translates into action the feeling of love towards Kuwait that most of us claim to have.

It is strange when there are people who believe that we all are politicians, while in reality it is patriotism that makes us work in service of this land. It is strange that those who seek to destroy Kuwait ignore the fact that it will always remain in the hearts of its truly loyal patriots. It is strange when those responsible for my country’s devastation are not prosecuted. It is strange when the love you have towards your country becomes your only crime. It is strange when strange things have become normal in my country.

But what is stranger than everything above is to have the feeling that you miss Kuwait while living in it.

ongtime financial analyst Fakhri Shehab explained in a recent column that the losses arising from the K-Dow deal were primarily caused by the first generation of Kuwaitis who according to him hired inexperienced people in administrative and government posts just when Kuwait was entering the era of modernization.

I believe that Shehab’s assessment was a little harsh on the early generation that gained experience in leadership and management skills which qualified them for the roles to manage the country.

This was exactly why the founding fathers sought the help of Arab and foreign experts wherever possible, and without any discrimination. For example, the Kuwaiti constitution was put together largely by Egyptian experts Othman Khalil Othman and Muhsin Hafiz, while the English are credited for infrastructure planning in Kuwait; a job that Kuwaitis entrusted them. The army and police force were handed to some Arab senior officials initially as well. Al-Shehab was accurate when he diagnosed the problem being a result of “administrative weakness,” but he accused the wrong party.

Administrative weakness has mainly been caused by the ‘Kuwaitization’ policy of replacing foreigners in senior government posts with locals. It was an opportunistic policy sugarcoated by claims of ‘nationalism’ and of ‘serving the general interest.’

The Kuwaitization policy began in the late sixties, coinciding with the government’s move to target real Kuwaiti experts and ultimately eliminating the ‘first generation’ from the scene, followed by sidelining of the political opposition, forging the elections and tampering with the entire electoral process.

Since then, Kuwait has been at the mercy of ‘employees’, or people who take over cabinet posts and are planted in parliaments. This is how ‘job promotions’, ‘pay raises’ and ‘allowances’ became the main concern of Kuwaiti politicians in recent years.

The problem does not end by ending the Kuwaitization policy, but both Kuwait and Kuwaitis have now become the victims of the ‘substitution’ policy. This policy means replacing productive Arab or foreign expatriate workers with Kuwaiti employees who are often unproductive. This is being done on the pretext that it is the state’s duty to provide jobs for Kuwaitis. This policy signals the end of competiveness in the Kuwaiti job market completely. If Kuwait has lost two billion dollars as a result of the Kuwaitization policy, I wonder how big will be the loss as a result of the substitution policy. —Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Arabic toilets vs western ones!

By Dr Hassan Abdullah Jouhar

kuwait digest

Battle for education reform

By Dr Shamlan Y Al-Essa

E

ducation and H igher Education M inster worse by providing them with regular office jobs.

Nayef Al-Hajraf has said the education minThe open door policy of accepting students at istry is going ahead with its plan to change the university created another problem: the rising the national school curriculum, adding that new unemployment of university graduates, not only curriculum will be implemented at the elementary those from the fields of art and social sciences but stage, starting from the 2014-15 academic year, also those from some scientific disciplines. A diffiand then the rest of the stages will be covered. As cult question that the education minister will face we bless the reformative steps the ministry will is, whether it is better - for the sake of human take, we confirm that the battle for reforming edu- development in Kuwait - to provide specialist education and changing it from its roots is not an easy cation for all students seeking it and continue the task, especially when it has been scientifically open door policy due to political pressure from citproven that the ability of our students and gradu- izens and national assembly members, or should ates is not competitive at the international level. admission to specialist courses be limited based The United States and other Western countries on the demand for such specialists on the market? went through various stages Despite all attempts to while reviewing their educaimprove and develop the Despite all attempts to education system, it is still tional content. We all remember the book , “A Nation at improve and develop the edu- s u f fe r i n g f ro m p o o r l y Risk”, which was published in cation system, it is still suffering trained teachers, lack of 1 9 8 3 an d h ad war n ed th e proper educational strategy from poorly trained teachers, and updated curriculum, United States against lagging behind in the field of educa- lack of proper educational high failure percentage of tion. Officials at the time had strategy and updated curricu- students at the elementary stressed on the importance of lum, high failure percentage of level, and inadequate learnscience and mathematics. students at the elementary lev- ing among students. M y Without an advanced and practical experience at the renewed educational system el, and inadequate learning university level is enough that focused on creativit y, among students. for me to believe so. We find they said, the United States new students weak in Arabic would not be able to compete with other countries and English, in addition to science and maths. economically.

Education methods are still such that students Here are the main questions: In a backward soci- learn things by rote, but they cannot explain and ety in the Third World, how can creativity and sci- discuss what they learned from their teachers, entific thinking be developed without an ability to because they are not used to free dialogue and imagine? What is our problem with Education in discussions. What we need now and for the future Kuwait? And where is the defect? is to pay more attention to modern systems and It must be emphasized that Kuwait allocates a indicators in order to compare the level of educalarge percentage of its budget to education. tional performance of our schools and students Therefore, the problem does not have anything to with those in other countries. The measure of the do with financial constraints in the sector. Rather, extent of educational improvement must not rely it is the severe shortage of technically skilled work- on visits by supervisors to schools. Finally, educaers and the failure of industrial, mechanical and tion in Kuwait cannot be reformed without caring commercial education available in the country to for teachers, as they are the foundation of the eduprovide the skilled labour the economy needs. This cational process. Able and right-minded teachers type of education suffers due to some cultural fac- do not push themselves into a political inferno and tors and citizens’ unwillingness to work in techni- become puppets of political parties and Islamic cal fields, with the government making things factions.

A

n Italian court recently indicted the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for evading tax laws. A French court earlier indicted former president Jacque Chirac on charges of corruption during his tenure as the mayor of Paris. Former Ukraine premier Yulia Tymoshenko is behind bars for his involvement in a suspected gas tender deal with Russia. The list of senior officials, including ministers, and celebrities who were tried, convicted and punished for corruption irrespective of their stature or fame is endless.

Such examples show that everybody is equal in a state run by law and that is why these countries figure at the top of prosperous, stable and advanced world. To err is human and a man occasionally weakens when faced with some temptations or, at least, turns a blind eye when ‘needed’. Senior officials sometimes realize that they are committing a serious mistake and yet, take a chance leaving the consequences to circumstances and to the odds of whether they will be found out.

Such a risk can sometimes be logical and worth taking because it is a double-edged weapon. The real problem is when such officials are sure that they are above the law and that it would be impossible to hold them accountable. Such a notion is unfortunately deep-rooted in our country as well as in the whole Arab world. That’s why we are lagging way behind and are overburdened with loads of corruption everywhere. It turns everything into a state of tardiness, oppression and deprivation.

Even the Arab revolutions that took place since World War II and till the Arab Spring currently raging, have shown that despite all those slogans, beautiful dreams and sincere sacrifices, betting on the ‘New’ cannot be counted on since revolutions quickly pass into the hands of gangsters committing so many follies and crimes and becoming involved in corruption that people start longing for their predecessors reign.

In this regard, I liked an idea that is being exchanged over the social media networks comparing Arab and Western leaders, for two reasons. First, the allegory so well mirrors real life. Second, it shows that even Arab ideas and sayings are derived from a corrupt culture surrounding us nowadays, compared to the days when Arabs used to spread intellect, culture, civilization and philosophy worldwide.

The allegory resembles an Arab leader to an Arab ‘toilet’ and the Western one to a Western ‘toilet’, if you may excuse me. A Western toilet can be easily replaced by simply loosening four screws whereas the Arabic one has to be totally smashed along with the whole bathroom floor and all the plumbing before throwing the Dupree into the street and installing a new one. It is a shameful comparison but so real when it comes to holding Arab officials or leaders accountable or replacing them. —Al-Jarida

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

LOCAL

Tension rises amid resignation rumors Reshuffle seen as possible way out

KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Ali Fahed Al-Rashed meets with Omani media personnel who cover proceedings at the Omani Shoura Council. The members are visiting Kuwait to get a first hand look at the workings of the Kuwaiti National Assembly. — KUNA

Al-Ibrahim warns against misusing grilling rights KUWAIT: The Minister of Electricity and Water (MEW ), Eng Abdul Aziz AlIbrahim, stressed that accusations and suspicions raised about some tenders send a wrong message of mistrust in supervisory bodies, especially since these are autonomous. He also stressed that everybody should either trust or distrust them. “The danger lies in the impact that merchants’ disputes may have upon citizens’ interests,” he underlined.

Speaking at a special ceremony held at the MEW to honor a number of outstanding Kuwaiti woman engineers, AlIbrahim reviewed the MEW’s role in utilizing power and water resources in most efficient ways that match the latest scientific and technological methods.

The minister also stressed the need to respect others’ opinions because the freedom of expression was protected by law. “ The government only came to serve the people whose interests have to have top priority regardless of merchants’ disputes that may affect citizens,” added the minister, noting that the government races against the clock to provide public services.

Responding to a question about grilling threats he received over tenders number 8 and 9 concerning building 500 megawatt power plants in Southern Zour and Subbiya, Al-Ibrahim pointed

out that grilling motions and interpellations were constitutional rights that should not be abused.

“We do not accept threats such as: ‘We’ll grill you if you sign those tenders’, especially since both of them went through normal legal channels like any other tender,” he explained, noting that once the ministry recommended a tender, the final decision is of the Central Tenders Committee which then sends it to the auditing bureau for scrutiny before the minister signs it.

The minister also noted that there was only one winner in any tender and that those who lose have every right to complain. “That is what happened with these two tenders as all losing bidders filed complaints with the ministry, to the CTC and to the auditing bureau. The complaints were discussed and the final decision was made. What mistake did MEW do in all this?” he wondered. while pointing out that delaying those two tenders may lead to a real power crisis by 2014.

“This means either resorting to programmed power outages or delays in connecting power current to buildings in new areas,” he warned, underlining that there was an annual increase in power consumption by 800 megawatts and such an increased demand can only be met by building new power plants.

— Al Jarida

KUWAIT: While the cabinet’s absence from the parliament’s session yesterday was expected in the wake of grilling motions filed against the oil and interior ministers, local newspapers yesterday speculated that several scenarios aimed at defusing the seemingly impromptu crisis between the executive and legislative authorities are being considered, including resignations.

In this regard, Al-Qabas reported that all the ministers submitted their resignations to HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlSabah, quoting sources familiar with the cabinet’s weekly meeting that took place Monday.

While resignation of the entire cabinet seems unlikely at this point (Parliament Speaker Ali AlRashid is expected to meet the premier very soon in a bid to contain the crisis), most scenarios seem to suggest that resignations of some ministers were imminent. “Four ministers are likely to be included in a reshuffle that could be the last resort if the Cabinet wants to avoid resigning or facing the grillings,” said political insiders who spoke to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity.

MPs Dr Yousuf Al-Zalzalah and Safaa AlHashem filed to grill First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah on allegations of failure to cooperate with the parliament, failure to implement court orders, the state of security and attempting to cover up a Kuwaiti “terror” cell having links with Islamists on trial in the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, MPs Saadoun Hammad, Yaqoub Al-Sane’a and Nasser Al-Merri filed to grill Minister of Oil Hani Husain over the $2.2 billion penalty payment to US-based Dow Chemical, as well as accusations of allowing commercial deals with Israel, not taking any action to prevent the sale of alcohol at Kuwait-owned gas stations in Europe and approving illegal staff promotions at state-owned oil companies. “ The accelerated pace of filing grilling motions could be motivated by a feeling among MPs that the highly anticipated Constitutional Court ruling on the single vote system will not be in the parliament’s favor,” Al-Qabas’ report reads, quoting observers who did not wish to be named. Others speculated in the meantime that the interpellations were likely aimed at putting pressure on the government in order to force a reshuffle that will ease out from the cabinet a number of ministers who are not well-liked by the parliament.

According to the government insiders who attended the cabinet’s weekly meeting, ministers expressed disappointment at MPs’ sudden

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah presides over a Cabinet meeting yesterday. change of heart “which seems to be an attempt to garner popularity in anticipation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling on June 16th.”

The court is expected to pronounce its verdict on that date in cases involving challenges made against last December’s elections, questioning the constitutionality of an emergency decree that amended the voting mechanism prior to the elections. Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of the cabinet’s thinking told AlQabas that a decision to activate article 106 of the constitution which gives the state’s Amir the authority to suspend the parliament for one month “could be an ideal way out of the crisis.”

If the said decision was made next Sunday, the parliament would resume session on June 19th, provided that the Constitutional Court’s ruling does not nullify the election results.

The opposition, which had boycotted the elections claiming that the decree reducing the number of votes a citizen could cast from four to one, was aimed to create a rubberstamp parliament, is speculating that the current political unrest is nothing but a ploy to ensure that the parliament is dissolved thus rendering in vain all challenges being looked at by the court. This

claim is mostly used to support arguments that the cabinet and MPs were working together to help ‘immunize’ the single-vote system.

But according to a constitutional expert who spoke to a local newspaper in this regard, a dissolution prior to the court’s ruling does not necessarily provide protection for the new electoral system.

“That decision in the end depends on the assessment of the Constitutional Court which alone can answer that question,” Kuwait University Professor Dr. Mohammad Al-Feeli told Annahar on Monday. He added that new challenges to the single-vote system can still be filed even if the current parliament was to be dissolved.

In other news, the Appeals Court adjourned a case involving a leading oppositionist who faces jail term over charges of offending HH the Amir, and set May 27th as the date to pronounce its ruling. The Criminal Court had sentenced former MP Musallam Al-Barrak last month to five years in jail for the statements made during a public rally last October, before the Appeals Court released him on bail pending its ruling.

— Al-Qabas & Annahar

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Azizan Noordin briefs the media (center). Tourism Malaysia officials, Ambassador Adnan Haji Othman and Monzer Najia are also on the dais. (Right) Malaysian dancers welcome the guests. — Photos by Sajeev K Peter

Malaysia to fine-tune tourism offerings for Kuwait Roadshow promotes ‘VMY 2014’ at Kuwait Travel Mart

By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: A Tourism Malaysia roadshow rolled into Kuwait yesterday with the slogan ‘Visit Malaysia Year 2014’ promoting the country’s diverse and distinct tourism offerings targeting Kuwait travelers. “When we celebrate ‘VMY 2014’ with the theme ‘Endless Possibilities’, Tourism Malaysia will fine-tune its tourism offerings to attract more visitors from the Middle East to Malaysia. I’m confident that we will be able to achieve our target of turning Malaysia into the top destination for Muslim travelers,” said Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director General (Planning) Azizan Noordin during a media briefing at Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

The roadshow organized as part of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) started off in Dubai (May 6-9), travelled through Oman (May 11-12) and arrived in Kuwait yesterday. Azizan, who is leading the Malaysian delegation at the Kuwait Travel Market roadshow, said Malaysia secured the first spot as the world’s top Muslim-friendly holiday destination, quoting a survey released in January this year by Crescent Rating, a Singapore-based Muslim travel

consultancy. “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as the best score, Malaysia obtained 8.3 among 50 nations surveyed,” he elaborated.

The year 2014 has been designated as Visit Malaysia Year (VMY 2014) during which Malaysia targets to attract 28 million tourists. The Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP) targets to bring in 36 million tourists and 168 billion Malaysian ringgits in tourist receipts by 2020.

Tourism Malaysia’s participation in this year’s Arabian Travel Mart was conspicuous by a strong presence of the Malaysian delegation that comprised 120 sellers from 77 organizations. They included hotels and resorts, travel agents, tourism product owners, representatives from various tourism bodies including Legoland Malaysia, Putrajaya Corporation, Tourism Selangor, Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) and Visit KL (the Tourism Unit of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall).

The Malaysian delegation that addressed the media included officials from the ‘VMY 2014’ secretariat and two prominent figures in Malaysia’s tourism industry - the President of Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Mohd Ilyas Zainol

Abidin and the President of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Mohd Khalid Harun, who are also board members of Tourism Malaysia. Malaysian Ambassador to Kuwait Adnan Haji Othman, Mohammed Taib Ibrahim, Director TM Dubai, Zulkifly Md Said, director, International Promotions and Monzer Najia, CEO, Boodai Aviation, Kuwait also addressed the media briefing.

Kuwait visitors “Currently we are working out with our agents here to offer new packages and promotions to attract more Kuwaiti travellers into Malaysia because it is a growing market for us,” Azizan told the Kuwait Times on the sidelines of the travel mart. “We are targeting around 24,000 tourists from Kuwait this year, which is 2,000 more than 2012,” he added, giving a conservative estimate. In 2012, tourist arrivals from Middle East to Malaysia were 370,535, which was an increase of 3.2 percent compared to 358,994 in 2011.

For the same period, tourist arrivals from Oman registered a hike of 13.2 percent while tourist arrivals from UAE and Kuwait recorded a drop of 24.7 per-

Astonishing Azimut yacht, KD180,000 in cash prizes NBK summer campaign largest in Kuwait KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) continues its annual summer campaign offering its customers the chance to win an astonishing Azimut 40 Flybridge Yacht as well as up to KD180,000 in cash prizes.

NBK will announce the first six winners of its annual summer campaign next Month. NBK Cardholders have the chance to participate in the promotion that lasts until September 15 and earn unlimited chances in the three draws throughout the summer. In addition to the grand prize draw for the Azimut 40 Yacht, 18 winners will be reimbursed for all their spending using NBK Cards up to KD10,000. For every cumulative KD20 spent in Kuwait with NBK Credit or Prepaid Cards, Cardholders will earn a chance to

enter the draws. Cardholders will triple their chances by using their NBK Credit, prepaid and debit card abroad or by shopping on international sites. Last summer NBK gave away a McLaren MP4-12C. This year, NBK is giving away the Azimut Yacht. NBK Summer Campaign is the biggest promotion. All NBK Cardholders can use their Cards during the summer to enjoy this exclusive promotion. NBK cards are accepted worldwide and are the safest, most convenient and rewarding way to pay. The Azimut 40 Flybridge is one of the most luxurious yachts designed by Azimut-Benetti, the world renowned yacht manufacturers, combining elegance and comfort. Seas & Deserts Group is the exclusive Azimut Yachts dealer in Kuwait.

Azizan Noordin cent and 0.3 percent respectively. In terms of tourist receipts, Oman and Kuwait registered a growth of 14 percent and 0.9 percent respectively, he informed.

“We are also looking at the possibility of increasing the availability of flights to Malaysia from the region,” he said. Currently, Kuwait Airways operates three flights a week to Kuala Lumpur offering 816

seats. Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways fly between UAE and Malaysia offering 32 flights and 11,169 seats per week. Oman Air operates seven flights a week offering 1,540 seats. Egypt Air and Turkish Airlines have started flying to Kuala Lumpur.

Tourism Malaysia has just added another feather in its cap by bagging the “Best Global Tourism Advertising Campaign” award at the 4th Middle East Business Leaders Awards 2013 held on 28 April in Abu Dhabi. The event was jointly organized by the Federation of GCC Chambers and The Leaders International.

Tourism Malaysia launched online tour packages and the “Tourism Malaysia Dubai” app during the media briefing in ATM Dubai 2013. The informative and interactive app allows travellers and businessmen to find information on tourist destinations in Malaysia, book flights and hotels, and get the best travel deals and packages from Middle East to Malaysia.

Themed ‘Celebrating Malaysia’, ‘Truly Asia, VMY 2014’ is all set to boost tourist arrivals and showcase Malaysia’s colorful festivals, diverse culture and multiracial community living in harmony as one nation.

Modern Arabic teaching methods, tools in focus Report on ‘Arabic for Life’ submitted DUBAI: The Commission for the Modernization of Teaching Arabic has submitted to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Report on the Modernization of Teaching Arabic entitled, ‘Arabic for Life’.

Calling for the report to be made available across the Arab world to help local Arabic teaching institutions to develop their teaching methods and identify their weaknesses and challenges when teaching Arabic, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed said: “As the language of the Holy Quran and the foundation of Arab civilization, Arabic has helped people develop their national identity. It is also a symbol of unity across the Arab world. For these reasons, Arabic holds tremendous value for its people.

Therefore it is a national responsibility to protect the language.”

The report highlights the challenges and potential in developing Arabic language education, and includes a wide array of recommendations to improve Arabic teaching methods in line with international best practices. At a press conference in Dubai yesterday, the Commission praised the unstinting support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed to its efforts, which enabled the Commission to complete the tasks related to the report. These included the study of the current state of the Arabic language and of the teaching methodologies, reflecting the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed to strengthen the position of Arabic language among other languages in the world.

The Commission announced the outcomes of the Report on the Modernization of Teaching Arabic at the press conference led by Dr. Farouk El Baz, Chairman of the Commission, in the presence of a group of intellectuals, researchers, experts, academics, students, and others. The report is available on www.arabicforlife.ae.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr El Baz said the report focuses on developing modern educational tools for Arabic, by leveraging advanced technologies and modern communication methods that suit the younger generations and their interests.

The report presents a significant opportunity to make fundamental changes in teaching approaches by building on the crucial relevance of Arabic in the region, and on the increased awareness of the necessity to build knowledge in the local language.

Arabic for life The Committee chose ‘Arabic for Life’ as the title of the report to firmly root its work in the language’s current reality and in the technical and scientific developments surrounding it, taking into account the growing interest among non-speakers to learn it in various academic institutions around the world. ‘Arabic for Life’ was chosen to declare that the most important functions of Arabic as a language of daily communication should be the platform on which to build new curricula and design the most appropriate teaching materials that would transform the teaching of Arabic.

“Modernization is not incompatible with tradition. The great Arab thinkers never stopped the process of improvement and modernization which allowed major advances in various fields of knowledge, including in language teaching” said Professor Yasir Suleiman, a member of the Commission professor of Modern Arabic Studies and Fellow of King’s College at the University of Cambridge.

Comprehensive plan The report draws from latest scientific research and studies in the field of language teaching and learning. Several surveys were conducted with experts to explore teaching methods and the challenges in modernizing Arabic teaching.

Report elements The report provides an overview of the current state of Arabic teaching based on five main themes: curriculum development, culture of reading, teachers, the role of the media in supporting the teaching of Arabic and teaching Arabic to nonnative speakers. It also offers recommendations and solutions that can be implemented within a reasonable timeframe to achieve quick success in the modernization of Arabic teaching as well as longterm strategic solutions. Curriculum development is one of the most important elements of the report, said Farouk Shosha, Secretary General of the Arabic Language Academy in Egypt and a member of the Committee, calling for updating Arabic teaching by selecting literary texts that are relevant to the modern era and introducing students to texts of increased complexity during their years of schooling rather than the current approach of studying literature starting from old texts which

surprise students and feel alien to them.

Reading as a key knowledge development tool The Commission stressed the importance of strengthening the culture of reading because of its decisive effect on teaching and learning standards, and its positive impact on students’ writing skills.

According to the report, 42 percent of the students in the Arab world read only once a week or less. 64 percent of those who read, do so in standard Arabic. Based on these findings, the report offers a strategy to nurture the culture of reading that involves the family, school and the wider community.

Social Media The Commission recommended the active use of modern technology, especially social media, in classroom activities and team projects that encourage students to develop their reading habits. It also recommends the development of electronic libraries to reach increased numbers of students with a variety of books.

The report called for the publication of simplified editions of renowned Arabic literary masterpieces, which could speak to today’s generation. Versions in easy-tounderstand language, targeting various levels of education, would introduce students to their literary heritage and encourage them to read more advanced texts as their language skills develop.

The report also highlighted the importance of leveraging digital media to reach out to young people who spend substantial amount of time on social media platforms. It said education system must fully understand the new media landscape to develop the right approaches to reach students. Surveys conducted during the Commission’s work have confirmed, for example, that broadcast television is increasingly losing ground, as an activity among young Arabs, when compared to internet-based media The Commission stressed the opportunity this new media landscape can represent: social networks could be a tool used to motivate students and involve teachers and parents through channels of communication. In this context, the report highlighted the need to upgrade the skills of teachers to enable them to effectively and creatively utilize social media tools and new technologies.

Teacher’s indispensable role Keeping in mind the primary role of teachers in the education process, the report recommended the strict selection of highly qualified teachers capable of translating this modern curriculum into new practices in the classroom. It also calls for a renewed effort to train and develop teachers, particularly along two

dimensions: efforts to enrich their knowledge of best practice teaching, and empowering them with skills and practical training to activate this knowledge.

The Committee also proposed an integrated system for the certification of Arabic language teachers, including selection criteria, training provision..

Non-Arabic Speakers In view of the growing interest among non-native speakers to learn Arabic and learn about the Arab culture, the Commission recommended strengthening the status of Arabic language as a universal language and a language of science and culture. This is to be achieved by establishing specialised Arabic teaching centres and exchange programs between academic institutions with a global reputation in language training. It also recommended establishing a programme to train teachers specialized in the teaching of Arabic for non-native speakers as well as the creation of a global translation centre.

Crowdsourced mapping The Commission has used crowdsourced mapping, an approach that was used for the first time in Arabic language development projects, to produce a mind map of how students, teachers, principals, academics, curriculum experts, media professionals and parents, perceive the main factors that influence the process of improving the quality of the teaching of Arabic.

p7_Layout 1 5/14/2013 11:43 PM Page 1

WEDNES DAY, MAY 15, 2013

First Kurdish rebels reach Iraq under Turkish peace plan

Cameron faces leadership questions over Europe

Page 8

Page 9

SITTWE, Myanmar: Internally displaced Rohingya boys shiver in rain in a makeshift camp for Rohingya people in northwestern Rakhine state ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Mahasen yesterday. — AP

Rohingyas drown trying to flee storm Powerful cyclone threatens displaced people in Myanmar camps SITTWE, Myanmar: A boat carrying about 100 Rohingya Muslims capsized off western Myanmar and many were feared drowned at the beginning of a mass evacuation from low-lying regions ahead of a powerful storm, a United Nations official said yesterday. The tropical depression, likely to strengthen into Cyclone Mahasen this week, threatens areas of Myanmar where about 140,000 victims of ethnic and religious unrest are living in camps. The United Nations warned last week there could be a humanitarian catastrophe if people were not evacuated.

The boat struck rocks off Pauktaw in Rakhine State and sank, said Barbara Manzi, head of the Myanmar office of the UN O ffice for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A military intelligence officer told Reuters at least 50 people drowned when the boat went down at around midnight on Monday. It was one of six leaving Pauktaw, the official said, declining to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to media.

The evacuation from Pauktaw was part of a government evacuation plan, said Kirsten Mildren, a spokeswoman for OCHA in Bangkok. She said she had heard five boats had set off but accounts were confused. She understood 42 people survived and eight bodies had been found.

“We understand that yesterday evening they went out with the approval of government officials.

This was part of an official government evacuation plan although the boats were not government boats. They were moving from a low-lying area to a safer area,” she said. Forecasts by the US Navy’s Joint

Warning Center show the storm making its way north over the Bay of Bengal. It is expected to make landfall tomorrow near Chittagong in Bangladesh before moving into neighbouring Myanmar.

The United Nations said about 69,000 people, most of them Rohingya Muslims, were living in Rakhine State in accommodation at risk of flooding and other damage during the rainy season, which starts this month and continues until September.

The evacuations, a joint effort by the government and aid agencies, are seen as a test of Myanmar’s willingness to assist the Rohingya, an impoverished and long-persecuted people who bore the brunt of sectarian violence in Rakhine State last year and suffered before that during half a century of military rule.

Vice-President Nyun Tun visited some of the camps yesterday to try to persuade people to relocate but many refused to go. One group who had been displaced from Thandawli village in the state capital of Sittwe said they would not go to a nearby army barracks.

“If the storm comes, we want to die here,” said Fatima Hadu, 65, as the rain poured onto shelters built with little more than bamboo and thatch.

OCHA head Manzi implored the displaced in one camp to move to a safer area and said they could send representatives to look at the new site first, but that had little effect. “We didn’t receive food assistance here. If we go to a new place, we won’t receive food assistance. Whether there’s a storm or not, we will die here,” one man told her.

At least 192 people were killed in June and October last year in violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by the government in Myanmar and considered immigrants from Bangladesh. Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country but about 5 percent of its 60 million people are Muslims. They face a growing anti-Muslim campaign led by radical Buddhist monks. Around Sittwe, up to 45,000 displaced people living in low-lying areas have been identified as the most vulnerable to Mahasen. Some have begun to be moved to higher ground.

Evacuations began on Monday from Pauktaw, a port town about 27 km by sea from Sittwe. Hundreds of Rohingya homes were destroyed in Pauktaw in October and nearly 20,000 Rohingya have been in camps there, including about 12,000 in flood-prone areas, according to UN data.

In Bangladesh, authorities told residents of outlying islands to start evacuating. Fishing boats and other small boats were warned to remain near the coast and not venture out to sea. In eastern India, authorities put 10 coastal districts on alert. Images taken by NASA’s Aqua satellite on May 13 showed the storm’s centre northeast of Sri Lanka packing winds of up to 50 knots (92 km per hour). The winds are expected to increase to 130 km per hour as the storm goes north. The space agency forecasts the storm will be upgraded to a Cyclone 1 level by today. In 2008 a cyclone swept across Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, south of the old capital, Yangon, killing up to 140,000 people. — Reuters

100 trapped in Rwanda bldg KIGALI: Around 100 people are feared trapped after a fourstorey building under construction collapsed in northeastern Rwanda, the government said yesterday. “So far, the tentative information we have indicates that debris fell on about 100 people, we are yet to come up with the exact figures,” Rwandan Minister of Disaster Management Seraphine Mukantabana told AFP. Police spokesman Theos Badege said that three people were confirmed dead and 21 people had been taken to hospital. Those trapped are believed to include both construction workers on the building as well as passersby on the street.

“Working with the Rwanda Defence Forces, the police have secured the site and are currently undertaking an intensive rescue operation,” the police said in a statement. The building, on a roadside in the town of Nyagatare, some 100 km northeast of the capital Kigali, collapsed yesterday afternoon at around 3:00 pm (1300GMT), police said. “At the moment we are working with the police on a quick response,” Mukantabana added. “The building that collapsed was a fourstorey located in Nyagatare district by the roadside, and that is why it affected many people.” Rwanda’s Ministry of Disaster Management said in a statement it had “deployed equipment to assist with the rescue operation.” —AFP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

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

Syria peace talks look doomed in advance LONDON: If anyone saw last week’s US-Russian agreement to convene a peace conference on Syria as a potential breakthrough, Western leaders have been going out of their way to disabuse them. International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi hailed the plan as the “first hopeful news” on Syria in a long time and deferred his own plans to resign after nine months of futile mediation. He called the proposal “only a first step”. But even its sponsors are dampening expectations that a civil war estimated to have killed well over 70,000 can be doused soon, and pitfalls they cite in public are only a few of those lying in wait.

“I’m not promising that it’s going to be successful,” US President Barack Obama said on Monday. Obstacles, he said, include Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, both of which support President Bashar Al-Assad, as well as the AlQaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front on the rebel side. Obama did not mention chronic disunity in the ranks of the Westernbacked opposition or its almost complete lack of control over the now mostly Islamist insurgent forces on the ground. Once “the furies have been unleashed ... it’s very hard to put things back together”, he said.

Syria has descended into a ferocious civil war, whose sectarian dimension was illustrated at the weekend by a video showing a Sunni Muslim rebel commander cutting out and biting into the heart of a slain Alawite soldier. The United States and Russia share interests in Middle Eastern stability and in curbing Islamist militancy, but remain far apart on how to pacify Syria and shape its political future.

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who opposes foreign military intervention or arming the rebels, said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “It is extremely important to avoid any actions that could aggravate the situation.”

Israel, pursuing a campaign against Iran and Hezbollah, bombed targets near Damascus this month part of a range of regional conflicts that are complicating and fuelling the Syrian war; some of them have strong sectarian overtones, such as the struggle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran. Moscow, which has shielded Assad diplomatically since mostly secular peaceful protests against him erupted in March 2011, has long echoed the Syrian leader’s line that what later turned into an armed revolt is the work of foreign-backed Islamists.

Russia says Assad’s survival in power is not its goal, but insists his removal must not be a precondition for talks. A Russian official said at the weekend there was broad agreement that the Syrian crisis was dire, “beyond that there are very many differences: who can take part in this format, who is legitimate and who is not legitimate”.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius questioned whether the Geneva talks aimed at creating a transitional government that would take over Assad’s powers would even happen. “I’m supporting the ‘Geneva 2’ talks, but it’s extremely difficult,” Fabius told RTL radio yesterday.

Tentative cooperation between Washington and Moscow might help - Brahimi’s predecessor Kofi Annan quit last year in frustration at the diplomatic paralysis caused by big power divisions - but even acting in concert they might be impotent to staunch a conflict already spilling over to Syria’s neighbours. It remains to be seen if they can cajole their deeply sceptical Syrian allies into joining the Geneva negotiations, whose earliest timing has now slipped from May to early June. The main opposition coalition, backed by Western and some Arab states, meets in Istanbul on May 23 to decide its stance.

Previously it has demanded Assad’s exit before any talks,

but Washington now seems ready to leave his future to negotiations.

A French official, who asked not to be named, said rivalry between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the two main Arab sponsors of Assad’s enemies, was hampering the emergence of a credible new opposition leader with a mandate to negotiate. “It’s vital that they get someone that could be at the table,” the official said. “They know that continuing disunity among the opposition doesn’t work. It’s not just about Assad, the Free Syrian Army and the Islamists - the Syrian people need to be represented politically by the opposition.” Jordan said yesterday that it would host a meeting next week of the rebels’ allies in the “Friends of Syria”. One Jordanian official said: “The peace conference will be the focus of the meeting.”

Assad himself, buoyed by military gains against rebel strongholds in recent weeks, seems determined to cling to power. On the battlefield, both sides have seen gains and reverses in recent weeks; rebels including the Nusra Front counter-attacked east of Damascus to retake a town that served as a conduit for arms from Jordan into the capital before it was seized by government forces last month, rebel sources said. The rebels’ struggle to end four decades of Assad family rule has been complicated in part by internal divisions along ideological and political lines, but in a rare move, brigades operating in Ghouta, a largely agricultural region on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, united under one command. “With God’s will this will be a decisive battle in rural Damascus that will stop the advance of the regime army and reopen the supply route,” said one commander.

Information Minister Amran Zoabi said Assad’s leadership role was a decision “only for the Syrian people and the

ballot box”. He said Syria wants specifics on the Geneva talks before deciding whether to attend. US Secretary of State John Kerry said staying away would be “another one of President Assad’s gross miscalculations”, but added: “I don’t believe that that is the case at this moment. The Russians, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already given him the names of people who will negotiate.”

Western powers want to step up pressure on Assad to hasten his fall, but have no appetite for the huge risks and costs of direct military intervention and have stopped short of arming fractured rebel factions, who have struggled to make headway. Although France and Britain want the European Union to ease its weapons embargo on Syria to allow some arms supplies to rebels, it is hard to imagine how this would swiftly swing the military balance against Assad, whose forces are bolstered by Russian hardware and help from Iran and Hezbollah. Nor is it clear that arms sent to those rebels Westerners see as moderates could dent the influence of the Islamist militants now spearheading the struggle and spreading alarm in neighbouring states Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Israel.

Meanwhile the death toll mounts. The United Nations put it at 70,000 three months ago. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based activist group, put out a new estimate on Tuesday of at least 94,000 deaths and added that, with information hard to pin down, it was likely to over 120,000. The devastating conflict, now well into its third year, may have prompted a new international initiative. But the talks would only be a start, as the French official made plain, saying: “Let’s be clear, even if we do have this conference, it doesn’t mean there will be peace in Syria.” — Reuters

Bibi meets Putin in bid to sway Russia on Syria Two leaders give little away about their talks

DOHUK, Iraq: Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters greet their comrades as they arrive in this northern Iraqi city yesterday after leaving Turkey as part of a peace drive with Ankara. — AFP

First Kurd rebels reach Iraq under Turkey truce HARUR, Iraq: A first group of Kurdish fighters pulling out of Turkey under a truce arrived in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq yesterday to handshakes and embraces after a gruelling week-long journey. But the Iraqi government slammed the movement of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters into its territory as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty and said it would complain to the UN Security Council. “We are the first group to reach the safe area in Iraq,” said Jagar, leader of the group of PKK fighters that comprised nine men and six women.

The fighters, who arrived in the Harur area of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region at about 6:00 am (0300 GMT), were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, light machineguns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

They were greeted by Iraq-based PKK members who embraced them and shook their hands. After the welcome, the apparently exhausted fighters put down their weapons and warmed themselves at a fire. “Our withdrawal came in response to orders from the leader (Abdullah) Ocalan, as we want to open a way for peace through this withdrawal,” Jagar said, referring to the PKK chief held by Turkey since 1999. “We faced many difficulties because of rain and snow” during seven days on the road, he said, adding that their movements had been monitored by Turkish aircraft.

“We were getting ready to start a big fight with Turkey, but we responded to the call of our leader Ocalan and withdrew,” said Midiya Afreen, one of the group. “ This is a new phase,” she said. “This is the phase of peace.”

The PKK took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict in which some 45,000 people have died.

But it is now withdrawing its fighters as part of a push for peace with the Turkish authorities. The roughly 2,000 fighters in Turkey are leaving on foot, travelling through the rugged border zone to reach safe havens in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, where they will join thousands of fighters already present in rear bases.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan has repeatedly vowed that retreating rebels “will not be touched,” and said that “laying down weapons” should be the top priority for the PKK. The PKK, however, is demanding wider constitutional rights for Turkey’s Kurds, who make up around 20 percent of the 75 million population, before disarming. “We will continue to organise and train, and we are waiting for the Turkish government to take the necessary steps for peace,” said Rohat, an Iraq-based PKK commander, who was in Harur yesterday. These steps include “making amendments to the Turkish constitution and recognising the national rights of the Kurdish people,” he said.

Over the years, the PKK has scaled back its original demand for outright secession to a call for autonomy and cultural and language rights for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. A permanent peace could transform Turkey’s Kurdishmajority southeast, where living standards have lagged far behind the rest of the country because of a lack of investment in the face of the violence. While the withdrawal is a positive move for the peace process, some Iraqi Kurds living near the border are still wary of a return to violence that has forced some to abandon their farms and also resulted in civilian deaths.

And the Iraqi government sharply criticised the movement of more PKK fighters onto its soil. “The Iraqi government confirms its rejection of the withdrawal and the presence of armed men of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party inside Iraqi territory, which is a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and independence,” a statement from the cabinet said. The move “causes severe damage to neighbourly relations between the two countries and their common interests,” it added. Iraq plans to complain to the UN Security Council, asking it to “take the necessary decision to prevent the violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.” But security forces under the command of the autonomous Kurdish region, not the federal government in Baghdad, man Iraq’s border with Turkey and ultimately decide who enters the region. — AFP

MOSCOW: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday on an apparent mission to warn Moscow against sending arms to Syria as alarm grows over the spiralling death toll in the conflict. In their concluding remarks following talks at the Russian strongman’s Black Sea residence in Sochi, the two leaders were intent on giving little away about their closed-door meeting. Israel wants Russia to halt supplies of formidable S-300 missiles which would severely complicate any future air attacks against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Netanyahu did not mention the sensitive weapons issue in public but Putin warned against any destabilising moves in the Middle East, days after Israeli forces launched air strikes against regime targets in Syria. “In this crucial period it is especially important to avoid any moves that can shake the situation,” Putin said in televised remarks. Netanyahu stressed meanwhile it was his country’s task to defend its citizens. The Israeli prime minister added: “Together we are trying to find ways to strengthen stability and security, it’s important both for you and us.”

The West and Israel are particularly concerned about Russia’s refusal to rule out deliveries to Syria of advanced S-300 missile batteries under an existing contract amid growing concerns over a war that activists say has claimed at least 80,000 lives. The issues on yesterday’s agenda had some parallels to a trip Netanyahu made to Moscow in Sept 2009 for Kremlin talks deemed so sensitive that the visit was kept secret at the time. According to Israeli media, Netanyahu is believed on that trip to have raised fears about a Russian plan to deliver S-300s to Iran that Moscow decided in the end not to fulfil.

Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the USA and Canada Institute, suggested that Netanyahu during the current visit would warn Putin that Israeli air force would target the S-300s should the Kremlin decide to deliver the arms to Syria. “Indirectly, he is letting him know that Israel would destroy the S-300 when they get delivered and start being assembled,” he told AFP ahead of the meeting. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that Moscow was “completing” supplies of equipment to Syria agreed under previous contracts. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing an Israeli intelligence report, the 2010 contract with Syria includes six launchers and 144 missiles, each with

SOCHI, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in this Black Sea resort yesterday. — AP a range of 200 km. Netanyahu was just the latest world leader to beat a path to Putin’s door for talks on Syria in recent days, after US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Prime Minister David Cameron met the Russian strongman last week. In the wake of the talks with Netanyahu at Putin’s vacation residence in the southern resort of Sochi, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also due to travel to Russia later this week.

In an unusual move, Ban and Lavrov will hold a joint news conference on Friday in Sochi in a sign that Ban may also discuss the Syria conflict with Putin.

Cameron said on Monday after talks with US President Barack Obama that London and Moscow had found “common ground” on the crisis. Obama was more cautious however, saying that there “remains lingering suspicions between Russia and other members of the G8 and or the West”. Particular hope has focussed on

the agreement between Russia and the United States to work to convene a peace conference on Syria. The conference is likely to be held in early June, said a State Department spokeswoman on Monday.

Jordan’s foreign ministry said yesterday Amman would host a meeting of the largely anti-Assad “Friends of Syria” group of Western and Arab states that is likely to discuss the conference. Upping the stakes, Kerry said in Sweden that Syria’s opposition would receive additional assistance if Assad refused to attend the proposed peace conference in person. The latest push to try to find an end to the slaughter in Syria comes as the war is taking a turn for the worse amid reports that the Assad regime is starting to win back territory. A gruesome video surfaced earlier in which a Syrian rebel fighter is shown cutting out the heart of a regime soldier. — AFP

Iran defends post as chair of UN disarmament conference UNITED NATIONS: Iran yesterday defended its election as the rotating chair of the world’s sole multilateral disarmament forum after the United States announced that its ambassador to the UN Conference on Disarmament would boycott any meeting led by Tehran. The UN Conference on Disarmament has been deadlocked for about 15 years. While the chairmanship of the Geneva-based body is largely ceremonial, it is a high-profile position. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is a founding member of the United Nations,” said Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran’s UN mission. “Its election to the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament, as the most important disarmament negotiating body of the UN, is its right in accordance with the established practice and rules of procedure of this organ,” he said.

Erin Pelton, spokeswoman for the US mission to the United Nations, said on Monday that the selec-

tion of Iran was “unfortunate and highly inappropriate”. She said countries under UN sanctions for arms proliferation or human rights abuses should be barred from such formal or ceremonial UN posts. Iran is under sanctions by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and other international bodies for refusing to halt a nuclear enrichment program that Tehran says is peaceful but Western nations and their allies suspect is aimed at giving it the capability to produce atomic weapons. The United States and Europe have also accused Iran of violating a U.N. embargo on Iranian arms exports in order to supply weapons to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They say Tehran is support Assad’s efforts to defeat rebels seeking to overthrow him in the country’s two-year civil war. Pelton said the US ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Laura Kennedy, would boycott any meeting chaired by

Iran. Washington broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980 after Iranian students took US diplomats hostage in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution.

Rick Roth, spokesman for the Canadian Foreign Ministry, also condemned Iran’s election to the disarmament conference. “This makes a mockery of disarmament issues, and the world’s sincere desire to make progress,” he said. “In Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere, the regime is working directly against global disarmament goals and subverting the fundamental principles of this committee.”

Miryousefi denied that Iran was in violation of any of its treaty obligations. “Iran is a State Party to and in full compliance with all major treaties prohibiting the weapons of mass destruction negotiated within this body,” he said. Those treaties include the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention, he said. —Reuters

Syria rebel defends gruesome video as revenge BEIRUT: A Syrian rebel who was filmed apparently cutting out and eating the organs of a soldier has defended his actions as revenge for regime atrocities, Time magazine reported yesterday. The US news weekly said it had talked by Skype with the fighter, identified as Khalid Al-Hamad, who appeared in a video that sparked outrage and condemnation, including from the Syrian opposition. Hamad claimed he was driven to the gruesome acts by footage on the dead soldier’s cellphone, showing him “humiliating” a naked woman and her two daughters.

The magazine said Hamad described participating in other acts of mutilating regime forces, including militiamen known as shabiha. “I have another video clip... In the clip I am sawing another shabiha with a saw. The saw we use to cut trees. I sawed him in small pieces and large ones,” Time quoted him as saying. The

magazine said Hamad, a Sunni like much of the opposition fighting against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, expressed hatred of member’s of the leader’s Alawite sect. “Hopefully we will slaughter all of them,” he told the magazine, “They were the ones who killed our children in Baba Amr and raped our women,” he said, referring to a neighbourhood of the central city of Homs. “We didn’t start it, they started it,” he added.

“Our slogan is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

The video, in which Hamad leans over a uniformed body, cuts out organs and then holds one up to his mouth, has prompted an outcry around the world and thrown the mainstream rebel leadership on the defensive. The National Coalition, the country’s main opposition grouping, issued a statement saying it “strongly condemns” the act. “The Coalition stresses that such

an act contradicts the morals of the Syrian people, as well as the values and principles of the Free Syrian Army,” it said. “The Syrian Coalition reiterates its condemnation of such an act and stresses that it is a crime, regardless of the perpetrator. The culprit will eventually be tried in court in front of an honest and fair judiciary.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay demanded rebel leaders take immediate action to prevent such “atrocious” acts within its ranks. “The video that has just emerged from Syria, apparently showing a rebel leader cutting out and biting the heart of a dead soldier, depicts a truly atrocious act,” she said. “Mutilating or desecrating corpses during a conflict is a war crime. While it is not yet possible to fully authenticate the video, I urge the armed opposition groups in Syria must do everything in their power

to halt such gross crimes. They must investigate this incident along with other alleged very serious violations by opposition fighters, including acts of torture and a succession of apparent summary executions and extra-judicial killings.”

Pillay renewed her calls for the UN Security Council to task the International Criminal Court with investigating allegations of war crimes against rebel as well as government forces.

“I have repeatedly called for the case of Syria to be referred by the Security Council to the International Criminal Court, so that legal proceedings can begin against people believed to be responsible for serious international crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, irrespective of whether they are on the side of the government or are in opposition to it,” she said. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

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

The cicadas are rising: US invasion in 5, 4, 3...

WASHINGTON: The hordes are rising. A cicada invasion is imminent in the United States, with millions of the large cricketlike insects poised to emerge from the earth after 17 years lying in wait. The first of the bugs that are expected to blanket the US east coast have already been spotted in North Carolina and New Jersey. “The Brood II emergence has begun!” cheered the site cicadamania.com on Monday, where the subculture of insect fans can record sightings. But the onslaught will truly begin later this month, once the average ground temperature hits 17 degrees Celsius. At its peak, there could be swarms with between one and two thousand chirping critters per square meter.

Although cicadas are common around the world, this cyclical phenomenon happens only in the United States. Every 17 years, these “periodical cicadas” mature, mate, lay eggs and die in a deafening concerto. Their offspring - which won’t be seen again for another 17 years - burrow into the ground, 20 cm deep, where they will feed on the sap from roots until their day in the sun arrives. The broods - there

are 15 of them - are classified by Roman numeral. Most are on a 17-year cycle, though three reproduce every 13 years and the cycles are staggered, meaning that at least one of the broods hatches each year.

But not all broods are created equal and “Brood II” is a big one. Over the next few weeks, they will emerge and launch a reproductive orgy when the larvae split their skins and mature into adult form, explained University of Maryland entomologist Michael Raupp. “Then they’ll scramble in a flight to the treetops. The males will begin to court the females. They will mate,” he added. The females will “lay their eggs, these eggs will hatch and will tumble down to the earth, and feed again for another 17 years.”

The bugs, of the scientific order Hemiptera, are about two to three centimeters. They’re black and have red eyes and translucent wings with orange veins.

They don’t sting and only threaten the young trees they will pump for sap. And they will be loud. The males sing to the females in a mating call created through

their tymbal, an abdominal membrane. By the thousands, the unique chirp rises to a deafening roar. Most of the cicadas will die quickly, preyed on by birds and small mammals, including mice and even dogs.

“Adult cicadas are a huge source of food for various animals,” said Andrew Liebhold, Agriculture Department entomologist.

“They are a very good source of nutrition and enhance reproduction of several species of birds and mammals.”

But Raupp noted that bigger mammals - say, homo sapiens - have also been known to take a taste. “They are higher in protein and lower in fat than a steak,” Raupp said, adding he prefers them raw.

For those who might be wary of eating bugs, Biologist Jenna Jadin, who wrote a short manual on the subject as a student at the University of Maryland, suggests they be treated just like fellow arthropods, crab or lobster. After boiling them for four or five minutes, she suggests “Maryland cicadas” with onions, potatoes and corn; “Shanghai cicadas” with soy sauce, garlic and turnips; or perhaps “pizza a la cicada,” with basil, olives and onions. —AFP

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: A cicada rests on the grass in this May 14, 2004 file photo. —AFP

Cameron faces leadership questions over Europe PM offers party draft bill on EU referendum

NAIROBI: A Kenyan policeman beats a protestor during a demonstration against members of parliament who have demanded higher wages outside parliament yesterday. —AFP

Kenya police fire teargas at protest over MPs’ pay NAIROBI: Kenyan police fired teargas and water cannon outside parliament yesterday to disperse about 200 people demonstrating against lawmakers’ demands for a salary 130 times the legal minimum wage. Civil rights groups organised the protest to express widespread anger that politicians are demanding a pay rise so soon after a broadly peaceful election on March 4.

Protesters fed pigs’ blood to live pigs at the gates of parliament in the capital Nairobi to symbolise a political class widely regarded as greedy and corrupt.

Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s new president and its richest man, said last week that holding down the state wage bill was key to directing public funds into economic development. But the appeal was lost on lawmakers, whose pay has been set at 532,000 shillings ($6,300) per month by the state’s

Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). Handouts by politicians are common in Kenya, and MPs say they need more money to help pay constituents’ school and medical expenses, as well as to reflect their stature.

They are demanding basic monthly pay of about 850,000 shillings, excluding other allowances - similar to what lawmakers were paid during the last parliament. Kenyatta increased the minimum wage by 14 percent this month to 6,498 shillings ($77.54) a month - although many of the 80 percent of Kenyan workers employed in the informal sector earn less than this. In January, hundreds of demonstrators torched coffins outside parliament in protest at legislators who had voted to triple their end-of-term bonuses - an increase that outgoing president Mwai Kibaki refused to sign into law. —Reuters

Bulgaria party scuppers idea of broad coalition SOFIA: Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish party MRF rejected working with a nationalist party yesterday, scuppering chances of a broad coalition government and deepening the political stalemate in the European Union’s poorest country. The nationalist Attack has emerged as kingmaker after an inconclusive election on Sunday. But its anti-Roma and anti-Turkish policies and pledges of nationalisations may alarm the EU and make it difficult for other parties to work with. “There can’t be a coalition between MRF and Attack in any form,” MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan told national radio station BNR. “This would be an absolute distortion of policy and I will not participate in this process.”

Other parties refuse to work with the largest group, the centre-right GERB, because of its tarnished reputation after it resigned from government in February but they are struggling to achieve a majority without it.

Turnout in the election was the lowest in Bulgaria’s post-communist history at 51 percent, reflecting deep discontent among many voters with a political class they view as corrupt and self-interested, and a lack of viable alternatives.

Businessmen fear that an unstable government or a broad coalition may pursue policies such as unsustainable wage increases and nationalisations to buy popularity and keep itself in power at any cost. Bulgaria struggles to supply running water and reliable electricity to some of its citizens, two million of whom have left since the 1989 fall of communism.

Many villages are dying, full of collapsing buildings and populated only by the elderly.

Options for a new government are limited because of the shunning of GERB. A combination of the second largest, the Socialists, and MRF - which represents ethnic Turks who make up a tenth of the 7.3 million population would be one seat short of a majority, almost complete results show.

The only other group in the 240-seat parliament will be Attack, some of whose members style themselves as Nazis. Socialist leader Sergei Stanishev said he would seek backing for a technocrat administration that could

also draw support from protester groups that are not in parliament. It would provide a stable government, try to create more jobs and raise salaries, he said. He may try to secure informal backing from individual GERB and Attack MPs to edge over the finishing line and urged a quick solution as he believes the interim administration is closely linked to GERB and unable to make long-term policy.

“The situation in the country requires legitimate institutions and fast action. The interim government’s lack of power cannot continue,” Stanishev said.

With jobless at an eight-year high and an average monthly wage of Ä400 ($520), many Bulgarians are deeply unhappy. Seven people set themselves on fire during protests against low living standards and graft and discontent may spill over again. The political uncertainty should not undermine expected growth of about 1 percent this year but the interim government will not be able to push important health, judicial and education reforms to unlock longer term economic potential. “Extended talks for forming a government are not so worrisome, as the interim government is not doing a bad job,” said Tsvetan Simeonov, head of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “It will be much worse if we end up with a government that sends us years back.” An unstable government or a broad coalition - that spends time debating ideological issues rather than pushing policies to spur growth - would do little to reassure business, said Georgi Angelov, an economist with Open Society Institute, a thinktank. Foreign investment in Bulgaria was only Ä1.5 billion last year and virtually dried up in the first three months. If no group can secure a majority Bulgaria will have new elections - possibly in September until when the interim government, which has kept debt low in the last three months, will stay in place. But there has been little sign of renewed protests since the election, with only about 200 people rallying after polling closed, waving Bulgarian flags, burning torches and chanting “Mafia” where GERB was due to hold a press conference. —Reuters

LONDON/WASHINGTON: British Prime Minister David Cameron faced questions about his leadership yesterday after he buckled to pressure from within the Conservative Party to bring forward draft legislation enforcing a referendum on Britain’s European Union membership. Just hours after US President Barack Obama cautioned against rushing towards the EU exit, Cameron was forced by a rebellion in his party into promising a bill that would pave the way for an in-out vote on Europe. But the more Cameron concedes to his Eurosceptic lawmakers, the more they want, deepening the 25-year battle in his party over Europe and undermining his own chances of leading the party to victory in a general election set for 2015.

Divisions over Europe helped bring down the last two Conservative prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and many politicians compared Cameron’s position to that of Major whose premiership was riven by rows over Europe. “There is no way that he (Cameron) can give in any further because he’s undermining his own position,” said Sheila Gunn, who served as spokeswoman to Major. “Every time he gives in, the so-called rebels who want Britain to get out of the EU very quickly - will just ask for something more. It’s unravelling the knitting. Every time they pull at that knitting, they unravel a bit, they then ask for something more and now it’s getting to the point where it’s affecting his own position.”

Cameron’s advisers hope the draft bill on an EU vote will end the bickering that has damaged the party. But opponents said that by caving in on such a grave issue, Cameron has lost control of his own party and increased the chances of a challenge to his leadership.

A Downing Street spokesman insisted Cameron was in charge yesterday and dismissed the idea that his government was in chaos. “David Cameron’s weakness has turned a European issue into a leadership issue,” Labour foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Alexander said.

Cameron’s offer of draft legislation marked a climbdown from a promise he made in January to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership and then hold a referendum by the end of 2017. But some lawmakers had called for further concessions and media reports said Cameron’s leadership could be challenged.

Potential rivals include London Mayor Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Michael Gove.

The three eurosceptic Conservative Party leaders who followed Major failed to get into power and Cameron, in his first conference speech as party leader, warned that Conservatives had become too obsessed

by Europe. “While parents worried about childcare, getting the kids to school, balancing work and family life we were banging on about Europe,” he told the party conference in Oct 2006. But since coming to power in a coalition government three years ago, the Conservatives have been rattled by the popularity of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), which campaigns for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU and tighter immigration laws.

A Guardian/ICM poll showed that UKIP’s support had surged to a record high of 18 percent, while support for Britain’s traditional parties had fallen by 4 percentage points each. UKIP took a quarter of the vote in local elections this month and unless Cameron can convince his party that he can win the next election he is likely to face more challenges to his leadership. “With the story changing every day, it’s very reminiscent of the old John Major days where, really, the government appears to be being blown around by events,” said UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

The Guardian poll put Labour on 34 percent, the Conservatives on 28 percent and their coalition part-

bills, education and the economy are far more important.

Cameron’s bid to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s membership has concerned the United States which has warned London that it would lose influence in the world if it did leave the world’s biggest economic bloc.

Obama told Cameron on Monday that EU membership was an expression of British influence but delighted Cameron’s advisers by appearing to endorse his attempt to fix the relationship. Germany and France, the only EU economies bigger than Britain, have warned that Cameron cannot “cherry pick” EU policy.

Cameron’s policy has also divided his two-party coali-

BOSTON: British Prime Minister David Cameron (right) and Massachusetts Gov Deval Patrick visit the makeshift memorial to the Boston Marathon bombing victims in Copley Square yesterday. —AP ners the Liberal Democrats on 11 percent. UKIP’s poll rating has climbed steadily since Cameron’s pledge in January to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership and hold a referendum by the end of 2017.

Cameron’s referendum promise then failed to satisfy Conservative critics who have been pressing him to bring forward the vote to before the next national election in 2015 or to pass a law committing the party to holding a vote by the end of 2017. Many Conservatives say they want to be part of the EU’s single market but that the closer integration of the euro zone means Britain should renegotiate its membership or leave.

About half of British voters want to leave the European Union, which is viewed as anti-democratic and bureaucratic by many British politicians, but for voters utility

tion and the EU vote bill is almost certain be opposed by their pro-EU coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.

Despite Cameron’s latest concession, up to 100 Eurosceptic Conservative members of parliament are still expected to back a different amendment this week criticising legislative plans unveiled by the government because they did not include such a bill.

Conservative lawmaker John Baron, one of the two figures behind the amendment, said Cameron’s promise of a draft bill would not persuade him to back down. “I am sticking by what I am saying. They know that this option could very well fail,” he told Reuters. “A far better approach would be to have the courage to support our amendment on Wednesday.” —Reuters

Mali president vows polls donors gather BRUSSELS: Mali’s president pledged yesterday that July elections, a key goal of the troubled country’s backers, will go ahead as he prepared for a donors conference meant to help Bamako move on from war and a two-year political crisis. “We will do everything so that the elections can begin on July 28,” Traore said in Brussels, adding: “Failure to hold the elections would cause even more problems.” The president said neither he nor his ministers would stand in the polls, seen as essential to restoring democratic rule after a military coup in 2012 paved the way for Islamist rebels to seize control of the north. France, Mali’s former colonial power, sent in troops in January to fight the AlQaeda-linked rebels who were then advancing on the capital Bamako, pushing them back. Wednesday’s conference will be attended by French President Francois Hollande, Traore, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and heads of state from several west African countries, with some 100 delegations in all. “The aim is to find nearly 1.9 billion euros ($2.4 billion),” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said earlier yesterday. “Security is largely in place... now the need is for democracy, dialogue and development, and these go together. And for that, we need money,” Fabius told RTL Radio.

Barroso announced yesterday after meeting Traore that the EU would contribute Ä520 million while diplomatic sources said France would offer some Ä280 million. The French-led offensive has pushed

the Islamists out of the main cities and into desert and mountain hideouts from where they are staging guerrilla attacks. France, in the process of withdrawing its troops, insists the war is drawing to a close. “We are in the process of winning the war, now we must find peace,” Fabius said. “For that, we need economic development.” The international community hopes the July elections will produce an effective government but Mali’s national electoral commission has said it will be difficult to hold polls so soon. The impov-

erished country is badly in need of help to repair the damage caused by the war and to offer some hope of bringing together its disparate political groups. The funds targeted at the conference will cover about 45 percent of the costs of a reconstruction plan drawn up for this year and next by Bamako.

“Mali really needs the money to re-establish basic services such as water, electricity, health and administration, especially in the northern areas,” one EU official said.

EU officials say the war has resulted in

BRUSSELS: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (right) poses with President of Mali Dioncounda Traore prior to their working session yesterday at the EU Headquarters. —AFP

some 500,000 refugees, with three quarters of them displaced to the southern part of the country. Some two million people have no secure food supply while 600,000 children are threatened by malnutrition, with conditions on the ground difficult for providing aid. Besides humanitarian aid, the EU is training Mali’s ramshackle armed forces to bring them up to standard on both their military role and responsibilities to civil society.

EU sources stressed the need for progress in reforming the army and bolstering the country’s democratic credentials, with July’s planned elections essential. The process is “about political reconstruction as much as economic reconstruction,” one source said.

The new government will have to lead Mali out of a crisis that has crippled the country since Tuareg rebels launched a rebellion in January 2012 for independence of the north. They overwhelmed government troops, leading to the military coup in Bamako which opened the way for hardline Islamists to chase out their former Tuareg allies and seize key northern cities before moving on the south.

France meanwhile has begun withdrawing its 4,500 troops deployed in Mali and handing over the reins to a 6,300-strong force, the International Mission for Support to Mali (MISMA). Paris has said about 1,000 soldiers will remain in Mali beyond this year to back up a UN force that is to replace MISMA. This UN force of 12,600 peacekeepers, to be responsible for stabilising the north, will be phased in gradually from July. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

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

Bloomberg apologizes amid report of leaks Clients’ private messages leaked online LOS ANGELES: Financial data and news service Bloomberg LP moved to repair damage to its reputation Monday as a published report said that more than 10,000 of its clients’ private messages containing sensitive pricing data had been leaked online. The report came the same day Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler apologized for the news service’s practice of allowing its journalists to access data about how clients used the company’s financial data services.

Reporters have had access to the data, Winkler said, since the 1990s but it was revoked last month after investment bank Goldman Sachs complained. Bloomberg’s data services provide financial-market information and news, an instant messaging program and trading platforms to users. The services, which are mainly accessed by way of the company’s proprietary computer terminals, are widely used in the financial industry and beyond.

More than 315,000 clients pay roughly $20,000 per year for the right to use them. The mishaps involving Bloomberg’s handling of what traders had thought was private information were seen as damaging but not insurmountable for the news juggernaut founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 1981. Bloomberg LP and its rival Thomson Reuters Corp. each have around a 30 percent share of the $25.5 billion market for financial data and investment services, according to Douglas B Taylor, founder and managing partner of BurtonTaylor International Consulting LLC, which tracks the industry.

Bloomberg’s annual revenue was $7.9 billion in 2012, about 85 percent of which was generated from terminal sales.

Because both companies have different strengths - Bloomberg in debt markets and Thomson Reuters in foreign exchange - Taylor said he doubts the latest incidents will spark mass cancellations among Bloomberg’s clients. Traders need to operate on platforms with the most active buyers and sellers in a given market. “If you aren’t a part of it, you could potentially end up executing transactions at less favorable prices,” he said. Other observers shared the view.

“This is an embarrassment for Bloomberg, but I don’t think it’s likely to cause any significant disruptions in market share,” said Peter Appert, an analyst for investment bank Piper Jaffray & Co. “Most large contracts are long-term and very sticky, so as long as Bloomberg goes into appropriate damage control (ie apologies, puts in safeguards etc), we do not see a big shift in market share,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Drew McReynolds said in an email. A spokeswoman for Bloomberg would not immediately confirm the leak reported by The Financial Times. The newspaper said Monday that messages between traders at dozens of large banks from one day in 2009 and one in 2010 had been put online by a former Bloomberg employee.

The Financial Times said it was possible the employee intended them to be uploaded to a secure site. The company told the newspaper that the post was a “clear violation of our policies” and added that it is considering legal action.

Earlier Monday, Winkler apologized in an online post. He explained that journalists at Bloomberg News, until recently, had been able to see when clients last accessed their Bloomberg terminals. They were also able to view broad categories of functions that clients used, such as

one that looks up credit ratings.

When a client enters a command such as “BANKS,” for example, the terminal brings up a table of credit default swap prices for 30 banks.

Before the recent changes, a Bloomberg journalist would be able to see the most frequently used commands by a particular user in the past week. Goldman Sachs had complained to Bloomberg management about the practice after a Bloomberg reporter told the company that she had used log-in data as a clue in her investigation into whether a Goldman employee had departed. “Our client is right,” Winkler said in

NEW YORK: The Bloomberg LP Tower, which houses Bloomberg News, is shown in New York. Bloomberg LP, a financial data and news company, said it has corrected a ‘mistake’ in its news gathering policies and cut off its journalists’ special access to client login activity on the company’s ubiquitous trading information terminals after Goldman Sachs complained about the matter last month. — AP

the post. “Our reporters should not have access to any data considered proprietary. I am sorry they did. The error is inexcusable.”

The Federal Reserve is looking into whether Bloomberg journalists tracked data about terminal usage by top Fed officials. In a brief statement Monday, the European Central Bank said it “takes the protection of confidentiality very seriously and our experts are in close contact with Bloomberg.” Bloomberg News is owned by Bloomberg LP, a private company controlled by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is reported to own about an 85 percent share. The mayor is not involved in day-to-day decision-making at the company but he can be involved in such major things as asset sales or borrowing.

He declined to comment on the matter at an event Monday about the progress made cleaning up a polluted city canal. “I can’t say anything,” he said, invoking a longstanding city Conflict of Interest Board ruling that limits his involvement in the company. “You’d have to talk to the company.” Although Bloomberg LP’s main business is selling terminals to clients in the financial industry, its news service employs more than 2,400 journalists.

Bloomberg News reporters had also been able to see if subscribers had been looking at top news stories, or if they had been gathering data on stocks or bonds, but not which stories or bonds and stocks they had looked up, according to Bloomberg LP spokesman Ty Trippet.

He said reporters could also see if subscribers were using “message” or “chat” functions to send messages to each other over the terminals, but not the recipient of the messages or their content. Reporters were mostly getting contact information for subscribers, such as telephone numbers and email addresses, Trippet said.

Bloomberg cut journalists off from this type of access last month, after the Goldman complaint. In the posting Monday, Winkler drew a distinction between this type of data and “important” customer data, which he said has not been compromised. Several investment banks and brokerage firms that use Bloomberg data services declined to comment Monday. Representatives for a couple of the firms voiced doubts that the revelations would change their firms’ use of Bloomberg terminals.

Ethics and privacy experts roundly criticized the practice that had been in place for years. Mark Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the breach was like giving unrelated people access to an individual’s search history in Google.

“When people use services like Bloomberg, or for that matter, Google Search, information is retained for much longer than most people imagine,” he said. “That creates a privacy risk when information is disclosed to parties that really don’t have a basis to get access to it.”

Caesar Andrews, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, Reynolds School of Journalism, said the accessing of client data by Bloomberg reporters was an inappropriate, clear-cut violation of basic ethics. “It’s not hard to imagine that companies will want some sturdy form of verification or assurance that this will no longer happen,” Andrews said. “I can’t imagine companies are just going to shrug their shoulders and say, ‘this happens every now and again, let’s move on.’” — AP

Obama tries to swat down controversies White House on the defensive; Republicans emboldened

FLORIDA: Rafael Lucas holds a sign reading ‘Obama Put a Stop to Deportation’ as he and others participate in a rally calling on President Barack Obama to immediately suspend deportations and for Congress to pass an immigration reform that’s inclusive of all 11 million undocumented people in the US. — AFP

High-tech companies seeking concessions in immigration bill WASHINGTON: High-tech companies looking to bring more skilled workers to the US pushed Monday for more concessions in an immigration bill pending in the Senate. Labor unions said these companies had already obtained enough in the legislation and further changes risked chipping away at protections for US workers. The clash is set to play out in a congressional hearing room this week as the Senate Judiciary Committee resumes consideration of amendments to sweeping legislation remaking the nation’s immigration system.

At issue are the highly sought-after H-1B visas that allow companies like Google and Microsoft to bring workers to the US to fill job openings for engineers, computer software experts, and other positions where employers say there’s a shortage of US workers. The legislation increases the number of these visas that are available, but also adds in a number of restrictions designed to ensure US workers get a first shot at jobs. Those protections were championed by Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat and a Judiciary Committee member who is also part of the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” senators who authored the immigration legislation. But high-tech companies have their own champion on the Judiciary Committee: Republican Sen Orrin Hatch, who’s prepared a slew of amendments to help their cause. Hatch is seen as a potential swing vote on the immigration bill so backers of the legislation, who are working assiduously to ensure their bill passes the Senate with as many votes as possible, would like to court his support.

But Durbin opposes Hatch’s efforts and he and other Democrats are under pressure from organized labor not to go along. “We deemed the current language in the bill to be the compromise.

After all, high tech got an awful lot of what it wanted, including the visa limit going up nearly threefold,” said Tom Snyder, immigration campaign manager for the AFL-CIO labor federation.

“Now they want to compromise the compromise.”

Robert Hoffman, senior vice president for government affairs at the Information Technology Industry Council, disagreed. He said that the changes sought by Hatch, whose state is increasingly becoming a major high-tech employer, mostly amount to mechanical fixes to ensure the high-tech provisions work to boost economic growth and job creation in the US. “It’s very important that the H-1B be workable and I think that’s what we’re trying to fix,” Hoffman said.

“Because the reality is the legislation as drafted in our view runs the risk of pushing work and investment that could come through temporary visas outside the United States.” The Information Technology Industry Council joined dozens of other business groups and state and local chambers of commerce and technology councils in sending a letter to Judiciary Committee members Monday outlining their concerns about the hightech language in the bill.

The bill would raise the cap on H-1B visas from the current 65,000 annually to 110,000, with the potential to adjust upward to 180,000 depending on how many visa applications are received and what the unemployment rate is. High-tech companies said the unemployment rate shouldn’t be a factor because it might not reflect actual demand for skilled workers. Hatch has an amendment to make that change. High-tech companies also are concerned about a new provision requiring them to show they have tried to recruit US workers before hiring anyone on an H-1B visa. Hatch would limit the requirement only to companies that are more heavily dependent on H-1B visas, so that it wouldn’t apply to a number of US tech companies. Hatch also has an amendment to change a requirement in the bill seeking to ensure that US workers are not displaced by the hiring of foreigners. The Judiciary Committee meets Tuesday, but the consideration of the bulk of Hatch’s amendments looked likely to be put off until Thursday to give senators time to see if they could reach a resolution. —AP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama tried to swat down a pair of brewing controversies that have put the White House on the defensive, emboldened Republican lawmakers and threatened to overtake his second-term agenda, already off to a rocky start.

Republicans ramped up criticism following recent disclosures that talking points on the attack on a US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya produced by the intelligence community were later watered down to delete references to the suspected involvement Islamic militants.

The second scandal controversy involved disclosures that the US tax agency, the Internal Revenue Service, had targeted conservative groups in the runup to the 2012 election. Obama on Monday dismissed Republican criticism of his administration’s handling of the Benghazi attack, calling the criticism a political sideshow. The president also said that he didn’t know about the tax controversy until he learned about it from news reports last week and pledged to find out what happened. Simultaneous investigations have put the White House on the defensive, however, with Republicans demanding more. During a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, the normally even keeled Obama appeared agitated over the resurgent investigation into the September attack at a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi. He dismissed the Republican-driven effort as a “sideshow” that dishonors the four Americans who were killed, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

“There’s no there,” Obama declared in his first public comments since Republican lawmakers launched new hearings on the matter. “The fact that this keeps on getting churned up, frankly, has a whole lot to do with political motivations.” Seeking to keep another controversy from spinning out of control, the president rebuked the US tax collection agency for scrutinizing the tax-exempt status of groups with conservative sounding names. Those responsible, Obama said, must be held “fully accountable.” “I’ve got no patience with it,” he added. “I will not tolerate it and we will find out exactly what happened.”

The president said he first learned of the matter Friday when it was reported by news organizations.

Spokesman Jay Carney said later that the White House counsel’s office was alerted on April 22 that the tax agency’s inspector general was completing a review of an office in Cincinnati. Neither issue appears to be going away any time soon. On Monday, Rep Darrell

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama returns after attending events including an event for the DNC in New York City. — AP Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked authors of an independent government review into the Benghazi attack to meet privately with committee investigators.

And the House Ways and Means Committee said it plans to hold a hearing on the tax matter on Friday.

The two controversies are the latest in a series of unexpected challenges that have consumed the White House since Obama began his second term in January.

Among the others: the Boston Marathon bombings, Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons and fresh nuclear provocations from North Korea. It’s hardly the start Obama’s team envisioned after he solidly won reelection in November.

The White House had hoped to achieve an early victory on immigration overhaul, make another run at a sweeping deficit reduction deal, and perhaps take a stab at tackling climate change.

But those plans were upended even before Obama’s inauguration, when the horrific December

massacre of 20 school children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, thrust gun control to the forefront of Obama’s domestic agenda. That legislative effort failed on Capitol Hill last month, leaving Obama with a political defeat and giving critics of immigration reform more time to organize their opposition.

Obama still has an opportunity to reverse course and claim a big second-term victory if immigration changes can be approved. Draft legislation being debated in the Senate has bipartisan support, and Republicans have a political incentive to back an overhaul given the growing political power of Hispanic voters, who voted overwhelmingly Democratic in 2012.

For the White House, the challenge will be to keep Capitol Hill focused on immigration and other legislative priorities, not a persistent cycle of investigations.

“The American people want Washington to focus on the issues that matter most to them,” Carney said Monday. “The imperative for getting things done still exists.”—AP

Canada Liberals win Newfoundland seat OTTAWA: Canada’s Liberals regained a seat in the House of Commons on Monday in a race viewed as an early test of the popularity of the party’s new leader, Justin Trudeau, son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Liberal candidate Yvonne Jones had 50.8 percent of the vote and incumbent Conser vative Peter Penashue only 29.1 percent, with 86 of the 91 polls reporting. The third largest party in the House of Commons, the Liberals have vaulted to first place in national polls since Trudeau won the party’s leadership a month ago. He campaigned hard to retake the seat in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, on Canada’s Atlantic coast.

“Today we have demonstrated that the Liberal message of hope and hard work is resonating, and that Canadians are tired of the Conservatives’ politics of cynicism, division and fear,” Trudeau, 41, said in a statement, pledging that the victory in Newfoundland

was only the beginning. Penashue, who had served as intergovernmental affairs minister, resigned in March after it emerged that his campaign accepted illegal corporate donations in the 2011 general election. His campaign also spent more than the C$84,468 ($83,362) limit.

He blamed an inexperienced campaign official for the violations and said he knew nothing about the issues, but the scandal cost the Conservatives their only seat in the province.

The Liberals have held it for 58 of the 64 years that Newfoundland and Labrador has been part of Canada. The results marked the first time the Conservative Party failed to defend a seat between general elections since it was formed as a merger of two rival right-wing parties in 2003.

The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, have been in power since 2006. The next federal election is due in October 2015. Defense

Minister Peter MacKay, campaigning on Penashue’s behalf, had said that Penashue was guaranteed a seat in cabinet as the only member of Parliament from Newfoundland.

Trudeau, a former teacher, has been in Parliament for less than five years, and his leadership victory reflected both his family name and his personal magnetism. His father was prime minister for all but nine months from 1968-84.

Past efforts by Trudeau on behalf of other candidates before he became party leader had proved less successful, failing to produce Liberal seats in special elections last November or in a similar Toronto area election two years earlier. Opinion polls for April, the month when Trudeau became party leader, put the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives nationally for the first time since June 2009, with an average 33.4 percent support, compared to 30.2 percent for the Conservatives. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

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

Malala father honored in Oklahoma Taleban ‘more afraid of the books than bombs’ OKLAHOMA CITY: A Pakistani human rights activist who founded an all-girls school said the Taleban was “more afraid of the books than bombs” as he and his 15-year-old daughter, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taleban late last year, were honored Monday at the memorial for Oklahoma City bombing victims.

Ziauddin Yousafzai decried political violence during a ceremony held to honor him and his daughter, Malala Yousafzai, who has been recovering in Great Britain since the shooting that garnered international attention. The annual Reflections of Hope Award is given out by the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museums in honor of the 168 people who died in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.

The elder Yousafzai said Pakistani citizens are all too familiar with the kind of political extremism that led to the Oklahoma attack, as well as the Sept 11 terrorist attacks and the Boston Marathon bombings last month. “We share the pain. We share the suffering,” he said. “We have tragedies like Boston every day.” He denounced the violence inflicted by Taleban insurgents that has

taken the lives of tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers over the past 30 years. He said the Islamic fundamentalists advocate an “ideology of darkness”

where truth is stifled and education is discouraged. “My part of the world is bleeding. I’m here to bring my people out of terrorism,” he said.

OKLAHOMA: Ziauddin Yousafzai (left) reacts after receiving the Reflections of Hope Award from Kari Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, in Oklahoma City. —AP

The award began in 2005, and past recipients include the Rev. Alex Reid of Dublin, Ireland, for his life’s work in the peace process in Northern Ireland, and Durga Ghimire, who co-founded a community-based organization dedicated to improving the lives of marginalized people in Nepal. President Bill Clinton, who was president when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred, also has been honored. Yousafzai accepted the award on his daughter’s behalf during his first trip to the United States since the Taleban’s assassination attempt on Malala. In a recorded acceptance speech, she said the Oklahoma memorial’s recognition served as encouragement to continue being an advocate for the right of girls worldwide to receive an education.

“It’s more courage. It’s more strength,” said Malala, who returned to school in England in March. Yousafzai founded the all-girls Khushal Public School 17 years ago to foster female leadership in an area where the Taleban has banned girls from attending school. His daughter also was an activist who attended the school until Oct 9, when the Taleban shot her in the head and neck while she was riding the school bus home. The Taleban said it targeted her because she

Beijing tightens grip on discourse and ideology Chinese authorities shut down microblog accounts BEIJING: Chinese authorities have shut down or frozen the microblog accounts of several prominent liberal intellectuals and harassed rights lawyers lobbying against unofficial “black jails,” underlining the determination of the country’s new leadership to control dissent even as it vows to root out corruption. The moves over the last few days occurred around the time officials announced that a senior official was being investigated for graft, months after a prominent journalist accused him of wrongdoing.

The probe against Liu Tienan, deputy chairman of China’s economic planning agency, was heralded by the Chinese press as proof that the battle against corruption is best fought when authorities allow public participation. “The authorities and the people combined their strengths in this case, and it is an encouragement to the public’s power in fighting corruption,” said a state-run daily, the Beijing News, in a commentary.

But in other instances, the authoritarian government has shown an unwavering intent to clamp down on anyone who seeks to publicly pressure it into social or political change. The message appears to be that if any reform is on the agenda, the Communist Party will push it through on its own terms. “The controls are tighter than ever,” said Li Cheng, an expert on China’s elite politics at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. “The challenges are greater, so the suppression is escalating.”

Small groups of activists have been detained in Beijing and other cities for holding banners calling for officials to publicly declare their assets - a key anti-graft measure that the government has been reluctant to implement. One activist, Liu Ping, has

been accused of inciting subversion, a vaguely worded charge frequently used to suppress dissidents. Authorities are also maintaining a years-long effort to quash legal activism.

On Monday, several rights lawyers attempting to visit one of China’s unofficial detention centers - also known as “black jails” - in the southwestern city of Ziyang were beaten by unidentified men, said Beijing attorney Li Heping, who was contacted by one of the lawyers. The efforts to police discourse are also being ramped up in the Chinese blogosphere, where users often challenge the government’s version of events and its control over information.

Over the weekend, authorities apparently removed all microblog accounts belonging to the writer Hao Qun, better known by his pen name Murong Xuecun, from four different sites.

His subsequent efforts to set up new accounts have been blocked, he said. No explanation was provided for the shutdown of his accounts on the popular Sina Corp platform, Weibo, and three other microblogging sites, Hao said. He said his Weibo account had about 4 million followers. “The ruling party is losing in the field of public opinion, which is threatening its legitimacy,” Hao said. “Now, they must exert tighter control, and that’s why they have gone on the offense in public opinion.”

The blog closure could have been related to Hao’s recent post of a two-line verse critical of the party’s authoritarian rule, or his posts criticizing the freezing of a microblog belonging to He Bing, an outspoken, liberal professor at the China University of Political Science and Law. In a rare move, the official China Internet Network

Information Center explained in state media reports Friday that He’s account had been suspended because he was “intentionally spreading rumors.” The professor has issued a statement protesting the suspension as being illegal. “It is every citizen’s responsibility to unswervingly promote a government that rules by law,” He said.

The ratcheting up of controls on Chinese microblog platforms - targeting verified accounts of well-known opinion leaders with hundreds of thousands of followers appears designed to send warnings that China’s leaders will not give ground to its political critics, no matter how popular they might be. President Xi Jinping has made fighting official corruption a priority, and the investigation against Liu had suggested that the government was willing to allow the public to play a role.

The investigation was foreshadowed by public allegations against him five months ago by Luo Changping, deputy chief editor of Caijing magazine. The official probe against Liu was announced Sunday, and on Tuesday state media reported that Liu has been removed from his posts as part of investigations into “serious disciplinary violations.” At the same time, there are concerns that the government is cracking down on the kind of public discourse that could help expose official misdeeds.

Rumors have begun to circulate online that party authorities issued a directive to some college campuses that seven topics are now barred from class discussion, including press freedom, judicial independence, civil rights, civil society and the party’s historic mistakes. The rumor could not be verified. Several law and politics professors contacted by the AP said they

had not directly seen or heard about such an instruction, nicknamed the “Seven Don’t Mentions.” Several academics said it would be impossible to enforce. He Weifang, a legal scholar at Peking University, said no topic has been off-limits in his classroom. “I can speak of everything.

There is nothing that cannot be discussed,” he said. “If the law does not talk about civil rights, there’s no law, because the law is about protecting one’s rights.”

Veteran journalist Gao Yu said that an edict, or the rumors of one, could be related to a broader ideological strategy laid out by the party’s new leadership in an unpublicized meeting earlier this year that identifies seven key “problems” propaganda officials should tackle. She said they include the concept of democracy and constitutionalism, civil society, neoliberalism and the Western concept of the press.

The strategy was laid out in a document issued by the general office of the party’s central committee, the contents of which were briefly leaked online, Gao said. She said she verified details of the document with retired, high-ranking propaganda officials.

Measures recommended in the document include efforts to “better broadcast” the party’s voice and “strengthen the party’s leadership of the media,” Gao said. Gao expressed concern that the new leadership was veering toward the more authoritarian era of Mao Zedong that lasted into the 1970s. “We can see that the party currently faces a lot of problems, from environment pollution to the income gap,” Gao said. “But this marks a big step backwards. Who would have known that they are going back to Mao Zedong’s era?” —AP

Japan distances itself from ‘comfort women’ comment Wartime sex slaves were necessary: Japan’s mayor TOKYO: The Japanese government yesterday distanced itself from comments by a prominent politician that the so-called “comfort women” of WWII served a “necessary” role by keeping troops in check. Outspoken Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said soldiers living with the daily threat of death needed some way to let off steam which was provided by the comfort women system. Up to 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military in territories occupied by Japan during WWII, according to many mainstream historians.

“When soldiers risk their lives under a hail of bullets, and you want to give them a rest somewhere, it is clear that you need a comfort women system,” Hashimoto said.

South Korea voiced “deep disappointment” over the comments, which risk inflaming Japan’s relationship with neighbors that were victims of brutal expansionism and who claim Tokyo has never faced up to its warmongering past.

“There is worldwide recognition... that the issue of comfort women amounts to a wartime rape committed by Japan during its past imperial period in a serious breach of human rights,” a Seoul foreign ministry spokesman said.

“Our government again urges Japan’s prominent officials to show regret for atrocities committed during Japan’s imperial period and to correct their anachronistic way of thinking and comments.” In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was “shocked and strongly infuriated” at the comments. “Forced conscription of comfort women was a serious crime committed by Japanese militarism during the Second World War and it is also a major human rights issue concerning the dignity of victims,” he said. “How to deal with its past will decide how Japan can embrace the future.”

Hashimoto, who is co-leader of the national Japan Restoration Party, acknowledged that some women providing sexual services to Japan’s soldiers did so “against their will”, something he attributed to “the tragedy of

war”. But he said there was no evidence this had been officially sanctioned by the state and that the use of prostitutes by servicemen was not unique to Japan. “There are many examples” of unacceptable and brutal behavior by soldiers in wartime and “to contain such things, it is a cold

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto

fact that a certain system like comfort women was necessary”, he said.

Japan’s top government spokesman and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga yesterday refused to comment directly on Hashimoto’s remarks. However, he said: “The government’s position on the comfort women issue is that, as I repeatedly said here, we feel pains towards people who experienced hardships that are beyond description and (this) administration shares the view held by past governments.” In a landmark 1993 statement, the Japanese government offered “sincere apologies” for the “immeasurable pain and suffering” inflicted on comfort women. Two years later, Japan issued a broader apology expressing “deep remorse” for war suffering. The 1993 statement remains passionately opposed by some Japanese conservatives who contend that the country did not directly coerce women.

Despite a hawkish stance on history, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated last week he does not intend to backtrack on these apologies. Japan’s shared history with its Asian neighbors looms over present-day relations, which are also strained by separate territorial disputes with Seoul and Beijing. Both capitals say Tokyo has not shown sufficient contrition for its WWII behavior. But many in Japan feel nationalists abroad use the issue as a stick to beat it for their own domestic ends.

Hashimoto, who was once mentioned as a possible future prime minister, said Monday that Japan bears responsibility for the war and urged compassion for victims. “(Comfort women were) a result of the tragedy of war so we have to take care with thoughtfulness of those people who became comfort women against their will,” he said. Shintaro Ishihara, a former Tokyo governor and the other co-leader of the Japan Restoration Party, came to Hashimoto’s defense yesterday, arguing prostitutes and militaries have co-existed throughout history. “Although Mr Hashimoto’s comments are unpleasant to hear, he is not saying anything wrong,” he said. —AFP

promoted girls’ education and “Western thinking.”

Prior to the shooting, Malala spoke out about having the right to speak and to an education. In a video clip played during the ceremony, she said: “I want every girl, every child, to be educated.” The shooting sparked outrage in Pakistan and other countries, and Malala’s story captured global attention for the struggle for women’s rights in her homeland. Malala was airlifted to Britain from Pakistan to receive specialized medical care and protection against further Taleban threats. She had surgery to reconstruct her skull in February.

Ziauddin Yousafzai said he was honored to be known largely as Malala’s father in Pakistan’s male-oriented society and dedicated the award to fathers, brothers, sons and husbands “who believe and who accept and who respect their daughters, their sisters, their mothers and their wives.” “They are individuals and they are equal to them,” he said. As he concluded, dozens of teenage girls from nearly three dozen Oklahoma communities entered the stage behind him holding signs that read: “I am Malala.” He encouraged them: “We should defeat bad ideas with good ideas.” —AP

News

in brief

Japan seizes Taiwan boat TOKYO: Japan yesterday seized a Taiwanese fishing boat inside its exclusive economic zone, the first incident since Tokyo and Taipei signed a fishing rights accord for disputed waters, the Fisheries Agenc y said. The Taiwanese fishing boat was spotted in waters near Taketomi island, part of Japan’s southern Okinawa chain, the agency said. One of the agency’s patrol ships seized the boat and arrested the captain, it said. The incident occurred outside the waters that are at the centre of a three-way territorial tussle involving Taipei, Tokyo and Beijing for which Japan and Taiwan have agreed fishing rights. Under the agreement, Taiwanese trawlers are permitted to fish in waters off East China Sea islands controlled by Japan as the Senkakus, but also claimed by China and Taiwan as the Diaoyus.

‘Mystery substance’ sent to US Consulate in China BEIJING: US officials say an envelope containing an unidentified substance was sent to the US Consulate General in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, disrupting operations at the diplomatic building. Deputy spokesman Justin Higgins at the US Embassy in Beijing says the envelope was opened Monday in an office where visa interviews are conducted. Higgins says interviews scheduled for yesterday have been cancelled while an investigation is carried out. He says no one was injured and that precautionary measures have been taken for employees present when the substance was discovered.

He would not describe the substance, which he says has yet to be identified. The website of Guangzhou’s Yangcheng Evening News reported that the substance was a powder and that it had sprinkled onto an employee’s clothes.

Chinese principal detained BEIJING: A school principal and a government worker in China have been detained on suspicion of inappropriate liaisons with six girls under age 14 after the two men took them to separate hotels and spent a night with them, state media and a local government official said yesterday. The girls - all friends in the city of Wanning in the southern province of Hainan - were first found absent from class on the afternoon of May 8, prompting a search by teachers, parents and police before they were located over the following two days, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Four of the girls spent the night of May 8 in a local hotel with a school principal, who has since been fired, Xinhua said.

One of the girls told police that the man identified only by the surname Chen - had been intimate with her. Xinhua did not provide further details of the inappropriate behavior, though the report cited Wanning police as saying medical checks had been performed on the girls and that no sexual intercourse had taken place.

Change in China ‘inevitable’ OSLO: Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng said yesterday that change in his country was “inevitable” but should be the work of the Chinese themselves rather than be imposed from the outside. “China will undergo a transformation, this is inevitable and in fact this has already begun,” said Chen, a blind self-taught lawyer who dramatically escaped house arrest last year.

“We cannot wait for democracy, freedom and equality to come from the outside,” he told the Oslo Freedom Forum, an annual gathering of rights activists. Chen, 41, achieved international prominence for his fight against the harsh measures used to enforce the onechild policy in his country. Sentenced to four years in prison and placed under house arrest, he fled his village last year and took refuge in the US embassy in Beijing. After protracted negotiations between China and the United States, he was finally allowed to leave for New York, where he has since lived with his family.

14

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

ANALYSIS

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

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

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

Issues

Controversies give Obama new headaches

By Fred Barbash President Barack Obama learned on Monday what can happen to presidents caught up in allegations of scandal: they have to address them instead of anything else. It happened when the president had to interrupt his news conference with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain to answer questions about the widening investigation into the Benghazi attacks in Libya and the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups. By the end of the day he was facing a third major problem when the Associated Press said the Department of Justice had secretly seized some of its reporters’ phone records last year.

It is all leading to comparisons with the second term of President Bill Clinton, in which his agenda was severely disrupted by the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Obama, unlike Clinton, has not been accused of personal misconduct. But his ability to steer the Washington “conversation” could be compromised. “I think the IRS scandal comes at a very inopportune time for the president and the Democratic agenda,” said Sarah Binder, a George Washington University scholar of Congress. “The challenge for Obama and the Democrats in the coming weeks and months will be to keep the public’s attention focused on Obama’s policy goals when Republicans and the media will be focused on scandal.”

The problems for Obama and Democrats may be worsened as well by the nature of the IRS behavior: targeting groups for extra scrutiny based on their political leanings reinforces the notion of big government pursuing citizens exercising constitutional rights. It could feed into gun rights activists’ worries about slippery slopes that lead to gun confiscation or gun-owner registries, said one Republican Senate aide, or fears of government “takeovers” of healthcare.

Ron Bonjean, a veteran Republican aide on Capitol Hill who is now a consultant, said even though the IRS is an independent agency, the White House can expect to be blamed by the public for any wrongdoing by it. “The public sees the IRS as part of the federal government, which the White House controls,” Bonjean said. The same might be said of the news that broke Monday that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for the Associated Press.

The potential risk is high for Obama and the Democrats. The Democratic-controlled Senate is considering a comprehensive bipartisan immigration bill that already faces a rough road in the Republican-controlled House, where suspicion of the Obama administration runs highest. “The political fallout will be very damaging for the administration,” said Bonjean. “This will be another issue that takes the administration way off message,” he said.

“There’s no way they can punch through with a positive agenda while investigations of the IRS are going on.”

The IRS scandal could easily spill over into the 2014 mid-term election year. A week ago, Obama was confronting a single investigative proceeding on Capitol Hill on the subject of the deadly attacks on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, last September. It was attracting relatively little public attention outside conservative circles, and he could dismiss as partisan because only Republicans were pushing it. On Monday he confronted the prospect of multiple probes, with those into the IRS backed by Obama’s Democratic allies in Congress as Democrats moved quickly to show they were as concerned as Republicans about alleged IRS abuses.

On top of that, the AP is assessing options for legal action in response to the government’s actions, said David Schulz, an attorney representing the AP. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the White House was not involved in the decision to seize the AP records. The administration’s chief opponent in Congress of late Representative Darrell Issa of California - threatened to add the AP issue to the list of things he is already probing, which include Benghazi and the IRS scandal.

Even without charges of personal misconduct, “staying coherent” in pursuit of an agenda is much more challenging for a president than it was in the Clinton years, said one of his former press secretaries, Mike McCurry. “The environment for communications is so much more complicated now because you have this voracious social media environment in which everything is magnified,” he said.

“We didn’t have that. You could have congressional inquiries and scandals but you could calibrate a little bit and keep an agenda in play.” — Reuters

US

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.

Syria’s savagery will thwart reconciliation

By Oliver Holmes yrian soldiers slowly stab a man to death, puncturing his back dozens of times. A rebel commander bites an organ ripped out of an enemy combatant.

A young boy hacks the head off a prisoner. A soldier mutilates the genitals of a corpse. These are the images of Syrian conflict, the first war in which the prevalence of camera phones and Internet access has allowed hundreds of gruesome war crimes to be broadcast, spreading hatred and fear. They are defining the war that is spilling across Syria’s borders and making reconciliation an ever more distant prospect.

Brutality has been used as a tool since the revolt began two years ago, when videos emerged of government soldiers torturing pro-democracy protesters. In response to the crackdown, the opposition took up arms and now fighters from both sides are filming themselves committing atrocities. Ghoulish footage of violence is not filmed surreptitiously, but with pride by the assailants who often speak to camera.

Rebel commander Abu Sakkar, known to journalists and revered by many rebels, was shown in a video on Sunday cutting organs out of a dead soldier, addressing the camera as he ripped the flesh: “I swear to God we will eat your hearts and your livers,” he warned President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces as his men cheered. Sakkar was a founding member of the Farouq Brigade, one of the main rebel units in Syria, but has since formed his own battalion as the opposition fragments. In the mosaic of hundreds of opposition groups, Sakkar’s men are seen as neither secular nor hardline Islamists, but as some of the hardiest fighters. Another picture posted online shows a rebel holding the severed head of a man, supposedly an Assad loyalist, over a barbecue as if to cook it. The fighter smiles and poses confidently, gripping a tuft of hair.

Reinoud Leenders, an associate professor in the war studies department of King’s College London, says that these brutal displays are used as a tool of war by both sides. “It’s the ultimate expression of disrespect and dehumanising your opponent,” he said. In the face of an insurgency, he says, Assad’s forces have used mass killings and torture to root out rebel fighters hiding among civilians. “The regime has difficulty in pinning down opposition members, so they scare civilians from the area to get the rebels exposed. It looks irrational

S

and emotional but there are rational reasons,” he said.

Nadim Houry, a Syria and Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch, has documented abuses since the start of the revolt and says that he is seeing more and more brutal acts. “Both parties are acting like they are facing an existential threat,” he said. The opposition and the government see the war as a zero sum game, both fighting for survival, he says. This fear of defeat silences condemnation from supporters of both sides, he says.

The main Syrian opposition group condemned the video of a rebel commander taking a bite from the dead soldier but many opposition supporters dismissed the brutality.

On some opposition Facebook pages people celebrated the act. Others berated the media for highlighting one particular event, saying they should focus on indiscriminate killing of men, women and children by Assad’s war planes and militia. The Syrian government has never acknowledged brutality in army ranks, instead referring to people killed by soldiers as “terrorists” and areas captured by its forces as “cleansed”.

Syria’s war started as a popular uprising against the Assad dynasty, which has ruled for over four decades using secret police, intimidation and brute force. But majority Sunni Muslims lead the revolt, while Assad gets his core support from his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism, leading to sectarian fighting and hatred.

International powers have taken sides, with the West and Gulf countries supporting the opposition, while Iran and Russia back Assad. While war crimes are condemned in words, there has been no real deterrent for the perpetrators, which Houry said has allowed atrocities to continue.

“What is particularly troubling is the silence of the international powers,” Houry said. He referred to a recent army and loyalist militia attack in the coastal town of Banias in which at least 62 people, including babies, were killed. “We have been seeing (these massacres) for over a year. What is shocking is the level of indifference. People shrug their shoulders and look away,” said Houry. Since Syria never signed up to the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, the court could only investigate allegations of brutality there with a referral from the United Nations Security Council - something permanent members Russia and China have so far blocked.

The United States and Russia have proposed a peace

conference to try to end the war, but savagery from both sides means that the unlikely event of a peace agreement might not stop atrocities and fighting between increasingly disparate militias. “The ideas of reconciliation are now unrealistic. The conflict is as much about the conflict itself than pro- or anti-regime,” Leenders said. “I see a total mismatch between the US and Russian narrative and what is going on in Syria.”

In its sectarian nature and big power inertia, the Syrian conflict has drawn comparisons with Bosnia, which was torn apart by Serbs, Croats and Muslims in a 1992-95 war that gave the world the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ and was marked by some of the worst atrocities in Europe since World War Two. Almost 17 years since that war ended, the wounds are still raw. Bodies are still being dug up and a cycle of blame and denial weighs on efforts to reconcile communities. Bitterness runs deep and spills into politics, stifling development.

Details of the worst atrocities are coming to light even now. Each side clings to its own narrative of the war. In March, an ethnic Montenegrin man was jailed for 45 years for killing 31 people and raping at least 13, including a pregnant woman in front of her young child.

The judge in the case said the defendant, Veselin Vlahovic, nicknamed Batko, sometimes forced his victims to kiss his hand as he beat them, and once ordered a man to have sex with the corpse of a woman whose throat had been cut. In Srebrenica, 8,000 Muslim men and boys were gunned down in five summer days in 1995, their bodies bulldozed into pits, buried and reburied in a bid to conceal the crime. Many Serbs still dispute the figures, despite mountains of testimony at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

The strength of feeling on all sides has made political compromise in the name of peace difficult, at times impossible, and acts as a brake on development. In Lebanon, which lies next to Syria and fought its own 15year civil war which ended in 1990, fault lines between religions remain strong and armed militias still come to blows as a weak government looks on helplessly. Many Lebanese fighters accused of war crimes are now politicians as people support powerful members of their sect to safeguard against the influence of their foes. “We don’t have real reconciliation in Lebanon right now.

Reconciliation requires justice,” said rights researcher Houry, who lives in Beirut. “There is a tear at the fabric of Syria, similar to what we saw in Lebanon.” — Reuters

Malta unlikely to follow Cyprus into crisis

By Martin Santa yprus and Malta have a lot in common: Mediterranean islands enjoying 10 months of sunshine a year, they joined the European Union in 2004, use the euro and have banking sectors that dwarf their economies.

There are so many similarities that some investors have wondered whether Malta might follow Cyprus in needing a bailout to sur vive the region’s economic crisis. But Malta’s risk profile is far different to that of Cyprus, which received a 10-billion-euro aid package last month aimed at preventing its collapse and a possible exit from the euro zone.

On the basis of banking risk and its economy, it seems unlikely that it will be the nex t euro member - af ter Cyprus, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain - to need rescuing. “The business model of the financial sector in Malta is not as shady and controversial as it was in Cyprus,” said Carsten Brzeski, economist with ING bank in Brussels. “The picture is also different at the macro level ... Malta should be off the screens for quite some time.” The European

C

Commission expects growth on the small island economy of just 450,000 people to pick up this year and next, driven by rising domestic demand and increased net exports. The unemployment rate, at 6.4 percent, is around half that of the euro zone, debt as a proportion of GDP is 72 percent, below the euro zone average, and the deficit is in check. All of Cyprus’s pre-crisis numbers were far less rosy.

Nevertheless, Malta’s banking sector is eight times larger than its GDP, about the same as it was in Cyprus before the rescue. This leaves the economy exposed to financial shocks. But in Cyprus the banking sector was dominated by two domestic banks, both of which relied heavily on foreign deposits, many from Russia, and invested those deposits in government bonds abroad, particularly in Greece. In Malta, the bulk of banking-sector assets belong to subsidiaries of foreign banks which would be responsible for bailing them out in case of trouble.

The assets of domestic Maltese banks, which would not be allowed to fail because the economy would collapse, add up to around 200 percent of

GDP. That is a large but not terrifying amount and the ratio in Cyprus’s was twice as high. Maltese domestic banks are highly capitalised, profitable and liquid. What is more, they fund themselves largely from the domestic retail deposit market, lend locally and hold securities issued in Malta, rather than having taken on board risky assets such as Greek government bonds.

“I want to be very clear, there is no banking sector in the European Union that is comparable to the Cypriot one.

Malta, Ireland, Luxembourg, they are not comparable to Cyprus,” European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen told a European Parliament committee last week. “One has to look deeper at the structure of the assets and liabilities of the banking sector.” In a report last month, ratings agency Fitch said Malta would be far more capable of handling a crisis than Cyprus was. “The contingent liability that potential bank support places on the Maltese sovereign - around 128 percent of GDP - is significantly lower than in Cyprus,” Fitch said. The IMF was equally reassured, saying in a report in May 2012: “The sensitivity of the Maltese

banking sector to sovereign risk events in Europe is low given very low direct exposures to vulnerable countries, as well as domestic banks’ reliance on a traditional retail deposit-based banking model.”

Some analysts say Malta is vulnerable to a sudden dip in confidence that could prompt investors to withdraw deposits, something that the hit on Cypriot bank customers could easily have triggered. “The key risk ... is that its international offshore investors begin to relocate in light of the policy uncertainty created by the Cypriot bail-in,” Myles Bradshaw, a portfolio manager at PIMCO, said. “This would have significant negative economic effects that could in turn create a problem with domestic banks’ asset quality. Together with the deep recession, this could force Malta to seek external assistance.” In a recent assessment, the European Commission also expressed some macroeconomic concerns, noting Malta’s relatively high level of private debt, notably home mortgages. But it said that despite some overvaluation and possible oversupply, there was no immediate risk of a property market crash. — Reuters

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

A US Seahawk helicopter drops a diver in the water during a drill to destroy mines by placing explosives on them in the Arabian Gulf yesterday on the second day of the biggest mine countermeasures’ exercise. The US Navy along with other 40 nations are conducting the games. — AFP

Bahrain blogger flees to Britain OSLO: A Bahraini blogger and human rights activist said he had been granted asylum in Britain after being in hiding for two years. A leading voice among protesters during anti-government demonstrations in 2011, Ali Abdulemam hid to escape a government crackdown and was smuggled out by fishermen. A military court tried and sentenced him in+ absentia to 15 years in prison. “I have not seen my daughters since they were six-months-old. It is hard to know that your daughters know you only from a picture,” said Abdulemam, a 35-year-old former engineer with Gulf Air and author of the pro-democracy Bahrain Online

blog. “I feel pain because I am not in my homeland. I did not choose this. I did not want this,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Oslo Freedom Forum rights conference on Monday.

Sources close to Abdulemam said he was smuggled to Saudi Arabia inside a car with a secret compartment.

From there, he travelled to Kuwait, where fishermen smuggled him into Iraq, from where he flew to London.

Abdulemam, making his first public appearance since disappearing from view two years ago, said he had been granted asylum in Britain. Britain’s Home Office said it did not comment on individual asylum applica-

compass and even a mundane atlas of Moscow as well as a somewhat old-fashioned mobile phone.

The FSB warned in a statement that “recently, the US intelligence service has made repeated attempts to recruit the staff of Russian law enforcement agencies and special services”. Russian state television shown footage provided by the FSB in which Fogle is seen sitting down in a checked shirt as a man - presumably a Russian security officer - tells the suspect about his alleged crime. He is then accused of offering $100,000 for espionage to a security service employee who is involved in counterinsurgency work in the Russian North Caucasus. “We did not believe this at first, because as you know the FSB has been actively helping the investigation of the Boston blasts,” the officer says as Fogle and three men silently listen with arms crossed.

The incident comes amid a new downturn in RussianUS relations sparked by the Syrian crisis and concern in Washington over what it sees as President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on all dissent. The last major spy row between the two former Cold War rivals involved the glamourous Anna Chapman and large group of Russian spies who were arrested on the US East Coast in June 2010. That spy scandal - which ended with their swap for four Russians convicted of spying for the West - was a huge embarrassment for Russia’s foreign intelligence at

ernment’s charges, and says he is campaigning for democracy and civil rights.

Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet, is ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa family which crushed Shiite-led pro-democracy demonstrations that began in Feb 2011. At least 35 people were killed in the unrest, though the opposition says the number is higher.

Lower-level unrest has since continued. The Bahrain government says it has taken steps to address the brutality of security forces early in the uprising by dismissing those responsible and introducing cameras at police stations to monitor abuses. — Reuters

MoH issues guidelines on new virus

Russia arrests CIA ‘spy’ Continued from Page 1

tions. Abdulemam declined to discuss how he got out of Bahrain to protect those who helped him. His wife, eight-year-old son and three-year-old twin daughters also still live in Bahrain.

A Bahraini government statement released to CNN on Monday said Abdulemam had not been tried in court “for exercising his right to express his opinions”.

“Rather he was tried for inciting and encouraging continuous violent attacks against police officers,” the statement said, adding that his website had been used “to incite hatred, including the spreading of false and inflammatory rumours”. Abdulemam denies the gov-

the time.

The FSB and Russia’s tightly-controlled state media appeared intent yesterday on showing to the public that the man it had caught was a real agent who posed a danger to Russia’s interests. The photos published by RT also showed a document entitled “printed instructions for the Russian citizen being recruited”. Parts of the recruiting document allegedly used by Fogle read: “Dear Friend.

This is an advance from somebody who is impressed with your professionalism, and who would value highly your future cooperation with us”. As well as $100,000 outright “we offer up to $1 million per year for long-term cooperation, with a promise for an additional bonus for information that will help us”.

Analysts said the fact that the case received such media attention means that senior Russian leaders had decided to use the arrest to make a political point to Washington. Some such cases are often handled quietly and tit-for-tat expulsions are sometimes only made public once completed. Independent analyst Alexander Golts added that the million dollars the United States was allegedly willing to pay the Russian security service worker seemed far too large for a regular worker. “These numbers raise red flags,” Golts said in a telephone interview. “For that amount, they could have expected to at least get the deputy head of Russia’s foreign intelligence.” — AFP

Continued from Page 1 The Kuwaiti decision urged doctors in the public and private sectors to inform their closest disease control and prevention centre of suspicions regarding cases of acute respiratory illnesses such as the novel coronavirus, in order to prevent the spread of such cases.

Medical staff in emergency and critical condition departments, who may have had contact with those infected, have also been told to receive a checkup at the local disease control centre.

It ran through the steps doctors needed to abide by when handling such cases such as dispatching samples in a sealed and refrigerated container accompanied by a report to various laboratories across the country, while paying close attention to the isolation of suspected cases and carrying out regular assessments of their condition, the guidelines showed. If a suspected case were to be referred to the disease control centre, interaction should be prohibited over a 10-day period.

Land and marine border custom officials have also been informed to pay close attention to travelers arriving from nations known to carry a high number of people with either of the H7N9 influenza virus, SARS-like

viruses or the coronavirus, under the directions of the World Health Organisation, while taking measures to provide awareness on means to prevent being infected with any of these ailments.

Two of the Saudi infections were announced yesterday, a day after the ministry said four cases had been registered in Eastern Province, which has been gripped by panic after it was shown to be home to most of the cases in the kingdom. “Two new confirmed infections were registered in Eastern Province,” it said on its website, adding that those infected were nurses and “are receiving needed treatment and medical care”. The ministry had said late Monday that among the four other new cases, “one of the people has recovered and discharged, while the other three are still being treated”.

Saudi health authorities are now receiving advice from specialists from US and Canadian universities, the ministry added. Health Minister Abdullah Al-Rabia had said on Sunday that 24 people have contracted the coronavirus, and that 15 of them have died. The World Health Organisation had said earlier that 34 cases have been reported worldwide since the virus was first detected in Sept 2012, with 18 of the victims dying. — Agencies

Cabinet ministers resign amid standoff...

Continued from Page 1 the government and I was informed that the government is not attending, the session is adjourned until tomorrow”. He later said there will be no session today.

MPs later strongly criticized the government for boycotting the session, claiming that the boycott came to prevent the discussion of the grilling of the oil minister and prevent accountability over the payment of a $2.2 billion penalty to US giant Dow Chemical. MP Saadoun Hammad said the move is an attempt to protect some officials who have profited from Kuwait’s scrapped deal with Dow Chemical, known as KDow. MPs also charged that the government’s boycott amounted to humiliating the Assembly and an act of disregard to MPs. A few months ago, the Assembly decided to postpone debating any grilling until the next term starting late

October in a bid to give the government ample time to perform. MP Saad Al-Bous said the government’s boycott is not justified especially that the two grillings were not listed on the agenda of the Assembly yesterday but on the agenda of the May 28 session. He said the government has conveyed the wrong message to the Assembly and the people and disappointed the Kuwaiti people, especially that the session was due to approve legislation covering material rights for pensioners and raising the housing allowance for Kuwaitis.

MP Saleh Ashour said the government’s boycott and stance toward grillings have shocked the Kuwaiti people because no one will regret the absence of the government that escapes and cannot face things. “We are not concerned if the Assembly is dissolved or the government resigns what is more important is to have a government capable of managing the

country,” Ashour said.

The new developments came amid reports that the Assembly might be dissolved just a month before a June 16 crucial ruling by the constitutional court on the controversial amendment of the electoral law. But a number of MPs ruled out the possibility, saying they expected the Amir to issue a decree to suspend the Assembly for one month, based on a clause in the constitution. The measure will give just enough time for the ruling to be issued while the Assembly is not in session. Among many possibilities, the court could declare the electoral law amendment as unconstitutional, which will mean forcing the Assembly’s dissolution and calling for fresh elections. A small number of MPs believe that the government may submit a letter of non-cooperation with the Assembly, which means that the Amir may dissolve the Assembly or sack the Cabinet or both.

Kashmiri boatmen row their Shikara on Dal Lake in the outskirts of Srinagar yesterday. Set in the Himalayas at 1,707 m above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley full of fruit orchards and surrounded by snowy mountain ranges. About 100 lakes dot its highlands and plains. — AP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

S P ORTS

Robben: No reason to move

‘Racism fine not enough’

Petersen to replace Smith

BERLIN: Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben dismissed speculation that he would leave the German champions at the end of the season for Manchester City, saying he had no reason to move. “I am not dealing with this speculation,” the Dutchman told reporters. “There is so much speculation but I only want to deal with football.

“I still have two years on my deal so why should I leave? It is all about performance on the pitch and in the past games I have shown I can contribute here at Bayern.”

Robben, who has been at Champions League finalists Bayern since 2009 after spells at Chelsea and Real Madrid, had an unhappy first part of the season but has won back his starting spot in recent months, helping his team to the brink of an unprecedented treble for a German club.

Reports have been mounting in England and Germany in the past days linking the 29-year-old with a possible move to Premier League side Manchester City. “There has been so much speculation in the past month and I am only focused on Bayern,” said Robben, who lost the 2010 and 2012 Champions League finals with the Munich side. “We want to win the title on May 25 and that is the only thing that counts.” Bayern, who have already won the Bundesliga this season, take on Borussia Dortmund in the all-German Champions League final in London before facing VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup final on June 1 in Berlin.—Reuters

ITALY: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised the 50,000 euro $64,850) fine handed to AS Roma for racist behavior by their fans, describing the sanction as too weak and unacceptable.

Blatter said he would call the Italian football federation, who he said had not been thorough enough in investigating Sunday’s incident in the match at AC Milan.

“What is surprising and is not understandable for me, is that the disciplinary committee of the Italian Football Federation has taken a decision, not even 24 hours after the event, by just imposing a fine,” he told FIFA.com. “They have not made any investigation of what happened. And just to give a pecuniary sanction is not valid, that is not acceptable.

“You will always find money. What is 50.000 Euros for such an incident? I’m not happy and I will call the Italian Federation. That’s not a way to deal with such matters.”

Blatter added: “I think lessons have not been learned. It is incredible, that we had such incidents especially in the Italian Serie A in the San Siro between AC Milan and Roma, a very important match.

“The referee had to stop the match for a few minutes in order to bring back calm. This is bad.” The referee stopped the match early in the second half of Sunday evening’s match after racist chanting by the visiting fans.

Warnings were broadcast over the public address system and play was restarted after a two-minute delay.—Reuters

CAPE TOWN: Opener Alviro Petersen will replace the injured Graeme Smith in the South Africa squad for next month’s ICC Champions Trophy, Cricket South Africa confirmed yesterday. Petersen is a regular in the test squad but has made just 17 one-day international appearances since his debut in 2006 with a modest average of 31. CSA Selection Convener Andrew Hudson believes that Petersen’s stellar early-season form with English county side Somerset will be a major asset at the June 6-23 tournament being staged in England and Wales.

“We have decided on a like-for-like replacement,” Hudson said in a statement. “Alviro is the obvious choice in this regard. He is a specialist opening batsman and also brings some very useful experience on board following the loss of both Smith and (all rounder) Jacques Kallis. “He is in the form of his life, having made almost 500 runs in three England County Championship Division One matches for Somerset, including two centuries, at an average in the high 80s.

“With the tournament being played early in the English summer we envisage that bowling conditions will favor the seamers and getting good partnerships going up front is going to be paramount to success. —Reuters

Yankees blank Indians CLEVELAND: Vidal Nuno pitched five innings of three-hit ball to win his first major league start, and Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay had two RBIs apiece as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 7-0 Monday for a doubleheader split. Justin Masterson pitched a four-hitter for his third career shutout as the Indians won the opener 1-0 and stopped the Yankees’ five-game winning streak.

Pitching in just his second game for the Yankees, Nuno (1-1) walked three and struck out three. The former Cleveland draft pick became the only left-hander other than CC Sabathia or Andy Pettitte to start for New York since 2008.

Yankees rookie Adam Warren finished the five-hitter for his first big league save.

New York chased Trevor Bauer (1-2) during a six-run seventh and handed the Indians just their third loss in 16 games.

In the opener, Masterson (6-2) gave up four singles - only one reached the outfield - for his third career shutout and second this season. The right-hander also blanked the Chicago White Sox on April 12. Jason Kipnis homered in the first inning off David Phelps (1-2) for the Indians, outscored 25-7 by the Yankees in two losses last month.

Consecutive postponements back then forced the teams back to Progressive Field for a one-admission twinbill.

ATHLETICS 5, RANGERS 1 In Oakland, Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss hit consecutive home runs and AJ Griffin matched his season high with eight strikeouts to lead Oakland over Texas. It was Texas’ first trip to Oakland since being swept in the final three games of the 2012 regular season and coughing up the AL West title to the surprising A’s.

The Rangers (24-14) arrived in the Bay Area having won seven of nine and began the day with the best record in the majors, but again ran into their division nemesis.

Griffin (4-3) went seven innings and didn’t walk a batter for the first time this season. He improved to 3-0 in four starts against division opponents.

Mitch Moreland homered to give the Rangers the lead in the second, then Eric Sogard and John Jaso hit RBI singles for the A’s in the bottom half. Texas had its four-game winning streak snapped. Justin Grimm (2-3) lost his third straight.

Los Angeles.

Butler’s hit total tied his career high, established on July 27, 2009, at Baltimore.

The designated hitter has three games with five or more RBIs in the majors. He began the day in a 4-for-35 rut with a .228 average and one RBI in 23 at-bats over his previous six games.

Luis Mendoza (1-2) allowed three runs and six hits over six innings, striking out six and walking none as the Royals began a nine-game road trip following a threegame sweep by the Yankees. The righthander was staked to a 10-1 lead and took a three-hitter into the sixth before giving up a pair of runs.

Luke Hochevar pitched three innings for his first save in seven big league seasons. Blanton (0-7) threw 99 pitches through 4 2-3 innings, giving up seven runs and 12 hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

TWINS 10, WHITE SOX 3 In Minneapolis, Twins rookie Aaron Hicks hit two home runs and made a leaping catch in center field to take a tying home run away from Adam Dunn in Minnesota’s victory over Chicago.

Justin Morneau extended his hitting streak to nine games with three hits and four RBIs, including a three-run double that capped the scoring in the eighth inning. Trevor Plouffe had a two-run double in the third.

Hicks, who missed the previous two games with a sore right elbow, led off the fourth with a solo homer to center that gave the Twins a 5-2 lead. He robbed Dunn of a two-run shot in the sixth and connected again in the bottom half.

Dunn and Hicks entered the game tied for the lowest batting average in the majors (.137) among qualifiers. When the night was over, Hicks’ average was .152 and Dunn’s .133.

Twins starter Pedro Hernandez (2-0) allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. Hector Santiago (1-2) yielded six runs - three earned - and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings. He had only allowed one earned run in his previous two starts.—AP

TIGERS 7, ASTROS 2 In Detroit, Andy Dirks hit his first career grand slam, part of a six-run fourth inning for Detroit against Houston. Victor Martinez also homered for the Tigers, who swept four straight in Houston earlier this month and opened this three-game series at Comerica Park with another convincing victory. Anibal Sanchez (4-3) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings for the Tigers. He struck out eight with one walk.

Bud Norris (4-4) allowed seven runs and nine hits in five innings before leaving with lower back spasms. Houston has lost five straight and 15 of 18 - and the Astros also lost standout second baseman Jose Altuve in the second with a jaw injury after he collided with right fielder Jimmy Paredes on a popup. Dirks finished a triple shy of the cycle - a fine performance in the leadoff spot after Austin Jackson went on the disabled list earlier in the day with a pulled left hamstring.

ROYALS 11, ANGELS 4 In Anaheim, Billy Butler broke out of a severe slump with five hits and five RBIs as Kansas City kept Joe Blanton winless in eight starts this season with a victory over

CLEVELAND: Starting pitcher David Phelps No. 41 of the New York Yankees pitches against Indians during the first inning during the first game of a doubleheader at Progressive Field.—AFP

PHOENIX: Paul Goldschmidt No. 44 of the Arizona Diamondbacks slides safely into second base ahead of the tag by Dan Uggla No. 26 of the Atlanta Braves at Chase Field. —AFP

Braves rout Diamondbacks PHOENIX: Justin Upton snapped a 14-game homerless drought and had four hits to help the Atlanta Braves rout the Diamondbacks 10-1 on Monday in his return to Arizona.

Upton, the first overall pick by Arizona in the 2005 amateur draft, was playing his first game at Chase Field since the offseason trade that sent him and third baseman Chris Johnson to Atlanta in a seven-player deal. Upton followed his brother B.J., who was hit on the left shoulder by Wade Miley (3-2) to lead off the sixth, and powered a fastball onto the porch above the center field fence for his 13th home run and first since April 27 at Detroit.

Johnson hit a two-run homer to cap Atlanta’s three-run fifth and Brian McCann also homered for the Braves, who ended a three-game losing streak. Braves starter Mike Minor (5-2) allowed one run on eight hits over 6 2-3 innings.

NATIONALS 6, DODGERS 2 In Los Angeles, Jordan Zimmermann won his NL and major league -leading seventh game, Ryan Zimmerman drove in three runs and the Nationals defeated the Dodgers after losing Bryce Harper in a violent collision with the wall in right field.

Zimmermann (7-1) allowed nine hits and two runs in 7 2/3 innings, struck out five and walked none.

Harper left the game in the fifth after hitting the scoreboard wall face-first while tracking a ball hit by AJ Ellis over his left shoulder. He never looked at the wall and when he finally turned, he was on top of it. The impact sent Harper’s cap flying as he bounced off the wall and crumpled to the ground, with Ellis getting a triple.

Harper rolled onto his back and eventually got up under his own power. Streaks of blood were evident on his neck as he walked off the field. There was no immediate update on his condition before the game ended. He was playing just his second game after missing two

with an ingrown toenail that required surgery.

Josh Beckett (0-5) gave up four runs - two earned - and three hits in three innings while striking out five and walking two.

CUBS 9, ROCKIES 1 In Chicago, Travis Wood pitched seven scoreless innings and the Cubs came within two outs of their first shutout since last August in a win over the Rockies.

Alfonso Soriano homered for Chicago, which has won three straight for the second time this season. The Cubs’ 14 hits were one short of a season high.

Josh Rutledge hit a home run off Carlos Marmol with one out in the ninth, ruining the Cubs’ bid for their first shutout win since they beat Colorado on Aug. 26. The Cubs have gone 74 games between shutouts, their longest streak since going 75 in a row from May 15 until Aug. 6, 1999, according to STATS. Wood (4-2) allowed two hits while striking out two for his major

league-leading eighth quality start.

He’s the first Cubs pitcher since Hippo Vaughn in 1919 to start with eight quality starts.

CARDINALS 6, METS 3 In St. Louis, Lance Lynn overcame early control woes as St. Louis used a three-run seventh inning to beat the Mets.

Lynn (6-1) allowed three runs on three hits and four walks the first two innings. He only gave up one hit and one walk in his last five innings. He is 4-0 at home this season. Rick Ankiel, signed by the Mets earlier in the day after clearing waivers and playing against the team that revived his career as a position player, just missed a diving catch on Ty Wigginton’s pinch-hit bloop double to shallow center off Scott Rice (1-3) to open the seventh. Matt Carpenter followed Wigginton’s hit with a sharp grounder off Rice’s leg and the ball rolled into foul territory down the first-base line. Wigginton never stopped running and his head-first

slide barely beat the tag to snap a 3-3 tie.

BREWERS 5, PIRATES 1 In Pittsburgh, Marco Estrada allowed three hits over seven innings as the Brewers beat the sloppy Pirates to snap a four-game losing streak. Norichika Aoki went 3 for 5 with three RBIs and two stolen bases for the Brewers. Jean Segura added three hits and three stolen bases as Milwaukee ran wild against Pittsburgh backup catcher Mike McKenry. The Brewers stole six bases in all and took advantage of three Pittsburgh errors to win for just the second time this month.

Estrada (3-2) bounced back from a rough start against St. Louis by striking out five and issuing just one walk to remain unbeaten against the Pirates.

Burnett (3-4) allowed four runs in seven innings and pushed his National League-leading strikeout total to 72, but Pittsburgh couldn’t extend its winning streak to a season-high four games.—AP

MLB results/standings Cleveland 1, NY Yankees 0; NY Yankees 7, Cleveland 0; Milwaukee 5, Pittsburgh 1; St. Louis 6, NY Mets 3; Detroit 7, Houston 2; Chicago Cubs 9, Colorado 1; Minnesota 10, Chicago White Sox 3; Atlanta 10, Arizona 1; Kansas City 11, LA Angels 4; Oakland 5, Texas 1; Washington 6, LA Dodgers 2.

American League Eastern Division W L NY Yankees 24 14 Baltimore 23 15 Boston 22 16 Tampa Bay 19 18 Toronto 15 24 Central Division Detroit 21 15 Cleveland 21 16 Kansas City 19 16 Minnesota 18 17 Chicago White Sox 15 21 Western Division Texas 24 14 Oakland 20 20 Seattle 18 20 LA Angels 14 24 Houston 10 29

PCT .632 .605 .579 .514 .385

GB 1 2 4.5 9.5

.583 .568 .543 .514 .417

0.5 1.5 2.5 6

St. Louis Cincinnati Pittsburgh Milwaukee Chicago Cubs

.632 .500 .474 .368 .256

5 6 10 14.5

San Francisco Arizona Colorado San Diego LA Dodgers

Atlanta Washington Philadelphia NY Mets Miami

National League Eastern Division 22 16 21 17 18 21 14 21 11 27 Central Division 24 13 22 16 21 17 16 20 16 22 Western Division 23 15 21 18 20 18 16 21 15 22

.579 .553 .462 .400 .289

1 4.5 6.5 11

.649 .579 .553 .444 .421

2.5 3.5 7.5 8.5

.605 .538 .526 .432 .405

2.5 3 6.5 7.5

National Aviation Services (NAS) wins Agility’s 2013 cricket cup KUWAIT: Agility organized a six-week-long cricket tournament for all its employees in Kuwait. The tournament included employees from Agility’s local Infrastructure companies such as Metal and Recycling Company (MRC), Gulf Catering Company (GCC) and National Aviation Services (NAS). 16 teams with a total of 260 employee team members participated in the tournament.

Qualifying and elimination matches were held every Friday morning at the Agility grounds in Mina Abdalla.

The final matches were held in a festive atmosphere with supporters of each team cheering in the stands. The National Aviation Services (NAS) Asian

Lions battled against the Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) 18K Rising Stars to take the rolling trophy for 2013.

During the presentation following the finale, Agility’s Toby Switzer, Chief Human Capital Officer and Frank Clar y, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility awarded prizes and trophies to the first, second and third place teams.

Agility’s Global Integrated Logistics 20K Challengers were awarded third place in the tournament. Thishan Vijesinghe was named Man of the Match for the championship game; and Thaha Cheruvalath and Amad Uddin Mallik took away the titles of Best Batsman and Best Bowler of the tournament.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

S P ORTS

SUMAVA MOUNTAINS: A group of kick bikers train in the Sumava Mountains. An international team of six riders from the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands is set to do what no one has done before: to mark the 100th edition of the Tour de France, they plan to cover the entire distance on kick bikes.—AP

Tour de France: The final frontier for kick bikers SUMAVA MOUNTAINS: A joke over beer could turn into a defining moment for a new sport when an international team of six men attempt to mark the 100th edition of the Tour de France by covering the entire distance on kick bikes.

Kick bikes have no pedals but the sturdy riders say that a combination of passion and great fitness - and no doping - should suffice to complete the almost 3,500-kilometer (2,175-mile) course for this year’s race. Fame is not an issue.

They say they’re doing it to put their sport on the map.

“If we succeed, nobody will remember our names anyway,” Czech team member Michal Kulka said during a recent training camp in southwestern Czech Republic. “Who cares?”

Starting each stage a day before the actual race means they will miss some of the hype of

the June 29-July 21 race. But they have more practical obstacles to deal with: traffic lights will slow them down, one-way roads may force them to look for alternate routes - and they’re still waiting for permission for their support vehicle to enter mountainous stages.

A more mountainous route also makes the challenge enormously tough this year. The riders will have to climb the towering Alpe-d’Huez twice in the 18th stage, just four days after another classic climb - Mont Ventoux - at the end of the 15th stage, the Tour’s longest this year.

After two years of hard training, the grueling ascents of the Tour don’t seem to bother them too much. “I’m more afraid of trucks,” said Jaromir Odvarka, another Czech member. For the bikers, who all belong in the top echelons

Bulls performance runs out of steam CHICAGO: The little engine that could finally threw a gear. The Chicago Bulls might have been the most heartwarming tale going this postseason, but it’s over.

Unlike the bedtime story, fumes and spare parts get you only so far in the NBA. It was always a matter of when - not if - they’d fall apart. Go back and take a look at what happened in the third quarter of their Eastern Conference semifinal Monday night against the Miami Heat, or better yet, don’t. It was about as ugly as you’d imagine. The Bulls scored exactly nine points in the period, an all-time franchise low.

At various times in the final quarter, Chicago had Nazr Mohammed, Daequan Cook, Malcolm Thomas, Marquis Teague and 35-year-old Rip Hamilton on the floor.

What’s scary isn’t that some NBA fans had no idea that any or all of that group was in the league; rather, it’s that many of those same fans wouldn’t recognize the guys they were supposed to be spelling.

The Bulls wound up shooting 26 percent and totaled just 65 points by the end of Game 4, another team record for futility.

Yet they probably had no business getting that many, let alone this far in the playoffs.

“We’re kind of putting screws and bandages everywhere,” said forward Taj Gibson, another backup pressed into regular service. “It’s frustrating. Every night and every day. “It’s rough. It’s really rough,” he added a moment later. “I wish I could explain how I’m feeling right now. How everybody in this locker room is feeling now.”

Actually, there’s no need for a lengthy explanation when a glance will do. Gibson had icepacks covering both knees as he talked. Across the room, Joakim Noah had his right foot (plantar fasciitis) submerged in a bucket of ice. Next to him, Nate Robinson had an icepack covering his left shoulder. The players who hadn’t left in a hurry to lick their wounds at home were still lined up in the trainer’s room, awaiting their turns.

Every team has to cope with injuries, but what happened to the Bulls and coach Tom Thibodeau this season gives the phrase new meaning. His best player, Derrick Rose, the league’s MVP in 2011, was a scratch at the start because of knee surgery, and despite a doctor’s note clearing him to return in March, he never did.

Somehow, the Bulls won 45 regular-season

games, then even more surprising, beat back Brooklyn in the first round.

Naturally, things only got worse.

Chicago’s second-best offensive player, Luol Deng, who played all season with a variety of hurts, has missed the last six playoff games; the Bulls’ best perimeter defender, Kirk Heinrich, similarly battling injuries for months, has been out for the last seven.

Now the Bulls head to Miami down 3-1, where this series will end - officially, but mercifully, too. “They’re in a tough situation,” LeBron James said - not that it stopped him from dropping 27 points on Chicago’s wearied defenders. “They’ve had some injuries and illnesses and whatever’s going on. They don’t have their full roster, but that’s not for us to worry about.”

That was Thibodeau’s worry all season, and the jury could be out for a while deciding whether he treated the players available at any given moment like a chess master or a meat grinder. The team’s unofficial motto became “Next Man Up!” - the Bulls left a placard with the slogan on every seat in the arena Monday night - but “Next Man Down!’ might turn out to be more accurate in the long run.

Thibodeau possesses one of the league’s best defensive minds, and the effort he coaxed, mostly from a bench long on second-stringers, was something to behold. In what might have been his final motivational ploy for this season, Thibodeau put out a revised lineup just moments before Game 4 with Deng listed as “active,” even though he wasn’t long out of a hospital bed. The coach also reached deep into his doghouse and finally tossed a few minutes to Hamilton, who like Robinson, shoots the ball without conscience and is a defensive liability.

Neither is Thibodeau’s kind of player.

Whether the pair returns remains to be seen, though you could say the same about a few more of the youngsters and castoffs the coach used to great effect. The more important question is whether the frontliners - Rose, Deng, Heinrich and Noah, who’s played relentlessly despite the foot injury - will continue to entrust their careers to a coach who won’t, or can’t, ever take his foot off the throttle.

Afterward, Thibodeau was asked whether the Bulls’ performance was proof they’d simply “run out of steam.” —AP

of the sport, time is a constraint. “The long stages may take about 15 hours or more,” Odvarka said. “Sometimes, we won’t get enough sleep.”

The team’s budget of 600,000 koruna ($30,200) means they will sleep in tents and instead of using a plane for two long-distance transports, they will spend hours in cars. That each of them will have a tent of his own is the only luxury. Their support team includes a masseur, a physiotherapist, a driver and a translator. The crucial question about how to get proper food was solved after the father of one of the men - Dutch rider Rene Konig - offered to serve as a cook with his girlfriend.

The four Czechs, all former track and field athletes, got the idea several years ago while sitting at a bar watching a report on Josef

Zimovcak, who covered the 2005 Tour on a penny-farthing bicycle.

“I said that if the 50-year-old guy made it on a bicycle, I’d do it on a kick bike when I’m 30,” Vaclav Liska said. Others followed suit.

“It could be that some of us won’t make it.

But we’re a team and we want to promote this beautiful, small sport,” Liska said. Their idea looked crazy enough for one of the biggest names in the sport - Alpo Kussisto of Finland to join them. “It ’s a wonder ful idea,” said Kussisto, a two-time world champion and a world record holder. “I hope that we can even enjoy it. France is a beautiful country.”

The 2013 Tour offers plenty of beauty as it runs past famous sites such as the Mont SaintMichel monastery and the palace of Versailles.

But Kussisto, above all, loves the mountains and

is looking forward to “riding Alpine roads down.”

Kussisto hopes the training and team spirit will help them overcome any obstacle.

“We switch the kicking leg and the standing leg all the time, like three kicks, switch, three kicks, switch,” he said. “And you need to be able to micro relax your muscles for a tenth of a second.”

Kussisto said he considered riding the Tour in 1998 but gave it up because “I was riding mostly alone. Now we have a really good team. I think it’s possible.”

While the Tour is still clouded by doping concerns after Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven titles, the six kick bikers say they’ll be as clean as can be. “Doping makes no sense for us,” Kulka said. “We don’t race. We just want to be the first to make it.”—AP

US, Russia and Iran to wrestle in New York NEW YORK: The governments of the United States and Russia can sometimes be at odds. Americans and Iranians rarely see eye to eye on anything. But the possibility of wrestling losing its Olympic spot has given these three often-divergent nations a cause to rally around.

The US, Russian and Iranian wrestling teams will meet on Wednesday for an historic exhibition in New York. It’s a showcase event for what the sport’s international governing body has dubbed “World Wrestling Month.”

The IOC in February recommended that wrestling be dropped from the Olympic program starting in 2020. Wrestling now has to plead its case to the IOC to be included as a provisional sport in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 29.

The New York exhibition, known as “The Rumble on the Rails” and to be held at Grand Central Terminal, is designed to highlight the sport’s international appeal and popularity. The pre-meet news conference is even being held at the United Nations, and the meet will be televised live by the NBC Sports Network and Universal Sports - a rarity for a sport struggling for ways to make itself more viewerfriendly. The Iranians, who will be competing in the US for the first time in 10 years, will also compete against the Americans at an exhibition in Los Angeles on May 19.

“In this crisis, we all stick together. Wrestlers maybe can do, sometimes, what politicians cannot,” said Nenad Lalovic, the acting president of FILA, the sport’s governing body. “We love our sport, and we are united to save it.” If there’s one thing that the US, Russian and Iran have in common, it’s a proud tradition of wrestling success and a deep passion for the sport that’s been re-ignited by the IOC. The Americans have won more Olympic medals in wrestling than any other country. When put in certain context, it can be argued that the US wrestling team has been more successful than any other American Olympic team. The Russians are now the world’s premier wrestling nation. They won 11 medals in the recent London Olympics, including four gold, when no other nation claimed more than six medals. The Russians were furious at the IOC’s recommendation, and their angst over the sport’s Olympic future stretches all the way to the top.

“The removal from the Olympic program of traditional forms of sports, which were its basis from the

LONDON: In this Friday, Aug. 10, 2012 file photo, from left: Silver medalist Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi, from Iran; gold medalist Jordan Ernest Burroughs, from the United States; bronze medalist Soslan Tigiev, from Uzbekistan; and bronze medalist Denis Tsargush, from Russia, participate in the medals ceremony for men’s 74-kg freestyle wrestling competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. —AP beginning and were in the program of the Olympic Games even in the time of ancient Greece ... is unjustified,” Russian president Vladimir Putin said in March.

But wrestling holds a place in Iranian culture that likely exceeds that of even the U.S. and Russia.

It’s often been said that wrestling is the national sport of Iran, where it doesn’t have to compete with the likes of baseball, American football and hockey.

The Iranians won three golds in London, backed by a fan section more boisterous than any other nation.

Tehran also served as the first place for the international wrestling community to come together and start formulating a plan to save its Olympic status.

The first major meet of the year, the World Cup, was held in Tehran roughly a week after the IOC decision, and the world’s top 10 wrestling nations including the U.S., Russia and Iran - met to discuss how to respond to the IOC. US Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs said the fans inside the arena were overwhelmingly supportive of the competitors, regardless of what country they wrestled for.

“It was probably the best wrestling venue, in terms of fan support and excitement, that I’ve ever

been a part of,” Burroughs said after the World Cup. “We’re competitors on the mat. But with the decision by the IOC, now everyone is coming together.”

The New York and Los Angeles exhibitions highlight a busy week for wrestling. FILA, the sport’s international governing body, will meet in Moscow on Saturday to discuss major changes designed to improve wrestling’s standing with the IOC. The matches in New York and Los Angeles won’t count for much more than pride. But wrestling officials are hoping to show the IOC and the world that a sport which can bring three such powerful but often clashing nations together is one worthy of a spot in the Olympic Games.

In fact, a photo of Burroughs and Iranian wrestler Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi locked arm-in-arm on the medal stand in London has become a symbolic image on social media sites for the movement to save Olympic wrestling. “It is an exciting opportunity for wrestling to show the world its ability to bring together nations of different political, cultural and geographic backgrounds,” USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender said in announcing the New York meet last month.—AP

Afridi, Khan given Pakistan contracts and a pay rise ISLAMABAD: All-rounder Shahid Afridi and batsman Younis Khan were surprisingly awarded category A contracts by the Pakistan Cricket Board yesterday, plus a pay rise of 15 percent.

Both players, with more than 500 one-day internationals between them, were dropped on form for next month’s Champions Trophy in England and Wales, but will be given monthly retainers of around $3,600. Afridi, retired from tests, still hopes to play in the 2015 World Cup, while Khan is wanted for tests. Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez and offspinner Saeed Ajmal were the only others

to receive category A contracts.

Fast bowler Umar Gul, Umar Akmal and Abdur Rehman were demoted to category B, worth $2,500 a month, along with five other players.

Gul had been ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to injury, but it was another PCB surprise that the paceman was demoted from category A despite consistently playing in all three formats of the game. Test opener Taufeeq Umar and fast bowler Aizaz Cheema, who were in category B previously, were demoted to category C. The Akmal brothers, Kamran and Adnan, were among eight players in category C for

retainers of $1,400 each. Left-handed opening batsman Nasir Jamshed was promoted from C to B. The PCB also awarded stipends of $700 to nine players. All 30 contracts were only for this year. After the Champions Trophy, Pakistan tour West Indies, and then host South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Last year, the PCB gave players a raise of 25 percent after renewing their 2009 contracts.

Test match fees were also increased by the PCB by about $550. Category A players will get around $4,400 per test, category B player around $3,850, and category C players $3,300.—AP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

S P ORTS

How Mancini’s Man City dream turned sour LONDON: Roberto Mancini’s dismissal as manager of Manchester City, which was confirmed on Monday after weeks of speculation, would have been almost unthinkable 12 months ago.

The Italian walked on water in parts of Manchester in May last year, after leading the club to a dramatic first league title in 44 years, a season after success in the FA Cup ended a 35-year trophy drought. His reward was a new five -year contract, reportedly worth £25 million ($38.4 million, 29.6 million euros), and he spoke of his desire to “build on our recent success”.

One year on, he finds himself without a club and with a dent in his reputation after City fell well short in their league title defence, limped out of the Champions League in the group phase, and were stunned by Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup final. Mancini has protested throughout that in leading City back to the top of the English game after decades in the wilderness, he has achieved all that could be expected of him.

He has also lamented City ’s lack of impact in last year’s close-season transfer window, having seen Robin Van Persie head to Manchester United and Eden Hazard settle on Chelsea after each player rejected overtures from the champions.

Mancini laid the blame for these setbacks squarely at the door of the club’s board for moving too slowly, and even went so far as to claim that had City signed Van Persie, they would have been champions and not United.

City certainly lacked fire-power. Having romped to the title with 93 goals last season, an average of 2.45 per game, they have hit the net an average of just 1.72 times per game this season-only the sixthbest figure in the league.

However, while Van Persie might have helped turn some of City’s nine draws into wins, it does not explain why the matchwinners Mancini did have at his disposal suddenly appeared to lose their bearings.

Sergio Aguero found the net 23 times in

2011-12, including the stoppage-time winner on the season’s final day that wrenched the title from United’s grasp. He has scored just 11 in the league this term. Creative midfielders David Silva and Samir Nasri have been deeply disappointing, while Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure are no longer the rocks upon which City founded last season’s title triumph.

Even Joe Hart’s form has dived. The best goalkeeper in England last season, Hart has produced a number of poor performances, with high-profile blunders in games at Sunderland, Southampton and West Ham United.

Mancini’s man-management has also come under scrutiny, despite his success in managing to sell the combustible Mario Balotelli to AC Milan in January.

Nasri hit out at him after Mancini claimed he wanted to “punch” the Frenchman for his inconsistent displays earlier this year, while Hart was rebuked by the manager for criticising the side following a 3-2 Champions League loss at Real Madrid in September.

That brusqueness has reportedly angered members of City’s playing staff, while Mancini’s complaints about the lack of depth in his squad-despite the massive investment by the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owners-will not have gone down well in the boardroom.

After the FA Cup final, Mancini criticised the club for failing to publicly deny media reports identifying Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini as his likely replacement.

However, with strategy at board level now partly in the hands of former Barcelona directors Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, Mancini will have realised some time ago that too many false moves were likely to cost him dearly.

Despite his disappointment, Mancini will have heard the City fans chanting his name at Wembley on Saturday, and as the man who brought the glory days back to the blue half of Manchester, he will not want for sympathy.—AFP

Struggling Brazil need Confed Cup boost RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil line-up for next month’s Confederations Cup fully conscious that victory is paramount if they are to go on and secure a sixth World Cup in front of their fanatical home supporters in 2014.

Six decades on, the kingdom of Pele still hurts from missing out to Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium for the 1950 World Cup title-an entire generation of players will suffer similar heartache if they fail to lift the Jules Rimet trophy next year.

The Confederations Cup, which runs from June 15-30, will prove no walk in the park for the South American superpower who for once will not be lumbered with their habitual tag of favourites.

After living off a diet of friendlies for the past three years, they must use this return to official competition to restore confidence and to regain the trust of their fans who booed the selecao after a lacklustre 22 draw against Chile on their last run-out on April 24.

To prevail next month, Brazil will first have to extricate themselves from a firstround group featuring Italy, Mexico and Japan, before a likely match-up with world and double European champions Spain.

The burning question posed by fans since Brazil’s premature exit from the 2010 World Cup and their subsequent alarming slide down FIFA’s world rankings is which system of play and which players Luiz Felipe Scolari will employ.

As Brazil have searched for the balance between the demands of modern day football and the “beautiful game” mastered by Pele, Zico and Romario, they have plummeted from sixth to a worst-ever 19th place in world football’s pecking order.

The present crisis prompted the Brazilian Football Federation to pluck from the past Scolari, the man who guided the Brazil of Ronaldo and Bebeto to the 2002

World Cup title in his first stint as manager after a chaotic qualifying campaign.

Brazil’s hopes of fresh glory also rest with Neymar, the talented 21-year-old striker who has shone for his club Santos, less so for his country and who is angling for a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Yet six months after his return, Scolari’s Brazil have failed to impress, with a 2-1 loss to England, three stalemates against Italy (2-2), Russia (1-1) and Chile (2-2), and only one win-a 4-0 rout of modest Bolivia.

According to Brazilian football commentator Marcos Guterman, the omens for a sixth world title are hardly encouraging.

“Brazil are playing way below the level of any of the other top teams like Spain and Germany. “They lack a system of play capable of getting results,” said the author of the book “Football Explains Brazil: A Story of the Biggest Popular Expression of the Country”.

“We need a miracle to win the (Confed) Cup in June,” he suggested gloomily. In contrast, Ronaldo is convinced that Scolari will silence sceptics from taxi drivers to lawyers who no longer believe in their national team.

Former Brazilian legends appear to have lost their nerve too, with Pele and Romario reduced to exchanging insults on Twitter.

Scolari has offered only half a dozen names of players certain to be in his 2014 World Cup squad-Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Daniel Alves, Julio Cesar, Fred and Neymar.

For the rest questions remain whether he will call up veterans like Ronaldinho, back on better terms with himself since his return home after an unsatisfactory end to his European stay at AC Milan or Real Madrid’s super-sub striker, Kaka.

Brazil open the tournament against Japan on June 15, with Mexico next four days later and Italy concluding their Group A schedule on June 22. —AFP

Russia defeat Austria 8-4 STOCKHOLM: Ilya Kovalchuk scored a goal and made two more as Russia survived an early onslaught to beat Austria 8-4 at the world ice hockey championships in Helsinki on Monday.

The Russians were 2-0 up and cruising after Kovalchuk’s ninth-minute goal, but three quick-fire goals, including two in a 15-second burst, put Austria in front before Russia leveled again at the end of the first period.

Alexander Radulov put Russia ahead again only for the dogged Austrians to pull them back through a Florian Iberer goal. After that the Austrian resistance crumbled and the Russians fired four more goals to complete the rout.

By winning their final group game in fine style, defending champions Russia will progress to the quarter-finals as no worse than third seeds. Austria are condemned to finish bottom of their group and drop from the elite to division one of world ice hockey.

In the early game in the Finnish capital, Latvia beat France 3-1 in a result that moved them out of the relegation zone and dented France’s hopes of making the quarter-finals.

A third-quarter Brenden Dillon strike

in Stockholm helped Canada edge Slovenia 4-3 in their final group game to move to the top of their group ahead of Switzerland. Slovenia failed to win any games at the world championships and are relegated to division one for next year.

Earlier in the day, Denmark held on to beat Belarus 3-2, despite the latter fighting back from 3-0 down. Second-placed Switzerland can still win the group if they make it seven wins out of seven by beating Belarus late yesterday.

Third-placed Sweden have also made the quarter-finals, with the final berth in the Stockholm group going to the winners of the crunch game between Norway and the Czech Republic.

In Helsinki, the United States can top their group with a win over Slovakia, with Russia and Finland also already qualified for the quarter-finals.

Slovakia, Latvia, France and Germany are all in with a shout of making the final quarter-final spot, with the latter pair due to face one another in a must-win match.

Should Slovakia upset the United States, they will go through, while Latvia will be looking to beat Finland to have any chance of progressing. —Reuters

Photo of the day

Rotorwings Formation Team flies at the Zell am See Airport, Austria. www.redbullcontentpool.com

Man City sack Mancini MANCHESTER: Manchester City sacked manager Roberto Mancini on Monday following his team’s feeble defence of the Premier League title they won exactly one year ago.

Manchester United regained the title last month with four games to spare and City were then beaten 1-0 by Wigan Athletic in last Saturday’s FA Cup final.

City had also failed to progress from the group stage of the Champions League for a second successive season despite boasting one of the most expensively assembled squads in the world.

“It is with regret that Manchester City Football Club announces that Rober to Mancini has been relieved of his duties as Manchester City Manager,” the club said in a statement.

“Despite everyone’s best efforts, the club has failed to achieve any of its stated targets this year, with the exception of qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

“This, combined with an identified need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football at the club, has meant that the decision has been taken to find a new manager for the 2013/14 season and beyond.”

Media speculation has been rife that Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini was being lined up as a replacement but the Chilean denied late on Sunday that he had spoken with City and said no agreement had been reached.

Assistant manager Brian Kidd will be in charge for City’s remaining two games of the season and the post-season tour to the United States.

“This has been a difficult decision for the owner, Chairman and Board to make and it is the outcome of a planned end of season review process that has been brought forward in light of recent speculation and out of respect for Roberto and his extensive contributions to the Football Club,” the statement said.

Former Inter Milan manager Mancini joined City in December 2009, succeeding

Mark Hughes, and that season led them to a fifth-place finish which was at the time their best ever Premier League showing. The club splashed the cash before the next season, bringing in the likes of David Silva and Yaya Toure as they went on to finish third, qualify-

Manchester City’s Italian manager Roberto Mancini

ing for the Champions League for the first time, and beating Stoke City 1-0 in the final to win the FA Cup. It was the end of a 35-year wait for a trophy and a tangible reward for the huge funds invested by the club’s Abu Dhabi owners.

Having been criticised for a conservative approach to games under Mancini, much changed the following season when the Italian brought in Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri and City became a stylish goal-scoring machine that lit up the league.

A 6-1 victory over then champions United at Old Trafford proclaimed their serious title credentials and a fascinating battle with their neighbours ensued with City snatching the title on goal difference in the dying seconds of the season.

Hoping this might be the start of many titles to come, City’s defence of their crown never really got off the ground this season.

Mancini placed some of the blame with the failure to sign Robin van Persie, whose prolific goalscoring helped United to their 20th league title, but it was also clear that many players who had shone the year before were below their best.

There were also media rumors of disquiet among players unhappy with Mancini’s abrasive management style, his tendency to criticise them publicly and tactical choices.

“Roberto’s record speaks for itself and he has the respect and gratitude of Sheikh Mansour, myself and the Board for all of his hard work and commitment over the last three and a half years,” chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in the statement.

“He has clearly also secured the love and respect of our fans. He has done as he promised and delivered silverware and success, breaking the club’s 35-year trophy drought and securing the title in 2012. “I would like to personally and publicly thank him for his dedication to the progress that he has overseen and for his support and continued friendship.” —Reuters

Sociedad’s CL bid checked by Granada MADRID: Real Sociedad’s bid to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in a decade suffered a setback when they conceded a late goal and were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Granada in La Liga on Monday.

Imanol Agirretxe nodded Sociedad ahead in the ninth minute at their Anoeta stadium in San Sebastian but Granada levelled six minutes later when Youssef El Arabi

crashed a superb volley past home goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

Carlos Vela raced down the left wing and crossed for Agirretxe to chest the ball cleverly into the net to restore Sociedad’s lead moments before halftime.

However, after Agirretxe and Vela both struck shots against the frame of the goal relegation-threatened Granada mounted a late fightback and Recio threaded a 93rd-minute

shot through a crowded penalty area to snatch a point for the visitors.

The result left Sociedad and Valencia, who won 4-0 at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, level on 59 points in fourth and fifth place respectively with three games left.

Sociedad are above Valencia in the standings as they have a better head-to-head record but they have a tricky run-in to the end of the sea-

SPAIN: Real Sociedad’s defender Carlos Martinez (center) vies with Granada’s Romanian midfielder Gabriel Torje (right) and Granada’s midfielder Recio during the Spanish League football match. —AFP

son and host Real Madrid at the end of the month.

Sociedad and Valencia are five points ahead of sixth-placed Malaga after their 0-0 draw at home to Sevilla on Sunday, while Granada are 16th on 36 points, four above the relegation places.

“It’s a shame,” Agirretxe said in an interview with Spanish television broadcaster Cuatro. “We had those two shots against the post so we didn’t have any luck in that respect,” he added.

“Then we tried to keep the ball but we were the ones suffering towards the end.” Under French coach Philippe Montanier, Sociedad have played some of the most entertaining football of the season and are the only team apart from Real Madrid to have beaten leaders Barcelona.

Their golden period came in the 1980s when they twice won La Liga and reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1982-83, where they fell to eventual winners Hamburg SV. More recently, they spent three successive years in the second division before winning promotion in the 2009-10 season. Fourth place would be their best result since they were second and qualified for the Champions League in 2002-03.

Granada were in the fourth tier of Spanish soccer as recently as 2006 and after winning promotion to the top flight in the 2010-11 season narrowly avoided relegation last term when they finished one place above the drop zone.—Reuters

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

S P ORT S

Eriksson says Benfica are more gifted than Chelsea

GERMANY: Bayern Munich’s striker Thomas Mueller (left) and Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben attend a press conference at the Allianz Arena stadium, as part of the FC Bayern Munich open media day prior to their UEFA Champions League final. —AFP

Bayern has learned lessons from last season’s defeat MUNICH: Bayern Munich stars say the heartbreaking loss to Chelsea on penalties in last season’s Champions League final at home strengthened the team’s mental frame and determination to win everything this season.

“For me personally, the loss last year only served to give me more motivation for this season,” forward Thomas Mueller said. “It would have been great to have won last year at home, for our fans, but for us it’s important to win the title, not where we win it. This season we seem to play better abroad anyway.”

Outgoing coach Jupp Heynckes says the team acquired key players in the offseason that particularly gave bulk and stability to its defense and helped the team dominate the season.

Heynckes and several of his stars spoke to the media yesterday in the build-up to the Champions League final against Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund on May 25 at Wembley.

Bayern players expect the first all-German final to produce a tense, close match between two teams with no tactical secrets between them.

“Both teams know each other well, there are no secrets. The coaches know each other.

But a final is always an open affair with equal chances,” Heynckes said. “But every coach has some ideas and it’s up to the players to execute them. So far this season, my players have done this very well.”

After going through two seasons without a trophy, Bayern can complete a unique treble this season. It won the Bundesliga championship with a record six games to spare and it is also in the German Cup final, one week after the Wembley final.

“We have a better squad this season, the new signings integrated well and we have not had many injuries,” said Bastian Schweinsteiger, described by Heynckes as “currently the best midfielder in the world.”

Bayern hopes to finally win the title in its third final in four years.

“It’s time,” Mueller said. “If you lose three finals, you would get the label of a loser, and that would not be unjustified.”

Arjen Robben will have a chance at redemption, after missing a penalty in extra time against Chelsea and becoming the target of loud boos from Bayern fans.

“It’s nice to play finals, but you also need to win,” Robben said. “Last year was very disappointing.” Heynckes said Bayern played a great season last year using only 14-15 players.

“This season we are using 20-22. We got top signings with character that fits into our team. We got better physically and our

defense is now, I won’t go so far as to say perfect, but very good.

“That’s the priority in modern football and that’s why we are playing such attractive football,” said the 68-year-old coach, who hinted strongly that he would retire after the season. Pep Guardiola, the former Barcelona coach, is already set to take over at Bayern next season.

After losing to Chelsea, Bayern took on defensive midfielder Javi Martinez in a Bundesliga transfer record of €40 million. It also signed Brazilian defender Dante and Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic. All three have become backbones of the team, with Mandzukic pushing Germany striker Mario Gomez to the bench.

With one match remaining in the Bundesliga, Bayern is 22 points ahead of Dortmund, with a 94-15 goal difference and only one loss in the domestic season. In the Champions League semifinals, Bayern dispatched Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate.

Bayern’s only loss away came in the early Champions League group stage at BATE Borisov. It has lost at home once in the Bundesliga and to Arsenal in the Champions League in the round of 16.

“We are mentally very strong and we have this clear target to win every match,” Heynckes said. “In all my years as coach, I have never seen players so focused, not influenced by outside things. After such a disappointment last year we bounced back and are playing such a great season.”

Schweinsteiger said he could see the great motivation in all of his teammates. “All of us on the squad can step in and play when needed, we have a better squad than last season,” said Schweinsteiger, who missed a penalty in the shootout in last year’s final.

But he also put the final in perspective: “I won’t live longer if I win.” Bayern returned to practice yesterday after spending the weekend celebrating the Bundesliga title. The trophy was officially presented Saturday. “We’ve had too many parties the last 10 days, now we return to hard work,” captain Philipp Lahm said.—AP

AMSTERDAM: Benfica are more technically gifted than Chelsea but will still go into Wednesday ’s Europa League final in Amsterdam as the underdogs, according to former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. The Swede knows a great deal about Benfica having twice been in charge of the double European champions during his globetrotting career.

“Sure, Chelsea are the favourites with a very balanced squad and with very expensive players but in my opinion the technique of Benfica’s players is a tad better,” Eriksson told the aBola daily newspaper. “Benfica’s technique is very sharp. They control the ball well and play good football.” The 1961 and 1962 European champions lean heavily on skilful midfielders Eduardo Salvio, Nicolas Gaitan, Pablo Aimar, Ola John and Nemanja Matic to provide the ammunition for Paraguayan sharpshooter Oscar Cardozo and attacking partners Lima and Rodrigo.

Cardozo, Lima and Rodrigo have bagged 71 of the club’s 118 goals this season. Eriksson, who was at the helm when the Por tuguese team lost 1-0 to AC Milan in the 1990 European Cup final in Vienna, believes Benfica will quickly forget about their agonising 2-1 defeat by arch-rivals Porto on Saturday.

Both sides went into the game undefeated and Porto’s victory put them in pole position to win the domestic championship.

“A European final is unique,” said Eriksson. “As soon as they star t preparing for the final the Porto match will vanish from their minds.”

Eriksson came close to landing a treble for Benfica in 1983 when they won the domestic league and cup double but lost 2-1 on aggregate to Anderlecht in the two-legged final of the UEFA Cup, the forerunner to the Europa League.

The Swede won the Portuguese league three times in all in his two spells at the club. Argentine midfielder Enzo Perez also believes Benfica will quickly shrug off the misery of losing to Porto.

“The team is beat up and sad but

AMSTERDAM: Members of the Benfica squad take part in a training session at the Amsterdam Arena.

Benfica play Chelsea today in the final of the Europa League. —AFP we can have our pay back against Chelsea. We must believe,” said Perez. In what has become an iconic image in Portugal, coach Jorge Jesus sank to his knees in dispair when Porto scored their stoppagetime winner.

“This was a very painful loss in the very last move of the match,” said Jesus. “We feel deep sorrow but no one can take away the work we’ve done, nor our quality.”

Benfica have good memories of Amsterdam where they won the last of their European Cups against Real Madrid in 1962.

Beating all-conquering Real, who had won the trophy five years in a row from 1956-60, was probably the greatest moment in the club’s proud history. Jesus, who was in charge when Benfica were beaten by domestic rivals Braga in the 2011 Europa League semi-finals, is looking forward to taking on last year’s Champions League winners Chelsea. “ There won’t be many

(Local Timings)

UEFA Europe League 21:45

Violence cuts short PSG’s celebrations PARIS: Paris St Germain’s Ligue 1 title celebrations were cut short on Monday when 30 people were injured in clashes between spectators and police in the west of the French capital.

“Thirty people were injured, three of them members of the police forces,” Paris chief of police Bernard Boucault told a news conference. “ Twenty-one people were also arrested for questioning after throwing projectiles or causing damage.”

Boucault said “hundreds, maybe thousands of troublemakers” spoiled the celebrations, adding “we did not underestimate the means needed to tackle such a situation. Some 800 police officers were called up”. He said nobody had been seriously hurt. Some of those involved wore PSG shirts and climbed on to temporary scaffolding as the soccer club’s players were showing off the French champions’ trophy.

“The scaffolding is going to collapse. We

can’t welcome the players in these conditions,” the ceremony’s public announcer said as the players were forced to leave the Place du Trocadero earlier than expected.

Riot police fired tear gas to try to disperse the crowd after up to what police estimated was 15,000 people had gathered to celebrate PSG’s first league title since 1994. Bus shelters were destroyed during the episode with some of the people involved covering their faces. A PSG players’ cruise on the Seine river, which was part of the scheduled celebrations, was cancelled, the club said on its website (www.psg.fr). “There will be no more celebrations on the streets of Paris for PSG,” Boucault said. PSG should be able to properly celebrate the title on Saturday when they host Stade Brest at the Parc des Princes, where the players spent most of the evening after the celebrations were ended.—Reuters

PARIS: French Red Cross members evacuate a person on a stretcher during clashes with the police as Paris Saint-Germain’s supporters celebrate the club’s championship one day after Paris secured French League football championship title.—AFP

Munich because of suspension.

The former England defender is a doubtful starter after he was carried off on a stretcher when he twisted his ankle in Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Aston Villa.

Quicksilver Belgium winger Eden Hazard is also unlikely to play after he injured his hamstring at the weekend. Playmaker Juan Mata wants Chelsea to end their season in style by winning the Europa League and then confirming a topthree finish in the Premier League with a home victory over Everton on Sunday.

“The season is about to end and perhaps the best moment is yet to come,” said Mata. “We may win a new European title and officially get a ticket to play in the next Champions League. “This is the second time in my two seasons at Chelsea that we will play for a European trophy. It would be amazing to win two European titles in consecutive years.”—Reuters

Injured Messi could be done for season

Match on TV

Benfica v Chelsea Al Jazeera Sport +4

finals like this either in my career or the career of my players,” he said.

“Motivation won’t be a problem and winning the Europa League would bring us international recognition.”

Chelsea can turn to their own ranks for tips on the opposition because Brazilian internationals David Luiz and Ramires were both signed from the Portuguese side.

“I am happy to meet them in the final because they are top players,” said Benfica captain Luisao. “David is having a brilliant career and I am a fan of Ramires on and off the pitch. He is a great guy.”

Ramires has been a mainstay of Chelsea’s midfield this season while the versatile Luiz can play alongside his compatriot or in the centre of the defence.

Captain John Terry looks like suffering final heartbreak for the second year in a row after he missed last year ’s Champions League shootout victor y over Bayern

Lionel Messi

MADRID: Lionel Messi could be done for the season after he was ruled out for up to three weeks because of his nagging hamstring injury, meaning he’s set to fall shor t of breaking his own Spanish league scoring record.

Barcelona said yesterday that the four-time FIFA player of the year has reaggravated the right hamstring strain that has limited him for the last six weeks and only a quicker-than-expected return to fitness would see him play again for the Spanish team this season.

Barcelona said Messi will be sidelined for two to three weeks, with the team’s last and meaningless - league game against Malaga scheduled for June 1.

Barcelona has already clinched the league title with three games left, but Messi is four goals short of matching his own record of 50 goals that he set last year. But with 46 league goals, eight in the Champions League and four in the Copa del Rey, his grip on the European

Cairo giants square off in CAF Champions League JOHANNESBURG: Bitter Cairo rivals AlAhly and Zamalek were pitted against each other when the CAF Champions League draw was made in Cairo yesterday.

The two most successful teams in the premier African club competition are in Group A with AC Leopards of Congo Brazzaville and Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

Al-Ahly defeated Esperance of Tunisia 3-2 over two legs last November to claim a record-extending seventh African title.

However, Cairo derbies that would ordinarily attract sell-out 80,000 crowds are set to be played amid the eerie silence of empty stadiums.

Spectators have been barred from virtually all domestic and CAF fixtures in Egypt since 72 spectators died after post-match rioting in Port Said last year.

Crowds limited to 3,000 were permitted at Ahly and Zamalek CAF games this year only for the ban to be reinstated following crowd trouble.

Zamalek supporters ripped seats from fittings at the Borg El Arab stadium in Alexandria and Ahly fans hurled firecrackers on the pitch at the same venue.

Former champions Esperance are in Group B with Coton Sport of Cameroon and newcomers Sewe San Pedro of Ivory Coast and Recreativo Libolo of Angola.

Each club plays its three rivals at home and away between July 19 and September 22 with group winners and runners-up advancing to the semi-finals.

Apart from a $1.5 million (1.160 million euros) first prize, the eight survivors from three rounds of qualifiers are chasing a 2013 FIFA Club World Cup place.

The annual tournament brings together champion clubs from each FIFA region and this year Morocco will become the first African hosts.

Ahly defeated and drew with Zamalek in the Champions League group phase last season and also have first-hand knowledge of Leopards.

The clubs clashed last February in the CAF Super Cup with Ahly edging 2012 CAF Confederation Cup winners Leopards 2-1 in Alexandria.

There will also be plenty of video material on 1995 champions Pirates to scrutinise as most South African games are screened by Pan-African station SuperSport.

Group A appears the tougher with Ahly and five-time Champions League winners Zamalek favored to make the semi-finals.

Esperance, winners once and runners-up twice in the past three editions, are the club to beat in Group B with Coton Sport slight favourites to finish runners-up.

But Sewe San Pedro shocked Al-Hilal of Sudan in the second elimination round and Recreativo Libolo boast the best record of the eight title challengers.

The Angolans won five games and drew the other when disposing of Simba of Tanzania, El-Merreikh of Sudan and Enugu Rangers of Nigeria.—AFP

Golden Shoe award is likely to remain unchallenged.

The other two matches which Messi is set to miss are against Valladolid and the Catalan derby against Espanyol. Messi first injured his hamstring on April 2 in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Paris Saint-Germain, and re-aggravated the injury in Sunday’s 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid. The win over Atletico was only the fifth league game this season in which Messi played but failed to score - having netted in 21 consecutive previous appearances.

Messi, who was making his first league start since the injury, left the pitch in the 68th minute after Barcelona had made all three substitutions and was trailing 1-0. The team rallied without him.

Barcelona has no other trophies left to play for, as it lost in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey and Champions League.—AP

Zaha fires Palace into playoff final LONDON: Manchester United-bound Wilfried Zaha scored both goals as Crystal Palace beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 on Monday to reach the Championship (second tier) playoff final where they will face Watford.

The two sides were level 0-0 after Friday’s first leg and it took until the 69th minute of the second leg for the visitors to break the deadlock.

Zaha, who is joining Premier League champions United in July, sent Palace a step closer to joining him in the top flight with a header from close range after a superb cross from substitute Yannick Bolasie. The Ivory Coast-born forward made sure of the win with a fine left-footed strike into the roof of the net two minutes from time.

“I’ve got no words to express how I feel right now. It means the world to me, I’ve played for Palace for 10 years so doing this for Palace is just perfect for when I leave,” Zaha told Sky Sports.

“I’m just happy I scored really. Getting two goals is just a dream really.” Brighton’s best chances had come a few minutes before Zaha’s opener with substitute Ashley Barnes having one effort saved on to the bar and another cleared off the line.

Palace, who finished fifth this season behind fourthplaced Brighton, are seeking a return to the Premier League for the first time since they were relegated in 2005, while manager Ian Holloway last managed in the top flight with Blackpool in 2011.

It is the second successive year Holloway will be heading to the Championship final after Blackpool were beaten 2-1 by West Ham United last term.

While Holloway was delighted with all his players, he was in no doubt about how vital 20-year-old Zaha’s role had been in getting them to Wembley.

“I wish he was still with us next year,” he said. Watford booked their place in the May 27 final at Wembley on Sunday when they beat Leicester City 3-1 on the day for a 3-2 aggregate victory. Champions Cardiff City and runnersup Hull City won automatic promotion to the Premier League. —Reuters

US, Russia and Iran to wrestle in New York

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

17

Man City sack Mancini

18

Eriksson says Benfica are more gifted than Chelsea

Page 19

ROME: Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Albert Montanes of Spain during an ATP Italian Tennis Open match in Rome. — AFP

Djokovic dumps Montanes in Rome ROME: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic quickly overcame an early break to beat Spanish qualifier Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3 yesterday and reach the third round of the Italian Open. Djokovic dropped his serve to fall behind 2-1 in the opening set but broke back immediately and took control from there against his 32year-old opponent.

The six-time Grand Slam champion didn’t appear to have any problem with his right ankle, which he twisted while representing Serbia in the Davis Cup in April then appeared to hurt again in a second-round loss to Grigor Dimitrov at the Madrid Open last week. Djokovic has reached the final in four of the five past years at the Foro Italico, winning the title in 2008 and 2011.

In the first round, Julien Benneteau of France eliminated 12thseeded Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (2), 6-4; and Mikhail Youzhny beat 13th-seeded Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3 in a matchup of tour veterans.

Also, former top-10 player Fernando Verdasco of Spain defeated Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

In the women’s tournament, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki lost to 48th-ranked Bojana Jovanovski 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the first round.

The 10th-seeded Wozniacki wasted a 5-2 lead in the third-set

was his third Madrid Open success.

Nadal now has 40 titles on his beloved clay, equal second in the Open era with Thomas Muster, and if he stays fit he could easily overhaul Guillermo Vilas’s record of 45 by this time next year.

Ominously for any rival eyeing his Roland Garros crown - he will be chasing an eighth title in Paris starting at the end of this month - he said after his victory in Madrid he was close to where he wanted to be in terms of fitness and form. Nadal told a news conference that Sunday’s match was his most satisfactory performance since his return to Europe after his Indian Wells victory in March.

“I’ve realized that my forehand is working again at its best level and I am able to open up the angles and play a lot of winning points,” Nadal said.

“It’s true that in some moments I was lacking a little bit of backhand or legs. “But if I’m able to compensate for that with my aggressiveness everything changes.

“These last matches I have been able to reach that goal, you know, that line, that place where I want to be playing, the kind of form that I’m aiming for.” Nadal now heads to Rome, where he beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the final last year for

his sixth title at the Masters event in the Italian capital. He said he would be back on the practice court on Monday and was cautious when asked about his prospects for the coming months.

“The outlook will be great if I don’t feel anything in my knee,” he said. “But I don’t know how the thing’s going to improve, so that’s why I want to be very calm, stay with the feet completely on the floor, and go day by day. “Things are going well but the injury is not two years ago. It’s just a few months ago. “So I need to be calm, enjoy every moment, and for sure keep working hard to be fit for the rest of the season.” Nadal was reluctant to look beyond Rome and discuss his chances for the French Open.

“It’s the moment just to be happy with what I have achieved in Madrid, in Barcelona and Monte Carlo. “You know, I’m here and next week I will be in Rome and I will be thinking about Rome. I won’t be thinking Roland Garros.

“When it comes we will think about Roland Garros, which is a pretty important tournament, of course, but it’s not the only one in the world.

“If you told me four months ago all this would have happened and I wasn’t going to do well in Roland Garros I would tell you, yes, I will sign that with my eyes closed.” — Agencies

ing Uran to attack. I saw Wiggins behind but I was more afraid of Scarponi in this stage.”

Uran, meanwhile, claimed afterwards he had planned to cap a strong ride by the team with his first stage win from a Grand Tour.

“I’m very happy to have taken the win today. It is the first win for me in a Grand Tour and it is very satisfying after getting so close before. It nice to finally be able to finish off a victory,” said the Colombian. “It is doubly special as it came after such a strong ride from the team. It was always the plan for me to attack on the climb and things went to plan. The team rode incredibly all day.

“The result has meant I have jumped up a few positions on the general classification so now I am one second in front of Brad.

That is a good position to be in for me and for the team to have two riders there.”

Despite losing out to Nibali for the bonus seconds on offer for third, Evans said he was pleased to hold on to second place overall after the race’s first major mountain stage.

“It’s probably not going to be a big deal at the end, but I would rather not concede time,” he said. “To maintain my position at this point is still very good. So far, so good.

We still have a lot of mountain stages to go.”

Although aware of Wiggins losing time, the Australian said the only rider he was focusing on was Nibali. “I don’t know what was going on behind, of course, but Nibali is the rider I have to focus on at this point con- ITALY: Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran celebrates his victory as he crosses the finish line of the 10th stage of the 96th Giro d’Italia (Italy Tour) cycling race. — AFP sidering my place in classification.” — AFP

CHICAGO: LeBron James scored 27 points as the Miami Heat nearly matched a club record for points conceded in a playoff game, dominating the listless and short-handed Chicago Bulls 88-65 on Monday to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

At Memphis Tennessee, Tony Allen scored on a driving layup to open overtime as the Grizzlies beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-97 to push the defending Western Conference champions to the edge of elimination. The Bulls’ 65 points were just two more than the all-time postseason low for a Miami opponent, and it was easily the worst offensive performance by a Chicago team.

Never before had the Bulls scored fewer than 69 in a playoff game or 10 in a quarter during the postseason, but both those marks fell on a night when they were dominated on both ends of the floor.

Miami led by 11 at the half and put this one away in the third quarter, outscoring Chicago 17-9 in the period. “We worked for it,” said Heat forward Chris Bosh. “I never like to say that things are easy.”

The defending champion Heat will try to wrap up the series at home today. James had his usual complete game with eight assists and seven rebounds Monday.

Bosh finished with 14 points after scoring 20 and grabbing 19 rebounds in Game 3, and the Heat won again despite another quiet night from Dwyane Wade (six points), whose right knee was bothering him again. He appeared to aggravate it on a fallaway jumper during the game but was able to return after getting re-taped.

“It’s frustrating at times, but you just try to do what you can,” Wade said. The Grizzlies shook off a first half in which they couldn’t hit shots and the Thunder seemingly couldn’t miss in building their largest lead in this series at 17 points. But the Grizzlies have yet to lose on their home court this postseason, and they won their third straight and seventh in eight games to grab a 3-1 lead in the series. Game 5 is today in Oklahoma City.

The Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 9-3 in overtime. Kevin Durant scored 27 points but missed all five of his shots in overtime. — AP

tiebreaker. The Dane has struggled on clay this season, losing to Yaroslava Shvedova in the first round in Madrid and to Carla Suarez Navarro in her first match in Stuttgart, Germany, last month. Also, eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova overcame a second-set lapse to beat Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 and reach the third round.

Also in the first round, 12th-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia eliminated Spanish qualifier Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3 and will next face 31st-ranked Varvara Lepchenko of the United States, who defeated Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, when Rafa Nadal returned to action in February after seven months out with a knee injury he never thought that just over three months later he would have another five titles in the bag, including two more Masters triumphs.

The Spaniard, a former number one and the French Open champion, dropped to five in the world during his enforced absence before storming back to win in Sao Paulo, Acapulco, Indian Wells, Barcelona and now Madrid.

He also reached the finals at Vina del Mar and Monte Carlo and Sunday’s 6-2 6-4 destruction of Swiss 15th seed Stanislas Wawrinka in front of his adoring home fans in the Spanish capital

Uran clinches Giro stage ITALY: Olympic silver medallist Rigoberto Uran soloed to victory in the hilly 10th stage of the Giro d’Italia yesterday, as his Sky team leader and race favorite Bradley Wiggins lost more time to race leader Vincenzo Nibali.

Uran attacked on his own before the final 4.4km climb to the summit finish of Altopiano del Montasio in what appeared to be a tactic designed to put the pressure on Nibali’s Astana team.

However, Nibali and fellow victory contender Cadel Evans of Australia ultimately responded in positive fashion, upping the pace in the final few kilometres to leave Wiggins, the Tour de France champion, trailing by over 30secs.

Neither won the stage but Nibali and Evans came over the finish line of the 167km race, which began in Cordenons in the extreme northeast of Italy, 31secs behind Colombian Uran. Wiggins arrived 37sec later, meaning the Englishman is now fourth overall at 2min 05sec behind Nibali.

Evans, the 2011 Tour de France champion, is second overall only 41secs behind Nibali and must now be considered the Italian’s only real rival in a race which, given Wiggins’ performances in the past week, seems out of reach for the 2012 Tour de France champion.

Nibali said afterwards: “Sky tried to isolate me to attack me.... but I managed to gain a few important seconds on Scarponi and the others.”

“It was a difficult stage coming off a rest day but for me it went off well. I was expect-

Heat beat Bulls

Business

UAE markets hit multi-year highs, no sign of abating Page 22 Branch banking in the digital age Page 24

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

Australia govt forecasts $19.4 billion deficit

US hedge fund calls for Sony Entertainment spin-off Page 25

Page 23

NEW YORK: In this Friday, April 12, 2013. photo, specialist Allison Gamba works at her post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Financial markets remained subdued yesterday as investors assessed whether the recent optimism that has seen many stock indexes hit historic highs will last. — AP

US oil boom leaves OPEC sidelined European refiners at risk of further closures LONDON: Rising US shale oil production will help meet most of the world’s new oil demand in the next five years, even if the global economy picks up steam, leaving little room for OPEC to lift output without risking lower prices, the West’s energy agency said. The prediction by the International Energy Agency (IEA) came in its closely watched semi-annual report, which analyses mid-term global oil supply and demand trends.

“North America has set off a supply shock that is sending ripples throughout the world,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said yesterday. “The good news is that this is helping to ease a market that was relatively tight for several years,” she added. Oil yesterday traded near $103 a barrel, well below its peak of $147 in 2008.

The IEA said it expected global demand to rise 8 percent on aggregate between 2012 and 2018 to reach 96.7 million barrels per day (bpd) based on a fairly optimistic assumption by the International Monetary Fund of 3 to 4.5 percent global economic growth a year during the period.

That incremental demand will be met mainly by non-OPEC

production, which will rise by more than 10 percent between 2012 and 2018 to 59.31 million bpd, the IEA said, increasing its estimate of non-OPEC supply in 2017 by 1 million bpd versus its previous report in October 2012. The United States will overtake Russia as the world’s largest non-OPEC producer as early as 2015, the IEA said. That may leave OPEC, which had been long seen as the last resort for the world to meet rising demand, with output fluctuating around the current levels of 30 million bpd for the next five years.

The agency cut its estimate of the demand for OPEC crude in 2017 to 29.99 million bpd, down by 1.22 million bpd from its previous report six months ago. It said OPEC’s spare capacity will rise by over a quarter to reach 6.4 million bpd or 6.6 percent of global demand, giving an additional cushion to potential supply shocks, the report said. The adoption of US shale technology could help Russia and China boost production from unconventional reserves, but new projects may slow in other areas.

“Several members of the (OPEC) producer group face new hurdles, notably in North and sub-Saharan Africa. The regional

fallout from the ‘Arab Spring’ is taking a toll on investment and capacity growth,” the IEA said. “Downward adjustments across the (OPEC) group are partly offset by substantially stronger growth in Saudi capacity than previously expected, reflecting newly announced development projects,” it added. Iran’s sustainable crude production capacity is likely to fall by as much as 1 million bpd to 2.38 million bpd by 2018, the lowest in many decades, due to Western sanctions, the IEA said.

The IEA said the balance of global supply growth, until recently evenly split between OPEC and non-OPEC, was tilting towards the latter. “North America thus increases its share of supply growth both within the non-OPEC group and more globally,” it added. In every other aspect of the supply chain, be it demand, refining, trade or storage and transportation, the fast rise of emerging market and developing economies is striking, it said.

These economies are projected to overtake advanced economies in oil product consumption from the second quarter of 2013. This lead will widen from 49 percent of global demand in 2012 to more than 54 percent by 2018.

Ranbaxy pleads guilty, to pay $500m in US settlement NEW YORK: Indian generic drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd pleaded guilty on Monday to felony charges related to drug safety and will pay $500 million in civil and criminal fines under the settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice. The settlement is its largest-ever with a generic drugmaker over drug safety, according to the US government. It includes $150 million in payments for a criminal fine and forfeiture and $350 million in payments for civil claims.

The settlement has been in the works for some time. In December 2011, Ranbaxy set aside $500 million to resolve the potential criminal and civil liabilities related to the investigation by the government into its manufacturing practices and falsifying data. The company reached a related settlement agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration in 2011. “The financial provision Ranbaxy established in December 2011 will be sufficient to cover all material financial obligations under the agreement,” the company said in a news release announcing the conclusion of the US investigation.

Ranbaxy USA pleaded guilty to three felony counts related to the manufacture of drugs at two Indian locations that did not meet safety standards and to four counts of making material false statements. In the civil settlement, Ranbaxy has agreed to pay $350 million to resolve allegations that drugs from the two Indian plants did not meet specifications and that false claims were submitted to US government healthcare programs between April 1, 2003 and Sept. 16, 2010.

In 2008, the FDA banned the company from selling about 30 drugs in the United States after it found manufacturing deficiencies at facilities in India. In 2009, the FDA had accused the company of falsifying data and test results in drug applications and halted reviews of drugs made at a plant in northern India.

Dinesh Thakur, former Ranbaxy director and global

head of research information & portfolio management, is entitled to $48.6 million as the whistleblower in the case, the Justice Department said. It was Thakur who uncovered the unsafe practices and violations at Ranbaxy.

“Ranbaxy’s management was notified of these widespread problems. When they failed to correct the problems, it left me with no choice but to alert healthcare authorities,” Thakur said in a statement.

“It took us eight years to help government authorities unravel a complicated trail of falsified records and dangerous manufacturing practices that threatened to compromise the quality and safety of Ranbaxy drugs,” he added. Ranbaxy, majority-owned

by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd , stopped selling drugs to the U.S. markets while it fixed problems with its manufacturing procedures in the United States and India.—Reuters

ROPAR: A view of the Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited pharmaceutical Indian factory at Toansa village in Ropar about 50 Km from Chandigarh yesterday. The US subsidiary of New Delhi-based Ranbaxy Laboratories pleaded guilty to seven counts of felony after it distributed several India-produced adulterated generic drugs in the United States in 2005 and 2006. — AFP

The IEA said that beyond the well known story of growth in Brazil, China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, many African nations were also on the rise on the global oil consumption map. The IEA also predicted shifts in the global refining industry as countries such as India and Saudi Arabia build new refining capacity.

The expansion of global refining capacity will outpace upstream supply growth as well as demand growth, bringing refining margins under pressure. Higher-cost refineries will face stronger competition. “European refineries are at particularly high risk of closure over the forecast period,” the IEA said.

The IEA added that another consequence of the surge in US production was a shift in natural gas pricing, which would challenging the conventional wisdom that products produced from oil will continue to dominate the market for transport fuels. “Cheap and abundant natural gas has already facilitated the transition of the U.S. economy towards broader use of the fuel,” the agency said. Natural gas will increase its share of road transport fuels to 2.5 percent in 2018 from 1.4 percent in 2010, it forecast. — Reuters

EADS posts profit leap as Airbus orders soar PARIS: European aerospace giant EADS reported a near doubling of first-quarter net profit yesterday, boosted by a strong performance by its main subsidiary Airbus which makes airliners. Quarterly profits soared by 91 percent from the level 12 months ago to 241 million euros ($316 million) on strong demand for commercial aircraft.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped by 79.0 percent to 596 million euros, despite exceptional charges of 145 million euros in the Airbus division which is dealing with micro cracks in the wings of its superjumbo aircraft. The price of shares in the group rose by 3.01 percent to close at 42.44 euros. The Paris stock exchange’s CAC 40 index rose 0.53 percent. At brokers Barclays Bourse, portfolio manager Renaud Murail commented: “Overall, the results do not contain any bad surprises. The trend is favourable in terms of activity and the group is confirming the good announcements which the market was expecting.”

He said that in addition “the group is confirming its targets with once again a good number of orders or rumours of orders which are in the air, particularly from companies in the Gulf.” The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company said that group orders for the first three months rose to 49.9 billion euros compared to 12 billion during the same period last year. Orders for Airbus’ commercial aircraft showed the highest jump, leaping 496 percent. Sales for the first three months of the year were up 9.0 percent at 12.4 billion euros, the group added. EADS noted that the programme for its future long-haul

A350 aircraft, due to be delivered at the end of 2014, remained “very ambitious” but that there had been no anouncement of delays since the middle of 2012.

The Eurocopter division, making helicopters, which had performed strongly last year, was hit by technical problems affecting its Super Puma model, resulting in a restriction on flying. Sales fell by 13.0 percent and operating profit by 69.0 percent.

Orders fell by 36.0 percent in the quarter on a 12-month comparison.

EADS said that the performance of Eurocopter should recover during this year because the company had identified the cause of the technical problems. Orders by the space division Astrium fell by 30.0 percent on a 12-month comparison but sales rose by 3.0 percent. Against a background of cuts in defence budgets in the West, the defence arm Cassidian raised sales by 2.0 percent and its operating profit by 40.0 percent. EADS stood by its targets for the full year, expecting EBIT earnings before nonrecurrent items to be 3.5 billion euros in 2013 from 3.0 billion euros in 2012. Deliveries of Airbus aircraft should continue to increase to 600-610 commercial aircraft.

The group held to a target of 700 orders in the year, which appeared modest since commercial director John Leahy is counting on 750 for the year and had booked 493 by the end of April. EADS said it expected “modest” growth for the year, mainly because of a slowing of orders for its superjumbo airliner, the A380, which has been held back by a programme to deal with micro cracks in some of the wing components. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

BUSINESS

UAE markets hit multi-year highs, no sign of abating Expectations are strong after DIB’s merger with Tamweel DUBAI: Markets in the United Arab Emirates hit new multi-year highs yesterday, delaying an expected bout of profit-taking as upbeat earnings added fuel to the bullish sentiment, while Saudi Arabia and Egypt fell.

In Dubai, banks rallied. Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) rose 5.8 percent, extending year-to-date gains to 54.7 percent. The bank completed a share swap acquisition of mortgage lender Tamweel in which it provided 10 new shares in the bank for every 18 held in Tamweel, it said earlier this week.

“Expectations are strong for 2013 after DIB’s merger with Tamweel - it will reduce their lending costs and give it the ability to be competitive in the mortgage lending segment,” said Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments.

“It is also cheap in terms of valuations compared to Abu Dhabi banks, which have seen a strong rally this year.”

Air Arabia gained 0.9 percent. The budget carrier posted a 20 percent year-on-year rise in net profit for the first quarter, boosted by a 22 percent advance in revenue.

The results were positive and showed the firm’s growth potential in the medium term, said Reda Gomaa, portfolio manager at Mashreq in Dubai, adding there was still value in the stock despite its early-year rally.

Air Arabia is up 31.7 percent year-to-date. Dubai’s benchmark climbed 2.7 percent to 2,255 points - its biggest one-day jump since the opening session of 2013 and its highest level since October 2009. The

index is moving closer to the peak of that year at 2,408 points - a major resistance.

Abu Dhabi’s measure climbed 1.8 percent to a fresh 54-month high. The number of shares changing hands yesterday -424.7 million - was the second-highest for a session in 2013, aided by a 134 million single trade in Eshraq Properties.

Financials lead gainers, with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Union National Bank rising 5.5 and 4 percent respectively.

Elsewhere, Oman’s bourse rose 0.5 percent, aided by gains at investment firms. Oman National Investment Corporation climbed 5.4 percent and Oman Investment and Finance Co advanced 4.1 percent.

Qatar’s measure gained 0.4 percent, and Kuwait’s index advanced 0.2 percent to a fresh 42-month peak.

In Saudi Arabia, the benchmark slipped 0.3 percent.

Insurance stocks tumbled for a second session since the market regulator announced plans to cut down on speculative trading through stricter rules.

The insurance sector index dropped 6.7 percent.

Petrochemicals shares helped limit losses, with the heavyweight sector’s benchmark adding 0.8 percent.

Egypt’s measure retreated 0.3 percent. Large-cap Orascom Construction Industries fell 1.3 percent to 242.8 Egyptian pounds after Dutch-listed parent OCI NV cut the tender offer price for a share swap.

OCI NV said yesterday it would offer holders of OCI’s Egypt-listed shares the option of swapping them for OCI NV shares or a cash alternative of 255 pounds

per share. That is down from the 280 pounds per share offered in January. Investment firm EFG-Hermes gained 3.6 percent and most other shares were also up. Non-Arab foreigners were net sellers, bourse data showed.

HIGHLIGHTS DUBAI The index rose 2.7 percent to 2,255 points.

ABU DHABI The index gained 1.8 percent to 3,481 points.

OMAN The index advanced 0.5 percent to 6,319 points.

BONN: In this March 9, 2010 file photo the headquarters of German Deutsche Post DHL is pictured in Bonn, western Germany. Mail, express delivery and freight company Deutsche Post DHL saw its profits dip in the first quarter as the weak global economy saw companies ship fewer goods by air and after a large one-time gain in the year-ago quarter. —AP

QATAR The benchmark rose 0.4 percent to 8,938 points.

KUWAIT The index advanced 0.2 percent to 7,863 points.

Economy hurts Deutsche Post DHL freight business

SAUDI ARABIA The index declined 0.3 percent to 7,139 points.

EGYPT The index slipped 0.3 percent to 5,401 points.

BAHRAIN The measure gained 0.5 percent to 1,148 points.

—Reuters

Bank credit sees big jump in March: NBK NBK’s Economic Update KUWAIT: Bank credit saw a big jump in March, it’s largest monthly gain in more than four years. While household credit continued to show strength, growth in March was suppor ted by credit gains from nonfinancial business sectors for the second consecutive month. Credit growth also received support from the non-bank financial sector, which experienced a break from its deleveraging trend, though it

While growth remained healthy, the pace has seen some slowing. The 3month annualized growth slowed to 15% compared to 22% in November.

Facilities for the purchase of securities gained KD 45 million, which coincided with an active month on the KSE. Non-financial business activity saw a second large consecutive monthly increase in M arch with credit up KD 148 million. Gains dur-

remained down on the year.

Total bank credit rose by a solid KD 279 million in March to KD 27.35 billion, pushing year-on-year (y/y) credit growth to 5.2%. Household credit (personal facilities excluding lending for the purchase of securities) saw another healthy gain, while loans to the nonfinancial business sector made a strong contribution in March. ersonal facilities (ex-securities) rose by KD 76 million in March.

BRUSSELS: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, left, talks with Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen, during the EU finance ministers meeting, at the European Council building in Brussels, yesterday. European Union finance ministers seek ways to cut down on tax evasion, action British Chancellor George Osborne says is particularly important in current circumstances. —AP

ing the month were led by construction, real estate and industr y.

Meanwhile, oil & gas and trade saw declines in total credit. Private sector deposits saw another strong monthly gain. Deposits have been growing steadily since November.

March reflected the general trend in deposit growth over the last year, with savings, site and foreign currency deposits seeing solid double digit growth at the expense of time deposits. The latter have been largely flat over the last year. In March, they rose by KD 440 million. The increase was mostly in foreign currency deposits (up by KD 531 million) and sight deposits (up by KD 149 million). Time deposits fell by KD 311 million. As a result, the broader measure of money (M2) expanded by KD 445 million during the month, with M2 growth remaining relatively strong at 8.7%. The narrower measure (M1) increased by KD 154 million.

Deposit rates on dinar time deposits remained steady at current low levels. Average rates fell by 1 to 2 basis points across all maturities.

The 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and 12-month deposit rates averaged 0.57%, 0.76%, 0.96% and 1.17% respectively. he dinar weakened slightly against the USD in March, largely related to a weakening of the euro against the USD. The USD/KWD rate declined to 3.52 while the EUR/KWD rose to 2.72 (up 2.2% on February).

The dinar has decreased by 2.1% against the US dollar over the last year while remaining relatively steady against the euro.

FRANKFURT: Mail, express delivery and freight company Deutsche Post DHL saw its profits dip in the first quarter as the weak global economy saw companies ship fewer goods by air and after a large onetime gain in the year-ago quarter.

Deutsche Post DHL made a net profit of 498 million euros ($647 million) in the first three months of the year, 5.9 percent lower than the year-ago equivalent of 529 million euros.

The year-earlier figure included a onetime gain of 186 million euros from the sale of a stake in Postbank to Deutsche Bank. If the Postbank gain were excluded, net profit would have risen 45 percent. Revenues rose 0.6 percent to 13.44 billion euros.

The company’s shares rose 3.3 percent to 19.44 euros in midday trading in Europe.

“Even though we have yet to feel any sort of economic tailwind, we were able to get off to a solid start in the new year,” CEO Frank Appel said in a statement. He said the results “demonstrated once again just how robust our business model is.”

Deutsche Post DHL, which operates an air freight hub in Cincinnati, Ohio, said its freight business saw slower demand in “a

strained macroeconomic environment” that includes a stagnant European economy. Air freight revenue fell 8.2 percent to 1.2 billion euros, with a particularly strong decline in the technology and manufacturing sectors. Still, operating earnings for the freight division showed a 1 percent increase due to strict cost management.

Its express delivery division saw operating earnings rise almost 10 percent to 254 million euros. At the mail division, which is focused on its home base in Germany, revenues rose for its package delivery business. It cited “booming” e-commerce, in which people have goods delivered from online retailers. That helped offset fewer working days in the quarter due to the early Easter holiday weekend.

Deutsche Post DHL, which has 473,000 employees in 220 countries and territories, emerged from the former government post office through privatization, and remains Germany’s domestic mail carrier.

The German government owns a 24.9 percent stake through its KfW bank. The company maintained its full-year forecast for as much as 2.95 billion euros in earnings before interest and taxes. —AP

Kuwait’s Investment Dar offers new settlement to creditors KUWAIT: Kuwaiti investment house Investment Dar said yesterday it had offered to give creditors a stake in a portfolio of assets in exchange for their debt as an alternative to an offer made under a 1 billion dinar ($3.5 billion) debt restructuring plan agreed in 2011.

Investment Dar said the offer was optional and voluntary and open to all of its banks and investors. It said those which did not want to swap would retain their claims under the original restructuring plan, which offered creditors a 10 percent stake.

The company said it remained committed to the repayment schedule under the 2011 plan.

The settlement-in-kind will raise the chances of the company being able to repay its debt on time, Chairman Adnan al-Musallam said in a statement.

There were no details on the type or value of assets offered to creditors under the settlement.

Shares in Investment Dar, which owns a stake in luxury British carmaker Aston Martin, have been delisted from the Kuwait stock exchange. —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 2.819 5.241 2.905 2.261 3.274 231.820 36.892 3.666 6.956

.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

9.669 94.221 0.271 0.273

740.69 78.59 76.02

743.000 78.500 76.400

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd GCC COUNTRIES 76.377 78.697 743.930 760.730 77.990

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 41.200 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.558 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.336 Tunisian Dinar 174.570 Jordanian Dinar 404.460 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.921 Syrian Lier 3.112 Morocco Dirham 34.083 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 286.300 Euro 374.190 Sterling Pound 439.760 Canadian dollar 284.590 Turkish lira 158.720 Swiss Franc 301.050 US Dollar Buying 285.100 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 286.200 286.130 441.765 372.410 299.070 757.725 77.900 78.560 76.285 403.446 40.601 2.268 5.215 2.903 3.670 6.939 702.070 3.815 9.695 4.085 3.360 95.240

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 0.4311675 0.0062090 0.0459301 0.3672796 0.0454118 0.4291120 0.0394043 0.2953155 Australasia 0.2754572 0.2290480 0.0001142 America 0.2763333 0.0001456 0.2839500 Asia 0.0036286 0.0031744 0.0455905 0.0165400

SELLDRAFT 0.4401675 0.0182090 0.0509301 0.3747796 0.0506118 0.4366120 0.0444043 0.3023155 0.2874572 0.2390480 0.0001142 0.2853333 0.0001636 0.2861000 0.0036836 0.0034044 0.0505905 0.0196400

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

0.0000444 0.0343160 0.0051727 0.0000244 0.0028600 0.0027338 0.0033582 0.0908389 0.0031166 0.0028798 0.0064905 0.0000731 0.2267879 0.0022204 0.0092650 Arab 0.7524592 0.0390086 0.0129242 0.1454715 0.0000796 0.0001728 0.3979604 1.0000000 0.0001756 0.0219005 0.0012190 0.7324971 0.0779704 0.0758000 0.0465443 0.0031207 0.1728462 0.0765080 0.0012916

Al Mulla Exchange Currency 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) Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 285.700 374.550 440.000 285.150 2.855 5.228 40.550 2.257 3.668 6.933 2.905 760.850 77.850 76.300

0.0000504 0.0374160 0.0052367 0.0000295 0.0038600 0.0029138 0.0035882 0.0978389 0.0033166 0.0029198 0.0069605 0.0000761 0.2327879 0.0022624 0.0098650 0.7609592 0.0410386 0.0194242 0.1472615 0.0000801 0.0002328 0.4054604 1.0000000 0.0001956 0.0450052 0.0018540 0.7434971 0.0787534 0.0764400 0.0470943 0.0033407 0.1788462 0.0779580 0.0013918

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

BUSINESS

Australia govt forecasts $19.4 billion deficit The books would finally be balanced in 2015-16

TOKYO: In this Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 photo, Sony signs hang from a store in Tokyo. A US hedge fund has proposed that Sony Corp. selling up to 20 percent of its entertainment business to use that money to strengthen its ailing electronics unit. —AP

Hedge fund wants part of Sony entertainment sold TOKYO: A US hedge fund has proposed that Sony Corp. sell up to 20 percent of its entertainment business and use the money to strengthen its ailing electronics unit. The plan drew a quick rejection from the Japanese consumer conglomerate.

In a May 14 letter to Sony President Kazuo Hirai, first published in The New York Times, hedge fund Third Point suggested Sony take 15 to 20 percent of the entertainment unit public.

Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb said that would allow the Japanese maker of PlayStation game machines to fund improvements to its battered electronics operations.

Sony replied in a statement yesterday that its entertainment business, which includes movies and music, is not for sale, and stressed it is trying to strengthen both that division and its electronics operations. “As president and CEO Kazuo Hirai has said repeatedly, the entertainment businesses are important contributors to Sony’s growth and are not for sale,” Sony said. “We look forward to continuing constructive dialogue with our shareholders as we pursue our strategy.”

The proposal highlights a common criticism of Tokyo-based Sony that it has never been able to take advantage of having both electronics and entertainment under its wing.

Instead, one has tended to drag the other down. Some analysts have made suggestions similar to Loeb’s. Sony’s electronics business has been ailing, particularly its TV division, which has lost money for nine straight years.

Sony fell behind in flat panel TVs, and has never been able to compete against Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea in TVs as well as cheaper makers. Following four straight years of red ink, Sony reported a profit of 43 billion yen ($434 million) in the fiscal year that ended in

March, helped by the recent decline of the yen.

It had suffered a loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) the previous year, which was the worst in the company’s nearly seven-decade history.

Outspoken investors like Loeb are still relatively rare in Japan. Major companies tend to have networks of shareholders such as banks and group companies. Resistance to big change is strong.

Shareholders’ meetings, including those of Sony, tend to be boring affairs in which company agendas are rarely challenged, except in proposals that are quickly defeated or in rambling speeches by shareholders seen more as a nuisance than a real influence on policy.

But change could be in store. Japan is seeing a surge in global investment interest because of its recent policies of super-easy money and an inflation target designed to wrest its economy out of the doldrums.

In his letter, Loeb pointed to the “Abenomics” monetary policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office last year, which have buoyed Tokyo stocks and brought the yen down.

Loeb said Sony should seize on the opportunity provided by Abenomics to shore up its electronics business. “Sony stands at the crossroads of compelling corporate opportunity and massive Japanese economic reform. Under Prime Minister Abe’s leadership, Japan can regain its position as one of the world’s pre-eminent economic powerhouses and manufacturing engines,” he said.

Loeb said in his letter that his fund owns 64 million Sony shares, which is about a 6.5 percent stake in Sony. Sony did not have the latest numbers on the fund’s holdings, but confirmed it is a major shareholder. Loeb suggested the entertainment division be spun off in a particular way to give existing shareholders a priority in the ownership of Sony Entertainment. —AP

CANBERRA: The Australian government’s promise to deliver a budget surplus in the current fiscal year has blown out to a 19.4 billion Australian dollar ($19.4 billion) deficit as a fading mining boom coupled with a buoyant Aussie dollar slows the economy.

The projected deficit for the 12 months ending June 30 is included in the government’s economic blueprint for the coming year released yesterday, which includes spending increases in defense, foreign aid, care for the disabled and education.

It is Treasurer Wayne Swan’s sixth annual budget and is likely to be the last for his center-left Labor Party government, widely expected to be defeated at elections on Sept 14. The budget forecast a smaller AU$18 billion deficit in the fiscal year ending June 2014 with net debt peaking at AU$191.6 billion - 11.4 percent of gross domestic product - in 2014-15. The books would finally be balanced in 2015-16 with an AU$800 million surplus. The surplus would widen to $6.6 billion surplus the following year.

A year ago, Swan declared an end to budget deficits in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and predicted an AU$1.5 billion surplus in the current fiscal year. Swan yesteray defended his government’s decision not to make deeper spending cuts to balance the government’s books sooner. “Cutting to the bone puts Australian jobs and our economy at risk, something this Labor government will never accept,” Swan told Parliament.

“To those who would take us down the European road of savage austerity, I say the social destruction that comes with cutting too much, too hard, too fast is not the Australian way,” he said.

The budget will have to be endorsed by Parliament over the next two months if it is to be implemented.

Business groups have largely reacted negatively to the budget and questioned whether its assumptions about Australia’s economic growth prospects were too optimistic.

“It is a missed opportunity because it keeps the nation shackled to more years of deficits and a high cost structure that erodes business competitiveness and innovation,” Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said in a statement.

Government revenue has been increasing every year since 2009-10. Tax receipts are forecast to rise 7.4 percent in the next fiscal year to AU$376 billion. But the government has struggled to rein in expenditure ever since its initial splurge of stimulus spending at the peak of the global financial crisis kept the economy out of recession.

Economic growth is forecast to slow from 3 percent in 2012-13 to 2.75 percent next year before gathering pace again. nMost economists were surprised when Australia’s jobless rate fell from 5.6 percent in March to 5.5 percent in April. The budget expects unemployment will rise to 5.75 percent for the next two years before falling back to 5 percent in 2015-16.

Defense spending is set to increase despite

Volkswagen plans new China car plant SHANGHAI: German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) will build a plant in central China, a spokesman said yesterday, as it battles US rival General Motors to be the top foreign automaker in the world’s biggest car market.

The plant in the city of Changsha will start production in early 2016 with an annual output capacity of 300,000 vehicles, a Beijing-based spokesman for VW told AFP. “We are quite close to an official announcement. I think it will come this week,” the spokesman said, but declined to give an investment figure.

The move comes as VW battles US auto giant GM for dominance in the huge Chinese market, despite worries about over-capacity. VW delivered 2.81 million vehicles in the country last year while GM sold 2.84 million, making them its biggest foreign automakers.

GM said this month it would build a $1.3 billion Cadillac plant in Shanghai after the Chinese govern-

ment approved the project, as it seeks more luxury auto sales-which at present are dominated by German brands.

“The production expansion of foreign carmakers shows they see growth opportunities in China’s car market,” Jia Xinguang, managing director of industry group the China Automobile Dealers Association, told AFP. China’s annual auto sales rose only 4.3 percent year-on-year to 19.31 million units in 2012, hit by limits on numbers imposed by some cities to ease traffic congestion and tackle pollution.

But management consulting firm McKinsey last year predicted China’s passenger car market alone will grow an average eight percent annually to 2020. VW currently has 12 vehicle and component plants in China, and the Changsha plant is a joint venture with Shanghai-based SAIC Motor, one of its existing Chinese partners.

“The location of Changsha may be a result of Volkswagen’s strategy to

move production inland to central and western China and its consideration of local policies, which might offer tax incentives to support the investment,” Jia said.

An environmental assessment report conducted last year by the Hunan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and posted on its website put the investment at 12.1 billion yuan ($2.0 billion).

VW ’s head for China, Jochem Heizmann, told reporters last month the company was negotiating with Changsha authorities over the factory, part of its scheme to build seven new plants in the country, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

VW produced 2.6 million vehicles in China last year, with the rest of sales coming from imports, according to the group’s annual report.

It delivered nearly 770,000 vehicles in China in the first quarter of 2013, up more than 21 percent from the same period last year, according to an earlier statement. —AFP

Gold edges lower as dollar steadies LONDON: Gold edged lower yesterday, snapping earlier gains, as the dollar steadied against the euro after mixed European economic data, while investor sentiment remained cautious and physical demand slowed in some markets.

Gold was down 0.1 percent to $1,428.64 by 1037 GMT, having risen by one percent to a session high of $1,444.96 an ounce in earlier trade. The metal has faced the pressure of a stronger dollar over the past few sessions, hitting a twoweek trough on Friday. It has fallen about 14 percent this year. US gold futures for June delivery were down 0.4 percent to $1,428 an ounce. “The weaker dollar helped to give a bit of a boost to gold earlier on but at the first level of resistance at $1,445 the metal seemed to run out of steam and now we are testing the intraday support level at around $1,430,” Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.

“Any sign of strength in the US data is likely to create headwinds at the moment, that will be one of things to look out for as this is having an impact on the dollar as well.”

The dollar moved higher after initial losses against the euro, which fell after weaker-than-forecast ZEW sentiment data from Germany.

Meanwhile, a surprise rise in April’s US retail sales on Monday strengthened the view that the the world’s largest economy remains resilient, while damping speculation the Federal Reserve will extend its bullion-friendly bond-buying

programme. Accommodative monetary policies favour gold as low interest rates encourage investors to put money into the non-interest-bearing asset, speculating on price gains. Gold has recovered about $120 since a sell-off in midApril dragged prices to more than two-year lows at $1,321.35, but it is still well below last month’s peak of around $1,600, as investors shifted into equities and cut exposure to bullion. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, stood unchanged at 33.811 million ounces on Monday, just off their lowest level since March 2009.

The fall in gold prices last month spurred a surge in physical buying in Asia and elsewhere, helping to pluck prices off lows, but physical demand for some gold products began to subside. “While gold coin sales have been brisk, undoubtedly helping the recent recovery, we have to suspect that the ‘bargain-buying’ off the lows has decelerated somewhat after the initial spurt,” said Edward Meir, a metals analyst at futures brokerage INTL FCStone.

“And we suspect it will continue to do so, particularly if prices start to wobble once again.” In other precious metals, silver fell 0.4 percent to $23.50 an ounce, platinum was up 1.2 percent to $1,493.24 an ounce and palladium dropped 0.3 percent to $712.72 an ounce. Platinum was boosted by a wildcat strike at the South African operations of producer Lonmin. —Reuters

Australian troops withdrawing from Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands this calendar year. The defense allocation has swollen from AU$103 billion spread over four years in last year’s budget to AU$113 billion over four years in the latest budget.

The latest budget includes AU$3 billion over nine years to buy 12 new Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare fighter jets to cover deliver delays in the Lockheed-Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The cost of a new funding model for schools would increase from AU$17.7 million in the current fiscal year

the current fiscal year which was supposed to raise AU$3 billion in its first year. The latest estimate is that that tax will raise only AU$200 million in the current fiscal year due to a sharp fall in commodity prices and AU$700 million next year.

The government also introduced in the current fiscal year a carbon tax of AU$23 for every metric ton of carbon gases emitted by Australia’s worst industrial polluters. Most households were compensated for the higher living costs as a result of the tax with tax breaks and increased welfare.

CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (L) watches as her Treasurer Wayne Swan (R) delivers his budget speech to the House of Representatives in Canberra yesterday. Swan vowed to keep Australia among the world’s top economies and talked up his party’s poll hopes despite a lean budget offering little to a hostile electorate. —AFP to AU$532 million next year.

The government plans to introduce a new levy from July 2014 that would raise AU$11.6 billion over three years to improve care for Australians with severe disabilities. The budget confirmed Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s announcement on Monday that foreign aid would increase by 9.6 percent on the current year to AU$5.7 billion next year. Chinese demand for raw materials such as iron ore and coal helped keep Australia out of recession during the global economic crisis. But the mining boom is expected to peak this calendar year and businesses outside the resource sector are not growing fast enough to make up for the miners’ expected retreat.

The government introduced a 30 percent tax on iron ore and coal miners’ profits above a set threshold in

The latest budget scraps plans for more tax breaks promised in 2015-16 when the carbon tax is scheduled to be replaced by a carbon permit trading scheme. The Australian scheme will be linked to the European emissions trading scheme which has experienced declining carbon prices due to the depressed economy.

While last year the carbon price was expected to be AU$29 a metric ton in 2015-16, the latest budget predicts AU$12 a metric ton which won’t add to living costs. Australia’s central bank last week cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to a record low 2.75 percent in an effort to boost economic growth and to drive down the currency that has failed to track lower with commodity prices. International investor interest in Australian bonds as a safe haven in global market turmoil has helped keep the currency buoyant. —AP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

BUSINESS

Twin crises threatening Bangladesh progress DHAKA: With its disaster-strewn garment industry in turmoil and strikes paralysing the country on a near weekly basis, Bangladesh is in danger of unravelling hard-won progress in a one-time “basket case” economy.

One of Asia’s standout performers of late, Bangladesh has posted average annual growth rates of 6.2 percent since 2003 and its poverty rate has fallen by some two percentage points.

But analysts say the combined fallout from a factory disaster last month that killed 1,127 people, and the deadliest political unrest since independence could

scare off investors and reverse much of that progress.

Most shops and businesses were closed Tuesday in the latest of a series of strikes called by opposition parties, furious at the push to prosecute top Islamists for war crimes dating back more than four decades.

But the shutdown of Dhaka’s Ashulia industrial zone which forms the hub of the garment industry threatens to run much longer, with managers announcing on Monday that unrest among workers had prompted an indefinite closure.

In a sign of the growing apprehension, the ratings agency Moody’s put Bangladesh on notice last

week that “the strikes and factory disasters are credit negative”.

Even before the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex, the IMF said last month that growth this year would fall below six percent.

The garment industry has long been the main driver of the economy but the April 24 catastrophe was only the latest in a series of disasters including a fire in November which killed 111 workers.

Bangladesh became the world’s second-largest clothes maker after China last year and the $20 billion industry accounts for 80 percent of annual exports.

But its shocking safety record has led some fashion labels to warn they could move their business elsewhere. Disney has already departed. And the growing clamour for workers to be paid more than the basic $38 a month threatens one of Bangladesh’s main attractions-its cheap labour costs.

“The production disruptions have already had a number of international buyers considering sourcing production from other countries in the region such as Vietnam or Cambodia, even at higher cost,” Ifty Islam, head of the Dhaka-based Asian Tiger Capital Partners investment fund, told AFP. —AFP

Branch banking in the digital age

By Wissam Khoury

T

hose of us who have been banking for a number of years will remember the weekly visit to the local bank branch.

Deposits, withdrawals, balance checks or any other business involved a journey to the branch and a potentially time-consuming wait in a queue.

What we did not consider is that branch rental costs, equipment and staffing costs all made maintaining branch a significant financial outlay for banks. That was why banks, in Kuwait and beyond, tried to turn their focus to call centres, online and mobile banking channels. While there might have been questions as to whether this improved customer service, there is no doubt that banks in Kuwait and the wider Middle East were able to lower many of their transaction costs and get customers out of the branch.

So, against this backdrop, why is the once endangered bank branch now making a comeback? One simple reason, which will be amongst several explored at a SunGard finance industry seminar in Kuwait City this week, is trust.

The global financial crisis hit many people hard and, fairly or unfairly, the banks have shouldered a large portion of that blame. This in turn has eroded trust in banks and reinvigorated the need for face-to-face customer service and consumer banking relationships. Recent market research carried out by SunGard and Celent has shown that, in the Middle East, one of the top three factors for people in selecting a bank was branch location, despite the uptake of digital banking channels.

So, a majority of bank customers still want human interaction and as far as their banking and finances are concerned, they still need that physical reassurance that their money is safe - especially in a world where trust in banks has declined sharply.

One Middle East bank recently tested this theory by giving customers access to tellers only through a hallway that was kitted out with touch screen ATMs, kiosks, and other digital banking devices. There were still queues for the teller, even though the electronic devices could fulfill this same role quite easily. It is clear that customers still look to the branch as the human face of their banking relationship.

And from a bank’s perspective, the branch is still a vital source in driving revenue from customers. Online and mobile

are largely used as transactional channels, whereas face to face time is responsible for approximately 80% of new product bank sales. So despite prior claims that the bank branch had seen its day there is now growing evidence that branch networks are, once more, increasing in importance.

This leads us to the main challenge facing Kuwaiti bank branch networks today; how do they upgrade their facilities to meet the requirements of the 21st century, a proliferation of communications devices and increasingly more tech savvy customers?

Today’s bank customers - and crucially, today’s bank employees under the age of 45 - have kept pace with the astonishing technological advances of the 21st century, whereas the infrastructure of the bank branch has not. Customers now self-educate a lot more and this is exposing flaws in the old branch model, as customers go into the branch often better informed than branch staff themselves, thus negatively impacting the branch/customer experience.

Banks are increasingly starting to recognize that this channel needs to evolve with the digital age to complement the customer experience across all other channels. With that, the digitalization of the bank branch is born.

Banks are now using innovative technologies to create a unified customer experience. In the Middle East, you can see that many banks now have walls decorated with touch screens and their staff ‘enabled’ with tablets and other mobile devices aimed at making the branch experience more efficient and more enjoyable. For example, some banks now use new front office solutions to help mobilize bank staff by providing them with real-time access to the bank’s transaction processing system, allowing them to serve clients while away from physical counters. This is helping enhance staff productivity and boost branch efficiency, thus improving customer service levels, responding better to customer demands and increasing revenue-generating opportunities.

However, enhancing customer experience through differentiated branch services need to be sustainable. A PricewaterhouseCoopers study from December 2012 shows that the cost of a branch transaction is approximately 20 times higher than a mobile transaction and over 40 times higher than an online transaction. Faced with this kind of discrepancy, it is essential that banks re-evaluate their branch strategy to improve cost efficiency. One Middle East bank has invested in new technology to reduce its front office system infrastructure from twelve applications to one, a good example of how clever IT rationalization through new technology can generate significant cost savings for the branch.

Not so long ago, the very raison d’etre of bank branches was being debated. Now they are once again viewed as core to a bank’s overall performance. But banks cannot simply rely on the branch of old and must revitalize this channel in order to bring it in line with the digitalized world.

Embracing new technologies is a fundamental part of breathing new life into the bank branch. Any bank which fails in this regard will not keep up with customer demands in our ever-changing world and risks getting left behind.

Wissam Khoury is the managing director of SunGard Middle East.

IAG convertible raises $506m for Vueling deal MADRID/LONDON: The International Airlines Group has raised 390 million euros ($506 million) through a convertible bond issue to help to fund the purchase of low-cost carrier Vueling.

Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a statement yesterday that the bond issue would also bolster liquidity and the credit profile of IAG, home to British Airways and loss-making Spanish flag carrier Iberia.

The bond deal shows how companies are continuing to take advantage of investor demand for convertibles, which offer the chance to profit from a surge in stock markets to multi-year highs without the risk of buying shares outright.

As at May 9, more than $10 billion has been raised from European convertibles this year, according to Thomson Reuters data, up 44 percent on the same period last year.

The bonds, which mature in 2018 and have a fixed interest rate of 1.75 percent, can be converted into IAG ordinary shares.

IAG said it had set a conversion price at 4.25 euros per ordinary share, a premi-

um of around 35 percent to the average price of the stock on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning from the launch of the bond to its pricing.

IAG shares were down 2.3 percent at 1054 GMT, at 264.6 pence. IAG said some of the money raised would go towards paying off bridge loans from its British arm and Banco Santander used to acquire Vueling for 123.5 million euros.

The company took control of Vueling in April, raising its stake in the company to over 90 percent from 46 percent in a deal that valued the Barcelona-based carrier at 277 million euros. IAG is in the painful process of restructuring Iberia and has reached an agreement with unions to lay off more than 3,000 staff after months of intermittent strikes. The acquisition should help IAG improve its short-haul business and offset Iberia’s losses.

IAG appointed Banco Santander, Barclays, Deutsche Bank AG’s London branch, Morgan Stanley and UBS as joint bookrunners and joint lead managers for the bond issue. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

BUSINESS

India MRPL to process Iraq, Latam oil next year NEW DELHI: India’s Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) plans to begin processing oil from Iraq and Latin America from next year, helping the state-owned refiner to partly offset Iranian supplies choked off by pressure from western sanctions.

MRPL, Iran’s top Indian client till about a year ago, halted imports from Tehran in April after local insurers said they will not settle claims at plants using the oil as sanctions against Iran’s disputed nuclear programme discourage global reinsurers from taking on the risk.

The refiner aims to commission a 2.2million-tonnes-a-year (mtpa) petrochemical fluidised catalytic cracker (PFCC) by August and a 3 mtpa unit which conver ts heavy residue into products - called a coker - a month after that, MRPL Managing Director P.P. Upadhya told Reuters on Tuesday.

“Once the coker stabilizes we plan to process Iraq oil and Latin America oil,” Upadhya said. He said the new units will help MRPL’s 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) coastal refiner y in southern Karnataka state process as much as 70 percent of heavy oil in 2014/15 (April-

March) from 10-15 percent now.

MRPL initiated talks for importing oil from South America in 2011 and planned to lift 11,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil from Iraq in 2012/13 but could not ship it as the coker was not ready.

The refiner is also scouting for highsulphur oil at official selling price (OSP), Upadhya said. “If somebody gives Omani oil or any other high-sulphur oil under a year-long contract or so at OSP, I may consider,” he said.

Traders say MRPL, a subsidiary of top Indian oil and gas producer Oil & Natural Gas Corp, has placed an inquiry to buy a

650,000-barrel Oman oil parcel a month in the current fiscal year. India imported 26.5 percent less oil from Iran in the fiscal year ended on March 31, 2013.

MRPL will boost middle distillate output after the start-up of the two units and may cease exports of vacuum gas oil, a feedstock for PFCC, and fuel oil, Upadhya said.

“Fuel oil production will be linked to margins. If I get good margins on fuel oil I will produce, otherwise LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) production will rise,” he added.

MRPL exported an average 153,330

tonnes of fuel oil a month in 2013, according to data from Thomson Reuters Oil Analytics.

The loss of fuel oil exports from MRPL is critical to the market, traders said, because of its low-density quality.

“This is especially critical when you need quality blending materials and you have heavy Western arbitrage flows,” a Singapore-based trader said.

“And if there is limited Iranian fuel oil in the market, then the MRPL cargo becomes even more valuable and will have an impact on the market,” the trader said. —Reuters

European, US retailers split on Bangladesh reform plan Wal-Mart asks govt to shut unsafe factory

SHANGHAI: An investor keeps a memo as he sits in front of the stock price monitor at a private securities company in Shanghai, China, yesterday. Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday in a lukewarm reaction to data showing that U.S. consumers revved up their retail spending last month. —AP

Asia shares mixed after US data, dollar stumbles HONG KONG: Asian shares were mixed yesterday, with the dollar’s rally against the yen stumbling despite better than expected US retail figures which highlighted a steady recovery in the world’s largest economy.

Tokyo slipped 0.16 percent, or 23.79 points, to 14,758.42, but Seoul rose 1.03 percent, or 20.13 points, to 1,968.83.

Sydney rose 0.21 percent, or 10.7 points, to 5,221 but the Australian dollar traded just below parity with the greenback ahead of the annual budget, which is expected to sketch an austere path back to surplus over the next four years.

Hong Kong closed down 0.26 percent, or 59.53 points, to 22,930.28 and Shanghai fell 1.11 percent, or 24.91 points, to 2,217.01.

Asian markets were barely stirred by the announcement of a slight improvement in US consumer spending for last month.

Retail sales in April were $419.0 billion, up from $418.7 billion the previous month, boosting the earnings outlook for Asian exporters. Analysts had predicted a decline of 0.3 percent as consumers dealt with a January 1 increase in payroll and other taxes.

Consumer spending in the United States drives roughly two-thirds of all US economic activity. The April jobs report in early May also came in stronger than expected. The US economy added 165,000 new positions and February and March job growth numbers were revised sharply higher.

Inflation data, which is due on Thursday, will be the next key release.

The dollar was at 101.54 yen in afternoon Asian trade, weakening from 101.82 yen in New York late Monday but still much higher than the 99-yen range a week earlier.

The greenback briefly breached the 102yen level in Monday’s Asian trade on the back of speculation that the US Federal

Reserve could be the first among major central banks to roll back its quantitative easing policy.

The dollar’s strength has been a dominant theme in currency trading in recent days as it gained against other currencies due to further signs of US recovery. The euro fetched $1.3014 and 132.16 yen against $1.2975 and 132.11 yen in US trade.

US stocks traded largely flat Monday under the shadow of lower than expected growth in Chinese industrial output for April, which suggested a sluggish recovery in the world’s second largest economy.

The S&P 500 managed to set a new closing record, but only on the back of an almost negligible 0.07 point gain from the previous mark Friday, ending at 1,633.77.

The narrower blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.18 percent to 15,091.68. Oil rebounded in Asian trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, gaining 19 cents to $95.36 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose one cent to $102.83 in afternoon trade.

Gold was at $1,438.10 at 0850 GMT compared with $1,428.90 on Monday.

In other markets: Taipei was flat, edging up 3.50 points to 8,251.82. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.87 percent higher at Tw$115.5 while Hon Hai Precision fell 0.50 percent at Tw$79.2.

Wellington fell 0.55 percent, or 25.78 points, to 4,645.86. Telecom Corp was down 1.11 percent at NZ$2.675 while Fletcher Building was up 0.70 percent to NZ$8.61.

Manila rose 0.70 percent, or 51.08 points, to 7,313.46. Bloomberry Resorts gained 2.79 percent to 12.54 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone rose 2.62 percent to 3,210 pesos. —AFP

TOKYO: People ride escalators near Sharp advertising at a store in Tokyo yesterday. Japanese electronics giant Sharp yesterday posted a record annual loss for the second year in a row, although it added that it expected to return to profitability in the current fiscal year. —AFP

STOCKHOLM/CHICAGO: Major US retailers, including Gap Inc, declined to endorse an accord on Bangladesh building and fire safety backed by Europe’s two biggest fashion chains, a trans-Atlantic divide that may dilute garment industry reform efforts.

Three weeks after the collapse of a building housing garment factories, which killed more than 1,100 people, Western brands that rely on Bangladesh to produce clothing cheaply disagreed over how best to ensure worker safety.

A series of deadly incidents at factories, including a fire in November that killed 112 people, have focused global attention on safety standards in Bangladesh’s booming garment industry, the world’s biggest exporter of clothing after China. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s biggest retailer, called on Bangladesh to shut one factory and examine another after its own inspections found safety problems.

Sweden’s H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB and Spain’s Inditex SA, the world’s two largest apparel brands, topped a list of predominantly European companies signing an agreement led by the International Labour Organization, trade unions and other lobby groups.

Major brands and retailers set a May 15 deadline to join the agreement after talks in Germany last month. As of late Monday US time, the only well-known US company to announce it had signed on was PVH, which owns brands including Calvin Klein.

Gap said it was ready to join “today” but first wanted a change in the way disputes are resolved in the courts. “With this single change, this global, historic agreement can move forward with a group of all retailers, not just those

based in Europe,” Eva Sage-Gavin, an executive in Gap’s global human resources and corporate affairs department, said in a statement.

Europe accounts for about 60 percent of Bangladesh’s clothing exports, so even without participation from the big US retailers, the agreement may bring some change in a country that has seen at least three deadly garment factory disasters in the span of six months.

Mohammad Atiqul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the deal was a bit of good news in the “worst time for us”.

“We believe this decision will motivate other big buyers across the West and the USA to join their hands with us,” he told Reuters in an interview. Li & Fung Ltd, which supplies dozens of major retailers, including Walmart, said it was “continuing to look at” the European pact, but declined to give details. Bangladesh is second only to China in Li & Fung’s global supply chain.

“We don’t think the answer is to move away from Bangladesh,” Bruce Rockowitz, Li & Fung’s group president and chief executive, told reporters after a shareholder meeting in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

“The answer is actually to invest more and try to make safety better and work with the government on doing a better job on monitoring buildings.” Walmart did not say whether it planned to sign the accord.

But on Monday it released an unusually blunt and detailed public statement, asking the government to halt production at Stitch Tone Apparels in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and to inspect Nassa Group’s Liz Apparels Ltd factory complex in Dhaka.

India inflation cools to below 5% for first time since 2009 NEW DELHI: India’s inflation cooled last month to a surprise 41-month low, official data showed yesterday, giving the central bank more room to cut interest rates to battle the worst economic slowdown in a decade.

The Wholesale Price Index, the most closely watched inflation gauge, dropped to 4.89 percent in April on an annual basis, more than a full percentage point below the previous month’s reading of 5.96 percent.

“Inflation is moving in the right direction,” HSBC’s India economist Leif Eskesen said, noting the figure was “well below expectations” and “relatively broad-based”.

The figure vastly undershot the 5.50 percent projected by analysts and brought inflation to its lowest point since November 2009. The drop, fuelled by lower increases in prices of food, fuel and manufactured goods, gave the central bank greater scope to ease rates to prod the stuttering economy, analysts said.

It also brought cheer to the corruption-tainted Congress government which is anxious to tame inflation, a sensitive voter issue, before general elections due in May 2014.

At the same time, analysts said the weaker inflation number was also a less welcome reflection of slackening demand in Asia’s third largest economy which has been expanding at a decade-low of five percent.

While some analysts saw a June rate cut to stimulate growth, others said the central bank would wait until at least July for figures showing a continued decline in inflation.

The bank may also hold out for better news on the ballooning current account deficit, the broadest trade measure, which policymakers

have called the worst threat by far to the economy.

Even with inflation declining to within the bank’s “comfort level” for the first time in over three years, the drop was not sufficient to warrant any swift move to cut rates, said

billion in April from $10.3 billion in March, driven by a 138 percent yearon-year jump in gold and silver imports in value terms, figures showed Monday.

Indians, traditionally heavy buyers of gold for weddings, religious

But the one-time market leader’s television and electronics business continues to struggle, a plight shared by its domestic competitors as they compete against the likes of Apple and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.

The sector has been hammered by credit rating downgrades and is awash with record losses as its struggles in the low-margin TV business where foreign rivals have proved tough competition.

Sharp, which said Friday it lost 545.3 billion yen ($5.4 billion at current exchange rates) in the year to March, its worst-ever shortfall, warned that television sales “fell drastically” over the latest fiscal year.

The maker of Aquos-brand electronics blamed the down-

tantly a run of better external deficit numbers” to cut rates, said PriorWandesforde.

The trade deficit swells India’s current account shortfall which is running at a record 6.7 percent of gross domestic product.

KADI: In this photograph taken on May 6, 2013, an Indian factory employee wheels a trolley loaded with air conditioners for dispatch at the Hitachi Home and Life Solutions’ air conditioner manufacturing facility near Kadi, some 50 kms from Ahmedabad. India’s inflation yesterday, unexpectedly plunged to below five percent in April — its lowest rate in 41 months — fanning hopes of further interest rate cuts to spur a sharply slowing economy. —AFP Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.

Taking the shine off the inflation drop is India’s worsening merchandise trade deficit, driven by a massive rise in gold imports.

The trade deficit soared to $17.8

festivals and as a store of value, have been flooding stores to purchase bullion following a drop in the global price.

The bank has made it clear it needs to see a sustained drop in inflation “and perhaps most impor-

Japan’s electronics giants still bleeding TOKYO: Japan’s electronics giants suffered another dreadful earnings season with Panasonic and Sharp saying they lost a combined $12.8 billion last year as they scramble to staunch the bleeding.

Rival Sony emerged as a bright spot, saying it had turned a profit after four years in the red, but its jump back into the black was largely due to fluctuations in the value of the yen and gains from a string of asset sales-including unloading its Manhattan office building for more than $1.0 billion.

Underlining the industry’s desperation, Sony chief financial officer Masaru Kato told reporters last week that years of losses had left management with one mission. “We were determined to report a profit no matter what,” he said.

The garment companies could not immediately be reached for comment. Walmart said it found “structural concerns” at a factory adjacent to Stitch Tone, Dresswell Ltd, which was not part of the retailer’s own supply chain. It said the Dresswell factory “appeared unstable and could cause a hazard” for workers at Stitch Tone, which was making clothes for Walmart.

Walmart said it removed its business from Stitch Tone and advised the owner not to continue production. The inspections also found visible cracks in the wall at Liz Apparels. Walmart said it notified factory owners, the garment association and the government about the safety concern at Liz Apparels and Stitch Tone.

“The government of Bangladesh did the responsible thing last week by closing factories believed to be dangerous,” Rajan Kamalanathan, vice president of ethical sourcing for Walmart, said in a statement. “We call on them to show the same leadership in the Stitch Tone Apparels and Liz Apparels cases, and take any actions necessary to ensure safe conditions.”

Retailers routinely inspect suppliers, but several companies said after the Rana Plaza collapsed in April that they were not able to check for structural soundness.

Walmart said it hired Bureau Veritas to inspect for structural, fire and electrical safety, including checking building designs and permits as part of an expanded inspection process it launched last month.

Rana Plaza was extended to add three more floors, in violation of city building codes, according to the chief engineer of Dhaka’s development authority. The day before the building collapsed, cracks were seen in the walls. —Reuters

turn on sluggish demand at home and in key market China, where a consumer boycott of Japanese brands erupted last year over a territorial spat between Beijing and Tokyo.

The diplomatic dispute has weighed on a slew of other Japanese firms, including the country’s still hugely profitable automakers. Slowing demand in key export markets, strategic mistakes and a strong yen have also pounded the electronics sector, forcing firms to launch wide-ranging and expensive restructuring plans to turn around their ailing businesses.

“But they could plunge back into the danger zone if they don’t change their product portfolio or focus enough on their strengths over the next few years,” said Koki Shiraishi, an analyst with SMBC Nikko Securities. —AFP

The bank has cut rates three times by 25 basis point cuts since the start of 2013. But the benchmark lending rate is still at a relatively elevated 7.25 percent while borrowing costs are 10 percent and higher, curbing consumer demand. —AFP

OSN special offer for ABK Visa cardholders KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait in cooperation with Visa International is offering its ABK Visa cardholders, special offers and discounts on OSN new subscriptions.

The offers includes exclusive deals on OSN’s Platinum Extra HD and its Premier Plus HD packages, where ABK Visa cardholders will receive free installation, free OSN box office movies and free PVR OSN Plus HD Box. The offer is running until 30th of June 2013, is applicable for 12 month subscription periods and is subject to terms and conditions.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

BUSINESS

Ford Focus ST features factory ‘Overboost’ turbo engine DUBAI: Pilots might call it the Focus with afterburners. Everyone else will call it really fast.

The new Ford Focus ST features a four-cylinder, direct-injected tur-

bocharged engine with an “overboost” feature that extends peak torque for up to 15 seconds at a time. The gains extend the peak torque from 3,000 rpm to 4,500 rpm,

whereas other EcoBoost(r) engines would hit peak torque and begin to drop off at these higher engine speeds.

Ford engineers made sure the

overclocked EcoBoost 2.0-liter would have a very robust cooling system. “The turbo itself is specified for sustained, high-output performance, but they’ve programmed the car’s computer to dial in more boost past 3,000 rpm to give it that extra something,” says engineer Lisa Schoder, who is Marketing manager for Focus ST. “We limit peak turbo boost to maintain a wide margin of safety and durability over the life of the car,” Schoder adds. “But overboost is cool in that it tweaks more acceleration through the turbo for brief periods for performance-hungry drivers.”

Among the more visible options will be the Tangerine Scream metallic color that will be offered exclusively on Focus ST, as well as raceinspired Recaro(r) seats with matching color accents.

The Focus ST is Ford’s first truly global performance car, building on the heritage of previous Focus ST models and giving drivers around the world the opportunity to share the exhilarating performance, unrivaled handling, addictive sound and sporty design that Ford’s ST badge represents.

Shortly after arriving in the Middle East, the Focus ST is becoming popular with strong demand for more units to be available and vehicles getting sold out as soon as they reach dealerships. The Focus nameplate overall has seen great success around the world and beat the competition by clinching “the world’s best-selling nameplate for 2012” title. In the Middle East, the momentum continues in 2013 with Focus recording a 50 per cent growth in the first four months of the year.

Burgan Bank Kuwaitization reaches 67%

Hala El Shirbini

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that the Kuwaitization of its workforce has reached 67%. This is a significant accomplishment for the bank, as it achieves its long-term strategic objectives of nurturing local talent, while also investing in community initiatives that aim to encourage young people to join the banking sector.

Over 80 new Kuwaiti employees have been hired by Burgan Bank since the beginning of 2012. The recruits

work across the bank’s operations including the Retail Department, Operations Department, and Risk Department.

Hala El Shirbini, Chief Human Resources and Development Officer at Burgan Bank said: “Burgan Bank is committed to helping young Kuwaiti people achieve their full potential by giving them the opportunity to develop a rewarding and interesting career.

By joining Burgan Bank, our recruits receive the all the expertise they need

to become future leaders in the country’s banking sector. By doing this they are also helping to build the nation’s future.” Burgan Bank has designed comprehensive education and individual development programs to help steer young and ambitious Kuwaitis towards a successful career in financial services. The bank’s commitment to raising the level of professional experience of the country’s young people is part its role as a major player in Kuwait’s economy.

Nissan 370Z Nismo set to star in 2013 gumball 3000 rally DUBAI: It’s the kind of road trip that performance car enthusiasts dream of: A week-long, 3,000 mile (5,000km) driving adventure through 13 countries in one of the most hotly-anticipated new cars of 2013.

Nissan is teaming up with French publishing house L’Ecurie and INTERSECTION Magazine to

platform to bring Nismo’s digital age performance to the streets of Europe.

The team has been entered as car 56, a number that has great significance for Nissan which occupied ‘Garage 56’ at the Le Mans 24hr race in 2012 with the Nissan DeltaWing. The company will be returning to Garage 56, the spot reserved for inno-

participate in the 2013 Gumball 3000 Rally - a non-competitive, pan-European parade of the world’s most exciting and desirable cars - starting in Copenhagen on 18th May 2013.

The entry will be giving the millions of spectators expected to line the route a first glimpse of the exciting new Nissan 370Z Nismo in action.

Gumball has a great heritage, providing a great

vative experimental cars, in 2014 with an all-new race car incorporating electric technology.

Previewed in Barcelona in January 2013, the Nissan 370Z Nismo made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March and is set to hit showrooms later this year. Powered by a modified 344PS six-cylinder engine, the Nissan 370Z Nismo features a bespoke chassis tuned to deliv-

er a sharper and even more engaging driving experience. Capable of accelerating from 0100kp/h in just 5.2 seconds, the new Z follows in the tracks of the first Nismo model to arrive in Europe, the Juke Nismo.

Set to be driven by Gumball 3000 regulars Patrice Meignan and Jeremy ‘Jey’ Taltaud, the Nissan 370Z Nismo features a special camouflage livery designed specifically for the event. Both are contributors to INTERSECTION Magazine and will be reporting on the rally via all major social media channels. In addition, fans can follow the action on Nismo.tv where a daily video post containing highlights of the previous day’s action will be available.

The Gumball 3000 has become a major draw for performance car enthusiasts from all over the world since the first event was held in 1999.

Named after the 1976 cult film starring Michael Sarrazin, the Gumball 3000 Rally has attracted a host of celebrity entrants over the years, including musician Jay Kay, Former F1 champion Damon Hill and fashion designer Donna Karan.

Gareth Dunsmore, Nissan in Europe General Manager explains: “Gumball is a great fit for the 370Z Nismo: it’s a road rally which allows thousands of fans to get up close to their dream cars.

Making exciting cars accessible is at the heart of the Nissan brand, and with our innovative Nismo.tv platform on Youtube our customers will be able to keep up to date with its progress, so we can’t wait to take part in this historic parade.” Kicking off in Copenhagen on the 18th May the rally will run until the 25th May, concluding in Monaco at the Formula 1 Grand Prix De Monaco 2013.

Poland posts weaker than expected start WARSAW: Central European leader Poland got off to a weaker than expected start this year, quarterly data showed yesterday, amid expectations that central banks in the region will further cut interest rates to boost demand and spur a sluggish recovery.

The only EU member to have grown each year over the last two decades, Poland mustered just 0.1 percent growth in the first quarter, initial official data showed, after zero growth in the last quarter of 2012.

Analysts pointed to a sharp decline in construction as contributing factor to the doldrums, highlighting trade as a positive driver and room for further interest rate cuts to bolster consumption. “The weak state of domestic demand in Poland means that the economic recovery is likely to be sluggish,” London-based Capital Economics analysts said in a Tuesday statement.

“As such, we expect interest rates to fall further,” they added. Poland’s central bank (NBP) cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point to a historic low of 3.0 percent last week, amid forecasts of slower than expected growth. Although Warsaw is in no rush to join the crisisstruck eurozone, the move echoed the European Central Bank’s May 2 decision to slash its key rate to a new historical low of 0.50 percent.

With inflation in Poland under control at 1.0 percent, analysts insist the string of rate cuts since November is intended to perk up demand in this market of 38 million people, central Europe’s largest. While the official preliminary estimate was short of details on the reasons behind the Q1 slowdown, Capital Economics noted “investment is in freefall.”

“Output from the construction sector fell at an even faster pace in quarter one

than in quarter four,” Capital Economics analyst William Jackson said, noting a 15.4-percent year-on-year decline compared to a 11.3-percent drop.

Large-scale construction and infrastructure investments, which were strong economic drivers in Poland as it geared up for the Euro 2012 football championships last June, have since waned.

“We think net trade probably provided the greatest positive contribution to the annual growth rate,” Jackson said, adding that for now they were “sticking” to their forecast of 1.0-percent growth in output this year.

The economy expanded by 0.4 percent in the first quarter on an annual comparison after an uptick of 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) also reported Tuesday.

In 2012, the gross domestic product

(GDP) expanded by 1.9 percent, down from 4.5 percent in 2011 primarily due to a drag from the eurozone crisis in its main trade partners, including EU powerhouse and western neighbour Germany.

Inflation, which stood at 3.7 percent in 2012, was expected to decline to 1.6 percent in 2013 and 2014 before dropping to 1.5 percent in 2015, according to the NBP central bank forecast.

To the south, the Czech Republic has been locked in recession for more than a year, having posted a 1.2-percent contraction for 2012. The slowdown in eurozone heavyweight Germany, Prague’s main trading partner, is largely to blame.

The crisis prompted the Czech central bank to slash rates to a record-low 0.05 percent in November 2012, with Prague-based Patria Finance analyst Tomas Vlk predicting “stable rates at a low level” in the coming months. —AFP

Gulf exports over 80% of petrochemical production KUWAIT: EQUATE Petrochemical Company said that Gulf countries export over 80% of their petrochemical production.

On the sideline of the Fifth Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA) Supply Chain Conference, EQUATE President & CEO Mohammad Husain said, “These exports have included over 30 million metric tons (MT) of petrochemicals during 2012, while they were only 10 million MT in 1999 which is an increase of over 250% in just 13 years with an average annual growth of exports by 5%.”

Husain noted a number of challenges facing Gulf exports, such as port congestions, inadequate infrastructure and instability of market conditions, explaining that despite all these challenges, the Gulf’s international exports continue to increase.

Husain said that EQUATE’s total exports, from plants owned and operated by it, exceed 3 million tons of products, including solid material such as polyethylene and polypropylene, as well as the main liquids that include ethylene glycol, styrene monomer and paraxylene.

In addition to leading EQUATE, Husain is a member of GPCA Board and heads it Supply Chain Committee. EQUATE is one of GPCA’s main founders. Sponsored by EQUATE, the GPCA Supply Chain Fourth Conference is taking place in Dubai, the UAE, from May 13-15, with the attendance of over 350 delegates representing petrochemical and shipping companies from around the world.

Established in 1995, EQUATE is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical

Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC). Commencing production in 1997, EQUATE is the single

EQUATE President & CEO Mohammad Husain operator of a fully integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing over 5 million tons annually of high-quality petrochemical products which are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Markaz profits reach KD 2.56m in Q1-2013 KUWAIT: Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz” announced a net profit of KD 2.56 million for the first quarter ending 31st March 2013, a net profit of 5 fils per share as compared with a net profit of KD 2.82 during the same period in 2012.

Markaz Chairman, Diraar Y. Alghanim, said “Markaz profit during the first quarter of 2013 has come on the back of its high quality assets and strong financial standing. These positive results reflect its diverse base of assets and controlled solvency. In addition, available credit channels provide Markaz with the required flexibility to change its assets distribution, enabling the company to capitalize on the volatile investment environment. Global markets have also shown positive economic indications, which led to better performance and helped in achieving higher returns.”

Alghanim added, “We are optimistic regarding the recently enacted Companies’ Law (25/2012) and its amendments by law (97/2013). These laws facilitate business formation, and allow for new sophisticated financial instruments such as convertible debt, preferred shares, and derivatives.

This will provide companies with more flexibility in deleveraging and restructuring their balance sheets, and will result in investment banking opportunities.”

Manaf Alhajeri, Chief Executive Officer at Markaz said “We hope that more new laws will be legislated in 2013 to improve the business environment. The private sector anticipates the legislation of the bankrupt-

cy law to provide an effective and organized framework for dealing with insolvency and illiquidity of companies. The government has already started working on draft-

Diraar Y. Alghanim ing this law. Once enacted, the bankruptcy law would hasten solving the debt crisis by paving the way for new and promising opportunities that include sale of distressed real estate at fair prices.

Oula increases its capital to KD 36.3m KUWAIT: Oula Fuel Marketing Company held its postponed Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on May 14th at Kuwait Business Town Tower in presence of Chairman Mr. Abdul Hussein Al Sultan with a number of shareholders, auditors and representatives of the Ministry of Commerce. Under which, it has been approved to increase the company’s capital to reach KD 36.3 million as per the recommendation of AGM held on April 25th, 2013 and the distribution of 5% share dividend (5 shares for each 100 shares) to shareholders registered as of the date of AGM. During the Extraordinar y General Meeting, it has been approved to modify the text of Article (7) of the Memorandum of Association, and Ar ticle (6) of the Statute related to the capital, in addition to modifying other materials.

In this occasion, Chairman Abdul Hussein Al Sultan said: “The adoption of

the capital increase will provide a greater margin to develop the stations and their services in order to meet the clients’ expectations in terms of provision of sophisticated services. Once the capital is raised, we will be able to increase our investments in order to achieve this goal”. Chairman Al Sultan thanked the shareholders for their ongoing and consistent support to the company and its strategic development plan, promising them that Oula Fuel Marketing Company will always remain at the level of their expectations in appreciation for the shareholders’ ongoing and consistent support to the company which complements its growth and success.

It’s worth mentioning that Oula has previously declared that the company has achieved a net profit of KD 3.8 million and its AGM had recommended the distribution of 5% share dividend (5 shares for each 100 shares) to shareholders registered as of the date of AGM.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

technology

Nokia unveils new metal-body Lumia smartphone LONDON: Nokia unveiled a lighter, metal model in its Lumia smartphone range, as it tries to catch the eye of buyers to close the huge market lead of rivals Samsung and Apple Inc in the lucrative handset market. The Lumia 925 is the latest in Nokia’s range using Microsoft’s Windows Phone software and will be sold for 469 euros ($610) before taxes and subsidies through carriers such as Vodafone and China Mobile.

Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop has pinned the future of the loss-making company on Windows Phone, hoping to reverse a dramatic drop in revenue over the last two years. The phone weighs 139 grams, compared with 185 grams for the earlier 920 model, which some critics had said was too heavy. It also utilizes a new smart camera mode, a photo editing function which Nokia intends to introduce to all Lumia devices.

“Lumia 925 looks like a solid product and should be able to attract new customers who have considered 920 too bulky for their taste,” said Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies. “One can think of Lumia 925 as a new version of Lumia 920 that has been put on a diet to fit inside an iPhone-like frame.” Nokia has recently launched new products in the lower and

mid-tier range to protect its position in emerging markets, but its success in the high-margin smartphone market will be crucial to its long-term survival.

The company unveiled the slightly heavier Lumia 928 for the US market last Friday. It was priced at $99 after a rebate and a two-year deal with Verizon Wireless. Both the Lumia 925 and 928 are targeted at the high-end, flagship segment, which accounts for 35 to 40 percent of the total global market, said Jo Harlow, Nokia’s executive vice president for smart devices. “Our goal is to have a complete portfolio across the price range,” she told Reuters, adding that Nokia expects to see accelerated growth in sales of Lumia phones.

Sales of Lumia phones have grown in recent quarters, but at 5.6 million in first quarter, they still account for only around 5 percent of the market.

Research company Gartner said yesterday that Nokia lost 5 percentage points of market share in the first quarter, falling to 14.8 percent compared to number one Samsung’s 23.6 percent share. Nokia held a 19.7 percent share just a year ago. Shares in Nokia were down 3.6 percent to 2.84 euros by 1310 GMT, valuing the company at 11 billion euros. — Reuters

LONDON: The New Nokia mobile phone, the Lumia 925 is displayed during its launch in London yesterday. Nokia launched a new version of its flagship smartphone, featuring an upgraded camera in the more streamlined and lighter handset. — AFP

Dell gets Icahn bid Expert calls it ‘extortion’

SACRAMENTO: Joseph Boardman, Amtrak President and CEO (left) Rep John Garamendi (center) and Michael Cahill, president of Siemens Rail Systems leave one of the new Amtrak Cities Sprinter Locomotive after a demonstration run at the Siemens factory in Sacramento, Calif. — AP

Amtrak replaces aging fleet with locomotives NEWARK: Amtrak has unveiled at a plant in California the first of 70 new locomotives, marking what the national passenger railroad service said it hopes will be a new era of better reliability, streamlined maintenance and more energy efficiency.

On a broader scale, the new engines displayed Monday could well be viewed as emblematic of the improving financial health of Amtrak, which has long been dependent on subsidies from an often reluctant Congress.

More than 31 million passengers rode Amtrak in the 2012 fiscal year, generating a record $2.02 billion in ticket revenue.

Amtrak said it will be able to pay back a $466 million federal loan for the locomotives over 25 years using net profits from the Northeast Corridor line, where ridership hit a record high last year for the ninth time in 10 years. “The new Amtrak locomotives will help power the economic future of the Northeast region, provide more reliable and efficient service for passengers and support the rebirth of rail manufacturing in America,” Amtrak President Joseph Boardman said in a statement.

“Built on the West Coast for service in the Northeast with suppliers from many states, businesses and workers from across the country are helping to modernize the locomotive fleet of America’s Railroad.” Robert Puentes, a senior fellow in the Brooking Institution’s metropolitan policy program, said Amtrak isn’t the same organization it was a few years ago, relying on federal handouts. “Even though Washington is mired in debt and dysfunction, Amtrak is reinventing itself,” Puentes said.

The new engines will be used on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, DC, and Boston and on Keystone Corridor trains that run between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa. Three were unveiled Monday before being sent out for testing.

The first is due to go into service by this fall, and all 70 are expected to be in service by 2016. Amtrak awarded the contract in 2010 to Munich-based Siemens AG, which has made a big investment in the American rail industr y over the last decade.

The company makes about one of every three light-rail vehicles in North America and is building light-rail vehicles for Minneapolis, Houston and San Diego at the Sacramento plant where Amtrak’s locomotives are being produced. Among the improvements in the new locomotives are computers that can diagnose problems in real time and take corrective action and a braking system capable of

generating 100 percent of the energy it uses back to the electric grid, similar to the way a hybrid automobile’s motor acts as a generator when braking, according to Michael Cahill, CEO for Siemens Rail Systems.

That could produce energy savings of up to $300 million over 20 years, the company estimates. The locomotives also feature crumple zones, which are basically cages built onto the front end of the train that can absorb impact from a collision.

The new models will be the first in North America to use them, in compliance with new federal safety guidelines, Cahill said.

The locomotives, called Amtrak Cities Sprinters, are based on Siemens’ latest European electric locomotive and will replace Amtrak equipment that has been in ser vice for 20 to 30 years and has logged an average of 3.5 million miles.

Simply having the same type of locomotive in operation should cut costs, Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said.

Amtrak now uses three locomotive models, requiring slightly different maintenance, parts and training.

“Now, we will have one model, one inventory and one training program, and all that will help efficiency,” Kulm said.

About 750 people are employed at Siemens’ Sacramento plant. The locomotive project also involves Siemens plants in Columbus, Ohio, Richland, Miss., and Alpharetta, Ga. The ripple effect spreads farther. As a condition of the Depar tment of Transportation loan, the majority of the products and materials used to build the locomotives must be made in the U.S. As a result, some lighting parts are coming from Connecticut, the driver’s seat from Wisconsin, insulation from Indiana, electronics from Texas and hydraulic parts from California. In all, 70 suppliers in 23 states are providing components, Siemens said.

Amtrak must still seek federal funding for a long list of planned and ongoing improvements, including replacing sections of pre-World War II electrical systems on the Northeast Corridor that cause regular disruptions.

The fact that Amtrak has reduced its debt by 60 percent over the last 10 years and its federal operating subsidy to 12 percent could make it an easier sell. “Ten years ago we were in a tougher spot,” Boardman, the Amtrak president, said last week. “Now Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor is in a much healthier position.

We’re trying to maximize that, to the extent we can, to pay for what we should pay for on the Northeast Corridor.” — AP

Big 4 cellphone carriers unite on anti-texting ads NEW YORK: The country’s four biggest cellphone companies are set to launch their first joint advertising campaign against texting while driving, uniting behind AT&T’s “It Can Wait” slogan to blanket TV and radio this summer. The multi-million dollar ad campaign is unusual not just because it unites rivals, but because it represents companies warning against the dangers of their own products.

After initially fighting laws against

cellphone use while driving, cellphone companies have begun to embrace the language of the federal government’s campaign against cellphone use by drivers. Beyond TV and radio ads, the new campaign will stretch into the skies through displays on Goodyear’s three blimps. It will also include store displays, community events, social-media outreach and national tour of a driving simulator. The campaign targets teens in particular. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: The battle over the future of Dell Inc. heated up Friday after the company received an alternative proposal from Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management that may compete with a privatization offer by founder and CEO Michael Dell. The Round Rock, Texas-based technology giant said its board was studying the proposal from Icahn and Southeastern, but some experts quickly expressed skepticism about the plan from the billionaire investor. One compared Icahn’s proposal to “extortion.”

In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, Dell shared a letter sent by Icahn and Southeastern in which they propose that shareholders would retain their shares and receive a choice of either $12 per share in cash or $12 worth of additional Dell stock. They said this would be superior to the $13.65 per share buyout offer from Michael Dell and Silver Lake, as it would allow shareholders to retain an equity “stub” in the business and participate in Dell’s recovery. The pair also threatened a proxy battle if the Dell board does not approve their offer.

“This company has suffered long enough from very wrong-headed decisions made by the board and its management,” the letter read. “Do not make another by putting the company through

an unnecessary debilitating proxy fight. Allow the shareholders to decide for themselves which offer they choose.” Dell responded to the Icahn proposal by saying its board was reviewing the plan.

“Consistent with the special committee’s goal of achieving the best possible outcome for all shareholders, we and our advisors are carefully reviewing the potential transaction to assess the potential risks and rewards to the public shareholders,” the board special committee said in a statement.

But the counterbid was quickly met with skepticism by a couple of experts who said the letter sounded more like a threat to sue. “The tone of the letter seems to be focusing more on frightening directors with litigation threats than on selling either the board or investors on the value of his proposal,” Gary Lutin, chairman of the Shareholder Forum, told MarketWatch.

Ray Wang, chief executive of Constellation Research, echoed a similar view. “Icahn’s proposal is basically a modern-day extortion hidden behind a veil of legal threats,” he told MarketWatch.

Meanwhile, Icahn appeared to take special aim at Michael Dell in his latest move, saying in an interview with CNBC, “If our board is elected, Michael Dell will not be running the company.” Dell has not yet set a date for its annual shareholders meeting,

where it is expected to put Michael Dell’s proposal up to a vote, and possibly any competing offer.

Last year’s shareholders’ meeting took place on July 13.

Michael Dell and Silver Lake formally announced their offer on Feb. 5 after weeks of speculation. The offer almost immediately drew the ire of some large shareholders such as Southeastern, who argued that the company was worth more and publicly pushed for offers above $20 per share. Carl Icahn bought up a large block of Dell shares after the first offer was announced and has been pushing for an alternative deal.

Icahn and Southeastern claimed in their letter on Friday to represent about 13 percent of Dell’s total shares outstanding.

“We have great respect for Michael Dell for creating and building Dell and also for the “negotiating’ ability he has shown in getting his Board to grant to him this almost absurd bargain,” the letter read. “However, we believe all shareholders (at their discretion) should have the opportunity to participate in the upside potential we believe is present, not solely Michael Dell and an opportunistic buyout group leveraging to the hilt the company’s own assets with very little of their own equity.” — MCT

Web users reclaim anonymity through privacy programs

ZHEZKAZGAN: (Front right to left) US astronaut Thomas Marshburn, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield join their hands as they rest shortly after the landing aboard the Russian Soyuz space capsule some 150 km southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan yesterday. — AFP

Three spacemen return after 5 months in orbit MOSCOW: Canadian spaceman Chris Hadfield yesterday returned to Earth along with two other astronauts after a half-year mission to the International Space Station that saw him shoot to global stardom by captivating people worldwide with his Twitter microblog. Hadfield landed safely in the Kazakh steppe along with American Tom Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko aboard a Russian Soyuz-TMA capsule that had left the space station yesterday morning, Moscow mission control said. “Safely homeback on Earth, happily readapting to the heavy pull of gravity. Wonderful to smell and feel Spring,” the 53-year-old Hadfield wrote in his first earth-bound tweet a few hours after landing.

Russian state television pictures had showed the giant white parachute of the Soyuz capsule unfurling successfully after reentry and the capsule then touching down in the Kazakh steppe, sending a plume of dust upwards into the sky. The Soyuz touched down at 0231 GMT in the steppe south of the central Kazakh city of Karaganda. The Soyuz landed on its side rather than vertically, but this is a relatively common occurrence. On a sunny spring morning, all three astronauts were then successfully extracted from the capsule by recovery teams who rushed to the scene in helicopters.

They were then placed in special chairs amid the long steppe grasses, covered in special thermal blankets and offered tea by the ground crews. All three appeared in good health. After medical checks, Romanenko will then fly on to Moscow while Hadfield and Marshburn will be taken by NASA to Houston.

Hadfield captured the public imagination with regular updates on Twitter that gave an unprecedented insight into daily life in space and access to spectacular images taken from the ISS. In a fitting climax to his mission, Hadfield posted a cover version of the David Bowie classic “Space Oddity” that showed him singing and even playing the guitar as he floated in zero gravity aboard the station. The

impressively-performed video became an immediate hit on YouTube and yesterday morning barely two days after it was first posted had garnered over 5.5 million views.

Using the power of social networks more effectively than anyone in the history of manned space flight, Hadfield has now arguably become the world’s most prominent astronaut since the days of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

He has also blazed a new trail for how astronauts can inspire the public at a time when some scientists question the need for manned space flight to the ISS amid constant budget pressures. Tweeting under the Star Trek-like name Cmdr - Hadfield, the astronaut posted spectacular pictures of the Earth seen from the sky and also insights on the mundane aspects of eating and washing in space.

“Hadfield captured the world’s attention,” the Canadian space agency said in a statement after the landing.

It said his outreach work has “reminded the world that space exploration is not only about looking beyond but also about learning about Earth.” Hadfield’s final tweet from space was a spectacular image of the sun glinting over the Earth as it rose. “Spaceflight finale: To some this may look like a sunset. But it’s a new dawn,” Hadfield wrote. Raised on a corn farm in southern Ontario, Hadfield become a top fighter pilot for the Canadian air force before being selected from over 5,000 people in 1992 to be one of four new Canadian astronauts.

This was his third space mission, after flying with the US shuttle to the now defunct Russian Mir station in 1995 and to the ISS in April 2001. Hadfield’s official biography published by the Canadian Space Agency lists a seemingly endless range of earth-bound interests including “skiing, playing guitar, singing, riding, writing, running, and playing volleyball and squash.” Hadfield, who was commander of the station, also oversaw a dramatic spacewalk at the weekend performed by Americans Marshburn and Chris Cassidy to halt an ammonia leak. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Dozens of silent watchers, working for corporations that want to learn about you so they can sell you things, track you when you go online. Why does America tolerate all that spying? “Consumers are concerned about their privacy and about being tracked online. But the commission recognizes that a lot of content is advertising-supported, and advertising is tracking-supported,” said Peder Magee, a senior staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission who specializes in “behavioral advertising” policy. “So what we’ve said all along is, ‘If you’re going to do this, be open and transparent, and give consumers control.’ “ Sophisticated Web users know they’re being tracked, and that tracking-based ads help pay to make Web sites available much as ads pay for other media like newspapers and TV, says David Morgan, a former newspaper lawyer for Philadelphia’s Duane Morris LLP who later led pioneering online ad-andtracking agencies like Tacoda Inc. He’s now a New York media investor and head of T V ad-buying software-maker Simulmedia.

Tracker-identification programs like Evidon Inc.’s Ghostery program and browser-sponsored tracking systems from Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla make the hidden watchers more visible to curious Web users, and make blocking them easier.

“We’re trying to reveal the invisible Web,” said Scott Meyer, chief executive of Evidon, the New York digital advertising company that bought Ghostery from founder David Cancel three years ago.

The son of a former Sunoco marketing chief, Meyer was a Wall Street investment banker and the New York Times Co’s digital media chief before joining investment firm Warburg Pincus and using the firm’s capital to set up Evidon three years ago. Ghostery claims 18 million users, almost half of whom share their browsing data - anonymously - with the service.

Owner Evidon then sells the aggregated data to retail and ad clients. They also pay the firm for guidance on complying with Web privacy guidelines.

Evidon also services the Digital Advertising Alliance’s AdChoices program, which makes it easier for consumers to block unwanted online ads. “People will say they don’t like advertising. But people do like the right kind of advertising,” said Crystal Gurin, Philadelphia publisher of eMarketer, an online media research and reporting service that uses Ghostery data. Gurin means advertising that announces itself and tells users about things they want. “The kind of service Evidon provides is absolutely essential in the world of big consumer advertising,” she added. “Especially if this industry strives to be self-regulated.”

Advertisers and ad agencies that track Internet users across many websites are making a lot more information public about their tracking activities than the corporations that run popular search, retail, and news sites tell their Web visitors, said Alan Chappell, a New York Internet privacy lawyer. “(Retailers) have already been collecting information on you for 100 years,” including store spending habits and credit records, he noted.

Evidon its San Francisco rival TRUSTe.com, and trade associations like the Digital Advertising Alliance and their lawyers have successfully prodded advertisers to participate in these tracking-disclosure programs. That has helped ease calls for federal regulation, while also helping advertisers compete with Google and other powerful Web advertising providers, Chappell said. “(Meyer) has done a fantastic job of leading a very difficult conversation in our industry and putting customers first, with a technology that gives people meaningful transparency and meaningful choice,” said Mario Diez, chief executive of West Conshohocken, Pa-based PointRoll, an online ad agency owned by newspaper publisher Gannett. “Look, this is still very new. Everyone is learning,” Diez added. “I’d like to believe that making this information available to consumers has had a positive effect on (US Internet) policy.” — MCT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Al-Maidan hosts first Invisalign certification in Kuwait KUWAIT: In the presence of Ambassador Matthew H Tueller, ambassador of the United States of America, Al-Maidan Clinic held the first Invisalign certification program. The event was held at the conference room KBT Tower- Sharq.

Mahdi Haider, chairman of the United Medical Services Company and Mansour Haider, Deputy Chairman of the United Healthcare Company and Chairman of AlSeef Hospital were present on this occasion and received the chief guest Ambassador

Tueller. Dr Parveen Chandra, senior dentist and coordinator of the workshop welcomed the gathering and briefed the audience about the activities of UHC which is the holding company of Maidan Clinic and the biggest private healthcare provider in Kuwait which includes Al-Seef Hospital, International Clinic, United Laboratories, United Medical Technologies and a host of other group of companies.

The workshop comes to compliment the business strategy of Maidan Clinic, the

eldest and the biggest chain providing dental care since its establishment in 1987; the workshop was attended by 25 doctors in addition to nurses and other administrative staff.

A video presentation was made on Invisalign. The ambassador in his remarks said that he was pleased to watch the cutting edge technology adopted in dentistry and was highly appreciative of Al-Maidan for bringing this technology to the Kuwaiti population, in association with Align tech-

nology. Mahdi Haider thanked the ambassador for gracing the occasion. The famous Italian orthodontist, Dr Francesco Carino an authority in Invisalign technique conducted a day long intensive workshop.

Dr.Garino highlighted the advantages of this advanced life-style invisible braces which are wireless/ no-metal wires or brackets. He mentioned that they are less painful pleasant in appearance removable and comfortable. Al-Maidan was the first to launch it officially in Kuwait in association

with Invisalign GCC in April 2013. The aligners are planned by using cutting edge technology where 3D software allows the doctor to forecast the result and can be viewed by the patient on a video before starting the treatment. PR and Marketing Manager, Rawya Yaqoub noted that there are similar products available in the market but Invisalign is original and apparently this system is very popular in Europe and America used by more than 70.000 dentists and 2 million cases completed already.

India unveils vaccine for deadly diarrhea virus NEW DELHI: Scientists unveiled yesterday an affordable vaccine against a deadly diarrhea-causing virus that kills some 100,000 children in India every year. Rotavirus, which causes dehydration and severe diarrhea, is globally responsible for some 453,000 deaths annually and is particularly threatening in Africa and Asia, where access to urgent healthcare is often out of reach.

K. Vijaraghavan, secretary of India’s Department of Biotechnology which steered the hunt for an affordable rotavirus vaccine, said it was a product of international cooperation, although it has yet to be approved by New Delhi. “The result is a world-class vaccine for India’s children,” he told a press conference in New Delhi. “For the first time we have taken a vaccine from the earliest discovery to every stage of development and that is a very remarkable thing for India,” he said, adding that the dollar-a-dose oral vaccine was ready for production.

The vaccine named Rotavac will be manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech pharmaceutical firm which has said it has the capacity to mass produce 60 million doses after clearance is given. Each vaccination consists of three doses. Rotavirus is blamed for causing up to 884,000 hos-

pitalizations in India a year, at a cost to the country of 3.4 billion rupees ($72 million), scientists say. “ We have (now) added to our know-how and capacity in ways which will pay dividends for development of future solutions,” said Vijaraghavan.

Each dose of licensed vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Merc cost around 1,000 rupees ($18), said Sushmita Malaviya of PATH, an international healthcare organization which is also part of the Rotavac program. M.K. Bhan, who pioneered the project after local scientists discovered a localized rotavirus 23 years ago in a New Delhi hospital, said the development was a boon for India’s creaky public health service. “Total 25 percent of all diarrheal admissions would be prevented by this and that means you will have 25 percent less diarrheal illnesses of severe nature in India which is a very substantial public health gain,” he said. “We have a good vaccine which will be useful and we will do post-marketing surveillance and keep accumulating more experience.” More than 300,000 babies die within 24 hours of being born in India each year from infections and other preventable causes, according to a repor t last week by Save the Children. — AFP

Vermont legislators approve ‘death-with-dignity’ bill WASHINGTON: Liberal-minded Vermont has become the third US state to allow doctor-assisted suicide, letting terminally ill patients request lethal medication from physicians.

Governor Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, stated he will sign the End of Life Choice Bill, approved Monday by the House of Representatives in the state capital Montpelier by a 75-65 vote.

Oregon and Washington already allow doctor-assisted suicide. But Vermont, a small rural state in New England, is the first to do so by a legislative process rather than through a voter-initiated referendum.

“Legislators are now embracing the high margin of public support for endof-life choices nationwide,” said Barbara Coombs Lee of Compassion and Choices, a national group that campaigns for

Peter Shumlin assisted suicide.

“The bill’s passage should enable legislatures in Massachusetts, New Jersey and other states that are considering aidin-dying bills to approve them,” she said in a statement.

Under the Vermont bill, terminally ill patients who are given no more than six months to live can ask their doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to hasten their death.

Several safeguards are built into the law. These include a requirement for two medical opinions, the option of a psychiatric examination and a 17-day waiting period before a life-ending prescription can be filled. “The family is encouraged to be involved, but it’s not mandated,” lobbyist Michael Sirotkin of Patient Choices Vermont, which has campaigned

for 10 years for a death-with-dignity law, told AFP. In the lead-up to Monday’s vote, the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare, which spearheaded opposition to the End of Life Choice Bill, called the initiative “ill-conceived and misguided public policy.”

Its president Edward Mahoney said it “does not safeguard patients from abuse (and) makes it impossible to determine whether physician-assisted suicide is being practiced outside the framework of the law.”

Coombs Lee cited a 2010 Harris poll for BBC World News America that indicated that 70 percent of Americans believe people who are terminally ill, in great pain or with no chance of recover y should have the right to end their lives.

But Mahoney noted that since November last year, in New England alone, efforts towards legalizing physician-assisted suicide have failed in Massachusetts, Connecticut and, last week, Maine.

Vermont has a reputation in the United States as an early adopter of progressive social policies. In 2009, for instance, it was the first state to adopt a same -sex marriage law; in 2004 it approved the medical use of marijuana.

But it also has one of the fastest-aging populations in the United States. By 2030, one in four Vermonters will be 65 years of age or older, according to University of Vermont economist Art Woolf.

The End of Life Choice Bill is “very, very big for terminally ill Vermonters who, despite the best medical and palliative care, still suffer greatly in their final days,” said Sirotkin by telephone from Montpelier.

“People die different kinds of deaths than they did 30 or 40 years ago. Now people’s lives can be prolonged well beyond the time of their initial illness or acute incident,” he added. “Some people get to the point where they lose their autonomy, they lose their dignity, and they suffer physically or existentially, and feel they want a better death than the one offered to them now.” —AFP

Invisalign program underlines excellence of Al-Maidan Clinic which may look unpleasant and also cause discomfort and pain to the patient.

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Invisalign workshop held here compliments the business strategy of Al-Maidan Clinic in achieving excellence and professionalism by constantly updating and training its doctors through workshops and seminars.

Many people especially adults have little idea about the comfortable transparent braces being available in the market. Invisalign is the original and the first to come up with this technology 12 years ago. Recently, some other competitors are presenting similar products but with different materials.

Rawya Yaqoub from the PR and Marketing noted that Maidan always believed in the best practices and therefore associated with aligning technologies to bring Invisalign to the Kuwaiti population as it is the original, superior and the most popular aligner in America, Europe and all over the world.

On the sidelines of the workshop, Dr Francesco Garino, Chief Speaker of Invisalign explained to Nawara in a brief interview wherein he talked about Invisalign.

Q. Is this your first visit to Kuwait?

A. Yes, and I thank the organizers Maidan Dental Clinic and Dr Praveen Chandra for having organized such a good scientific event. I also thank His Excellency the Ambassador of the United Sates for taking part in the event.

Q. What is Invisalign?

A. Invisalign is a way of treating crooked teeth using transparent appliances (aligners), without using conventional braces.

Q. So, are you sure no wires are used?

A. Yes, there is no use of metal wires or braces

Q. How does it work?

A. Clear aligners are made using cutting edge 3D technology in a facility abroad and the movement of teeth is replicated by computerized simulation.

Q. This is suitable for which age group?

A. There is no specific age group. It is suitable for teenagers, adults and, these days, even becoming popular among the older age groups

tems and is well researched. The company has more than 350 patients and the kit is being taught in more than 180 universities.

Q. How popular is it in the western countries?

A. Invisalign is evolved in terms of technologies and its applications in difficult cases over the years. It is very popular in America, Europe and Japan. Only in late 2012, it was introduced to the GCC and now in Maidan where it was launched officially in Kuwait.

Q. Is it a life-style treatment procedure?

A. Yes and no. It caters to all types of population but it is also very popular with celebrities as the metal does not show and does not cause embarrassment while smiling.

Q. How long have you been practicing this technique?

A. Since 2003, I have been watching the product evolve, and with the new innovations, even complex cases can be treated.

Nawara in an interview with Dr Francesco Garino. as this is almost invisible.

Q. What are the advantages of Invisalign?

A. They are clear, almost invisible, removable, comfortable and they cause less strain to the teeth. The patient can brush and floss comfortably and avoid gum disease during the course of orthodontic treatment.

Q. How does it differ from other aligner systems?

A. Invisalign is the oldest of the aligner sys-

Q. What is the nature of your work - private practice or academics?

A. I have been involved with both. I maintained a private practice and also teach at the University of Turin, Italy apart from lecturing and conducting workshops internationally at least once a month. These lectures are held internationally, in America, Europe, Russia and now in the Middle East.

Q. When is your next visit to Kuwait?

A. Very soon. Since I am involved with the technical support, I will be advising and guiding the doctors of Al-Maidan on the use of this product.

Study questions if bed rest prevents prematurity WASHINGTON: New research is raising fresh concern that an age-old treatment for troubled pregnancies bed rest - doesn’t seem to prevent premature birth, and might even increase that risk.

Doctors have known for years that there’s no good evidence that bed rest offers any benefit for certain pregnancy complications, and it can cause side effects in the mother, not to mention emotional and financial strain. Yet estimates suggest nearly 1 in 5 mothers-to-be is told to cut her activity - ranging from quitting work to actually staying in bed all day - at some point during pregnancy.

Now, spurred by the latest study, some specialists are issuing a call for strict studies to finally settle the con-

troversy - and until then, for doctors not to assume that a prescription to take it easy can’t hurt.

“Bed rest is misperceived as an inexpensive, innocuous, logical recommendation,” Dr. Joseph Biggio Jr. of the University of Alabama at Birmingham wrote in the latest issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, a journal read by thousands of practitioners.

In a separate review of past studies that failed to support bed rest, a trio of obstetricians and ethicists at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, went a step further. They said it’s not ethical to keep prescribing bed rest unless the women are enrolled in a research study, as they are for other unproven treatments.

So why is rest prescribed so

often? There aren’t a lot of good treatments to prevent prematurity and other problems.

“Patients want you to do something, and physicians want to do something,” explained Dr. Catherine Spong, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the National Institutes of Health who co-authored the latest research.

Spong and colleagues took a closer look at a study of treatments for women at risk of premature birth because of an increasingly diagnosed complication called a short cervix.

Bed rest is a broad term that doesn’t just mean staying in bed all the time - and during that treatment study, doctors were free to decide if the participants also should restrict

their activities, essentially offering a real-world test of the effects. The prescriptions ranged from no sexual activity, to partial or complete work restrictions, to complete restriction of non-work activity as well.

Nearly 40 percent of the 646 pregnant women enrolled in the study were prescribed some type of activity restriction in the second or third trimester. Most were told to restrict all three types of activity sexual, work and non-work.

The surprise: Some 37 percent of women who took the precautions had a premature baby, compared with just 17 percent of the women who didn’t scale back, the researchers report in Obstetrics & Gynecology.—AP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Dar Al-Shifa Hospital welcomes Dr Darwish KUWAIT: Dar Al-Shifa Hospital announced yesterday the arrival of Dr Tarek Darwish, Specialist Neurosurgery in its Neurosurgical department. This new appointment is in line with Dar Al Shifa’s strategy in providing optimum healthcare services to its patients and enhancing patients’ experience and standards to meet their utmost needs.

Neurosurgery, also called neurological surgery, brain surgery or spine surgery, is mainly concerned with the central and peripheral nervous system and spinal columns and is of the most complicated form of surgeries.

Armed with a doctorate degree in Neurosurgery from Alexandria University, Dr Darwish has also received a Master’s degree in Surgery, and a bachelor of medicine and surgery from Alexandria University. He has also undergone training in spine surgery and has a special interest in back and vertebrae pain management.

Dr Darwish is specialized at back pain, spinal tumors, peripheral nerves -the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord; brain tumor, and vertebroplasty - a medical spinal proce-

dure in which bone cement is injected through a small hole in the skin into a fractured vertebra with the goal of relieving back pain caused by vertebral compression fractures. In addition to that, Dr. Darwish is an expert at non-surgical management of back pain and endoscopic and microscopic spine surgeries. Through the past two years, Dr. Darwish has performed 310 operations including cranial surgeries, spinal surgeries, intradural and extradural spinal tumors and intramedullary spinal tumors along with peripheral nerve decompression and repair and craniofacial repair and cranioplasty (which involves a surgical repair of a defect or deformity of a skull).

Commenting on his appointment, Dr Darwish expressed his utmost pleasure to become part of a well-established and reputable medical institution such as Dar Al Shifa Hospital. “I look forward to contribute to the success of the neurosurgical department at Dar Al Shifa hospital especially with the new technologies being incorporated into the diagnosis, evaluation, and surgical and nonsurgical treatment of patients available at the hospital.”

Technology Services & Trad Co

I

n 2012, Technology Services Trading Company, Kuwait in association with Life Like Laboratory Texas USA were awarded a contract by the Ministry of Health to supply silicon prosthesis to 45 patients. Casts and measurements were taken in September 2012. In late April 2013, patients were fixed with their prosthetic limbs at the Artificial Limb Centre in the Physical Medical Rehabilitation Hospital to their enormous satisfaction and thanks. 45 patients to fix silicon prosthesis from Fingers, Partial Hands, Full Hands Partial Foot and Complete Foot by the Artificial Limb Center under PMR Hospital Ministry of Health.

Procedures included the fixing of prosthetic fingers, partial and complete hands and partial and complete feet. We at Technology Services and Trading Company with our partner, Life-Like Laboratories, are very pleased with the outcome of the procedures and especially grateful to the Minister of Health, Dr. Mohammed Barrak Al-Haifi, for his personal interest.

Please find below from right: 1. Nicole: Technician from Life Like Laboratory - Texas USA 2. Dr. Mohammed Al Haify: Minister of Health - Kuwait 3. Dr. Ammar Al Baroon: Director of PMR Hospital & Art.

Limb. Center 4. Mr. Zaid Al Hadi: Head of Art. Limb Center 5. Mr. Motlaq Al Horajy: Asst.

Director of PMR Hospital 6. Mr. Mustafa Buftain: Senior Official of art. Limb Center

7. Jennifer Billings: Technician from Life Like Laboratory Texas USA. 8. Roshan: Staff of Technology Services Trading Company 9. Anup Kuwait: Staff of Technology Services Trading Compay

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Great value and deals at Marina Hotel this summer

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

W

hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

Greetings

M

any happy returns of the day to Nelson Fernandes from Benaulim, Goa who celebrates his birthday today. May God shower His choicest blessings on you and may all your dreams come true. Best wishes come from parents, relatives and friends.

M

arina Hotel Kuwait recently rolled out its much awaited for summer package which comes along with lots of benefits to make this summer relaxed, luxurious and memorable. You are invited to enjoy this summer in style in the midst of absolute pampering and leisure with a resort-feel ambience through its wonderful facilities away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The all-inclusive Marina Hotel package promises real joy under the sun with its secluded private beach and three pools: lap pool, kids’ pool and family pool with the Marina Waves pool bar. Guests can relax in their rooms, all overlooking the beautiful Gulf Sea, at a rate starting from KD 77 for a double room per night, buffet breakfast included. The package provides free access to the hotel’s many facilities: the Coral Reef Health Club, the squash court, beach and pool area.

Complete your idyllic stay at any of the hotel’s two fabulous restaurants well-

known for its delicious international cuisine: ‘The Six Palms’ and the ‘Atlantis.’ For mouth-watering delicacies, indulge in international, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes from a scrumptious array of menu choices in a tranquil music setting.

In close proximity to the Marina Mall and Marina Crescent, one can enjoy a complete holiday with easy access to their favorite shopping and hang out destinations making it ideal for family leisure. The hotel’s philosophy is dedicated to focus on individual guest’s needs and offer the highest standard of service.

Marina offers the pleasures of graceful living and indulgent amenities including a fitness centre and excellent choice of restaurants. Rooms and suites at the Hotel combine intimacy, comfort, exclusivity with personalized service and attention to detail. Head towards Marina Hotel and benefit from all the enticing offers.

GUST students strengthen Math skills with bowling

Announcements Speech competition t Berchmans 17th Extempore Speech Competition for Indian School students from class VII to XII will be conducted on Friday, 17th May 2013 at United Indian School, Jaleeb Al Shuyoukh. Competition will be conducted in 3 categories separately. Sub-Juniors (7th & 8th Stds.)

Juniors (9th & 10th Stds.) and Seniors (11th & 12th Stds). Trophies and Certificates will be awarded to the I, II, and III prize winners of each category.

Championship and Runner up Trophies will be awarded to the respective schools based on points earned by it’s students.

S

AIP shaam-e ghazal he Association of Indian Professionals (AIP), Kuwait, forthcoming event has been scheduled for the evening of May 25, 2013 at 6 pm at the auditorium of Indian Community Senior School, Salmiya and is titled as AIP Shaam-e-Ghazal.

We have invited Raghuram Krishnan, a Ghazal singer from Cochin, India to make this evening more melodious and vibrant. He will be supported by few local musicians also. Ambassador of India, Satish C. Mehta will be the Chief Guest. Admission is by invitation and children below 10 years of age will not be allowed.

T

T

he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) Math Foundation students of Intermediate Algebra participated in an offcampus activity at the 360 Mall Bowl Room. This activity was organized for hands-on practice of basic Math application from their textbook to their daily life.

It was an enthusiastic learning experience; the first of its kind to be held for a Math class

commented the students. They urged for more such activities to be conducted as it helped them understand and apply the concepts better. Combining off campus activities to learning tasks enhances the understanding of the subject as well as help the students have an all-round development during their university life.

It was a fun and educational environment as the students

bowledwhilesolving a predesigned assignment with their peers supervised by faculty members: Shiny Moncy, Khalid Al-Hulaibi and Khalaf Alenezi.

Hussain B Hussain, Dhari AlMobarak, and Sulaiman AlMansour were the student representatives who assisted the instructors in coordinating with the management of the 360 Mall and guiding their classes during the session.

Chaine Des Rotisseurs at Holiday Inn Salmiya Hotel

Dancing Divas show

T

he Dancing Divas is organizing its 5th Annual Jubilation on the 7th of June 2013 at Cambridge School, Mangaf, between 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm. The program will be attended by Raghav Juyal (Dance India Dance Fame) who will be judging the show as well as entertaining the audience with his dance performances.

Another highlight of the show is the presence of Raja Sagoo (Comedy Circus Fame) who will be compere for the event. Raghav will also be conducting a dance workshop on the 8th of June at the Salmiya Model School.

Workshop will be for participants within the age group of 8 and 30 and will be open for registration till the 30th of May. The Dancing Divas is a reputed dance academy run by choreographer and dance teacher Jyoti Patel with over 100 children from different schools in Kuwait. Raghav Juyal (Crockroaxz) is a dancer and choreographer and is renowned as the King of Slow Motion for his surreal dance moves in slow motion style. He rose to fame after being a finalist in Zee TV dance reality shows like Dance India Dance (Season 3), as a skipper for the team Raghav Ke Rockstars in DID Li’l Masters 2 and Dance Ke Superkids.Raghav has become a youth icon inspiring dancers, who imitate his trademark moves and dance style, popularly known as Crock-style. The dance enthusiasts of Kuwait are certain to benefit under his tutelage.

Raja Sagoo, will be the compere for the event.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

I

n presence of the Greek, Tunisian, Thailand, Japanese, and Canadian Ambassadors, the “Chaine des Rotisseurs” Kuwait Chapter members and guest had a “Gold and Caviar” evening on the 20th of April 2013, at Al Dana Ballroom, Holiday Inn Kuwait Salmiya Hotel. All the invitees were welcomed by the Hotel management

led by Monjed Salha , the General Manager of the hotel , who addressed the invitees and warmly welcomed their presence on this occasion.

Beautifully executed by the Hotel team a luxury and resourceful dinner that satisfied the eye by golden and artistic presentations and taste, were different kinds of caviar were tasted in

harmony with the flavors of the dishes.

The night overflowed with elegance from every aspect. And what else translates culinary elegance than precious Caviar, which Holiday Inn’s dinner revolved around And To make the dishes even more precious and lavish, the resourceful dinner were

stunningly gold plated. To accompany the beauty guests experienced at their taste buds, they enjoyed graceful piano music that completed the luxurious ambiance.

A uniquely, valuable and very golden experience for the gourmets of the Chaine des Rotisseurs.

PAUL’s new menu invites you to savour a slice of France

P

AUL Bakery & Restaurant has put a fresh spin on its popular selection with new dishes complementing its extensive list of classic French favourites.

Bountiful Breakfasts Wake up to a mouth-watering new breakfast selection including sweet and savoury viennoiseries and breads warm out of the oven, crÍpes and galettes stuffed with delicious fillings, hearty classics like Eggs Benedict and Omelette Marseillaise and aromatic coffees and teas. You can also pick your favourite combinations of freshly baked bread and croissants, a selection of jams, an omelette, fresh orange juice, coffee or tea for a complete breakfast spread the perfect way to ease into a day at work or to linger over on the weekend.

More to Try The new all-day menu abounds with French flavours, with well selected new dishes to try such as Salade de crevettes a la mangue - a fresh green salad tossed with plump poached shrimp and a tangy lemon mayonnaise dressing. Those looking for something more robust can tuck into the Poulet roti aux amandes - a tender almondflavoured chicken breast with runny camembert cheese, served with hearty sides of potato puree, carrots and beans and a fruity raspberry sauce.

Fans of fish have plenty to look forward to with dishes such as the Tartine au Saumon, one of PAUL’s famed open sandwiches served on rustic toasted farmhouse bread. This tasty sandwich makes the perfect light lunch for the summer, layered with slices of smoked salmon, tomato, cucumber and soft white cheese.

For a quick pick-me-up, browse through our luscious selection of fine desserts, sweets and confectionary, with new additions such as CafÈ Surprise - a steamy cuppa served with a mini pot of crËme brulÈe, mini moelleux au chocolat and two melt-in-your mouth mini macaroons, or our Pain Perdu - French toast like you’ve never tried before made from thick chunks of eggy bread, served with a drizzle of sweet caramel sauce and a scoop of ice cream.

With so many new dishes to try, we look forward to welcome you at PAUL! The new menu is available at the below shopping malls.

Marina Mall, Rotunda, Marina Mall, Al-Mubarak Street, Al-Kout Mall.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy

Sebamed on Instagram

Toefl for primary stage

B

ritish International, the exclusive distributer for TOEFL tests in Kuwait, launches a new TOEFL test for the Primary stage students of The British School of Kuwait (BSK); more specifically students aged 8-11 years. It is worth mentioning in this respect that (BSK) has been one of only two schools throughout the Middle East that have been chosen to run the test for the first time.

Educational Testing Service (ETS), which designs, develops and administers TOEFL tests worldwide, launched a TOE-

FL test for Middle and Upper Department students aged 11-15 last year. One hundred and eighty six students from The British School of Kuwait (BSK) took the test for the first time last year in October 2012. Other ninety seven students took the TOEFL test in April 2013 with 100% passing result. Most noticeable, though, was the fact that 7 students achieved full mark passing score which was considered an unprecedented event worldwide.

Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. nnnnnnn

W

e are glad to inform you that we launched our site on instagram.

Follow us on @sebamedkuwait and (hashtag)#sebamedkuwait and send us your shots involving all family members and be the lucky winner of a valuable prize from Sebamed products.

JW Marriott declared ‘Best’ Business Hotel in Kuwait

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-imenquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday. nnnnnnn

AUK celebrates achievements of its top students for 2012

T

he American University of Kuwait held its semiannual President’s Honor Roll / Dean’s Honor List ceremony to award its top student academic achievers for the 2012 Fall Semester. The ceremony, which was held at the AUK Liberal Arts Auditorium, drew a large audience of students, parents, AUK faculty and staff, who took pleasure in seeing the students’ hard work being recognized and rewarded.

During the event, AUK Interim

President Dr. Nizar Hamzeh recognized the 24 students on the President’s Honor Roll, a high distinction exclusively awarded to those few students who maintained a 4.0 GPA for the term. The Dean’s Honor List, a distinction awarded by the college Deans to students who maintained a minimum GPA of 3.7, featured 134 recipients, 75 of whom belonged the College of Arts & Sciences, while 59 belonged to the College of Business & Economics.

J

W Marriott Kuwait City has been recognized as the ‘Best Business Hotel in Kuwait City’ at the recently-held Business Traveler Middle East Awards 2013, which acknowledge excellence in the region’s travel and hospitality industry. This represents the sixth year that the Hotel has received this distinction - following similar wins in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2004.

“This acknowledgment reflects our commitment to consistently uphold superlative levels of service and quality,” says George Aoun, General Manager, Marriott hotels in Kuwait. “It also speaks of the goodwill and patronage that we have successfully secured over the years, given that the Awardees are voted by readers of the Business

Traveler magazine.” The Hotel’s management commends Business Traveler for institutionalizing an Award that recognizes initiatives which advance the bar of business travel and hospitality in the region, he adds.

Considered amongst Kuwait’s leading business hotels, the JW Marriott Kuwait City is located in the heart of Kuwait’s business district. With over 1,850 square meters of meeting space, comprising seven meeting rooms, 12 breakout meeting rooms and the spacious Al Jahra & Al Thuraya Ballrooms, the Hotel is a business venue of choice for conventions, seminars and conferences, as well as social and wedding events in Kuwait.

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS In its capacity as EU Local Presidency in the State of Kuwait, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, on behalf of the Member States of the EU and associated States participating in the Schengen cooperation, would like to announce that as from 2nd October 2012 all Schengen States’ Consulates in Kuwait will use the Visa Information System (VIS). The VIS is a central database for the exchange of data on shortstay (up to three months) visas between Schengen States. The main objectives of the VIS are to facilitate visa application procedures and checks at external border as well as to enhance security. The VIS will contain all the Schengen visa applications lodged by an applicant over five years and the decisions taken by any Schengen State’s consulate. This will allow applicants to establish more easily the lawful use of previous visas and their bona fide status. For the purpose of the VIS, applicants will be required to provide their biometric data (fingerprints and digital photos) when applying for a Schengen visa. It is a simple and discreet procedure that only takes a few minutes. Biometric data, along with the data provided in the Schengen visa application form, will be recorded in the VIS central database. Therefore, as from 2nd October 2012, 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

KNES hosts round two of annual KS2 maths relay competitions

T

he Primary Department of Kuwait National English School successfully hosted its final round of the Annual Maths Relay Competition for pupils from Key Stage 2. The main focus of the competition is on Problem Solving in Maths and we have seen a marked improvement in this area in the final round. Teamwork and building team spirit amongst pupils is also of paramount importance at KNES and having pupils participate in mixed ability teams in this competition addresses both. All pupils received certificates for their participation and the winning teams received medals.

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.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

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

Monsters Inside Me I’m Alive Safari Vet School Safari Vet School Gator Boys World Wild Vet Shamwari: A Wild Life Cheetah Kingdom Dolphin Days Dolphin Days Wildlife SOS The Really Wild Show Karina: Wild On Safari Karina: Wild On Safari Dogs 101 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Safari Vet School Safari Vet School Animal Cops Houston Shamwari: A Wild Life Wildlife SOS SSPCA: On The Wildside SSPCA: On The Wildside Animal Precinct Safari Vet School Safari Vet School Cheetah Kingdom The Really Wild Show Dogs 101 Weird Creatures With Nick Groomer Has It Monkey Life Bondi Vet Shamwari: A Wild Life Cheetah Kingdom Safari Vet School Safari Vet School Wildest Africa Galapagos Animal Cops Houston

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 The Roux Legacy 07:40 New Scandinavian Cooking 08:05 Homes Under The Hammer 09:05 Bargain Hunt 09:50 Antiques Roadshow 10:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 11:25 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:10 Come Dine With Me 13:00 The Roux Legacy 13:30 New Scandinavian Cooking 13:55 Bargain Hunt 14:40 Cash In The Attic 15:30 Antiques Roadshow 16:20 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:00 Homes Under The Hammer 17:55 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 18:20 Food And Drink 18:50 The Hairy Bikers USA 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 23:55 Cash In The Attic

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 01:45 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 03:45

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

04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 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

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

18:55 19:20 19:45 20:10 20:35 21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15

The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo Tom And Jerry Tales What’s New Scooby Doo Tiny Toon Adventures Puppy In My Pocket What’s New Scooby-Doo? Looney Tunes Dexter’s Laboratory Tom & Jerry Tales

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 Dreamworks Dragons Riders Of Berk 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 Island 19:30 Total Drama 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 News Special 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Inside Africa 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 World One 12:30 On China 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 19:00 World Sport 19:30 On China 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business

DO NO HARM ON OSN ACTION HD

22:00 Amanpour 22:30 CNN Newscenter 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

00:15 01:10 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 13:40 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 23:20

Dual Survival Yukon Men Bear’s Mission Everest Mythbusters Border Security Auction Hunters Storage Hunters How Machines Work How Stuff’s Made Sons Of Guns Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Gold Rush Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings How Machines Work How It’s Made Dual Survival Yukon Men Bear’s Mission Everest Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings Futurecar Gold Rush - Season 3 Specials Mythbusters Sons Of Guns How Machines Work How It’s Made Auction Hunters Storage Hunters You Have Been Warned James May’s Man Lab Mythbusters

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

How Tech Works Sci-Fi Science Prototype This Sport Science Unchained Reaction Prototype This Superships The Gadget Show How Tech Works Prophets Of Science Fiction Space Pioneer NASA’s Greatest Missions The Gadget Show How Tech Works Da Vinci’s Machines What’s That About?

Superships Prophets Of Science Fiction NASA’s Greatest Missions Sci-Fi Science The Gadget Show How Tech Works Space Pioneer Da Vinci’s Machines What’s That About?

Superships Prophets Of Science Fiction Trek Nation The Gadget Show How Tech Works Trek Nation The Gadget Show

00:00 Hannah Montana 00:20 Hannah Montana 00:45 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:05 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:30 Emperor’s New School 01:50 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 04:05 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 00:55 01:25 02:20 03:15 03:40 04:10 05:05 06:00 07:50

Scouted Style Star E!es THS Style Star Extreme Close-Up E!es E!es THS Style Star

08:20 E! News 09:15 Fashion Police 10:15 30 Best & Worst Beach Bodies 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 13:35 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star 15:30 E!es 16:30 Extreme Close-Up 17:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 18:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 19:00 THS 20:00 Married To Jonas 20:30 Playing With Fire 21:30 Playing With Fire 22:30 Fashion Police 23:30 Chelsea Lately

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:55 Unwrapped 01:20 Unwrapped 01:45 Food Wars 02:10 Food Wars 02:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 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 Charly’s Cake Angels 22:25 Charly’s Cake Angels 22:50 Unique Sweets 23:15 Unique Sweets 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 Couples Who Kill Deadly Women 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 Nightmare Next Door Nightmare Next Door I Almost Got Away With It

00:15 Earth Tripping 00:45 Ultimate Traveller 01:40 Bondi Rescue 02:05 Bondi Rescue 02:35 Chasing Time 03:00 Bluelist Australia 03:30 A World Apart 04:25 On Hannibal’s Trail 04:50 Travel Madness 05:20 Departures 06:15 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 06:40 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 07:10 Earth Tripping 07:35 Earth Tripping 08:05 Ultimate Traveller 09:00 Bondi Rescue 09:25 Bondi Rescue 09:55 Chasing Time 10:20 Bluelist Australia 10:50 A World Apart 11:45 On Hannibal’s Trail 12:10 Travel Madness 12:40 Long Way Down 13:35 Graham’s World 14:00 My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita 14:30 Earth Tripping 14:55 Earth Tripping 15:25 Ultimate Traveller 16:20 Perilous Journeys 17:15 Chasing Time 17:40 First Ascent 18:10 A World Apart 19:05 By Any Means 20:00 Earth Tripping 20:30 Earth Tripping 21:00 Graham’s World 21:30 My Sri Lanka With Peter

THE DECOY BRIDE ON OSN CINEMA Kuruvita 22:00 Departures 22:55 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 23:20 Earth Tripping 23:50 Delinquent Gourmet

02:45 04:30 06:30 08:45 10:30 12:15 14:00 16:00 17:30 19:15 21:15 23:15

Wrong Side Of Town-18 Mission To Mars-PG15 Mission: Impossible III-PG15 Men In Black-PG15 Do No Harm-PG15 True Justice: Blood Alley-PG15 Men In Black-PG15 Superman vs. The Elite-PG15 True Justice: Blood Alley-PG15 Alien Resurrection-18 Ronin-18 The Godfather II-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:45 15:00 PG15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Hidden Crimes-PG15 The Tourist-PG15 The National Tree-PG15 Hidden Crimes-PG15 The Tourist-PG15 Wrath Of The Titans-PG15 We Bought A Zoo-PG Madea’s Big Happy FamilyThe Decoy Bride-PG15 The Descendants-PG15 A Little Bit Of Heaven-18 Final Destination 5-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The New Normal 02:00 Out There 02:30 The Big C 03:00 Last Man Standing 03:30 Friends 04:00 Seinfeld 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Emily’s Reasons Why Not 06:00 Arrested Development 06:30 Samantha Who? 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 Emily’s Reasons Why Not 09:00 Last Man Standing 09:30 How I Met Your Mother 10:00 Men At Work 10:30 Samantha Who? 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Arrested Development 12:30 Seinfeld 13:00 Emily’s Reasons Why Not 13:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 Friends 14:30 Men At Work 15:00 How I Met Your Mother 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 Ben And Kate 18:30 The Simpsons 19:00 Modern Family 19:30 The Mindy Project 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Weeds 22:30 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 23:00 The Big C 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

Eureka American Horror Story The Americans House Of Cards Grey’s Anatomy Eureka Emmerdale Coronation Street C.S.I. New York The Ellen DeGeneres Show Grey’s Anatomy The Americans Emmerdale

12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. New York Eureka Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. New York Touch Bones Castle The Client List

00:00 01:45 04:45 06:30 08:30 10:45 12:30 14:15 16:00 18:00 19:30 21:15 23:15

Wrong Side Of Town The Godfather Wrong Side Of Town Mission To Mars Mission: Impossible III Men In Black Do No Harm True Justice: Blood Alley Men In Black Superman vs. The Elite True Justice: Blood Alley Alien Resurrection Ronin

00:00 Jackass: Number Two-R 02:00 The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard-18 04:00 Summer School-PG15 06:00 Ernest Scared Stupid-PG15 08:00 Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate-PG 10:00 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 12:00 Summer School-PG15 14:00 Wild Wild West-PG15 16:00 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 18:00 While You Were SleepingPG15 20:00 Vampire In Brooklyn-PG15 22:00 Jackass: Number Two-R

01:00 02:45 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:45 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:15 21:00 23:00

Mutum-PG15 An Inconvenient Truth-PG Henry’s Crime-PG15 Win Win-PG15 Boy-PG15 An Inconvenient Truth-PG Offline-PG15 Boy-PG15 Oscar And Lucinda-PG15 13-PG15 The Silence Of The Lambs-18 A Very Long Engagement-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:30 09:00 10:45 12:45 15:00 17:00 18:45 21:00 Us-18 23:00

Seeking Justice-PG15 The Pirates! Band Of Misfits-PG Once Brothers-PG15 John Carter-PG15 The Vow-PG15 Footloose-PG15 Moneyball-PG15 Something Borrowed-PG15 The Vow-PG15 Battleship-PG15 Werewolf: The Beast Among

01:00 02:45 04:30 06:00 08:00 10:00 11:30 13:00 14:30 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 23:30

A Very Fairy Christmas Snow Day Wheelers The Proud Family Movie Olentzero And The Magic Log Winx A Very Fairy Christmas Barnyard Snow Day Return To Halloweentown Winx Battle For Terra Barnyard Return To Halloweentown

The Debt-18

02:00 The Odd Life Of Timothy Green-PG 04:00 One Angry Juror-PG15 06:00 A View From Here-PG15 08:00 According To Greta-PG15 10:00 Dead Lines-PG15 12:00 The Odd Life Of Timothy Green-PG 14:00 Flower Girl-PG15 16:00 According To Greta-PG15

18:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 19:45 Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows-PG15 22:00 The Girl-PG15

01:00 01:30 02:30 03:30 04:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 14:30 15:30 16:00 16:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:30 23:30

ICC Cricket 360 PGA Tour Highlights Trans World Sport NRL Full Time NRL Premiership AFL Premiership Highlights Super Rugby Ladies European Tour Top 14 ITU World Triathlon Series Ladies European Tour ICC Cricket 360 NRL Full Time Premier League Darts Futbol Mundial PGA European Tour Weekly Inside The PGA Tour Trans World Sport AFL Premiership Highlights Super Rugby

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 05:30 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:30 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

WWE Bottom Line NRL Full Time ICC Cricket 360 Premier League Darts Futbol Mundial Super Rugby AFL Premiership Highlights PGA Tour Highlights NRL Full Time ICC Cricket 360 Super Rugby AFL Premiership Highlights Super Rugby Rugby League Challenge Cup NHL Futbol Mundial AFL Premiership Highlights Super Rugby HSBC Sevens World Series PGA Tour Highlights

00:30 Top 14 Highlights 01:00 World Pool Masters 02:00 World Cup Of Pool 03:00 Super Rugby 05:00 PGA Tour Highlights 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Pro 12 10:00 World Pool Masters 11:00 World Cup Of Pool 12:00 Top 14 Highlights 12:30 Trans World Sport 13:30 Golfing World 14:30 AFL Premiership Highlights 15:30 ICC Cricket 360 16:00 World Pool Masters 17:00 World Cup Of Pool 18:00 Asian Tour Highlights 19:00 AFL Premiership 21:30 Ladies European Tour Highlights 22:30 NRL Full Time 23:00 Futbol Mundial 23:30 Golfing World

00:00 02:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 20:30 22:30 23:30

UFC Mass Participation Ironman US Bass Fishing NHL WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL WWE SmackDown Mass Participation Ironman Mobil 1 The Grid UIM F1H2O Nations Cup UIM Powerboat Champs UFC TUF Finale NHL Mass Participation Ironman Mobil 1 The Grid

01:25 03:10 04:40 07:00 08:20 10:50 12:25 14:05 16:00 17:45 20:00 22:00 23:45

Heaven With A Gun-U Westworld A Patch Of Blue-PG Little Caesar-PG Where Eagles Dare-PG Anna Karenina-FAM Hearts Of The West-PG Logan’s Run-PG Dial M For Murder-PG North By Northwest-PG The Hook-PG Shaft Eye Of The Devil

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

Kuwait

SHARQIA-1 JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2 WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-3 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

MUHALAB-1 JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM

MUHALAB-2 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM

MUHALAB-3 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:15 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM

FANAR-1 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-2 WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

FANAR-3 JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) GO GOA GONE (DIG) (HINDI) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

MARINA-1 JAVA HEAT (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (09/05/2013 TO 15/05/2013) JAVA HEAT (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG)

8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

MARINA-2 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.3 JAVA HEAT (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-3 IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:30 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

BAIRAQ-1 IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:45 PM 9:15 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-1 NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG) NO TELL MOTEL (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

BAIRAQ-2 JAVA HEAT (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) RISE OF THE ZOMBIES (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-2 THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM

BAIRAQ-3 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

12:45 AM AVENUES-3 JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG) JAVA HEAT (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

360ยบ 1 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

360ยบ 2 WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG) WELCOME TO THE PUNCH (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

360ยบ 3 THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG)

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

AL-KOUT.1 IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D)

2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.2 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM

MATRIMONIAL PLAZA SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) LAILA IRON MAN 3 (DIG) NO THU+FRI IRON MAN 3 (DIG) NO THU+FRI IRON MAN 3 (DIG) NO THU+FRI

5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM

AJIAL.1 EMMANUEL (DIG) (MALAYALAM) EMMANUEL (DIG) (MALAYALAM) AJIAL.2 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG)

6:30 PM 9:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM

AJIAL.3 NAGARAJA CHOLAN, MA, MLA (DIG) (TAMIL) 7:00 PM NAGARAJA CHOLAN, MA, MLA (DIG) (TAMIL) 10:00 PM AJIAL.4 GO GOA GONE (DIG) (HINDI) GIPPY (DIG) (HINDI) GO GOA GONE (DIG) (HINDI)

5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM

METRO-1 EMMANUEL (DIG) (MALAYALAM) EMMANUEL (DIG) (MALAYALAM)

6:30 PM 9:30 PM

METRO-2 GREEKU VEERUDU (DIG) (TELUGU) 6:45 PM THU+FRI+SAT NAGARAJA CHOLAN, MA, MLA (DIG) (TAMIL) 6:45 PM NO THU+FRI+SAT NAGARAJA CHOLAN, MA, MLA (DIG) (TAMIL) 9:45 PM

Looking for brides working in Kuwait for Hindu Ezhava brothers 32 and 27 year old Mulam Chittra (stars) from Kottayam, Kerala. If interested please contact. Email: kuwaitmail2013@yahoo.com (C 4412) 11-5-2013 FOR SALE SITUATION WANTED Nissan Infiniti G37 2009 model, 3.7 liter, excellent condition, automatic, original paint, 6 cylinder, 6 CD changer, mobile connectivity, rear view camera and scanner, sunroof, sand color, cruise control, GPS, as good as new. Has run 60,000 kms, Price KD 6,500/-. Contact: 99742340.

(C 4414) 13-5-2013

9 years Kuwait experienced Indian house driver available from 9th of June onwards. Sponsor release money no need, preferred to work for a small family.

Contact: 90049716.

(C 4413) 13-5-2013

SITUATION VACANT Cook required for Kuwaiti home, knows local and international food, transferable residence, live-in full time, male only. Contact: 94088822. (C 4416) 14-5-2013

Prayer timings

Two Mitsubishi L300 long panel delivery vehicles white color, 2004 model, 225,000 km, price KD 1,300/- and 2007 model, 201,000 km, price KD 2,300/, fully maintained by Al-Mulla, ready for checking any time. Contact: 99852361 (C 4415)

112

Fajr:

03:27

Shorook

04:56

Duhr:

11:44

Asr:

15:20

Maghrib:

18:33

Isha:

20:00

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines QTR JZR JZR ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR OMA QTR THY DHX KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR FDB FDB UAE ETD ABY KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR QTR IRM FDB IRA ETD GFA MEA IAW MSC IRM TMA KNE UAE MSR THY CLX KNE QTR FDB AXB KLM

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 15/5/2013 Flt Route 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 643 MUSCAT 138 DOHA 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 302 MUMBAI 344 CHENNAI 206 ISLAMABAD 412 MANILA 352 COCHIN 382 DELHI 529 ASSIUT 69 DUBAI 53 DUBAI 855 DUBAI 933 ABU DHABI 125 SHARJAH 790 MEDINAH 672 DUBAI 284 DHAKA 165 DUBAI 561 SOHAG 132 DOHA 1186 TEHRAN 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 404 BEIRUT 157 BAGHDAD 403 ASSIUT 1188 MASHAD 213 BEIRUT 470 JEDDAH 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 766 ISTANBUL 792 LUXEMBOURG 480 TAIF 140 DOHA 57 DUBAI 489 COCHIN 417 AMSTERDAM

Time 00:15 00:20 00:40 01:45 01:55 02:25 02:30 03:10 03:15 03:20 03:30 04:35 05:10 07:50 08:20 07:25 06:15 08:05 07:30 06:40 05:50 07:45 08:25 08:30 08:50 13:55 13:40 12:05 11:35 12:00 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:25 9:30 10:40 10:55 11:00 11:20 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:45 13:00 13:10 13:15 13:20 13:45 13:50 20:35 21:05

ALK UAE ETD QTR GFA QTR FDB AIC UAL KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR IRC MSR SVA QTR RJA IYE ETD UAE ABY GFA SVA UAL KNE QTR FDB GFA MSC MSR JAI OMA FDB ABY MEA DLH JAI THY

229 859 307 136 217 146 59 975 981 102 542 786 788 166 674 774 538 618 531 777 535 787 135 357 177 185 239 6692 575 500 134 640 824 303 857 127 215 510 982 462 144 63 219 405 606 572 647 61 129 402 636 574 772

COLOMBO DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI CHENNAI BAHRAIN NEW YORK CAIRO JEDDAH JEDDAH PARIS DUBAI RIYADH SHARM EL SHEIKH DOHA ASSIUT JEDDAH CAIRO RIYADH BAHRAIN MASHAD DUBAI DUBAI AMMAN MASHAD SHARM EL SHEIKH JEDDAH DOHA AMMAN SANAA ABU DHABI DUBAI SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH WASHINGTON DC DULLES MEDINAH DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN SOHAG LUXOR MUMBAI MUSCAT DUBAI SHARJAH BEIRUT FRANKFURT MUMBAI ISTANBUL

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

Airlines AIC JAI UAL DLH THY ETH UAE FDB MSR OMA ETD QTR QTR JZR FDB GFA THY JZR KAC KAC FDB JZR KAC JZR KAC KAC ABY KAC UAE FDB ETD IRA QTR IRM ETD JZR GFA KAC MEA IAW KAC MSC JZR KAC JZR KAC IRM KNE JZR TMA MSR THY

Departure Flights on Wednesday 15/5/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 613 CAIRO 644 MUSCAT 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 164 DUBAI 411 BANGKOK 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 54 DUBAI 530 ASSIUT 117 NEW YORK 534 CAIRO 789 MADINAH 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 602 SHIRAZ 133 DOHA 1187 IMAM KHOMEINI 934 ABU DHABI 356 MASHHAD 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 405 BEIRUT 158 AL NAJAF 175 FRANKFURT 406 SOHAG 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 786 RIYADH 785 JEDDAH 1189 MASHHAD 461 MADINAH 176 DUBAI 223 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 767 ISTANBUL

Time 00:05 00:20 00:25 00:30 02:20 02:45 03:45 03:50 04:15 04:20 04:20 04:25 05:15 05:35 06:30 07:00 07:10 07:25 07:30 08:00 08:25 09:00 09:05 09:10 09:15 09:25 09:30 09:35 09:50 09:55 10:15 10:25 10:25 10:30 10:30 11:00 11:25 11:30 11:55 12:00 12:10 12:20 12:25 12:30 12:50 13:00 13:10 13:10 13:20 13:45 14:00 14:10

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KNE UAE FDB CLX QTR IRC MSR KAC KAC SVA KAC RJA JZR QTR ETD IYE JZR ABY UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR UAL KNE QTR FDB GFA JZR MSC MSR JAI FDB ABY KAC KAC OMA KAC MEA DHX KLM ETD ALK UAE KAC QTR KAC GFA FDB KAC QTR JZR KAC KAC JZR

481 872 58 792 141 6693 576 673 617 503 773 641 238 135 304 824 538 128 858 216 511 184 266 982 471 145 64 220 134 404 619 571 62 120 331 361 648 351 403 171 417 308 230 860 381 137 301 218 60 205 147 554 283 415 528

TAIF DUBAI DUBAI GIALAM DOHA MASHHAD SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI DOHA MADINAH RIYADH AMMAN AMMAN DOHA ABU DHABI SANAA CAIRO SHARJAH DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN JEDDAH DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN ASSIUT ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH TRIVANDRUM COLOMBO MUSCAT KOCHI BEIRUT BAHRAIN DAMMAM ABU DHABI COLOMBO DUBAI DELHI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI ISLAMABAD DOHA ALEXANDRIA DHAKA KUALA LUMPUR ASSIUT

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

34

stars CROSSWORD 190

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You will not have to work quite as hard to move forward in your career now.

You have powerful energies spilling into your life helping you make a positive difference and guiding you in ways that you can help others. Independence, as well as anything unusual or different, is valued. You may enjoy getting away from routine and doing some things really, really different this afternoon. Step out of your own character and consider trying out for a part in the next community play. If you are not a member of a club or organization, think about joining one now. The social contacts you make this year will benefit you spiritually and professionally. Physical activities, like sports, among friends or family can be enjoyed this evening, perhaps evening basketball, tennis, etc.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) This is a very lucky day for making plans or decisions and finding your way through just about any problem you may discover. Positive energies are available with respect to love and money today. You feel successful and able to handle difficult situations. Good advice from a guide or older person may be forthcoming. There is a growing sense of self-confidence and even a pride of ownership. You could do well in politics, if that is your choice. Your social life is active at this time. New social contacts will boost career prospects now. Social and community endeavors are also open to you where the need for basic fairness and evenhandedness is helpful. You can be direct, candid and to the point. This passion is about truth. There are positive results today.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS

1. Type genus of the family Myacidae.

4. A professional dancer.

11. A heavy open wagon usually having two wheels and drawn by an animal.

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

16. Freshwater fish of Central America having a long swordlike tail.

17. Large elliptical brightly colored deepsea fish of Atlantic and Pacific and Mediterranean.

18. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

19. A large fleet.

21. A member of the Himalayan people living in Nepal and Tibet who are famous for their skill as mountaineers.

23. A light strong gray lustrous corrosionresistant metallic element used in strong light-weight alloys (as for airplane parts).

25. Being nine more than forty.

28. A name for the Old Testament God as transliterated from the Hebrew YHVH. 31. (botany) Of or relating to the axil.

32. The 10th and last incarnation of Vishnu.

36. Take back what one has said.

37. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

38. United States educator who introduced reforms that significantly altered the system of public education (1796-1859).

39. A hardy cabbage with coarse curly leaves that do not form a head.

42. Water soaked soil.

43. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

49. An ambitious and aspiring young person.

51. A process of using up or consuming again.

52. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

53. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

55. A state in north central United States.

57. Not hard-surfaced.

59. Type genus of the Lycaenidae.

63. Considerate and solicitous care.

64. Kamarupan languages spoken in northeastern India and western Burma.

67. A yearning for something or to do something.

68. Photographic equipment consisting of a lightproof box with a lens at one end and light-sensitive film at the other.

71. A lyric poem with complex stanza forms.

72. Be iridescent.

74. Used of a single unit or thing.

75. A sign of assent or salutation or command.

76. The academic world.

77. A fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services.

DOWN 1. A master's degree in library science.

2. Not only so, but.

3. A dull persistent (usually moderately

intense) pain.

4. United States astronomer (1885-1972).

5. A three-tone Chadic language.

6. Any of various trees of the genus Ulmus.

7. Type genus of the Plataleidae.

8. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

9. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

10. A state in New England.

11. Edible starchy tuberous root of taro plants.

12. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

13. A rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders).

14. (Greek mythology) The Titaness who was mother of Helios and Selene and Eos in ancient mythology.

20. The clock time given by a clock carried on board a spacecraft.

22. Being in competition.

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

26. Flightless New Zealand birds similar to gallinules.

27. A self-funded retirement plan that allows you to contribute a limited yearly sum toward your retirement.

29. A genus of tropical American plants have sword-shaped leaves and a fleshy compound fruits composed of the fruits of several flowers (such as pineapples).

30. A city of central China.

33. A genus of Lamnidae.

34. A small metal weapon.

35. In truth (often tends to intensify).

40. A small cake leavened with yeast.

41. (computer science) Protocol that allows users to copy files between their local system and any system they can reach on the network.

44. A dicotyledonous genus of the family Ericaceae.

45. A small slow-growing deciduous tree of northern Iran having a low domed shape.

46. An abnormal new mass of tissue that serves no purpose.

47. Wood of a sumac.

48. (Greek mythology) Goddess of wisdom and useful arts and prudent warfare.

50. A quantity of no importance.

54. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

56. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

58. A unit of elastance equal to the reciprocal of a farad.

60. The capital and largest city of Japan.

61. A lawman concerned with narcotics violations.

62. Type genus of the Amiidae.

65. Not present.

66. Widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its fragrant flowers and colorful fruits.

69. A doctor's degree in education.

70. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

73. Being one more than one hundred.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

This is an excellent time to plan a trip or take a vacation. You are likely to hear some good news regarding something of importance to you. Your sensitivity to others is increased but there are possibilities of being deluded—pay close attention.

There is great achievement now through your profession. Being in the spotlight is common to you just now. It may be a good idea to be humble and see where your work can best help others. You may look to the social setting to improve your professional standing. Interactions with the opposite sex on the professional level may occur a great deal during this time. There is inner harmony and a deepening of a love relationship. This romantic partner may want your undivided attention.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) This is a period of personal growth. This attitude is contagious and you may find others have questions and inquiries as to the latest self-help book or mentor that you have been gaining information from lately. This mindset is carried over into the workplace so that whatever you do, you do it with enthusiasm and look for ways to improve the workplace. You want to reshape the world and help others. You may expend a great deal of effort to secure finances at this time. This may come about through associations you have with people in important positions. The simple things in life bring you much pleasure. Besides being creative, you are very sociable and magnetic to the opposite sex. This feeling will extend to a love interest later.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Someone could challenge your sense of identity today, but you will remain calm and clear in your reporting of the details that are needed. There is someone watching you that appreciates your struggle. Now is the time to initiate any changes that will create the most positive results, whether it is regarding some project or some goal of yours. Financial gain through speculation looks positive—you will eventually need to take care in how you allocate the benefits or money received. Study and mental self-control are hard to achieve today, but not impossible! The time is ripe for family changes and this may be in a marriage, birth or reunion. This is a great evening for socializing with friends or just enjoying some quality time with a loved one.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You have good choices from a career standpoint. Your work is progressing well and you will probably complete projects way ahead of time. The knowledge you have regarding some hobby or some recent home project will come in handy when you solve problems in the workplace this afternoon. It is good that you pull on all your resources when you or those around you are in a quandary. You may feel like socializing this evening. This is an excellent time to socialize and enjoy life. If you are single, go out to all those gatherings where you might really find that dream partner. At the very least, you will meet compatible people who share your love of life. Enjoy some time with friends who tend to make many appealing invitations.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Your work could come under the scrutiny of people in authority. This is a good thing for now because you can show off how much you have learned either recently or from your past experiences. Those that doubted your talents will no longer be doubtful.

Now you will need to be ready to respond when the requests come in for you to contribute your very own expertise. There are indications that this is a good time to finish up any unresolved business. You are filled with an urge to work hard and get things done. Do not push yourself beyond what is comfortable with regard to time limitations. Go easy on yourself and enjoy a few breaks each day. This evening there is an opportunity to enjoy and relax with loved ones.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) There may be a return of some old mechanical problems so take your time and make sure all mechanical defects are serviced properly. All forms of communication are possible today. A family member that lives some distance from you may enjoy communication by telephone. There is a strong emphasis on community participation— perhaps a block party is being planned, etc. You, a friend and a loved one or a few family members will enjoy a group get-together soon . . . Plans are in the making. There is lots of laughter and interaction between neighbors. You feel most comfortable in these surroundings and may find yourself in a storytelling mood. Your dreams are worth exploring this evening—consider keeping a dream diary.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) This time is perfect for focused and detailed mental work, though you may resist some of those dull routine tasks. Complete unfinished business today. You have a sharp mind and your awareness in the overview of a situation is strong.

Your ambition is strong and you have the right amount of discipline to get you where you want to go. You develop a keen appreciation for the value of things, including the money it takes to buy them. Take the social opportunities that are open to you now and network with people that share your same job interests or talents. A love of music and an appreciation for sensual pleasures is strong. You may find the right romantic interest for you, or you may find an existing romance will deepen.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) CAPRICORN Consciously take and plan for extra time to stay organized with projects the rest of this month. A strong instinct to be powerful and in control may lead to a greater interest in investing. There are all sorts of interaction through some form of lecturing, teaching or learning a new technique. You could resist someone’s ideas and it might be a good idea to look at your reasoning. This is an artistic time when you are more aware of the beauty that surrounds you; it is also a practical and materialistic time. You may decide to keep a sketch pad handy for those times you are in repose with a cup of tea or chatting on the phone. You will have a grasp for abstract and spiritual ideas and the ability to present or convey these things to others.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Interactions with co-workers may create a desire to plan a get-together at the noon meal. Be careful to arrange an additional day for those that need to stay behind. This is a great time to be with others and to work together as a team. You may be sought after as just the person for a particular job. Your management abilities are in high focus. There has been a lot of overtime lately and it probably will not be the last of the overtime for a while. You will enjoy a relaxing evening. There is a sense of support and harmony around you, making this a productive and happy time. Place a notepad, flashlight and pen next to the bed and put your worries on paper so you don’t fidget all night . . . They will be waiting tomorrow; you will have better insight.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Circumstances may help to create some negative moods—careful. It would be easy to find an argument if you are looking. Keep your sense of humor and do not push your point of view too strongly. There may be some serious decisions made about the future of a project, investment or term of employment with your business at this time. You are in the mood to conquer just about anything you set out to do. Stay away from the negative verbiage to calm others and find some inside point of view. You may perceive how to proceed with plans and decisions regarding your own life situation.

This evening you will have the opportunity to enjoy new music; perhaps a concert or a new group of songs has your attention.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

lifestyle G o s s i p

T

he ‘Stay’ hitmaker is set to launch a summer line for the high street store later this month and has designed the pieces with her loyal followers in mind, aiming to cater to their various needs. Speaking in a behind the scenes video during a model fitting, in which she is joined by her co-designer Adam Selman, the singer said: “I made a piece for everybody in my crew, we all have different body types and different tastes - some are braver than others. “I think like that because that’s how women in the world are. We’re all different, we like different things, we have different occasions and different moods.”Rihanna, 25, also made sure the range reflects her own personal taste in clothes and what she would purchase if shopping for new ensembles, with items including floral and tie-dye jumpsuits, simple dresses in black and pink and elegant crop tops.

T

he 32-year-old reality star, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kanye West in July, has been ordered by doctors to keep her feet elevated in a bid to combat the swelling but while she waits for it to go down, she has been forced to splash out on new footwear. She said: “My doctor has told me to elevate my feet. Can you see how wide and swollen they are? I’ve just ordered a pair of pointy-toed flats. “[My Louboutins] hardly fit me any more. When I flew in them the other day, I landed with one strap unbuckled, as I couldn’t get it around my ankle.” Kim’s maternity choices have sparked debate, and while many have dismissed her tight-fitting choices as fashion disasters, her younger sister Khloe is proud of her for flaunting her curvaceous figure, which she believes should be on show more often.

T Usher sued by former nanny

C

ecilia Duncan - who was hired to look after the ‘Yeah!’ hitmaker’s two sons, Usher V, five, and four-year-old Naviyd between December 2010 and September 2012 - has filed a lawsuit against the singer, alleging she was “overworked” and was not paid overtime, according to TMZ. The ex-nanny claims she often worked over 40 hours a week, but wasn’t being compensated for the extra hours and when she brought up her grievance to the 34-year-old star in 2011, he ignored her claims for more than a year and subsequently fired her last year. Cecilia is thought to have filed a six-figure lawsuit against the ‘Scream’ singer for wrongful termination, failure to pay wages and is also seeking other unspecified damages.

However, Usher’s camp denies any wrongdoing, branding the nanny’s claims “completely false” and the lawsuit “frivolous”.

he pop diva will reclaim her judge’s chair on the next season of the singing contest, ousting current mentor Shakira. A mole told The Wrap that former panelist Christina - who left the show in 2012 after three seasons to promote her latest album ‘LOTUS’ - is expected to return this autumn after signing a deal worth a rumored $17 million. It is as yet unclear whether Cee Lo Green, who also departed last year, will be returning alongside Christina or whether his popular replacement, Usher, will stay on. The current lineup of NBC’s singing competition, which also features Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, has proved a hit with audiences and ratings are at an alltime high. Producer Matt Burnett confirmed Shakira’s departure and explained change was a natural progress when working with successful recording artists. He told Deadline: “Everybody can’t coach for life because when you have people with current recording in the game, this is not their job.

Thieves mar Justin Bieber concert in South Africa

T

hieves allegedly spent at least three days burrowing through walls at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium before swiping around three million rand just hours after the ‘Beauty and a Beat’ hitmaker had walked off stage. The cash came from merchandise and refreshments sold at the 19year-old star’s show - part of his worldwide ‘Believe Tour’ - as well as takings from a gig by Bon Jovi the previous evening, but officials only realized the money was missing on Monday morning. A police officer from nearby Booysens police station in Soweto said: “The money was taken from the building and they only realized today. “We don’t know how many people were involved as we are still gathering evidence.” The crooks - who are said to have been armed with chisels, hammers and ropes are believed to have gained access to a room, where cash was stored, through the roof before lowering themselves down using a rope.

Speaking yesterday, South African police spokeswoman Katlego Mogale said: “The suspect had gained entry through the roof.” They broke the tile of the bathroom between last night after the concert and this morning.”

T

he superstar was rewarded for her sex appeal for the third year in a row by the world’s most desirable group of models as part of their 8th annual ‘What is Sexy List.’ The catwalk divas have released a new video which sees some the lingerie brand’s most famous faces including Karlie Kloss, Erin Heatherton, Candice Swanepoel and Alessandro Ambrosio - give their experienced judgement on some of Hollywood’s leading ladies. The list saw several other repeat entries including Jessica Chastain, who went from 2012’s Sexiest Smile to this year’s Sexiest Actress, and Rihanna, who took home Sexiest Bikini Body.

As well as more conventional beauty categories like Sexiest Legs (Blake Lively), Sexiest Eyes (Zooey Deschanel) and Sexiest Smile (Zoe Saldana), the Angels placed emphasis on other attractive qualities. Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence made the list for the first time for Sexiest Sense of Humour after becoming a firm favourite on the red carpet with her tongue-in-cheek jokes.

T

he Italian fashion mogul sees a younger version of himself in his son Daniele, who helms the label’s menswear line, and believes he was always destined to make his mark in the industry. Roberto told The Hunger magazine: “Daniele and I have always been very close, and I knew that he would follow me one day. He is extremely talented. I can see how much he tries to invent something special. “It’s fantastic to listen to him because when I speak to him I feel that he’s like me when I was younger. He has lived and breathed and grown up in my studio, so his apprenticeship started at a very young age!”

The pair share a love of traditional craftsmanship and both take inspiration from their Italian heritage and their hometown of Florence for their designs. Daniele explained: “My father and I do not have the usual concepts that other designers or brands have; it’s more about other things.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

lifestyle M u s i c

T

his guitar may not quite gently weep, but it could at least make a well-heeled Beatles fan cry with happiness. The VOX guitar played both by John Lennon and George Harrison is expected to sell for between $200,000 and $300,000 at auction in New York’s Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday. The custom-made instrument is the main lot in the Julien’s Auctions sale. Harrison used it while practicing “I am the Walrus” and Lennon while recording a video

&

M o v i e s

session for “Hello, Goodbye.” It was given by Lennon to Apple Records electronics engineer Yanni “Magic Alex” Mardas in 1967, Julien’s said. It’s a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own one of the rarest pieces of Beatles memorabilia ever to be offered,” the auction house said. — AFP

Museum of the Confederacy opening Gettysburg show

A

mong the swords, the wrenching letters home and the haunting photographs in the Museum of the Confederacy’s new exhibit on Gettysburg, few artifacts embody the ferocious battle more than the eight battle flags recovered from the bloodied fields where Pickett’s Charge was fought. The men who carried them were first in the line of fire, and the flag was coveted by the enemy. If the color bearer fell, it was expected another soldier would pick it up. For the 7th Virginia Infantry alone, nine men were lost at Gettysburg holding the St Andrew’s Cross.

“Capturing the flag was a pretty big deal, or losing your flag was a bigger deal,” said Robert Hancock, senior curator at the Richmond museum. “Color bearers made a nice target because they were bearing the big red flag. You did not want to let that flag go.” The flags, among more than 500 in the museum’s extensive collection, are the centerpiece of “Gettysburg: They walked through blood,” which just opened and runs through September to mark the 150th year since the Battle of Gettysburg. The exhibit focuses on Gen. George Pickett’s

Virginia Division and the doomed charge on Union Maj. George G. Meade’s union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863.

While the battle forever will be known as Pickett’s Charge, it was ordered by Confederate Gen Robert E Lee. Pickett was one of three generals who led the assault under Lt Gen James Longstreet, the charge’s commander. All eight battle flags are from Pickett’s Division and the swords of his three brigade commanders - Gens. Lewis Armistead, James Kemper and Richard Garnett - are part of the exhibit.

The battle involved more than 12,000 Confederate soldiers who attempted to advance over fields for three quarters of a mile amid unrelenting fire from Union forces. More than half of the South’s soldiers were killed or injured in a battle that forever bruised the psyche of the South. The exhibit offers Civil War buffs plenty to see, including a large map detailing the battle, but Hancock said the show is also intended to humanize this chapter of history.

“We try to get the audience to connect a little bit more with the individuals and what happened to them later on,” he said.

“That’s one reason we put the photographs in, so you can see a face, attach a face to an object.” There is a photo of Edward Estes, along with a letter addressed “Dear Sis.” He wrote of the carnage: “God forbid that I should ever see another such bloody field.” Of Pickett, the Pittsylvania County man wrote to his sister in Maryland, “When he came out and saw how few of us were left he wept like a child, & said he wished they of killed him too.”

Soldier C Robey’s Bible took a bullet during the battle, and the hole through its pages is proof of his good fortune. He took two other shots, in his arm and leg, and survived. A letter from a Union surgeon written to the family of a Confederate soldier said he had “suffered considerable pain, but wore it with fortitude and patience I have never seen equaled.” He also told the soldier’s family where he was buried.

The exhibit also features a photograph of Thomas Owens, who died nine days after the battle, a watercolor, revolvers and Armistead’s book, which included casualty figures. The museum, which is located next to the former Confederate White House in the city’s medical district, prides itself on knowing the

origin of its collections. Much of it is from family members, handed down through generations. The flags followed a different path to the museum.

Any flag captured during the war was to be returned to the US War Department. They were so coveted, Hancock said, a soldier who turned one in was up for a Congressional Medal of Honor and a furlough. In 1905, Congress decreed that all the flags be returned to the states. All the Virginia Flags went to the museum. The flags, which are made of wool, will be framed for the exhibit. They are, Hancock said, “the biggest and most colorful objects of the show,” which is fitting. “During the battle, they were figuratively and literally the centerpiece there too,” he said.

“The flag was important as a rallying point.”_ AP

H

Dr Joyce Brothers

B

efore Dr Phil and Dr Drew and Dr Oz, there was Joyce Brothers. The popular psychologist pioneered the television advice show in the 1950s, opening the airwaves to discussions of love, marriage and parenting, as well as such taboo subjects as menopause, frigidity, impotence and sexual enjoyment. She went on to become an author, syndicated advice columnist and TV and film personality, setting the stage for today’s one-named T V doctors.

Brothers died Monday of respiratory failure in New York City, according to her longtime publicist, Sanford Brokaw. She was 85. Phil McGraw called Brothers “a pioneer in the field of mental health.”

“Decades before I came along, Dr. Joyce was able to get people talking about their emotional issues and problems. In her own gentle and caring way she let people know it was OK to discuss their feelings and emotions,” he said in a statement Monday. “She had a great sense of humor and gave very sound advice in her column and whenever she appeared on TV. I owe her a great deal for what she did for the mental health profession and society owes her a big thank you.”

Brothers first gained fame on the game show “The $64,000 Question” and said her multimedia career came about “because we were hungry.”

It was 1955. Her husband, Milton Brothers, was still in medical school and Brothers had just given up her teaching positions at Hunter College and Columbia University to be home with her newborn, firmly believing a child’s development depended on it. But the young family found itself struggling on her husband’s residency income. So Brothers came up with the idea of entering a television game show as a contestant. “The $64,000 Question” quizzed contestants in their chosen area of expertise. She memorized 20 volumes of a boxing encyclopedia - and, with that as her subject, became the only woman and the second person to ever win the show’s top prize.

Brothers tried her luck again on the superseding “$64,000 Challenge,” answering each question correctly and earning the dubious distinction as one of the biggest winners in the history of television quiz shows. She later denied

This undated file photo shows Dr Joyce Brothers in the studio of her direct line radio show. Brothers saved a would-be suicide in 1968. The popular psychologist, columnist, and television and film personality has died in New York City on Monday, May 13, 2013. She was 85. — AP

any knowledge of cheating, and during a 1959 hearing in the quiz show scandal, a producer exonerated her of involvement. Her celebrity opened up doors. In 1956, she became co-host of “Sports Showcast” and frequently appeared on talk shows.

Two years later, NBC offered her a trial on an afternoon television program in which she advised on love, marriage, sex and child-rearing.

Its success led to a nationally telecast program, and subsequent late-night shows that addressed even racier topics. She also dispensed advice on several phone-in radio programs, sometimes going live. She was criticized by some for giving out advice without knowing her callers’ histories. But Brothers responded that she was not practicing therapy on the air and that she advised callers to seek professional help when needed.

Despite criticism of the format, the call-in show took off, and by 1985, the Association of Media Psychologists was created to monitor for abuses. Dr Drew Pinsky, who has offered his medical expertise in radio and television formats first pioneered by Brothers, saluted her impact on the industry. “Knew nothing about her history on the $64,000 question, but I did know Joyce Brothers,” he wrote on Twitter. “She was a pioneer and very knowledgeable.”

Other celebrities, including Paris Hilton, rapper Common and motivational guru Tony Robbins, posted bits of Brothers’ advice on Twitter, such as: “The best proof of love is trust.”

For almost four decades, Brothers was a columnist for Good Housekeeping. She also wrote a daily syndicated advice column that appeared in more than 350 newspapers. Briefly, in 1961, she was host of her own television program. Later, Brothers branched out into film, playing herself in more than a dozen movies, including “Analyze That” (2002), “Beethoven’s 4th” (2001), “Lover’s Knot” (1996) and “Dear God” (1996).

She was also an advocate for women. In the 1970s, Brothers called for changing textbooks to remove sexist bias, noting that nonsexist cultures tend to be less warlike. The quiz show scandal of 1958-59 was one of the biggest scandals in the history of television. It erupted in

1958 when it was revealed that quiz show producers had been rigging the outcome of some shows, including “The $64,000 Question,” by giving favored contestants the answers in advance.

Brothers was one of a number of big winners who told an Associated Press survey in November 1959 that they knew nothing of any cheating. At a House hearing that month, associate producer Mort Koplin also said Brothers was among those not involved in cheating. But he also described how contestants, who were carefully interviewed in advance, could be affected unknowingly as producers tried to manipulate the outcome of shows by tailoring questions to benefit favored ones and oust less-favored ones.

According to the testimony, Brothers applied to be a “64,000 Question” contestant as an expert in home economics and psychology. The producers, looking for an audience-pleasing oddity, suggested the pretty young woman try boxing as her specialty. She learned the subject so well, Koplin said, she kept on winning even after the producers “threw the book” at her with tough questions aimed at eliminating her.

Born Joyce Diane Bauer in New York, Brothers earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a PhD in psychology from Columbia. She wrote numerous advice books, including “Ten Days To A Successful Memory” (1964), “Positive Plus: The Practical Plan for Liking Yourself Better” (1995) and “Widowed” (1992), a guide to dealing with grief written after the death of her husband in 1990. Brothers is survived by sister Elaine Goldsmith, daughter Lisa Brothers Arbisser, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. — AP

ollywood star Toni Collette is being sued for loss and damage after allegedly failing to complete the purchase of a Sydney house for Aus$6.35 million (US$6.35 million), reports said yesterday. Industrie clothing brand founders Nick and Susan Kelly launched the action in the Supreme Court in Sydney against the Oscar-nominated Australian actress, known for her roles in “The Sixth Sense” and TV show “United States of Tara”. The Sydney Morning Herald said Collette and her husband David Galafassi claimed they were unable to sell another property and did not have the funds to complete the deal.

In a statement of claim, the Kellys alleged Collette put down a Aus$317,500 deposit on September 30, 2011 for the trendy Paddington terrace house and agreed to complete the sale on December 30.But on the day it was due to sell, Colette’s solicitor told the Kellys that “our clients will not be able to proceed” due to not being able to sell another house they

N

ext year’s Grammys show will be held on January 26, 2014, earlier than usual because of the Winter Olympics in February, organizers of the music industry awards said Monday. The move is in line with other awards shows which have shifted dates to avoid clashing with the Feb 6-23 Games in Sochi, Russia.

Organizers are keen to avoid competing for TV viewers. Grammy show ratings have consistently grown in recent years, with some 28.3 million viewers tuning in last year, the

owned, the Kellys’ barrister Bernard Coles told the court. Coles submitted that one of the reasons they did not settle was because they had decided to buy another property, the report said.

The Kellys ultimately sold the house to another party last year for Aus$5.5 million, with the couple seeking damages mostly made up of the fall in value of the property as well as the costs of resale and interest. Collette and Galafassi have denied a number of the Kellys’ claims, including that they had to complete the sale by December 30 and pleaded with them to settle the dispute out of the spotlight. “For the sake of both our families I implore you to find a way to settle this less publicly,” the actress wrote to Nick Kelly, according to an email submitted to the court, the Herald reported. The hearing continues.— AFP

second largest since 1993. In 2015, music’s biggest night will return to the more typical February 8 timeframe, Grammys organizers the Recording Academy noted. Oscars organizers announced in March that the 2014 show will be held on March 2. The Academy Awards are typically held the last week in February. In 2015 the Oscars will be held on February 22, back in its more traditional slot. — AFP

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

Workers add the finishing touches outside the Carlton Hotel in Cannes on the eve of the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. — AFP photos

E

urope’s top film festival opens in Cannes today to its annual show of glitz and popping champagne corks, but for many in the continent’s movie business, times are tough and likely to get tougher still. The financial crisis that erupted in 2008 is now biting hard into state and regional subsidies and TV programming budgets that are a key support for film-making. Added to that in some countries is the problem of rampant piracy, as people snub a trip to the cinema and instead download their films off the Internet.

“There are many clouds over movie funding,” said Eric Garandeau, head of France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC), which helps the French film industry, the biggest in Europe. “In some countries, the crisis is widespread-in some places, long-standing policies are being scrapped.” The 12-day Cannes Film Festival will feature six French, one Italian and one Dutch film in competition. But Spain-one of the most prolific and quirky producer countries-will literally be out of the picture.

Laurent Creton, head of the Paris-based Institute for Cinema and Audiovisual Research (IRCAV), says the mood of belt tightening has played an important if indirect role in reducing output. He is especially worried for the long-term impacts. “You can’t make an automatic association between austerity and movie-making capacity,” he said in an interview.

“But in today’s tough economic climate, companies start to go out of business, which is a threat to the skills base.”

In debt-wracked Spain, aid to the movie industry slumped from 123 million euros ($160 million) in 2010 to 55 million euros this year-and cinema

admissions have been whacked by a rise in valueadded tax from eight percent to 21 percent. “If we don’t find new sources of income, many movie projects will be shelved, and it will be a great loss for cultural creativity in Europe,” said the president of the Spanish cinemas federation, Juan Ramon Gomez Fabra.

A leading independent distributor, Alta Films, recently filed for bankruptcy, a development that the French Association of Film Exporters (Adef ), which sells French movies to its neighbour, said was a tragedy. Adef took aim at two perceived causes: what it described as a “lack of Spanish political support” for the cinema, and decisions by state and private TV channels to stop buying “auteur” films, meaning movies that are made by marginal or provocative directors.

Italy is another big film maker where austerity is starting to bite: state aid this year has been cut by four million euros to 72.4 million, unleashing a howl of pain from the national association of cinematographic and audiovisual industries, ANICA. In Germany, 13 professional groups in the movie industry last month issued a joint appeal to the state channels ARD and ZDF to allocate 3.5 percent of their combined income from TV licences of seven billion euros to making feature-length movies. The trend in financing “points to fewer films being supported, not more,” said Bettina Reitz, in charge of programming with the Bavarian network BR. France, according to Garandeau, “still has the privilege” of strong financing, although the cashstrapped state required CNC to repay 50 million euros last year, followed by 150 million in the 2013

Workers set up a hoarding advertising a film ahead of the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France yesterday.

fiscal year. French TV financing in movie-making fell by 5.4 percent last year; the state-run France Televisions, which runs a group of national TV networks, will reduce its movie investment by three million euros this year to 57 million euros. The big exception is Britain, which last year had a huge success with the James Bond movie “Skyfall,” which notched up world box office of more than a billion dollars.

The industry contributes 4.6 billion pounds ($7 billion) to the national economy, employing 117,000 people today, compared with 100,000 in 2009. But it is also an industry that is heavily supported by the state-and royalty, too, for the Queen hosted a bash for it at Windsor Castle in April, which helped smooth the way to a deal for Pinewood Studios in the making of the seventh episode of “Star Wars.”

Despite this success, Britain fails as a nurturing ground of films that are socially or artistically challenging, said leftwing British director Ken Loach.

“American commercial films dominate and monopolize the market so it’s very hard, and people struggle as best they can and they try to get this tax relief or that tax break... but it’s very meager and the critical thing is we don’t have access to our screens,” he said in an interview. “The screens are dominated by the American industry commercial films and the cartels operate... if you make an independent British film it’s very hard to get a screen presence.”— AFP

French actress and mistress of ceremonies at the Cannes Film Festival, Audrey Tautou poses yesterday during a photocall in Cannes on the eve of the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. — AFP

B

roadcast networks Fox and NBC are turning to proven favorites to lure new viewers next season, with Fox rebooting the defunct Kiefer Sutherland action series “24” and NBC bringing back Michael J. Fox in a comedy loosely based on his life. The two networks pitched their TV schedules to advertisers on Monday at the start of the “upfront” selling season, an annual rite when broadcasters try to persuade advertisers to shell out billions of dollars in advance for their new shows.

Fox is suffering from a 20 percent decline in the audience for once-unbeatable singing contest “American Idol,” while NBC has been trying to climb out of the ratings cellar for years. Prime time ratings at News Corpowned Fox slumped 16.7 percent this year, according to Nielsen data provided by Horizon Media and based on viewing the day the show airs. Viewership at Comcastowned NBC remained flat this season while that of its rivals declined. NBC is so far in third place this year among total viewers based on same-day viewing.

At a presentation at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt highlighted “The Michael J Fox Show,” a new semi-autobiographical comedy about a father with Parkinson’s disease. Fox starred on NBC in 1980s sitcom “Family Ties.” The network also announced “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes will return in “Sean Saves the World,” a sitcom about a divorced gay dad, and trumpeted its Winter Olympics broadcast in February. It plans 17 new shows throughout next season.

Bringing back former stars is no sure thing. Fox has not starred in a lead role since “Spin City” went off the air 12 years ago. Hayes’ “Will & Grace” ended its run in 2006.

Greenblatt said NBC’s performance needs to improve.

“We have no illusions about how much work is ahead of us in order to grow our business,” Greenblatt told advertisers at the presentation, where the network’s own stars poked fun at NBC’s shortcomings. Jay Leno, who will be replaced by comedian Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” in early 2014, joked in a video duet with Fallon.

“Who knows? We may beat Univision,” Leno sang. NBC lost the February sweeps ratings period this year to Spanish-language network Univision.

View a giant installation (back R) being set up of the film ‘The Great Gatsby’ ahead of the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes yesterday. — AFP

W

hen Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of the latest big screen adaptation of “The Great Gatsby”, arrives at the Cannes Film Festival this week, he will be following in the footsteps of author F Scott Fitzgerald. The Jazz Age writer spent a number of years in France including a spell on the Cote d’Azur where he led a gilded life surrounded by other luminaries such as artist Pablo Picasso and fellow writer Ernest Hemingway.

The American composer and song writer Cole Porter popularized the cap d’Antibes by renting a house there during the summers of 1921 and 1922. The area was then almost totally undiscovered. But all that changed with the arrival of a young American couple, Gerald and Sara Murphy, and their children who were among those to stay with Porter.

Before the couple’s arrival, the fashionable and wellheeled tended to spend only the winter on the Cote d’Azur before heading north in April.

But in 1923 the couple persuaded the Hotel du Cap to keep its doors open during the summer months, transforming the area into a year-round playground for literary and artistic types. The Murphys inspired Fitzgerald to write

“Tender is the Night” chronicling the privileged but complicated lives of Dick and Nicole Diver. The novel was published in 1934. During their time on the Cote d’Azur, the Fitzgeralds led a hedonistic and sometimes volatile lifestyle. Zelda is on one occasion said to have thrown herself over a restaurant’s railings after seeing her husband speak to the dancer Isadora Duncan.

On another occasion the inebriated couple bombarded other guests with tomatoes. Earlier this year, villa Picolette, which Fitzgerald and Zelda rented between 1922 and 1924 went on the market priced at an eye-watering $35.5 million. The seven-bedroom property near Juan-les-Pins between Cannes and Nice, boasts panoramic sea views, a swimming pool, manicured gardens and a private beach.

The Fitzgeralds held lavish parties there for guests including Hemingway. The sea view from the property’s tower is the same one featured on the cover of some editions of “Tender is the Night”.

The couple also lived at the former villa Saint- Louis at Juan-les-Pins from 1925-26. It later became the Hotel Belles Rives. The art deco “Fitzgerald” bar of the five-star hotel is so suffused with the Fitzgerald era one almost expects to

bump into the writer or his wife. Lining the walls are black and white photos showing the young couple smiling on the villa’s terrace. How Fitzgerald felt about the place is clear from a plaque in the corner of the hotel’s foyer inscribed with an extract from one of his letters home.

“With our being back in a nice villa on my beloved Riviera... I’m happier than I’ve been for years. It’s one of those strange, precious and all too transitory moments when everything in one’s life seems to be going well,” he wrote. Today, the area plays host to another generation of celebrities with stars such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and the US rapper P Diddy all favoring hideaways not so far away from Fitzgerald’s old haunts. The Cannes Film Festival opens today with the European premiere of Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”.

— AFP

JACK IS BACK On Fox, the network is turning to one of its former heavyweights, Sutherland, for a limited run in May of its popular thriller “24,” with 12 episodes that represent 24 hours. The original show ran on Fox for eight seasons ending in 2010, when its average audience had declined from a high of more than 13 million to roughly 9 million.

Fox unveiled five new comedies and four dramas. They include “Dads,” the first live-action comedy from “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane, and drama “Almost Human,” from J.J. Abrams, creator of “Lost.” Fox Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly told reporters the network was making its “biggest investment” to date in programming but declined to comment on the amount.

Reilly said it was likely “American Idol” would feature three judges next year rather than four. Last week, veteran judge Randy Jackson said he would be leaving the show after 12 years. During the Fox presentation at New York’s Beacon Theater, Emmy winner Greg Kinnear took to the stage to promote his new legal drama “Rake.” Reilly pitched upcoming miniseries “Wayward Pines” starring Matt Dillon and directed by filmmaker M Night Shyamalan. Wall Street analysts expect broadcast networks to have to settle for lower ad rate increases than they have enjoyed in recent years. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

By Sahar Moussa DUBAI: When Sir Thomas Lipton opened his first shop in 1870 creating the Lipton tea brand, nobody knew that his modern vision would keep his name alive even after 100 years. A selfmade man from Scotland who was known for his persistence for challenging the American holders of the America’s Cup through the Royal Ulster Yacht Club five times with his yachts, he earned for himself a specially designed cup which made his tea brand famous in the US. Today, Lipton’s dream has come true as it has become the number one tea brand in the world, and as consumers’ first choice, it is many times bigger than its nearest competitor.

Lipton, thanks to his aspiration, became a legend sourcing his tea from 35 countries.

Lipton Yellow Label has understood the importance of tea in the Middle East, especially the Gulf and mainly in Dubai. It set up a factory to cater to the customers’ high expectations.

The Lipton Jebel Ali Factory is Unilever’s second largest tea manufacturing plant in the world, producing an astonishing 1.2 million tea bags per hour, amounting to a gigantic six billion teabags per year.

“With 170 employees locally, Lipton has built a deep understanding for the Middle East, and notwithstanding the Arab Spring, Lipton has grown. Even the economic recession couldn’t stop Lipton from expanding”, said Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman of Unilever, North Africa and Middle East, at a relaunch event for Lipton Yellow Label, Unilever’s new, improved blend designed to appeal to the next generation of tea drinkers.

With the newly-introduced blend, the iconic brand will use a groundbreaking innovation in tea production. In a new process unique to Lipton, fresh, high-quality tea leaves are pressed during production. This releases a ‘natural tea essence’ full of fresh tea flavor. The essence is added back to the tea blend; thus Lipton Yellow Label delivers a fully rounded, satisfying flavor that Yellow Label lovers demand, with a rich body, but without bitterness or astringency.

The new tea essence process was developed by the Lipton Institute of Tea - Lipton’s dedicated tea research facility. The team was inspired to experiment with the concept of tea essence using the same techniques involved in pressing olives and grapes. From this inspiration came the new process now operational at the Lipton Tea Gardens in Kericho, Kenya, one of the finest tea growing regions in the world. Only freshly picked, high-quality tea leaves are pressed as part of the new Yellow Label process.

Lipton has updated its high quality blend to continue to give consumers the rich tasting tea they love. “Yellow Label is probably the world’s most famous tea,” said Mehta. “It is designed to be enjoyed not only by the millions of people around the world who currently drink it every day, but by a new generation of drinkers looking for a tea that can deliver a great taste, without dryness or bitterness, cup after cup.”

Mehta continues: “Creating brands that our customers want and love is at the heart of our business and we’re hugely excited about this new use of tea essence. Not only it is a world first, but also it means we’re now able to develop products in ways that have never been seen before.” The new Lipton Yellow Label is on major supermarket shelves across the region.

• •

•

•

State-of-the-art facility Lipton Jebel Ali Factory (LJA) is the company’s leading tea production facility in the region and it is one of Unilever’s flagship tea factories worldwide.

The Lipton Jebel Ali Factory in Jebel Ali is Unilever’s second largest tea manufacturing plant in the world, producing an astonishing 1.2 million tea bags per hour, amounting to a gigantic 6 billion teabags per year.

Background Until 1998, tea bags for the Arabian regional markets were sourced from the United Kingdom. Whilst packet tea was sourced from India up to 2005. With Dubai’s optimal location, the city is strategically located - within close proximity of the world’s biggest black tea growing countries (e.g. India, Sri Lanka, East Africa) on the one hand, while also being at the heart of the large Middle East tea markets, on the other. Hence, Unilever decided to invest onshore in the UAE, and establish a Lipton Jebel Ali Factory in 1998, located in the Jebel Ali Free Zone.

While the factory was originally conceived to supply into the local markets in and around the Arabian region, the site has since grown enormously in size, scale, and reach. With annualised production volumes increasing from 5000 Tons to 25,000 Tons in 10 years, the site today is a global tea sourcing hub, exporting to 47 countries worldwide.

Factory expansion Despite the turbulent economic and business conditions, Unilever continues to invest in one of its biggest and globally renowned brands, Lipton. The expansion which was completed in March 2013 will enable the Lipton Jebel Ali Factory to increase its production capacity of both black and green tea, to cope with the rapidly growing consumer demand for many years to come.

Manufacturing excellence Over the years, the Lipton Jebel Ali Factory has developed tremendously, not only in terms of the volumes it generates but also with regards to its manufacturing excellence. Quality and consistency remains the cornerstone of the site’s manufacturing strategy which ensures that loyal Lipton consumers receive a great product every time.

Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman of Unilever

Lipton Yellow Label ‘richer and natural’

WEDNESESDAY, MAY 15, 2013

39

US movie actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pose in this file photo during a photo session prior to the Japan premiere of Pitt’s latest film ‘Moneyball’ in Tokyo. (Right) actress Angelina Jolie poses for a portrait to promote her directorial debut of the film ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ in New York. Jolie authored an op-ed for yesterday’s New York Times where she wrote that in April she finished three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts as a preventive measure. — AP

A

ngelina Jolie revealed yesterday that she has undergone a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her risk of contracting breast cancer. Jolie said she was speaking out to encourage other women with a family history of cancer-her mother died of it age 56 - to seek out information from doctors and make informed choices about their bodies. She said she managed to keep the issue quiet and keep working. “But I am writing about it now because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience,” she said.

The 37-year-old American actress wrote in an opinion piece entitled “My Medical Choice” in The New York Times that she had chosen the procedure because she carries a faulty gene that increases her risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.

Jolie, one of Hollywood’s best-known faces and the partner of actor Brad Pitt, said that because of this gene, known as BRCA1, her doctors estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

“Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a

decision to have a preventive double mastectomy,” she wrote.

“I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex,” Jolie wrote. She said that on April 27 she completed the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved.

Jolie said her chances of developing breast cancer are now down to five percent. Jolie and Pitt have three adopted and three biological children. “I can tell my children they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer,” Jolie said. Jolie described a two-stage surgical process, the second of which is an operation that can take up to eight hours as the breast tissue is removed and temporary fillers are put in place.

“You wake up with drain tubes and expanders in your breasts. It does feel like a scene out of a science fiction film.

But days after surgery you can be back to a normal life,” Jolie wrote. Jolie said Pitt has been a huge source of support. “Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries,” she said, adding that “we man-

aged to find moments to laugh together.” Jolie said she has only small scars after the ordeal, with nothing alarming for her children to see.

“On a personal note, I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.” Jolie, one of the world’s highest paid performers, said the cost of getting tested for BRCA1 and another faulty gene, called BRCA2, is more than $3,000 in the United States and that this “remains an obstacle for many women”.

She said she hopes women living under the threat of cancer will be able to get tested. “Life comes with many challenges.

The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of,” Jolie wrote.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who has been working with Jolie in the past few months in her role as UN special envoy for refugee issues to highlight the problem of sexual violence in conflict, said she was a “brave lady and will be an inspiration to many”. Hague and Jolie visited Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo in March and successfully

joined forces at a meeting of G8 finance ministers last month to win a pledge to act against the use of rape as a weapon of war.

“She’s a courageous lady, a very professional lady. She’s done a lot of work with me in recent months and travelled with me through some difficult places in the Congo,” Hague told Sky News television. “She gave no sign that she was undergoing such treatment. She’s a very brave lady not only to carry on with her work so well during such treatment, also to write about it now and talk about it. She’s a brave lady and will be an inspiration to many.”— AFP

H

ere is a look at some female celebrities who have suffered breast cancer after Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie revealed yesterday she underwent a preventive double mastectomy to reduce the risk of breast cancer: SHERYL CROW Grammy-winning rock star Sheryl Crow, 51, was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in February 2006 after a routine mammogram. She has campaigned for women aged over 35 to have annual mammograms.

“I can safely say my life has changed in every way. I feel keenly aware of how precious and fleeting life is,” she wrote on her website.

KYLIE MINOGUE Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, 44, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and went through surgery and chemotherapy. Her 2006 “Showgirl Homecoming Tour” represented her comeback from cancer.

A Sri Lankan laboratory assistant works at a factory in Kandana on the outskirts of Colombo. (Right) Sri Lanka’s exotic Golden Tips and Silver Tips and a Japanese Sencha tea brewed on display at a factory in Kandana on the outskirts of Colombo. A hot cup of Ceylon tea is better known as being soothing and relaxing, but Sri Lanka is now marketing its most profitable export as a luxury boost for the libido. — AFP photos

A

hot cup of Ceylon tea is better known as being soothing and relaxing, but Sri Lanka is now marketing its most profitable export as a luxury boost for the libido.

The tea industry is increasingly plugging Ceylon’s supposed aphrodisiac qualities in a bid to radically change perceptions of the brew, which manufacturers say can sell for less than water in some markets.”We are highlighting the properties of tea that can give you an edge in the bedroom,” said Rohan Fernando, whose firm HVA Foods sells a small 60-gram jar of premium Ceylon for $350.

“Tea has traditionally been the poor man’s drink. We want to be at the top-end of the supply chain,” he said.The industry may not yet have hard medical proof of Ceylon’s performanceenhancing powers, but they have long been the stuff of legend among Sri Lankan tea lovers. The brews known for their potency are the top-quality white teas, known as Silver Tips and Golden Tips, which are gaining popularity among wellheeled Chinese businessmen along with rich Saudis and Japanese, Fernando said. Unlike orthodox teas, the white varieties are made with just the tender tea buds, which are sundried and carefully tended until they turn gold or silver in colour.

At his tea factory in Kandana town, north of the capital Colombo, Fernando held up a ceramic urn wrapped in black velvet and sealed with a gold ribbon, explaining that a cuppa is not only good for sexual health. The tea contains polyphe-

nols, flavonoids and anti-oxidants-known to improve the immune system and blood circulation. Leading tea maker Herman Gunaratne is also keen to promote such qualities in his rare “virgin white” tea, so called because it is untouched by human hands in production, unlike orthodox types handplucked from the tea bush. The product retails at the Mariage Freres tea emporium in Paris for $88 for a 20-gram box, the equivalent of $4,400 per kilo.

“My virgin white tea contains 10.11 percent anti-oxidants...

This could be the highest level of anti-oxidants in any tea,” Gunaratne said. “When your overall health improves, your sexual performance automatically increases.” Tea is not indigenous to Sri Lanka, but after Scotsman James Taylor planted the first tea bush, Camellia Sinensis, in 1849, it became a primary export. Last year, tea brought in nearly $1.5 billion to the country’s coffers. Sri Lanka also conducts the world’s largest weekly tea auction where five to six million kilos (10 to 13 million pounds) change hands.

But the island may soon be reaching its maximum production capacity after exporting nearly 320 million kilos last year.

Gunaratne is among the tea purists who want to guard Sri Lanka’s reputation as a maker of clean tea-product that is free of pesticide residue and other contaminants-and he is keen to see more high-end varieties rather than the traditional export of cheap bulk products. “We need to re-brand tea,” he said.

“We have the potential to increase our tea income four-fold.”

The Sri Lanka Tea Board is about to embark on a major international marketing campaign for the first time in decades, which will promote the health benefits of a high-end cup. Currently only 42 to 43 percent of Ceylon is exported in packets of less than three kilos each, but the target is to raise this to 60 percent in the next five years, board director Hasitha de Alwis said. Anil Cooke, head of Sri Lankan tea broking firm Asia Siyaka Commodities, agreed that Ceylon-known by the country’s colonial name-should be “re-positioned globally” with a focus on increasing its value.”It is being done in a small way by a few companies, but it can be given a bigger boost,” Cooke said.

Leading the way is Gunaratne’s tea plantation in the south of the island, which has become a key tourist attraction with a tea museum, tours and tasting sessions. Despite cutting daily tea leaf production from 20,000 to just 2,000 kilos a day, his gourmet products now sell at 10 times the average retail price of loose tea in the local market. “Since shifting to highly specialised teas... I earn double what I did before,” said Gunaratne.

Cooke said he was not sure if the aphrodisiac properties or the big bucks from his Ceylon had put a permanent smile on the 69-year-old tea maker’s face.— AFP

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, 64, was diagnosed in 1992 and underwent a partial mastectomy and chemotherapy. Her 2005 album, “Stronger than Before” promoted breast cancer awareness. She also introduced the “Olivia Breast Self-Exam Kit” and helped build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in her native Melbourne, Australia.

ROBIN ROBERTS Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts, 52, made a name for herself interviewing athletes, actors, and other newsworthy personalities, but in 2007, she turned the camera on herself to announce she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2012, she developed the rare MDS or myelodysplastic syndrome.

JACLYN SMITH Former “Charlie’s Angels” star and fashion business woman, Smith, 67, discovered a lump and underwent a lumpectomy and radiation. She has become active with groups such as Susan G Komen for the Cure. Smith also speaks publicly about the recognizing breast cancer risk factors as part of the Strength in Knowing program.

SHARON OSBOURNE Famed as a TV presenter of “America’s Got Talent and Sharon, 60, wife of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, developed colon cancer in 2002. She started the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Foundation in association with Cedars Sinai Medical Center. As a precaution in 2012 she underwent a double mastectomy after she carried genes which made her a likely risk for breast cancer. — Reuters