26 May 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Kuwait’s development role part of WEF: Shamali

Africa marks progress and 50 years of ‘unity’

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RAJAB 16, 1434 AH

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16 children killed in Pak school bus fire

Santos accept Barca, Madrid bids for Neymar

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Traffic chief defends crackdown on expats MoI: Deportees had record of repeated serious violations conspiracy theories

Bayern crowned champs

Give, give, give

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

I

have heard about financial help and assistance for unemployed women around the world.

Mommies with children and divorced or single mothers get social assistance around the world. The money in their case is for a specified time and is not much.

The most recent decision in Kuwait is to give unemployed women older than 55 who do not have a source of income a monthly allowance of KD 559. The announcement came from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour this week. Already 7,000 applicants have submitted their requests. It would be interesting to know from which constituencies the majority of these 7,000 applicants come from.

Let’s face it. Most women in Kuwait are working.

By the time they reach 55, they have already retired and receive pensions. Many have their own businesses or at least have commercial licenses in their names. Either they work with their licenses or rent them out to others. In either way they are making money.

Actually this decision has many pros and cons. As I see it, the minuses are more than the pluses. For one, this is a burden for the government. It is quite a handsome amount. It is nearly the size of a salary of a fresh Kuwaiti graduate in any bank or private organization. Why the sudden sympathy from the Minister of Social Affairs towards luring women with more money to sit at home? It makes you doubt the reasons behind it.

Nowadays, we in Kuwait are used to having decisions of MPs or ministers targeted to get some interest in return. They gain popularity, maybe even votes in elections etc. How come that bill was not studied thoroughly? It is a miracle how this bill passed so fast and was approved. Nothing goes through lawmakers that fast.

Such kind of a decision, for some women activists, is an “insult”. They say that this would discourage women from staying in the workforce and have them rushing to relax at home.

We are becoming a society that is super dependent on the government. All what we hear is parliamentarians asking for more social benefits for kids, cutting the debts, higher salaries for retirees. Now more money for women sitting at home? All we hear from the government is “give, give, give” to the people, but there is no “give, give, give” back to our country.

We are becoming a sluggish independent nation.

LONDON: Bayern's Philipp Lahm holds up the trophy after winning the Champions League Final football match against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium yesterday. —AP (See Page 20)

KUWAIT: Kuwait has deported a number of foreigners in the past few weeks for traffic violations, but only in cases in which the violator was caught red-handed while committing a serious violation, and after verification revealed a record for repeated lawbreaking behavior on the road, a senior Ministry of Interior official said in a statement yesterday.

Kuwait has recently been the subject of criticism both internally and from outside following reports indicating that more than 1,200 people were deported during traffic crackdowns in the past month. “First of all, the Ministry of Interior would like to reiterate respect and appreciation to all the honorable residents in our country, and we would also like to assert our full commitment to the principles of human rights whether in regards to citizens or expatriates,” said Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs Maj Gen Abdulfattah Al-Ali. He added that while the ministry appreciates the role of human rights organizations and activists with regards to bringing up the subject in the press and social networks, claims of deporting expatriates for common traffic violations as mentioned in some criticisms are inaccurate. “Not only are such claims unrealistic, but are refuted by field operations seeking to restore discipline on Maj Gen Abdulfattah Al-Ali public roads,” Ali said. He explained that traffic police officers during patrol operations around the country have caught violators redhanded and issued tickets on the spot, which helped to improve the process of detecting violations which are also detected by advanced cameras recently installed.

According to the senior official, the people who were deported have only been drivers that were caught by traffic police and patrol officers and received tickets directly. Ali insisted that no driver caught by cameras has been deported. “As we look to restore order in the streets, we will not hesitate to enforce the law and exercise procedures authorized by the law to deport an expatriate violator with repeated violations committed on purpose, thus posing a serious threat to the safety of others,” he said. The traffic records of all deported people show repeated incidents of overspeeding and reckless driving which show a level of indifference to the law that according to Ali ‘needs to be addressed’.

“Unfortunate accidents in which young people, children, mothers, fathers and families fall victim adds to our responsibility to exert all efforts to maintain control over the streets,” he asserted.

Continued on Page 15

Nasrallah vows ‘victory’ in Syria State slaps 2-child limit on Muslims in Myanmar YANGON: Authorities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state have imposed a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists in the area and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of sectarian violence. Local officials said yesterday that the new measure would be applied to two Rakhine townships that border Bangladesh and have the highest Muslim populations in the state. The townships, Buthidaung and Maundaw, are about 95 percent Muslim. The unusual order makes Myanmar perhaps the only country in the world to impose

such a restriction on a religious group, and is likely to fuel further criticism that Muslims are being discriminated against in the Buddhist-majority country.

China has a one-child policy, but it is not based on religion and exceptions apply to minority ethnic groups. India briefly practiced forced sterilization of men in a bid to control the population in the mid-1970s when civil liberties were suspended during a period of emergency rule, but a nationwide outcry quickly shut down the program.

Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing Continued on Page 15

British spies ‘tried to recruit’ attacker

Emirati sailors sail in their traditional dhows from the island of Sir Bu Nair off the coast of Sharjah yesterday at the start of the 23rd annual dhow race known as the Gaffal, which has a total of 10 million dirhams ($272,000) in prizes. — AFP

Max 42º Min 31º High Tide 00:59 & 11:44 Low Tide 06:22 & 19:20

LONDON: Britain’s intelligence agencies came under fresh scrutiny yesterday following claims that MI5 had tried to recruit one of two Islamists accused of butchering a soldier in London. Abu Nusaybah, who says he is a childhood friend of murder suspect Michael Adebolajo, was arrested by counter-terrorism police shortly after making the claims on BBC television on Friday night.

His comments come amid community

tensions following the murder of 25year-old Lee Rigby outside a barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, on Wednesday afternoon by two men spouting Islamist rants.

An inter-faith group reported a large spike in anti-Muslim incidents, while up to 2,000 members of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) staged a protest in the northeastern city of Newcastle.

Continued on Page 15

MASHGHARA, Lebanon: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a broadcast speech during a rally in this village in the Bekaa Valley yesterday. — AP BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah yesterday vowed “victory” in Syria, where militants of his powerful Lebanese Shiite movement are fighting alongside regular troops against rebels trying to topple the regime. “I say to all the honourable people, to the mujahedeen, to the heroes: I have always promised you a victory and now I pledge to you a new one” in Syria, he said at a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of Israel’s militar y withdrawal from Lebanon.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah would always stand by its allies in the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad, stressing that its own interests were at stake. “We will continue along the road...

bear the responsibilities and the sacrifices,” he said in a videolink of a speech delivered live on a huge screen. “This battle is ours... and I promise you victory,” he said. “Syria is the rear guard of the resistance (Hezbollah’s fight with Israel), its backbone, and the resistance cannot stay with its arms folded when its rear guard is exposed. “We are idiots if we do not act,” said Nasrallah who avoids appearing in public for security reasons.

The intervention of hundreds of fighters of Hezbollah has given the regime the upper hand in Qusair, a strategic central town in Syria across the border with Lebanon, that had been in rebel hands.

Syrian forces launched an assault on Continued on Page 15

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

LOCAL

286 more arrested in Mubarakiya raid Crackdown in Wafra chalets KUWAIT: The Capital governorate security carried out a campaign on Fr i d ay a f te r n o o n cove r i n g A l Mubarakiya area, Fahad Al-Salem Street, M irqab and S ouq Sharq.

Supervised by capital security director Lt General Tareq Hamada, the campaign saw par ticipation by police stations and patrols of capital governorate, and resulted in the arrest of 286 persons.

Five of them were arrested on account of expired of residency permits, three had earlier been reported absent, one was found wanted in a civil case while 277 persons were found without proper identification papers or with their residency permits expired. S ecur it y officer s emphasized that the campaigns will remain on round the clock in all the areas and called upon everyone to

cooperate and report any violation noticed in their areas.

At the same time, another campaign was carried out in Al-Wafra area, chalet areas and along the southern coast, in coordination with the Coast Guards and Kuwait municipality. The campaign began from the paved roads leading to Wafra under the supervision of Ahmadi governorate security director Lt.

General Ayadh Al-Otaibi and Wafra a re a d i re c tor Col one l S a l e m A l Azemi.

The second route that the campaign followed was the Coastal Road. This was under the supervision of Assistant Undersecretary Lt. General Mohammad Al-Yousuf. The municipality transport department under the super vision of Nawaf Nahar Al-Mutairi and Mohammad

Amash Al-Mutairi also joined in.

The campaign in Wafra resulted in the detention of 29 buggies while 54 p e r s ons we re found w i t hout identification papers. Officers also caught 11 jargon of gasoline, while coastal area campaign resulted in the detention of 12 Jet Skis. The Ahmadi police emphasized that the campaigns will continue to check all violations.

Labor union seeks to enter politics

By Nawara Fattahova

Minister of Health Mohammad Al-Haifi represented Kuwait in the 2nd Annual Conference of the Egyptian Chapter of the American College of Surgeons which took place recently in Cairo Egypt. Minister Al-Haifi underlined during the event Kuwait’s efforts in tackling obesity which enabled the country to become “among the most advanced worldwide in tackling obesity and cancer”. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Earlier this month, the National Union for Kuwait Laborers and Employees (NUKLE) announced its intention to enter the political scene through the declaration of the founding of the Labor Party. The president of NUKLE, Abdulrahman Al-Sumait, noted that the Ministry of Social Affairs was trying to repress the union movement by banning labor unions and associated NGOs from conducting out political campaigns, and by threatening to dissolve those unions that engaged in any kind of political activity.

Some unions completely support the idea of establishing the Labor Party, while others partially agree with it, and some unions are against the idea. Adel Al-Hajb, President of the Union of Workers at the Ministry of Oil and the head of the founding committee of the Labor Party, said the Labor Party would add value to the political movement. “Article 104 of Labor Law No. 6/2010 bans labor unions from engaging in political activities, due to which the unions were not doing so.

But, after some recent political events, when many MPs invited the labor union representatives to join their meetings and protests, we felt the importance of founding this party,” he told the Kuwait Times yesterday. According to Al-Hajb, many labor issues have been neglected by the government as well as the parliament. “This was the reason behind our decision to found the party. That way, we will be able to express our opinions on different issues, especially labor problems. We have formed the founding committee of the Labor Party, as we don’t have a law organizing political parties in Kuwait. We are waiting for the

law to be passed and, in the meantime, we are focusing on the upcoming political body and setting the rules for becoming its member, among other things,” he added.

The workers are part of the political scene.

“The political environment is reflected in the laborers, who are affected by negative political situations. For instance, when the parliament was dissolved, the recruitment of employees was stopped in different ministries. Through the Labor Party, we aim to temper the government’s power over some unions. Laborers across professions have their respective unions that defend theirsocial and financial rights and voice their demands. The Party will focus on the political issues,” he noted.”When some employees went on strike demanding a salary increase, many MPs joined them to support them. Then, the government contacted these MPs and struck a deal with them, as a result of which the demands were either met or denied. And with the Labor Party, we can directly enforce our views and opinions,” concluded Al-Hajb.

Abdullah Al-Mutairi, President of the Union of National Assembly Employees, agreed with the decision to form the Labor Party but was against the idea of the party interfering in the unions’ political activities. “We need a union that will take up all the issues and needs of the workers. According to the law, we can only have one labor union, but we demand having more than one. We need to protect the rights of workers, including their right to seek higher salaries, among other things, but these should be kept far from politics. It’s true that we need to communicate with political leaders in the government regarding these issues, but it’s not acceptable and it’s illegal to adopt

political issues as part of our activities,” he pointed out. Bader Al-Anezi, President of the Union of Ministry of Interior Employees, is completely against the idea of founding the political party. “The Kuwaiti Constitution forbids the interference of labor unions in politics. We are totally against using labor unions for political affairs and are against politicizing union activities. A labor union should only care about protecting labor rights,” he stated.

Fnees Al-Ajmi, Secretary General of the Union of Applied Education Employees, expressed support for the party, which he sees as a part of democracy. “Founding this party will provide more freedoms. I completely agree with the idea of having new political parties in Kuwait, but everything should be done according to the law. After the Arab Spring, the laborers are aware of their important role, and they need a party now to represent them,” he explained.The Labor Party will be participating in the elections as well. “I think that the ways of thinking are improving and the country is developing. I think the laborers will select the correct candidates from the Party rather than just vote based on their tribal connection,” stressed Al-Ajmi.

Ali Al-Tuweijry, President of the Union of Civil Service Employees, pointed out that the union aims to fulfil labor demands through politics but it does not aim to participate in political issues that are not related to labor affairs or help its candidates reach the parliament. “We want to declare the Labor Party to work on certain political issues related to labor, such as equalising the salaries, but we are not connected to other political issues. We are against the exploiting of party position for election purposes and benefits,” he added.

Kuwait to need 1m oil barrels for power purposes by 2023 KUWAIT: Kuwait may need to pump a million barrels of oil every day into its power plants after a decade in order to produce enough electricity for its energy consumption requirements, which are set to more than double over the next 10 years, according to a recent study. Approximately 450,000 barrels are used every day today to produce a little more than 12,000 megawatts of electricity. However, a recent

strategy, based on the future plans of the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW ), indicates that the production rate needs to be increased to 28,000 megawatts per day by 2023, when at least one million barrels will be needed every day to keep the generators running. “Kuwait has one of the world’s highest electricity consumption rates, which continues to increase rapidly, along with the oil used in power plants,”

said MEW insiders, who were contacted by Al-Anba to comment on the subject. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymit y, called for a clear vision to ensure better demand management, including the finding of alternative sources of power. In that regard, they pointed out the government’s plan to have alternative energy account for 15 percent of total power production by 2030. — Al-Anba

KUWAIT: The fast-paced developments of our modern times require from journalists to update their skills continuously in order to relate news more efficiently, said an Egyptian media personnel here Saturday. At the conclusion of the six-day training course for a number of new correspondents at Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) here, Chairman of the Board for Akhbar El-Yom Dr. Ahmed Sameh said that journalists have a responsibility to further develop their skills to keep up with the latest happenings in the world. Sameh took the chance to laud the commitment shown

by KUNA’s correspondents during the training course, affirming that his institution would always be glad to assist KUNA in developing the skills of its staff. Akhbar El-Yom is an Egyptian weekly-newspaper founded in 1944. The newspaper, which is published every Saturday, has a daily edition called Al-Akhbar. It is owned by the Egyptian Shura Council and considered a semi-official newspaper.—KUNA

Plan won’t include ‘inhuman deportations’: Ministry insider

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s plan to organize the labor market and reduce the number of foreigners in the Gulf state will not witness introduction of any new regulations pertaining to issuing of work permits, nor will it lead to expatriates being deported in ways that violate international standards and human rights, a local newspaper reported yesterday.

This was revealed by a source familiar with a strategy that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has reportedly finalized regarding the plan to organize the labor market. “The process of issuing work permits is not included in the strategy as these are already organized as per the government’s work program regarding the development plan,” said an

insider who spoke to Al-Watan on the condition of anonymity.

There are nearly 40 fields that are currently excluded from a decision to allow work permits only for businesses in vital sec tors, including journalism, schools, hospitals, universities, companies participating in tenders, international suppliers, as well as shareholding and holding companies. This stipulation aims at reducing the number of unproductive laborers as well as the number of marginal laborers, the source explained.

According to the sources, the new strategy will soon be presented to the cabinet for approval and will then be sent to the parliament for a debate during a session allocated

to discuss Kuwait’s demographic structure.

Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi announced two months ago a plan to deport 100,000 foreigners every year as part of a strategy to slash the Gulf state’s expatriate community by one million in ten years. As no details about the proposed plan were available, it led to criticisms from within and outside Kuwait regarding the nature of the strategy. The minister clarified later that the plan target illegal residents who make up for 93,000 people as per official statistics released last year. Kuwait is home to 2.6 million expatriates who form 68 percent of the country’s 3.8 million strong population. — Al-Watan

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

LOCAL

Municipality raids beauty salons 98 citations issued for violations

KUWAIT: The Kuwait municipality began its campaigns to check out women’s beauty salons across all governorates that started at the same time as per the summer program prepared by public relations.

The campaign resulted in 98 citations being handed out, the highest number, 34, in Ahmadi governorate and the lowest in Hawally governorate where only two citations were issued.

The campaigns were organized by the Kuwait municipality regarding these activities and were aimed to ensure implementation of regulations as far as health and hygiene conditions were concerned. It was the duty of the municipality to protect public health at all levels.

In the capital governorate, Ben Lami Al-Mutairi issued the necessar y instructions to the teams before proceeding to the women beauty saloons to check whether the workers in these saloons were having necessary papers for their jobs.

Ben Lami said that the campaign resulted in eight citations being handed out, including working in the saloons before obtaining neces-

sary health papers. He said the saloons were subject to periodic inspections and the frequency of these inspections is increased before any occasions and weekends since this is when the demand for their services rises.

In the Ahmadi governorate, the campaign was carried out under the supervision of Jaza Al-Deehani and

resulted in 34 citations handed out which covered saloons in Fahaheel area. Most violations were for employing laborers before getting necessary health papers.

In Farwaniya, the campaign was carried out under the supervision of Mohammad Al-Azemi and officers visited saloons in Raqie area. A total of 25 citations were issued for work-

Kuwait’s development work on WEF agenda: Al-Shamali DEAD SEA, Jordan: Kuwait’s development work on the regional and global arenas will be one of the discussion items of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali here yesterday.

Minister Al-Shamali said that the Kuwaiti participation in the WEF meeting would highlight the country’s role in the economic and social development of Arab and third world countries through the efforts of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED). He added that Kuwait’s development plan

would also be featured in the participation as a step to encourage other nations to pursue investments in Kuwait. Also the role of Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and its USD 48 billion investments and contributions within the Arab world would be focused upon during the participation, said Al-Shamali who stressed it was important to showcase Kuwait’s efforts during the WEF event which is expected to gather 900 international figures from 23 countries.

On his part, Head of the Economic Department of the Foreign Ministry Sheikh Ali Al-Khaled Al-Sabah said

that the ministry was keen on participating in WEF as to showcase Kuwait’s role in global development.

He affirmed that WEF would provide the perfect platform to encourage others to pursue Kuwait’s path in Arab and world development.

Jordanian figures lauded the Kuwaiti participation in the event, affirming that WEF was very interested to view Kuwait’s role in development. The two-day WEF event will focus on three core areas: new partnerships for employment, entrepreneurship and infrastructure; strengthening economic governance; and advancing regional cooperation. — KUNA

Special group to track down traffic violators

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Security sources said that the ministry of Interior continued with its security campaigns and has formed a special group to track down those roaming around wedding halls in the Ahmadi governorate area. The step

came in addition to various campaigns that peaked on Thursday evening.

Sources said that as a result of the campaign, 400 traffic citations were handed out while another campaign at Wafra road resulted in 60 direct traffic citations. A campaign to track over speeding vehicles with the help of

radars at the Wafra Road resulted in 140 direct traffic citations, apart from 10 vehicles being detained. One Kuwaiti man was arrested at the AlWafra stables when he collided with a police patrol vehicle during a bid to run away. Two Kuwaitis, along with their vehicles, were detained as well.

76 arrested from beach chalet

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Security sources revealed that police arrested about 76 men and women of different nationalities, including Kuwaitis. A total of 49 men and 27 women, including some from European nationalities, were arrested during this campaign.

The sources said that those arrested were engaged in illegal activities and had held a dancing party in the open air at a beach chalet in the southern part of the state.

Police reached the site after receiving complaints from different families stating that the neighboring chalets were subleased to certain boys and girls who hold all night long parties and disturb the neighborhood, in addition of indulging in immoral acts and drinking liquor in the open.

KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait presented a financial contribution to the Public Authority for Industry in order to support the PAI’s football team which finished second in Ministry’s League season this year.

Smuggling bid Sources revealed that customs officers at the Shuwaikh Port successfully foiled an attempt to smuggle oil products and diesel subsidized by the government. The consignment was destined for Iran. Sources added that the shipment consisted of 24 containers. The export related papers were forged and mentioned the contents of the containers as scrap material in an attempt to smuggle the shipment out of the por t. However, customs inspectors proved to be aler t and foiled the attempt.

ing without getting necessary health papers or working with expired papers.

At Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate, the campaign was headed

by Daidhan Al-Adwani and covered Sabah Al-Salem area and AlMaseela. The emphasis was on the importance of implementing health regulations. The campaign resulted

in handing out 22 citations for failure to implement hygiene norms and employing workers before obtaining necessary health papers.

In the Hawally governorate, the least number of citations were issued. Only two citations handed out were on account of employing laborers without health certificates.

In the Jahra governorate, seven

citations were handed out for lack of health papers and for not wearing the specified uniform.

The head of the public relations, Mohammad Al-Mutairi, said that the administration was keen to develop a supervision mechanism to check all activities and ensure that health related norms were fully complied with.

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

LOCAL Local Spotlight

In my view

A discussion with my grandson on the Gulf confederation

New decision on iqama transfer

By Muna Al-Fuzai

By Sheikh Sultan bin Salman bin Hethleen

muna@kuwaittimes.net

The Amir of the Ajman tribe

T

he Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor will start working on new regulations about transferring expatriates workers from one sponsor to another. The decision is aimed at restricting the number of expat workers in Kuwait as it will prohibit them from seeking to transfer from one sponsor to another more than twice. Any worker would have to leave the country if they wanted to shift from their second sponsor also, and then find a new sponsor to call them back with a new work permit or entry visa.

The period granted for making the transition will be based on the agreement between the old and new sponsors but the expatriate workers will not be allowed to transfer for a third time.

Now, as per some news reports, this decision will bring down the number of expats. I personally cannot see the extent to which such a move can help. Now, I think when anyone goes to a country for work, he should be free to decide whether he wanted to work at a certain place or not, and if for any reason he felt this was not what he was looking for, then he should be entitled to find another sponsor. If even then, he is not satisfied, a reasonable time period should be allowed. All this should be feasible as long as no one is breaking any law or regulations and trying to manipulate things.

I also wonder if this decision of not allowing someone to see to move to a third sponsor was in contradiction with the international labor rights and human rights agreements. In fact, we have banned the people to bring their kin belonging to any of the six specified nationalities into Kuwait, even though we hardly have any case to justify it. Why don’t we let these people come to Kuwait? After all, we can always shunt them out if they ever violated our country’s laws.

I know that the Ministry of Social Affairs may, and rather would, claim that this decision is being taken to restrict and reduce the number of marginal workers. But it will not help because those workers are poor and can barely cover the expenses for their daily needs. Moving from one sponsor to another means paying money and there are not many who can individually afford to do that.

If the plan is to control the demographic structure and to limit, if not eliminate, the number of unskilled foreign workers, then we should be digging into the history of the companies who hold labor contracts and check why they have problems with the sponsor. Also, no country can manage the population by tracking those who enter with work permit. Countries can do that by formulating certain rules applicable to everyone and then it is up to the newcomers to decide whether to stay or not.

Another issue here is about the number of Bedouins here in Kuwait. How many of them are actually entitled legally to stay in Kuwait and how many are not telling the truth about their real citizenship, keeping it under wraps to get the Kuwaiti citizenship to avail of the benefits of both? Are such people not harming the demographic structure? Why do we have to bear the cost of their life time accommodation without any benefits accruing to Kuwait? At least, in the case of expat workers, they are only doing real work. I am not against any decision to regulate the lives of people but I need these laws to simply be within the framework of international laws and human rights.

kuwait digest

Luxurious jihad

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

A

logical rule says: “He who calls for killing is not a religious man.” I don’t know of one logical reason that makes a religious man call for killing someone without knowing that such a call is the beginning of sedition. The disaster is that those who call for killing and those who instigate others are sitting behind TV channels in air conditioned studios, while our sons and the sons of those who listen to them are the ones who leave their homes to court death for something that covers more than it reveals. This will be proven in the coming days.

If you believe in such a cause and in Jihad in any country, why don’t you leave this life and shun the limelight of the studios, pickup a gun, wrap a shroud around your shoulders and leave for that land where you can do your Jihad. In such a case, I will be the first one to follow you.

But while you are sitting in a cool A/C studio and making sure that you come across well dressed, that your clothes are all ironed and crisp, and your face all bright after a meal which was enough to feed ten families in the Syrian camps, and everything around you is safe and secure, our sons who believed in you and your colleagues are dying of hunger and are scared to death as bullets whiz past all around them, their clothes torn as they continuously crawl across abandoned cities whose names they had never heard before they went there. The problem is that some people who preach for courting death outside Kuwait themselves ride in luxury cars. Some of them own one or two commercial complexes and have a bank balance that runs into sometimes six or seven digits in KD, Dirhams and Riyals, and in some cases, US Dollars. All this when our sons are dying, taking a bullet that does not cost more than 5 fils, and all for illogical reasons, though these may seem very rational at face value.

They call others to court death and choose for themselves and their relatives a rather nice life. I have never seen one of them taking up the cause himself or sending his sons or his first degree relatives anywhere near the land where they send our youth. Why, they would not even send their mother-in-law there, for all they care!

Never mind the fact that you enjoy life and the leisure it provides, but let others, too, enjoy their life. Call upon them to protect their country instead of dying for a distant land, all for the sake of a cause that they have nothing to do with, for a project that is not theirs. If, as you claim, it was Jihad to travel to any of the Muslim countries to defend the nation, I would have believed you. But I challenge you to explain to me the meaning of “Nation” as understood and as practiced in reality. Ask any one of these people who preach death to explain the meaning of “Nation” as per their realistic understanding today.

They will not be able to answer you or explain the rather flexible meaning of the term. I asked one of those preachers, “Why don’t you go yourself?” He said, “Then who will take my place? My work is to exhort the people and issue warnings.” This is how he simply put himself at a pedestal higher than the martyrs whom he had sent to death with his calls. One of those preachers in Kuwait who sent our sons around the world to make Jihad through his sermons and lectures calling for death was seen at around the same time when we received the news of the death of three of our sons, at the traffic department. He was there to make “Wasta” to get released his son’s motorcycle that was detained by traffic policemen for over speeding.

NOTE: What is happening in Syria is much bigger and larger than the several Fatwas being issued by both parties. —Al-Anbaa

“W kuwait digest

The Kuwaiti minority

By Nabila Al-Anjari

D

uring a gathering back in the early 90s, a fami- numbers, expatriates transferred around $49.5 billion ly friend made a statement jokingly referring in the past six years. Foreigners’ transfers reached to the “Kuwaiti minority” beginning to grow nearly KD4.4 billion in 2012, while it reached KD3.6 steadily. While our Egyptian friend’s remarks could billion in 2011. This means that expats’ transfers have never have been more than a joke, given his love for increased by 20 percent in one year.

Perhaps the largest threat that can be felt when Kuwait where was born and brought up since the sixties and where his father had lived since the fifties, it reading through similar statistics is when we read figures that indicate that more comes to my mind these days than 62 percent of expatriwhenever the subject of Kuwait’s demographic imbalThe fac t that Kuwaitis have ates in Kuwait make less than KD180 a month and ance is discussed.

During the nineties of the become a minority in their own that 7.3 percent of the peopast century, Kuwait did not land is heartbreaking; and even ple earn less than KD60. have an excess of marginal more as we suffer hard, and Does the government have any study which tackles the labor forces as it does today.

The alarming level of demo- sometimes depressing situations security, economic and graphic imbalance in Kuwait when it comes to public hospitals, social risks facing the society leaves the door open to many roads and schools. Kuwait can as a result of that? Is there a strategy in place to face a risks for the security, economy and society. Compared to never accept the demographic movement by any group nearly 1.185 million Kuwaitis imbalance to continue at a time with an ill intention?

The fact that Kuwaitis or 31.9 percent of the state’s when the unemployment rate has have become a minority in population, there are more than 2.534 million foreigners reached 4.5 percent and is rising. their own land is heartbreakor 68.1 percent, according to a An urgent strategy is needed to ing; and even more as we Ministr y of Health report address the problem through a suffer hard, and sometimes depressing, situations when released last March. This is a very serious state of affairs, plan that takes into account it comes to public hospitals, especially when we also con- Kuwait’s actual need for labor roads and schools. There are sider numbers which indicate forces in accordance with its many expatriate labor forces who have greatly conthat members of one countributed to Kuwait’s develtry’s community is more than future goals. opment, including doctors, half of the number of Kuwaitis, and that more than 18 percent of expatri- engineers, teachers, and others. However, Kuwait can ates are under the age of 30 while 65 percent are never accept the demographic imbalance to continue at a time when the unemployment rate has reached aged between 30 and 45 years.

In addition to the social risks that a small society 4.5 percent and is rising. An urgent strategy is needed like ours faces as a result of the demographic imbal- to address the demographic imbalance problem ance, we also find that Kuwait loses millions of dinars through a plan that takes into account Kuwait’s actual every month as a result of the huge numbers of mar- need for labor forces in accordance with its future ginal labor forces living here. According to official goals. —Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

A Kuwaiti tale!

By Ali Mahmoud Khajah

I

n order to invest his money, a businessperson who grilling platform despite all the support he had at the owns a fortune hired some specialized highly time. He ignored all the specialized studies and proqualified staff to select and execute profitable fessional opinions from people paid to tender these, projects for him. He explained to them their tasks, simply to avoid an interpellation. On top of that, he starting with thinking of ways to invest his money could not survive the grilling motion that followed and ending with selecting and executing projects. and declared a ‘lack of cooperation’ state in the counThey took the lead and carried out their jobs as tr y that led to dissolution of the parliament.

However, he had to respond to another grilling in the planned.

The experts chose a gigantic financial project following parliament, which means that we paid KD600 million because he which they found feasible and refused the grilling in started executing it as per a ‘road map’ drawn by the busiA child is born, receives state- December and still yielded nessman. He suddenly can- funded education, specializes in to a few months later.

The result today is that celled the project and suffers considerable losses for the some major, is recruited in a gov- some employees who had cancellation. Consequently, he ernment sector job, carries out nothing to do with stopping suspended his staff because his duties, is appointed in a sen- or cancelling the deal stand suspended and referred to his own decision cost him ior position where he practices the prosecution while HH considerable losses.

This is broadly how the last his specialty and decides and the former PM escaped the episode of the Dow series approves something within his consequences of his own and his ministers’ decisions. happened and how Kuwait tackled it regardless of its eco- area of expertise that later on is That’s how we manage our nomic feasibility. However, canceled by someone his senior crises and then go to the what the petrochemicals sec- but not an expert. All this while, wrong place to resolve them, which never works. tor did regarding that deal A child is born, receives was completely legal and we the senior responsible for the never heard any of the pro- predicament remains in office. state -funded education, ject’s opponents mentioning This is the pure Kuwaiti tale that specializes in some major, is recruited in a government any legal violations in the we have been living in. sector job, carries out his past. duties, is appointed in a senThe whole issue is that some thought the deal was profitable and those ior position where he practices his specialty and against thought it was not. In either case, no one was decides and approves something within his area of to be blamed for the deal as long as it was all legal. In expertise that later on is canceled by someone his fact, it was the job of the state-hired experts to senior but not an expert. This happens because the decide about the project’s feasibility and they must senior is either afraid or acts out of certain other be administratively held accountable if they failed to interest which leads to punishment for the employdo so. Those who hired unsuitable people must be ee. All this while, the senior responsible for the predicament remains in office. This is the pure held accountable as well.

The story is simple and cost us only KD600 million Kuwaiti tale that we have been living in, across all because the prime minister refused to respond to a domains.— Al-Jarida

hat are you thinking about, grandpa?” my grandson, Falah, asked me once when he saw me distracted. I looked at him with sympathy, wondering how I was going to explain the great things that were going through my mind at the time.

“Son, I was wondering when are we finally going to see the Gulf union become a reality, and when will the long overdue step forward towards a confederation will be achieved,” I answered.

I am very optimistic that the Gulf unity is going to be achieved, because it is one of the main foundations towards securing joint Arabian Gulf safety, and because it meets the ambition of the people of the Arabian Gulf countries who are bound by blood, linage, interests and history. Moreover, it is necessary, given the increasing number of looming challenges that we need to stay alert towards.

My dear grandson, since the Custodian of the Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia announced the initiative to move from the Gulf Cooperation Council phase to the Gulf Confederation stage, I along with all Gulf communities was filled with joy because we are eager to become part of a unified body after the achievements so far realized by the cooperation council. While there are people who question our ability to realize the confederation idea, I can say that the majority in the Gulf region are in favor of this concept which we believe can be the shield protecting the GCC countries from all risks. I pray to God that leaders of the GCC find a way to take steps towards achieving that goal.

We can move towards a confederation gradually, starting with joint subjects of public approval, before moving towards unifying the currency, embassies and military. A confederation between GCC countries takes into account the complete particularity of each member nation; which is unlike opinions that suggest that each country would lose its sovereignty with such step on the basis that a federal union can only be established in one country with different states.

I call for steps to be taken in order to continue this blessed process that is going to save us from troubles and tensions we suffer from today. I have faith in the GCC leaders that they have enough wisdom and foresight to undertake serious efforts in order to realize the ambitions of their people regarding moving towards full unity. Once they take these steps, I am certain that their people are going to stand by their side and work hard to ensure that a united entity in which each country maintains its particularity, political system and legal structure is achieved. As I waved goodbye to my grandson, I felt even more confident after our conversation that the GCC unity goal will eventually be achieved. I hope that we hear the efforts that have been done so far to put these plans into effect.

kuwait digest

Retirement for all

By Ahmad M Al-Fahad

D

uring my university years, I studied Juridical Science as a subject under a university professor who had started his practical life as a judge, then headed a court in his country before becoming a university professor. He was over 65 years of age, but was no less healthy than any young man. He was always alert, and displayed a good memory.

The late Dr Ahmad Al-Rubei, who was the education minister at the time, used to give him extensions to enable him to continue to contribute towards teaching at the university. I recalled all of this as I followed the news reports about sending many leaders in the oil sector into retirement just because they have already served for more than 35 years. It all seems more like whale hunting in Japan where they catch these gigantic mammals by cornering them towards the beach.

I am personally in favor of this method, although our wise government does not like the methods that the rest of the world follows currently. Even now, it has belatedly understood this after taking a “beating” from Dow Chemicals to whom it had to pay a huge penal fine. As the saying goes, “it is better to arrive later than not arriving at all.” I hope that this remains our wise government’s policy for the next five years, and is applied to each ministry, be it a service oriented ministry like the communications, interior, public works, municipality etc, or others like the finance, planning and foreign ministry. These leaders gave to our country whatever they had in the form of ideas and proposals, attended committee meetings, participated in subcommittees, except that the country “remains the same.” It is time to inject some young blood to develop the services and review certain policies. Yet, there remain two important comments to be made. The first is that the decision to retire employees should apply as much to non-Kuwaitis also and should not be only applied to Kuwaitis. The “Pheros” who sat in the back offices of the ministers ever since the first cabinet was formed after independence and who are still ensconced there till date, should not be left alone. The second comment is that the cut-off age for retirement should remain in the hands of the cabinet.

There are doctors, professors, intellectuals and administrators, who have been in the service for more than 30 years, and are currently above 70 years of age but are still active and in prime health. They have immense experience that should be utilized, and if I were not afraid to jinx them, I would have mentioned their names in this column.

I would, for example, mention the names of professionals like Dr Ameen Maarafi and Dr Fuad Al-Falah, but I fear for them. —Al-Watan

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

LOCAL

Four clash with police to rescue fleeing motorist Man with shotgun arrested in Hawally

Wataniya Telecom embraces Turtle Conservation Project KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom has announced its sponsorship of the Kuwait Turtle Conservation Project (KTCP), 2013 which will take place at the islands of Qaru and Umm Almardim starting from May until September, 2013. Wataniya’s sponsorship of this project stems from its keenness to create environmental awareness amongst Kuwait’s society on the importance of protec ting nature, in particular the importance of turtles to sea habitat and corals life. The project is conducted by Biodiversity East Organization and will include monthly visits to the islands - the first visit was made on 29th of April and lasted for 4 nights. This organization which is composed of environmental scientists and experts will be studying turtles’ nesting and hatching by using various research techniques such as satellite tracking. It also utilizes developed action plans to protect turtle habitat and promotes local conser vation awareness.

Through previous scientific studies it has been proven that turtles face a number of threats in the country due to change in their habitat caused by pollution, climate change, reclamation of nesting grounds and accidental capture in fishing gears.

The existence of these turtles in the marine environment has a significant impact on its wellbeing as they have a major role in maintaining the health of coral reef and regulating sea-grass beds thus ensuring the reproduction of fish properly. Turtles also help in transferring a large number of micro-organisms to other

locations across long distances, which keeps and maintains the various forms of life in the sporadic habitats of turtles.

Four types of turtles have been observed in Kuwait in the last three years; Kuwait Turtle Conservation Project has studied two types; Hawksbill and Green turtles.

On behalf of Wataniya, The Public Relations Manager, Fatemah Dashti stated: “Wataniya Telecom is very proud to have been involved in this project, which makes an important contribution to the preservation of Kuwait’s marine biodiversity as it is a priority within our social responsibility program.”

Adding: “Wataniya is aiming towards spreading awareness of the importance of turtles to the sea habitat and corals life.”

Commenting on this, Project Manager and an exper t in environmental law, Nancy Papathanasopoulou said: “Many people don’t know how diverse and beautiful Kuwait’s natural environment is.

Marine turtles especially are prehistoric animals (the oldest in the sea along with sharks) which are now critically endangered by the challenges the planet faces.

There is a lack of information and awareness on their true ecological value. Turtles are not only fascinating and beautiful, they are an important part of marine ecosystems and their extinction would mean a grave deterioration of the quality of the seas of Kuwait as well. We need to respect and protect them at all costs, in order to preserve our natural heritage for future generations through diverse and healthy seas.”

KUWAIT: Four people who resisted the police officers trying to arrest their cousin were later let off after they admitted their fault and police agreed to drop the charges even as they agreed that legal action against the fugitive they were trying to save would go ahead.

Traffic police officers had chased a man who broke through a checkpoint in Jahra, and eventually ended up at a house where the suspect has taken shelter. The officers ended up in a scuffle with four people who had came out to confront them. As back-up police force arrived soon afterwards and arrested the suspects, the detainees admitted that they had scuffled with the policemen to stop them from arresting their cousin. The officers eventually dropped the charges after the settlement was reached.

Man with gun held Hawally police arrested a man for possessing an unlicensed firearm while search was on for his accomplice who managed to escape arrest. Traffic officers had pulled over the suspects’ vehicle and found out that the id produced by one of them was a fake one. Officers searched the car and found a handgun and a dagger lying on the backseat. They apprehended one of the suspects while the other was able to escape in the meantime. The man was taken to the proper authorities for further action while investigations were on for the second suspect. —Watan Suicide A domestic worker was found dead inside a Fahaheel house in a case of apparent sui-

to-day work of the bank’s various departments. NBK Public Relations officers accompanied the students on their tour of the bank’s various departments and gave them a brief presentation about NBK in

Fatimah Al Hashimiyah High School students in a group picture.

RIYADH: Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council for Arab States (GCC) saluted efforts of GCC leaders on the occasion of the bloc 32nd anniversary, according to a statement released yesterday.

Dr. Abdul-Latif Al-Zayani added in the statement on the occasion, “This dear occasion is in the heart of every GCC citizen.

It boosts our pride for the great achievements, development, cohesion and solidarity” among the six member states of the

general and the role of media and public relations within the bank.

The students had the chance to learn about the broad range of NBK financial and banking products and services and were particularly interested in the multi-benefit Al-Azraq and Al-Shabab accounts, exclusively designed for high school, college and university students. NBK supports fresh graduates and Kuwait’s youth, listens to their interests and issues and offers a range of products and services to satisfy their needs.

The tour is part of NBK’s ongoing commitment to its corporate social responsibility program and to promoting the education and development of the country ’s youth. Other initiatives include providing summer training programs for students, hiring fresh graduates and offering professional development programs for new hires.

KFAS concludes seminar in US KUWAIT: A seminar on debate and negotiations skills for Kuwaiti leaders concluded on Friday at Harvard University in the US, said a statement

by Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) here yesterday.

The seminar, which began on May

19th and featured 29 participants from the Kuwaiti public and private sectors, covered skills of debating and means to overcome difficulties faced by the parties during negotiations. Participants were put into groups to study cases of negotiations that have previously taken

place between some institutions as well as others among countries, said the statement, adding that the seminar was part of a signed agreement between KFAS and Harvard University. The agreement was renewed at the end of last year and would be effective till 2017. —KUNA

Kuwait envoy to Bahrain for empowering youth

MANAMA: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Mubarak Al-Sabah with Chairman of the poetry festival Bandar Al-Saeed yesterday.—KUNA

Thieves held Ahmadi police arrested two people responsible for 12 thefts reported by car owners in the area recently. A security officers’ team was assigned to monitor activity at a mall’s parking lot where 12 people had reported that unidentified thieves broke into their cars to steal their belongings. Police were able to arrest two men, a Kuwaiti and a Syrian, who were caught red-handed while trying to break into a car whose owner had left her handbag lying on the passenger’s seat. The two were taken in for questioning during which they admitted their involvement in the 12 thefts reported in two weeks.

They were referred to the proper authorities to face charges.

Man accuses police of theft A man accused no less than two police officers of stealing KD1000 from him. As per his statements, the Kuwaiti man was stopped by two security officers who ordered him to get inside the patrol vehicle driven by one of them while the second followed in his car. He was later released from the Fahad Al-Ahmad

police station after police confirmed that he was not wanted for questioning. When he returned to his vehicle, he found that KD1000 that he had kept there was missing. He returned to the police station and filed a case of theft against the police officers, accusing them of conspiring to steal his money. The case was referred to the proper authorities for further investigations.

Man hurt in failed mugging A senior citizen was seriously wounded when a group of miscreants unsuccessfully tried to mug him late Thursday night in Farwaniya. According to the police report, the 58-year-old Kuwaiti man was making his way out of a coffee shop when he was stopped by a group which demanded that he hand over his cell phone and cash at knifepoint. The man tried to resist but was attacked. As he suffered a deep stab wound to the neck, the suspects ran away. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Farwaniya Hospital while a case was filed for investigations.

Unlucky pedestrian A man was mugged in the area falling under the Farwaniya police station, the second time that he went through the harrowing experience this year. The case was filed late Thursday night when the Asian man was reportedly accosted by an unknown assailant who stole his cell phone and KD30 at knifepoint. The man told officers that the recent incident was the second mugging crime that he fell victim to this year only. Investigations were on to identify and arrest the suspect.

GCC chief salutes leaders on GCC anniversary

NBK welcomes students from Al-Hashimiyah high school KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) recently hosted students from Fatimah Al-Hashimiyah High School for Girls, who toured the bank’s head office to learn about the banking industry and the day-

cide. Police accompanied by crime scene investigators reached the house shortly after the incident was reported. They found the man hanging dead from a rope tied to the ceiling in his room. His employers told the police that they found the body in that state and decided to make the emergency call. The body was referred to the forensic department after investigators examined the scene. A case was filed for investigations.

MANAMA: Kuwait supports all youth in related fields to boost their capabilities for brighter future, noted the Kuwait’s Ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azzam Mubarak Al-Sabah yesterday. The future of Kuwait is in the hands of the youth, who have qualification and energies to achieve prosperity and serve the country in various fields, the ambassador said after being honored by the Kuwaiti Organizing Committee of the “Ahl Al-Gaseed” Poetry Festival that ended here today.

For his part, the Chairman of the festival, Bandar Al-Saeed, expressed appreciation to the Kuwaiti ambassador in aiding Kuwaiti activities in Bahrain, which represents inventiveness of citizens of Kuwait. — KUNA

bloc. Al-Zayani commended efforts of leaders and late founders of the GCC that laid its foundations, also hailing their determination that impacted positively on GCC, Arab and Islamic countries. The GCC has attained numerous achieve ments and has taken joint political stances at international forums regarding issues, adopted by the GCC states.

Furthermore, the bloc has made development in the member states’ security systems, laws,

sectors of education, health, insurance, pension, trade, agriculture, industry, investment, transaction of shares, legal and justice fields and ownership of properties, Al-Zayani explained.

The GCC, due to the political awareness of leaders of the council states, has succeeded in overcoming multiple difficulties and survived regional complex circumstances and turbulence for over 30 years. Furthermore, it has made landmark accomplishments, established solid bonds

with states of the globe, contributed to resolving a large number of international crises and issues, in a positive and effective manner.

The GCC chief re -affirmed that strategists’ focus would remain on upgrading skills of the GCC citizen, as the core of development and advancement at various levels, expressing hope that the council states would jointly succeed in achieving further progress, development and prosperity. — KUNA

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

LOCAL

7,200 state employees eligible for retirement Kuwait paving way for smooth retirement Kuwait envoy opens library for special needs in Sarajevo SARAJEVO: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Mohammed Fadel Khalaf inaugurated on Friday a library specialized in educating children with special needs that was fully funded by Kuwait.

Khalaf expressed his pride in this humanitarian work that was financed by Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, stressing importance of the library in educating kids with special needs here in the Bosnian capital. Also, he asserted Kuwaiti Embassy’s determination to follow the library’s activities in order to support children with special needs through assisting in development of the department of education for children with special needs, and providing necessary requirements for success of this institution that helps in rehabilitate children.

For his part, the director of department of children with special needs expressed his gratitude to Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs for this humanitarian initiative which left a good impression in the hearts of citizens here in Sarajevo. —KUNA

Sheikh Salman underlines special ties with S Arabia KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah yesterday affirmed depth of the bilateral relations bounding Kuwait with Saudi Arabia.

These relations are historic and deeply rooted with “unity of the ranks and joint destiny” of the two Gulf states and peoples, said the minister, during a meeting with the visiting member of the Saudi Shura Council, Dr Salwa Al-Hazza.

Sheikh Salman praised decision by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, naming an eminent Saudi woman to serve as member of the council. Dr. Al-Hazzaa expressed gratitude to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information for hosting her and giving her the chance to interact with the Kuwaiti people.

Praising the Kuwaiti democratic experience, the eminent professor said it enabled the Kuwaiti woman to take part in making of decisions. The minister also received the director general of Al-Jazeera Media Training and Development Center, Muneer Al-Daemi, the director of marketing at the center, Talal Abdul-Karim, and the Kuwaiti representative in it, Ali Abdullah Shedad. Discussions dealt with the center programs and methods of work. The meeting was attended by Board Chairman and Director General of KUNA Sheikh Mubarak Al-Duaij Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah, and the Assistant Undersecretary for Television Affairs, Sheikh Fahad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. —KUNA

KUWAIT: More than 7,200 employees working in the state departments, including 297 senior officials, qualify for retirement, according to a recent report which came even as Kuwait launched efforts to facilitate the exit of public sector employees who have reached the retirement age.

A majority of these employees have served for at least 30 years in the Ministry of Education. Their number was pegged at 1100, said the sources who spoke to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity. They further indicated that the retirement cases of 110 senior officials were already settled “while those related to 187 others remain pending.”

The cabinet recently approved a decision stipulating immediate retirement for senior officials serving for long years after offering them incentives in the form of half of their monthly salary for each year in service for those who retire before the end of June.

The sources, however, suggested that an undersecretary who earned a KD12,000 annual bonus, and an assistant undersecretary entitled to a KD8,000 annual bonus was likely to pass on an incentive in the range of an average of KD750 for undersecretaries and KD500 for assistant undersecretaries.

Meanwhile, the sources expressed concern that easing out senior officials including assistant undersecretaries, directors and supervisors could leave huge gaps in certain departments which lack qualified candidates to fill the voids thus created.

The concern was most serious perhaps in the Ministry of Education, which has a long list of senior officials eligible for retirement including recently appointed undersecretary Mariyam Al-Wutaid. Education Minister Nayef Al-Hajraf had recently explained that the retirement decision remains optional “and it was up to the senior officials to make,” but

sources quoted anonymously by Al-Rai yesterday revealed that six assistant undersecretaries have already filed for retirement so that they do not miss out on the recently awarded incentive.

One senior official who spoke to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity argued in the meantime that the government’s retirement decision was in contradiction with the Civil Service Commission’s regulations which set the retirement age at 65.

“There are officials aged 50 years, and even 48 years, amongst us who have served for over 30 years... Retirement is going to deprive the ministry of the long experience of officials who still have a lot to give,” the official said.

The new stipulations came as efforts were being made to keep in check the soaring unemployment rates which have reached 4.9 percent of the national labor force in Kuwait,

a country where job creation is considered a constitutional right of citizens. Minister of Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad AlAbdullah Al-Sabah said earlier this month that there were 19,400 Kuwaitis waiting for jobs in the public sector.

In other news, Al-Qabas reported yesterday that Minister of Electricity and Water Abdul-Aziz Al-Ibrahim had asked 18 state departments to provide details about energy saving steps undertaken by each of them within the next two weeks, otherwise he planned to coordinate with the cabinet to impose penalties. According to sources familiar with the case, the departments accused of electricity and water wastage included the ministries of interior, health, defense, municipality, public works and commerce, in addition to public authorities of youth and sports, industry and agricultural affairs.—Al-Qabas & Al-Rai

Special offer for Burgan Bank BuBa holders KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that it is sponsoring the fun packed musical that takes a journey through the world of Dr Seuss. The event will be held at the live theatre in Discovery Mall from the 5th-8th June, 2013. As part of its sponsorship, Burgan Bank is inviting its BuBa Kids Account holders to benefit from an exciting and unique 35 percent discount on entrance tickets, and enjoy the new musical performance.

BuBa account customers need to apply online through the website www.stagedinkuwait.com The BuBa Kids Account is a savings account, with the minimum opening balance of KD10. Children, up to 14 years old, will also be entitled to a free branded ATM VISA Electron card that can be used at any ATM or point of sale (POS) in Kuwait and around the world. Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is the youngest commercial Bank and third largest by assets in Kuwait, with a significant focus on the corporate and financial institutions sectors, as well as having a growing retail and private bank customer base. Burgan Bank has five majority owned subsidiaries, which include Gulf Bank Algeria - AGB (Algeria), Bank of Baghdad - BOB (Iraq & Lebanon), Jordan Kuwait Bank - JKB (Jordan) Tunis International Bank - TIB (Tunisia), and fully owned Burgan Bank - Turkey, (collectively known as the “Burgan Bank Group”). The Bank has continuously improved its performance over the years through an expanded revenue structure, diversified funding sources, and a strong capital base. The adoption of state-of-the-art services and technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market and within the MENA region. Burgan Bank’s brand has been created on a foundation of real values - of trust, commitment, excellence and progression, to remind us of the high standards to which we aspire. ‘People come first’ is the foundation on which its products and services are developed. Earlier this year, ‘Brand Finance’ - the international brand valuation company- rated Burgan Bank brand as AA with positive outlook. The rating places Burgan Bank Brand at 2nd amongst the most valuable banking brands in Kuwait.

Kuwaiti pledges continuous support to patients abroad LONDON: A visiting Kuwaiti official has affirmed keenness on providing citizens undergoing treatment abroad with all possible facilities. Dr Yousef Al-Nisef, in charge of medical services of the Ministry of Defense, made the affirmation in a statement on sidelines of his inspection of the militar y bureau in London, indicating that his delegation came to the UK to examine the services given to the Kuwaiti patients, undergoing treatment here with financial support by the Kuwaiti Ministries of Defense and Interior.

Al-Nisef’s delegation visited a num-

ber of hospitals, inquiring about condition of the patients and their queries. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Ahmad AlKhalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and Kuwait Army Chief of Staff, LieutenantGeneral Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah AlSabah, have issued instructions to give all available facilities for the patients, Dr Al-Nisef said, adding that he held talks with managers of the British hospitals for establishing cooperation with the Military Jaber AlAhmad Hospital in Kuwait.

The Ministry of Defense is seeking

to employ British medical specialists to serve at the military hospital, either on permanent or temporary bases, he said, affirming that this approach was intended to minimize number of the Kuwaiti patients seeking treatment abroad and follow up on condition of those who receive treatment in the UK. British specialists can also help in training Kuwaiti doctors and cadres serving at the national hospitals. AlNisef’s delegation is currently inspecting Kuwaiti military health centers in Europe. London is the last leg of the tour that began in Paris. —KUNA

Celebrate summer with Lu&Lu Hypermarket’s Mango Mania 2013 KUWAIT: Lu&Lu Hypermarket, the region’s largest retail group, is marking the onset of summer with their annual Mango Mania festival at both their outlets - Al-Rai and Al-Qurain.

Mango Mania 2013 which showcases more than 100 varieties of delicious mango from around the world is one of the most anticipated festivals in Kuwait and was inaugurated on Thursday, 23 May, by His Excellency Satish C. Mehta, the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait, in the

presence of Hohamed Haris, Regional Director, Sreejith K.S, Regional Manager, Antony, General Manager of Al-Qurain Branch Abdul Khadar, General Manager of Al-Rai Branch and a large gathering of shoppers and well-wishers, all of whom were treated to succulent samples of different mango varieties.

The ten-day festival will run until Saturday, 1st June 2013 and is a wonderful opportunity for mango lovers in Kuwait to taste delicious and exotic

mangoes from places across the globe, including India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Kenya, Yemen, Brazil, and Mexico to name a few.

Lu&Lu Hypermarket is running their highly successful annual Mango Mania festival for the sixth consecutive year, by ringing in the hot summer with cold, mouth-watering mangoes and mango delicacies. Innovative forms of mango derived and mango flavored dishes are also available at special prices as part of

the promotion, which include desserts such as mango cream muffins, mango glass cake, mango custard doughnuts and mango cheese cake. With a widest range of mango products including jams, pickles, hot foods and juices, Lu&Lu Hypermarket delivers on its commitment to bring the best variety to its customers. Mango Mania 2013 also touts the health benefits of mangoes. Mango’s rich content, full of essential vitamins, dietary minerals and antioxidants, quali-

fy it as a model ‘super-fruit’. Mango Mania is expected to draw a huge and enthusiastic response from shoppers who eagerly look forward to this exceptional annual food event at Lu&Lu Hypermarket. “This is yet another initiative where we bring the best of the world for the benefit of our loyal shoppers,” said a representative of Lu&Lu Hypermarket management. “It truly is a festival you would love to experience with your families and friends.”

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Ex-Guatemala prez extradited to US

Qatar abandons bid to relocate UN agency Page 8

Page 13

Africa celebrates 50 years of ‘unity’ Brazil will cancel Africa debt worth $900m ADDIS ABABA: African leaders yesterday celebrated the African Union’s 50th birthday against a backdrop of economic growth but also awareness of the armed conflicts and the other myriad problems faced by the continent. AU Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn set a tone of optimism when he launched extravagant celebrations by urging leaders to “create a continent free from poverty and conflict, and an Africa whose citizens enjoy a middle income status.”

But yesterday’s party in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa will be followed by a more sobering two-day AU summit meeting to tackle the range of crises facing the continent. Today’s 54-member AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established in 1963 in the heady days when independence from colonial rule was sweeping the continent.

African leaders were joined by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, French President Francois Hollande, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, US Secretary of State John Kerry and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso. China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang was also reported to be in attendance. Africa remains the world’s poorest continent and its most war-prone but development indicators there-including health, education, infant mortality, economic growth and democracyhave improved steadily in the past 50 years.

Africa is home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund, and has attracted huge amounts of foreign investment in recent years. Brazil announced yesterday it was cancelling $900 million (700 million euro) worth of debt in 12 African countries-with CongoBrazzaville the highest with $352 million written off-as part of a broader strategy to boost ties with the continent.

Hailemariam singled out Beijing for its massive wave of investment on the continent, expressing his “deepest appreciation to China for investing billions... to assist our infrastructure endeavours.” Despite the celebration, 24 out of the 25 nations at the bottom of the UN’s human development index are in Africa, with several of those suffering from unrest or conflict.

Hollande warned of “the scourge of terrorism” faced on the continent, as he invited leaders to December summit in Paris to boost “peace and security”. Leaders, who said the celebrations would promote panAfricanism and help unify the often divided continent, nodded their heads as the classic reggae hit “you’re an African” by late Jamaican singer Peter Tosh boomed out in the crowded hall.

“When we therefore talk about African solutions to African problems, it is because we know that we can only permanently silence the guns if we act in solidarity and unity,” said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, head of the AU Commission, the organisation’s executive arm. But while speaking optimistically in the AU’s modern Chinese-built headquarters about “the bright future of Africa”, she also noted that “the self-reliance and economic independence that our founders spoke of remains a bit elusive and social inequalities remain.”

Drummers, dancers and musicians later performed to a packed crowd including leaders in a giant hall, telling the history of Africa through song, dance and a flashing light show.

Music legends including Congo’s Papa Wemba and

Toronto mayor denies smoking crack cocaine TORONTO: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denied that he smokes crack cocaine and said he is not an addict, breaking a week of silence over reports of a video purportedly showing him using the drug.

Critics were not appeased, with one city councilor questioning whether the mayor told “the whole truth” and another calling on him to resign. The mayor of Canada’s largest city did not say whether he has ever used crack. He did not take questions from reporters at a news conference at City Hall, held after close allies released a letter urging him to address the reports of the video.

“I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine,” Ford said. “As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen, or does not exist.” Ford had been ducking the media and his only comments before Friday on the scandal came a week ago, a day after the story broke, when he called the crack smoking allegations “ridiculous” and said the Toronto Star newspaper was out to get him.

Ford said he had kept quiet because his lawyer advised him “not to say a word.” The video has not been released publicly and its authenticity has not been verified. Reports on gossip website Gawker and in the Toronto Star claimed it was taken by men who said they had sold the drug to Ford. The Associated Press hasn’t seen the video.

The Star reported that two journalists had watched a video that appears to show Ford, sitting in a chair, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. The Star said it did not obtain the video or pay to watch it. Gawker and the Star said the video was shown to them by a drug dealer who had been trying to sell it for a six-figure sum. The Star also reported that Ford allegedly made a racist remark about the high school football students he coached.

Ford criticized the media for judging him. “It is most unfortunate, very unfortunate, that my colleagues and the great people of this city have been exposed to the fact that I’ve been judged by the media without any evidence,” Ford said. City Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker said he was profoundly disappointed in the mayor’s statement and called on Ford to resign. De Baeremaeker said he believes the reports about Ford’s alleged drug use and believes Ford’s tenure is over.

“I don’t believe the mayor,” he said. “He should resign and then go seek help.” De Baeremaeker said he’s observed erratic behavior from the mayor. “The mayor is just imploding,” he said. —AP

ADDIS ABABA: A South Sudanese traditional dancer entertains guests during the celebrations of the 50th African Union Summit yesterday. — AFP Mali’s Salif Keita were due to play later yesterday. The AU has budgeted $1.27 million for yesterday’s celebrations, according to official documents seen by South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies (ISS). AU Commission deputy chief Erastus Mwencha said he did not have the exact figure but that some $3 million would be spent on yesterday’s festivities and other events over the coming year.

In recent years, the AU’s role in combat-such as its mission in Somalia to battle Al-Qaeda linked Islamists-

has shown it can take concrete action, even if the funding for that mission comes mainly from Western backers. But at the same time, the splits revealed by the 2011 conflict in Libya-when AU members squabbled between those wanting to recognise rebels and those backing Muammar Gaddafi-showed its disunity and lack of global clout. Gaddafi’s death also stripped the AU of a major source of funding. Leaders will discuss finding backers for the cash-strapped body at the summit meeting opening today. The agenda will also likely

include the ongoing crisis in Mali, which is preparing to receive a UN peacekeeping force to support French soldiers fighting Islamist rebels in the desert north since January. Leaders are also tipped to endorse a motion to urge the International Criminal Court to refer crimes against humanity trials for Kenya’s leaders back to their country, after foreign ministers agreed a draft proposal on Friday. Conflict in Somalia, violence in Nigeria and rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are also expected to be discussed. — AFP

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

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Guantanamo’s Yemenis may see light at the end of tunnel

SALON-DE-PROVENCE: Alphajet aircrafts from the French elite acrobatic flying team “Patrouille de France” (PAF) perform aerobatics and release trails of blue, white and red smokes representing the French national flag’s colors, as they fly over the 701 Air Base in Salon-de-Provence, southern France, yesterday during the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the PAF. — AFP

Pair grilled after UK fighter jets escort Pakistani plane LONDON: Two men arrested on a Pakistan International Airlines plane after fighter jets were scrambled to escort it to a London airport remained in custody yesterday for questioning by the police. The men were detained on suspicion of endangering an aircraft after the plane, which was carrying 300 passengers from the Pakistani city of Lahore to Manchester in northwest England, was diverted to Stansted airport outside London.

Armed police officers boarded the Boeing 777 and arrested two male British nationals, aged 30 and 41. The incident was not believed to be terror-related. An airline source told AFP the incident had stemmed from a family row on board. “There was a family of eight to 10 people on the plane and they were quarrelling among each other,” the PIA source said.

“When PIA staff approached them and asked them to calm down, they told them to go away otherwise they would blow up the plane. “PIA staff became scared and they raised the alarm to avoid any untoward situation.” Police said they were alerted 10 minutes before the plane was due to land in Manchester at 1:30pm (1230 GMT) on Friday.

They were told a threat had been made to the safety of an aircraft. Fighter jets were scrambled to escort flight PK709 into Stansted, London’s third-biggest airport, where it touched down at 2:15pm (1315 GMT). It halted in a designated safe location away from the terminal building. The arrested men were taken to a police station “where they will remain in custody pending

interview by detectives”, the local Essex Police force said. The remaining passengers disembarked under police escort and were taken to the terminal building for a debriefing. “The plane will remain at its current location and will be subject to forensic examination by specialist officers,” the police said. “At this point in time no suspicious items have been recovered.

“This incident is being treated as a criminal offence.” A Ministr y of Defence spokesman said that Typhoon fighter jets had been launched from a Royal Air Force base after the incident was signalled by the plane’s crew. “Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby have been launched to investigate an incident involving an aircraft in UK airspace,” the MoD spokesman said.

Typhoons can be scrambled if the pilot or crew of a passenger aircraft sends out a passenger signal, he added. “The purpose of going up is to investigate what the situation is,” he said. “Often when a Quick Reaction Alert aircraft is launched the details are not known, but it is known that a signal has been sent.”

Typhoons patrolled over London last year when the city hosted the 2012 Olympic Games. By strange coincidence, the PIA plane diverted to Stansted was the very same plane on the very same routeLahore to Manchester-that was diverted to Stansted in September 2011 due to a bomb scare. Friday’s incident came just hours after a British Airways plane was forced to make an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport with smoke billowing from an engine. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Weakened by a prolonged hunger strike, Yemeni detainees who have languished at Guantanamo Bay for years see growing hope of finally returning home after a ban on transfers to Yemen was lifted. If fulfilled, President Barack Obama’s pledge Thursday to end a moratorium on sending prisoners to the Gulf state would remove a key hurdle in closing the US military detention center for good.

Of the 86 inmates who have been cleared for release, most — 56 — are from Yemen, where AlQaeda has established a foothold. Overall, a total of 84 Yemenis currently live at the jail in southern Cuba, making them the largest group by nationality. And most were captured more than a decade ago.

“More than a third of the entire Guantanamo population are cleared Yemeni men, men that the government itself says do not need to be in Guantanamo,” lawyer Omar Farah of the Center for Constitutional Rights told AFP. Their return was halted after a Nigerian man trained in Yemen tried to detonate explosives in his underwear on a flight to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. The incident triggered fears that returned detainees could be tempted to join radical movements.

Farah said ending the ban is a step in the right direction, but Obama will have to pair words with action. “Lifting the moratorium is an important step only if men like Mohammed Al-

Hamiri-my client who is Yemeni and cleared for release and has been for many years-are immediately processed for transfer and reunited with their families,” he said. Obama’s move came amid a widespread hunger strike at Guantanamo.

More than two thirds of the prison’s 166 remaining detainees have refused food in a strike that began nearly four months ago to protest their indefinite jailing without charge.

Andrea Prasow, a Human Rights Watch expert on Guantanamo, also called the announcement an “important promise” of a “recommitment” to make good on Obama’s years-old pledge to shutter the prison. “Obama’s decision to lift the ban on transfers to Yemen is an important one, it signals his intention to go forward with detainees transfers,” Prasow told AFP. But it remains to be seen if and when the transfers will take place. “He needs not to say, six months down the road, that there’s no official ban on transfers to Yemen but no one can go back there anyway for security reasons,” Prasow said. David Remes, who represents fifteen of the Yemenis, said his clients “hope against hope that something positive will come out of this.” But “every time we think there’d be lights at the end of the tunnel, it’s been the headlight of an approaching train,” said Remes, expressing hope that Obama’s announcement would deliver more than just “the illusion of forward movement.”

Several of Remes’s clients, on hunger strike since February 6, have told him their recent treatment at the prison is inhumane, deteriorating to levels seen during their first years in detention, under then-president George W Bush.

“I don’t know why I’m being punished, I didn’t even kill a chicken,” detainee Yasin Ismail said, according to the lawyer.

He reported freezing temperatures in the cells and force-feeding using tubes inserted through the nose into the stomach. “I don’t want to be force-fed, but if you do force-feed me, at least do it humanely,” said fellow inmate Uthman Abd Al-Rahim Muhammad Uthman, according to Remes. A third, the lawyer recounted, begged to be treated “as well as iguanas, even as well as insects.” Iguanas are a protected species in Guantanamo and killing one is punishable by a $10,000 fine. Of the 103 prisoners on hunger strike, 32 were being force-fed as of Friday, two of whom were hospitalized, according to prison spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House.

Farah said those figures were unlikely to change because of the president’s announcement. “It’s the prisoner’s protest, their hunger strike, that created the urgency that compelled President Obama to speak about Guantanamo,” Farah said.

“It has to be that same urgency that guides his action,” he added. “I don’t expect the hunger strike to end until the president begins the immediate resumption of transfers.” —AFP

Qatar abandons bid to relocate UN agency TORONTO: Qatar has abandoned its bid to relocate the United Nations civil aviation agency from Canada to the tiny emirate, ending a bitter fight between the two nations, both countries said Friday. Canada had accused Qatar, which has been trying to burnish its international presence, of trying to buy the UN agency located in Montreal.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said he received a call from Qatar’s prime minister on Thursday. “I’m going to be generous. I appreciate the call,” Baird told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “We were prepared to fight tooth and nail on this.”

Qatar’s embassy in Ottawa said in a statement that considering the “keenness” of Qatar to “preserve the close and historic friendship” between the countries and the importance that Canada attaches to keeping ICAO’s headquarters in Montreal, Qatar decided to withdraw its offer.

Qatar, one of the world’s richest countries with vast oil and gas reserves, has been pushing to become a major player on the global stage in the last few years. It shocked the sporting world by beating out the United States and others to host the World Cup

in 2022 and is looking to host the 2020 summer Olympic games.

Losing ICAO would have been a blow for Canada and Montreal, the hub of Canada’s aviation industry. ICAO employs 534 people and says it generates about $80 million annually for Montreal’s economy. Its current headquarters were built in the 1990s at a cost of $100 million.

International Civil Aviation Organization spokesman Anthony Philbin said Qatar sent ICAO’s secretary general a letter Thursday night saying they would like to withdraw their offer. He said no explanation was provided. ICAO has been in Montreal since its founding in 1946. Qatar presented ICAO with an unsolicited offer in April to serve as the new permanent seat of the organization beginning in 2016.

The proposal included construction of new premises, paying to move materials and staffers, and paying for all costs of staff terminations and severance packages, according to the UN agency.

Canadian officials said Qatar did not inform Baird about the bid despite him being Qatar just days before. Qatar argued it would be nice to escape

Montreal’s cold winters. Baird later took a jab at the Gulf country’s climate, saying he’d rather have four seasons rather than a crushing humid temperature of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) 12 months a year.

ICAO said the offer would have to be considered at the agency’s triennial assembly meeting Sept 24-Oct 4, where 60 percent of its 191 member states would have had to vote favor of it for Qatar’s proposal to become reality. Asked if Qatar dropped the bid because they felt they would lose, Baird said: “I will just say this. We’re very pleased with the strong support we received from around the world.”

Baird said Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani values the relationship with Canada and that was one of the factors.

ICAO Secretary General, Raymond Benjamin noted MontrÈal has been ICAO’s home for decades.

“While the offer to move us to Doha was extremely generous, ICAO is also very pleased to continue its global mission with the support and cooperation of the Canadian and local governments,” Benjamin said in a statement.— AP

Regional power games stall meeting: Syria oppn ISTANBUL: Regional bids for influence over Syria’s divided opposition have stalled progress at a key meeting of the war-torn country’s main opposition group, blocking discussions on whether to hold peace talks with the regime, opposition members told AFP yesterday. The Syrian National Coalition is supposed to decide during its threeday meeting in Istanbul whether to accept a proposal from the United States and Russia to participate in a peace conference aimed at ending the raging civil war, which in two years has killed more than 90,000 people.

But opposition figures say the meeting has not been able to tackle that question because demands from foreign countries to expand the number of members in the Coalition has divided the group and blocked progress on the rest of the agenda. “You have Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pushing to include up to 30 new members in the National Coalition. Their goal is to downsize the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence over the group,” a Coalition member said on condition of anonymity.

“On the other hand you have Turkey, Qatar and to an extent France backing the Coalition as it stands,” he added, describing perceptions that Islamists control the Coalition as “exaggerated”. Referring to Saudi Arabia and the United States, another Coalition member told AFP: “We are being threatened that they will not give us any money or even weapons, and even that (Syrian President) Bashar Al-Assad will stay in power if we don’t allow this expansion.

“This is scandalous. This competition for power is killing the Syrian opposition,” he said on condition of anonymity. Russia, a key backer of Assad, said Friday the regime had agreed “in principle” to attend the proposed peace conference. But the Coalition expressed scepticism, saying it wanted to hear from the Syrian government itself.

Some rebel leaders have said that no negotiations are possible with Assad remaining in power. The Damascus government counters that it wants assurances that the president’s role will not be a subject of debate at any peace talks. The

TRIPOLI: A Lebanese gunman stands guard behind a barricade in the Sunni district of Bab Al-Tabbaneh following overnight clashes with the Alawite neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli yesterday. —AFP

Coalition, which depends on foreign backing, has long been marred by regional rivalries that play out through disagreements among its members. Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group, while conservative Saudi Arabia is seeking to reclaim its historic role of regional powerhouse, opposition figures say. The National Coalition began its meeting Thursday with four thorny items on the agenda. It must decide how to expand the group and choose a new president to replace Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib, who resigned in March.

It must also discuss the USRussian peace conference, dubbed “Geneva 2”, and decide the fate of a new interim government. But by yesterday, despite countless hours of official and sideline meetings, members were still deadlocked over whether or not to expand the group.

Though several lists of some 200 dissidents’ names have been proposed, the one with the strongest backing is a 25-member list proposed by veteran secular dissident Michel Kilo. Dissidents say Saudi Arabia and its ally the United States want Kilo’s list to join the group. The list reportedly includes several women as well as members of Syria’s numerous ethnic and reli-

gious minorities.

The Coalition has long been accused by Syrian opponents of having a poor record of inclusiveness. “We definitely need to include more women. Right now, only three of our members are women, and that is not right,” said Coalition member Samir Nashar. “Of course we need to expand. But the regional fights for influence and over who gets to go to Geneva 2 is the real issue here,” said one of the Coalition members who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Coalition in its current shape is dominated by main opposition bloc the Syrian National Council, in which the Muslim Brotherhood plays a key role. “If Kilo’s list gets accepted, then it will dominate the Coalition. The reason for this deadlock is because everyone wants to call the shots when the Geneva 2 negotiations start,” said a dissident from northern Syria who is not a member of the Coalition.

He described the infighting as a “reflection of what is happening in Syria now, a sectarian war. It is a war for dominance now between the Sunni majority and the minorities.”

Asked why conservative Saudi Arabia was supporting a more liberal list, he said: “ They don’t care about ideology. They’re just looking for a way to exert influence.” —AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

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

Thousands attend mass for Italy’s first mafia martyr Puglisi’s killing turns public opinion against mafia

MAIDUGURI: Nigerian army soldiers are driven in a pickup truck as they patrol the streets of Maiduguri, capital of the Borno state. — AFP

US urges Nigeria army to avoid rights abuses ADDIS ABABA: US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday renewed a plea to Nigerian authorities to ensure the military does not carry out atrocities against civilians in its clampdown on Islamic militants. Nigeria declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states on May 14 as it launched a military offensive to end Boko Haram’s four-year insurgency.

“Boko Haram is a terrorist organisation and they have killed wantonly and upset the normal governance of Nigeria in fundamental ways that are unacceptable,” Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of an African Union summit. “We defend the right completely of the government of Nigeria to defend itself and to fight back against terrorists. That said, I have raised the issue of humans rights with the government,” he stressed.

Activists as well as the United States have voiced concerns over the fighting, with Nigeria’s military regularly criticised over its response to the insurgency due to allegations of major abuses. “We all of us try to hold to the highest standards of behaviour,” Kerry said in a joint press conference with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “One person’s atrocity does not

excuse another’s.”

So far the United States has not officially designated Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organisation, but has blacklisted three of its top leaders, accusing them of close links to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Kerry, who was hoping to meet with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan later Saturday in Ethiopia, insisted the authorities should not seek revenge for atrocities carried out by Boko Haram.

The best way forward was “good governance, it’s ridding yourself of the terrorist organisations so you can establish a standard of law that others can respect,” he said. A May 7 attack in northern Bama saw insurgents disguised in military uniforms break into a prison and attack several government buildings, leaving 55 people dead. The women and children were around the sites at the moment of the attack and were taken hostage and only finally released on Friday. The conflict is estimated to have cost 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security services.

Kerry added that “to their credit the government has acknowledged that there have been some problems, they’re working to try to control it.” — AFP

With phones cut, Nigerians caught in conflict and hope MAIDUGURI: Balama Mali Gubio lost phone contact with his relatives 10 days ago, like many residents in this region of Nigeria caught between a military offensive and Islamist extremist attacks. “I don’t know what is happening to my parents, my brothers, my sister,” the 62-year-old spokesman for a forum of prominent local elders told AFP in the garden of his expansive home in the city of Maiduguri.

The military cut mobile phone service more than a week ago in much of the country’s northeast, where it has launched an offensive against Islamist insurgents, leaving families out of touch and forcing hospitals to buy radios. A senior security source told AFP the phone network was frozen as part of “the operational strategy” to defeat Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, known to coordinate attacks by phone and text message.

While the mobile cut has presented hardships, with landline service nearly non-existent in Nigeria, Gubio and others said they can cope if it leads to peace. “If it can help, let it continue, even for three months. I don’t care,” said Gubio, who has previously been a fierce critic of tactics used in the northeast by Nigeria’s military, accused of major abuses in its fight against Boko Haram. Maiduguri residents have grown accustomed to life amid conflict, which has crippled commerce and led to rolling curfews.

Suicide blasts, gun attacks, roadside bombs and soldiers’ heavy-handed raids have become almost routine. The conflict is estimated to have left some 3,600 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces. Boko Haram’s insurgency has been under way since then, and Maiduguri was its initial home base.

Recent attacks in other areas of the region led to warnings that Boko Haram had become further emboldened, claiming control in remote parts of the northeast near the borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger. On May 14, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states-Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Maiduguri is the capital of Borno. His declaration led to the ongoing offensive, involving air strikes and several thousand ground troops. It is aimed at re-establishing Nigeria’s “territorial integrity”, the military has said.

‘Nobody can tell what is happening’ It seems to have so far been concentrated

outside of the city in more remote areas, with the military claiming in particular to have destroyed Boko Haram camps in a forested area some 60 kilometres (40 miles) away. The military has described the insurgents as being in “disarray”, but the claims have been impossible to verify.

Rescue organisations like the Red Cross have not yet visited affected areas. With the phone network shut down, civilians impacted by the fighting have been unreachable.

“Nobody can tell what is happening,” said Gubio, who said many of his relatives live in an area south of Maiduguri where the military reportedly carried out air strikes on Boko Haram camps.

The chief medical director of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Abdurrahman Tahir, said he has seen no rise in the number of casualties brought to the hospital since the offensive was launched, suggesting the conflict has been concentrated far from the city.

But the communication breakdown has made running a hospital more difficult, especially an emergency service which relies heavily on mobile phones in an area with almost no functioning land lines, Tahir said.

“We are in the process of acquiring radios,” he told AFP, saying the hospital was “coping” well enough under emergency rule. With the state of emergency imposed, activity in Maiduguri has slowed in places, including the normally bustling Kolo market, a popular spot to eat chips and grilled fish. But life carried on with apparent calm in other neighbourhoods, with crowds pouring towards a mosque in the densely populated Post Office neighbourhood for midday Friday prayers.

The military had briefly imposed a 24-hour curfew in parts of Maiduguri considered Boko Haram strongholds. It was later relaxed, allowing residents to venture out in daytime hours.

While the phone shutdown has affected everyone, Haruna Mamuda, 30, has perhaps felt the impact most directly: he sells mobile phone recharge cards and, not surprisingly, the market has dried up. He said life was difficult as a result, but, like Gubio, added that he was willing to make the sacrifice. “If it helps end the insurgency, I am happy with it,” he said in the Hausa language used widely in the region. — AFP

PALERMO: Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful attended a mass yesterday putting on the path to sainthood a priest shot dead by the mafia 20 years ago, the first victim of organised crime to be declared a martyr. The open-air service for Father Pino Puglisi was held in a stadium on the waterfront of Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily, where he worked in a crime-heavy working-class neighbourhood.

Puglisi’s killing shocked the nation, helping turn public opinion in Sicily against the mafia and leading to a clear rejection by the Catholic Church of the pious gestures made by mobsters.

Palermo archbishop Paolo Romeo presided at the beatification with dozens of priests and officials-in contrast to when Puglisi’s pleas for help were ignored by religious and political leaders.

“Mafiosi often say and show they are believers, but they are behind mechanisms of exploitation and injustice, of hatred and bitterness, of violence and death,” Romeo said in his homily.

“Killings by mafiosi reveal their true nature. They reject the God of life and love,” he said. Salvatore De Giorgi, cardinal emeritus of Palermo, said: “Twenty years after his murder, Don Puglisi is speaking again and louder than ever.”

But his brother Gaetano was quoted as saying in recent book about Puglisi’s life: “I would have preferred him alive instead of blessed. “The Church is beatifying him now but when he needed help, no one helped Pino,” he said. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and Justice Minister Annamaria Cancellieri were also at the mass, which revived memories of high-profile mafia killings and bomb attacks in the early 1990s.

The community centre that Puglisi founded is still regularly targeted by criminals. Last month there was an arson attack on the site where it is planning to build a new church in his honour.

Puglisi is the first mafia victim to be declared by the Vatican a “martyr of the faith”-which makes him beatified, or blessed, and is the first step to official sainthood for the Church.

Puglisi was shot in the street on his 56th birthday on September 15, 1993 as he was returning

home in the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He was approached by a kill team of four people and initially thought it was an armed robbery. When he realised who the criminals were, he smiled and told them: “I have been expecting you.” Two of the perpetrators, who were all caught and given life sentences, later turned against the mafia and became key witnesses in trials that put dozens of gangsters behind bars.

One of the two is now a devout Catholic and the second, the trigger man, told investigators he has been haunted by Puglisi’s smile ever since. The killing was ordered by the then godfathers of Brancaccio, the Graviano brothers, who are also serving life sentences for the murder. The Gravianos were reportedly angry that

Puglisi was turning young people away from a life of crime and was openly critical of their power.

“If God is with us, who will be against us! I am not afraid of dying if what I say is the truth,” Puglisi once said in a homily. The killing of a priest was particularly shocking in a society where known gangsters attend mass and are often benefactors of their local churches. “There were churchmen who colluded with the mafia but then there were those like Puglisi who fought against it,” said Palermo mayor Leoluca Orlando. The proponent of Puglisi’s beatification, archbishop Vincenzo Bertolone, said: “The mafia is a religion and not just a criminal phenomenon and it does not allow other faiths.” —AFP

PALERMO: A nun shows a portrait of Father Giuseppe “Pino” Puglisi, an outspoken antiMafia advocate, during the beatification ceremony in Palermo yesterday. — AFP

Ukraine gay rights activists hold first ever formal march KIE V: Around a hundred gay r i ght s ac t i vi st s m arc hed in Ukraine yesterday despite fears of violence, marking the first gay pride event in the ex-Soviet country, where homophobia is widespread and socially accepted.

“This can be considered a historic day,” Elena Semyonova, a representative of the organisers, said after the event. “We felt like we

and June. A Ukrainian court on Thursday ruled that no events could be staged in the centre of Kiev yesterday because of City Day celebrations so the march organisers had opted for a smaller gathering far from the city centre. Les bia n a nd g ay rig hts activists, holding rainbow flags and placards, held a brief, 20minute-long march along a Kiev

Transgender) paraphernalia. The organisers advised participants to e s c h e w a ny e a r r i n g s o r o t h e r accessories and put on comfortable clothes and flat shoes that could help them escape quickly in case of a sudden attack or scuffle.

S ecurit y was so tight that police, journalists and anti-gay activists were essentially the only

KIEV: An activist’s silhouette is seen through a rainbow flag during a gay parade yesterday. — AFP were full-fledged citizens whose rights are respected,” she told AFP. The march went ahead despite strong public resistance.

City authorities had said they had received more than 500 complaints from members of the public ahead o f t he p lanned gay pride march, while more than 60 parliamentary lawmakers signed a letter calling for a blanket ban on all gay pride events in May

street amid a heavy police presence.

The activists were far outnumbered by several hundred police and some 400-500 opponents of the event who included religious activists seeking to disrupt the march. Unlike gay pride events in the West, the K iev march was low-key and did not feature any provocative clothing or LG BT (Lesbian, G ay, Bisexual and

Hagel: Cadets must stamp out sex assault scourge WEST POINT: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point yesterday that they must stamp out the scourge of sexual assault in the military. A day after President Barack Obama delivered a similar edict to US Naval Academy graduates, Hagel’s message comes amid a series of widespread incidents of sexual misconduct across the armed services in recent months and a new report showing that the problem is growing. The challenge is particularly poignant for the West Point crowd, since earlier in the week an Army sergeant was charged with secretly photographing and videotaping at least a dozen women at the upper New York state academy, including in a bathroom. “Sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military are a profound betrayal - a profound betrayal - of sacred oaths and sacred trusts,” Hagel told 1,007 graduating cadets during a cold, rainy outdoor ceremony. “This scourge must be stamped out. We are all accountable and responsible for ensuring that this happens. We cannot fail the Army or

America. We cannot fail each other and we cannot fail the men and women that we lead.”

Hagel, who served in the Army in Vietnam, took the opportunity to reflect on his own time in uniform and the lessons that he said must resonate as the soldiers take on the job of helping to transform the military. It was his first graduation address as defense chief. The graduates, he said, must be the generation of leaders who will stop the debilitating and insidious threats of suicide, sexual assault and drug and alcohol abuse that are hurting the all-volunteer force.

Wounded twice during his roughly one year at war, Hagel has two Purple Hearts and is the first man to become secretary of defense after serving only in the enlisted corps. Reflecting on his military service, Hagel said his time in the Army shaped him forever. “In Vietnam, I learned that combat is a furnace that can consume you, or it can forge you into something better and stronger than you were before,” said Hagel, who took over the job as Pentagon chief at the end of February.— AP

witnesses of the event. “Human rights are my pride,” chanted the activists who included a delegation from the southern German city of Munich, as well as gays and lesbians from Denmark, Sweden, Nor way and the Netherlands.

“Homosexuality is not an illness” and “LGBT rights are human rights” read the slogans they carried.

The Munich delegation led by

a senior official from the Munich City Hall Josef “Hep” Monatzeder carried a placard “Munich welcomes its sister city Kiev.” “I am surprised by such a strong police presence,” Monatzeder said in televised remarks. Western supporters at the march also included Marije Cornelissen, a European Parliament lawmaker.

Religious activists sought to thwart the procession and two of them managed to breach a police cordon as they tried to attack the gay activists but were detained.

Some fell to their knees as they cried out “Gays out of Ukraine!”

Around a dozen anti-gay activists were detained in total. According to the organisers of the march, there are between one and two million gays and lesbians in Ukraine, which has a population of some 45 million.

As in neighbouring Russia, the influence of the dominant Orthodox Church is strong and homophobia remains widespread.

In Russia, gay rights activists also attempted to hold unsanctioned rallies outside the parliament building in Moscow and near the mayor’s office, but were detained by police. A police spokesman told AFP that 30 people were detained including anti- gay ac tivists who turned out in protest against the rallies. Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Bayev praised Ukrainian authorities for allowing the march to go ahead in Kiev. “It is of course a more progressive country than Russia,” he told AFP, adding that Russian authorities effectively introduced a blanket ban on all gay pride events. Also yesterday, activists in the ex-Soviet country of Georgia held a small rally outside the prosecutors office demanding prosecutions for those behind the disruption of a gay rally by thousands of ultra- conser vative believers last Friday. — AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

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‘Black widow’ injures 18 in Russia MAKHACHK ALA: A female suicide bomber blew herself up in the southern Russian region of Dagestan yesterday injuring at least 18, including two children and five police officers, police said. The attacker was later identified as a widow of two Islamic radicals killed by security forces. It was the first suicide bombing in Dagestan since the Boston Marathon bombings last month. The Tsarnaev brothers suspected of carrying out those attacks are ethnic Chechens who lived in this turbulent Caucasus province before moving to the US Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder brother who was k illed a

shootout with police days after the April 15 bombings, spent six months in Dagestan in 2012.

Dagestan remains an epicenter of violence in the confrontation between Islamic radicals and federal forces.

Islamic extremists strive to create an independent Muslim state, or “emirate,” in the Caucasus and parts of southern Russia with a sizable Muslim population. In yesterday’s attack, the bomber detonated an explosives-laden belt in the central square in the provincial capital, Makhachkala, Dagestan’s police spokesman Vyacheslav Gasanov said.

The woman was identified as

Madina Alieva, 25, who married an Islamist who was killed in 2009 and then wedded another Islamic radical who was gunned down last year, police spokeswoman Fatina Ubaidatova said.

Since 2000, at least two dozen women, most of them from the Caucasus, have carried out suicide bombings in Russian cities and aboard trains and planes. All were linked to an Islamic insurgency that spread throughout Dagestan and the predominantly Muslim Caucasus region after two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya.

The bombers are often called “black widows” in Russia because many are

the widows, or other relatives, of militants killed by security forces. Islamic militants are believed to convince “black widows” that a suicide bombing will reunite them with their dead relatives beyond the grave. Police said two of the people injured in the attack were in critical condition. There were no details about the injured children.

This week, a double explosion in Makhachkala killed four civilians and left 44 injured, while three security officers and three suspected militants have been killed in other incidents.

One of the devices was in a parked car and the other was placed in a trash bin.

Although Chechen separatists were battered almost a decade ago, Islamists continue to move through the region’s mountains and forests with comparative ease despite security sweeps by federal forces and police under the control of local leaders loyal to the Kremlin. Human rights groups say that abductions, torture and extrajudicial killings of young men suspected of militant links by Russian security forces have helped swell the rebels’ ranks.

Caucasus experts say that Islamists routinely extort money from government officials and businessmen and attack or kill those who refuse to pay. — AP

Swedish riots spread beyond capital Cars, buildings torched overnight

GITEGA: Photo shows members of the youth league Inbonerakure during a congress meeting in Gitega, Burundi. —AFP

Burundi’s ruling party youth wing, acting with impunity BUJUMBURA: The tens of thousands of young men from Burundi’s ruling party, notorious for their nocturnal “security patrols” countrywide, are increasingly a law unto themselves. Overcoats draped over their shoulders hide the clubs, machetes and rifles they carry as they patrol towns and villages, checking an identification card here, closing down a bar there. The youth wing of the ruling Cndd-FDD counts tens of thousands of members who enjoy impunity even as they beat up opponents, run extortion rackets and engage in deadly vendettas.

The Imbonerakure, as the members of the youth wing are known, even also act in broad daylight-banning opposition meetings, destroying opposition party flagsunder the approving eye of Burundi’s police and administration. “In some parts of the country the Imbonerakure are a law unto themselves,” said Vital Nshimirimana, co-ordinator of the civil society coalition Forsc.

“They have replaced the judicial authorities and the police and have taken it upon themselves to ensure security, a role on which the defence and security forces are supposed to have a monopoly.”

Nshimirimana, whose Forsc platform groups together more than 200 organisations, was speaking at a press conference earlier this month aimed at kickstarting a “campaign against political intolerance in Burundi.”

Forsc slammed “intimidation, kidnappings, assassinations, torture and other abuses” perpetrated notably “by the ruling party youth wing”. Stung by a public outcry over recent blunders committed by the Imbonerakure, the Burundian authorities earlier this month came out in defence of the youth wing.

“I call on you not to use the blunders we have seen to gain a political advantage, for such mistakes are the fault of an individual and should not be held against the move-

ment as a whole,” Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana told civil society groups. “The Imbonerakure are affiliated to Cndd-FDD and as a general rule they do a very good job in helping maintain order and security,” Nduwimana said.

The Imbonerakure have taken on an ever-bigger policing role since the 2010 elections, won by the Cndd-FDD and boycotted by the opposition. The violence that followed the elections sparked fears that Burundi could sink back into all out civil war. But the defence and security forces, backed by the Imbonerakure, snuffed out the fledgling rebellions before they got off the ground.

Cndd-FDD has so far refused to say how many men are enrolled in the Imbonerakure, which opponents call a militia group. The group’s members are thought to run into the tens of thousands.

“Don’t be deceived. There’s nothing gratuitous about the Imbonerakure violence,” said Frederic Banvuginyumvira, deputy chairman of the Frodebu opposition party.

“It contributes to creating a climate of terror, particularly in the countryside ahead of the 2015 elections, just like what we saw in Ivory Coast.” For him, the fact that the Imbonerakure enjoy impunity backs up the theory that they are part of an election strategy for 2015.

The ruling party dismisses such theories.

“If the Imbonerakure go unpunished, the blame lies with the administrative or judicial officials whose role it is to crack down on abuses but who don’t,” said Pascal Nyabenda, the chairman of the ruling Cndd-FDD. “We don’t need a militia to get elected. The people love us and they’re behind us all the way,” he said. But the officials whose job it would be to crack down on the militia say it is not that simple. “If you meddle in the affairs of the Imbonerakure you get transferred to the back of beyond,” a police officer told AFP. “We have no choice but to turn a blind eye.” — AFP

Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees horror behind him MOUNT VERNON: The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him. Two vehicles fell into the icy Skagit River. Amazingly, nobody was killed. The three people who fell into the water escaped with only minor injuries. Officials are trying to find out whether the spectacular collapse of a bridge on one of the West’s most important roadways was a fluke - or a sign of a bigger problem with thousands of bridges across the US. Authorities focused first on trying to find a temporary span for the Skagit, although it won’t come in time for the tens of thousands of Memorial Day vacationers who would travel between Canada and Seattle. “You cannot overstate the importance of this corridor to Washington state,” Gov Jay Inslee said. Traffic on I-5 and surrounding roads was backed up for miles, a situation the governor said would continue indefinitely.

Officials were looking for a temporary, prefabricated bridge to replace the 160-foot section that failed, Inslee said Friday. If one is found, it could be in place in weeks. If not, it could be months before a replacement can be built, the governor said. The spectacular collapse unfolded about 7 pm Thursday on the north end of the four-lane bridge near Mount Vernon, about 60 miles north of Seattle and 40 miles south of the Canada border.

“He looked in the mirrors and it just dropped out of sight,” Cynthia Scott, the wife of truck driver William Scott, said from the couple’s home near Spruce Grove, Alberta. “I spoke to him seconds after it happened. He

was just horrified.” The truck driver works for Mullen Trucking in Alberta, the Washington State Patrol said. The tractor-trailer was hauling a housing for drilling equipment southbound when the top right front corner of the load struck several of the bridge’s trusses, the patrol said.

Scott, 41, remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. He voluntarily gave a blood sample for an alcohol test and was not arrested. Scott has been driving truck for 20 years and hauling specialized loads for more than 10. “He gets safety awards, safety bonuses ... for doing all these checks, for hiring the right pilot cars and pole cars,” his wife said. Initially, it wasn’t clear if the bridge just gave way on its own. But Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste blamed it on the too-tall load. The vertical clearance from the roadway to the beam is 14.6 feet.

The truck made it off the bridge, but two other vehicles went into the water about 25 feet below as the structure crumbled. Dan Sligh and his wife were in their pickup heading to a camping trip when he said the bridge before them disappeared in a “big puff of dust.” “I hit the brakes and we went off,” Sligh told reporters from a hospital. Bryce Kenning, of Mount Vernon, said the bridge seemed to explode in front of him. The 20-year-old slammed the brakes and could see the edge of the pavement approaching, but there was nothing he could do. “It was like time was frozen - like a roller coaster where you’re not attached to the tracks,” Kenning said in a phone interview. “I’m sure it was just one of the loudest sounds ever to hear this thing explode and fall into the water like that, but I didn’t hear a thing. I just witnessed it happening in front of me.” —AP

STOCKHOLM: Riots in Sweden spread beyond the capital on yesterday, the sixth straight night of unrest that flared in Stockholm’s immigrant-dominated suburbs and has sparked a debate over integration in a country long seen as an oasis of peace. Cars and buildings were torched overnight in the medium-sized towns of Oerebro, Uppsala and Linkoeping, though tensions showed signs of easing in Stockholm’s suburbs. The unrest has sparked a debate among Swedes over the integration of immigrants, many of whom arrived under the country’s generous asylum policies, and who now make up about 15 percent of the population.

Firefighters responded to about 30 or 40 incidents in the greater Stockholm area overnight, down from 70 the night before and 90 the night prior to that. “The past night was the calmest we’ve seen so far,” Stockholm police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said.

Police reinforcements were called in from Sweden’s second and third biggest cities, Gothenburg and Malmoe-which have both experienced riots in the past decade-and volunteers patrolling the streets to restore calm had had a deterring effect and helped reduce the violence, Lindgren said.

“With the strong presence on the streets of the good forces, and the police reinforcements, I think we are well on our way towards calmer times in the coming days,” he said. Police arrested one person for attempted assault and about 20 others were briefly detained and then released for disturbing the peace, Lindgren said. In the town of Oerebro, 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Stockholm, police reported a fire at a school as well as several cars ablaze. A police officer was injured by a thrown stone and a police station was vandalised. In Linkoeping, 235 kilometres southwest of the capital, a

STOCKHOLM: Firemen extinguish a burning car in the Stockholm suburb of Tensta after youths rioted in few different suburbs around Stockholm and Sweden on May 24, 2013.—AFP number of vehicles were incinerated, and a nursery and a primary school were both set on fire. And in Uppsala, 70 kilometres north of Stock holm, a school and a car were set ablaze and a pharmacy was vandalised.

It remained unclear whether the cause of the unrest in the other towns was, as in Stockholm, immigrants’ discontent, or merely copycat vandalism. But Oerebro police spokesman said he believed it was the latter.

“I think some people are just taking advantage of the situation to commit these crimes as a result of what has happened in Stockholm and the attention that has received,” he told TT. About 200 right-wing extremists were repor ted to cruise around Stockholm suburbs in their cars late Friday, but intense police sur-

veillance prevented any kind of serious violence. The nightly riots have prompted Britain’s Foreign O ffice and the US embassy in Stockholm to issue warnings to their nationals, urging them to avoid the affected suburbs. The troubles began in the suburb of Husby, where 80 percent of inhabitants are immigrants, believed to be triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old Husby resident last week after the man wielded a machete in public.

Local activists said the shooting sparked anger among youths who claim to have suffered from police brutality and racism. One of the rioters in Husby told Swedish Radio that racism was rampant where he lived, and that violence was his only way of being noticed.

“We burned cars, threw rocks at police, at police cars. But it’s good,

because now people know what Husby is... This is the only way to be heard,” said the rioter, identified only by the pseudonym Kim. But a 25-year-old who grew up in Husby said he didn’t think the riots had anything to do with the shooting.

“I’m not saying there are no problems... but people are glorifying this a little bit,” said the man, who declined to be named, adding that many of the rioters were aged 12 to 17. “I can imagine they get a big kick out of seeing themselves on TV,” he said. Due to its liberal immigration policy, Sweden has in recent decades become one of Europe’s top destinations for immigrants, both in absolute numbers and relative to its size. But many of them struggle to learn the language and find employment, despite numerous government programmes.—AFP

Dead baby’s dad believes in ‘divine healing’ PHILADELPHIA: After their 2-year-old son died of untreated pneumonia in 2009, faith-healing advocates Herbert and Catherine Schaible promised a judge they would not let another sick child go without medical care. But now they’ve lost an 8-month-old to what a prosecutor called “eerily similar” circumstances. And instead of another involuntary manslaughter charge, they’re now charged with third-degree murder.

“We believe in divine healing, that Jesus shed blood for our healing and that he died on the cross to break the devil’s power,” Herbert Schaible, 44, told Philadelphia homicide detectives after their ninth child, Brandon, died in April. Medicine, he said, “is against our religious beliefs.” The Schaibles were ordered held without bail Friday, two days after their arrest, although defense lawyers argued that they are neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community.

“He is incarcerated because of his faith,” said lawyer Bobby Hoof, who described client Herbert Schaible’s mindset as resolute. “He’s strong willed,” Hoof said. “(Yet) he’s mourning this son. He’s hurting as any dad would.” The only people theoretically at risk are the couple’s seven surviving children, who are now in foster care, the lawyers said.

A judge acknowledged that the couple had never missed a court date in the first case but

said he worried that might change amid the more serious charges. And he feared they may have supporters who would harbor them.

“Throughout this country ... there are churches like the Schaibles’ whose members and leaders probably don’t think they did anything wrong and might be willing - to paraphrase the Schaibles’ pastor - to put their interpretation of God’s will above the law,” Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner said.

About a dozen children die each year in the US when parents turn to faith healing instead of medicine, typically from highly treatable problems, said Shawn Francis Peters, a University of Wisconsin lecturer who has studied faith-healing deaths. In Oregon, four couples from a faithhealing church have been prosecuted, the most recent in 2011 when a couple was sentenced to more than six years in prison for manslaughter in the death of their newborn son.

The state legislature that year removed faith healing as a defense to murder charges.

Members of the Followers of Christ have consistently refused to speak with journalists. Defense lawyer Mark Cogan declined to comment Friday on whether the legal actions have changed the practice of any church members. Some testified at the 2011 trial that they do get medical care.

At the Schaibles’ sentencing in February 2011 in their son Kent’s death, they agreed to follow

This undated file photo combination provided by the Philadelphia Police Department shows Herbert and Catherine Schaible. — AP

terms of the 10-year probation, which included an order to get their children regular checkups and sick visits as needed. Catherine Schaible, 43, let her husband speak for her and never addressed the judge. “It’s very clear that the law says that religious freedom is trumped by the safety of a child,” Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Engel Temin explained.

But a transcript of a later probation hearing that year shows probation officers were confused by their mandate to oversee the required medical care and felt powerless to carry it out.

The family was not being monitored by childwelfare workers, who are more accustomed to dealing with medical compliance. “I think that we all on the jury thought that it would not happen again, that whatever social and legal institutions needed to be involved in their situation would just take over ... and that the mandated visits would be robust enough that they would not be able to do this again,” Vincent Bertolini, a former college professor who served as jury foreman at the Schaibles’ first trial, said Friday.

That jury convicted the couple of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Like other cases Peters has studied, the Schaibles belong to a small, insular circle of believers. Both are third-generation members and former teachers at their fundamentalist Christian church, the First Centur y Gospel Church in northeast Philadelphia.

Their pastor, Nelson Clark, has said the Schaibles lost their sons because of a “spiritual lack” in their lives and insisted they would not seek medical care even if another child appeared near death. He did not return phone messages this month, but he told The Associated Press in 2011 that his church is not a cult, and he faulted officials for trying to force his members into “the flawed medical system,” which he blamed for 100,000 deaths a year.

“These are people who have been brought up in these communities; their beliefs are reinforced every day,” Peters said. “ They’re not trained intellectually to question these doctrines, where the rest of us might engage in critical inquiry, weighing the benefits of medicine versus the benefits of prayer.” A handful of families, including one in western Pennsylvania, have lost two children after attempts at faith healing, according to Peters, who wrote “When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children and the Law.” Peters isn’t sure that courts have the means to prevent the problem, since such people don’t fear legal punishment, only Judgment Day. Some believe death “is a good outcome,” given their belief in the afterlife, he said.—AP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

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

Principal recounts tornado hitting Oklahoma school MOORE: Teachers and students at Plaza Towers Elementary School hunkered down against the storm just as they had been taught in countless tornado drills, their principal said Friday, recounting how she walked the halls until the twister was on the doorstep, then announced on the intercom, “It’s here.” In a pause-filled recollection that left many weeping, Amy Simpson said at a news conference that her teachers emerged battered after doing what they could to save every child in the Oklahoma school. Still, seven second- and third-graders were among the 24 killed when the top-of-the scale EF5 tornado with 210 mph winds struck Moore on Monday.

“The teachers covered themselves in debris while they were covering their babies. And I believe that is why so many of us survived that day, because the teachers were able to act quickly, stay calm and take literally the weight of a wall onto their bodies to save those that were under them,” said Simpson, a native of the city of about 56,000. The tornado was on the ground for 40 minutes and left a 17-mile path of destruction. Its victims at the

school were ages 8 and 9. “These kids are close. They grew up in one neighborhood.

They play in the streets. They play in the creek. They have their own little community, even more so in the classroom,” secondgrade teacher Amy Eischen said.

The Moore School District canceled its school year after the tornado hit Plaza Towers and the Briarwood school, where all students survived. District officials and teachers met with pupils and their parents Thursday to give everyone a chance to say goodbye before heading into summer vacation. Simpson said that, having been born and raised in Oklahoma, she knew what it meant to deal with tornadoes. The state, in the heart of Tornado Alley, has averaged more than 50 tornadoes per year since record-keeping began in 1950.

“Not one parent blamed us because they’re Oklahomans, too, and they know what a tornado means and they know what it means in school,” Simpson said.

“We practice our procedures. We get in our safest places.” Simpson said teachers and students had spent much of Monday morning celebrating their achievements and practicing this year’s sixth-grade grad-

Argentina marks ten years of Kirchner rule BUENOS AIRES: The “Era K,” as the decadeold rule of Cristina Kirchner and her late husband Nestor is known in Argentina, is showing its age. Together the couple have dominated Argentina since Nestor Kirchner was first elected president on May 25, 2003, with Cristina by his side, leading the country out of a devastating economic crisis to a heady period of surging growth.

Cristina, who succeeded Nestor in 2007, has had a more turbulent ride, weathering her husband’s death of a heart attack in 2010 as she presided over a flagging economy that now appears threatened by high inflation. Rising corruption, crime, and her increasingly authoritarian tone are additional signs that the country may be nearing the end of a major political cycle, critics say. “It was extraordinary what they did in human rights and economics,” said sociologist Jorge Giacobbe, who also consults for corruption watchdog Transparency International.

“But in speeches, Cristina offends people, she is abusive, she fights against farmers and the press, and she does not tolerate criticism,” he added. It’s a long way from 2003, when Nestor Kirchner and his wife-onetime leftist Peronist activists-appeared on the scene at a low point in Argentine history.

The country had had three presidents in two years amid an economic crisis that ignited

street riots and led to a historic default on its $132 billion foreign debt.

As president, Nestor Kirchner responded by slashing deficits through aggressive tax collection and controlling government spending, while at the same time rejecting IMF austerity plans and pouring funds into social welfare programs. The economy took off, with annual growth rates of 8.9 percent in the early years, said Roberto Lavagna, Kirchner’s economy minister and a key figure in the turnaround. But after 2007 growth subsided to 3.8 percent.

“There is no such thing as the Kirchnerista decade, except on the calendar,” said Lavagna, a centrist who now opposes President Cristina Kirchner. “The fact is there were two very distinct periods, with very different policies and also results,” he said. In a recent report, the consulting firm Abeceb.com said the high growth, low inflation of the first stage has given way to a period of “scarcity” marked by currency controls, import restrictions and high inflation.

Polls show that inflation is the biggest issue for voters ahead of mid-term elections in October. The inflation rate is around 20 percent, among the highest in Latin America-or half of that, if government statistics are to be believed. The fallout from inflation is evident everywhere. — AFP

uation. Then attention turned to the sky.

When the sirens blared, the principal walked the school to make sure everyone was prepared. “Teachers were rubbing kids on the back, singing songs,” while the students were crouched with their hands behind their necks, Simpson said. When Simpson got to her office, a fifth-grade teacher told her the storm was just southwest of the school. “I got on the intercom and said, ‘It’s here,’” Simpson said.

She rode out the storm in a bathroom.

“You feel things trickling down on you from the ceiling, then those things become chunks of things,” Simpson said. “I yelled and said, ‘In God’s name, go away!’ I yelled it about four times. And then it was gone.” While debris was still flying, Simpson said, she told others, “I’ve got to get to the kids. I got out of the bathroom and the whole neighborhood was gone.”

She quickly tended to the younger students then saw that students in grades 4, 5 and 6 were heading to a nearby church.

She asked her husband to help the second- and third-graders - she hadn’t seen any of them yet. They were in a part of the school that was particularly hard-hit.

School counselor Kristin Atchley said surviving class members could tell while still trapped in the rubble who wasn’t going to make it. “They knew before they got pulled

out,” Atchley said. Simpson, sobbing, said she had already been to three funerals and will have gone to four more by the end of the week. —AP

MOORE: Ashlyn Kelley, age eleven, who is in the fifth grade and was in the Plaza Towers elementary school when the Moore tornado hit, ties stuffed animals to the perimeter fence as a memorial to the seven students who died, at the school in Moore, Okla.— AP

Mexico: Far fewer people disappeared than feared Mexico fears immigrants lured by drug cartels MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s top security official said Friday that far fewer people disappeared during Mexico’s drug war than were feared when the government released a list of about 26,000 cases. Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said federal and state governments are working to weed out people who have been located. He noted that many of those included on the original list of 26,121 released earlier this year had left home for personal reasons or emigrated. He says a new list will be released with a few months and “it will be much lower.”

The list was compiled by the administration of former President Felipe Calderon, and largely covers disappearance reports from his 20062102 term. Osorio Chong said some of the people on the list had returned to their families, but relatives never bothered to cancel the original missing person report.

The issue has become a sensitive one in Mexico, where kidnappings are rife and thousands of people say their relatives have been abducted by drug gangs. Osorio Chong also claimed that the number of deaths related to the drug war has been steadily dropping, and he expects that by the end of the month, figures would be about 20 percent lower than the

same period of 2012. He said figures show about 34 drug-related killings per day so far in May, down from 41 in the same period in 2012.

However, experts have questioned what they say is atypical behavior in the statistics.

The Interior Department reported in April that drug-related deaths fell 14 percent from December to March, as compared to the same period a year earlier. But non-drug-related deaths rose by 6.8 percent during the same period, raising the question of whether some deaths were reclassified to improve the country’s image and to help President Enrique Pena Nieto appear to meet a key campaign pledge: to reduce drug-related violence.

Osorio Chong responded to those doubts by saying “we don’t make up statistics,” and offered to arrange a meeting between reporters and experts who compiled the death tolls, to discuss the methodology used. He also said Mexico had requested changes both in the way it shares intelligence with the United States, and the way the US deports migrants. Mexico has requested the United States no longer just dump migrants at the border, but rather advise Mexico about who is being deported, and in some cases arrange for “interior deportation,”

flying deportees to their home cities rather than releasing them in border towns where they could be targets for recruitment by drug gangs. “If you send people back, at least give me minimal information to know who you’re deporting, and send them where I ask you to,” said Osorio Chong. He said that if they’re simply dumped at the border, “the drug cartels are going to grab them. They (the migrants) are going to try to cross again, or they’re going to join organized crime.”

The interior minister also defended Mexico’s new policy of channeling all cross-border intelligence sharing through a single office, rather than allowing each Mexican agency to communicate with its US counterpart, as in the past.

Osorio Chong said the previous policy had encouraged organizational infighting in the Mexican government. “It looked like a big dispute, with agencies fighting among themselves.” “Now, we are being more effective than ever, the United States has more information than it did before,” he said. “Ask them. Ask them if we’re not being faster, more agile in information sharing.” The US embassy had no immediate response to the interior minister’s statements. — AP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

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

Suicide bomber dies in blast in Afghan capital Afghan security forces hailed after Kabul attack

KABUL: Afghan volunteers and Yazmany Arboleda (right) the organizer for “We Believe In Balloons” pose for a group picture during the preparation yesterday.— AFP

After Kabul attacks, 10,000 peace balloons KABUL: After a day of explosions and gunfire, residents of Kabul woke up yesterday morning to be greeted by a public art project in which volunteers handed out 10,000 neonpink “peace” balloons. Organised by Yazmany Arboleda, a 31-year-old conceptual artist from the United States, the project was an unusual attempt to bring a dose of creativity and fun to the Afghan capital, which has been wrecked by decades of war. The timing of the event, which had been kept secret, came just hours after Taleban militants had launched a major suicide and gun attack on a compound of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in central Kabul.

One police officer was killed and five gunmen were shot dead in several hours of violence as security forces hunted down the attackers, with bursts of gunfire and grenade blasts heard across the city late into the evening. “I did think of calling it off last night but all the volunteers insisted it continued,” Arboleda said. “I could hear explosions from my house but everyone was just ignoring them and doing the last-minute preparations unaffected.”

“They said that this is what happens in their city, and they have to get on with their lives. How people have embraced this shows how much creativity, positivity and love there is here despite everything.” Yesterday morn-

ing-the start of the Afghan working weekmore than 100 young Kabul artists and students distributed the bright pink balloons to workers, shoppers and families living in the dusty capital.

At distribution points in the city centre beginning at 07:00 am, adults were given one balloon each and encouraged to keep them until the end of the day. “The balloons are not worth any money but they are distributed in the cause of peace so we admire this initiative,” said Waheedullah Nizami, a soldier who received a balloon.

But Haji Mohammad Khan, 62, selling bananas on the street, dismissed the idea, saying: “What’s the benefit of this? It is not going to help bring peace here.” Arboleda, who is based in New York, has arranged similar balloon projects in Nairobi in Kenya, Bangalore in India and Yamaguchi in Japan.

Called “We Believe In Balloons”, the event was paid for by individuals and groups around the world sponsoring each balloon for $1. “I tell people that this balloon is to bring a smile to your face,” said Nargis Azaryoon, one of the volunteers. “I want to see my people happy.” The continuing threat in Kabul was underlined when a suicide bomber killed himself in the south of the city yesterday morning when he was preparing explosives, police said.— AFP

KABUL: A would-be suicide bomber died when his explosivesrigged vest went off prematurely in Afghanistan’s capital yesterday morning, police said. The apparent failed attack came a day after a major Taleban assault on an international compound in Kabul left 10 people dead including the six attackers.

Another blast in the country’s east killed 12 people at a mosque during evening prayers late Friday.

Authorities in Ghazni province say explosives transported by suspected Taleban fighters accidentally detonated while they were stopped at a mosque. In Kabul, a man wearing an explosives-filled vest died when the vest went off as he left a home in the capital’s southeast, police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanekzai said. No one else was killed or wounded, but the accidental detonation may have averted another attack in the city, which has seen two deadly suicide attacks in just over a week.

On Friday afternoon, a suicide car bomber kicked off an assault targeting a guest house for aid workers with the International Organization for Migration. Kabul police yesterday raised the siege death toll from two to four, including a 6-year-old child, two compound guards and one policeman.

All six of the attackers were killed, one in the bomb and five more in an hours-long shootout with police in the upscale neighborhood that is home to the United Nations’ office as well as the headquarters of the Afghan Public Protection Force and a hospital run by the National Directorate for Security.

Four IOM workers were wounded including an Italian woman badly burned by a grenade, the aid group said. The siege came eight days after another suicide car bomb hit a US military convoy, killing two US soldiers, four American contractors and nine Afghan bystanders.

Protecting major population centers like Kabul is one of the most visible tests for Afghan security forces’ ability to keep security now that international combat forces are pulling back ahead of the 2014 withdrawal. Most of the

KABUL: An Afghan police officer investigates the site of an attack yesterday. — AP US-led military coalition will leave Taleban insurgency as NATO-led said that doubts remained whether by the end of next year, more than troops withdraw by the end of it was the specific target of the a dozen years after launching the 2014. The police, army and special attack. “It could have been an NDS war to topple the Taleban regime forces are being trained up by the (National Directorate of Security over its sheltering of Al-Qaeda’s international coalition, but there spy agency) building next door,” are widespread fears that they will IOM spokesman Richard Danziger leadership.

In the eastern province of not be able to impose security told AFP. The Taleban claimed the attack Ghazni, another explosion at a after 12 years of war.

“The fact that our special force was against a guesthouse allegedly local mosque killed four civilians and eight militants during Friday police kept the civilian casualties to used by Afghan and US intellinight prayers, local official Qasim a minimum was a great success,” gence staff. Danziger added that Desewal said yesterday. He said interior ministry spokesman Sediq one Italian female staff member that the Taleban had apparently Sediqqi told a news conference in badly wounded by a grenade blast stopped at the mosque in Andar Kabul. “The attackers were brain- was evacuated to Europe district while traveling and the washed to kill our people... but our overnight.

A total of 17 people were explosives they were carrying went forces contained and killed them.

There were four attackers with wounded, including seven off while they were inside.

Nepalese guards and one eightMeanwhile, the Afghan govern- heavy and light weapons.”

Sediqqi said one insurgent det- year-old Afghan boy. Also on ment lauded its security forces yesterday for beating back a Taleban onated himself at the entrance of Friday evening, a large explosion assault on central Kabul that left the IOM compound at the start of inside a mosque in Ghazni one policeman, two civilians and fighting, which eventually left sev- province killed eight Taleban and all four militants dead. Explosions eral buildings destroyed or dam- three civilians. The provincial govby rocket-propelled ernment said the bomb, hidden in rocked the city for several hours on aged Friday after insurgents launched a grenades, gunfire and explosions. fuel jugs, exploded accidentally coordinated suicide and gun attack “The gunmen moved to four other when insurgents were praying with centred on a compound of the buildings. The fight continued till villagers. The continuing threat to International Organization for 11:00 pm, and the three remaining Kabul was underlined yesterday when a suicide bomber killed himattackers were killed,” he said.

Migration (IOM).

The IOM, a UN-affiliated body self in the south of the city as he The effectiveness of Afghan security forces is crucial to the gov- that works to improve manage- was preparing explosives, police ernment’s ability to defeat the ment of cross-border migration, said.—Agencies

Foreign workers’ spouses often get stuck in limbo SEATTLE: Looking back now, Pallavi Dua admits she wasn’t prepared for the frustration of being surrounded by jobs for which she easily qualified but which were off-limits to her under US immigration laws. The wife of a Microsoft software engineer here on an H-1B visa, Dua’s status as an H-4 visa spouse did not permit her to work in the US or get a Social Security number - leaving her financially dependent on her husband.

It’s a reality for the 27-year-old, who holds an MBA and for three years worked as a business analyst in New Delhi before joining her husband here two years ago. Dua is part of a select group of foreign residents, almost all of them women, more than half, like her, South Asian, and many of them holding at least one advanced degree. While they wait, a lucky few persuade US employers to apply on their behalf for an H-1B visa. Many others, like Dua, take college courses, adding to the degrees they already have. Still others do volunteer work, start families or simply stay home.

There’s some hope for them in a sweeping and controversial immigration bill introduced in Congress last month that would grant work authorization to those whose home countries offer reciprocal treatment to the spouses of US citizen workers.

In Dua’s case, India is not one of them. The 844page bill, which covers issues ranging from legal status for those in the country unlawfully to doubling the number of H-1B visas for skilled workers, is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. Testifying on the bill last month, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said H-4 spouses tend to be “well-educated ... and able to contribute productively to the economy.”

Prohibiting them from working, he said, causes “financial, personal and other hardships for employees and causes recruitment and retention problems for employers.” When she was planning her move to the US, Dua said, she envisioned taking a year off to relax, even as her husband urged her to do more to prepare - like looking into potential jobs or taking the GMAT for graduate school.

“In the back of my mind, I was confident that

with an MBA I’d be able to find work,” she said. But once she was here, the idea of taking it easy went out the window as boredom set in. The few people she knew in the Seattle area - including her husband - had jobs to go to each day. And her lack of a driver’s license and unfamiliarity with the area meant there was little to keep her occupied. “I went from this mode of getting married and all the attention that goes with that to being stuck in the house where all you do is wait for your husband to come home.

“I didn’t think it would be this bad.” Advocates have long fretted that the legal restrictions on H4s turn spouses into involuntary housewives.

“Individuals on H-4 visas pay a heavy price for the privilege of living in the US and being with their spouses,” said Tahmina Watson, an immigration attorney in Seattle. “The restrictions on their daily lives are almost oppressive.” But Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, characterizes this as “backdoor expansion, where you get two for the price of one.” “The condition under which you agree to come to this country is that you can bring your spouse but they’re not eligible to work,” he said.

“We need to hold people to the bargains they make.” Each year, US employers use nonimmigrant H-1B visas to hire 85,000 foreign workers into specialty jobs. The visa is good for three years and renewable for another three, with most workers applying during that six-year window for permanent residency, or green cards.

Green cards are distributed on a per-country basis and because of the large number of applicants from places such as China and India, the backlog for visas coming available for applicants from those countries can stretch for years, even decades. H-1B workers are allowed under law to bring their spouses and children, estimated at about 1.1 dependents per H-1B candidate. They can apply for a work permit only when a green card becomes available for the H-1B worker and they obtain permanent residency at the same time the H-1B holder does.

To overcome the employment ban, many try to change their status from H-4 to another type of

WASHINGTON: Pallavi Dua, 27, is photographed in her home, in Issaquah, Washington. —MCT

nonimmigrant visa that allows them to work, such as an F-1 student visa or even their own H-1B. But sponsoring foreign workers for employment visas is a huge effort on the part of the employer, is costly and complex. And while an American hired today can start work tomorrow, an H-1B hire requires an application fee that typically costs about $2,300, plus attorney fees. What’s more, with demand high, there are no guarantees they’ll get a visa once they submit their application in April and employers can’t bring the employee onboard until October of that year.

Gaining work authorization through her husband’s green card petition is at least six years away, she predicts. She had tried, without success, to find an employer willing to sponsor her for an H-1B visa. “The first question (employers) ask is ‘are you authorized to work in the US?’ “ she said.

“Sometimes the application gets rejected right there and then. I got one or two companies that were ready to talk to me but said they don’t sponsor H-1Bs.” In January 2012, five months after she arrived, she began taking courses toward a master’s degree in information systems at a university in Seattle. Another master’s degree, she admits, wasn’t in the cards. “When I completed my master’s in India, I thought that was it. I feel working gives you more experience than studying. But there was nothing better to do so I had no choice but to study.”

Recognizing the H-4’s restrictions, Ananya Rabeya considered it her last resort in a race against time to remain legally in the US. The 29year-old Bangladeshi met her husband online in 2007 when he was working as a software engineer on an H-1B visa in Seattle and she had just graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma. She moved to Washington to be closer to him, enrolling at Eastern Washington University to pursue a master’s degree in mathematics and taking a graduate instructor position.

During the summers, she taught math at Lakeside School. And for a year after she graduated from EWU in 2011, she taught at The Northwest School, which she’d hoped would sponsor her for an H-1B visa. “For me working was crucial,” Rabeya said. “We are a family of two ... with pretty strong family ties back in Bangladesh and family members who depend on us. There’s no way I could afford to sit around and not work.”

But after the H-1B option at Northwest fell through, Rabeya began a frantic search for an employer to sponsor her for an H-1B visa. In cover letters, she disclosed her need for H-1B sponsorship. She knew she was asking a lot - trying to persuade private schools and community colleges to sponsor her for an employment visa without having seen her work.

She married in 2011 and by September the following year, with no employment in the offing and her time to remain legally running out, Rabeya switched to H-4. It will take at least four years before she’ll be able to apply for work authorization through her husband’s employment-based green-card petition. “Everything is so uncertain,” she said. “Now I’m waiting for that to come through so I can start working.”—MCT

KANDY: In this photograph taken on May 24, 2013, Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Bowatte Indaratna is engulfed in flames after he set himself on fire in the central town of Kandy. — AFP

Lanka monk fights for life after suicide bid COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan monk was fighting for his life yesterday, a day after setting himself on fire to protest the slaughter of cattle, an official said.

Bowatte Indaratna, 30, was flown to the main National Hospital in Colombo from the pilgrim town of Kandy where he doused himself with gasoline and set himself alight on Friday in front of stunned Buddhist devotees. “He is in a very serious condition with 95 percent burns,” hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa told AFP. “We have sedated him and he is fighting for his life.”

A local television channel showed the dramatic images of the monk using a cigarette lighter to set himself ablaze and bystanders, including police throwing buckets of water to put out the flames. “This is a sacrifice of a life. This is not a suicide,” the monk told the local Swarnavahini television cameraman minutes before the self-immolation bid.

“There are over 5,000 cattle slaughtered in Sri Lanka each morning and it must stop.”

In a leaflet distributed to devotees

outside the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, 72 miles (115 kilometres) east of the capital Colombo, the monk said he was also against proselytising by Christian groups. His unannounced protest came as the country celebrated Wesak, the commemoration of the birth, enlightenment and the death of the Buddha, in the Buddhist-majority country which marks the occasion with two days of holidays.

Eating meat is common in Buddhist Sri Lanka, although according to the religion killing animals is a sin. Animal rights groups have tried unsuccessfully to secure a ban on meat eating in Sri Lanka. An animal rights activist said she did not condone the monk’s action, but she added that the unprecedented move demonstrated the anger towards the inhuman treatment of animals. The monk’s attempt at immolation came amid rising religious tensions after Buddhist extremists campaigned to boycott halal-slaughtered meat as well as other products that carry a halal certificate. —AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

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

Ex-Guatemala prez extradited to US Portillo faces laundering charges of $70m

MASINLOC: Fishermen Richard Caneda (background) and Julius Sumaling in front of Sumaling’s fishing ship in Masinloc, Philippines.— MCT

In a disputed reef, Philippines sees face of Chinese dominance MASINLOC: The fishermen were sailing the azure waters off the Philippine coast when Richard Caneda saw the morning sunlight glinting off a vessel “bigger than the biggest ship in the Philippine navy.” Caneda could see a red Chinese flag. The words “Chinese Maritime Surveillance” were written on the ship’s side. The ship came close enough that Caneda could see crew members on deck making hand gestures as though to shoo away a fly. Caneda, who had moved from the fishing boat to a tiny skiff to haul in nets left out overnight, soon saw a large gun mounted on the ship’s deck pivoting directly toward him. A helicopter whirred overhead.

The fishermen fled, leaving their nets and catch behind. “We were scared. We were angry. We were frustrated. That is our livelihood,” Caneda, 34, a now-unemployed father of three who lives in a shantytown in Masinloc, said of the November encounter. It happened near the reef known as Scarborough Shoal, 130 miles off the coast of the Philippines’ largest island, Luzon, and barely 200 miles from Manila, the Philippine capital. Claimed by both China and the Philippines, the mostly underwater reef has come to represent the dangers of Chinese expansionism.

“Scarborough today - tomorrow the world,” read banners at an anti-China demonstration last year in Manila. In its quest to become a maritime power and to tap potential undersea oil and gas reserves, China is asserting sovereignty over various islands, rocks and reefs dangerously close to the shores of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Beijing and Taipei, Taiwan, condemned the Philippines last Friday for the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. Philippine authorities said a coast guard ship fired on the Taiwanese vessel a day earlier, but only in an attempt to disable the engine to prevent being rammed.

Along with Japan’s Senkaku islands (known as Diaoyu to the Chinese), the Scarborough Shoal is the area’s most hotly contested territory, the scene of dozens of too-close calls during the last year. For more than a year, Chinese ships have patrolled Scarborough Shoal, chasing away Philippine fisherman and maintaining what Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario calls “a de facto occupation.”

Despite pledges of neutrality from Washington, the dispute could easily entangle the United States, resurrecting Cold War alliances and putting to the test the Obama administration’s so-called pivot toward Asia.

For most of the 20th century, the US Navy had its largest overseas base at nearby Subic Bay in the Philippines, and the Navy used to conduct firing exercises at Scarborough Shoal. Feeling that the Americans had worn out their welcome, Manila asked the Navy to leave in 1992. But last year, a few U.S. vessels were readmitted on a rotating basis, and Filipinos increasingly are expressing regret about the American departure. “If the Americans were still at Subic Bay, the Chinese wouldn’t dare do this to us,” Caneda said. In January, the Philippines asked a United Nations tribunal to determine the status of the reef. But the process could take years, and China has indicated it will not abide by the decision.

In the meantime, the Philippines finds itself outgunned, outmaneuvered and outspent. The Chinese have run a rope across the mouth of a lagoon inside the triangularshaped shoal, where Filipinos have fished for generations, and in recent weeks have declared a 15-mile fishing ban around the reef.

The dispute has devastated the fragile economy of the fishing communities in coastal Luzon. The shoal used to attract so many fishing boats that at night with their

lights shining, it looked like an illuminated city at sea. Fishermen say the shoal was where they went to get the biggest and best fish: Spanish mackerel, Pacific cod, tuna and lapu lapu, a giant grouper. A 25-man ship could bring back $17,000 worth of fish in a single trip.

“The income from fishing is cut in half,” said Julius Sumaling, a fishing boat captain who says it’s not worth the gas anymore to go out with his ship, the San Pedro, now docked south of Masinloc, a town of 51,000 on the coast. Joseph Morate, who sells squid at the main market in Masinloc, said he took his 15year-old daughter out of school because he could no longer afford the $4 a day in transportation costs and needed her to baby-sit younger children.

“All I have to sell is squid because the Chinese are chasing us away from the quality fish,” Morate said. At the main market, many of the white tile tables where fish used to be displayed are now mostly empty or used by vendors selling meat.

Luz Farones Macario, whose husband runs one of the biggest fishing fleets in Masinloc, with three large boats, now sells frozen chicken legs.

“All of these aisles were full of fish. Now, no more,” she said. “Why are the Chinese being so selfish when there is so much fish in the sea?” According to Filipinos, the generations of fishing at the shoal were interrupted only when the reef was used as a firing range. It is more than 500 miles from the southern tip of China’s southernmost island, Hainan.

Beijing, however, has produced records showing that the territory was explored and charted as far back as 1279 by the 13th century astronomer Guo Shoujing, who surveyed the region for the emperor Kublai Khan.

China has produced a U-shaped map that gives it sovereignty over almost all the South China Sea up to the borders of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

Shen Dingli, an international relations expert at Shanghai’s Fudan University, says the Philippines did not actively assert its claim to the shoal until 1992. “For a long time, China has claimed all rocks in the entire South China Sea,” Shen said, speaking at an international conference last week in Seoul. “Prior to 1992, the Philippines made no official disagreement, so we view it as a virtual admission of China’s claim.”

The Chinese have also denied using force, saying the ships it dispatches belong only to China Marine Surveillance and the Fisheries Law Enforcement Command, civilian agencies that are not supposed to carry weapons.

Photographs in Chinese state media, however, clearly show some of the marine surveillance ships with guns mounted on their decks. Experts in maritime law say part of the issue is that China is a much older country than its neighbors, with a more meticulous system of record-keeping.

“The Philippines didn’t even have a central government until Spanish colonial times,” said Carlyle Thayer, professor emeritus at the Australian Defense Force Academy. “The local Malay people didn’t keep records the way the Chinese did. “But the fact that you have records doesn’t extinguish the rights of the native people,” Thayer said.

The name Scarborough comes from a boat that was shipwrecked there in 1784. Filipinos also call it the Bajo de Masinloc - a name that dates to Spanish colonial times - while the Chinese have named it Huangyan, or “Yellow Rock.”

By many accounts, the reef was a favorite fishing spot for numerous groups for years, and relations were friendly enough that fishermen often bartered goods - Chinese liquor and instant noodles for Philippine mangoes and papaya. The current spat dates to April 11, 2012, when Chinese fishermen were accused of poaching giant clams and sharks, protected species. — MCT

GUATEMALA CITY: Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was extradited on Friday to the United States to face charges of laundering $70 million in Guatemalan funds through US bank accounts. The former president was taken from a military hospital where he was recovering from liver surgery and a heart condition and put on a plane, according to his lawyer Mauricio Berreondo.

He said the plane was bound for New York, where he is also charged with embezzling $1.5 million in foreign donations intended to buy school library books in Guatemala.

“I blame the government for what could happen to him,” Berreondo said.

“Portillo is sick and there are several pending appeals.” He said one appeal had to do with establishing the state of Portillo’s health. Deputy Foreign Minister Rita Claverie said that both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court had notified the government there are no pending appeals in his case. Portillo, who was Guatemala’s president from 2000 to 2004, was taken out of the hospital on orders of Interior Secretary Mauricio Lopez Bonilla, Berreondo said.

An Associated Press reporter saw a small white jet carrying Portillo, 61, dressed in a black sweatshirt take off late morning local time. “This decision is an important affirmation of the rule of law and due process in Guatemala,” the US Embassy in Guatemala said in a statement. “We commend the Guatemalan authorities in the strengthening of rule of law and the fight against organized crime and corruption.” In brief remarks to a local radio station, Portillo said his extradition was illegal.

“This is a kidnapping,” he said.

Portillo was turned over to US authorities in the same week that the high court threw out a genocide conviction in another high-profile case against an ex-president, former dictator Efrain Rios Montt. That decision that has been widely questioned and criticized, including in the United States. For Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank, Portillo’s extradition comes as a relief

GUATEMALA: A man holds a portrait of Juan Perez who disappeared during the internal armed conflict, during a protest against the quashing of the 80-year sentence for genocide of former Guatemalan dictator General Efrain Rios Montt outside Constitutional Court (CC) of Guatemala on May 24, 2013 in Guatemala city.— AFP to the government. “It comes at moment when the government is under a lot of criticism and this is something they can point to as an example of them being serious about fighting crime and adhering to the rule of law,” Shifter said. Guatemala has been struggling to build a credible justice system, including with the help of a U.N.-sanctioned team of international prosecutors.

For Oscar Vasquez, director of the non-governmental organization Citizen Action, Portillo’s extradition shows the difficulties the country’s justice system is facing. “As in the case of genocide in Guatemala, the justice system shows signs of chaos, confusion and disorder, given that we no longer know who is right, the state for extraditing him or his defense lawyers,” Vasquez said.

“It seems that we are left to rely on the justice of others,” he added, referring to the United States.

Human rights activist Claudia Samayoa said the extradition comes as a distraction away from the case of Rios Montt. Samayoa was one of about 2,000 people who marched Friday to protest the annulment of Rios Montt’s conviction. “Extraditing him today was to distract people from (Rios Montt’s) trial, which has been in the news for weeks,” she said.

In the US case, Portillo allegedly deposited the money in Miami and transferred it to a Paris account in the name of his ex-wife and daughter.

Guatemala’s highest court upheld the extradition last August after it was granted by former President Alvaro Colom as he left office in 2011.

Portillo has called the proceedings a political reprisal by powerful Guatemalan businessmen and the US government for not bending to their interests. He has also said the court agreeing to his extradition constitutes a violation of his human rights. Upon

leaving office in 2004, Portillo fled to Mexico, where he began working as a financial adviser for a construction materials company.

He was extradited from Mexico to Guatemala in 2008 to face embezzlement charges at home. Portillo was found not guilty in 2011 in Guatemala of charges that he stole $15 million from the country’s Defense Department during his presidency.

In 2010, police captured Portillo at a beach preparing to flee Guatemala by boat, a day after US authorities charged him with laundering money.

While running for president in Guatemala in 1999, Portillo acknowledged he had killed two of his former students while a professor in the Mexican state of Guerrero in 1982. He said the killings were in self-defense and he fled the state because he could not get a fair trial. The case has since been closed, and he can no longer be charged in those killings. —AP

Seoul press wary over N Korea dialogue offer

OSAKA: South Korean former sex slaves Kim Bok-dong (center left) and Kil Won-ok (center right) arrive for a meeting with supporters yesterday. — AP

Japan mayor to apologise to US over brothels advice OSAKA: A Japanese politician who drew fire for calling “comfort women” a wartime necessity has been forced to apologise for suggesting US soldiers in Okinawa visit brothels to vent their violent frustrations. Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto had suggested that US servicemen in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, where relations are frequently tested by violent crimes including rapes and assaults, patronise legal sex businesses there.

As the remark triggered disgust in the United States and outrage in Okinawa, Hashimoto said he would retract it at a press conference scheduled tomorrow at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo. “The phrase ‘sex businesses’ was inappropriate,” he said in a programme by YTV broadcaster. “I must apologise to the US military and American people and retract my comment” at the Monday press conference.

But Hashimoto said he has no intention of retracting his other controversial comment that “comfort women” served a “necessary” role during World War II in keeping soldiers in line, a remark that set off a volley of criticism

from countries under Japan’s rule in the 1930s and 1940s as well as from the US. Most historians agree the Asian women were pressed into sexual slavery for the Japanese imperial army.

Hashimoto has insisted Japan’s soldiers were not unique in brutalising women. He was scheduled to meet a pair of former socalled comfort women on Friday, but the elderly South Korean women cancelled over fears of becoming political pawns in a longrunning diplomatic dispute that has stoked tensions between Tokyo and Seoul. “You should choose your politicians more wisely,” said Kim Bok-dong, one of the two elderly women speaking at a meeting with supporters yesterday.

“It is strange that such a man could become a mayor,” she said to a crowd of around 500 South Korean and Japanese in the western city of Osaka. On Friday, Hashimoto said his original remarks were misinterpreted. “I happen to have used the word ‘necessity’ but it doesn’t mean I personally meant it was necessary,” he said. —AFP

SEOUL: South Korea’s press yesterday expressed skepticism over an apparent offer by North Korea that it was willing to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

North Korean special envoy Choe Ryong-Hae met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and reportedly handed him a letter from leader Kim Jong-Un in a sign Pyongyang may be backing away from confrontation with the international community.

Choe told Xi that North Korea was willing to take positive actions to solve problems through dialogue, China’s official Xinhua news agency said, after months of high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests. Choe was quoted as saying dialogue included the long-stalled six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme, chaired by China and also attended by South Korea, the United States, Russia and Japan.

“Nor th Korea appears to be back ing away from provocative acts and extending an olive branch,” South Korea’s largest circulation daily Chosun Ilbo said in an editorial. “But we must not leap to a conclusion that North Korea is seriously minded to come to the dialogue table for denuclearisation. It is more interested in mollifying an angry China.

“North Korea has offered talks for talks’ sake and it has no intention to disarm. No matter what kind of dialogue may take place down the road, the North must not be allowed to play for time.” There was no comment from the South Korean government but Yonhap news agency said officials were mostly sceptical. “Who would believe what the North said now after it said so many times it will push through with a policy of promoting both nuclear buildup and economic development?” said one government official quoted by Yonhap. The Joongang Ilbo also said it remained unclear whether North Korea would come back to the six-party dialogue but its latest gesture meant it has “not lost touch with reality to step back when necessary”.

“Since it detonated a nuclear device in February, North Korea said it won’t discuss denuclearisation and that any future talks with the US would be strictly about mutual disarmament.” The United States and its allies demand the North should make a clearcut commitment to ending its nuclear programmes before such talks may resume. “Talks for the sake of talks are meaningless. They are meaningful only when they are intended to denuclearise North Korea. Yet Pyongyang has not shown any intention of giving up its nuclear programmes”, the Korea Herald said editorially. — AP

US push on Myanmar enters a new phase WASHINGTON: After a landmark visit by Myanmar’s leader, the United States is looking to a new phase of greater cooperation to encourage reform with the former pariah state as it runs out of major symbolic steps. President Thein Sein, a former general who startled observers by ushering in a wave of change when he took office in 2011, met with President Barack Obama on a four-day trip that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. In a sign of growing normalization, Senate Republican leader

Mitch McConnell, who long spearheaded economic sanctions on Myanmar, said he would let them lapse because a renewal would be a “slap in the face” to reformists.

The Obama administration, which launched a diplomatic drive in 2009 aimed at a new relationship with the country formerly known as Burma, has already waived most sanctions as part of an “action-for-action” approach of rewarding reforms. “The administration supports measures that create greater

economic opportunity and illustrate to the Burmese the benefits of continuing reform and strengthening civil society,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said after McConnell’s announcement.

But both lawmakers and the administration support keeping a ban on gems, seen as a key source of funding for the military which has long played a dominant role in Myanmar and is accused of widespread abuse. Officials acknowledge that far more needs to be done in

Myanmar including improving the plight of minorities such as Rohingya Muslims, who were targeted in recent violence allegedly abetted by security forces.

Some human rights activists charge that a greater normalization with Myanmar is premature before 2015 when the country is set to hold elections, when the military may have to consider ceding true power.

Opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyiwho has become a member of parliament under the recent reforms-was put

under years of house arrest after her National League for Democracy swept elections in 1990. A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the administration was likely to speak less of an “action-for-action” approach and instead termed the policy as “calibrated.” “There’s not a specific quid pro quo roadmap, but it’s quite understood that we need, on our side, to see further progress before we are in a position of a completely normalized relationship,” he told AFP.—AFP

14

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

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Washington Watch

Forgotten people: Palestinian refugees from Syria

By Dr James J Zogby Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East with a rather full plate. I don’t want to pile on more but there is an issue connected to both the Syrian civil war and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that must not be ignored. While significant political and press attention has been focused on the growing humanitarian crisis facing the more than one million souls who have been forced to flee Syria, one sub-group of refugees has largely been ignored.

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) has just issued a most valuable report on the newly combined plights of the Palestinian refugee communities in Syria and Lebanon whom ANERA correctly refers to as “the forgotten people”.

Before Syria imploded into civil war, the half-million Palestinian refugees in Syria lived under fairly good conditions. They were not entitled to citizenship, but were permitted to work and own businesses and were provided the same access to education and universal health care as Syrians.

Many achieved some success and were able to move out of their camps, build homes, and plan a future for their families.

Today, all that has changed. With many Palestinians having lost their jobs and their homes in Syria, they have been forced to flee the fighting that has engulfed the country. For example, according to the ANERA report, 85 percent of the Palestinians who once lived in Yarmouk Camp have been forced into exile - becoming refugees for the second time.

More than one-half have reported that their homes have been destroyed, with one in five reporting that a member of their family had perished in the fighting.

These Palestinians, because of their special non-citizen status, have had difficulty entering Turkey and Jordan. As a result, many have crowded into Lebanon. Again, because they are Palestinians they have been compelled to find refuge in Lebanon’s already crowded and desperately poor camps. When I spoke with ANERA’s President, Bill Corcoran, last week he described the horrible living conditions these Palestinians are now facing. They are crammed into unsanitary and decrepit living quarters, with 60 percent of all households living in one space, sometimes a garage with no windows or doors. In some cases, as many as 20 members of an extended family have been jammed into a single room. These Palestinians from Syria do not have the right to work in Lebanon. As a result, 90 percent are unemployed.

The United Nations Welfare Relief Agency (UNWRA) has the responsibility for the care and support of the Palestinian community in Lebanon. Already suffering from underfunding, UNWRA’s resources are already overstretched. As a result, three-quarters of the Palestinian children coming from Syria are not in school and disease among them is rampant.

Almost 40 percent have a form of influenza, and almost 20 percent are suffering from diarrhea. An additional problem is that like all refugees fleeing horrific conflict, there are mental health needs - dealing with loss, trauma, and fear - that are not being met. ANERA is right to point out that there are several reasons why the international community must pay attention to the special situation of this group of refugees.

Ignoring them will only mean that the disastrous conditions they are currently facing will grow and deepen - for them and for those who will be joining them as the war in Syria shows no sign of letting up. These Palestinians are, after all, vulnerable human beings and they have needs which cry out for our attention. Additionally, should the diseases they have contracted continue to go untreated, they will spread. And disease does not respect boundaries. Epidemics in the camps will spread beyond the camps, with potentially devastating consequences for the entire region. Equally important to consider is the stress this influx of refugees is placing on the already unstable and intolerable circumstances found in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps. Continued impoverishment of this community will only lead to growing despair and anger, which could fuel extremist and potentially violent currents which will prove difficult to contain. ANERA’s report has provided us with an important reminder of this too-long ignored consequence of the Syrian civil war. It is right for the international community to address the needs of Syria’s displaced and refugee population because it is a true humanitarian disaster. And they are right to search for a way forward to help end the conflict and put Syria on the path to transition to a peaceful and democratic future. But the international community must also recognize the plight of the “forgotten people” - the Palestinian refugees from Syria and those in Lebanon. Political efforts to resolve the Syrian war and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict must include a political solution to the six and one-half decade old Palestinian refugee problem.

Their needs and their rights must be considered front and center in all our calculations.

US

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

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

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

Challenge of budgets, bureaucracy

By Jenny Vaughan he African Union, celebrating this weekend 50 years since the launch of a continental bloc, regularly repeats the mantra: African solutions to African problems. But AU efforts to tackle those problems - especially the conflicts that plague the continent - are strained by a shortage of cash, poor organisation, lack of capacity and often reluctance to get involved, analysts warn. The key AU policy of intervening in the internal affairs of member states emerged in the wake of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, as the international community recoiled at its own failure to intervene.

Set up in 2002, the AU adopted a firm policy of finding internal solutions to African problems, and gave itself the mandate to intervene in the case of “grave circumstances, namely war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity”. The AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which held its founding congress in May 1963. The original goals of the OAU were to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonization and apartheid and to promote solidarity and development among African States.

But today the AU’s Peace and Security Council (PSC), the bloc’s body for tackling conflict, remains hampered by financial constraints, with military missions largely funded by western donors. “It wants control of the mission, but it doesn’t bring the resources to the table to do so,” said J. Peter Pham, from the US-based Atlantic Council, adding that even when member states have the resources, the willingness to chip in is limited. The AU “doesn’t want to bear the cost of ownership, and I think you can’t have your cake and eat it,” Pham added.

Some analysts say this impedes its ability to respond to crises efficiently and compromises the AU’s authority on peacekeeping missions. The AU was criticised for not responding fast enough in Mali, when after rebels took over in a coup in March 2012, rapidly crumbling one of Africa’s longest standing democracies and

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prompting a French military intervention in January.

“Where was the PSC in Mali, for example, where France intervened militarily earlier this year?” asked Liesl Louw-Vaudran, writing for South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

Divisions revealed by the recent conflict in Libya when members squabbled between those wanting to recognise rebels and those backing Muammar Gaddafi - showed its disunity. “Its sidelining during the Libyan crisis in 2011 and almost total absence that year during the Arab Spring that engulfed North Africa indicated the limits of the AU’s capacity to play a role in conflicts,” Louw-Vaudran added.

Nevertheless, AU leaders themselves are keen to take the praise for achievements in Africa, which, despite still being riddled with troubles, has seen a decline in major conflicts in recent years. “Africa has made remarkable progress over the last decade in terms of promoting peace and stability on our continent,” said Teodros Gebreyesus, the foreign minister of Ethiopia, the current AU chair, praising the bloc for its efforts. Key achievements include the force in Somalia, where 17,700 AU troops from five nations are fighting to claw back territory from Al-Qaeda linked Shabab insurgents from the government. High casualty rates one senior UN official recently estimated as many as 3,000 African troops had been killed since 2007, similar to the numbers of UN peacekeepers killed worldwide since 1948 - show the AU force’s willingness to take the risk of active combat roles, but also reflect the cost of success.

Although funding for that mission comes mainly from Western backers, its role in Somalia shows the potential for an AU force. The commitment of African nations to peacekeeping roles is clear: the peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s war-torn western Darfur region is a hybrid AU-UN force, while Mali now has a - belatedly deployed - African-led international support mission.

Five of the top ten contributors of soldiers and police

officers to UN missions are African.

However, some say the AU’s labyrinthine bureaucracy - which with 54 members has double the number of the European Union - hampers a rapid response to a crisis. “There is a management structure within the AU that shies away from delegation and seeks to micromanage...this makes responding to rapidly changing events difficult,” Alex Vines, from Britain’s Chatham House, wrote in a recent report. The AU’s “African Standby Brigade” to intervene in sudden crises - a proposed force of 32,500 troops and civilians drawn from five regions of the continent - has made little headway since preparations for it started a decade ago. “The Malian crisis, for example, is over a year old....and we are still scrambling to cobble together some peacekeeping force for when the French draw out,” Pham said.

Regional politics can hamper efforts too, with smaller or weaker nations eyeing sometimes resentfully the lead taken by more powerful neighbours, such as South Africa, or in the west, Nigeria. Adding to the challenge of any would-be response is that the nature of conflict is also changing. While the number of wars have dramatically dropped - there were 11 wars in 2000, and four in 2012, Chatham House calculates numbers of small scale insurgent groups often operating across borders have grown. “Today conflict in Africa is increasingly fragmented, tending to be fought on a smaller scale and on the peripheries of states,” said ISS analyst Jakkie Cilliers. One example is the AU force in central Africa hunting down the Ugandan-led Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, supported by US special forces in their efforts to end the decades-long insurgency. International terrorism has also added to security threats, boosting the need for African nations to seek outside support. The AU “needs intelligence, it needs cooperation, and it can’t just be done at the domestic level,” Vines said. “Sometimes you need international solution to global problems.” — AFP

Iran stacks poll with safe Khamenei men

By Mohammad Davari ran’s ruling establishment has moved to prevent infighting by allowing only a handful of conservatives loyal to the allpowerful supreme leader to contest next month’s presidential election, analysts say.

This paves the way for the most powerful political institutions to be completely run by individuals hand-picked by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s ultimate decision maker, or by those obedient to him. The attempt to consolidate more power comes at a time when Iran, at loggerheads with world powers over its nuclear ambitions, is struggling to cope with harsh economic sanctions targeting its vital oil income. “All candidates with a chance of winning are either related to the leader or to the security apparatus,” one Western diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told AFP. “It is not in shades of grey, but all black.”

The Guardians Council - conservatives appointed directly or indirectly by Khamenei - on Tuesday revealed a list of eight candidates cleared to stand for president on June 14, after vetting their credentials and loyalty to the revolution and its leader. Many had correctly anticipated the exclusion of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a divisive figure close to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But what shocked most people was the one name not on it: Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pragmatist two-time president from 1989 to 1997.

Rafsanjani, 78, as a founder had been in the echelons of power since the Islamic regime’s inception. His decision to enter the race had polarised Iran’s political system, with marginalised reformists backing him and hardline conservatives launching a

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campaign to discredit his candidacy.

Rafsanjani’s exclusion shows that the regime’s inner circle, stacked with Khamenei loyalists, is diminishing in size, observers say.

“The political spectrum in Iran continues to shrink and shift to the right,” Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council advocacy organisation in Washington told AFP. Khamenei is now tightening his grip and eliminating “any potential internal competition” ahead of a new government expected in early August, Parsi said. For years Rafsanjani was considered a kingmaker because of his vast political sway. But his stock plummeted in 2005 when his botched attempt for the highest elected office was thwarted by Ahmadinejad.

Four years later, as he navigated the aftermath of Ahmadinejad’s 2009 re-election, Rafsanjani fell from grace after siding with the pro-reform movement that staged massive street protests alleging electoral fraud. The protests provoked a heavy-handed state crackdown leaving dozens dead and hundreds behind bars, shaking the foundations of the Islamic regime and delivering a blow to the prestige of Khamenei who threw his support behind Ahmadinejad and publicly shunned Rafsanjani.

Khamenei then called on the opposition to accept the election result, which the socalled Green Movement and its leaders - Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, now both under house arrest - had rejected.

“Given what happened in 2009, they’re trying to make this election more predictable,” Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert and senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told AFP. Sadjadpour said that with a loyal president, Khamenei’s

grip on power could become complete.

“Iran’s most powerful political institutions, the Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary, the Guardian(s) Council, the Experts Assembly, and the parliament are (already) controlled by individuals hand-picked by Khamenei or obsequious to him,” he said.

Rafsanjani’s exclusion has eclipsed the disqualification of another wouldbe frontrunner: Mashaie, whose poor reputation among regime insiders would be unrivalled if it were not for his main ally, Ahmadinejad.

Mashaie - the bane of conservatives for views seen as too liberal and his alleged intent to erode the influence of clergy on decision making in the Islamic republic could have gained traction, campaigning alongside Ahmadinejad.

Unlike Rafsanjani, who has vowed not to protest, Ahmadinejad on Wednesday said he would fight Mashaie’s disqualification through Khamenei, who has in the past issued decrees reinstating presidential candidates. But analysts say the exclusions pose a lesser threat to the regime than allowing heavyweights to challenge the hardliners.

“Between an open ballot and

‘zero risk’, the supreme leader chose the latter,” said the diplomat. Another Tehranbased diplomat, also speaking not for attribution, said: “The regime does not want to take any chances. The list of eight poses the slightest possible risk.” — AFP

NEWS

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Boats moored at the Souq Sharq marina are seen at sunset yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

State slaps 2-child limit on Muslims...

Continued from Page 1 said the new program was meant to stem rapid population growth in the Muslim community, which a government-appointed commission identified as one of the causes of the sectarian violence.

Although Muslims are the majority in the two townships in which the new policy applies, they account for only about 4 percent of Myanmar’s roughly 60 million people. The measure was enacted a week ago after the commission recommended family planning programs to stem population growth among Muslims, Win Myaing said. The commission also recommended doubling the number of security forces in the volatile region. “The population growth of Rohingya Muslims is 10 times higher than that of the Rakhine (Buddhists),” Win Myaing said. “Overpopulation is one of the causes of tension.”

Sectarian violence in Myanmar first flared nearly a year ago in Rakhine state between the region’s Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya. Mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes razed thousands of Muslim homes, leaving hundreds of people dead and forcing 125,000 to flee, mostly Muslims. Witnesses and human rights groups say riot police stood by as crowds attacked Muslims and burned their villages. New Yorkbased Human Rights Watch has accused authorities in Rakhine of fomenting an organized campaign of “ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya.

Since the violence, religious unrest has morphed into a campaign against the country’s Muslim communities in other regions. Containing the strife has posed a serious challenge to President Thein Sein’s reformist government as it attempts to make democratic reforms

after nearly half a century of harsh military rule. It has also tarnished the image of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized for failing to speak out strongly in defense of the country’s embattled Muslim community.

The central government has not made any statement about the two-child policy, which was introduced at a local level. Calls seeking comment yesterday from two government spokesmen were not immediately returned, but Rakhine state official Myo Than said all local policies require “consent from the central government”. Win Myaing said authorities had not yet determined how the measures - which include a ban on polygamy - will be enforced. The policy will not apply yet to other parts of Rakhine state, which have smaller Muslim populations.

In its report issued last month, the governmentappointed commission wrote: “One factor that has fueled tensions between the Rakhine public and (Rohingya) populations relates to the sense of insecurity among many Rakhines stemming from the rapid population growth of the (Rohingya), which they view as a serious threat.”

Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not include the Rohingya as one of its 135 recognized ethnicities. It considers them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship. Bangladesh says the Rohingya have been living in Myanmar for centuries and should be recognized there as citizens. China has been carrying out a planned birth policy since the late 1970s, generally limiting one child to urban couples and no more than two to rural families, to stem rapid population growth that Beijing believes is not sustainable economically and environmentally. — AP

Traffic chief defends crackdown on expats Continued from Page 1 Ali indicated that the General Traffic Department plans to continue field operations across the country in places like crossroads, main streets, bystreets, bridges and commercial locations. “The plan is going through a complete and systematic operation which aims to tackle traffic problems both on the short and long terms,” he said. “It is not a temporary mission with a deadline, but will continue while taking into account the circumstances of the

place and nature of the area of operation”. He further demanded cooperation from “public and private institutions and for drivers to follow traffic laws and regulations”.

Since the beginning of the campaign last month, 75,026 traffic violations have been detected including 42,854 for breaking the speed limit and 10,412 for jumping the red light. “This proves how serious the operations are to address all irregularities in their various shapes and forms,” he said.

In addition to overspeeding and

jumping red lights, other violations included in records of deported drivers include ferrying passengers illegally, driving with an expired car registration and driving without a driver’s license. “What hurts us the most is when a family loses its provider, when a family loses its mother, when parents lose their children and when in some cases, an entire family is lost,” Ali said. “We are determined to continue field campaigns against reckless driving and violations which result in such unfortunate events”.

Nasrallah vows ‘victory’ in Syria Continued from Page 1 Qusair almost a week ago but are still meeting with fierce resistance from the rebels, for the town provides an important supply line for arms and volunteers from Lebanon. Qusair is a key prize for Assad’s forces because of its strategic location between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast, the Alawite heartland of the embattled president’s regime.

Nasrallah ruled out any alliance with the mostly Sunni Muslim rebels battling the Syrian regime. “Hezbollah cannot be in the same trench as the United States, Israel, the takfirist (radical Muslims)... who disembowel, behead and desecrate tombs,” he said of reports that rebels had vandalised the shrine of a venerated Shiite saint. Yesterday marked the 13th anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon after 22 years of occupation, which Hezbollah considers one of its victories over the Jewish state. — AFP

British spies ‘tried to recruit’ attacker Continued from Page 1 Adebolajo, 28, was captured on film after the murder brandishing a bloodied knife and meat cleaver and claiming he had killed the soldier because British forces killed Muslims every day. He had reportedly tried and failed to previously travel to Somalia to fight alongside Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.

Abu Nasaybah said his friend had recently travelled to Kenya, where he said he was rounded up and physically and sexually abused by local security services. On his return Adebolajo appeared changed, his friend said, while he had also attracted the attention of Britain’s security services, who called at his home several times.

He was “basically being harassed by MI5, this is something that he specifically mentioned to me” when they spoke six months ago, Abu Nusaybah said. He added: “He was explicit in that he refused to work for them but he did confirm that he didn’t know the individuals” they were asking about. Adebolajo and his alleged co-conspirator Michael Adebowale, 22, remain under armed guard in separate hospitals after being shot by police during their arrest at the scene of the grisly murder.

Faith Matters, a state-funded organisation which works to reduce extremism, said it has recorded a huge increase in anti-Muslim incidents reported to its helpline since the attack. “It’s a hugely worrying development,” director Fiyaz Mughal told AFP, saying the organisation had been informed of 162 incidents in the past 48 hours, compared to a daily average of four to six. They were mainly verbal attacks on women wearing the Islamic headscarf in the street, he said, but there were also online attacks and some violence. A woman in her 50s had been punched unconscious on the outskirts of Oldham, near Manchester in northwest England, while two mosques had been attacked in the south of the country.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 members of the anti-Islam EDL gathered in Newcastle yesterday afternoon, police

said, for a long-planned rally given added impetus by the soldier’s murder. They sang “RIP Lee Rigby” and chanted “Whose streets? Our streets”, while some people waved British flags. Up to 400 of their opponents staged a counter-protest, but the day passed off without major incident. A small impromptu protest also took place in Manchester, northwest England, while another demonstration is planned for outside Prime Minister David Cameron’s Downing Street office tomorrow.

Both murder suspects were known to the intelligence services and Adebolajo had links to the banned radical Al-Muhajiroun movement, but ministers and security experts have warned of the difficulty in keeping track of everybody with extreme views. In his BBC interview, Abu Nusaybah admitted he had toyed with radical Islamism himself but was appalled at his friend’s actions. He was arrested at the BBC on suspicion of “commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism”, police said. The arrest is not thought to be linked directly to Wednesday’s murder.

The backgrounds of the two murder suspects are remarkably similar. Both were brought up by Nigerian Christians and converted to Islam in their teens, and recently were seen handing out extremist literature in the streets - to the concern of their families.

Adebowale’s mother, Juliet Obasuyi, sought help from friends and an imam after growing increasingly concerned about her son, particularly when he dropped out of university nine months ago. “He is from a strong Christian family but he is turning to Islam and turning against the family,” she was quoted in newspapers as telling a Muslim neighbour. “He needs spiritual guidance before he radicalises himself.”

The University of Greenwich, near Woolwich, meanwhile confirmed Adebolajo was a student for two years but said his work was “unsatisfactory” and he was not permitted to finish his course. Vice-chancellor David Maguire said the university had launched an investigation into any potential links to extremism. — AFP

16 children die in Pakistan bus fire LAHORE: Sixteen children and a teacher were killed when their school bus caught fire in central Pakistan yesterday, police said. Seven other children were injured in the blaze which destroyed the vehicle. The van was carrying 24 children to a private school in Gujrat, about 112 km north of the eastern city on Lahore, when it caught fire, local police chief Dar Ali Khattak told AFP. “The fire erupted in the vehicle when the children were only a few kilometres from their school,” he said.

The blaze was apparently caused by a spark when the driver of the dual-fuel van switched from gas to petrol, he said, adding that the fuel gas cylinder was intact. The children were aged between five and 15 years, he said, adding that a female teacher also died.

The driver, who fled and left the van in flames, has been arrested in the nearby city of Kharian, police official Abid Khan

said. Initial information said the driver had also kept petrol in a plastic bottle, as reserve fuel for emergency use, which may have contributed in intensifying the fire, he added.

The dead included three children of police constable Mohammad Riaz, and the dead teacher was their aunt, residents said, adding that thousands of people attended their funeral. “We told the driver there was a very bad smell of gas leakage. But he did not listen and soon after the fire erupted,” a 10year boy who survived the blaze told the private Geo television. Five of the injured children were in serious condition, hospital officials said. Vehicles in Pakistan mostly run on both petrol and natural gas. Pakistan has one of the world’s worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving. — AFP

GUJRAT, Pakistan: Pakistani women mourn next to the bodies of children who were killed in gas cylinder explosion on a minibus yesterday. — AP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

S P ORTS

Beckham’s retirement starts

IPL official arrested

FRANCE: David Beckham was not included in Paris St Germain’s squad for their final Ligue 1 game of the season at Lorient yesterday as the former England captain headed into retirement.

The 38-year-old midfielder had expected as much after his special send-off in Paris last weekend, saying he did not think he would play on the artificial pitch at the Brittany side because the surface could aggravate previous Achilles injury problems. Beckham was not among the 19-man squad named by manager Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday on the Ligue 1 champions’ website (www.psg.fr).

The Englishman had been made captain for what turned out to be his final game in last week’s 3-1 victory over Stade Brest and he had wiped away tears when he was substituted in the 81st minute in front of a packed Parc des Princes. That was his 10th Ligue 1 appearance and brought the curtain down on a career that has taken him from Manchester United to Real Madrid to Los Angeles Galaxy to PSG, winning league titles at all four clubs. He also had loan spells at AC Milan. Beckham, who earned 115 caps for England, a record for an outfield player, announced his retirement on May 16. —Reuters

NEW DELHI: Mumbai Police apprehended a key official of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) Chennai franchise late on Friday in connection with a spot-fixing scandal that has also led to the arrest of three cricketers.

Former India test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other local cricketers were arrested last week on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs and police have intensified investigations to discover the extent of the scandal.

Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of Indian cricket board (BCCI) president N Srinivasan, was arrested after being quizzed for hours by Mumbai Police probing illegal betting on the Twenty20 league. “We have gone through questioning him in detail and after due deliberation, we’ve come to the conclusion that there is evidence of his involvement in this offence that we are investigating...” joint commissioner of Mumbai Police Himanshu Roy told reporters on Friday. “... therefore he has been placed under arrest and will be produced in court within 24 hours as per the law.” Local media claimed Meiyappan was chief executive of the Chennai Super Kings but India Cements, the company that owns the franchise, said he was merely a member of team management.

Sreesanth has denied any role in spot-fixing. India’s film industry also got mixed up in the controversy when Mumbai Police arrested Bollywood actor Vindu Dara Singh on Tuesday for alleged links to a bookmaker. —Reuters

Umpire Rauf will fight to clear name — family KARACHI: Troubled Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf will fight to clear his name in an ongoing spot-fixing scandal in India, family sources told AFP yesterday, saying he had returned to his home in Lahore. The International Cricket Council (ICC) this week withdrew the 57-year-old umpire from next month’s Champions Trophy in England in the wake of media reports that he was under police investigation. Mumbai police on Friday refused to confirm whether Rauf would be called in for questioning, as media outlets in India and Pakistan tried to track the umpire down. The scandal broke last week when Delhi police arrested three cricketers, accusing them of deliberately bowling badly in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars during the ongoing Twenty20 league in India. Rauf’s family said he returned to his home in Lahore a few days ago.

“Rauf has nothing to hide, he reached Lahore after completing his matches in the league (in India),” a family source told AFP without elaborating. The ICC has said it felt it was in “Asad’s best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself” for him to no longer participate in the Champions Trophy.

Rauf, who has overseen 48 Tests and 98 one-day internationals, was one of the umpires during the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the centre of the corruption probe. Family sources said the umpire will fight to clear his name.—AFP

Tigers blank Twins

WASHINGTON: Ben Revere No. 2 of the Philadelphia Phillies fails to catch a RBI triple hit by Adam LaRoche No. 25 of the Washington Nationals in the fifth inning. —AFP

Nationals roll over Phillies WASHINGTON: Jordan Zimmermann became the National League’s first eight-game winner, and the Washington Nationals followed a calamitous road trip with a winning start to a homestand, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 Friday night.

Zimmermann (8-2) allowed two runs and six hits with no walks over seven innings - actually raising his ERA to 1.71 - on an unseasonably chilly and windy night in the nation’s capital. There was at least a bit of heat from the Nationals’ bats, which have been going through such a cold spell that manager Davey Johnson said before the game he wouldn’t shave again until his lineup started hitting.

As it turned out, the Nationals scored their most runs in a week, and they got four or more in the same inning for the first time in almost a month.

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (4-3) had his shortest outing of the season.

REDS 7, CUBS 4 In Cincinnati, Joey Votto extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a homer, and Ryan Hanigan and Brandon Phillips also homered, powering the Reds to their fourth straight win.

The Reds have won 12 of their past 15 games, surging to a season-high 12 games over .500.

They’ve dominated the Cubs, winning 15 of their past 17 in the series.

Chicago is last in the NL Central, having lost a season-high five straight. The Cubs (18-29) slid a season-low 11 games under .500.

Votto and Hanigan homered in the fourth inning off Scott Feldman (4-4). Phillips connected off Hector Rondon in the eighth. Bronson Arroyo (5-4) gave up three runs in six innings, including Feldman’s first career homer.

BREWERS 2, PIRATES 1 In Milwaukee, Marco Estrada gave up one run over seven innings and Alex Gonzalez had a tworun double, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a victory over the Pirates.

Estrada (4-2) retired the first 14 Pittsburgh batters he faced before a two-out single to left field by Neil Walker in the fifth inning gave the Pirates their first base runner.

Estrada struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter. He fanned eight of 12 Pittsburgh batters at one point and improved his career record to 5-0 against the Pirates, including eight starts.

Four Brewers relievers combined to record the final six outs. Francisco Rodriguez retired the final batter to record his first save of the season and 295th of his career.

METS 5, BRAVES 5 In New York, Evan Gattis had a two-run, pinchhit single in the top of the eighth, then the Mets rallied to tie it in a downpour in the bottom half before rain suspended the Atlanta Braves and New York tussle at 5-5 on Friday night.

The teams will resume play with none out in

the top of the ninth inning on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.

The regularly scheduled game is set to start 7:15 p.m.

With rain starting to fall heavily, Gattis put Atlanta up 5-3 with a bases-loaded single off Greg Burke. The Mets tied it in a wet and wild bottom half, taking advantage of center fielder B.J. Upton’s error on Daniel Murphy’s RBI single and scoring on a wild pitch by Anthony Varvaro. The game was suspended after a 75-minute delay.

ROCKIES 5, GIANTS 0 In San Francisco, Michael Cuddyer homered and hit a two-run double after coming off the disabled list, Tyler Chatwood beat San Francisco for the second time in seven days and the Rockies blanked the Giants. Carlos Gonzalez also hit a solo homer and D.J. LeMahieu added an RBI single as the Rockies beat two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum (3-4) for the second time in a week.

The Rockies, swept in a three-game series at AT&T Park last month, won their fourth in a row in the rivalry for the first time since 2006. Chatwood (3-0) allowed four hits in six scoreless innings.

DIAMONDBACKS 5, PADRES 2 In Phoenix, Brandon McCarthy pitched seven effective innings for his second straight win and Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run double to cap Arizona’s five-run seventh inning, lifting the Diamondbacks to a victory over the Padres.

Arizona managed two hits over the first six innings against Eric Stults (4-4) before breaking it open in the seventh.

Martin Prado had a run-scoring double, pinchhitter Wil Nieves followed with another and A.J. Pollock added an RBI single for his third hit.

Goldschmidt capped it with a double off Anthony Bass to put Arizona up 5-1.

McCarthy (2-3) allowed a run and five hits and Heath Bell worked around two runners in the ninth for his seven save. Everth Cabrera led off the eighth inning with a homer off David Hernandez for the Padres, who have lost three straight.

CARDINALS 7, DODGERS 0 In Los Angeles, Lance Lynn pitched two-hit ball over six innings, and David Freese and Allen Craig each homered and drove in three runs, helping the Cardinals beat the Dodgers for its third win in a row.

The last-place Dodgers’ fifth loss in seven games came a few hours after team president Stan Kasten said manager Don Mattingly was not in immediate danger of being fired.

Lynn (7-1) struck out nine and walked one for the NL Central leaders. The only hits he gave up were a single to Carl Crawford to open the game and a double to Juan Uribe in the third.

Chris Capuano (1-3) allowed six runs - five earned - and six hits in five-plus innings. The lefthander struck out four and walked three. —AP

Young. He turned on a curveball to put Oakland up 6-5. Young stood at the plate for a couple of seconds admiring the towering shot before heading to first base.

Seth Smith had a solo pinch-hit homer for Oakland in the sixth inning. Pat Neshek (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Grant Balfour walked two in the ninth before getting his 10th save.

He has converted 28 straight save opportunities since last season.

DETROIT: Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Minnesota’s Joe Mauer broke it up with a one-out single, and that was the only hit the Detroit right-hander allowed in the Tigers’ 6-0 victory over the Twins on Friday night.

Sanchez fell two outs shy of his second career no-hitter, but it was his second gem in about a month - he set a franchise record with 17 strikeouts in eight marvelous innings against Atlanta on April 26.

Sanchez (5-4) struck out 12 on Friday and allowed three walks.

The home crowd gave him a standing ovation when he came out to start the ninth, and he immediately struck out Jamey Carroll. Mauer, followed with a clean line drive up the middle - to almost the same spot where Pittsburgh’s Josh Harrison’s hit landed last year when he broke up a no-hit bid by Detroit’s Justin Verlander, also with two outs to go.

Minnesota’s Samuel Deduno (0-1) allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings.

RED SOX 8, INDIANS 1 In Boston, John Lackey allowed two hits in seven innings and Mike Carp hit a three-run homer. It was the second straight strong performance by Lackey, who missed all last season following elbow surgery. Last Sunday he gave up one hit and one unearned run in six innings of a 5-1 win at Minnesota. He left that game after a three-hour rain delay.

After a 44-minute delay before Friday’s game, Lackey (3-4) struck out eight, walked three and gave up an unearned run while pitching through a steady rain.

He allowed only two of the 25 batters he faced to hit the ball out of the infield.

Lackey finished his night by striking out Jason Giambi and Mark Reynolds to end the seventh.

ORIOLES 10, BLUE JAYS 6 In Toronto, Chris Davis hit his major league-leading 16th home run and Nick Markakis had three hits and three RBIs. JJ Hardy, Danny Valencia and Adam Jones all went deep as the Orioles matched a season high in runs and set a season high with four home runs. Baltimore has hit an ML-best 66 homers this season. Melky Cabrera, Brett Lawrie and Adam Lind all hit solo homers for the Blue Jays.

Chris Tillman (4-2) allowed three runs and a season-high 10 hits in five innings to win for the fourth time in six starts. He walked none and matched a season high with seven strikeouts.

Brian Matusz got two outs in the sixth, Tommy Hunter pitched 2 1-3 innings and Darren O’Day finished in the ninth.

Blue Jays left-hander Sean Nolin had his his first loss since Aug. 27, 2011, when he was pitching for Class A Lansing. It was his major league debut.

YANKEES 9, RAYS 4 In St. Petersburg, Brett Gardner, Lyle Overbay and Jayson Nix each drove in two runs. Gardner made it 5-0 with a tworun homer off Roberto Hernandez (2-5) during the fourth. The Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the second on Overbay’s two-run double and an RBI single by Nix. David Phelps (3-2), who retired his first 13 batters before James Loney hit a oneout double in the fifth, allowed four runs and six hits in 7 2-3 innings. He left in the eighth after it appeared he was hit on the right arm by a drive up the middle by Ben Zobrist.

New York right fielder Curtis Granderson broke the knuckle of his left pinkie finger after getting hit by Cesar Ramos’ pitch in the fifth.

ANGELS 5, ROYALS 2 In Kansas City, Mike Trout had his 21st multi-hit game and Jason Vargas pitched into the eighth inning. Trout had two hits, stole his 11th base and scored two runs, including one on a wild pitch. He is hitting .366 in May. Vargas (4-3) allowed two runs and five hits over 7 1-3 innings to win is fourth straight decision in five May starts. He is 12-4 in May since the start of the 2009 season.

Luke Hochevar (0-1), who replaced Mendoza, could not keep the 2-1 lead for long. Chris Iannetta homered for the second straight night to tie it 2-2 before the Angels broke it open in the seventh.

INTERLEAGUE WHITE SOX 4, MARLINS 3 In Chicago, Jeff Keppinger drove in the winning run on a single in the 11th and John Danks was solid in his season debut and the Chicago White Sox beat the Miami Marlins 4-3 on Friday night.

Paul Konerko started the rally with a one-out single. Pinch runner Tyler Greene moved to third when Dayan Viciedo singled off the glove of second baseman Derek Dietrich.

DETROIT: Ryan Pressly No. 57 of the Minnesota Twins pitches against the Detroit Tigers in the sixth inning.—AFP the Mariners lost their seventh straight.

Texas starter Justin Grimm (4-3) overRANGERS 9, MARINERS 5 In Seattle, Jeff Baker hit a two-run came a rough first few innings to pitch homer and Lance Berkman added a into the seventh despite giving up 10 hits. three-run shot, both off Seattle starter Joe Grimm avoided a big inning, didn’t walk a batter and struck out five in beating the Saunders.

Baker’s shot in the second inning gave Mariners for the second time this season.

MLB results/standings Washington 5, Philadelphia 2; Baltimore 10, Toronto 6; Detroit 6, Minnesota 0; Boston 8, Cleveland 1; Cincinnati 7, Chicago Cubs 4; NY Yankees 9, Tampa Bay 4; Chicago White Sox 4, Miami 3 (11 innings); LA Angels 5, Kansas City 2; Milwaukee 2, Pittsburgh 1; Oakland 6, Houston 5; Arizona 5, San Diego 2; Texas 9, Seattle 5; St. Louis 7, LA Dodgers 0; Colorado 5, San Francisco 0.

National League American League Eastern Division Eastern Division W L PCT GB Atlanta 28 18 .609 NY Yankees 29 18 .617 Washington 25 23 .521 4 Boston 29 20 .592 1 Philadelphia 23 25 .479 6 Baltimore 26 22 .542 3.5 NY Mets 17 27 .386 10 Tampa Bay 24 23 .511 5 Miami 13 35 .271 16 Toronto 20 28 .417 9.5 Central Division Detroit 27 19 Cleveland 27 20 Chicago White Sox 22 24 Kansas City 21 24 Minnesota 18 27

Texas Oakland LA Angels Seattle Houston

Western Division 31 17 26 23 21 27 20 28 14 34

the Rangers the lead, but it was Berkman’s fourth homer of the season into the leftfield seats that broke the game open in the third and sent Saunders to his first career loss at Safeco Field. It was the first homer for Baker since May 10 and first for Berkman since May 11. Saunders (3-5) entered the night 9-0 at Safeco Field, including a 3-0 mark with a 0.94 ERA this season. But Saunders gave up six earned runs and eight hits in just five innings and

.587 .574 .478 .467 .400

.646 .531 .438 .417 .292

0.5 5 5.5 8.5

5.5 10 11 17

St. Louis Cincinnati Pittsburgh Milwaukee Chicago Cubs

Central Division 31 16 30 18 29 19 19 27 18 29

.660 .625 .604 .413 .383

1.5 2.5 11.5 13

Arizona Colorado San Francisco San Diego LA Dodgers

Western Division 27 21 27 21 26 22 21 26 19 27

.563 .563 .542 .447 .413

1 5.5 7

ATHLETICS 6, ASTROS 5 In Houston, Chris Young connected on a three-run homer in the ninth inning.

Young, who grew up in Houston, is hitting just .189 this season. But he’s a career .418 hitter at Minute Maid Park with seven home runs and 27 RBIs in 19 games in his hometown.

The A’s trailed 5-3 before closer Jose Veras (0-3) walked two of the first three batters of the inning to set the table for

After Ryan Webb (1-2) intentionally walked Conor Gillaspie, Keppinger singled to left field. Nate Jones (1-4) pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win.

Danks allowed three runs and four hits in six innings in his first start since undergoing shoulder surgery in August to repair a capsule tear and remove debris in his rotator cuff and biceps. He struck out five, walked none and hit a batter in the opener of the interleague series. —AP

Penguins rip Ottawa

PITTSBURGH: Eight playoff wins down, eight to go for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. James Neal had a hat trick and the Penguins finished off the lifeless Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Friday night in Game 5 of the Eastern conference semifinals to take the best-of-seven series 4-1.

Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Brenden Morrow also scored, and Tomas Vokoun made 29 saves as topseeded Pittsburgh strolled to the next round. The Penguins will face Boston or the New York Rangers in the conference finals.

Milan Michalek and Kyle Turris scored for Ottawa.

Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots, but the Senators simply couldn’t keep up as the Penguins ended the Ottawa’s season for the third time in the last five years.

The Penguins expected desperation from a team trying to extend its season for at least another 48 hours.

Instead, the Senators offered only resignation.

Outskated, outshot and outworked from the opening faceoff, Ottawa put up little resistance as Pittsburgh moved on to the conference finals for the first time since 2009, when the franchise won its third Stanley Cup. Sluggish from the opening faceoff, the Senators slogged through the game’s first 10 minutes, long enough for Morrow to pay immediate dividends in his return to the lineup.

The veteran forward was scratched from Game 4 in favor of rookie Beau Bennett but appeared re-energized after the night off. He scored his second goal of the playoffs 6:25 into the first period while scoring the kind of goal the Penguins expected out of him when they acquired the 34-year-old from Dallas just before the trade deadline.

Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke beat a Senator to a loose puck along the halfboards then zipped a cross-ice pass to defenseman Mark Eaton. Morrow skated to the net and lifted his stick up to draw Eaton’s attention. Eaton patiently waited for Morrow to get in front of the crease before throwing a puck toward the net that deflected off Morrow’s skate and into the net.

Neal scored for the third time in two games when he poked in an idle rebound on the power play to put Pittsburgh up 2-0 7:38 into the second period. Letang followed with a wrist shot over Anderson’s glove at the end of a 3-on-2 break to make it 3-0.

Michalek briefly made it competitive with a beautiful deke around Vokoun to pull the Senators to 3-1 with 3:48 left in the second but Malkin scored his fourth goal of the playoffs on a breakaway just before the intermission to restore the three-goal lead. —AP

PITTSBURGH: Craig Anderson No. 41 of the Ottawa Senators allows a third goal by James Neal No. 18 (not pictured) of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. —AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

S P ORTS

Pacers steal game from Heat

Gregory Gaultier

Gaultier ends Matthew’s British Open record HULL: Gregory Gaultier, the unpredictably brilliant former world number one from France, produced one of his finest performances to end the British Open defence of the record-breaking Nick Matthew.

The only Englishman ever to have won the sport’s oldest title three times was beaten 9-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 in a semi-final which had a marvellous contrast of styles and a compelling mixture of good sportsmanship and feisty emotion.

Gaultier controlled the ball and his sometimes wayward feelings superbly, while Matthew became increasingly upset by the direction of the match, by refereeing decisions, and apparently also by his opponent, too.

The champion argued repeatedly in the final game with referee John Massarella, a fellow Yorkshireman, who twice told him to stop arguing and return to the court, and Matthew also had harsh words for Gaultier.

He appeared to call the Frenchman a cheat before Gaultier served at the start of the final rally, and later Gaultier had his own description of what had passed between them.

“He started from the beginning to try to get under my skin, playing a bit physical and also talking to me, but I didn’t care what he was doing,” Gaultier said. “I was able to stay focussed which I haven’t always done before. I was just trying to play my game.”

“Instead of thinking about the finishing line I tried to stay calm and play the right shot at the right time, and play my tactics.” Gaultier knew that the cool court would provide him with opportunities to score well with his flicks, slices, and disguises and clever changes of direction provided he was patient with his line and length before an opening emerged.

However he started slowly, losing the first five points, and then saw a five-point lead in the second game cut to three, when it seemed that the well-organised and tenacious Matthew might

well prevail.

But Gaultier continued to choose his moments to unleash his attacking flair, and after he had moved into the third game on level terms he tore the match dramatically away from the champion.

By the fourth the outcome was becoming evident, so judiciously was the Frenchman selecting his attacks. Although Matthew fought with typical obstinacy and courage, edging from 4-7 to 67, Gaultier ignored all distractions and completed his triumph with a penalty point as the champion mistimed a drive, obscuring his view of the ball. It was a bitter conclusion for the 32-year-old Matthew, who in recent months has also lost his world title and world number one ranking.

“Nick really wanted to do well to help promote this pioneering event, and he will be disappointed with that as much as the result,” Matthew’s manager Paul Walters said.

Gaultier, who became the only Frenchman to win the British Open six years ago, now has a chance of doing it again, even though his opponent in the final will be the brilliant Ramy Ashour, who has gone a year unbeaten.

The top-seeded world champion extended his winning streak to 40 matches as he overcame James Willstrop, another former world number one from Yorkshire, 11-2, 11-9, 13-11, advancing his hopes of becoming the first Egyptian in nearly 50 years to win the British Open.

Earlier, world number one Nicol David earned herself a chance of a topical revenge with an impressively adaptive performance which carried her defence of the women’s title into the final.

David’s 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 win over Alison Waters earned her another meeting with Laura Massaro, whose two victories over the record-breaking Malaysian in Kuala Lumpur this year brought a shocked reaction and claims that the legend was “in the twilight of her career.” Today the sun shone brightly on it. —AFP

Kuchar ahead at Colonial TEXAS: American Matt Kuchar held a one-shot lead at 10 under par after 15 holes when the weather-hit second round was suspended for the day at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday.

Kuchar, who clinched his fifth PGA Tour title at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, will line up a 40-foot birdie putt at the

FORT WORTH: Jordan Spieth hits his approach shot on the first hole during the third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. —AFP par-three 16th when play resumes late yesterday.

World number 13 Kuchar, the highest-ranked player in this week’s field, raced to the turn in fourunder 31 before recording his fifth birdie of the round at the par-four 14th to take over at the top.

The second round had already been suspended for just over two hours earlier in the day due to the threat of lightning at Colonial Country Club, giving the late starters no chance of completing the full 18 holes. Overnight pacesetter Ryan Palmer, who tied the tournament record low for the opening round after a flawless 62 on Thursday, was at eight under with six holes to play after mixing three birdies with one bogey and a double-bogey.

Canadian Graham DeLaet was the leader in

the clubhouse, having succumbed to the infamous “Horrible Horseshoe” before rebounding with two closing birdies to grab the early spotlight.

In pursuit of his first PGA Tour victory, the 31year-old from Saskatchewan put a welcome smile back on his face as he carded a threeunder-par 67 in overcast conditions to post a nine-under total of 131. Americans Josh Teater (67), Jordan Spieth (67) and 2004 champion Steve Flesch (64) were tied for second, with Swede Fredrik Jacobson (67) and American Chris Stroud (66) a further stroke back at seven under.

DeLaet completed his 67 before the siren sounded to halt the action, and was delighted with his overall position after going bogeybogey-bogey on his back nine over the “Horrible Horseshoe” stretch of holes from the par-four third to the par-four fifth.

“It was disappointing to make those three bogeys in a row,” DeLaet told Golf Channel after ending the day with a total of seven birdies and four bogeys.

“We got to the sixth hole and I just wanted to get the ball in the fairway and hit it in the middle of the green. I had a pretty reasonable short iron in there but I just wanted to make sure I didn’t make another bogey.

“I parred six and seven, then had great birdies on eight and nine to finish and just kind of calm my nerves a little bit. I knew I was in contention ... it was definitely a great finish.”

DeLaet, whose best PGA Tour finish was a tie for third at the 2010 Houston Open in his rookie season, drained a 28-footer at the par-three eighth and a 12-footer at the par-four ninth to take over at the top of the leaderboard.

“I got myself right back in it,” he said. “My game feels good and I’m making some putts here the last couple of days, which always helps.”

DeLaet, a three-times winner on the Canadian Tour where he clinched the order of merit title in 2009, has recorded three top-10s in 14 starts on the 2013 PGA Tour as he seeks a breakthrough victory on the ultra competitive US circuit.

The cut was projected to fall at one-under 139 with 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and former major winners David Toms and Davis Love III among those in danger of missing out. —Reuters

MIAMI: Roy Hibbert scored 29 points, West knocked away two passes by LeBron James for huge turnovers in the final minute, and the Pacers evened the East title series with a 97-93 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the series on Friday night.

Paul George scored 22 points, George Hill added 18 and West finished with 13 for the Pacers, who handed the Heat just their fourth loss in their last 50 games.

The series resumes with Game 3 todayin Indianapolis. James scored 36 points for the Heat, who got 17 points from Chris Bosh and 14 from Dwyane Wade. The Heat led 88-84 in the fourth quarter, then were outscored 13-5 the rest of the way.

And West was the biggest reason. With Indiana up 95-93, West intercepted a pass that James was throwing to Ray Allen with 43 seconds left, but the Pacers didn’t even get a shot off on the ensuing possession. In fact, Indiana may have gotten a bit lucky that the shot clock expired with the ball rolling around - if Wade had collected the ball in time, he had Mario Chalmers all alone at the other end in position to almost certainly tie the game.

On the next Miami possession, James drove to the right block, spun and tried passing out toward the perimeter. He released the ball, and West got his right hand on it to knock it offcourse. Immediately afterward, West took that same hand and extended it skyward in celebration.

The Heat trailed for virtually all of the game’s first 30 minutes, then tied the game three times in the third quarter - but Indiana always had a response. When the game was tied at 60, the Pacers scored seven of the next 10 points. Tied at 67, George quickly had a layup to put the Pacers back on top. Tied at 69, George struck again, this time with a jumper.

With 5.1 seconds left in the third, George drove the lane and finished a highlight-reel dunk over Miami’s Chris Andersen while getting fouled, the free throw putting the Pacers up by five.

James connected on a long 3-pointer to close the quarter.

Hibbert was creating one problem after another for Miami, so James took it upon himself to find a solution in the fourth. And with about 8 minutes left, he swatted a putback attempt away from the 7-foot-2 Indiana center, starting a play that ended with Chalmers scoring at the other end to give Miami an 85-84 lead.

On the next possession, James tied up a rebound with Hibbert, then won the ensuing jump ball. Not long afterward, Bosh made a 3pointer and Miami’s lead was up to 88-84 - its biggest of the night.

Indiana scored the next five points to reclaim the lead. James’ three-point play with 3:32 left put the Heat on top 91-89, and Hibbert answered that with a jump hook over the reigning MVP to tie the game for the 10th time. —AP

MIAMI: David West No. 21 of the Indiana Pacers handles the ball against Chris Andersen No. 11 of the Miami Heat in the second half during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals. —AFP

Sunshine comes in time as Rose blooms with 69 VIRGINIA WATER: Britain’s Justin Rose was relieved to feel the sun on his back again at the PGA Championship yesterday and the world number four took advantage with a three-under-par 69.

Most of the players contesting the European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth struggled to cope with wintry conditions on the first two days.

The eight-degree temperatures and winds gusting up to 20-mph finally gave way to blue skies and warm sunshine in the third round and Rose blossomed as four birdies helped him glide gently through the field.

“It’s nice to play golf in decent weather again,” the 32-year-old told Reuters in an interview after returning a one-under aggregate of 215. “I hit the ball a lot better today than I did the first couple of days. “When you are wearing four or five layers of clothing, and waterproofs, it’s hard to get a feel for your swing.”

The so-called British summer hampers Rose more than most because these days he is a resident of Florida where the weather is perfect for golf all year round.

“I definitely lost my swing a bit yesterday but I

hit some better shots today,” the Englishman added. “Hopefully that will give me a little more confidence to go out there tomorrow and shoot up the leaderboard.

“It was a hard day on Friday especially. When the wind is howling you try to trap the ball low and move the weight down more on your left side and you can get into some bad habits.

“I had a nice warm up on the practice range this morning. I went back to basics, checked my alignment, posture, setup, all those sorts of things, and played better.”

Rose came close to winning the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Championship in January, ending up tied second to fellow Briton Jamie Donaldson after missing a 12-foot putt at the last hole that would have set up a playoff.

He has also achieved three top-10 finishes in the United States this year without finding that breakthrough victory.

Rose was in the form of his life in 2012, winning his first World Golf Championship title at the Cadillac event in Florida and taking second place in the European circuit’s season-ending DP World

Tour Championship in Dubai.

He also played a key role in Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup campaign in Illinois in September, rolling in a snaking 35-foot putt at the 17th on the way to beating Phil Mickelson in the final-day singles.

“My game feels okay right now and I just feel as though I’m waiting for a spark,” said Rose. “I’m not really scoring very well at the moment, I’m hitting some good shots and not really capitalising.

“I’m close to playing well, I think I just need a tiny bit of confidence. I birdied three of the four par-fives today, just missed out on the 17th.

“They were all pretty solid birdies, up and around the green in two shots, and I also hit it to one foot from the pin for a two at the 14th,” said Rose.

“The whole field is closely bunched together this week and I’m far enough up the leaderboard where a great round tomorrow can help me work my way through the field into the top 10 or even the top five with an exceptional round.” —Reuters

WENTWORTH: Northern-Irish golfer Darren Clarke drives the ball on the 3rd hole during the third round of the PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club. —AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

S P ORTS

Root puts England on top LEEDS: Joe Root’s maiden Test century, on his Yorkshire home ground, left England well-placed in the second and final Test against New Zealand at Headingley yesterday.

England were 337 for seven at stumps on the second day after Root made 104, having come in with England in trouble on 67 for three following Friday’s first day wash-out.

Together with Yorkshire colleague Jonny Bairstow (64), Root shared a

Yorkshire batsman in the county’s 150-year history to make his first Test hundred at Headingley.

It was another composed display

by Root following his 71 in England’s 170-run first win in the first of this two-Test series at Lord’s last week and means he has now scored 861 firstclass runs in seven innings this season.

Earlier, England captain Alastair Cook won the toss with the sunny

LEEDS: England batsman Joe Root (left) celebrates his century (100 runs) during the second day’s play in the second cricket Test match between England and New Zealand. —AFP fifth-wicket stand of 124. However, left-arm quick Trent Boult brought New Zealand back into the match with a new-ball burst of three wickets for three runs in 13 deliveries to remove both Yorkshiremen and Stuart Broad.

But Matt Prior, dropped on 21, was 38 not out at the close, and Graeme Swann, who survived the hat-trick chance, 21 not out with their partnership so far worth 51 in just 59 balls.

The 22-year-old Root, in his sixth match at this level, was the first

blue skies overhead providing seemingly ideal conditions for batting.

But Tim Southee, who took 10 wickets at Lord’s, had a static Nick Compton excellently caught headhigh by third slip Dean Brownlie for one.

England then made largely untroubled progress during a second-wicket stand of 56 between Cook (34) and Jonathan Trott (28).

But Trott, driving well away from his body, was caught behind by New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum

off left-arm seamer Neil Wagner.

And next ball left-hander Cook flatfootedly edged recalled paceman Doug Bracewell, part of a four-man seam attack with spinners Bruce Martin (injured) and Daniel Vettori (unfit), to Brownlie as 67 for two became 67 for three.

At lunch, both Ian Bell and Root were nought not out. Conditions became tougher for New Zealand’s seamers but occasional off-spinner Kane Williamson lived up to his reputation as a partnership breaker when he had Bell, carelessly caught behind for 30 by McCullum, keeping wicket after BJ Watling was ruled out with a knee injury he suffered at Lord’s.

It was the end of a stand worth 79 and, at tea England were 178 for four with Root 61 not out and Bairstow 13 not out.

Root then surpassed his previous Test best of 73, made on his debut against India at Nagpur in December, with three fours in as many balls off Williamson a drive and a sweep followed by a cheeky reverse sweep.

Meanwhile Bairstow’s seventh four, an on-drive off Wagner, saw the son of late Yorkshire and England wicketkeeper David Bairstow, to a 73-ball fifty and also raised a century stand with Root.

Such was the crowd’s nervous expectancy regarding Root’s progress that even Headingley’s usually raucous Western Terrace was subdued.

But the silence was well and truly broken when Root’s steer for four through the slips off Bracewell saw him complete a 156-ball century, including nine boundaries.

However, New Zealand took the new ball as soon as it was available and Boult’s first delivery with it saw Root caught behind off a loose shot, the century-maker swishing his bat in disgust. Bairstow, also playing a poor stroke, went the same way as did Broad to give McCullum his fifth catch of the innings. However, when Prior clipped Southee to mid-wicket, Bracewell dropped the chance. —AFP

SCOREBOARD LEEDS, United Kingdom: Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the second Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley yesterday: Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Compton), 2-67 (Trott), 3-67 (Cook), 4England: 1st Innings 146 (Bell), 5-270 (Root), 6-279 (Bairstow), 7-286 (Broad) A. Cook c Brownlie b Bracewell 34 To bat: S Finn, J Anderson N. Compton c Brownlie b Southee 1 Bowling: Boult 19-4-48-3 (2w); Southee 24-6-72-1 (1w); J. Trott c McCullum b Wagner 28 Wagner 23-4-73-1 (1nb, 1w); Bracewell 19-3-83-1; Williamson I. Bell c McCullum b Williamson 30 9-0-49-1.

J. Root c McCullum b Boult 104 J. Bairstow c McCullum b Boult 64 New Zealand: Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane M. Prior not out 38 Williamson, Ross Taylor, S. Broad c McCullum b Boult 0 Doug Brownlie, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum G. Swann not out 21 (capt/wkt), Tim Southee, Neil Extras (b5, lb7, w4, nb1) 17 Wagner, Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult.

Total (7 wkts, 94 overs, 425 mins) 337

Rudisha resists quick buck for gold rush in Rio NEW YORK: David Rudisha was hailed as a super-runner after his worldrecord breaking victory in the 800 metres at last year’s London Olympics.

The Kenyan’s name was added to track and field’s A-list alongside Usain Bolt and Mo Farah. Suddenly, everyone wanted a piece of Rudisha.

Politicians wanted to be photographed with him, talk show hosts wanted to interview him and promoters were dreaming up ways to get him and Bolt to race each other.

For a fleeting moment, the notoriously shy and humble Rudisha lapped up the attention. Then, he disappeared from the limelight, retreating to his homeland.

Rudisha was feted as a hero there too. Cattle were slaughtered in his honor, a tradition for his Maasai tribe.

He became an instant celebrity to the next generation of Kenyan middle-distance runners, in the same way that he had been inspired by Wilson Kipketer.

Then it was back to work. The temptation to cash in on his fame was rejected. The lure of money and offers to fly around the world were turned down for a more noble goal.

“I just want to run,” Rudisha told reporters on Friday on the eve of the Adidas Grand Prix, the New York leg of track and field’s Diamond League series. “I want to run the perfect race.”

Many thought he ran the perfect race in London, when he won the 800 in one minute 40.91 seconds, becoming the first man to get under 1:41.00.

But no sooner had he crossed the line, than the speculation began on how much faster he could go. The once-unimaginable 1:40.00 became the new barrier.

It is a topic that routinely comes up in Rudisha’s rare public appearances.

The 24-year-old remains reluctant to talk about his chances, sticking to the sportsman’s mantra that nothing is impossible.

“I don’t want to say what is possible,” he said. “I think maybe, for myself, 1:40.5 is possible but I don’t know about 1:40.00 because you have to average 49 (seconds per lap). “The most important thing is to stay focused and keep training. With time, anything is possible.”

While Rudisha is an overwhelming favourite to win Saturday’s 800m race in Manhattan, his major goal this sea-

son is to defend his world title in Moscow in August.

His long-term goal is to win another Olympic gold medal at Rio in 2016, which remains the main reason he chose to escape the spotlight and remain in Kenya, where he trains under the guidance of legendary Irish

line of athletes who have turned down the chance of making a quick buck to focus on their sporting careers.

He already has some marquee sponsors including Adidas and Templeton said the 6ft 3in (1.90m) Kenyan would benefit in the long run.

Photo of the day

Competitors perform at the Red Bull Hangtown Motocross Classic at the AMA Pro Motocross Series in Sacramento, California, USA. —www.redbullcontentpool.com

Nibali battles through snow to close on win ITALY: Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali all but sealed overall victory in the Giro d’Italia after battling through a snowstorm and sub-zero temperatures to take his second stage win of the race deep in the Dolomite mountains yesterday.

His helmet, bike and race clothes caked in snow, Nibali raised first his right arm and then his left, kissing his wedding ring as he crossed the line in blizzard-like conditions 17 seconds ahead of Colombia’s Fabio Duarte.

Colombian Rigoberto Uran in third in Stage 20 of the race.

The winner of Thursday’s 20 kilometre uphill time-trial, Nibali attacked with 2.5 kilometres to go, pounding past snowdrifts lying a metre deep at the side of the narrow road leading to the Tre Cime ski station and brushing aside fans who came perilously close as they tried to run alongside him.

“I attacked a little early because I knew the last two kilometres were hard, but I had no idea they were that hard,” Nibali told reporters as snow continued to fall heavily.

“The last part of the climb seemed interminable. But this victory gives me a real sense of joy, the snow gave it a kind of epic feeling.

“I wanted to finish off the mountain stages and the race in a good way, leave it all on a high note, and that’s what I’ve done.”

With one flat straightforward stage remaining on Sunday, the 28-year-old Sicilian’s solo win also increased his overall lead to four minutes and 43 seconds on Uran, with Australia’s Cadel Evans, who struggled on the final climb, dropping back to third.

“After what happened yesterday (when the stage was cancelled due to snow) I wanted to say thank you to the fans for coming to today’s stage and waiting for hours in the snow to support us. Attacking like that was

my way of doing that,” Nibali added.

“I was worried about the fans getting so close to me, though, they could have knocked me off, but fortu-

achieved,” the Sky rider told reporters.

Nibali, meanwhile, is poised to claim the second Grand Tour of his career after winning the Tour

ITALY: Italian Vincenzo Nibali celebrates with the pink jersey on the podium after winning the 20th stage and penultimate stage of the 96th Giro d’Italia. —AFP nately I could get through.”

Seventh in last year ’s Giro and almost certain to finish second overall on Sunday, Uran said that he was delighted with the prospect of taking his first Grand Tour podium finish.

“It was a very difficult course today, the cold and snow made it really hard, but I’m ver y satisfied with what I

of Spain in 2010.

“This is a much more important moment for me than when I won the Vuelta,” Nibali said. “But if it wasn’t for the Vuelta, and my third place here (in the Giro in 2010), I would never have realised what I could achieve in Grand Tours.” The Giro d’Italia finishes today in Brescia. —Reuters

Jimmie chasing NASCAR history

David Rudisha coach, Brother Colm O’Connell.

“We’ve had a lot of requests, from all over the world, but we’ve said no to most things,” Rudisha’s manager James Templeton told Reuters.

“We try to limit that sort of thing, and minimalise all those distractions in your life and disruptions to training.” Rudisha is just the latest in a long

“Athletes are making more and more money, that sort of thing takes care of itself,” Templeton said. “Brother Colm and I think he will be a superstar in 2016, and there will be opportunities before then. “But we don’t think too much about the commercial side. We don’t want too many distractions.” —Reuters

CONCORD: Jimmie Johnson is focused on chasing victory at the Coca-Cola 600. He says he’s not thinking about his championship legacy.

A win Sunday night would be Johnson’s fourth in NASCAR’s longest race, trailing only Darrell Waltrip’s five spring victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson could also strengthen his series points lead with his third win this season as he chases his fifth Sprint Cup title. And a win would be a record seventh at Charlotte. It’s a resume already worthy of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame- perhaps even in the running for NASCAR’s greatest driver - but that is not something the 37-year-old Johnson is ready to think about.

“I just don’t pay attention to it all,” Johnson said. “It’s very difficult to think about where I fit in while I’m still racing. I think of drivers’ careers ending mid 40s. I still have 10 years or so to even think about that.” He’s got plenty of others thinking about it as Johnson’s milestones pile up. He captured his fourth Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte last week, a record.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, a four-time Sprint Cup champion, called Johnson’s career phenomenal.

Johnson had won several off-road racing titles when Gordon backed him to team owner Rick Hendrick.

Johnson drove his first Sprint Cup race for the team in 2001 and joined the series full time the next season.

Combine Johnson’s talent with Hendrick’s resources and the skill of crew chief Chad Knaus and “the rest is really history in what his career has been and the numbers that he has put up I think speak for themselves,” Gordon said.

Johnson’s numbers at Charlotte speak very loudly, too. He won three straight Coca-Cola 600s from 2003 through 2005, a stretch that also included victories in the fall races in 2004 and 2005. Johnson won here in October 2009, tying Waltrip and Bobby Allison for the all-time mark of six Charlotte victories. “How do I describe his career? Do we have that much time?” said Matt Kesenth, who leads the series with three victories this season. Johnson believes his success in the non-points all-star race gives him confidence for Sunday. His winning All-Star car is still in NASCAR’s technical section and the team couldn’t get it back in time to run in the 600.

“We have a lot to work from, but it’s still a new weekend,” Johnson said. “(The) race is much different than before. We feel like we have a good direction and we’ll see where things stack up at the end of the night on Sunday.”

Expect Johnson to get pressured from many fronts during the race.

Sprint Cup super power Joe Gibbs Racing has three cars among the top eight starters, including pole sitter Denny Hamlin, who led qualifying with a track record of 195.624 mph Thursday night. Kenseth, who won at Darlington two weeks ago, will start third while Kyle Busch starts eighth.

Busch has won 11 times at Charlotte in the Nationwide and Truck series, but never on NASCAR’s biggest stage.

Defending champion Kasey Kahne, Johnson’s teammate, will start near the front in sixth.

Kurt Busch of Furniture Row Racing looked like he had taken his second straight pole after Darlington before Hamlin caught him by about

five-hundreths of a second for the top spot. Kurt Busch led 69 of the first 73 laps at Darlington before fading to 14th. He’ll give it another go Sunday night.

“We know we’ve got some good things going right now,” he said. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start at No. 11. He was on his way to victory in this race two years ago when he famously ran out of gas on the final lap and got passed by winner Kevin Harvick.

Danica Patrick is running her second Sprint Cup race at Charlotte. She finished 30th in 2012 and hoped to build on that in his first full season in the series. However, her engine was leaking oil during Saturday’s first practice session and her team was going to change it out, moving her to the back of the field for Sunday night. Johnson can’t escape some critics. He jokingly took aim at them after his all-star win, saying he was simply “lucky.” “That’s what people say. There’s no talent involved, we just got lucky tonight,” he said back on May 17. If Johnson won’t tout his achievements, others in the garage are happy to do it.

“People can say whatever they want about him, but I don’t know how you can’t say that he’s not the best ever,” Kenseth said.

Johnson will think about those sorts of accolades later on when he’s finished winning races. There are too many standouts through the years, Johnson says, who have had wonderful careers and he’s simply happy that his name is mentioned among them.

“We just have the questions and the conversations” about who’s the greatest driver, Johnson said. “I’m glad we have those conversations in our sport.” —AP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

S P ORT S

Force hold off Highlanders PERTH: The Western Force continued their recent dominance of the Otago Highlanders with a thrilling 19-18 win in their Super 15 rugby clash in Perth yesterday.

In the battle of the competition’s cellar dwellers, with just three wins before them for the season, the Force made it their fifth straight win against the embattled Highlanders and notched their third victory for the season. For the New Zealand side, the result means they are almost certain to claim the wooden spoon this year.

Although the Force only ran in the only try in a match dominated by the kicking games of both sides, the boot of Jayden Hayward held the Highlanders at bay.

Hayward scored 14 points and also set up the game’s only try. After the Highlanders hit the lead through a Colin Slade long-range penalty in the 76th minute, Hayward won a penalty 60 seconds later when he was taken out by substitute Tino Nemani after kicking the ball.

Hayward stepped up and cooly slotted the penalty to put the Force back in front.

The Force had generally looked the best side for most of the match, dominating possession but struggling to crack the defence of the Highlanders.

They looked certain to score early in the match when they put together 23 phases as they camped on the try line, but the

Highlanders held firm in defence.

But in the 17th minute Hayward made a break down the right side line and the ball ended up with Sias Ebersohn, who dived over in the corner for his first try since 2011.

Hayward converted to give the home side a 7-0 lead and reward them for their early energy. The two sides then traded penalties, the Force leading 10-6 at the break, until the final 20 minutes saw the Highlanders finally click into gear and produce their most cohesive rugby of the match.

They were narrowly denied a try in the 62nd minute, when Ma’a Nonu slid in against the post and the video referee was called upon, but it was impossible to be certain he grounded the ball, and it was ruled to have been held up.

The Highlanders had a last gasp chance to snatch the win, but Slade knocked on.

Force captain Matt Hodgson said his team showed great resilience to hang on for the win. “I’m proud of the boys,” he said.

“It was not the prettiest of games in the second half, but we didn’t let a try in. “If we get our attack to match our defence we will be a great side.” Highlanders skipper Brad Thorn lamented errors from his side.”It was another disappointing one,” he said.

“It was just the little things, they are hard lessons and hopefully (at) some stage this year we will learn them.”—AFP

Dylan Hartley

MONACO: Mercedes’ German driver Nico Rosberg drives during the qualifying session at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo ahead of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.—AFP

Rosberg on pole in Monaco MONACO: Germany’s Nico Rosberg scorched to his third successive Formula One pole position with team mate Lewis Hamilton completing a front row lockout for Mercedes at the Monaco Grand Prix yesterday.

The pole was the fourth in a row for Mercedes, whose qualifying form has faded in the races so far this season, and second successive sweep of the top two places.

Red Bull’s triple world champion Sebastian Vettel qualified third, on a drying track after a damp session, with Australian team mate and last year’s winner Mark Webber lining up alongside.

Title contender Kimi Raikkonen, four points behind Vettel after five races, starts fifth for Lotus with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in sixth place for a race where overtaking can be extremely tricky.

Rosberg could become the first son of a Monaco Grand Prix winner to win the most glamorous race on the calendar - 30 years on from his world champion father Keke’s 1983 victory for Williams - but he was not about to get ahead of himself.

Leicester crowned champions LONDON: England hooker Dylan Hartley could be out of the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia after being sent off in Northampton’s 37-17 defeat by Leicester in the English Premiership final here at Twickenham yesterday. Hooker Hartley saw red when he allegedly accused referee Wayne Barnes of cheating as a fractious match neared half-time and the incident overshadowed Leicester’s first title since 2010. Barnes had previously warned Hartley about inappropriate language but when the Northampton captain apparently accused the official of favouring Leicester he was sent off.

Hartley, who faces a Rugby Union (RFU) disciplinary hearing today, could be banned for up to a year. The Lions fly to Hong Kong tomorrow and a spokesman for the tourists indicated to reporters at Twickenham that coach Warren Gatland wanted all players to be available for the match in Perth against the Force on June 5, the second of the trip after the first game against the Barbarians in the Far East next week. Hartley’s track record may count against him - he has been banned three times since 2007, twice for gouging - and although the Lions emphasised the matter was out their hands for the time being, any suspension of two weeks or more would rule him out of the entire trip. The rumpus overshadowed a seesaw match between two local rivals with Leicester bidding to win the title after being runners-up for the last two years.

Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “You know how Wayne Barnes referees and we spoke the whole week about discipline because we have been stung in finals with early yellow cards. He likes to be treated with respect. “In a game as big as this you would imagine Wayne Barnes would be 100 per cent in what he is thinking. I don’t want players sent off. “But Barnes is a very experienced referee, one of the top two or three in the world. That’s why he gets these games. There’s enough history between Northampton and Leicester to know that discipline is going to be a key part of the game.”

Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder added: “We don’t know what is going on the field. I asked Dylan what he said and he said he was talking to Ben Youngs. There is a lot worse than that going on the field.”

This was Leicester’s ninth successive Premiership final and they came out of the blocks sharply after spending the time since their semi-final win over Harlequins emphasising how important it was to win the title again.

Toby Flood opened the scoring with a penalty before Niall Morris crossed for

Leicester’s first try to give them an 8-0 advantage - before Stephen Myler replied with a touch down of his own for Northampton.

Then the fireworks started with England second row Courtney Lawes hitting Flood with a late tackle. The tackle was not high but Flood’s head bounced off the turf and off Dan Cole’s knee and he was prone on the pitch for five minutes before staggering to his feet.

A second Lawes hit finished Flood’s contribution to the game and he was replaced by George Ford who slotted a penalty ahead of a disallowed effort by Ben Foden, who was held up over the line.

Hartley was then warned for talking back to the referee and Soane Tonga’uiha was penalised for an early engagement at the scrum, meaning more points to Leicester as they went to the break 16-5 in front.—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) Italian Cup Roma v Lazio

19:00

Al Jazeera Sport +1

Spanish League Premier Valencia v Granada

21:00

Al Jazeera Sport +10 Sociedad v Real Madrid

21:00

Al Jazeera Sport +2 Malaga v Coruna

21:00

Al Jazeera Sport +5 Atletico v Mallorca

21:00

Al Jazeera Sport +9 Betis v Zaragoza

21:00

Al Jazeera Sport +8 Espanyol v Barcelona

21:00

Al Jazeera Sport +6

French League Lorient v Paris Saint

22:00

Al Jazeera Sport +4 Marseille v Stade Reims

22:00

Al Jazeera Sport +1 Lyon v Stade Rennes Al Jazeera Sport +7

22:00

“It’s always nice to hear statistics like that but it doesn’t change much for tomorrow,” said the Monaco resident who grew up in the Mediterranean principality and had dominated every practice session through the treacherous metal-fenced streets.

“In Barcelona we were struggling a lot in the race and I finished 70 seconds behind the winner. We’re improving step by step, but there are still a lot of questions remaining. It (the tyre wear) is still our weakness but we’ll make the best of it and who knows.”

Hamilton, 0.91 slower than his team mate, was happy to overcome the problems he experienced in practice and to qualify second for a race that should see just two pitstops rather than the average of four witnessed in Spain.

“I’ve been struggling all weekend and my pace has been slacking. I’ve struggled with the car and this is the first time that’s happened since 2005,” the 2008 winner said, referring to his pre-F1 days. “It’s been a difficult weekend so I’m happy to have been able to lock out the front row for the team. It’s been a massive improve-

ment for me.” A light shower before qualifying threw an element of uncertainty into the mix, with Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado fastest for Williams at the end of the first phase on a drying track that caught out Force India’s Paul Di Resta.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa did not set a time after crashing in final practice, leaving his mechanics with too much to fix and not enough time to do it. The Brazilian will start last.

Frenchman Romain Grosjean was also racing against time after also hitting the barriers in the morning but the Lotus driver managed to get out of the pits and into the second phase before complaining that he had been held up by a Toro Rosso. With Massa and Di Resta out, Caterham’s Dutch rookie Giedo van der Garde made it into the second phase for the first time.

Vettel was quickest in the second phase but could not match the Mercedes when it mattered most. “It was very close. Mercedes were very quick all weekend. We know they’re quick over one lap but I don’t want that to sound like an excuse,” said the German. “If anyone is to blame, then it’s me. The car was very good.”—Reuters

Djokovic and cold weather threaten Nadal’s Paris bid PARIS: Old foe Novak Djokovic and damp weather conditions are the most likely obstacles to claycourt machine Rafael Nadal’s bid for a record-extending eighth French Open title over the next two weeks.

Nadal, who last year beat Bjorn Borg’s record of six Roland Garros crowns, has lost only one match on the Paris clay and has already won five titles on the slow surface this year.

However, Serbia’s Djokovic ended the Spaniard’s eight-year reign at the Monte Carlo Masters to show he is beatable on the red dust after all.

Cold and wet weather could also threaten Nadal, whose devastating top spin works best on dry courts.

Temperatures are set to barely reach 15 degrees Celsius in the first week of the French Open, with rain showers forecast every day from Tuesday onwards, conditions reminiscent of 2009 when the Spaniard lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round.

“The only negative thing is this cold,” Nadal, who came back this year from a seven-month knee injury layoff, told a news conference on Friday.

Nadal, with 11 grand slam titles on all surfaces to his name, is just happy to be back playing and winning at Roland Garros again this year is not the be-all and end-all.

“If you can ask me if I win one grand slam during the whole year or win six tournaments like I already did, I will choose to win six tournaments,” said the third seed, who first meets Germany’s Daniel Brands.

World number one Djokovic, in contrast, has put a lot of pressure on his shoulders having yet to triumph at the French Open.

He has asked his support team and reporters not to tell him who his potential second or third round opponents are so he can focus on

his opener against Belgian David Goffin.

Djokovic, who lost early in Rome and Madrid, could meet Nadal in the semi-finals of a tournament deprived of world number two Andy Murray, who pulled out because of back problems.

“This is the tournament that is the number one priority of my year, of my season. This is where I want to win and I’m going to go for it,” Djokovic, who beat Nadal in the Monte Carlo final, told a news conference. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet, seeded sixth and seventh respectively, will be out to end France’s 30-year drought for a men’s grand slam champion.

The last Frenchman to win a major tournament was Yannick Noah, who beat Swede Mats Wilander in the final at Roland Garros in 1983.

In Tsonga’s way stands second seed Roger Federer, who has a smooth-looking draw until a potential quarter-final clash with his sometime nemesis.

World number one Serena Williams is the top favorite in the women’s draw although defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia is also a natural candidate for a second Roland Garros title.

Once a self-described “cow on ice” on clay, Sharapova now feels at home on the slowest surface. “It never came easy for me to play on the clay and that’s why it took many years. But yet I felt like with every year I was getting closer,” she told a news conference.

Eleven years after winning her only French Open, Serena is also feeling sharp as she bids for a 16th grand slam singles title. “Just looking back at a few of my matches years ago and looking now, I definitely feel like I’m getting into that zone that I have always wanted to be in and I feel a lot better about it,” the American said.—Reuters

FRANCE : Serbia’s Novak Djokovic practices during a training session on the eve of the start of the French Tennis Open tournament at the Roland Garros stadium. —AFP

Fernley says costs threaten some F1 teams

MONACO: Some Formula One teams face a fight for survival next season when engine costs more than double, Force India deputy principal Bob Fernley said yesterday.

“You shouldn’t underestimate the resolve of Formula One teams, they are incredibly resilient and probably will come through,” the Briton told Reuters in an interview at the Monaco Grand Prix.

“But to add to the level of costs to the teams at this time in an economic cycle, one has to question whether they can all survive.”

Formula One is introducing a new 1.6 litre V6 turbocharged unit with energy recovery systems in 2014 to replace the existing 2.4 litre V8.

Under a now-lapsed Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA) between teams, the V8 was priced at around 9 million euros ($11.64 million) a season. The new engine will cost more than 20 million.

In-season testing could also be reintroduced next year and teams also face a hike in entry fees. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said the teams must also shoulder some of the blame: “F1 badly mismanaged the cost of the development and supply of those new power plants,” the Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying.

“We allowed the engineers to be unfettered in dreaming up the regulations, which means teams are now facing big bills.”

Fernley said champions Red Bull, Ferrari,

Mercedes and McLaren would get a bigger share of revenues under a deal with Bernie Ecclestone, who represents commercial rights holder CVC, but that was of no help to those further down the pecking order. “How much money is being put into the sport and how much money is being taken out of the sport?,” asked Fernley, whose team is owned

by Indian liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya and the Sahara Group. Both Mallya and Sahara have been regularly in the financial headlines with the former’s Kingfisher airline grounded by debts of $2.5 billion.

Unlisted Sahara has been ordered by the Indian supreme court to repay billions of dollars it raised from millions of small investors. Mallya insists the team is separate

from his business empire as a privatelyowned entity. “CVC have got an agenda as bankers to make as much money out of their investment as they possibly can and that involves minimal investment. And that is not in the sport’s interests. It’s the worst combination that you can have,” Fernley added. “I only question the logic of it. Are we actually trying to stack it in a way that is to get rid of teams so they can bring customer teams in maybe?”

CVC could not be contacted immediately for comment. Ecclestone recently revived talk of top teams being able to provide others with cars, something that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has long been pushing for and others such as Frank

Williams are firmly opposed to. Fernley said Force India were in the Williams camp.

“It’s not just Frank. Once you bring in ‘customer teams’ you’ve lost the identity of Formula One. And you as a team have lost your identity. So you’re now just an appendage,” he declared. “There are four teams that have been given special privilege and those four teams would be the ones that are likely to supply the customer teams.

So everything is now moving in the way of the four teams.”

The confidential Concorde Agreement that has governed the sport expired at the end of last year and a new one is still being pored over by lawyers with no indication that any signing is imminent.—Reuters

Rosberg on pole in Monaco

Gaultier ends Matthew’s British Open record

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

19

17

Sunshine comes in time as Rose blooms with 69

Page 17

LONDON: Bayern’s Philipp Lahm holds up the trophy after his side won the Champions League Final soccer match against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium. — AP

Robben gives Bayern Euro crown LONDON: Arjen Robben scored a heart-stopping 89thminute winner to earn Bayern Munich a dramatic 2-1 win over German rivals Borussia Dortmund yesterday after a thrilling Champions League final at London’s Wembley Stadium.

With extra time beckoning, Robben collected a back-heel from Franck Ribery, eluded the challenge of Mats Hummels and rolled a delicate shot past Roman Weidenfeller to give Bayern their fifth European crown. It was a moment of longawaited deliverance for both Bayern and Robben, after defeats for the Bavarians in the final of the competition in 2010 and again in 2012, when they lost a cruel penalty shootout to Chelsea on home soil.

Robben had set Bayern on the way to victory after an hour of the first all-German final when he teed up Mario Mandzukic for the opener, only for Ilkay Gundogan to equalise from the penalty spot in the 68th minute.

Victory made Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes only the fourth manager to win the trophy with two different clubs, after a 1998 triumph with Real Madrid, as he prepares to step aside

for incoming successor Pep Guardiola.

Having already claimed the German title, Bayern will now look to complete an unprecedented treble by beating Stuttgart in the German Cup final next weekend.

There was no second title for 1997 winners Dortmund, but Jurgen Klopp’s side more than played their part on a night of gripping drama in front of 86,298 fans at the home of English football.

The player who had generated the most column inches in the weeks leading up to the game was in the stands for kickoff; a hamstring injury having denied Mario Goetze a farewell appearance for Dortmund before his 37 million euros (£31.7 million, $47.8 million) move to Bayern.

His transfer was the latest show of strength from a side who romped to the Bundesliga title by a record-breaking 25point margin, but Bayern were left looking like the underdogs as Dortmund flew out of the blocks.

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had to save from Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Marco Reus and Sven

Bender, before Bayern finally came to life when Weidenfeller tipped a Mandzukic header onto the bar.

Javi Martinez sent a header onto the roof of the net from the resulting corner, but the best chances of the first half both fell to Robben.

On the half hour, Thomas Mueller’s pass sent him clean through on goal, but the angle was prohibitive for a left-footed player and Weidenfeller rushed out swiftly to make a sprawling save.

The Dutchman found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat again moments before half-time when the ball fell kindly for him in a tussle with Hummels, but Weidenfeller stood up bravely and blocked with his face.

In between, Neuer produced a superb last-ditch block to thwart Lewandowski, who had deftly rolled Jerome Boateng from a Reus pass, as the play passed from one end to the other at breathless speed.

It looked as if another major final was set to pass Robben by, but on the hour he atoned for his earlier misses by creat-

ing the opening goal.

Ribery rolled a pass towards the byline and Robben evaded the offside trap by a matter of inches before nudging the ball beyond Weidenfeller and crossing for Mandzukic to hook the ball home from a yard. Dortmund might have been forgiven for feeling deflated given their first-half exertions, but instead they drew level.

Dante was penalised for an untidy high foul on Reus inside the area and Gundogan steered his penalty into the bottomright corner to send the hordes of yellow-shirted fans behind Neuer’s goal leaping from their seats.

Moments later, Dortmund were indebted to a breathtaking piece of defending from Neven Subotic, who slid in to hook Mueller’s goal-bound shot off the line as Robben closed in for a tap-in.

But Bayern continued to push, Weidenfeller repelling fierce strikes from David Alaba and Bastian Schweinsteiger, before Robben tiptoed through the Dortmund defence to score a famous late winner. — AFP

Gay roars to 100m win

BOLIVIA: A file picture taken on April 6, 2013 shows Brazilian national football team player Neymar celebrating after scoring against Bolivia. — AFP

Santos to let Neymar go RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s Neymar is on the verge of choosing one of two offers from un-named clubs, reported to be Spanish suitors Barcelona and Real Madrid, after Santos agreed on Friday to transfer him.

Santos said they had ended a three-year fight to keep the 21-year-old, Brazil’s big hope for next year’s World Cup finals, and agreed to a transfer, giving him the right to choose which offer to accept, though a decision was not imminent.

“In the face of the offers and the player’s contract, the management committee of the club decided to sell the player,” Santos said in a statement on their website (www.santosfc.com.br).

“At a meeting with the representatives of Santos FC’s management committee, the forward Neymar Jr was informed about the proposals received by the club and will analyse them in the coming days before making a definitive decision,” Santos added in a later statement.

“I’m happy by the interest from both clubs, it makes me proud, but now I’m going home because my mother’s waiting,” Neymar was quoted by Gazeta Esportiva (www.gazetaesportiva.net) as saying as he left Vila Belmiro with his father. Gazeta said Neymar would turn out for Santos in their opening match of the Brazilian championship against Flamengo in Brasilia today.

Representatives of Spain’s two leading clubs were in Brazil and Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper put the latest offer from Barcelona at 74 million Brazilian Real ($36.12 million).

Should Neymar go for the most likely option of moving to Barcelona, he will play alongside Argentine Lionel Messi, Golden Ball winner for the last four years. The Spanish champions are looking to revamp their stellar squad after what by their high standards is a slump during which they have been eliminated from the European Champions League at the semi-final stage for the last

two seasons.

Neymar, regarded as former Santos great Pele’s heir, was the only non European-based player among the 23 finalists for FIFA’s player of the year award in 2012 and has been a target of top European sides for at least three years, including Chelsea in 2010.

So far Santos had rejected all offers and improved his contract, which included sponsorships, to stay at the club and he often attended marketing events. The ready smiling Neymar became a celebrity, had a part in a television soap opera and admirers imitated his Mohican style haircut.

In November 2011 he said he had signed for Santos until after next year’s World Cup tournament but has often said he favored a move to Barcelona.

However, since the middle of last year a move had become increasingly possible for the current South American player of the year as Santos lost form and he demanded improvements in the squad.

The subject of whether Neymar should go to Europe or not became a topic of debate within the national team given how important some players believed it was for him to get experience of facing the world’s top defenders.

Neymar made his debut for Santos aged 17 in 2009 and the following year helped the team win the Paulista (Sao Paulo) state championship and Copa Brasil knockout tournament.

Such was his impact playing alongside creative midfielder Paulo Henrique Ganso that fans and media wanted to see them both included in Brazil’s 2010 World Cup squad in South Africa but coach Dunga resisted the calls.

Neymar confirmed his qualities as a match winner with his brilliant dribbling and finishing as Santos were crowned South American champions with their third Libertadores Cup title, the first since Pele’s heyday in the early 1960s. — -Reuters

NEW YORK: Tyson Gay roared to a 100meter victory while Sanya Richards-Ross withdrew and high jumper Blanka Vlasic made an emotional comeback triumph in yesterday’s New York Diamond League athletics meet.

Cold, windy and rainy conditions dimmed bids for spectacular performances at the third of 14 stops in the global series, making health issues a concern as athletes look to the world championships in August at Moscow.

“I felt with the weather the way it was, it was important to leave here healthy,” Gay said. “I wanted to try not to push it. I’m glad I won the race.”

Gay won in 10.02 seconds with US compatriot Ryan Bailey second in 10.15sec and Keston Bledman of Trinidad and Tobago third in 10.16sec.

Gay, a former 100m and 200m world champion who won the Jamaica Invitational earlier this month in a world-leading 9.86 seconds, is pondering a 100m-200m world double bid if he can qualify at next month’s US nationals.

“I’m satisfied. I have some sharpening to do,” Gay said. “I’ll probably pick it up this week or next. I’ve been trying to take it easy on my body.”

At this point, he has no other races planned until the world meet trials. “My coaches want me to train all the way through so we will see how it goes,” Gay said.

Richards-Ross was a no-show at the 400m start line and explained her absence in a Twitter posting, saying she was not yet fully recovered from right big toe surgery.

She had planned for this to be her first race since winning London Olympic 400m gold.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to compete today. I want to be back on the track more than anything but my foot isn’t ready. It’s tough,” Richards-Ross posted.

“As an athlete it’s always difficult to know when to push it and when to be patient. It’s a long season and I want to be ready for Worlds. But trust me.... It is hard. Staying optimistic and getting ready for next week!”

In her absence, reigning world champion Amantle Montsho of Botswana won the women’s 400m in 49.91sec, 0.03sec off her

season’s world best. “I’m a little surprised (at my time),” Montsho said. “I knew I had been training well.”

Instead of Richards-Ross’s return, the stunning comeback story was left to Croatia’s Vlasic, a four-time world champion and the 2008 Olympic runner-up who won by clearing 1.94m.

It was her first competition after a 16month layoff due to complications following Achilles tendon surgery. “I can’t explain to you how scared I was before this competition,” Vlasic said. “I didn’t know if I was ready or not. I was still feeling a lot of pain.

“This is just a dream come true, to come back and win the competition under these circumstances.” Reigning Olympic champion David Rudisha of Kenya won the 800m in 1:45.14.

“Today’s race was a little bit tough because of the weather but it was a good run,” he said. “I was expecting something better than that but I knew the weather was going to be tough.”

Rudisha is less concerned with chasing his world record, 1:40.91 set last year at London, than he is with winning at Moscow.

“I don’t think I have more pressure breaking the world record,” he said. “I think the pressure this year is to win the world championship.”

Two-time Olympic champion and 2011 world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica won the 200m in 22.53sec.

“It’s not the type of weather sprinters like but I can’t complain,” said Campbell-Brown.

“I just need to continue to improve and stay healthy and I think I’ll have a good season.”

Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet won the men’s 5,000m in a season world best of 13:10.03 while Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic won the women’s discus with a season world best of 68.48m.

Reigning Olympic women’s pole vault champion Jenn Suhr won on 4.63m with world champion Fabiana Murer of Brazil second and 2012 Olympic runner-up Yarisley Silva of Cuba third, both at 4.53m.

American Ryan Whiting, the reigning world indoor champion, won the shot put at 21.27m with former world champion Reese Hoffa second on 20.69m. — AFP

Business

House-hunting Chinese send wealth to Seattle Page 25 US trade with Colombia grows; Anxiety mounts Page 26

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Improving economy alters the US political landscape

New BMW Z4 - more desirable than ever Page 25 Page 22

ATHENS: A homeless man sleeps under a road bridge in Athens. Greece’s deep, six-year recession is likely to end in 2014, but growth will be weak and unemployment will remain above 20 percent for another three years, the country’s international debt inspectors said. (Inset) An elderly man walks past a homeless man begging for money, in Milan, Italy. Italy must continue to bring down its public debt, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said, even as the country’s new premier seeks a greater focus on economic growth instead. — AP

EU tackles youth unemployment Euro-zone unemployment hit record 12.1% BRUSSELS: European leaders have decided youth unemployment and the risk of social breakdown are among the toughest challenges they face and finding solutions will be a top priority for the coming months. In a letter released late on Friday, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said youth unemployment was one of the most pressing issues for the 27member European Union.

“The June European Council will be an opportunity to mobilize efforts at all levels around one shared objective: to get motivated young people back to work or education,” he said, referring to upcoming summit talks. “We must give them

the guarantee that they will be either in training, further education or employment within four months of leaving school.”

EU ministers agreed earlier this year on steps to ensure people under the age of 25 receive an offer of work or work-related training as part of a 6 billion euro ($8 billion)initiative on youth unemployment in the worst-hit corners of Europe.

Social unrest is rumbling and research has warned of “lost generations” of unemployed people and their children. Van Rompuy said in his public letter preparatory work needed to be carried out, so schemes to help young people could be “fully operational” by January next year. In Germany, policy-makers have in private

expressed a concern about a lack of urgency and have thrown their weight behind bilateral deals to solve the problem.

The dominant EU state says it is experienced in dealing with unemployment and is hosting talks on July 3 in Berlin to follow up on the June EU talks. It thinks the 6 billion euros of EU money should be spent upfront, rather over the seven years of the next multi-annual budget (2014-2020). It also has said some funds could pay for the early retirement of older people to make way for the next generation. Van Rompuy’s letter notes unemployment levels vary greatly across the European Union, underlining the case for sharing best practice.

Japan PM vows ‘all possible’ help for Myanmar economy YANGON: Japan’s premier yesterday pledged “all possible assistance” to kick-start Myanmar’s ailing economy, hailing a major industrial zone near Yangon as a symbol of development for the impoverished nation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is touting the potential of Japanese businesses to boost the once junta-ruled nation’s economy, visited the Thilawa project-a 2,400 hectare site which will include a port and industrial park. Praising the jointly-developed scheme as a symbol of “bi-lateral co-operation” which will create badly needed jobs,

Abe said his government “is ready to provide all possible assistance” as Myanmar edges towards democracy.

“Japan is happy to support nation-building in Myanmar,” he added, according to an official translation of comments made after his visit to Thilawa.

During his trip Abe is pushing the expertise of Japanese firms-in particular in infrastructure building-to Myanmar, which desperately needs investment to drive a much-anticipated economic revival.

“Thilawa SEZ (special economic zone) is a milestone

YANGON: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd right) visits the Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) port yesterday. Abe, whose approval ratings at home are sky-high on the back of encouraging economic figures and healthy stock market gains, is on a three day visit to Myanmar. — AFP

in the relationship between the two governments and the private sector,” said Set Aung, Myanmar’s deputy minister of National Planning and Economic Development.

“This will create quick wins for the people of Myanmar and Japanese businessmen,” in terms of jobs and much-needed “technical assistance”, he added. An environmental impact assessment of the site will be completed in August, he said. Japan and Myanmar in December agreed to start work this year on the Thilawa project with the zone due to be up and running in 2015. Abe follows in the footsteps of other world leaders who have flocked to the former pariah state since it was welcomed back to the international community after a nominally civilian government was installed in 2011.

In the first visit by a Japanese premier since 1977, Abe is seeking to cement a role for his country in resource-rich and strategically key Myanmar, whose untouched markets have caught the eye of global investors. Unlike its Western allies, Japan maintained trade ties and dialogue with Myanmar during junta rule which ended in 2011, saying a hard line could push it closer to China. During his trip Abe is also expected to unveil almost $1 billion in development aid and a plan for a nationwide electricity grid as part of a strategy to tout Japanese infrastructure firms around the world.

He is being accompanied by a 40-strong business delegation bosses of some of Japan’s top companies including trading houses Mitsubishi, Mitsui and infrastructure firms Taisei and JGC. Before the signing ceremony Abe laid wreaths at Yangon’s Martyrs’ mausoleum where the tombs of independence leaders including General Aung San-Aung San Suu Kyi’s father-who were assassinated in 1947. He was due to meet democracy champion Suu Kyi before travelling to the capital Naypyidaw for a summit with President Thein Sein on Sunday. — AFP

For the European Union as a whole, unemployment is 10.9 percent and in the 17-member euro zone, it reached a record 12.1 percent of the working population in March, the latest public figures. In the United States it is 7.6 percent. Among EU member states, the lowest unemployment rates are in Austria (4.7 percent), Germany (5.4 percent) and Luxembourg (5.7 percent), while the highest are in Greece (27.2 percent), Spain (26.7 percent) and Portugal (17.5 percent), according to Eurostat data issued at the end of April. The EU jobs crisis has stoked debate on how tough economic policies need to be to fix the EU economy.— Reuters

IMF chief avoids charges in French payout scandal PARIS: IMF chief Christine Lagarde avoided immediate charges on Friday but was named an “assisted witness” after French prosecutors grilled her for two days over a state payout to a disgraced tycoon when she was finance minister. Lagarde was questioned for a total of 24 hours by prosecutors working for a court that probes cases of ministerial misconduct over her 2007 handling of a row that resulted in 400 million euros ($515 million) being paid to controversial business figure Bernard Tapie. “My status as assisted witness is not a surprise,” she told reporters as she left the Paris courthouse late on Friday.

“I have always acted in the best public interest and in accordance with the law,” said Lagarde, 57, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing. “My explanations came as a response to the doubts that had been brought up regarding the decisions I had taken at the time,” she added. While Lagarde avoided being placed under formal investigation-the closest equivalent in French law to being charged-her “assisted witness” status means she could still face further questionsand possibly charges-at a later stage.

Lagarde said she would now return to Washington and report to the board of the International Monetary Fund, which again expressed confidence in its first woman leader after learning of the court’s decision.

“Now it’s time for me to return to Washington to pursue my mission as managing director of the IMF,” she said outside the court. The chic Lagarde, considered one of the world’s most powerful women, won respect as France’s first female finance minister for her no-nonsense attitude, intellect and style.

Criminal charges against Lagarde would have been an embarrassment for the IMF, after her predecessor Dominique StraussKahn, also from France, resigned in disgrace in 2011 over an alleged assault on a New York hotel maid. “The board will be briefed again

Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), France’s Christine Lagarde in the coming days,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement on Friday. “ The Executive Board has been briefed on this matter several times and on each occasion expressed confidence in the managing director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties,” he added.

The investigation concerns Tapie, a former politician, who went to prison for match-fixing during his time as president of French football club Olympique de Marseille.

Prosecutors working for the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) suspect he received favorable treatment in return for supporting Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election. They have suggested Lagarde-who at the time was finance minister-was partly responsible for “numerous anomalies and irregularities” which could lead to charges for complicity in fraud and misappropriation of public funds.—AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

BUSINESS

Mexico’s telecoms law to rebuild industry ‘brick by brick’ MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s new telecommunications law aims to break the hold of dominant players that have made the country’s industry an anomaly on the global map and rebuild it “brick by brick,” a senior government official said. The law, approved by Mexico’s states this month, gives the government sweeping powers to break up companies controlling more than 50 percent of the market, thereby challenging the might of telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim and broadcaster Televisa.

Slim’s company America Movil has about 70 percent of Mexico’s mobile phone business and 80 percent of the fixed line market.

Televisa has more than 60 percent of the television industry. The new legislation, whose implementing laws must still be drawn up, aims to foster more competition and put an end to the legal stalling Slim and Televisa have

used to fight regulators’ attempts to open up the marketplace.

“If the telecommunications sector was a building, that building is going to be completely demolished and we have to reconstruct it stone by stone, brick by brick,” Jose Ignacio Peralta, deputy minister of communications and transport, told the Reuters Latin America Summit. He said it would be up to the new regulator, known as Ifetel, to decide whether the government would forcibly break up America Movil or Televisa to spur competition.

But he offered the strongest hints to date that the government would not hesitate to do so to open up the industry. Mexico has changed the constitution to give it more leverage to rein in America Movil and Televisa, and Peralta said that once Ifetel had

been created it would become apparent whether the regulator would use its power to force firms to sell off assets. “What we can evaluate at the moment is that the constitutional reform contains (that power). This sent out a very strong message about what the will and the intention of the president and Congress is,” Peralta said.

“I personally am very optimistic, in the sense that if a dominant player shows anticompetitive behavior, and, in accordance with the law, it leads to a measure of this kind, I’m optimistic there won’t be any doubt about taking this decision,” he said, referring to a potential break-up of firms. Mexico has been pilloried by think thanks for failing to open up its economy to boost competition and the telecoms sector has become the most potent symbol of that.

Failure to address the concentration of power in few hands had created an “anomalous situation” in Mexico, Peralta said.

“Extremely so, in a way not seen in any country,” he said. Despite the government’s insistence that the telecoms law will shake up the industry, doubts persist. “Despite the passage of reform, we expect that the Mexican telecommunications market will continue to be dominated by a few players for the foreseeable future,” credit ratings agency Moody’s said in a research note published this week.

The telecoms law aims to open up telephone networks to smaller players, and could force a dominant player to charge different rates compared to competitors to level the playing field. The law can also be used to force Slim’s America Movil to share its

infrastructure with rivals to improve their access. Slim has sought to expand his business into other sectors as regulatory pressure on his firm has built up in the last few years.

However, he has failed repeatedly to persuade the government to let him enter the lucrative pay-television market.

Competitors say the economic might of Slim, who topped the Forbes list of the world’s richest people for a fourth straight year in March, could allow him to crush the competition. Peralta said any companies trying to enter the television market would need to be carefully vetted. “In the case of someone seeking the concession ... being a dominant player, the criteria that the Ifetel will impose will have to consider elements so that the structure of the market is not affected,” he said. —Reuters

US investors look for signs in rally’s break WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD NEW YORK: The US stock market’s break in its recent rally last week left investors wondering if they’re seeing a turning point or just a blip in the upward path. Next week could make it harder to figure out, considering that the long Memorial Day weekend typically signals the start of the summer.

The three major US stock indexes posted a decline for the week on Friday, their first weekly loss since mid-April, raising some fresh worries that this year’s rally may be weakening.

Among the biggest concerns for investors right now is how soon the Federal Reserve may be ending its stimulus program. The minutes released this

then you throw in the ‘sell in May and go away’ philosophy, well, here we are Memorial Day weekend.”

The pickup in volume suggested to some a shift in sentiment, though activity has been below-average throughout the rally, which has taken the Dow and the S&P 500 to record highs. Much of that rally has been driven by the Fed’s continued economic stimulus.

SHORT PULLBACKS The duration and the scope of the rally have surprised even veteran market watchers, many of whom have been expecting a reversal in the trend

NEW YORK: Trader David O’Day works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the close of trading. Stocks ended the day slightly lower after recouping a big loss early on. —AP week from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed some officials were open to tapering large-scale asset purchases as early as at the June meeting. Volume picked up sharply in the last two days following Wednesday’s release of the Fed’s minutes.

“We should have already been prepared for” the Fed’s eventual tapering of stimulus measures, said Bryant Evans, investment adviser and portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management, in Champaign, Illinois. “The market is perhaps just looking for an excuse to sell off some gains. And

for several weeks. The market has managed to avoid any significant pullback since November, and dips have been used as buying opportunities.

Even with the week’s 1.1 percent loss, the S&P 500 remains up 15.7 percent for the year.

Volatility has also not been a problem. That’s why Wednesday’s reversal - where the Dow and the S&P 500 both rose more than 1 percent during the morning, but fell more than 1 percent in the afternoon - caused many investors to take notice.

“That’s a change. Historically, when you get that kind of a reversal day, it kind of stalls things out for

a while,” said Frank Gretz, market analyst and technician for brokerage Shields & Co in New York.

But he said the market’s up trend has mostly been orderly, with little divergent action. Other analysts see some of the market’s strong momentum finally waning. This week’s decline caused the S&P 500 to trade below its 14-day moving average, but the index managed to close above the level. In another possible sign of weakening sentiment: Two massive blocks of puts were bought on Friday on the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Fund and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets Fund, according to options strategists.

The move suggests investors are hedging against a possible decline in emerging markets in the weeks and months ahead. “Buyers can only take stocks so far. There’s certainly a little bit of buyers’ fatigue setting in, and with the market being as extended as it is, it’s certainly not unrealistic to think sellers will start to come in and take advantage of the strength we’ve had,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. That’s not to say the up trend is over, he said.

BOND YIELDS AND EQUITY GAINS Some of the recent rally has reflected a push out of bonds and into stocks. Equity valuations tend to be lower when real 10-year US Treasury note yields are above 4 percent or below 2 percent, Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a recent research note. “We expect both real and nominal bond yields to gradually rise from current low levels,” the analysts wrote. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury note’s yield rose on Friday above the key 2 percent level - the highest in two months. Treasury yields rose this week after the Fed added to bond investors’ fears that the US central bank might slow its bond purchases later this year if the economy improves further.

Investors are trying to determine if yields are likely to climb on stronger growth and a more hawkish stance by the Fed. Economic data has remained mixed, adding further uncertainty to market projections. Next week brings May consumer confidence data on Tuesday and preliminary data for first-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday. On Friday, personal income and consumption data for April is set for release, along with the final reading on consumer sentiment for May from Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan, and the ISM-Chicago business survey, also known as the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, for May.—Reuters

WASHINGTON: House Speaker John Boehner speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington. Alleged misbehavior by the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies gives the GOP something else to talk about and investigate as the economy clearly, if slowly, recovers on President Barack Obama’s watch and robs Republicans of a central argument against Democrats. —AP

Improving economy alters the US political landscape WASHINGTON: Alleged misbehavior by the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies gives the opposition Republican Party something else to talk about and investigate as the economy clearly, if slowly, recovers on President Barack Obama’s watch and robs Republicans of a central argument against Democrats. Amid a series of recent positive economic reports, Republicans are revving up their portrayal of the Obama administration as scandal-ridden and inept, while largely abandoning the party’s where-is-the-recovery criticism.

Republicans had little choice, given that the economy has gained considerable strength over the past 18 months. Today, the federal budget deficit is shrinking rapidly and tax receipts are rising. Consumer confidence and spending are up, as are auto and housing sales. Stocks are near all-time highs. Such improvements give US policymakers some rare breathing room, even if the nearly 12 million people still out of work don’t discern the brighter picture. While unemployment is at 7.5 percent, it’s down from the 10 percent of October 2009. Also, recent job creation in the private sector has been relatively strong.

Republicans, who earlier stressed the weak recovery and what they depict as Obama’s economic mismanagement, are now denouncing his administration on several fronts: for allowing the Internal Revenue Service to target conservative groups for extra tax scrutiny; for engaging in an alleged cover-up on the nature of a deadly terrorist attack on a US post last September in

Benghazi, Libya; and for secretly seizing records of journalists from The Associated Press and Fox News. Obama and Democrats are naturally talking up the recent economic gains and the president’s efforts to promote more jobs. He’s been trying to draw attention to his job-creation ideas in a series of out-of-town events before audiences of workers.

As a result of fiscal improvements, the annual federal budget deficit will drop this year to $642 billion after four straight years of $1 trillion-plus annual shortfalls, the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office reported this past week. The Treasury says it will pay down a small portion of the national debt this quarter for the first time in six years. As the rebound gains steam, Republicans stand to lose what had been one of their strongest hands for the 2014 elections: asserting ineffective economic stewardship from the Democrat in the White House and those on Capitol Hill.

But they pick up another compelling issue, one that touches directly on Obama’s core 2008 campaign promise to restore public confidence in the ability of government to produce results in an effective and evenhanded way. There’s “no question” that the alleged scandals are taking the attention of many politicians away from economic concerns, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and top economic adviser to Republican Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.

“Both sides were tired of the budget battle,” he said.—AP

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 2.837 5.168 2.918 2.272 3.286 229.200 37.017 3.679 6.906

.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

9.580 94.221 0.271 0.273

744.82 79.09 76.50

748.000 79.500 77.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd GCC COUNTRIES 76.657 78.986 746.650 763.520 78.276

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 40.200 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.438 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.341 Tunisian Dinar 174.200 Jordanian Dinar 405.950 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.929 Syrian Lier 3.123 Morocco Dirham 34.006 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 287.350 Euro 374.560 Sterling Pound 437.580 Canadian dollar 281.270 Turkish lira 158.750 Swiss Franc 302.000 US Dollar Buying 286.150 GOLD 298.000 150.000 77.500

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL DRAFT 285.82 284.05 300.81 372.76 286.40 440.36 2.86 3.689 5.186 2.268 3.258 2.910 78.04 762.27 40.40 407.61

Selling Rate Selling Rate 286.750 282.465 436.890 370.980 295.860 759.185 78.050 78.710 76.430 404.225 40.419 2.269 5.174 2.908 3.680 6.954 703.420 3.795 9.710 4.095 3.330 94.935

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 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 283.000 282.000 299.500 372.000 287.500 439.500 3.300 3.720 5.380 2.460 3.400 2.960 78.700 762.000 40.000 410.000

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 0.4278481 0.0062612 0.0457656 0.3664124 0.0452526 0.4235148 0.0392353 0.2939051 Australasia 0.2677639 0.2246165 0.0001140 America 0.2713010 0.0001462 0.2850000 Asia 0.0036421 0.0031866 0.0457618 0.0166100

SELLDRAFT 0.4368481 0.0182612 0.0507656 0.3739124 0.0504526 0.4310418 0.0442353 0.3009051 0.2797639 0.2346165 0.0001140 0.2803010 0.0001642 0.2871500 0.0036971 0.0034166 0.0507618 0.0197100

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

0.0000446 0.0344513 0.0051002 0.0000244 0.0028724 0.0027581 0.0033556 0.0896040 0.0030879 0.0028905 0.0064572 0.0000733 0.2231395 0.0022314 0.0092030 Arab 0.7552440 0.0384730 0.0129538 0.1460100 0.0000799 0.0001765 0.3994455 1.0000000 0.0001762 0.0219552 0.0012248 0.7348357 0.0782176 0.0760400 0.0466918 0.0027765 0.1723211 0.0767591 0.0012958

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 286.800 373.700 436.650 279.550 2.875 5.162 40.435 2.272 3.678 6.895 2.917 763.550 78.150 76.600

0.0000506 0.0375513 0.0051642 0.0000295 0.0038724 0.0029381 0.0035856 0.0966040 0.0032879 0.0029305 0.0069272 0.0000763 0.2291395 0.0022734 0.0098030 0.7637440 0.0405030 0.0194538 0.1478000 0.0000804 0.0002365 0.4069455 1.0000000 0.0001962 0.0459552 0.0018598 0.7458357 0.0790006 0.0766800 0.0472418 0.0029965 0.1783211 0.0782031 0.0013958

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

BUSINESS

Senator urges ‘caution’ on SoftBank-Sprint deal Deal could expose US to Chinese cyber attacks

LISBON: A man is restrained by Portuguese police officers as he interrupts Portugal’s Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho (not pictured) during a fortnightly debate at the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon, Friday, May 24, 2013. Portugal pledged to cut its heavy debt load in return for a 78 billion euro ($101 billion) financial rescue two years ago, but tax hikes and pay cuts have contributed to a sharp economic downturn, and the country is forecast to post a third straight year of recession in 2013. Unemployment has climbed to 17.7 percent and is widely expected to keep rising. —AP

Unemployment giving way to political crisis MADRID: The global financial crisis has slowly yielded to a global unemployment crisis. This unemployment crisis will, fairly quickly, give way to a political crisis. The crisis involves all three of the major pillars of the global system-Europe, China and the United States. The level of intensity differs, the political response differs and the relationship to the financial crisis differs. But there is a common element, which is that unemployment is increasingly replacing finance as the central problem of the financial system.

Europe is the focal point of this crisis. Last week Italy held elections, and the party that won the most votes-with about a quarter of the totalwas a brand-new group called the Five Star Movement that is led by a professional comedian.

Two things are of interest about this movement.

First, one of its central pillars is the call for defaulting on a part of Italy’s debt as the lesser of evils.

The second is that Italy, with 11.2 percent unemployment, is far from the worst case of unemployment in the European Union. Nevertheless, Italy is breeding radical parties deeply opposed to the austerity policies currently in place.

The core debate in Europe has been how to solve the sovereign debt crisis and the resulting threat to Europe’s banks. The issue was who would bear the burden of stabilizing the system. The argument that won the day, particularly among Europe’s elites, was that what Europe needed was austerity, that government spending had to be dramatically restrained so that sovereign debthowever restructured it might be-would not default.

One of the consequences of austerity is recession. The economies of many European countries, especially those in the euro-zone, are now contracting, since austerity obviously means that less money will be available to purchase goods and services. If the primary goal is to stabilize the financial system, it makes sense. But whether financial stability can remain the primary goal depends on a consensus involving broad sectors of society. When unemployment emerges, that consensus shifts and the focus shifts with it. When unemployment becomes intense, then the entire political system can shift. From my point of view, the Italian election was the first, but expected, tremor.

A PATTERN EMERGES Consider the geography of unemployment.

Only four countries in Europe are at or below 6 percent unemployment: the geographically contiguous countries of Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The immediate periphery has much higher unemployment; Denmark at 7.4 percent, the United Kingdom at 7.7 percent, France at 10.6 percent and Poland at 10.6 percent. In the far periphery, Italy is at 11.7 percent, Lithuania is at 13.3 percent, Ireland is at 14.7 percent, Portugal is at 17.6 percent, Spain is at 26.2 percent and Greece is at 27 percent.

Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is at the center of gravity of Europe. Exports of goods and services are the equivalent of 51 percent of Germany’s gross domestic product, and more than half of Germany’s exports go to other European countries. Germany sees the European Union’s free trade zone as essential for its survival.

Without free access to these markets, its exports would contract dramatically and unemployment would soar. The euro is a tool that Germany, with its outsized influence, uses to manage its trade relations-and this management puts other members of the euro-zone at a disadvantage. Countries with relatively low wages ought to have a competitive advantage over German exports. However, many have negative balances of trade. Thus, when the financial crisis hit, their ability to manage was insufficient and led to sovereign debt crises, which in turn further undermined their position via austerity, especially as their membership in the eurozone doesn’t allow them to apply their own monetary policies.

This doesn’t mean that they were not profligate in their social spending, but the underlying cause of their failure was much more complex.

Ultimately it was rooted in the rare case of a free trade zone being built around a massive economy that depended on exports. (Germany is the thirdlargest exporter in the world, ranking after China and the United States.) The North American Free Trade Agreement is built around a net importer.

Britain was a net importer from the Empire.

German power unbalances the entire system.

Comparing the unemployment rate of the German bloc with that of Southern Europe, it is difficult to imagine these countries are members of the same trade group.

Even France, which has a relatively low unemployment rate, has a more complex story.

Unemployment in France is concentrated in two major poles in the north and the south, with the southeast of France being the largest of them.

Thus, if you look at the map, the southern tier of Europe has been hit extraordinarily hard with unemployment, and Eastern Europe not quite as badly, but Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have been left relatively unscathed.

How long this will last, given the recession in Germany, is another matter, but the contrast tells us a great deal about the emerging geopolitics of the region.

Portugal, Spain and Greece are in a depression. Their unemployment rate is roughly that of the United States in the midst of the Great Depression. A rule I use is that for each person unemployed, three others are affected, whether spouses, children or whomever. That means that when you hit 25 percent unemployment virtually everyone is affected. At 11 percent unemployment about 44 percent are affected.

It can be argued that the numbers are not quite as bad as they seem since people are working in the informal economy. That may be true, but in Greece, for example, pharmaceuticals are now in short supply since cash for importing goods has dried up. Spain’s local governments are about to lay off more employees. These countries have reached a tipping point from which it is difficult to imagine recovering. In the rest of Europe’s periphery, the unemployment crisis is intensifying.

The precise numbers matter far less than the visible impact of societies that are tottering.

POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES It is important to understand the consequences of this kind of unemployment. There is the long-term unemployment of the underclass.

This wave of unemployment has hit middle and upper-middle class workers. Consider an architect I know in Spain who lost his job. Married with children, he has been unemployed for so long that he has plunged into a totally different and unexpected lifestyle. Poverty is hard enough to manage, but when it is also linked to loss of status, the pain is compounded and a politically potent power arises.

The idea that the Germany-mandated austerity regime will be able to survive politically is difficult to imagine. In Italy, with “only” 11.7 percent unemployment, the success of the Five Star Movement represents an inevitable response to the crisis. Until recently, default was the primary fear of Europeans, at least of the financial, political and journalistic elite. They have come a long way toward solving the banking problem.

But they have done it by generating a massive social crisis. That social crisis generates a political backlash that will prevent the German strategy from being carried out. For Southern Europe, where the social crisis is settling in for the long term, as well as for Eastern Europe, it is not clear how paying off their debt benefits them. They may be frozen out of the capital markets, but the cost of remaining in it is shared so unequally that the political base in favor of austerity is dissolving.

This is compounded by deepening hostility to Germany. Germany sees itself as virtuous for its frugality. Others see it as rapacious in its aggressive exporting, with the most important export now being unemployment. Which one is right is immaterial. The fact that we are seeing growing differentiation between the German bloc and the rest of Europe is one of the most significant developments since the crisis began.

The growing tension between France and Germany is particularly important. Franco-German relations were not only one of the founding principles of the European Union but one of the reasons the union exists. After the two world wars, it was understood that the peace of Europe depended on unity between France and Germany. The relationship is far from shattered, but it is strained.

Germany wants to see the European Central Bank continue its policy of focusing on controlling inflation. This is in Germany’s interest.

France, with close to 11 percent unemployment, needs the European Central Bank to stimulate the European economy in order to reduce unemployment. This is not an arcane debate. It is a debate over who controls the European Central Bank, what the priorities of Europe are and, ultimately, how Europe can exist with such vast differences in unemployment.

One answer may be that Germany’s unemployment rate will surge. That might mitigate antiGerman feeling, but it won’t solve the problem.

Unemployment at the levels many countries are reaching and appear to be remaining at undermines the political power of the governments to pursue policies needed to manage the financial system. The Five Star Movement’s argument in favor of default is not coming from a marginal party. The elite may hold the movement in contempt, but it won 25 percent of the vote. And recall that the hero of the Europhiles, Mario Monti, barely won 10 percent of the vote just a year after Europe celebrated him. —Stratfor

WASHINGTON: An influential US senator expressed strong concerns on Friday about Japanese company SoftBank Corp’s plan to buy 70 percent of Sprint Nextel, warning it could expose the United States to Chinese cyber attacks. “I have real concerns that this deal, if approved, could make American industry and government agencies far more susceptible to cyber attacks from China and the People’s Liberation Army,” Senator Charles Schumer of New York said in a statement.

“We must proceed with extreme caution before allowing something as vital as our communications and Internet infrastructure from falling into the hands of a foreign company with reported ties to China,” said Schumer, the thirdranking Senate Democrat. Schumer elaborated on his concerns in a letter to US Treasur y Secretary Jack Lew and acting Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn.

SoftBank owns nearly a third of the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and uses equipment manufactured by Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE. Both the FCC and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an interagency panel chaired by the US Treasury, have to sign off on the proposed deal, which US-based Dish Network Corp

has been trying to stop because it wants to buy Sprint. Dish ramped up a public relations offensive in Washington this week against SoftBank, meeting with staffers on Capitol Hill and taking out full-page ads in Washington newspapers.

The satellite company has been trying to draw parallels to the 2006 Dubai Ports World controversy, when a political storm disrupted a deal by the United Arab Emirates company to buy several US ports even after it was approved by national security reviewers. Schumer was also involved in bringing attention to that deal. Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer, confirmed the senator had discussed the issue with Jessica Straus, his former campaign finance director who now works for Dish as its government relations manager. But Schumer decided he had concerns about the SoftBank-Sprint deal before his conversation with Straus, House said.

‘SIDESHOW’ Questions about Straus’ ties to Schumer are “a sideshow that fails to address the serious national security concerns raised by a SoftBank-Sprint deal that have been recognized by a chorus of leaders on both sides of the aisle,” Dish spokesman Bob Toevs said. SoftBank bid $20.1 billion last October for a 70 percent stake in Sprint. Dish countered with its own $25.5 billion

offer in April and quickly launched an offensive to undermine SoftBank’s standing with regulators and the public. In his letter to Lew and Clyburn, Schumer said the SoftBank-Sprint deal raised national security concerns because Sprint, together with its affiliate Clearwire Corp, controlled more broadband spectrum than any other company.

As part of the deal, SoftBank has promised to remove Huawei equipment from Clearwire’s systems. “Unlike Dish, SoftBank has publicly committed to removing equipment already located inside a US network that the government has national security concerns about. SoftBank’s proposal therefore, enhances US national security,” said Jim Barron, managing director of Sard Verbinnen & Co in New York, a public relations firm working for SoftBank.

“Dish has made no such commitment to remove this network equipment and to do so would require Dish to further increase the amount of debt it will need to complete any transaction,” Barron said. While Dish has not committed to removing Clearwire’s Huawei equipment if it buys Sprint, Toevs, the Dish spokesman, pointed to a Dish statement on Thursday saying the satellite company was “committed to working with the appropriate agencies to meet national security goals.” —Reuters

Chile’s Indians take on the World’s largest gold miner EL CORRAL: The Diaguita Indians live in the foothills of the Andes, just downstream from the world’s highest gold mine, where for as long as anyone can remember they’ve drunk straight from the glacier-fed river that irrigates their orchards and vineyards with its clear water. Then thousands of mine workers and their huge machines moved in, building a road alongside the river that reaches all the way up to Pascua-Lama, a gold mine being built along both sides of the Chile-Argentine border at a lung-busting 16,400-feet above sea level.

The crews moved mountaintops in preparation for 25 years of gold and silver production, breaking rocks and allowing mineral acids that include arsenic, aluminum and sulfates to flow into the headwaters feeding Atacama desert communities down below. River levels dropped, the water is murky in places and the Indians now complain of cancerous growths and aching stomachs. There’s no way to prove or disprove it, but villagers are convinced Barrick Gold Corp is to blame for their health problems.

“We don’t know how much contamination the fruit and vegetables we eat may have,” complained Diaguita leader Yovana Paredes Paez. “They’re drying up the river, our farms aren’t the same. The animals are dying of hunger. Now there’s no cheese or meat. It’s changed completely.” Acting independently, Chile’s newly empowered environmental regulator on Friday confirmed nearly two dozen violations of Barrick’s environmental impact agreement, blocking construction on the $8.5 billion project until the Canadian company keeps its promises to prevent water contamination.

The Environmental Superintendent, Juan Carlos Monckeberg, also fined Barrick $16.4 million, the highest environmental fine in Chile’s history, saying agency inspectors found the company hadn’t told the full truth when it reported failures. “We found that the acts described weren’t correct, truthful or provable. And there were other failures of Pascua Lama’s environmental permit as well,” Monckeberg said.

Barrick promised $30 million in fixes and said it remains committed to meeting the highest standards and causing no pollution. But Chile seems determined to minimize the dangers of digging huge pits and processing ore with toxic chemicals along the spine of the Andes, causing delays that threaten the future of this top priority for the world’s largest gold-mining company.

“We’re profoundly sorry that PascuaLama has suffered obstacles in its construction and we’ll make our best efforts to get back on track and meet the conditions stipulated in the approved project,” Eduardo Flores Zelaya, president of Barrick Sudamerica, said Friday. “We are respectful of the institutions in the countries where we operate, and as a consequence we will follow the resolution.”

Monckeberg said Barrick caused permanent damage by failing to properly construct a diversionary canal, triggering a rockfall that covered a field down below with waste rock.

“I don’t believe there’s any way of repairing it,” he told a news conference in Santiago. Barrick had hoped to begin production in early 2014, and warned shareholders that it might abandon Pascua, the Chilean side, if construction delays keep the mine from opening this year.

Argentine authorities, meanwhile, have insisted that Lama will proceed with or without Chile, taking advantage of nearby infrastructure used for Barrick’s Veladero mine, which produces ore just downhill.

Together, the two projects employ thousands of workers, fuel a third of the provincial San Juan economy, and promise millions in revenue for a country sorely in need of hard currency. But more than 70 percent of Pascua-Lama’s 18 million ounces of gold and 676 million ounces of

silver are on the Chilean side. The plan has been to extract it from huge open pits and carry it through a tunnel for processing in Argentina. Rockfalls are just one of the threats to building anything in the high Andes, where gale-force winds have coated glaciers with construction dust for miles around and groundwater expands and contracts with each freeze and thaw.

To refine ore into gold bullion, the company must transport thousands of tons of cyanide, mercury and other toxic

toxic waste that must be contained for generations to come on ever-moving slopes between melting glaciers and snowy peaks. “I’m so angry at this company,” said Meri del Rosario, 42, of El Corral, Chile. She has thyroid cancer; two cysts were removed from her throat last year.

She blames water pollution from PascuaLama.

“If they keep working the valley will end up completely dry, and we’ll have to go, and where? I think it’s Barrick that has

EL CORRAL: This photo shows El Corral, a village of 200 inhabitants, mostly from the Diaguita ethnic group, located just downstream from the world’s highest gold mine, Barrick Gold Corp’s Pascua-Lama project in northern Chile. —AP

EL CORRAL: A chicken carcass lies on top of a tank found by grape grower Pascual Abalos Godoy on his morning rounds, who believes the chicken died from drinking contaminated water, in El Corral, near the facilities of Barrick Gold Corp’s Pascua-Lama project in northern Chile. —AP chemicals to the mountaintop. Once the precious metals are gone, Chile will be left with huge rock piles and Argentina with

to go,” she said. Some 500 Diaguita have joined a civil lawsuit against Barrick, persuading an appellate court last month to

block construction despite the company’s denials that it caused any pollution or health problems. The company’s response to the environmental regulator was much more conciliatory: Faced with 23 violations, Barrick accepted nearly all of them, and obtained permission to make urgent repairs.

The violations include building some earthworks without approval, while failing to build others that were supposed to be in place before construction began so that rainfall wouldn’t increase the runoff from mineral acids naturally released when rocks are broken. Instead, Barrick went ahead and moved mountaintops in preparation for 25 years of gold and silver production. Barrick also acknowledged making an “unjustified discharge coming from the acid treatment plant to the Estrecho river” that was “neither declared nor monitored.”

The company persuaded the regulator to withdraw an allegation that it had not properly built a huge, impermeable wall that stretches deep below ground and all the way across the top of the Rio del Estrecho valley. Barrick said the wall stretches for 676 feet (206 meters) across the valley and reaches down as much as 200 feet (62 meters) below the surface, with sealants injected nearly 100 feet (30 meters) deeper still into fissures in the bedrock. It meets US Environmental Protection Agency standards and beats industry standards, the company said.

Despite all this work, inspectors found acid in five test wells below the wall.

Barrick challenged the methodology and claimed the acid was there naturally, but after the regulator agreed that the wall met requirements, the company agreed to fortify several wells downstream to collect contaminated water. Chile’s environmentalists, farmers and indigenous communities were thrilled with Friday’s ruling, saying it shows only strong oversight can force Barrick to keep its promises.

“One of the concerns we’ve always had is that they are going to work with an enormous quantity of cyanide,” said Leonel Rivera Zuleta, 56, a farmer and member of the Diaguita community of Chipasse Tamaricunga. “Who will assure us that there won’t be some kind of accident with this element so poisonous to nature and man?” Living in adobe homes or concrete houses in the narrow Huasco valley, they tend “the garden of the Atacama,” where the river enables them to grow oranges, apples, grapes and vegetables in landscape so barren it’s been compared to the surface of Mars. —AP

How to convince a great candidate to join for less As a recruiter, it is always an exhilarating feeling when you realize that you have found that perfect match in a candidate. However, before you start celebrating the new hire, remember that the last and sometimes trickiest hurdle to pass is salary negotiation. From the employer side, salary negotiation means getting the candidate to agree on a figure that is within their budget. Employers also have to make sure that the candidate finds the offer lucrative. Salary negotiation is not about winning- if either party feels they have bent down to the other, both parties lose.

For some positions (for example, senior level positions or those requiring specialized skill-sets), you may be tempted to go over your salary range to get a particular candidate on-board. However, this would result in a disproportionate salary matrix, when compared to the pay ranges of your current employees, causing discomfort for both parties; the work of the new hire might be placed under excessive scrutiny, and resentment maybe felt among fellow employees.

Meanwhile, from the candidate’s side, successfully negotiating their salary allows them to display their negotiation skills - which are a requirement for most positions. Candidates very rarely have a ‘take it or leave it’ approach to their salary figure which means that they are always willing to negotiate. Below are a few pointers by the HR experts at Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 Jobsite,

to help you carry out a successful salary negotiation: 1. Try to be as clear in your job description as possible and mention the relevant targets so that the candidate has a clear understanding of what your company expects. With these key deliverables and targets clearly mentioned, the candidate would have a general idea of the salary figure even before you approach the subject.

2. Determine the salary range and know your negotiation limits. When setting the salary range consider your internal salary levels, market salary for similar positions (check Bayt.com Salaries), the state of the job market, and the profitability of your company. To make sure that your offer is competitive in the industry, you can also take a look at the published Bayt.com’s Salary survey results.

3. Even if your basic salary figure is non-negotiable, seasoned candidates will negotiate with you in other areas that may be negotiable. These include benefits, bonus pay, commissions, car allowance, paid cell phone and relocation expenses, etc., thus, you might want to explain the career growth plan clearly to the candidate and let them know how much they will be making in bonus pay as they progress. Remember, a successful salary negotiation is when both the employer and employee leave the table feeling like they’ve got a good deal.

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

BUSINESS

KSE ends in the green zone BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the green zone. The price index ended last week with an increase amounted to 3.19%, and the weighted index advanced by 1.21% compared to the closings of the week before. In addition KSX-15 index increased by 0.80%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 28%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 111.32 million, whereas trading volume average was 1.30 billion shares, recording increase of 15%. Kuwait Stock Exchange indicators continued its green closing for the second consecutive week, in light of the continuing trend of purchasing and quick speculation operations on many listed stocks, specially the small-cap stocks, which positively impacted the Price Index and reached record levels since year 2009. In addition, the blue chip stocks performance was improved during the week, especially some listed banks and a number of the relatively large-cap stocks, which positively influenced the Weighted Index and KSX-15 Index per formance, where both were able to realize good increases despite the profit collection operations performed on the same stocks thereafter.

Moreover, the market was subject to selling pressures by the end of the week, for profit collection purposes, however, it did not cause the market to loose its large gains realized in the earlier sessions, but succeeded in limiting it. Furthermore, the witnessed profit collection operations were logic and expected in light of the continuous increases of the stocks, which made the correction operations a must action for such stocks to establish new price levels and then continue its upward direction for the next period.

sector was the least growing as its index closed at 1,126.74 points with a 0.68% increase. On the other hand, the Oil & Gas sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 2.60% to end the week’s activity at 1,240.06 points. The Technology sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 2.54%, closing at 1,171.25 points.

For the annual performance, the price index ended last week recording 37.41% annual gain compared to its closing in 2012, while the weighted index increased by 12.39%, and the KSX-15 recorded 8.54% increase.

By the end of the week, the price

index closed at 8,154.19 points, up by 3.19% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 1.21% weekly gain after closing at 469.39 points. Moreover, the KSX-15 index closed at 1,095.30 points, increasing with 0.80%.

SECTORS’ INDICES Ten of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other two recorded declines. Last week’s highest gainer was the Industrials sector, achieving 7.07% growth rate as its index closed at 1,224.68 points.

Whereas, in the second place, the Consumer Goods sector ’s index closed at 1,212.23 points recording 4.71% increase. The Financial Services sector came in third as its index achieved 3.34% growth, ending the week at 1,207.01 points. The Banks

SECTORS’ ACTIVITY The Real Estate sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 2.38 billion shares changing hands, representing 36.52% of the total market trading volume. The Financial Services sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 30.57% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 1.99 billion shares. On the other hand, the Real Estate sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 190.94 million or 34.30% of last week’s total market trading value. The Financial Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD151.39 million represented 27.20% of the total market trading value.

Market ends week with loss Stocks barely budge NEW YORK: Major stock indexes closed out their first weekly loss in a month in quiet trading. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 0.91 of a point to close at 1,649.60. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 8.60 points to 15,303, a gain of 0.1 percent. Procter & Gamble supported the Dow with an increase of 4 percent.

Both indexes had their first weekly losses since the week ending April 19.

A disappointing manufacturing report out of China and a sharp fall in Japan’s stock market rattled investors’ nerves this week. But anxiety over the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program was the main culprit. Some investors interpreted comments from Fed officials to mean that the bank may start pulling its support for the economy sooner than they expected.

The S&P 500, widely used by mutual funds as a proxy for the stock market, lost 1.1 percent for the week. It’s still up 15.7 percent for the year.

Marty Leclerc, the managing partner of Barrack Yard Advisors, an investment firm in Bryn Mawr, Pa., said the weekly drop wasn’t cause for concern. Even market rallies have to take the occasional break, he said. “It’s up like a rocket blast this year,” Leclerc said of the stock market. “For there to be a little bit of a pullback is perfectly understandable.” The market headed lower at the start of trading on Friday, then spent the rest of the day slowly recovering ground. By the closing bell, market indexes were roughly back to where they started.

Procter & Gamble announced late Thursday that it’s bringing back its former

CEO, AG Lafley, to run the company. The world’s largest consumer-products maker, whose brands include Tide and Crest, is trying to increase sales in the face of tough competition. P&G rose $3.18 to $81.88. Sears plunged 14 percent after the department-store chain reported a steep quarterly loss and slumping sales after the market closed Thursday. Sears lost $7.92 to $50.25. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.27 of a point to 3,459.14. Eight of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell. Only financial stocks and consumer staples makers rose.

The stock market slipped Friday despite an encouraging report on US manufacturing. The government said orders for long-lasting goods rebounded in April, helped by demand for aircraft and stronger business spending. The report suggests economic growth may hold steady this spring. Until this week, signs of slow but steady economic growth and record profits for big companies had propelled stock-market indexes to all-time highs. All but 11 companies in the S&P 500 have posted their first-quarter earnings, and the results have turned out much better than expected. Nearly seven of 10 have reported higher earnings than analysts had estimated. Overall profits in the first quarter are on track to climb 5 percent over the year before. In the market for US government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 2.01 percent from 2.02 percent late Thursday. The price of crude oil slipped 10 cents to settle at $94.15 a barrel, ending with a drop of $1.87 for the week. Gold lost $5.20 to

$1,386.60 an ounce. Trading was light ahead of the long weekend. US financial markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day. Among other stocks in the news Friday: Intuitive Surgical gained 5 percent after a jury decided in favor of the

maker of robotic medical equipment in the first of many lawsuits filed against the company. The plaintiffs argued that Intuitive was negligent in training doctors to use its equipment. Intuitive’s stock rose $23.07 to $501.53. Titan Machinery

plunged 9 percent. The company, which deals in agricultural and construction equipment, said late Thursday that weaker revenue will lead it to a wider quarterly loss than it had expected. Titan’s stock lost $2.10 to $20.40.— AP

TOKYO: A general view shows a market center at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo. Tokyo stocks surged more than three percent in opening trade on May 24, staging a rebound from the previous day’s seven-percent dive.— AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

BUSINESS

New BMW Z4 -More desirable than ever The most attractive roadster goes on sale in Mideast KUWAIT: Arriving in the region this month, the third generation BMW Z4 reinforces BMW Group’s position as the world’s leading premium automotive manufacturer by offering all the driving pleasure of a BMW Roadster. Armed with innovative new exterior features, a refined interior, advanced ConnectedDrive technology and a new entry-level sDrive18i engine.

For over a decade, the BMW Z4 has been the most emotionally appealing way to experience BMW open-top driving. Now the successful roadster is even more desirable. Its classical proportions and unmistakable roadster character have been complemented by new powertrain and equipment innovations such as the new entry-level engine, and new BMW ConnectedDrive options that will make the modern two-seater even more attractive to customers.

CLASSICAL DESIGNS The distinctive new twin circular headlights join the broad BMW kidney grille to form a roadster-specific interpretation of the brand’s signature look. The bi-xenon headlights of the new BMW Z4 feature LED light rings which emit daytime driving light. From the side, exterior changes include the iconic A-pillars which underline the low-slung silhouette of the new BMW Z4 with their understated Black colouring. On the bodywork, tapered side indicators add a dynamic sweep to the gills on the front of the model, and the newly designed optional 17-inch and 18-inch wheels in V-spoke design redefine the model from the wheelbase up. The

BMW Z4 is the only open-top two seater to feature classic roadster proportions combined with an automatically retractable hardtop which takes just 19 seconds to transform from a convertible open-air driving machine to a sporting coupÈ.

CRAFTSMANSHIP Offering the same low seating position as its predecessor, the cockpit of this technologically advanced model connects the driver with the road while embodying beautifully embellished finishing and redefined features. From the advanced BMW ConnectedDrive functionality with Cruise

Control and breaking functionality to the High Beam Assist which automatically switches the lights between high and low beam at night, to the striking high-gloss finish which surrounds the central air vents and iDrive control system - this dynamic new model provides a range of new driver assistance systems to ensure sheer driving pleasure.

Additional interior options can be found as part of the model’s new Design Pure Traction package, which includes a new exclusive Valencia Orange metallic exterior colour, Alcantara door trim inserts in Orange, door opening and gearshift lever trim in

high-gloss Black, Black Leather or Alcantara seats with Orange stitching. In addition, two other new exterior colours have been included: Mineral Grey and Glacier Silver.

BMW TWINPOWER TURBO TECHNOLOGY To ensure sheer driving pleasure at all times, the new BMW Z4 comes with a range of five engines, and customers will be able to choose from three four-cylinder and two six-cylinder powerplants. Their most significant shared feature is the BMW TwinPower Turbo technology, which ensures and exceptionally effective balance between

driving pleasure and fuel consumption throughout the output range. The BMW Z4 sDrive18i takes to the race track as the entrylevel model.

Powered by a 2.0-litre engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology, which develops maximum output of 156 hp at 5,000 rpm, and goes from 0-100 in 7.9 seconds. It is fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox, but an eight-speed sports automatic can also be ordered as an option. The existing engine variants: sDrive20i, sDrive28i, sDrive35i and sDrive25i retain their places in the range. The new BMW Z4 is available from BMW Group importers throughout the Middle East.

House-hunting Chinese send wealth to Seattle China’s super-rich accelerating US real-estate recovery

SEATTLE: Real estate agent Joseph Ho takes video of a home in Seattle, Washington. Ho will provide the video to potential buyers in China. —MCT

Tiger Global invests $50m in Automattic’s WordPress.com SAN FRANCISCO: Automattic, the company that operates blogging service WordPress.com, announced a $50 million investment from hedge fund and privateequity investor Tiger Global on Friday. The investment comes on the heels of Yahoo’s $1.1 billion acquisition of blogging company Tumblr, showing the high prices fast-growing services that targeting Internet users can command. The valuation for Automattic was similar, Fortune reported. A spokeswoman for WordPress declined to comment.

WordPress powers the blogs at companies such as CNN.com and Techcrunch, a spokeswoman said. The investment bought out shares of existing shareholders, including early employees, rather than directly funding the company, wrote WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg in a blog post. “Allowing early investors to lock in some returns releases any short-term pressure there might be on the company for a liquidity event and allows us to focus fully on the long road ahead,” he wrote in his post.

The investment is part of a crop of financing where nontraditional investors make bets on venture-capital backed companies. They include private-equity firms such as Rizvi Traverse Management, which last year led a $200 million funding round in payments service Square, and mutual funds such as T Rowe Price, which has invested in companies including micro blog service Twitter. Many of these investors “come in with the ability to write checks larger than the entire size of most VC funds,” wrote Mullenweg.

More top blogs run Word Press than any other publishing platform, according to a

2012 study conducted by Kingdom, a website monitoring service. Blogs it cited in the study include technology sites such as Tech Crunch and Boingboing and Hollywood news site Deadline. While many organizations use Tumblr, it is heavily associated with individuals updating friends and others on their activities and interests, social-media style.

And while Tumblr’s revenue is advertising based, the bulk of WordPress’s revenue comes from fees to users who upgrade beyond its basic free service.

It also derives significant revenue from charging large media companies to host their entire blogging platforms, said Automattic Chief Financial Officer Stuart West in a telephone interview. He declined to disclose figures. Like Tumblr, WordPress is growing fast, with 50 million users today compared with 4 million five years ago, the company said.

Tumblr launched five years ago and today has more than 100 million blogs in its network. The largest single audience group for WordPress is users aged 25-34, according to consultancy comScore. For Tumblr, the largest group is users aged 18-24.

Earlier this year, Tiger led a $444 million equity investment in online survey company SurveyMonkey as part of a financing round that also allowed early investors and employees to cash out. Tiger partner Lee Fixel handled his firm’s investment in both SurveyMonkey and Automattic. Tiger extended its offer to WordPress in April, before Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr was announced, West said. Automattic’s venture backers include Polaris Partners, True Ventures, and the New York Times Co. —Reuters

SEATTLE: Real-estate agent Joseph Ho climbed the gilded staircase of a Hunts Point, Wash, mansion listed for almost $5 million, shooting video on his Apple iPad tablet and narrating in Chinese. Buyers from China have inquired about the 5,540-squarefoot house. Ho made sure to capture a blue-sky fresco in the formal dining room - “It’ll remind them of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas” and a yacht-ready dock.

“Water features are important for Chinese feng shui,” Ho said. “When you have 1.4 billion Chinese, many of whom are millionaires, somebody will like it.” China’s super-rich, who have historically been drawn to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver, BC, are investing in Seattle-area real estate in growing numbers, buying multimillion-dollar homes, rent-producing properties and land for commercial development. In the process, they are accelerating the real-estate market’s recovery, sometimes edging out other buyers with all-cash offers, and deepening ties between Seattle and China.

While exact numbers are hard to obtain, Seattlearea real-estate agents, bankers and China experts say there’s been a definite increase in the past year of rich Chinese nationals shopping for homes. Citi Private Bank, for instance, reports it’s seen about a 30 percent increase over the past 12 months in the volume of mortgages involving buyers from Asia in the Seattle area. The buyers have several motives: Some want a safe place to invest and diversify their fortunes. Others want their children to start school or university studies here. And some want to launch businesses here.

There are at least a few who are buying property without setting foot on it. “We’ve had several projects come in here where the person purchasing from China bought it without ever seeing the property,” said Robert Grumbach, who oversees development for the city of Medina, Wash., home to Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates. One of Ho’s clients in China bought a Hunts Point mansion last year for almost $7 million and decided to tear it down to build a new home. The client, who thought he could get it built in three months, was shocked to learn it would take two to three years.

Though some may buy based on just a video, Ho says, it’s more common for the rich buyer from China to hop on a plane to Seattle as part of a US tour. The buyers have cash to spend and are eager to close a deal, said Ho, of Prudential Northwest Realty Associates in Bellevue, Wash. “They want to negotiate, but if you don’t engage, they’re gone” to San Francisco; Malibu, Calif.; or other West Coast cities, he said. While San Francisco has long been a destination for Chinese investors, tourists and students, Seattle’s star has been rising.

The Chinese began paying more attention after President Hu Jintao visited in 2006 as part of his first state visit to the United States, said Mark Wen, president of the Washington State China Chamber of Commerce. Direct flight service starting in 2008 made traveling from China quicker. And then former Washington Gov Gary Locke, the first ChineseAmerican US governor, became the first Chinese-

American to serve as US Commerce secretary in 2009. Locke became ambassador to China in 2011.

In addition, a recent Chinese romantic comedy, “Finding Mr Right” - or titled “Beijing Meets Seattle” in Chinese - is giving Seattle a media splash in China.

“We’re not the end of the Earth anymore,” said Joe Borich, president of the Washington State China Relations Council. Circumstances in China also are driving wealthy Chinese to look abroad. “It’s only natural that they want to be part of a better environment - clean water, clean air, less density of people,” said attorney Leo Peng, who manages the Beijing office of law firm Garvey Schubert Barer.

Moreover, investment opportunities in China are

Canada and the United States that allow them to move their families here in exchange for investing in job-creating projects. In 2012, about 80 percent of such investor visas issued by the US government were to Chinese nationals.

To be sure, buyers from around the globe are shopping for homes in the US market: International sales totaled $82.5 billion in 2012, up from $66.4 billion in 2011 and $53.4 billion the year before that, according to the National Association of Realtors.

International buyers who want to buy homes in the US market can have trouble getting loans from US banks, experts say, because of cultural barriers and not having an established credit history here.

Complicating matters, China restricts individuals

SEATTLE: Real estate agent tours a mansion and takes video in Seattle, Washington.

—MCT limited. Some wealthy families also may want to protect their assets by stashing some abroad.

“This is pretty much identical to what happened to Vancouver (British Columbia) in 1997,” Wen said.

That year, the British transferred control of capitalistic Hong Kong to communist China. “Vancouver became a haven for people moving money out of Hong Kong.” Two other recent trends contributed to the current wave of superrich China buyers coming to the US: The rise of China’s currency against the US dollar and the run-up in China’s property values that made many millionaires, said Tom Chang, who oversees the Pacific Northwest for California-based East-West Bank, the largest Chinese-American bank in the United States.

In 2011, China had more than 1.4 million millionaires, ranking it third globally, and 648 households with more than $100 million in wealth, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group. Some of these Chinese investors are obtaining investor visas from

from taking more than $50,000 out of the country per year. Citi Private Bank has helped Asian clients buy real estate in their own name or through a foreign corporation or through a trust, said Ida Liu, who oversees the Asian Clients Group in North America. “Our team in Asia can underwrite the mortgage for a house in the US,” she said. “It’s really seamless.”

Peng, who lived in Seattle and now practices law in Beijing, said some of the affluent Chinese nationals buying houses in the US made their money in real estate and intend to develop apartments, offices and shopping malls here. “This is just the beginning of a huge wave of investment,” he said.

“We’ve had several projects come in here where the person purchasing from China bought it without ever seeing the property.”We’ve had several projects come in here where the person purchasing from China bought it without ever seeing the property.” —MCT

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

BUSINESS

US trade with Colombia grows; Anxiety mounts The balance of trade remains out of whack

Dr Ahmed Heikal

Egypt Minister, Citadel Capital chairman meet KUWAIT: Egypt’s new Minister of Investment, HE Yehia Hamed, conducted a meeting with Ahmed Heikal, Founder and Chairman of Citadel Capital, the leading investment company in Africa and the Middle East, on Monday May 21st during which they discussed several topics of importance including the firm’s evolution into an investment company and its related capital increase.

Potential solutions to the major hurdles impeding private sector investment in Egypt were also discussed during the meeting. The Minister vowed to address the most pressing issues quickly in order to pave the way for more private sector investment.

Heikal came out of the meeting with a positive impression of the Minister’s commitment to solve current challenges confronting serious private sector investors.

In support of the government’s renewed effort to address Egypt’s economic challenges, Heikal assured Minister Hamed that after the conclusion of Citadel Capital’s capital increase the firm will begin investing $4 billion, distributed between debt and equity from Citadel Capital and its investment partners, in its existing projects, particularly in the energy sector.

Among Citadel Capital’s projects that will benefit from the capital increase is Mashreq, which has just signed a 25-year concession agreement to build and operate the first tank terminal and logistics hub of its kind on the Suez Canal in East Port Said. The project was given the green light last week in a ceremony attended by HE Prime Minister Hisham Qandil.

Further investments are necessary in order to finance the execution of Mashreq as the project moves into the implementation phase. TAQA Arabia, Citadel Capital’s full service energy distribution platform, will also benefit from investments to finance expansion plans that will allow the company to distribute natural gas to one million residential units and establish a 750 MW power plant to help offset the nationwide power shortages.

Another benefactor of these new investments will be Citadel Capital’s Dina Farms, Egypt’s largest privately owned dairy farm which has plans to expand its arable land capacity by 2,500 acres, doubling the plots that are currently allocated for wheat production. In order to provide an additional 100,000 micro loans, Citadel Capital’s microfinance company, Tanmeyah, will also receive an injection of funds after the conclusion of the capital increase.

WASHINGTON: At the Colombian Embassy in Washington, Ambassador Carlos Urrutia says there’s no doubt that his country’s trade deal with the US has paid off: Colombian businesses are sending more socks and cosmetics to California, beet sugar to New York and glass to Florida to help with hurricane repairs. US officials are equally excited, saying US businesses have improved their sales to the South American country by 20 percent.

Manufacturers are exporting more transportation equipment, petroleum and coal products, processed foods and a long list of farm products, including soybeans, pork, wheat, grapes and dairy goods. But a year after the agreement took effect, the growth in trade is producing mounting anxiety in some quarters.

In California, for example, progress has come with a price for the once-dominant flower industry: Colombian imports have jumped 7 percent in the past year. Less than 3 percent of the Valentine’s Day roses sold in this country were grown here. On New Year’s Day, just two of the 41 floats in the popular Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif, featured flowers grown in the Golden State. “People don’t think about where their flowers come from, like they do their food,” said Kasey Cronquist, the CEO of the California Cut Flower Commission.

The unhappiness extends well beyond flowers.

Opponents note that the balance of trade between the countries remains out of whack: The United States imported nearly $25 billion in goods from Colombia last year, while it exported only $16 billion. In Washington, the trade agreement is under increased attack from critics who want President Barack Obama to do more to reverse the violence that persists in Colombia, where at least 20 unionists were assassinated last year.

Despite the complaints, Urrutia said the agreement was clearly benefiting US consumers by giving them more products from which to choose. Overall, he said, two-way trade between the countries is up by 5 percent, and Colombian companies have sent 187 new products to the United

States in the past year, including photographic equipment, anti-inflammatory drugs, tropical fruit juices with sugar, and electrical transformers. He said 775 Colombian companies had shipped products to the United States for the first time in the past year, with 23 states getting at least one new Colombian product.

While the Colombian government doesn’t track how many new jobs have been produced as a result of the trade pact, he estimated them to be in the thousands, adding that the unemployment rate in the country is declining. It stood at 10 percent in March, after averaging more than 12 percent for the past dozen years. “We’ve been looking at the figures. What we see is encouraging. We’re quite satisfied,” Urrutia said.

To mark the one-year anniversary, Obama and his team have been busy touting the deal, too. In an opinion piece published two weeks ago in The Miami Herald, which is owned by McClatchy, the president called the deal “a moment of great promise for our hemisphere,” saying it had created new markets for US businesses while the fast-growing economies of Latin America have helped people escape poverty. Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank took a delegation of 20 US companies on a trade mission to Colombia last week. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are expected to arrive in Colombia on Sunday as part of a weeklong trip that also will take them to Trinidad, Tobago and Brazil.

In a speech in Bogota last week, Blank said trade missions between Colombia and the US had become increasingly common. In 2007, she said, there were none, but there have been 13 in the past year. “Tractors from a company in Texas now enter Colombia duty-free, a bath and body products maker in Florida made her first export sale to Colombia in January, and Colombians can now more easily buy an iconic American product - a Harley-Davidson motorcycle because the 15 percent tariff has been dropped,” Blank said.

Colombia’s human-rights record, which emerged as an issue on Capitol Hill before Congress approved the trade

Gulf Bank announces winners of the Al Danah daily draws KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its Al Danah daily draws on May 19th 2013, announcing the names of its winners for the week of May 19th to May 23rd. The Al Danah daily draws include draws each working day for two prizes of KD1000 per winner. The winners are: (Sunday 19/5): Ghassan Khalil Al-Haddad, Nora Marzouq Ali Al-Bahar, (Monday 20/5): Abrar Mohammed Abdullah Al Shammari, Nouri Danah Owaijan (Tuesday 21/5): Nida Shabab Muslih Al-Daihani, Mousa Husain Mohammed Dashti, (Wednesday 22/5) Hasan Ali Hussain Abdullah, Mustafa Ali Ahmed Bash (Thursday 23/5) Nedal Gamal Saad Eldin, Fahad Yousef Salih Al-Fadala.

Gulf Bank’s Al Danah 2013 draw lineup includes daily draws (2 winners per working day each receive KD1000), as well as three draw prizes per quarter. Al Danah’s 2nd Quarterly draw will be held on 27 June (KD250,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000), 3rd Quarter - 26 September

(KD500,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000) and the final draw held on 9 January, 2014 announcing winners of KD50,000, KD250,000 and the Al Danah Millionaire.

Gulf Bank’s Al Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and simultaneously encourages them to save money. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account. Al Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al Danah winner. To be part of the Al Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al Danah and who the winners are.

India’s House of Hiranandani to showcase residential projects KUWAIT: House of Hiranandani (HoH) a leading business conglomerate and a pioneer of developing noteworthy destination projects in India, will be showcasing a variety of residential properties in Chennai and Bangalore, as part of an exclusive road show in Kuwait from 27th May to 30th May, 2013, at Aashiaana Real Estate Services, Al Wataniya Tower, Office 4, 4th Floor, Fahad Al Salem Street, Kuwait City, Kuwait.

HoH has created a unique position within the Indian real estate industry being highly acknowledged for creating well planned communities across segments, that are productive and value creating. Every House of Hiranandani (HoH) project is a result of the company’s intense research & development, meticulous planning, superb engineering and contemporary architecture and design. The Road show will allow potential buyers to explore the HoH legacy and its projects in Chennai and

Bangalore that are enroute to witnessing significant urban growth and transformation, best compared to Mumbai a decade ago.

Says Mr. Prashant Mirkar, General Manager - Marketing, House of Hiranandani, “Through all our projects, HoH is taking forward the company’s vision to create imaginative, sophisticated and environment friendly spaces, developed with the objective of creating sustainable communities. The Hiranandani Group’s architectural legacy is acknowledged for transforming the landscape of Mumbai. Taking this legacy forward, HoH is committed to creating landmark destinations in cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai by creating integrated community replete with best in class amenities.’ Projects being showcased in the following locations: Egattur, OMR, Chennai; Thaiyur, Chennai; Bannerghatta, Bangalore; Devanahalli, Bangalore and Hebbal Bangalore.

Citroen launches ‘Peace of Mind’ checkup campaign KUWAIT: Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Co launched its summer checkup campaign “Peace of Mind” for Citroen cars from the 12th May till 5th June 2013, which will includes - 13 free check points, 15% discount on Labor and 30% on the spare parts. Citroen believes that with the harsh temperatures and long summer drives are hard on the vehicle, so it needs to be protected by trusting factory-trained technicians and Citroen Genuine parts. Citroen provides a range of models to suit various commercial and personal driving needs. Citroen robust range of LCVs can provide solutions for the issues facing transportation in today’s business world.

Citroen Al - Babtain Co service center and spare parts facility is conveniently located to ensure easy access to renowned Citroen customer service representatives and automotive technicians. It is worthy to mention that AlBabtain is eager to offer its Citroen customers with continuous offers, added value service and promotions to meet their aspirations, demands and to maintain their cars in good condition. Al - Babtain Co always recommends its Citroen clients to use Citroen genuine parts and regularly check up there car in the service centre.

3 winners in NBK’s Al-Jawhara draws KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced the three lucky winners in Al-Jawhara weekly draws during the month of May. Ali Yahya Al Fadhli, Saleh Ayesh Ayed Al Reshedi and Magda Lamie Fekry Mosad each won KD5,000. The winners expressed their gratitude and thanked NBK for its great services and promotions. NBK has re-launched Al-Jawhara account by offering customers more chances to win bigger prizes; KD5,000 weekly, KD125,000 monthly and a grand prize of KD250,000 quarterly.

Al-Jawhara is one of Kuwait’s leading cash prize accounts offering numerous benefits to its customers. Not only is it an interest-free account with regular deposit and withdrawal privileges, it also entitles account holders to enter the weekly, monthly and quarterly Al-Jawhara draws. Each KD50 in an Al Jawhara account entitles the customer to one chance in any of the draws. All prizes are automatically credited to the winners’ accounts the day after the draw. The more money held in AlJawhara account, the greater the chances of winning. AlJawhara account is available to both Kuwaitis and expats and can be opened at any of NBK’s branches in Kuwait. For further information visit www.nbk.com , or call Hala Watani at 1801801.

pact in 2011, remains a sore spot. Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, a nonprofit consumer group based in Washington, said Colombia remained the deadliest country for union members, with 471 unionists receiving death threats since the trade agreement took effect and at least 20 unionists reported assassinated.

Lori Wallach, the group’s director, said many opponents were shocked that Obama had pushed the Colombian deal given the country’s widespread record of violence. “Now that the Obama administration is responsible for passing this agreement, the question is: What will it do to reverse this horrible trend?” she said.

Urrutia said the issue had the attention of the Colombian government “at the highest level” and that plans were in place to provide union leaders with armored vehicles, bodyguards and police protection. “The facts are that Colombia has made a lot of progress,” he said. “We still have problems. Any attack against a labor leader, a union leader, is one attack too many.”

He acknowledged the situation that US flower growers face while offering little sympathy. “They’re very unhappy; I can imagine,” he said. “But you know, the problem is this is global trade. I think protectionism is no longer acceptable anywhere you go, including Colombia. ... This is good for American consumers because they get first-quality flowers at cheaper prices.” Moreover, he said: “If Colombia were not involved, the US market would be absorbing fresh-cut flowers being exported from Holland and Ecuador. We’re not to blame.”

Cronquist said there was no way US producers could compete with the planeloads of flowers that entered the US from Colombia each day through Miami. He’s convinced that more people would buy American-grown flowers if all blooms had country-of-origin labels. “There’s a lot of good buzz about buying local,” he said. “It’s not as much an issue about protectionism at all. It’s more of an issue about patriotism and supporting our own farmers here at home.”— MCT

Pay-TV companies ‘losing customers’ PHILADELPHIA: One of pay-TV’s top trend analysts, Bruce Leichtman, says the biggest pay-TV companies lost 80,000 TV subscribers over four quarters, a first in his research over more than a decade. He attributed the decline to slow housing, a saturated pay-TV market, and some cord-cutting. The loss was about 0.1 percent of the 95-million subscriber TV market. He calculated the subscriber numbers for the second, third and fourth quarters of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, a period that captured seasonal swings in subscriber gains and losses. Cable- and satelliteTV companies, Leichtman noted, also seem to be de-emphasizing the marketing of services to customers who may drop the TV

service, seeking more profitable subscribers.

Leichtman cautioned against a “knee-jerk” reaction that the Internet was killing the pay-TV business with the 80,000 aggregate loss. “It’s not swirling down the toilet bowl,” he said, describing the industry as flat. Leichtman, who runs Leichtman Research Group Inc, estimated that 87 percent of US households subscribe to a TV service and that future TV growth is likely to be dependent on new-home construction.

Though this was the first four-quarter period he recorded a subscriber loss over pay-TV subscriber cycles, Leichtman said the industry has been flat since the “digital transition,” which

was completed in June 2009. During this transition, over-theair TV networks upgraded their transmission signals to digital technology from analog, forcing residents to purchase new TVs or obtain government-financed digital adapters. The transition, Leichtman said, forced many pay-TV holdouts to subscribe to cable- or satellite-TV because of hassles related to the transition - a last burst of new TV subscribers for the industry. Leichtman does not see the broad threat to the payTV business that others see, noting that when one talks about Internet video providers they are mostly talking about Netflix Inc. — Agencies

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

technology

Most companies fail to control applications used by employees DUBAI: Restricting the launch of thirdparty applications enhances the security of corporate workstations and increases employee efficiency. However, 57 percent of companies do not use any specific tools for application control, according to a survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab in collaboration with B2B International in November, 2012.

Cybercriminals have plenty of tricks up their sleeves for infecting a system.

Passing malware off as a popular application, for example-so that when an employee tries to run the application,

the whole infrastructure is compromised. To prevent such incidents, companies need to develop and enforce security policies specifically addressing the installation and launch of applications; but not all are doing so. According to the survey, the majority of companies have no means of controlling applications and 17 percent of companies have no interest in using new application control technologies or even aren’t aware of them.

It’s a similar story when it comes to connecting external devices and data

carriers: Only 44 percent of companies pay enough attention to this issue and deploy device control tools, while 17 percent of companies aren’t aware of device control tools or have no interest in using them. Meanwhile, malware distributed through USB carriers represents a continuous threat: in 2012 alone, Kaspersky Lab security solutions prevented more than 3 billion local infection attempts. Moreover, giving employees total freedom to connect any external device to the corporate network increases the probability of data leakage.

The use of endpoint control scan be highly beneficial to any business.

Application control provides additional protection from malware and restricts the use of leisure applications such as games or torrent clients. Control over portable external devices prohibits unauthorized connections, lowers the probability of data leakage and helps prevent workstation infection through inappropriate devices. Finally, web control allows either a total ban on, or time limitations on visiting, certain websites.

This may stop employees wasting time

on sites which are not work related, and can also add extra protection against malware and fraudulent websites.

The Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business platform incorporates all three control technologies into the Endpoint Controls feature. This enables businesses to tackle all the issues described above, offering many important benefits. The controls are easy to configure and are centrally managed, allowing administrators to create and apply flexible security policies simultaneously across any number of corporate endpoints.

Germany must spread cost of energy shift fairly BERLIN: The International Energy Agency said Friday that Germany must shield its consumers from paying too much of the cost of its ambitious switch from nuclear power and fossil fuels toward renewable energy.

The IEA also said Europe’s biggest economy should make greater use of natural gas to smoothe the transition and reduce the use of coal to meet its carbon reduction targets to combat climate change.

Given the scale of the “Energiewende” or energy shift, the size of the German economy and its location at the heart of Europe, the agency said in a regular review that further steps are needed “to maintain a balance between sustainability, affordability and competitiveness”.

Chancellor Angela Merkel decided after Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident to phase out nuclear power by 2022, an aboutturn that started with the immediate closure of the eight oldest plants.

Since then Germany has accelerated a boom in wind farms, solar power and biofuels, promoted by subsidies and legal reforms, with the goal of gaining half of its electricity from renewables by 2030.

Legal reform in 2000 “has proven very effective in introducing renewable energies; notably electricity generation from biomass, wind energy and solar photovoltaics,” the report said.

However, the Paris-based IEA pointed to a political debate in Germany about discounts given to industry, which have been financed in part by higher power bills for consumers and a tax surcharge.

“The costs and benefits need to be allocated in a fair and transparent way among all market participants, especially households,”

the report said. It also pointed to the geographic spread between the renewables’ supply and demand. While most wind farms are in Germany’s coastal north, the highest demand is in the industrial south and west.

Germany is planning to massively expand its transmission and distribution networks, a costly process complicated by local opposition in many places to the new power infrastructure.

“To date, Germany’s record with regard to the construction of new grid infrastructure is patchy and planning and consenting procedures present a major stumbling block,” said the IEA. In the global effort to halt climate change, melting ice caps and rising seas, Germany has pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 — and by 95 percent by 2050.

Ironically, a drop in the price of coal, one of the biggest polluters, along with the rise of cheap renewables, has seen coal make a comeback at the expense of cleaner-burning natural gas.

“As a result of weak carbon prices and high gas prices in Europe, existing gas-fired plants have lost competitiveness, and evidence suggests that some are being taken off-line,” said the report.

The IEA said gas plants now “struggle to make a return despite the flexibility they offer to the market” in terms of quickly evening out troughs in the fickle supply of weatherdependent renewables.

“The strategic role of natural gas in the Energiewende needs further clarification,” said the IEA, “and greater thought should be given to its use and place in the electricity supply mix of the future.” —AFP

REDMOND: Kareem Choudhry, left, development manager for Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing device for the Xbox, demonstrates how the new Kinect for the next-generation Xbox One entertainment and gaming console system reads facial features and other visual indications to approximate the heart rate of a user during a demonstration, in Redmond, Washington. —AP

US trade panel rejects Motorola bid to block Xbox imports SAN FRANCISCO: The US International Trade Commission sided with Microsoft on Thursday in a patent dispute with Google-owned Motorola Mobility that could have gotten Xbox 360 videogame consoles banned from import. “The investigation is terminated,” the ITC said in a notice announcing it was rejecting a Motorola Mobility patent complaint dating back to late 2010.

Motorola Mobility had argued that Xbox 360 consoles infringed on patent technology for wirelessly transmitting data.

If the ITC had sided with Motorola Mobility, which was acquired by Google in a $12.5 billion deal in 2012, it could have resulted in a ban on importing Xbox 360 consoles, which are manufactured in China.

“This is a win for Xbox customers and confirms our view that Google had no grounds to block our products,” Microsoft said in a statement. Motorola Mobility countered that it was “disappointed” with the ITC decision and would

explore its options. Xbox consoles are at the heart of Microsoft’s push to lay claim to Internet Age living rooms.

On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled a new-generation Xbox One console touted as a home entertainment hub that goes far beyond games. The beefed-up hardware is powered by software that allows for instant switching between games, television, and Internet browsing.

Microsoft-owned Skype was also integrated for online group video calls. Kinect motion and sound-sensing accessories accompanying the consoles recognize users, respond instantly to commands spoken in natural language and even detect a person’s pulse. Xbox One consoles are set to hit the market later this year.

“This is the beginning of a new generation of games and entertainment and a new generation of smart TV,” Microsoft entertainment unit executive Yusuf Mehdi said during an event at the technology giant’s headquarters in the northwestern state of Washington. —AFP

DUNHUANG: A photo taken on May 12, 2013 shows a group of tourists outside the Mogao caves in Dunhuang, northwestern China’s Gansu province. From the fourth century onwards the 492 largely hand-dug caves near Dunhuang, a desert oasis and crossroads on the Silk Road, acted as a depository for Buddhist art for around a millennium. —AFP

Digital reincarnation for Dunhuang’s Buddhist art DUNHUANG: Inching their cameras along a rail inside the chamber, specialists use powerful flashes to light up paintings of female Buddhist spirits drawn more than 1,400 years ago. One click after another illuminates colourful scenes of hunters, Buddhas, flying deities, Bodhisattvas and caravanserais painted on the walls of the Mogao caves in northwest China, considered the epitome of Buddhist art-and now in existential danger.

From the fourth century onwards the 492 largely hand-dug caves near Dunhuang, a desert oasis and crossroads on the Silk Road, acted as a depository for Buddhist art for around a millennium.

Unesco describes the World Heritage Site as “the largest, most richly endowed, and longest used treasure house of Buddhist art in the world”.

“Dunhuang is where Chinese, Greek and Roman, Islamic and Indian arts meet,” says Mimi Gates, a former director of the Seattle Art Museum who is helping to preserve the caves, and stepmother to Microsoft founder Bill.

But their unique appeal is the very thing that is putting them under threat, with every visitor’s entrance, body and breathing altering the delicate environmental balance inside the chambers. The remote site in Gansu province saw 800,000 visitors in 2012, up 20 percent in a year. The recommended daily maximum is 3,000, but as many as 18,000 arrived on one public holiday last October.

“When tourists enter the caves, the humidity, the temperature and the carbon dioxide increase abruptly,” said Wang Xudong, director general of the Dunhuang Academy. The wall paintings themselves contain “a lot of natural salts that have come out of the rocks over 1,200, 1,500 years, the age of these wall paintings”, he explained.

If the humidity goes above a critical value, “then the salts can suck the moisture out of the air and start the deterioration process”. But authorities must strike a difficult balance between limiting access to visitors and avoiding alienating them, particularly the hundreds of thousands of primarily Chinese tourists whose numbers are steadily rising.

“Every child in China in growing up learns about Dunhuang. It is one of the great sites, so when they grow up they want to come here, and they do now that they have the money to,” says Neville Agnew, a project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute who has worked with the academy for 25 years.

The digitisation project-which has been running for decades-is part of the solution, a grand project to transform the way visitors are received and cut the time they spend inside, even as numbers rise.

It is an immense task. The paintings cover 45,000 square metres (485,000 square feet) — if set in a single mural three metres high, it would stretch for 15 kilometres. Thousands of images

are taken of each chamber, using specialised lights to avoid damage, and then laboriously computer-processed to create a precise cyber replica. “Digitising the caves is very difficult,” said Wang. “We began in the 1990s but at the time it was a failure. We continued in the year 2000 thanks to technological advances.”

The key challenge is capturing the freshness of the colours, particularly natural pigments such as vermilion and malachite green, as well as any

inside of the chambers, before taking a glimpse inside the real thing-but only for a limited time.

“The typical tour might be 10 caves, and of those 10 caves there would be two or three of these so-called must-see caves,” says Agnew.

Long after Dunhuang’s heyday, the Silk Road eventually fell into disuse and it was largely forgotten by the outside world, with most of the caves abandoned. In 1907 Hungarian-British archaeologist Aurel Stein led an expedition to the

DUNHUANG: A technician works to restore one of the Mogao caves in Dunhuang, northwestern China’s Gansu province. —AFP areas that are not flat, such as corners and sculptures. “We have six working teams here on a very intense schedule. Each team must digitise three to four caves a year,” said Wang. “Our goal is to reduce the amount of time that tourists spend in the caves, to minimise the damage that they cause.”

Once the new system goes into effect next year visitors will be overseen as soon as they reach the airport-essentially the only convenient entry point for Dunhuang-and have to stick to a tightly controlled sightseeing circuit.

In a domed theatre currently under construction they will view high-definition images of the

area and paid to remove large numbers of manuscripts, paintings and textiles. A French mission under Paul Pelliot acquired thousands of items the following year, and Japanese and Russian expeditions soon followed in their footsteps.

But the latest collaboration will preserve Dunhuang for future generations, say those involved, and make the masterpieces available to academics and amateurs around the world online. “The painting is superb, the painting is unbelievable, the paintings are just masterworks of paintings, and in a variety of styles over the dynasties as they changed,” said Agnew. “History is here, art is here.” —AFP

Google team captures Galapagos Island beauty for maps SAN FRANCISCO: Google has followed in the footsteps of Charles Darwin to gather images of the beauty and biological diversity of the Galapagos Islands for the Internet titan’s online maps.

A Google Maps team toting 360-degree cameras sticking from backpacks hiked trails, hills, and even into a live volcano to take Street View pictures of the precious environment where Darwin gleaned insights for his theory of evolution.

“We were in a boat on choppy waves; clambering over lava rocks, and on horseback up the side of a volcano,” Google Maps project lead Raleigh Seamster told AFP on Thursday.

“There were a lot of adventurous times. It was very inspiring.”

The Street View team spent 10 days on the islands working with the nonprofit Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF); Galapagos National Park Directorate, and Catlin Seaview Survey.

The CDF had reached out to California-based Google to add images from the Galapagos Islands to Google Maps to let people virtually explore without treading on the fragile ecosystem and as resources for research and education.

“This is a unique opportunity to spearhead technology science for conservation and public awareness about the importance of Galapagos ecosystems in a changing world,” CDF head of research on human systems Daniel Orellana said in a release.

Catlin Seaview Survey used special photography gear to collect high-definition, panoramic images in the waters of the archipelago, which is listed as a United Nations World Heritage Site.

“We have compiled an amazing portfolio of 360-degree images that will allow the world to take ‘virtual dives’ in the Galapagos Marine Reserve’s unique ecosystems,” said Darwin Foundation head of fisheries Pelayo Salinas de Leon.

Underwater images will also be used as baselines for gauging the health of the marine system and the effect of climate change.

Google engineers are weaving imagery into immersive Street View scenes that will be added to

its free online mapping service later this year, the company said in a blog post Thursday describing the project.

“They picked a very diverse set of places, from some that tourists visit quite often to locations that are off-limits,” Seamster said.

“We had to hike across four kilometers of lava fields to get to a spot where land iguana restoration was going on,” she continued.

“We were able to get very close to animals.”

The project marked the first collection of Street View images in Ecuador, according to Google, which has ranged to places such as the Amazon in Brazil and the Canadian Arctic to get pictures for online maps. —AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts to combat virus GENEVA: International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned recently.

Dr. Margaret Chan, in a blunt warning to the UN agency’s annual global assembly, portrayed a previously little-known flap over who owns a sample of the virus as a global game-changer that could put people’s lives at risk. The virus, which first emerged in Saudi Arabia where most cases have arisen, is called MERS for Middle East respiratory syndrome.

“Please, I’m very strong on this point, and I want you to excuse me,” she said. “Tell your scientists in your country, because you’re the boss. You’re the national authority. Why would your scientists send specimens out to other laboratories on a bilateral manner and allow other people to take intellectual property rights on a new disease?”

The controversy stems from a sample

taken by Saudi microbiologist Ali Mohamed Zaki that he mailed last year to virologist Ron Fouchier at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.

Fouchier tested, sequenced and identified it last September as a new virus. Then his private medical center patented how it synthesized the germ and required other researchers who wanted samples to first sign an agreement that could trigger a payment.

Saudi Arabia, which had the first case, said the patenting delayed its development of diagnostic kits and blood tests. “There was a lag of three months where we were not aware of the discovery of the virus,” Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish told the Geneva assembly. He said the sample was sent to the Dutch lab without official permission.

So far there is no blood test for detecting infection in communities. Memish said that patients need to be isolated because in some cases, diarrhea or vomiting may help spread the germ. Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s assistant director-general for health security,

said his agency also has been “struggling with diagnostics” because of property rights concerns and ill-defined international rules for sharing such materials.

Chan railed against any arrangement that could prevent rapid sharing of information or that would enable individual scientists or private labs to profit. WHO officials say the delays involve blood and other tests though a few other facilities in Canada, Britain and Germany have samples.

Fouchier, however, said the agreements between individual countries are similar to those within WHO’s networks. “There are no restrictions to the use of the virus for research and public health purposes.

There are only restrictions for commercial exploitation and forwarding virus to third parties,” he wrote in an email, responding to questions from The Associated Press. Any delays claimed by WHO are a misconception, he said. “After the first identification of the virus, diagnostic tests were developed in collaboration with several public health laboratories, and these tests were distributed free of charge

to everyone around the world who asked for them,” Fouchier added. “We have not denied access to the virus to any research and public health laboratory with the appropriate facilities to handle this virus safely.”

The World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of WHO, meets from May 20-28. Indonesia has previously refused to share samples of the bird flu virus that has been seen in Southeast Asia for several years. That country claimed vaccines made from those samples would be too expensive for developing countries to afford. That dispute led to a protracted series of negotiations with WHO and others to ensure poor nations would have access to vaccines in a global epidemic.

At the assembly, Fukuda said the new MERS virus has now claimed 22 lives out of 44 cases, mostly in Saudi Arabia. The latest fatal case involves a 63-year-old man in central Saudi Arabia with an underlying health condition who died Monday, five days after being hospitalized. WHO officials say they do not believe it is related to a

cluster of cases reported in the eastern part of the country.

Most of the confirmed cases involved men, and the patients’ average age is 56, said WHO officials, citing information that comes in part from Saudi health authorities. The outbreak began at a Saudi health care facility in April, WHO officials said.

Fukuda said evidence in some of the disease clusters points to limited spread between people. Last week, WHO said some cases suggest the virus may already be spreading in the community.

Many health officials have been frustrated at the lack of detail coming out of Saudi Arabia about the virus and its spread. In a speech on Monday, Chan publicly praised China for its rapid sharing of information on the new bird flu, H7N9. She said nothing about Saudi Arabia and reminded countries of the importance of “fully transparent reporting to WHO.” Fukuda said officials do “not know the full geographic spread” of MERS. He said the incubation period seems to be anywhere from 2 1/2 to 14 days. —AP

Workplace wellness fails bottom line, waistlines NEW YORK: A long-awaited report on workplace wellness programs, which has still not been publicly released, delivers a blow to the increasingly popular efforts, Reuters has learned, casting doubt on a pillar of the Affordable Care Act and a favorite of the business community.

According to a report by researchers at the RAND Corp, programs that try to get employees to become healthier and reduce medical costs have only a modest effect. Those findings run contrary to claims by the mostly small firms that sell workplace wellness to companies ranging from corporate titans to mom-and-pop operations.

RAND delivered the congressionally mandated analysis to the US Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services last fall. The report found, for instance, that people who participate in such programs lose an average of only one pound a year for three years.

In addition, participation “was not associated with significant reductions in total cholesterol level.” And while there is some evidence that smoking-cessation programs work, they do so only “in the short term.”

Most large US employers believe the programs improve workers’ health and reduce or at least keep the lid on medical spending.

“Companies from the CEO on down feel that these programs are bringing value,” said Maria Ghazal, a vice president at the Business Roundtable, the association of chief executives of big companies. “The criticism is surprising, because companies are not hearing that internally.”

Some experts not involved with the new report say even the modest benefits RAND found need qualification.

“The strongest predictor of whether someone will lose weight or stop smoking is how motivated they are,” said Al Lewis, founder and president of the Disease Management Purchasing Consortium International, which helps self-insured employers and state programs reduce healthcare costs. “Since the programs are usually voluntary, the most motivated employees sign up. That makes it impossible to credit the programs with success in smoking cessation or weight loss rather than the employees’ motivation.”

For its report, RAND collected information about wellness programs from about 600 businesses with at least 50 employees and analyzed medical claims collected by the Care Continuum Alliance, a trade association for the health and wellness industry.

Industry experts noted that whenever researchers analyze hundreds of programs, there are inevitably more effective and less effective ones. “ Traditional workplace wellness barely

scratches the surface,” said Keith Lemer, president of WellNet, which provides programs to Cumulus Media, Viking Range Corp and the Charlie Palmer Group of restaurants, among others. “Done right, (the program) requires the integration of clinical data, wellness, health coaching, and work flow.” The initiatives succeed if they have “senior level support and a highdegree of employee engagement in healthy behaviors,” he said.

The report’s conclusions about the financial benefits of workplace wellness programs are also grim. In theory, the programs should reduce medical spending as employees become healthier and thereby avoid expensive conditions such as heart disease, cancer and stroke.

In fact, workers who participated in a wellness program had healthcare costs averaging $2.38 less per month than non-participants in the first year of the program and $3.46 less in the fifth year. Those modest savings were not statistically significant, meaning they could have been due to chance and not to the program.

More surprisingly, workplace wellness did not catch warning signs of disease or improve health enough to prevent emergencies. “We do not detect statistically significant decreases in cost and use of emergency department and hospital care” as a result of the programs, RAND found.

The RAND report was mandated by the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare reform law known as Obamacare. Two sources close to the report expected it to be released publicly this past winter. Reuters read the report when it was briefly posted online by RAND on Friday before being taken down because the federal agencies were not ready to release it, said a third source with knowledge of the analysis.

Starting next year, the healthcare reform law allows employers to reward employees who participate in workplace wellness programs with subsidies equal to 30 percent of the cost of insurance premiums, or about $1,620 annually per worker.

If wellness programs do not reduce healthcare spending, some employees could suffer financially. If an employer is subsidizing employees who use its program but is not reaping lower healthcare costs, it has three choices. It can absorb the costs, perhaps figuring it helps recruit or retain valued employees. It can raise healthcare premiums across the board. Or it can raise costs only to workers who do not participate, through higher deductibles or premiums, by at least that $1,620.

Cost-shifting seems especially unfair if wellness programs don’t deliver medically or financially, said senior counsel Dania Palanker of the National Women’s Law Center, which generally supports the programs: “We’ve seen plans that appear to cost-shift, with wellness programs

ASUNCION: Men chat outside Kuimba’e Clinic, a health centre for men opened by the Paraguayan organization Somos Gay (We Are Gay) in Asuncion, on the day of its inauguration on Friday. —AFP

rolled out at the same time that premiums or deductibles are increased.”

Workplace wellness is a $6 billion industry in the United States, with an estimated 500 vendors now selling the programs. Fifty-one percent of employers with 50 or more workers offer one, the RAND report found. Medium-to-large companies now spend an average of $521 per employee per year on wellness incentives (gift cards for losing weight, for instance), double the $260 in 2009, according to a survey by Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health released in February.

For many employers, wellness programs are a recruiting and retention tool, attracting the health-conscious employees they prefer. The programs also promise to control an employer’s healthcare spending. By getting workers to stop smoking they should reduce expensive emphysema treatments, for instance, and by nudging workers to get annual physicals they are expected to help companies avoid such financial black holes as cancer treatment and stroke rehabilitation.

Although the RAND report’s conclusions seem counterintuitive how can wellness programs not improve health? - other recent studies agree. This year researchers at the University of California conducted an analysis of dozens of existing studies of workplace wellness programs at the behest of the California state senate.

Based on gold-standard studies, similar to those that evaluate a new drug, participating in workbased wellness programs does not lower blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol and rarely leads to weight loss, said Janet Coffman, a health policy exper t at the University of California, San Francisco, Institute for Health Policy Studies.

“Even in studies that found statistically significant weight loss, it was not always sustained,” she said.

Similarly, after years in which vendors and others claimed that the programs return $3, $9 and more for every $1 invested, rigorous studies have found the opposite, also providing support for the RAND findings.

Earlier this year, economist Gautam Gowrisankaran of the University of Arizona and colleagues found that employees who participated in the wellness program at BJC Healthcare, a St. Louis, Missouri-based hospital system, had fewer hospitalizations for illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. But their overall spending did not decrease, the researchers reported in the journal Health Affairs.

The main reasons, said Gowrisankaran, were that employees who fill out company surveys assessing their health risks (“what is your blood pressure?”) or get health screenings at company-sponsored health fairs (“you better see a doctor about that”) led to more office visits and medication use. In-patient costs fell $22 per employee per month, on average, but other costs rose $19. The program cost $500,000 per year. “The wellness program just didn’t save money,” Gowrisankaran said.

To understand how that can be, experts offer the example of what happens when a workplace wellness program identifies hypertension (by requiring participants to get a physical) in someone who never suspected she had it. That might keep her from having a stroke in 20 years, but in the meantime it leads to physician visits and drugs to manage a condition that had gone untreated - and that therefore had previously cost the company or its insurer nothing, explained Vik Khanna, a benefits consultant in St. Louis.

Employers told RAND they were “overwhelmingly ” confident that workplace wellness reduces medical costs. Yet only 44 percent have actually evaluated their efforts, and only 2 percent had precise savings estimates. Most leave those calculations to companies that sell them the programs, or to consultants, opening the door to creative accounting, say skeptics.

Tom Emerick, president of Emerick Consulting and former vice president of global benefits at Walmart, is one of them: “Many of the vendors reporting savings are making it up.” Ghazal of the Business Roundtable acknowledged that calculating savings from wellness programs is tricky: “Sometimes the benefits are way down the road, when the person is not at that employer anymore.”

On the bright side, the RAND report says healthcare costs and use of expensive medical services rose more slowly for program participants than nonparticipants. That offers hope “that a reduction in direct medical costs would materialize if employees continued to participate.” —Reuters

LOS ANGELES: Glass water pipes or bongs or on display at the HempCon medical marijuana show, Friday at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Thousands of marijuana enthusiasts gathered for the three-day event for exhibits of medical marijuana dispensaries, collectives, evaluation services, legal services and equipment and accessories. Under California state law, people suffering from chronic diseases have the right to grow, buy and use marijuana for medical purposes when recommended by a doctor. —AFP

Feds fight morning-after pill age ruling in NY NEW YORK: Department of Justice lawyers filed court papers again asking a federal appeals court to delay lifting age restrictions and prescription requirements on an emergency contraceptive popularly known as the morning-after pill.

The papers seek to delay implementation of a judge’s April 5 ruling lifting restrictions on the drugs, including the medications sold under the brand name Plan B, setting the stage for another court showdown between President Barack Obama’s administration and women’s health activists over access to the contraceptive.

Currently, only people age 17 or older can buy the contraceptive without a prescription, although the Food and Drug Administration announced in late April that it would begin allowing one newer version of the drug, Plan B One-Step, to be sold over the counter to people as young as 15 as long as they present photo ID. That accommodation only further agitated US District Court Judge Edward Korman, who in his opinion on April 5 said that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius had wrongly let politics trump science when she overruled an FDA decision in 2011 that emergency contraception based on the hormone levonorgestrel could be sold safely to people of all ages without a prescription.

In a follow-up ruling, the judge said that the contraceptive “would be among the safest drugs available to children and adults on any drugstore shelf.” He called the FDA’s deal to allow some over-the-counter

sales of Plan B One-Step a “sweetheart agreement” for the medication’s manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals.

He noted that it would continue to restrict access to cheaper brands of the drug and be a hardship to the many young people who don’t have driver’s licenses.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in New York, is scheduled to begin considering on Tuesday whether to allow the judge’s ruling to take effect immediately or delay it while further appeals are pending.

The Department of Justice, in its motion for a stay, argued that the judge overstepped his authority in ordering the drugs to be made available. It also said that maintaining the status quo while the case is on appeal would prevent market confusion over the status of the drugs.

Lawyers for a group of women and parents who have sued to broaden access to the contraceptives said in court papers that any further delay in their availability would harm “countless” women by leaving obstructions in place.

While the case is ostensibly about rules limiting the access of teenagers to the drug, it has a practical impact on older women as well because the age restrictions mean that the contraceptives must be kept behind locked pharmacy counters and therefore aren’t always available in the emergencies for which they are intended.

The drugs can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sex, but they are more effective the sooner they are taken. —AP

WASHINGTON: An HIV blood test is administered in a mobile testing facility outside the Benning Stoddert Recreation Center in Washington. AIDS Healthcare Foundation Staff and volunteers handed out free condoms and provided a free HIV test as a part of the Condom Nation Big Rig Tour which has the goal of distributing 50 million condoms throughout the United States. —AFP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

FDA warns of infections tied to Tennessee pharmacy WASHINGTON: Health officials are investigating cases involving patients who suffered complications after being injected with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday the problems involve seven patients who received steroid injections from Main Street Family Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy in Newbern, Tenn.

Tennessee health officials said the pharmacy has agreed to recall all of its sterile products, which are generally injectable prescription drugs. Officials from the FDA and the Tennessee Department of Health have been inspecting the Newbern pharmacy since Wednesday.

Officials have not confirmed that the products are contaminated, but they are being treated as though they are, Tennessee Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner said in a Friday conference call.

The injections contain methylprednisolone acetate, the same drug at the center of last year’s deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis. More than 55 people have died and over 740 others have been sickened after receiving contaminated injections from a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy. The steroids are typically used to treat pain.

“Based on everything we know right now, this situation does not approach the severity of the fungal

infections in 2012,” Dreyzehner said. But he added that it is still “very early in a rapidly evolving investigation.”

Main Street Family Pharmacy said that it supports the FDA’s recommendation that patients not be injected with the medications until the investigation is finished. “In its more than 17 years of operation, patient safety has always been and will always be Main Street Family Pharmacy’s top priority,” it said in a statement.

Federal authorities have identified five cases in Illinois and two more in North Carolina. The Illinois patients received injections at the Logan Primary Care clinic in the town of Herrin between Jan 3 and Feb. 21, according to Illinois health officials. All five patients from Illinois had skin infections in the hips and buttocks while at least one patient in North Carolina appears to have a fungal infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“There’s no indication at this time of meningitis or other life threatening infection,” said Joseph Perz, a health-care epidemiologist helping to lead the CDC’s investigation. Dreyzehner said the initial cluster of five cases involved injections into a muscular area and there were questions about whether they might have been done incorrectly.

“Until we discovered the additional two cases in a

second state, there was no clear indication we might be dealing with a contaminated product,” he said. The FDA recommends doctors stop using any sterile drugs distributed by the pharmacy immediately.

Main Street Family Pharmacy is a compounding pharmacy, which means it mixes custom formulations of drugs based on doctors’ specifications.

Compounding pharmacies have long operated in a legal gray area between state and federal regulations.

Since last year’s outbreak, the FDA has stepped up inspections of compounding pharmacies across the country, triggering several national recalls of potentially contaminated medications.

The Tennessee Department of Health said it’s too early to tell how many people may have received the injections under scrutiny. According to pharmacy records the drug was shipped to medical facilities in 13 states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas The Main Street Family Pharmacy was licensed by the Tennessee board of Pharmacy in 1985, and later licensed as a manufacturer and distributor in 2010.

The pharmacy’s licenses were placed on a 3-year probation on March 31 and it was assessed a $25,600 fine after a pair of inspections found various problems with the facility. —AP

Healthy 5-pound gorilla born at central Ohio zoo

COLUMBUS: This Thursday, May 23, 2013 photo released by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium shows a gorilla baby. The gorilla baby was born Thursday at the zoo and will be joining 16 other of the large primates. —AP

COLUMBUS: A baby gorilla has been born to first-time parents at an Ohio zoo. The healthy 5-pound male gorilla arrived Thursday at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, joining 16 other gorillas there.

It’s the first offspring for mother Kambera (kam-BEHR’uh), who has displayed a lack of maternal skills.Animal care experts are raising the baby in an environment that provides around-the-clock neonatal care. They stay close to the mother, with the hope of reuniting the pair.

The father is Oliver, who is deaf and is believed to have lost his hearing when very young. Zoo staff members say it’s unknown when visitors will be able to see the baby.

There have been 31 gorillas born at the Columbus zoo, including Colo in 1956. That female western lowland gorilla is believed to be the oldest gorilla in any zoo. —AP

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

FOCC organizes DNV CRYcket 2013 SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

Greetings

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appy birthday to our dear daughter Esther Ifedolapo. We wish you faith and determination to succeed in all walks of life. May God guide you as you grow to be a blessing to our family Amen. Greetings from dad, mom, brother, friends and well-wishers.

Announcements Classical music at AUK he Department of Music and Drama is hosting a demonstration/ masterclass with the German classical guitarist Friedemann at the American University of Kuwait (AUK), 28 May 3 pm, Liberal Arts Building, room 205. Wuttke is a gifted performer, having played with major ensembles and orchestras. Besides various concerts in Germany, he has toured in the United States and South East Asia, as well as several European metropolises. This, his first visit to the Gulf region, has been realized with the support of the German Embassy in Kuwait, in cooperation with the Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah. The AUK performance is free and open to the public.

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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.

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The TIES Center’s ‘trip’ he TIES Center cordially invites those who are interested in its trip to the Historical, Vintage and Classic Car Museum, which is the first museum in Kuwait specializing in old cars on May 30th at 6:00 pm.

Revisit past memories or learn something new. If you love cars then this is the trip for you. Even if you don’t love cars, come anyway; you will enjoy the trip. For more information/registration, log onto: www.tiescenter.net.

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he 16th children’s cricket event “DNV CRYcket 2013” organized by Friends of CRY Club - Kuwait (FOCC-Kuwait) was held on April 12th, where Cricket Coaching Club (CCC) won both the trophies (U-14 & U-12).

“CRYcket” is an annual softball cricket tournament, for children under 14, played in 7-over match format, and completed in a single day. The tournament is open to all children, who may organize themselves in teams with participants from any school, nationality or locality.

This year’s new venue at “Fahaheel Sports Club” wore a festive look on the day, as in the tournaments over the years, where the children and adults sported colorful team dresses and bright clothes. Besides it was heartening to see the enthusiasm of children and parents alike, despite initial hiccups in getting the venue functioning up to the desired standard. Everyone displayed spirit of friendship, competition and above all true sportsmanship. Although the tournament had to be pushed into April, for technical reasons, thankfully the weather was really good throughout the day. In all, more than 310 children participated this year, consisting of 21 teams - eleven teams in the Under-14 category and ten teams in the Under-12 category - all vying for the glittering winner’s “DNV CRYcket 2013” trophy in their respective age group. M/s Det Norske Veritas (DNV) - Kuwait Branch, sponsored the event.

Wataniya Telecom were the co-sponsors of the event and 5 special prizes. The event was also sponsored by Payal Jewellers, Raja Company, Career Hunters, Bank Muscat, Kapico, Royal Kwality Sweets and Snacks, Mr. Malek Al-Ajeel & Dr. Hind Al-Bahar, Kuwait Cricket and Well wishers. The event would not have seen the light of the day without the support of Kuwait Cricket Association who provided the Umpires. The scores

were kept by experts in this field, and FOCC duly wish to acknowledge the persistent contribution of Cry Buddies Keerthini, Zainab, Mohammed, Ali Raza, Aditya, Kynara, Amina, Qaisarali and Enaam (children who devoted their time for the event) as well as friends on the spot.

The festivities at the grounds included the KIDS corner offering great amusement through some exciting games. A drawing competition as well as an essay competition were held for children in various age categories in which they enthusiastically participated. Winners of the Drawing Competition were Sanjana Rajkumar (Age Under 6 group), Vidhyavathi (Age group 7-10), Zainab Solanki (Age group 14-16) and Selvi Velavan (Age group 16 & above). Winners of the Essay Competition were Adnan (Age group - 11 years to 13 years), Apoorva Rao (Age group - 14 years to 16 years) and Vidhya Anand (Age group 16 & above). The usual Buy for CRY stall, where articles donated by good Samaritans through FOCC’s efforts could be picked up at unbelievable prices had variety of articles on display. The Raffle draw was again hugely successful with 15 fabulous prizes for the grabbing.

The participating teams in the “DNV CRYcket 2013” tournament were: Under14 Category: Dynamic Sixers, Eleven Golds, Salwa Sandstorm, Young Strikers, Carmel Supers, Cricket Coaching Club (CCC), Gladiators, NCC’s Pace-XI, Riggae Cricket Coaching (RCC), DPS Spartans and CETA XI; whereas Under-12 Category had DPS Red Titans, NCC’s Pace-XI Juniors A , Riggae Cricket Coaching Hamsters, Cricket Coaching Club, Gladiators, NCC’s Pace-XI Juniors B, DPS Blue Warriors, Riggae Cricket Coaching Juniors, Al Bader Super Tots XI and Desert Stars. After the day long, tough,

intense & quality cricket, the Cricket Coaching Club (CCC) emerged as winners and bagged the DNV CRYcket trophies in both the Under-14 & the Under12 categories.

The runner-up trophy was taken by Eleven Golds in the U-14 category and

the 15 glorious years of FOCC’s existence was also released which included a motivating message from Susan Varghese, Head of Global Operations-CRY, a brief on the FOCC supported project “Manav Ashrita Sansthan (MAS)” in India, insights into FOCC’s activities as well as names of

the Wataniya Best Player trophy was awarded to Abhishai Alan Jacob of Eleven Golds team.

In the U-12 category, the runner-up trophy went to DPS Red Titans and the Wataniya Best Player award was bagged

by Chinmaya Kulkarni of DPS Red Titans team. The Wataniya Youngest Player of the tournament trophy went to Kurian Thomas Mattom from CETA-XI. Country Manager for DNV, Mr. Gireesh Sriraman graced the occasion as Chief Guest. He congratulated all the participants and presented the winners and the runner-up team captains with the trophies to a thunderous applause from all.

Medals and certificates from CRY, India were also presented to all 310 participants.

A colourful Souvenir commemorating

all the participants. The drive for “Associate Membership” which was introduced in 2009, continued this year as well, where anyone from the society can feel attached to the FOCC & CRY mission.

Our sincere thanks to the support extended by news publishers Kuwait Times, Arab Times, Q8india.com, Indians in Kuwait.com, goa-world.com, mangalorean.com, canaraworld.com, abroadindians.com, daijiworld.com and goanet.org. It was exciting all the way and everything done at the event was for a noble cause - to help the underprivileged children in India. Those interested in joining hands with FOCC may please visit www.focckwt.org.

Photography exhibition

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he Embassy of India, Kuwait in association with National Council of Arts, Culture & Letters is organizing an exhibition of photographs of Islamic monuments of India by Benoy K Behl, Art - Historian & Photographer at Al-Edwani Hall, Dahiyat Abdullah AlSalem. The exhibition is being inaugurated at 1900 hrs tomorrow 21 May, 2013. The exhibition shall be kept open till 27 May 2013 from 0900 hrs to 1230 hrs and 1700 hrs to 2100 hrs. All are cordially invited to the exhibition.

IMAX

IMAX film program Sunday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Tornado Alley 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 9:30pm To The Arctic 3D 11:30am, 8:30pm Flight of Butterflies 3D 12:30pm, 5:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 7:30pm

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

A sent off was given to Sister Gilda at PICU, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, last week. Sister Gilda had 27 years of service in Kuwait.

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department.

All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-imenquiry@international.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

Kuwait Pavendar Khazhagam celebrates its 8th Kalam

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uwait Pavendar Khazhagam celebrated its 8th Kalam on May 3 at Mangaf. The program started with prayer song by Selvi Jeya Parvathi & Selvi, Anu Sowndarya & Selvi, Subhashree and was anchored by Kavisekaran, executive Member of PVKK. One Thirkkural was described by Vaijeyanthimaalaa. PVKK Kalapaadal was sung by Kavi Sekaran. Rajaamani, Manager, Warba Insurance was the chief guest for the day and was introduced to the PVKK members and audiences by K. Natarajan, Treasurer of PVKK. The event under the title “NinaithuNinaithu” was performed by Rajaththi Ramesh. Theevent under the title ‘Mann Isai “was performed by Anushiya, Manjula and Selvi.

Jeya Parvathi. The new office-bearers of PVKK were unanimously elected in the executive committee meeting and announced to the members in the Kalam-8.

Kaviarangam was performed by under the leadership of B. Sekar and other participants in Kaviarangamwere Abu Thakir, Murugesan, Thandayuthapani, & Naga Devanthi.

The event under title “KalaththuMedu” was performed by Selvan. Sanjeev, Selvi, SubhaSree & Selvan Ajay Joyal, Ramesh Kumar & Devi Ravispoke about Thozhilalar Thinam and “Pengal Samuthayaththin Kangal” respectively under title of “Karuththarangam”. The special speech was given by Pazha Krishna Moorhy. TamizQuiz was conducted by Ravi, executive member of PVKK. The winner was Veiavan and who was awarded with a prize by chief guest Rajaamani.

The motivational speech was given by Ravanan, Ex.President of PVKK. The program was organized by office bearers and executive members. The main sponsor for the Lunch for Kalam-8 was Murugesan. Vote of thank was delivered by Rajasekar, President of PVKK. The Program was concluded with national anthem by Devi Ravi, Jt Secretary of PVKK.

Music at ESF

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he English School Fahaheel offers a comprehensive Performing Arts programme including an IGCSE in Music and Drama. It is one of the few schools in Kuwait that offer this educational programme.

This year the Music Department was very active with three major Concerts. The Upper School concert kicked off the musical season at ESF. This was followed by the “Spring Concert”. The Middle School concert brought the season

to a close. The Drama Department was also very active this year with the winter musical Hans Christian Andersen’s “ The Snow Queen” and the IGCSE and Upper School production of Charles Dickens Great Expectations”

Scientific Center, Kuwait University cooperation

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he Scientific Center is coordinating with Dr. Widad Al-Naqeeb, assistant dean in the Faculty of Medicine in the Kuwait University, in order to help students coordinate with specialists in the facility with matters pertaining with their studies.

This was announced by CEO and Managing Director, Mejbel Al-Mutawa, who said that this cooperation comes as part of the Scientific Center’s efforts to encourage scientific research.

Mejbel Al-Mutawa

FAIPS- DPS reap glory at the French Olympiad ‘13

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 ITALY The Board of the Kuwait Italian Business Group (KIBG), will unveil the KIBG website on 28 May 2013. The event starts at 18:00 with registration and socialization and includes a welcome address at 19:00 by the Ambassador of Italy to Kuwait followed by the formal presentation of the KIBG website. The event will end at 20.00. Event Location Italian Embassy Jabriya Block 9 Street 1 Villa 84. Valet service will be provided . No mobiles nor equivalent devices are allowed in the Embassy.

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he name says it all. The French students of grades 6-10 of FAIPS-DPS registered an amazing record of winning medals in all the four categories at the French Olympiad ‘13 conducted

by Silverzone Foundation, India. It was a worldwide event in which more than 7,000 schools from all over the world participated. The students of FAIPS exhibited outstanding French language skills, bagging gold, silver and bronze medals in all the categories.

FAIPS students once again proved that when it comes to competing and winning, they are second to none. Kudos to all the teachers and the winners who keep the FAIPS flag flying high.

Following students brought laurels in different categories: Level -I - Anand Krishnakumar bagged Gold Medal while Kaushik Damle secured Silver and Aishwarya Shaji- Bronze medal Level -II - Namrata Mahesh won the Gold, Athul Suresh Krishnan - Silver medal while Sukanya V. Subramaniyam clinched the Bronze medal.

Level -III - Farah Khalid bagged the Gold, Swetha Krishnan Silver and Pranjal Goal won Bronze medal.

Level -IV - Lakshmy Krishnan secured Gold medal while Arundhati Taduri and Shaunak Ray took home the Silver and Bronze medals respectively.

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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.

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 01:35 I’m Alive 02:25 Queens Of The Savannah 03:15 Wildest Africa 04:05 Galapagos 04:55 Shamwari: A Wild Life 05:20 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 05:45 SSPCA: On The Wildside 06:10 SSPCA: On The Wildside 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 The Really Wild Show 07:25 Groomer Has It 08:15 Dogs 101 09:10 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 10:05 Queens Of The Savannah 11:00 Animal Cops Phoenix 11:55 Shamwari: A Wild Life 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 Safari Vet School 13:15 Safari Vet School 13:45 Animal Precinct 14:40 Queens Of The Savannah 15:30 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Dogs 101 17:25 Your Pet Wants This 18:20 America’s Cutest...

19:15 Escape To Chimp Eden 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Shamwari: A Wild Life 20:35 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 21:05 Queens Of The Savannah 22:00 Biggest And Baddest 22:55 Nick Baker’s Beautiful Freaks 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:40 Come Dine With Me 01:30 Masterchef: The Professionals 02:15 Gok’s Fashion Fix 03:05 To Build Or Not To Build?

03:30 Cash In The Attic 04:15 Bargain Hunt 05:00 House Swap 05:45 Gok’s Fashion Fix 06:35 To Build Or Not To Build?

07:00 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 07:25 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 07:55 Homes Under The Hammer 08:50 Bargain Hunt 09:40 Antiques Roadshow 10:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 11:20 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:10 Come Dine With Me 13:00 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 13:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 13:55 Bargain Hunt 14:40 Cash In The Attic 15:25 Antiques Roadshow 16:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:00 Homes Under The Hammer 17:55 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 18:20 The Roux Legacy 19:00 The Hairy Bikers USA 19:20 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 19:50 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

BBC World News America BBC World News America Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report

03:45 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

00:30 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

00:30 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 Talk Asia 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Sanjay Gupta MD 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 World One 12:30 Winning Post 12:45 The Gateway 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

THE CORRUPTOR ON OSN ACTION HD

18:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 19:00 CNN Football Club 19:30 Winning Post 19:45 The Gateway 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business 21:45 CNN Marketplace Europe 22:00 Amanpour 22:30 CNN Newscenter 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

00:15 You Have Been Warned 01:10 James May’s Man Lab 02:05 Mythbusters 03:00 Mythbusters 03:55 Border Security - Series 6 Specials 04:20 Auction Hunters 04:50 Storage Hunters 05:15 How Machines Work 05:40 How Stuff’s Made 06:05 Sons Of Guns 07:00 Mythbusters 07:50 Jesse James: Outlaw Garage 08:45 Gold Rush 09:40 Border Security - Series 6 Specials 10:05 Auction Hunters 10:30 Auction Kings 10:55 How Machines Work 11:25 How It’s Made 11:50 You Have Been Warned 12:45 James May’s Man Lab 13:40 Mythbusters 14:35 Border Security - Series 6 Specials 15:05 Auction Hunters 15:30 Auction Kings 16:00 Fast N’ Loud 16:55 Gold Rush 17:50 Mythbusters 18:45 Sons Of Guns 19:40 How Machines Work 20:05 How It’s Made 20:35 Auction Hunters 21:00 Storage Hunters 21:30 Sons Of Guns 22:25 Amish Mafia 23:20 Amish Mafia

00:05 How Tech Works 00:30 Sci-Fi Science 01:00 Bad Universe 01:50 Sport Science 02:45 Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design 03:35 Bad Universe 04:25 Superships 05:15 The Gadget Show 05:40 How Tech Works 06:05 Meteorite Men 07:00 James May’s 20th Century 07:25 James May’s 20th Century 07:50 Finding Bigfoot 08:40 The Gadget Show 09:05 How Tech Works 09:30 Da Vinci’s Machines 10:25 What’s That About?

11:20 Superships 12:10 Meteorite Men 13:00 Finding Bigfoot 13:50 Sci-Fi Science 14:20 The Gadget Show 14:45 How Tech Works 15:10 James May’s 20th Century 15:35 James May’s 20th Century 16:00 Scrapheap Challenge 16:55 Future Weapons 17:45 Engineered 18:35 Meteorite Men 19:30 James May’s 20th Century 20:20 Finding Bigfoot 21:10 The Gadget Show 21:35 How Tech Works 22:00 James May’s 20th Century 22:25 James May’s 20th Century 22:50 Sport Science 23:40 The Gadget Show

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

Hannah Montana Hannah Montana Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Replacements Replacements Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Replacements Replacements Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Prankstars Suite Life On Deck Cory In The House A.N.T Farm Austin And Ally Jessie Good Luck Charlie Doc McStuffins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse A.N.T Farm Jonas So Random Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Kim Possible Shake It Up Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Jessie A.N.T Farm Suite Life On Deck So Random Good Luck Charlie Jessie Shake It Up A.N.T Farm Austin And Ally Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Cory In The House Wizards Of Waverly Place That’s So Raven A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place So Random Hannah Montana Jonas Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck

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

Dirty Soap Style Star Too Young To Kill Style Star Extreme Close-Up THS THS THS Style Star E! News Ice Loves Coco Ice Loves Coco THS E! News Chasing The Saturdays Chasing The Saturdays Kourtney & Kim Take New Style Star E!es Extreme Close-Up Playing With Fire E! News THS Kourtney And Kim Take Miami Chasing The Saturdays Fashion Police E! News Chelsea Lately

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:55 Unwrapped 01:20 Unwrapped 01:45 Charly’s Cake Angels 02:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 02:35 Unique Sweets 03:00 Unique Sweets 03:25 Food Wars 03:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Unique Eats 04:40 Chopped 05:30 Iron Chef America 06:10 Food Network Challenge 07:00 Guy’s Big Bite 07:25 Guy’s Big Bite 07:50 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 08:15 Kid In A Candy Store 08:40 Unique Sweets 09:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:30 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, Spice Prince Of India 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Food Network Caters Your Wedding 22:00 Food Network Challenge 22:50 Food Network Caters Your Wedding 23:40 Food Wars

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

Dr G: Medical Examiner A Haunting Nightmare Next Door Nightmare Next Door I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner A Haunting Nightmare Next Door Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

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

Disappeared Murder Shift Forensic Detectives On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Nightmare Next Door Couples Who Kill On The Case With Paula Zahn I Escaped Death I Almost Got Away With It

00:45 Around The World For Free 01:40 Deadliest Journeys 02:05 The Best Job In The World 02:35 Bondi Rescue 03:00 Bondi Rescue 03:30 Danger Beach 03:55 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 04:25 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 05:20 Long Way Down 06:15 Graham’s World 06:40 Market Values 07:10 The Frankincense Trail 08:05 Around The World For Free 09:00 Deadliest Journeys 09:25 The Best Job In The World 09:55 Bondi Rescue 10:20 Bondi Rescue 10:50 Danger Beach 11:15 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 11:45 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 12:40 Long Way Down 13:35 Gone to save the planet 14:00 Market Values 14:30 The Frankincense Trail 15:25 Around The World For Free 16:20 Deadliest Journeys 16:45 The Best Job In The World 17:15 Bondi Rescue 17:40 Bondi Rescue

CONTRABAND ON OSN CINEMA 18:10 Danger Beach 18:35 The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia 19:05 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 20:00 The Frankincense Trail 21:00 Gone to save the planet 21:30 Market Values 22:00 Long Way Down 22:55 Graham’s World 23:20 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita

00:30 The Crazies-18 02:15 The Corruptor-18 04:15 Brake-PG15 06:00 Mission: Impossible III-PG15 08:30 True Justice: Angel Of DeathPG15 10:15 Superman vs. The Elite-PG15 12:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began-PG15 14:00 True Justice: Angel Of DeathPG15 16:00 Do No Harm-PG15 18:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began-PG15 20:00 Meskada-PG15 22:00 Alien-18

01:00 Enter The Phoenix-PG15 03:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 05:00 Twins Mission-PG15 07:00 Enter The Phoenix-PG15 09:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 11:00 Hidden Crimes-PG15 13:00 The National Tree-PG15 15:00 Underground: The Julian Assange Story-PG15 17:00 Footloose-PG15 19:00 And Soon The Darkness-PG15 21:00 Contraband-18 23:00 My Own Love Song-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Weeds 02:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 02:30 The Big C 03:00 Ben And Kate 03:30 The Simpsons 04:00 Seinfeld 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Hope & Faith 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 Hope & Faith 09:00 Ben And Kate 09:30 Modern Family 10:00 The Mindy Project 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Arrested Development 12:30 Seinfeld 13:00 Hope & Faith 14:00 The Simpsons 14:30 The Mindy Project 15:00 Modern Family 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Arrested Development 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 New Girl 18:30 Friends 19:00 Community 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The League 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

Eureka The Client List Castle Bones Castle Eureka Emmerdale Coronation Street C.S.I. New York Bones Castle Touch

12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. New York Eureka Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Finder Switched At Birth Fairly Legal Suits The Hollow Crown

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Burning Bright The Last Exorcism Imago Mortis The Ring Vengeance Iron Sky Hide And Seek Mission: Impossible Iron Sky Deadly Hope Mission: Impossible Sultanes Del Sur

00:00 Girl Walks Into A Bar-PG15 02:00 The Janky Promoters-18 04:00 Sorority Wars-PG15 06:00 Wayne’s World 2-PG15 08:00 Arthur-PG15 10:00 Scrooged-PG15 12:00 Sorority Wars-PG15 14:00 Police Academy 3: Back In Training-PG15 16:00 Scrooged-PG15 18:00 The Wish List-PG15 20:00 The Giant Mechanical ManPG15 22:00 Girl Walks Into A Bar-PG15

01:30 03:15 05:30 07:15 PG15 09:00 10:45 12:45 14:30 16:15 18:45 21:00 23:00

Toast-PG15 The Flowers Of War-PG15 Krach-18 An Invisible Sign Of My OwnNomads-PG15 Paws-PG Roger And Me-PG15 Nomads-PG15 Tora! Tora! Tora!-PG15 Moneyball-PG15 Roadie-18 Woodstock-18

01:00 Coriolanus-PG15 03:15 Love Will Keep Us TogetherPG15 05:00 Take Shelter-PG15 07:00 Brave-PG 09:00 Puss In Boots-PG 10:45 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol-PG15 13:00 Boy-PG15 15:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG 17:00 Puss In Boots-PG 18:45 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel-PG15 21:00 Project X-18 23:00 The Grey-18

01:15 Princess Sydney: The Three Gold Coins 02:45 The Nimbols: Part II 04:15 Emperor’s Secret 06:00 A Monster In Paris 08:00 Supertramps 10:00 The Pirates! Band Of Misfits 11:30 Emperor’s Secret 13:00 Arrietty 14:30 A Monster In Paris 16:00 Ploddy Police Car 18:00 The Pirates! Band Of Misfits 20:00 Flicka 3 22:00 Arrietty 23:45 Supertramps

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00

Prime Mover-PG15 Last Holiday-PG15 Chronicle-PG15 Butter-PG15 Rio-FAM

10:00 Melinda And Melinda-PG15 12:00 Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted-PG 13:45 The Conspirator-PG15 15:45 Rio-FAM 17:30 The Avengers-PG15 20:00 Damsels In Distress-PG15 22:00 21 Jump Street-18

00:30 HSBC Sevens World Series 03:30 Trans World Sport 04:30 NRL Premiership 06:30 ICC Cricket 360 07:00 HSBC Sevens World Series 10:00 Inside The PGA Tour 10:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 11:30 PGA PGA European Tour Weekly 12:00 Live PGA European Tour 20:00 Inside The PGA Tour 20:30 Trans World Sport 21:30 Inside The PGA Tour 22:00 Live PGA Tour

00:00 Inside The PGA Tour 00:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 01:00 NRL Full Time 01:30 Futbol Mundial 02:00 Super League 03:30 AFL Premiership 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Futbol Mundial 07:30 Super League 09:00 Premier League Darts 12:30 Futbol Mundial 13:00 HSBC Sevens World Series 16:00 Super Rugby 17:00 Trans World Sport 18:00 Live Dubai Duty Free Darts Masters 21:30 WWE NXT 22:30 PGA European Tour

00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 13:30 14:30 17:30 18:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

ICC Cricket 360 Golfing World World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool Super Rugby Trans World Sport Golfing World PGA European Tour Weekly Total Rugby World Pool Masters World Cup Of Pool Super Rugby Total Rugby Trans World Sport Marathon Total Rugby HSBC Sevens World Series Super Rugby Highlights AFL Premiership Highlights Trans World Sport

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 20:30 22:30

UFC Countdown NHL Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL WWE SmackDown Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line Mass Participation Ironman Mass Participation Ironman UIM Powerboat Champs UFC Prelims UFC Prizefighter

01:25 03:10 04:55 07:00 08:15 10:05 FAM 12:05 13:45 16:00 17:25 20:10 22:00 23:55

Telefon-PG 3 Godfathers-FAM The Clock-FAM Texas Carnival-FAM Rebel Without A Cause-PG Robin And The Seven HoodsThey Drive By Night-FAM The Prize-PG The Honeymoon Machine-FAM Quo Vadis-PG Roberta-FAM The V.I.P.S-FAM The Dirty Dozen

Classifieds SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 PHANTOM (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:00 PM :00 PM :00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

SHARQIA-2 FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) THE GREAT GATSBY (DIG-3D) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-3 THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-1 THE GREAT GATSBY (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG)

1:30 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM

MUHALAB-2 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM

MUHALAB-3 DINO TIME (DIG-3D) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (23/05/2013 TO 29/05/2013) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

9:15 PM 12:05 AM

IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 AM

MARINA-2 FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.2 AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

MARINA-3 DINO TIME (DIG-3D) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) THE GREAT GATSBY (DIG-3D) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.3 FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

2:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:30 PM 6:15 PM 9:00 PM 11:45 PM

BAIRAQ-1 DINO TIME (DIG-3D) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-2 STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:45 PM 6:30 PM 9:15 PM 12:05 AM

BAIRAQ-2 AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) THE GREAT GATSBY (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

BAIRAQ-3 THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) THE CALL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

PLAZA FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG)

5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM

LAILA IRON MAN 3 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG)

5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM

AVENUES-3 SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (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

360º- 1 FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 12:30 PM FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 3:30 PM FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 6:00 PM FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 8:45 PM NO THU Special Show“FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG)” 8:45 PM THU FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) 11:30 PM NO SUN+ TUE+WED

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

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-2 PHANTOM (DIG) IRON MAN 3 (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) IRON MAN 3 (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) IRON MAN 3 (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 2 STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:30 PM 10:15 PM 1:00 AM

1:15 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

360º- 3 DINO TIME (DIG-3D) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED

2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 7:15 PM

AL-KOUT.1 IRON MAN 3 (DIG-3D) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) DINO TIME (DIG-3D) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG-3D) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG-3D)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:15 PM 7:00 PM 9:45 PM

FANAR-3 STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG) NO SUN+ TUE+WED MARINA-1 PHANTOM (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG) STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (DIG) PHANTOM (DIG)

CHANGE OF NAME I, Moidin Kunhi Badiyar Husan, S/o Husan Kunhi Urmene Moidin holder of Indian Passport No. F4932532 have changed my name to Mohammed Mohideen for all purposes.

(C 4427) 26-5-2013

FOR SALE

AJIAL.1 LADIES & GENTLEMAN (DIG) (MALAYALAM) LADIES & GENTLEMAN (DIG) (MALAYALAM) AJIAL.2 AT ANY PRICE (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) AT ANY PRICE (DIG)

6:00 PM 8:30 PM 10:45 PM

AJIAL.3 ISHKQ IN PARIS (DIG) (HINDI) ISHKQ IN PARIS (DIG) (HINDI) ISHKQ IN PARIS (DIG) (HINDI)

5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM

METRO-1 FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG) SAMEER ABOO ELNEEL (DIG) FAST & FURIOUS 6 (DIG)

5:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:30 PM

METRO-2 LADIES & GENTLEMAN (DIG) (MALAYALAM) LADIES & GENTLEMAN (DIG) (MALAYALAM)

6:30 PM 9:30 PM

KIA Mohave jeep, full option, silver color for sale. (2011 model - 47,000 kilometers).

Please contact 66399051 23-5-2013 LOST

6:30 PM 9:30 PM

Original document Policy No. 633002599 of LIAQAT ALI by the state Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf Zone is reported to have been lost.

Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the Manager, Kuwait State Life office - Ph: 22452208.

(C 4424)

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:19 04:51 11:45 15:20 18:39 20:08

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines BBC QTR RJA THY JZR JZR ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR QTR KAC THY CLX DHX FDB BAW FDB UAE KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD IRC GFA MEA UAE MSR THY QTR FDB IRC SVA KNE JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR OMA

Arrival Flights on Sunday 26/5/2013 Flt Route 43 DHAKA 148 DOHA 642 AMMAN 764 SABIHA 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 792 LUXEMBOURG 170 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 157 LONDON 53 DUBAI 855 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 332 TRIVANDRUM 412 MANILA 382 DELHI 206 ISLAMABAD 302 MUMBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 6666 AHWAZ 213 BAHRAIN 404 BEIRUT 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 766 ISTANBUL 140 DOHA 57 DUBAI 6507 SHIRAZ 500 JEDDAH 472 JEDDAH 165 DUBAI 774 RIYADH 284 DHAKA 672 DUBAI 742 DAMMAM 561 SOHAG 645 MUSCAT

Time 00:05 00:15 01:10 01:40 00:20 00:40 01:45 01:55 02:25 02:30 03:10 03:15 03:30 04:10 04:35 04:55 05:10 05:50 06:30 07:45 08:25 08:05 07:55 06:15 07:30 07:25 07:50 06:20 08:50 09:00 09:15 09:20 09:30 10:10 10:40 10:55 12:45 13:00 13:10 13:45 13:50 14:25 14:30 14:35 11:35 13:45 12:05 13:40 13:30 12:00 14:40

QTR RJA ETD SYR UAE ABY GFA SVA UAL NIA QTR FDB GFA AXB MSR JAI AFG OMA FDB ABY MEA KLM ALK JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR UAE ETD QTR GFA QTR QTR JAI FDB AIC UAL DLH KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR JAI PIA THY

134 640 303 341 857 127 215 510 982 251 144 63 219 393 606 572 415 647 61 129 402 417 229 177 481 135 185 239 859 307 136 217 6130 146 576 59 981 981 636 562 514 674 618 172 542 102 786 166 502 787 777 574 205 772

DOHA AMMAN ABU DHABI DAMASCUS DUBAI SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH WASHINGTON DC DULLES ALEXANDRIA DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN KOZHIKODE LUXOR MUMBAI KABUL MUSCAT DUBAI SHARJAH BEIRUT AMSTERDAM COLOMBO DUBAI SABIHA BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN DOHA DOHA COCHIN DUBAI CHENNAI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT AMMAN TEHRAN DUBAI DOHA FRANKFURT CAIRO NEW YORK JEDDAH PARIS BEIRUT RIYADH JEDDAH MUMBAI LAHORE ISTANBUL

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

Airlines AIC AXB JAI UAL DLH BBC THY THY ETH UAE FDB MSR ETD QTR QTR JZR FDB RJA GFA THY JZR CLX BAW FDB KAC KAC KAC ABY UAE FDB ETD IRA KAC QTR KAC KAC IRC GFA KAC MEA JZR KAC JZR JZR KAC JZR MSR THY UAE FDB QTR

Departure Flights on Sunday 26/5/2013 Flt Route 976 GOA 490 MANGALORE 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 44 CHITTAGONG 773 ISTANBUL 765 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 643 AMMAN 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 164 DUBAI 871 LUXEMBOURG 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 171 FRANKFURT 117 NEW YORK 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 602 SHIRAZ 773 RIYADH 133 DOHA 741 DAMMAM 501 BEIRUT 6667 AHWAZ 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 480 ISTANBUL 786 RIYADH 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 767 ISTANBUL 872 DUBAI 58 DUBAI 141 DOHA

Time 00:05 00:15 00:20 00:25 00:30 01:30 02:20 02:40 02:45 03:45 03:50 04:15 04:20 04:25 05:15 05:35 06:30 06:35 07:00 07:10 07:25 08:15 08:25 08:25 08:55 09:05 09:25 09:30 09:50 09:55 10:15 10:20 10:20 10:25 10:30 11:10 11:10 11:25 11:30 11:55 12:25 12:30 12:30 12:50 13:00 13:20 14:00 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:55

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

KAC IRC KNE KAC OMA SVA KAC KAC RJA JZR QTR ETD JZR SYR ABY UAE GFA SVA JZR UAL JZR NIA QTR FDB GFA JZR AXB MSR JAI FDB ABY AFG OMA MEA DHX KLM ETD ALK UAE KAC QTR KAC GFA KAC FDB JAI KAC QTR QTR KAC KAC KAC

673 6508 473 561 646 503 617 513 641 238 135 304 538 342 128 858 216 511 184 982 266 252 145 64 220 134 394 619 571 62 120 415 648 403 171 417 308 230 860 343 137 301 218 205 60 575 351 6131 147 411 283 415

DUBAI SHIRAZ JEDDAH AMMAN MUSCAT MADINAH DOHA IMAM KHOMEINI AMMAN AMMAN DOHA ABU DHABI CAIRO LATAKIA SHARJAH DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI BAHRAIN BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN KOZHIKODE ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH JEDDAH MUSCAT BEIRUT BAHRAIN DAMMAM ABU DHABI COLOMBO DUBAI CHENNAI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DUBAI KOCHI KOCHI DOHA DOHA BANGKOK DHAKA KUALA LUMPUR

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

34

stars CROSSWORD 201

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) Professional associates push you to be the best you can be. You surpass the competition easily. The focus today is on your goals and the goal is one that is for the benefit of many and not the few. You have far-reaching visions with worldviews and group participation of all kinds. You carry a lot of power with your words today. With a real determination to get things accomplished—you are successful. There is a tendency to give up much superficiality in favor of in-depth learning and self-discipline. This could mean you are making great headway in teaching, lecturing or some sort of work that puts you in the driver’s seat, so to speak. You may be hard pressed to stick to a budget just now, so plan ahead when it comes to expenses.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You have cleared the struggles and are coming in to the last little bit of push in order to make your sale or to complete the tasks for this day. You can manage to get yourself installed in a job that is full of competitive people and time elements but this shows off all your wise professional abilities. The bottom line here is your success. A high-stress job may not be what you want forever, but it is certainly proving worthwhile for now. This afternoon you may find yourself visiting with co-workers away from the workplace. Although you like to avoid personal issues, your interest in probing the secrets of others is very energetic. You have many friends that enjoy your friendship as well as your guidance. Fill the air with music tonight, perhaps a duet.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. (Scotland) A small loaf or roll of soft bread.

4. A man-made object taken as a whole.

12. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

15. A rapid bustling commotion.

16. An island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa.

17. Consisting of or made of wood of the oak tree.

18. A dog small and tame enough to be held in the lap.

20. The Oceanic language spoken by the Maori people in New Zealand.

21. (Judaism) Sacred chest where the ancient Hebrews kept the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

22. The content of cognition.

23. A hard coarse-grained siliceous sandstone.

25. (pathology) An elevation of the skin filled with serous fluid.

27. Tired to the point of exhaustion.

31. Capable of wounding.

37. Heal or recover.

40. On or toward the lee.

42. (prefix) In front of or before in space.

43. Talks a great deal about uninteresting topics.

44. Acquire or gain knowledge or skills.

45. A notable achievement.

46. A drama set to music.

47. Any of various coarse shrubby plants of the genus Iva with small greenish flowers.

48. A slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water.

49. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

51. A word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.

54. A yellow trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

56. A vigorous blow.

58. A spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle.

61. A viewer who gives a flirtatious or lewd look at another person.

64. (biology) Having or resembling wings.

67. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

71. One of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participates in a group organization).

73. Chief port of Yemen.

74. Long green edible beaked pods of the okra plant.

75. A small cake leavened with yeast.

76. An annual publication including weather forecasts and other miscellaneous information arranged according to the calendar of a given year.

79. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).

80. A translucent mineral consisting of hydrated silica of variable color.

81. Minute freshwater crustacean having a round body enclosed in a transparent shell.

82. The basic unit of electric current adopted under the System International d'Unites.

DOWN 1. An island in Indonesia east of Java.

2. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

3. The head of the Roman Catholic Church.

4. Relating to or containing the azo radical.

5. Being or dressed in clothes that are worn or torn.

6. A state in east central United States.

7. A port city in western Turkey.

8. A legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge).

9. A dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived.

10. 4-wheeled motor vehicle.

11. Relating to or characteristic of a tribe.

12. Sluggish tailless Australian arboreal marsupial with gray furry ears and coat.

13. A British peer ranking below a Marquess and above a Viscount.

14. A town and port in northwestern Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.

19. Covered patchily.

24. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

26. Of or relating to the uvea of the eye.

28. A chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints).

29. The capital of Turkey.

30. 40th President of the United States (1911).

32. An epic in Latin by Virgil.

33. Nocturnal badger-like carnivore of wooded regions of Africa and southern Asia.

34. A French abbot.

35. Slender long-legged African wildcat having large untufted ears and tawny black-spotted coat.

36. Assign a new name to.

38. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

39. Of southern Europe.

41. (Scotland) A landowner.

50. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

52. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar to but heavier than beer.

53. United States film actress (born in Sweden) known for her reclusiveness (19051990).

55. Of or relating to herbs.

57. A (usually canopied) seat for riding on the back of a camel or elephant.

59. A Bantu language spoken by the Kamba people in Kenya.

60. Minor or subordinate.

62. Made the first orbital rocket-powered flight by a United States astronaut in 1962.

63. An island of central Hawaii.

65. A light springing movement upwards or forwards.

66. (British) Colloquial terms for an umbrella.

68. A Loloish language.

69. The biblical name for ancient Syria.

70. An artificial source of visible illumination.

72. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

77. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

78. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

You may race ahead of others today with a determination to get things accomplished. Avoid making impulsive decisions. You are at your most practical when it comes to dealing and working with others. You know just what to do and can act without haste. You are very motivated when it comes to philosophies, religion and all things essential. With no superficiality, you find new ways to get past the fluff and into what is really important. Your insights into truth and the eternal make you independent and somewhat of a loner—also a little psychic. If money is available, you will find yourself planning to travel. An inner urge to find the very heart of truth in all things may propel you endlessly. Laughter with children this afternoon is beneficial.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) It is usually easy for you to work with those in authority—those older and more experienced than you. However, do not be surprised if you are not in top mental gear this morning. You could find yourself struggling to communicate until the noon hour. By the afternoon, your distractions are solved and you are accomplishing much more than you thought you would as this day began. You make headway in the fashion industry and may be able to advise the most outstanding and unusual personalities with new styles or different combinations. Easy does it.

This afternoon you and your friends can relax and enjoy each other’s company. You are very much a social animal. You are gregarious, even to the point of bringing out the performer in others.

Leo (July 23-August 22) There are hard work and responsibility, both in salvaging some endeavors that appear to be failing and in branching out in new directions. Others may try to tempt you to work for someone other than your present employer and you may find many interruptions, keeping you distracted. You do not seem to lose your sense of humor through all of this and you may want create some witty ditty. Everything points to your taking the initiative to complete projects and find answers to the subject of these interruptions. You have lots of drive to accomplish just about anything; do not overextend yourself. Someone is counting on you to fulfill a promise this evening. You run close to the time schedule but follow through with your responsibilities successfully

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Your essence gives off the feeling of inner peace. Rely on your own abilities now to succeed without pulling in the assistance of someone that could end up doing most of your work. The flow of work progresses well with little or no problems today. Don’t be too surprised when an old school friend shows up this afternoon. Lots can be talked about and fond memories relived. You may have become quite active in your community and topics such as newcomers’ day or plant-a-flower-day may be talked about and planned.

You could come up with new ideas of how to encourage neighbors to participate in local activities or neighborhood improvements. You show your cheerful self to all and are very popular. A love relationship deepens.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) This may be a day of a sudden change of fortune for the better. This day is considered to be one of your lucky days. This day may also manifest as a need for inner search, for meaning. There could be changes in your daily activities. If an unusual opportunity presents itself, go for it right away. You will help someone find a job today. You may also try to help your neighbors understand that the more involved they are with each other, the fewer problems they have with vandalism or thieves. There is a great deal of laughter and fun times this afternoon. You may find that by enjoying the evening meal with your loved one, the two of you enjoy a wonderfully relaxed time. You can catch up on your reading, writing or communication later tonight.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Your sharp mind today will give you a quick understanding of a business opportunity. You are able to grasp the main idea quickly and respond accordingly. Perhaps a news story is in need of compiling and completing before a deadline. Emotional seriousness, a sober orientation and a practical awareness of the nature of time are keynotes to your deepest feelings. Your ambition is intensified and exchanging information takes on more emotional significance. You are innovative but you could meet with an irresistible force at this time. There is a lot of force available for disciplined work, but push too hard and you could break something. Breathe and enjoy the fresh air this evening. This would be a good time to begin or nurture a garden.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your imagination can be a wonderfully positive influence for you, but you can also worry unnecessarily about the smallest things. Make the old saying of turning lemons into lemonade work for you by turning any negatives in your life around to positives; you set good examples. The energies are also positive for a new avenue of work . . .

Meaning different responsibilities. Today you try your authority out on your team to see if you can handle the work. There is a tendency to dismiss frustrations but it would be good to keep notes for review later. Financial savvy and a practical turn of mind are qualities that take on a greater importance in your life. You have a knack for knowing how to put people, ideas and things together profitably today.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) CAPRICORN You are able to cut through and get at what is beneath and behind a problem today. Solving problems seems an easy task. Be resolved that overstatements, overdoing and overconfidence are outdated. Your flamboyant personality expresses itself in your work—allow yourself time to play and enjoy your favorite hobby or creative endeavor after the workday is over. There are opportunities to talk about psychological and spiritual matters. The idea of a little personal self-analysis on the deepest possible level could be exciting to you. Carl jung enjoyed discovering things about the personality. It will give you opportunities for personal expression. Lovers, children and other people or things dear to your heart are emphasized.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You will enjoy being the center of attention today, as others will compliment you on your recent good works. Your creative accomplishments will put you in the spotlight. You should enjoy great success through your profession. Outshining your fellow workers may instill a humble mood. You take the time to see where work can best help others. You may also spend a great deal of time communicating with co-workers and people apart from work this afternoon. You may be sought after for your advice regarding some very personal and emotional issues as well as work issues. The people you support and encourage show you respect. General good feelings and a sense of support and harmony make this a happy time.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Be wise in the use of your time while helping someone today.

Sometimes one can overdo the generosity of time and effort and perhaps money. There are lessons to learn. You may have problems holding on to your money today. Be cautious during the next few days and carefully determine what you might need to help you move forward. You may be able to enjoy and value your own life situation or feel especially kind towards a friend or loved one. If you have young people in your family you may want to create some fun time around the family dinner table that will encourage talking.

Youngsters learn almost as much at the dinner table as they do in school—particularly manners, communication skills and ethics.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 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

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22418714

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22545171

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24810598

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22545171

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24742838

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22434853

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22545051

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24711433

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24316983

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23927002

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24316983

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23980088

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23711183

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23262845

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25716707

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22517733

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22517144

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25610011

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24848075

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25616368

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24849807

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24848913

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24814507

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22549134

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22526804

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24814764

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22515088

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22532265

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22531908

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22518752

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22459381

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22451082

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22456536

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22465401

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25746401

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25316254

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25623444

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25388462

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25381200

W Hawally

22630786

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24810221

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24770319

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24575755

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24772608

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24775066

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24775992

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24311795

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24884079

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24892674

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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

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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

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22621099

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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

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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

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SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

lifestyle G o s s i p

F

ilmmaker and actor Tyler Perry has surprised middle school students in Ohio by showing up at a musical concert and donating $100,000 to help student athletes in the city’s South-Western schools.

The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/13Qe0uR ) reports that Perry was drawn to Finland Middle School on Friday after seeing a TV report about teacher Mary

Mulvany starting a foundation to raise scholarship money to cover fees. South-Western schools earned national attention when athletics and extra-curricular activities were eliminated after a failed levy in 2009.

The ballot request was later approved by voters, and sports, clubs and other activities were resurrected for a fee. Perry says he wants to sponsor as many children as

possible and wants part of the money to go toward Finland and some to the foundation. Mulvany says hundreds of children will be helped by Perry’s contribution.

O

M

att Bellamy says his family has put life into “perspective”. The Muse rocker - who has 22-month-old son Bingham with girlfriend Kate Hudson has revealed the band has had to become more sensible because of the “healthy” effect of having a child. He told The Sun newspaper: “You have to put others before you - especially when you have kids. You focus on the needs of a child being in front of your own, and that’s an amazing experience. “When you’re flitting about all over the world you can get caught up a bit in your own needs and wants. “But as soon as there is someone else there, it puts it into perspective. It’s a really healthy thing.

Family life is all about love.” The 24-yearold musician revealed Katie’s love for “travelling” makes things easier and explained he and the actress both make time to visit the other while they work. He said: “I think I am very lucky because my partner, my girlfriend - she loves travelling. She was raised in a family where there was a lot of travelling and upheaval going on all the time. “She is really open to us being on the road and because of that we haven’t really been apart for anything more than a week since our baby was born. “A lot of the time, if she is working, I will go to where she is and it works both ways. She comes to see us all the time. You balance a little bit, especially with two working people.”

ne Direction will donate £200,000 from ticket sales to a cancer charity. The pop superstars have announced 50p from each ticket sold for their 2014 UK stadium tour - with dates in Dublin, Sunderland, Manchester, Edinburgh and London - will go to Stand Up To Cancer. The ‘Little Thing’ hitmakers - made up of Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik also plan to add more dates if the first ones sell out, meaning more money for the charity. Liam said: “We’re so proud to be supporting Stand Up To Cancer while touring the UK and Ireland. “Cancer affects nearly everyone at some point in their lives so we all need to do what we can to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. “Stand Up To Cancer is all about bringing people together as a collective force and we hope our fans will get involved too.” Meanwhile, the charity’s director Claire Rowney thanked the band and said she was delighted to have them on board. She added: “We’re over the moon that One Direction have chosen to support Stand Up To Cancer. “The money raised will help fund groundbreaking research specifically designed to have an impact within just a few years, bringing new and kinder treatments to patients sooner. “We want to thank them and their fans for their support .”

T

ulisa Contostavlos has reportedly split from boyfriend Danny Simpson. The former ‘X Factor’ UK judge’s relationship with the soccer star has come to an end after six months following talks about their future earlier this week. An insider told The Sun newspaper: “Tulisa and Danny have been having problems for a while now and have been arguing a lot. “They have been trying to work things out but Tulisa decided she’d had enough and didn’t want to fight for the relationship anymore. “It’s a 100 per cent amicable split with no hard feelings.”

Although there was speculation the break-up was in part due to her being dropped from her role as a judge on ‘The X Factor’, it is said she wasn’t bothered by the news and

has already planned the next stage of her career. The source added: “She wasn’t upset about ‘X Factor’. She is feeling good about moving on.” There were reports earlier this week about the demise of their relationship, which both parties denied - and it was claimed while they still spoke their romance was over. It was said: “Danny and Tulisa’s relationship became public very quickly and was very full-on. “They’ve had a lot of stress and it has caused a few bust-ups. They still talk but aren’t together at the moment.”

T

he 38-year-old actress - who split from her second husband, basketball player Tony Parker, in 2010 after three years of marriage - insists she is “busy” making the most of freedom in her life while not in a relationship and has poured her focus into other areas. She said: “I’m happily single right now, very busy enjoying life.” One of the reasons Eva is so content without a man in her life is down to her friends, who she can always rely on to cheer her up when feeling down as they are inseparable. The former ‘Desperate Housewives’ star - whose most recent relationship, with Eduardo Cruz, ended last June - added in an interview with Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “My friends are always there for me.

We’ve known each other for 20 years and I still see them almost every day because they live with me in LA. “ They ’re amazing. We cook together, laugh together; it’s just always nice to come home to a home that is always full.”

R

ita Ora finally feels like a “proper adult”.

The 22-year-old singer - who is believed to be dating Calvin Harris - recently splashed out on a new house for her parents, and says moving into the property market has stopped her feeling like a child. She said: “I signed the contract to buy my mum and dad their first house yesterday, so now I’m officially a homeowner, like a proper adult.” Rita is close friends with a host of famous stars, including model Cara Delevingne and DJ Nick Grimshaw, but she admits she forgets about their talent and success when they get together. She told Grazia magazine: “It’s weird because when I’m with my friends, I never think about how talented they are but they are all amazing in their own right. “When Cara and I are together, we always get ready together. At fashion week, I saw in Cara’s cupboard a T-shirt with her face on it and I ended up wearing it to the Burberry show. Cara was like, ‘You have to do it.’

C

hris Brown has renamed his new puppy after his new album ‘X’. The ‘Fine China’ singer - who debuted his 13-week old English bulldog earlier this week - has decided to change the dog’s name from Chief to X. The 24-year-old singer revealed his pet’s new name in a video posted on his website on Friday saying: “Right now I’m just chilling with this little guy. His name’s X. “This is also my album title so make sure you go get it. It’s coming out real soon.” The newly single singer - who recently split from his on/off girlfriend Rihanna, who he is still on probation for beating in 2009 - splashed out on the new puppy to keep him company. The singer, who has previously owned a pitbull, got the dog from Los Angeles-based breeders Shrinkabulls, which has helped a number of high profile stars including Cher Lloyd, Joe Jonas and Randy Jackson adopt bulldog puppies in the past. The R&B star will unveil his new single ‘They Don’t Know’, featuring the late singer Aaliyah, on Monday and claims: “It’s going to be amazing.”—Bangshowbiz

T

he Jonas Brothers singer tied the knot with Danielle Deleasa in December2009 and their relationship is chronicled in TV show ‘Married to Jonas’, and he is thankful the program gives the couple the opportunity to review their points of view after a fight. He said: “The other night we had an argument.

Sometimes you say things you don’t necessarily mean or can be misconstrued. All you want is for the person to be with you. It came across as me never wanting her to get a job and that I think her place is in the house, and that wasn’t my opinion at all. It had to do with me wanting her to be on the road with me. “It was a selfish moment for sure, but at the end of the day you look back and think, ‘Wow’. Don’t you wish you had that option in a relationship to be able to watch back your arguments so you can see who was right and who was wrong? “[Can it be like therapy?] Yeah!” However, Kevin admits the cameras can be equally problematic as his words will always be there to haunt him. He added to Britain’s OK! magazine: “It takes a toll. You have to be open and that’s why a lot of people have issues I think.

Because you sometimes let things go under, but when you’re doing a show like this it’s all out there. “So when you say something you don’t mean, these things are lasting. Therefore, we have to work through that as a couple to be as strong as we can.”

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

lifestyle M u s i c

By Sunil Cherian

S

he is known as Mitali Mukherjee in her birth country Bangladesh. But she has made India her home after marrying Punjabi ghazal singer Bhupinder Singh and is better known in India as Mitali Singh. The Bangladesh national award winning singer - for her song ‘Ei Duniya Akhon To Aar’ in the 1981 movie ‘Dui Poishar Alta’ - was in Kuwait this past weekend at Marina Hall, Jleeb where she sent the audience, mostly Bangladeshis, wild with joy by her film songs and ghazals. The Bangladeshi musical event organized by Al-Mulla Exchange on Friday and yesterday, saw the audience surprised by her deft handling of both Hindi and Bangla songs.

T

Mitali is much more surprising than that. Crossing the borders of state, language, culture and religion, Mitali is a sub continental singer. Born as an upper caste Hindu woman, she learnt Rabindra and Nazrul music, the classical forms of Bengali music, at a young age and went to India to pursue her music studies, took a master degree and M Phil in music, began her solo performances in Urdu and was noticed by the industry and married Bhupinder Singh, ace guitarist and ghazal singer. (Bhupinder played guitar for the RD Burman song Dum Maro Dum for Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Bhupi first time played the 12-string guitar for music directors like Jaydev and RD Burman). Born in Mymensingh, 120 km from Dhaka, Mitali had an upbringing in a musi-

he Stone Temple Pilots accuse former frontman Scott Weiland of misusing the band’s name to further his solo career and want a judge to strip the rocker of his ability to use the group’s name or songs. A lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles accuses Weiland of being chronically late to concerts while the group was together and having his lawyer attempt to interfere with the airplay of the group’s new single “Out of Time.”

Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots parted ways in February, and the 45-year-old singer said at the time that he learned of his ouster from a statement released to the media. The lawsuit sheds light on the band’s breakup, accusing Weiland of interacting with band mates only through lawyers or managers and showing up late to the group’s 2012 shows. It cites Weiland’s addiction struggles and poor performances as detriments to the band’s earning potential.

“The band endured much strife and lost significant opportunities because of Weiland,” the suit states. In a message posted to his website Friday, Weiland said his former

&

cal and religiously harmonious atmosphere. Her Brahmin father had Muslim friends whom Mitali called uncles. “Later, marrying a Sikh was not much of a problem for me”, Mitali said. “I was more keen on music”.

Together Mitali and Bhupi released several ghazal albums, notably Aksar (Often..). Their latest album, titled Surmayi Raat, penned by Gulzar and composed

by Bhupi, is expected to hit the stores in July.

And one more surprise many of her Bangla-Urdu fans may not know: Mitali sang the Tamil song Yamuna aatrile for the Mani Ratnam film Thalapathi.

band mates shouldn’t call themselves Stone Temple Pilots either. “First of all they don’t have the legal right to call themselves STP because I’m still a member of the band,” he said. “And more importantly, they don’t have the ethical right to call themselves Stone Temple Pilots because it’s misleading and dishonest to the millions of fans that have followed us for so many years.”

The suit claims the band owns the rights to the name Stone Temple Pilots, and the band’s songs, copyrights and trademarks. Weiland has used many of the band’s hits in his solo shows, the lawsuit states. The band wants a judge to block him from even calling himself a former member of the band. The band has been reconstituted with Chester Bennington of Linkin Park taking the frontman role.

Although he did not mention the lawsuit, Weiland disputed that he is using the band’s name to promote his new shows. “When I tour on my own, it’s never as Stone Temple Pilots. It’s as Scott Weiland,” he wrote. “The fans deserve to know what they’re getting.” The lawsuit claims that Weiland’s lawyer called the head of programming at KROQ,

This April 30, 2010 file photo shows the Stone Temple Pilots, from left, Dean Deleo, Eric Kretz, Robert Deleo, and Scott Weiland from the band Stone Temple Pilots, pose for a portrait in Santa Monica, Calif. — AP photos

M o v i e s

a Los Angeles modern rock station, and said if the station played “Out of Time” it would be infringing on Weiland’s rights.

“Enough is enough,” the band’s lawsuit states. “Without relief from the court, Weiland will continue violating STP’s rights, misappropriating STP assets and interfering with the band’s livelihood.” The lawsuit states the band entered into agreements in 1996 and 2010 that state that no former members can use the Stone Temple Pilots name. The band’s hits include “Vasoline,” “Interstate Love Song” and “Plush,” which won a Grammy in 1993 for best hard rock performance with vocal. Weiland alluded to lawyers getting involved when the band’s statement about his departure was released. Phone messages left for Weiland’s manager Andrea Pett-Joseph and lawyer Gary Stiffelman were not immediately returned Friday. — AP

File photo shows Stone Temple Pilots performs at the 2013 KROQ Weenie Roast at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

Palme d’Or race wide

A

n avenging Venus settling the psychological and sexual score is the star of acclaimed director Roman Polanski’s “La Venus a la Fourrure” (“Venus in Fur”), one of the Cannes film festival’s two final movies in main competition to premiere yesterday. The FrenchPolish director is one of 20 vying for the top Palme d’Or prize to be handed out at the festival on Sunday by a jury led by Steven Spielberg. Polanski won the prize in 2002 for “The Pianist”, his semi-autobiographical drama about the Warsaw Ghetto, for which he also won an Oscar for best director. “I think when you show a film here, you have to be in the competition, you have to be a sport,” Polanski told journalists before the official screening.

“And even if I don’t get anything I can say, ‘Well, I got it already.’” Also screening on Saturday is “Only Lovers Left Alive,” US director Jim Jarmusch’s languorous retro-cool vampire film.

Frontrunners for top prize at the end of the 12-day festival include French director Abdellatif Kechiche’s love story “Blue is the Warmest Colour” - whose no-holds-barred lesbian sex had audiences buzzing - and “Inside Llewyn Davis”, US directors Ethan and Joel Coen’s story of a struggling singer trying to make it as a folk singer in the 1960s. Also on the short list is “The Great Beauty” from Italy’s Paolo Sorrentino, a heady, magical ode to the decadence of Rome, and “The Past” a tension-filled psychological drama from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.

The jury of Ang Lee, Vidya Balan, Daniel Auteuil, Lynn Ramsay, Christoph Waltz, Naomi

Kawase, Nicole Kidman and Cristian Mungiu will hand out the top prize and a slate of other directing and acting awards yesterday.

US director Steven Soderbergh’s “Behind the Candelabra” starring Michael Douglas as pianist Liberace was an opulent, rhinestoneencrusted spectacle while the most unabashedly political film this year was director Jia Zhangke’s critical look at modern China, “A Touch of Sin”. Polanski, whose 1974 film “Chinatown” established him as one of the world’s great directors, remains controversial after his 1977 flight from the United States after serving time for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

Role reversal “Venus in Fur” stars Polanski’s wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, as brash actress Vanda who crashes an audition to convince writer Thomas, played by Mathieu Amalric, to cast her as the lead in his new play. Soon, the roles in the play are being acted out by Vanda and Thomas, and as the themes of domination and submission come into focus, roles become reversed and reality is blurred. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw called Polanski’s first Frenchlanguage film a “playful if occasionally heavyhanded jeu d’Èsprit on the subject of sexual role-play, the games we all play, illusion and reality, and directing as a sexual act.”—Reuters

Actress Zhang Ziyi poses for photographers as she arrives for the screening of Only God Forgives at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday.—AP

open at Cannes Film Festival

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fter two weeks, 20 films and parade after parade down the red carpet, the Cannes Film Festival has not produced a clear-cut frontrunner for the Palme d’Or. The prestigious award, given to the best film in competition, decided upon by a jury headed by Steven Spielberg. And while this year’s festival has boasted a cinematic feast, no single film is believed to have clearly set itself apart from the pack. At least half a dozen films seem to have a realistic chance of winning Cannes’ top prize, including the Coen brothers’ 1960s folk tale “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Paolo Sorrentino’s rollicking Roman party “The Great Beauty,” Asghar Farhadi’s domestic drama “The Past,” James Gray’s 1920s Ellis Island melodrama “The Immigrant” and Abdellatif Kechiche’s lesbian coming-of-age tale “Blue is the Warmest Color.”

Consensus is always hard to come by in Cannes, but it does happen. Last year, Michael Haneke’s “Amour” was the far-and-away favorite, and went on to win best foreign language film at the Oscars and earn the rare best picture nomination for a non-English film. In 2011, Terrence Malick’s cosmic rumination “The Tree of Life” too was obvious Palme material. But the year before, Cannes was fairly shocked when Tim Burton’s jury picked the existential Thai film “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.”

Palme d’Or oddsmaker Neil Young currently has Farhadi in the lead with 5-to-2 odds to win.

The Iranian director, whose film is in French, was honored as the best foreign language film two years ago at the Academy Awards for another domestic drama, “A Separation.” Having grown into an internationally renowned filmmaker, Farhadi could be in position for the Palme. But some found his film, with its succession of reveals of past misdeeds, more a feat of mystery novel-like plotting than revealing drama.

Certainly, its star, Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”), as a single-mother balancing an ex-husband and a new fiancÈ, is a possible best actress winner. So, too, is the star of “Blue is the Warmest Color,” Adele Exarchopoulos. The 19-year-old actress was one of the breakout stars of the festival in the three-hour French film. But the American entries this year have been very strong. Perhaps no film was better received at Cannes than “Inside Llewyn Davis,” along with its newcomer star, Oscar Isaac, who performed live songs for the film. The Coens won the Palme in 1991 for “Barton Fink.” —AP

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ctress Amanda Bynes appeared disheveled in a long blond wig and sweats Friday in a criminal court where she was charged with reckless endangerment after police said she heaved a marijuana bong out the window of her 36th-floor Manhattan apartment. The 27-year-old former child star was arrested Thursday evening, after building officials at her midtown apartment called police to complain she was rolling a joint and smoking pot in the lobby. The officers went to her apartment where they said they saw heavy smoke and a bong sitting on the kitchen counter. They said she tossed the bong out the window in front of them, prosecutors said.

She then said to police: “It was just a vase,” according to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Chikaelo Ibeabuchi. “My client completely denies illegally throwing anything out of her window,” said Andrew Friedman, her attorney for the arraignment. The judge released her on her own recognizance and gave her a July 9 court date. On Thursday, Bynes was held overnight at a police precinct. She pulled up to court Friday morning in a squad car where she was greeted by a crush of media. She was also charged with attempted tampering with evidence and unlawful possession of marijuana, all misdemeanors. “I’m asking you I don’t want any pictures,” she said to a photographer.

“I don’t want any photos. No press are allowed in here,” she announced to the public courtroom. Bynes rose to fame starring in Nickelodeon’s “All That” and has also starred in several films, including 2010’s “Easy A.” But she has been in the news more recently because of several scrapes with the law and bizarre public behavior. Her lawyer said she had no record in New York, but the judge noted she had several out-of-state cases. In California in December, the former “Hairspray” star resolved a misdemeanor hit-and-run case after entering into a civil settlement with other drivers. Also in California, she was charged last fall with driving on a suspended license after it was temporarily taken away from her following two hit-and-run cases where she was accused of leaving the scene without providing proper information. She has also pleaded not guilty to drunken driving in a separate case.

In releasing her, Chief New York County Judge Neil Ross gave her a stern warning not to make trouble or miss any court dates. “I do want to make sure you understand,” he said. “If you get arrested again ... I’m going to be setting very, very significant bail.” “OK,” she replied. “You’re in a very, very challenging situation right now,” he said. Prosecutors had asked for $1,000 bail.

Ibeabuchi said no bong was recovered from the street below - a sign, her attorney said, that Bynes was telling the truth.

“There was nothing recovered from the sidewalk, clearly a search was made for the bag,” said Friedman of the New York County Defender Services. He said she was followed illegally into her apartment and has made a complaint about police wrongfully entering. As the judge dispensed with her case, she said, “Thank you sir, have a nice day.” The star then got into a waiting yellow cab ringed with photographers and TV cameras and left. — AP

A list of previous Palme d’Or winners at Cannes Ahead of today’s presentation of this year’s Palme d’Or, here are the last 20 years of Cannes’ Palme winners: 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993

“Amour,” Michael Haneke “The Tree of Life,” Terrence Malick “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul “The White Ribbon,” Michael Haneke “The Class,” Laurent Cantet “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” Cristian Mungiu “The Wind That Shakes The Barley,” Ken Loach “L’Enfant,” Jean-Pierre Dardenne “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore “Elephant,” Gus Van Sant “The Pianist,” Roman Polanski “La Stanza del Figlio,” Nanni Moretti “Dancer in the Dark,” Lars Von Trier “Rosetta,” Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne “Eternity and a Day,” Theo Angelopoulos “The Eel,” Shohei Imamura; and “Taste of Cherry,” Abbas Kiarostami “Secrets & Lies,” Mike Leigh “Underground,” Emir Kusturica “Pulp Fiction,” Quentin Tarantino “Farewell My Concubine,” Kaige Chen; and “The Piano,” Jane Campion. — AP

Amanda Bynes

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

Brazilian chef Alex Atala speaks as he cooks during a conference at ‘Mesaamerica’gastronomy congress in Mexico City. — AFP photos

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Danish chef Rene Redzepi speaks during a conference.

he world’s top chefs say it’s only a matter of time before Latin America, home to Brazil’s black bean stew “feijoada,” Peru’s refreshing raw fish “ceviche” and Mexico’s street tacos, cooks its way into gastronomy’s elite. Spanish pastry king Jordi Roca and Danish chef Rene Redzepi, who runs the kitchen of Copenhagen’s famed Noma restaurant, praised the growing recognition of the region’s diverse cuisine. “It’s a question of time for (Latin American chefs) to reach the top because, to me, they already are at the same level as Europe,” Roca, whose El Celler de Can Roca was named the world’s best restaurant

by British magazine Restaurant, told AFP. Latin America is at the “vanguard” of cuisine, with Mexico, Brazil and Peru leading this culinary boom in a region where “popular food is deeply rooted and very rich,” he said. For the Spanish chef, Latin Americans are mixing history, tradition and indigenous tastes with creativity and cutting edge techniques. The use of cilantro or acidic and spicy flavors give it another edge.

Roca and Redzepi were among the star attractions at the 2013 Mesoamerican gastronomy congress in Mexico

A woman shows a frog at ‘Mesaamerica’ gastronomy congress.

Catalan chef Jordi Roca speaks during a conference.

City this week, which gathered six of the world’s best chefs, including Brazil’s Alex Atala.

The attendance of culinary talent at such events “reaffirms that Latin America is a world power,” said Roca. Atala’s D.O.M. restaurant in Sao Paulo is in sixth place in Restaurant’s top 50 list, making him the best ranked Latin American chef. Two Peruvian restaurants, two from Mexico and one more from Brazil made the list. “Today we must feel grown-up and know that we are no longer the ugly ducklings,” Atala said. “We are living a historic moment, a process of change.”

Redzepi, whose Noma restaurant was dethroned by Roca this year after a three-year reign, said such lists can be criticized but it has opened Latin American cuisine to the rest of the world. “Now it is not impossible to think that the best restaurant can be from Mexico, Brazil, Peru or Denmark,” he told a news conference. “This was totally impossible 10 years ago.” Redzepi, who has adapted Mexico’s “mole” sauce for one of his trademark dishes, also predicted that a Latin American restaurant would soon be Number 1.

Grasshoppers are sold at ‘Mesaamerica’ gastronomy congress.

In this image provided

by Metropolis Collectibles/ComicCon nect, Corp, shows the front and back cover of ‘Action Comics No. 1’ from 1938, featuring the debut of Superman that was found by David Gonzales mixed in with old newspapers insulating a wall in a house he was renovating in a small town in Minnesota. — AP

Reinhard Kleindl, professional slackliner from Austria, walks on a 185 m (606 ft) high rope between the double-towers of the ‘Tower 185’ during the skyscraper festival in Frankfurt, Germany, yesterday. Several hundred thousand visitors are expected to come to the two-day spectacle. — AP photos

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The region will reach the top of international cuisine thanks to “a diversity of tastes with hundreds of thousands of years of history” but also its search for something new.

“You just have to wait because the time will come,” he said with a smile. Redzepi had a good review for the Mexico City restaurant Pujol, which was Number 17 on the British magazine’s list, saying he could not remember having eaten so well. “For me it is at another level,” the Dane said after eating there this week.

“Sometimes in Europe there can be a cheap or simple idea about Latin American cuisine,” he said. “But there are many restaurants here that are more developed than many in Denmark.” — AFP

Frogs are sold at ‘Mesaamerica’ gastronomy congress.

t’s considered the Holy Grail of comic books: Action Comics No. 1 from 1938, featuring the debut of Superman. David Gonzales found one mixed in with old newspapers insulating the ceiling of a house he was renovating in a small town in Minnesota. Gonzales did some research that confirmed the comic was valuable, though not as much as it could have been. He got into a heated discussion with a relative about its value, and the back cover got ripped.

Because of the damage, New York-based online auctioneer ComicConnect.com graded the book a 1.5 on a 10-point scale. By comparison, an Action Comics No. 1 that was graded a 9 recently fetched $2.16 million. Bidding on Gonzales’ find was up to $137,000 as of Friday afternoon. Bidding closes June 11. — AP

A Base jumper jumps off the Main tower (200m, 656 feet) during the skyscraper festival.

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

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Southern California teenager turned heads at his prom when he showed up with a Danish model as his date. Sports Illustrated model Nina Agdal agreed to step in as Jake Davidson’s date for the traditional high school dance Thursday night after he got turned down by supermodel Kate Upton. The teenager appeared in a YouTube video that was viewed more than 2.5 million times asking Upton to be his date.

After Upton declined because of a scheduling conflict, Agdal volunteered to go, saying she never got to attend her own prom. The Danish model is better known as the bikiniclad sunbather in a Carl’s Jr ad. Davidson told the Los Angeles Daily News (http://bit.ly/173eVPS) he had an incredible night and said Agdal was down to earth. — AP Nina Agdal and Jake Davidson

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esidents of this picturesque Lake Michigan community are known to quip, “The view of the bay is half your pay.”

It’s a sardonic commentary on the local wage scale, but also a tribute to the stunning scenery and small-town quality of life that have lured many a newcomer from the big city and make the area one of the Midwest’s top tourist draws.

Perched at the southern end of Grand Traverse Bay some 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, Traverse City is prized for its trails, beaches, cherry orchards, a burgeoning arts scene and nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. In recent years, the area has developed a nationwide reputation as a foodie haven for farm-to-table restaurants featuring local fruits, veggies, cheeses and drinks.

You’ll need money for all those meals and a comfy room in a hotel or B&B, of course. But there are plenty of ways to have fun without dropping a dime. Here are a few: Hit the beach ...

The Grand Traverse region has over 180 miles (290 kilometers) of shoreline, much of which is privately owned, but there are many public parks with wide, sandy beaches. In the heart of downtown is Clinch Park - a nice family spot, with restrooms, picnic tables and lifeguards on duty from mid-June through August. Nearby is West End Beach, with a volleyball court. They’re divided by the municipal marina and a large bayfront greenway where folks toss Frisbees, fly kites and strum guitars.

For something more isolated, drive up Old Mission Peninsula, which divides the east and west arms of Grand Traverse Bay. This narrow, rolling spit of land some 20 miles (32 kilometers) long offers some of the region’s best views orchards, vineyards, sparkling waters. Or head to Lighthouse Park near the tip of the peninsula, where there’s a mile-long (1.6-kilometer) stretch of sand that never feels crowded.

Nearby villages within a half-hour’s drive- Acme, Suttons Bay, Elk Rapids among them - also have bayfront parks with beaches. this year’s lineup includes ZZ Top, Josh Groban and Harry Connick Jr. But most of the roughly 400 concerts cost nothing.

Don’t be fooled by that; many of these recitals feature extraordinarily gifted young people and visiting faculty from leading music schools. You can spend a delightful couple of hours on the Interlochen campus about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Traverse City wandering the pine-studded grounds and listening to impromptu student performances.

If your heart is set on a big name and tickets are too pricey, don’t despair. Those shows are held in an open-sided amphitheater, so find a grassy spot outside and spread a blanket. You won’t see what’s happening, but you’ll hear it. “We don’t chase anyone away,” Interlochen spokesman Steve Hoffman said.

Cherries from Edmondson Orchards are sold near the Open Space during the opening day of the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.

Or hit the trail Urban pathways and countryside trails of varying lengths await the hiker and biker. The TART (Traverse Area Recreational Trail) and the connected Leelanau Trail offer a 26-mile (42-kilometer) journey from Acme Township east of Traverse City north to Suttons Bay. This is a paved, converted railroad corridor and the terrain is mostly flat, making it easy going for all ages and skill levels.

The landscape ranges from swampland to historic downtown neighborhoods to woods and fields. In-town sections can be busy as joggers and bikers weave around people walking dogs and pushing strollers. If it’s speed you crave, bide your time until the Leelanau portion of the trail, where the crowds thin. For a cross-country experience, try the Vasa Pathway.

Winding through the Pere Marquette State Forest, it includes loop trails ranging from one to 16 miles (three to 25 kilometers).

It doubles as a ski trail in winter and offers some challenging climbs.

Face the music Free musical shows, poetry readings and painting displays abound in northwestern Michigan. The crown jewel is Interlochen Center for the Arts, a year-round academy and summer camp. You must buy tickets to attend star performances;

Bicyclists cruise along the Leelanau Trail near Traverse City.

Bay, but beautiful nonetheless, is the Boardman River, which meanders through town before flowing into the lake.

Boardwalks and parks adjoin sections of the river, where you can watch anglers land brook trout or ducks peck for food in the shallows. A few blocks south of downtown, the river widens into Boardman Lake, with a two-mile-long (3.2-kilometer) paved and dirt trail. — AP

File photo shows a fisherman sitting near the Boardman River dam in Traverse City, Mich.

—AP photos

Festivals Hardly a summer week goes by without a festival somewhere in the area. Many charge admission to at least some events, but freebies aren’t hard to find. The Suttons Bay Arts Festival and Elk Rapids’ Harbor Days in late July and early August are two among many.

The National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, June 29-July 6, pays homage to the region’s signature fruit. Michigan is the nation’s top producer of tart cherries - the ones used for pie filling. If your budget’s tight, forgo the midway and evening rock concerts. Instead, take in the air and fireworks shows, enter your kids in the turtle race (live turtles are provided), watch a parade or test your skills in - what else? - the cherry pit-spitting contest.

The Traverse City Film Festival, co-founded by filmmaker and Michigan native Michael Moore, runs July 30-Aug. 4. It features foreign, independent and documentary movies, with $10 tickets for most showings. But it also has free attractions, including nightly classics shown on a giant inflatable screen by the waterfront and panel discussions with directors and producers.

Downtown For bargain-basement enjoyment, nothing beats strolling downtown on a sunny day. Begin on Front Street, the main drag a two-minute walk from the bayfront. In addition to souvenir and T-shirt shops and more upscale boutiques, you can explore art galleries, browse in bookstores, tour the historic City Opera House and try free samples of cherry jam and other local treats at Cherry Republic, American Spoon and other shops.

A number of downtown parks have picnic tables, merrygo-rounds, benches and shade trees. Nearby historical neighborhoods have well-kept homes and gardens, many dating back more than a century. Overshadowed by Grand Traverse

In this undated photo released by Interlochen Center for the Arts, an audience watches a summer orchestra and dance concert at Interlochen Center for the Arts near Traverse City, Mich.

This undated photo released by the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau shows West End Beach in Traverse City, one of many free-of-charge beaches on Lake Michiganís Grand Traverse Bay.

US teen takes Danish supermodel to prom

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SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2013

Visitors walk past the ‘Beetle Sphere’ by Ichwan Noor at the Art Basel Hong Kong fair in Hong Kong. — AFP photos

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Visitors walk past an artwork exhibited at the Yamamoto Gendai booth.

An artwork by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

A woman stands by ‘Cheval de Turin’ by Adel Abdessemed.

A woman holds the hand of a child at the Art Basel Hong Kong fair.

A visitor walks past the PixCell-Deer #32 (front) by Kohei Nawa.

aving taken five Volkswagen Beetles and compressed them into spheres, artist Ichwan Noor was always going to grab attention at the inaugural Hong Kong Art Basel. Noor is known in his native Indonesia but is hoping the glittering, drinks-soaked art fair will give him further recognition beyond his home borders. Such are the opportunities that await emerging and lesser-known artists at the fair, which aims to highlight Hong Kong’s growing role as a global arts hub.

Soon after the event opened to guests on Wednesday, Noor saw one of his $88,000 “Beetle Spheres” snapped up. “Events like Hong Kong Art Basel will provide him (Noor) with the needed exposure,” Jakarta-based art museum and gallery Art:1 deputy director Monica Gunawan, told AFP. “He is quite well known in Jakarta, but not so much in the international art market.” Works from more than 3,000 international artists have been exhibited through 245 of the world’s leading galleries, more than half of which are from Asia.

Buoyed by the arrival of so many well-heeled international collectors, galleries have competed with each other to hold lavish parties in the hope of attracting bigspending buyers. At one event earlier this week supermodel Kate Moss was photographed sipping drinks with the likes Rupert Murdoch’s wife Wendi and Dasha Zhukova, the art collecting wife of billionaire Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich. Henrietta Tsui, owner of local specialists Gallerie Ora-Ora and founder of the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association, has even taken guests out into Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour on the family’s 80-foot yacht. She initially planned to hold a single event on the boat but had to make multiple trips because of demand.

“The response has been overwhelming, we were five times oversubscribed and we couldn’t accommodate all of them,” she said, adding that buyers came from all across the globe. “It’s been fun at the back of the (exhibition) room trying to figure out all the different credit cards from around the world - that’s quite an indication of the kind of turnout,” she said. The four-day annual show, which ends on Sunday, has until now only been held in Switzerland and the United States and has made a dazzling debut in a city better known as a fast-paced financial hub.

Art:1, which is exhibiting in Hong Kong for the first time, is aiming to match up its artists with collectors who show long-term interest, Gunawan said. “If we can get a good collector from here and maintain a long-term international relationship, it would be very good,” she said. Collectors new to Hong Kong are looking to tap into the growing Asian market. Gagosian, White Cube, Acquavella, Lehmann Maupin and Galerie Perrotin are just some of the big-name galleries to have arrived in the city in the past two years despite sky-high rents.

Art Basel replaces Art HK, Hong Kong’s former art fair which was set up in 2008. It was recently taken over by the high-profile Swiss Art Basel franchise, which has been showcasing modern and contemporary art since 1970. The event also featured local Hong Kong artists such as Lam Tung Pang who showcased his “One-TwoWorld”, an installation where scale models, plants and drawings were projected on paper.

Also on display were five works including video and

three-dimensional installations using day-to-day items

by Lam’s compatriot Tang Kwok Hin. “I’m here to see if there’s anything new to pick up, maybe Asian artists that I’m not so familiar with or we don’t see as much in Europe or in the States,” said Garance Massart, who directs a Switzerland-based art consultancy. “You have emerging artists, you have very established impressionists, modern Picassos for multimillion dollar numbers and maybe five stands behind you’ll have a 15,000 euro artist that’s not as famous,” Massart said of the fair’s selection.

With its international status, convenient location as an Asian hub and a large selection of leading galleries compared to other city centres in Asia, “it makes sense” to have the fair in Hong Kong, said Massart. “I think the wealth is growing and so is the market,” she said. The former British colony has surged to third place in the global art auction market behind New York and London. The boom in Hong Kong’s international art market is largely a result of the fast-growing wealth of mainland Chinese, some of whom are investing heavily in art. There has also been a growing interest among Chinese and Asian collectors for different types of international art aside from traditional works.

“Just seeing the growth in China of the new collectors... it’s just good that they are starting to open themselves to art,” said Melanie Ouyang Lum, an art consultant based in Los Angeles looking for up and coming works at the fair. “There’s a lot of Chinese collectors who are going abroad now and going to a lot of the fairs...and starting to educate themselves about art,” Lum, who has been working extensively with Chinese artists for the past five years, said. “I think that’s a springboard and they will influence the younger generation,” she said. With a younger and more affluent generation of Chinese collectors being more involved in the art scene, the Asian art market could become very lucrative, Lum said. “I think the sky’s the limit.”— AFP

Visitors look at exhibits at the Art Basel Hong Kong fair.

A man walks past artworks at the Art Basel Hong Kong fair.

A ‘Portrait Officiel Rouge’ by Yan Pei-Ming.