27 feb

CR IP TI ON BS SU

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

60-year-old Kuwaiti climbs Liberation Tower stairs

Syria army ambush ‘kills 175’ rebels near Damascus

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www.kuwaittimes.net

RABI ALTHANI 27, 1435 AH

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Bitcoin world in turmoil after exchange goes dark

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Joy and street revelry as Kuwait celebrates Amir congratulates citizens, residents

Max 23º Min 12º High Tide 11:07 & 21:57 Low Tide 04:35 & 16:14

KUWAIT: (Left) HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah dances with a sword as he toured various areas in the country marking the National and Liberation days. (Center) Alain Robert, the French urban climber dubbed Spiderman, waves the Kuwaiti flag after scaling the Missoni Hotel in Salmiya. (Right) Revelers engage in a water fight on Arabian Gulf Street. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and KUNA (See Pages 2-6)

By Shakir Reshamwala and Agencies KUWAIT: Kuwait marked its 53rd National Day and 23rd Liberation Day with street celebrations, an air and naval show and receptions at the state’s embassies around the world. Revelers squirted each other with water from giant plastic guns on Arabian Gulf Street, the traditional hub of celebrations. Young Kuwaiti and Gulf nationals danced on the roads amid cars crawling in the snarl as children lined the seafront promenade showering pass-

Bedoons told to ‘raise their kids properly’ 15 arrested KUWAIT: The recent bedoon demonstrations in Kuwait will not affect plans to naturalize who meet the requirements for obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship, a senior government official said. Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah expressed regret however for the ‘acts of violence’ which left several police officers injured during demonstrations in Taima and Sulaibiya. “[The attackers] were all teenagers and their numbers are limited,” the minister said in response to concerns that the attacks were organized. “We will not allow disrupting security or damaging public property... and we asked the families of these kids to raise them properly”. Sheikh Mohammad made his statements on Tuesday during a visit to a camp organized for Interior Ministry staff and their families. A day earlier, he welcomed police officers who were injured in bedoon demonstrations, including a policeman “who needed seven stitches to close a head wound”, according to the minister’s statement published by Al-Rai yesterday.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti rights activist said authorities have detained 15 people in recent days during the protests by bedoons. Activist Hadeel Buqrais said yesterday that the demonstrators were held on suspicion of participation in illegal protests and inciting riots during demonstrations in Taima. She said nine remain in custody. Officials could not be reached for comment on the arrests.

The parliament is scheduled to discuss a report passed by the interior and defense committee, which stipulates that the government naturalizes at least 4,000 stateless residents this year. When asked about this on Tuesday, Sheikh Mohammad said that “the issue is not about the number of bedoons naturalized, as much as it is about providing decent living and human rights for them”. The government does not approve setting a minimum limit for naturalizing bedoons annually, and demands that the draft law be amended so that a maximum number of them are given citizenship in 2014.

There is no objection by the government to limiting naturalization this year to stateless residents as MPs demand.

Security forces used tear gas to disperse bedoon protests last week, which escalated after an activist was reportedly arrested on charges of instigating bedoon demonstrations. Bedoons demand citizenship as well as civil and social rights they are deprived from given their illegal residence status, but the government argues that only 34,000 qualify for consideration. The rest are considered Arabs or descendent of Arab people who deliberately disposed their original passports after coming to Kuwait to seek citizenship in the oil-rich country. — Agencies

ing cars with water under the watchful gaze of security forces, who confiscated water balloons and illegal foam sprays.

Kuwaiti and Turkish jets performed fly-pasts over the Kuwait Towers while the coastguard and Interior Ministry held a naval parade on Tuesday, watched by HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who also visited art galleries and Souq Mubarakiya. Elsewhere, Alain Robert, the French urban climber dubbed Spiderman for his feats, scaled Hotel Missoni in Salmiya. And as part of

an annual tradition, 60-year-old Kuwaiti athlete Ali AlEidan yesterday climbed the stairs of the 372-m Liberation Tower in seven minutes and 22 seconds.

Earlier on Tuesday, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah congratulated citizens and residents, reported KUNA. The Amir recalled the founders of Kuwait who had conveyed the national responsibility to the next generations for pressing ahead with the development of the dear homeland and securing all potentials for progress and prosperity for the natives.

Olympiakos bring Utd to their knees

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Sheikh Sabah recalled the late great leaders - Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Father Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah - praying for their blessed souls and noting their patriotic role in resisting the blatant aggression. He also underscored their great efforts and honorable accomplishments to “our dear homeland, which will remain ingrained in memories of all nationals and live forever in the history of our dear homeland”.

Continued on Page 13

UK banana wars costing growers

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Quotas mulled for expatriates

By Ahmad Jabr KUWAIT: Kuwait plans to organize the entry of foreign labor forces through a new system that sets specific quotas for every expatriate community in the state, a senior government official said recently. The announcement, made by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Subaih, answers questions about the plan to address the demographic imbalance in a country where approximately two thirds of the population are foreigners.

Since entering the Cabinet early January, Subaih has launched efforts to prosecute owners of fake companies who are seen as a major contributor to the influx of foreigners living illegally in Kuwait.

Continued on Page 13

Spy fears drive mobile security

TEFAHTA, Lebanon: In this Feb14, 2014 photo, Hezbollah fighters hold flags as they attend the memorial of their slain leader Sheikh Abbas Al-Mousawi, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in 1992, in this village in south Lebanon. — AP

Hezb vows response to ‘Israel air strike’ BEIRUT: Hezbollah yesterday threatened to retaliate after Israel’s first reported air raid targeting a position of the Lebanese Shiite movement since the 2006 war.

The statement comes two days after Israeli warplanes struck a Hezbollah position in eastern Lebanon, amid fears that the region may be dragged into further conflict. “On Monday night... the Israeli enemy’s warplanes bombarded a Hezbollah position on the Lebanese-Syrian border, near the area of Janta in the Bekaa Valley” in eastern Lebanon, Hezbollah said.

Yesterday’s statement was the group’s first admission

that it had been the target of the raid, although Lebanese sources had previously reported the attack.

“This new attack amounts to blatant aggression against Lebanon, its sovereignty and territory,” the armed movement said, adding that “it will not stand without a response from the Resistance, which will choose the appropriate time, place and means”. It also said: “This aggression did not, thank God, cause any deaths or injuries. There was only some material damage.”

Continued on Page 13

BARCELONA: Smartphone security firms are reporting a surge in demand since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations of US and British spying activities. It is an overdue trend, say companies selling antivirus and firewall software, as well as cryptology specialists gathered at the four-day Mobile World Congress which opened Monday in Barcelona, Spain. Anti-virus software seller Norton estimated in its 2013 annual survey of more than 13,000 adults that 48 percent of smartphone and tablet owners took no basic security Continued on Page 13

BARCELONA: A man checks a mobile device during the 2014 Mobile World Congress yesterday. — AFP (See Page 27)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

LOCAL

Duo in police custody for brutal assault Intoxicated couple attacks school bus KUWAIT: Two men were arrested after they brutally assaulted a motorist in Sabah Al-Salem. The Kuwaiti man was in a coma when he arrived at the Mubarak Hospital. He was admitted in the intensive care unit after medical tests revealed that he suffered a broken skull. Investigations revealed that the man was attacked shortly after passing a traffic light by two persons who thought that he had mocked them at the traffic light. According to eyewitnesses’ reports, the two believed that the victim looked at them in a disrespectful manner when they stopped their car near him while blasting music. The two forced him to stop shortly after the light turned green, then forced him out of the car and attacked him mercilessly before escaping, according to the eyewitnesses. Police were able to identify the suspects, and discovered they are Syrian nationals whose mothers are Kuwaiti. They ambushed the first suspect who investigations revealed is wanted for previous charges, and arrested the second soon afterwards. While the two were detained at the Sabah Al-Salem police station, officers were approached by a high ranking policeman who attempted to mediate for the first suspect’s release. It was later revealed that the officer was the man’s maternal uncle, and his attempt to pay the victim’s family to drop the case have failed.

Couple arrested A couple were arrested after damaging a school bus while being in an inebriated state. Police headed to the scene in response to an emergency call that reported that a man and a woman where attacking a school bus. They placed the suspects under arrest and discovered that they were under the influence. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects forced the bus to stop following a traffic dispute. They then smashed several of the bus’ windows, much to the horror of 20 children and 4 teachers who were inside. The couple, identified a Kuwaiti man and an Iraqi woman, are jailed pending preparations to be referred to the public prosecution.

Officer injured A police officer was hospitalized after he was run over while regulating traffic at the Third Ring Road. The accident reportedly happened while the policeman was talking with a driver he had pulled over, when a speeding vehicle hit him and escaped. The officer was taken in an ambulance to the Amiri Hospital while investigations are underway in search for the runaway driver.

Car thieves Farwaniya detectives arrested three teenagers responsible for multiple car thefts in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. The suspects were caught red handed breaking into a car parked outside a mall in the area by detectives who were monitoring the area as part of ongoing investigations. The three, two Kuwaiti and a Syrian, admitted during questioning that they committed several thefts by waiting in parking lots of malls until a person left his or her car for shopping, after which two of them would break into the vehicle while the third provided protection. The three were referred to the authorities for further action.

Bootleggers held Kuwait City police arrested three people with possession of 1,836 liquor bottles they admitted brewing at a place in Sulaibikhat. Police had stopped a tanker truck in the area based on information that it was used as a camouflage to transport alcoholic drinks. The driver was placed under arrest after police found 128 cartons filled with homebrewed liquor bottles inside the truck. Police then raided a place where the man said the drinks were made, and two others were arrested. Police found equipment used to brew liquor at the place, in addition to 24 more cartons prepared for sale. The three were referred to the proper authorities to face charges.

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah and other dignitaries at a camp organized for Interior Ministry staff and their families on Tuesday.

Son charged A middle-aged man filed a case against his son, accusing him of physical assault and damaging his vehicle following a family dispute. In his statements to Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh police, the man said that his son beat him following an argument, then went outside, damaged the exterior of his car and slashed its four tyres before running away. Investigations are ongoing to arrest the young man and question him on his father’s accusations.

Truffle trouble Three men were briefly detained by Jahra police after they entered a restricted area while looking for truffles in the desert according to their testimonies. The Kuwaiti men were reportedly arrested after police responded to an emergency call and escorted them from the restricted area to the Jahra police station. They were released after questioning during which they said that they entered the area by mistake while looking for truffles.

KUWAIT: Drugs Control General Department arrested two Asians in possession of 110 grams of heroin and 110 grams of Shabu. Both said they were trading in drugs. — Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Gunshot wound Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest a person who injured a man with a gunshot in Nuwaiseeb recently.

Police headed to the Adan Hospital where the Indian national was taken following the incident, but the man could not identify the person who shot him or his motives. An attempted murder case was filed.

Zain shares the joy of the National celebrations with Care Centers KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, announced that its Corporate Communications and Relations team have participated in the National celebrations organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs’ care centers for orphans, special needs cases, and the elderly on Feb 25 to share the joys of the National holidays with them. This participation came in line with Zain’s Corporate Social Responsibility program where the company participated during this patriotic time of year to distribute gifts and celebrate this nationalistic occasion in a family atmosphere full of joy and happiness.

The company went on to state that February is a special time of the year for the Kuwaiti society, and thus it committed itself to sharing the joys of such times with those who are less fortunate. Zain’s continuous participation with different segments of society is a testament to the company’s belief that improving the lives of communities in which it operates is central to its overall activities.

Zain will continue to introduce initiatives that reflect the traditional humanitarian values and principles of the Kuwaiti society; aimed at enriching the art of giving and increasing bonding between individuals.

It is worth mentioning that Zain’s Corporate Communications and Relations team and volunteers also visited children’s units in hospitals to share the joys of the National celebrations with them, where the team also distributed gifts and celebrated the National day joys with them and their families.

Divers place Kuwaiti flag at seabed KUWAIT: Kuwaiti divers have installed the National Flag at bed of the Gulf sea in celebration of the National Days.

The divers placed the green-white-blackred flag at the sea bottom close to the Kuwaiti island Garo. They also put artificial reefs off the island, known of surrounding crystal-clear waters, ideal for scuba diving. Captain Adel Al-Khaled, the head of Al-Nakheel Diving Center, said that installing the National Flag was intended to manifest participation in the national celebrations marking Kuwait’s 53rd Independence anniversary and the 23rd year of the country Liberation as well as the 8th anniversary of His Highness the Amir acsending to the top leading post. Another team has placed close to the same island man-made reefs. Also at a nearby spot, they set up the slogan, “Our environment an inseparable part of our dear homeland Kuwait.” — KUNA

KUWAIT: Divers place Kuwaiti National Flag at bed of the Gulf sea in celebration of the National Days.

LOCAL

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah touring various areas of Kuwait marking the country’s National Day on Tuesday.

PM tours city marking national celebrations KUWAIT: Amid Kuwait national celebrations, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah toured Tuesday various areas in the country marking the occasion.

Sheikh Jaber was accompanied by Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Al-Mubarak AlSabah, Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Ahmad Al-Mulaifi, and Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Ali Al-Omair.

The premier began his tour visiting Kuwait Towers on the Arabian Gulf Street where he witnessed an air parade carried out by the Air Force, with participation from Turkey’s Air Force, in addition to a naval parade by Kuwait’s Coast Guard and Interior Ministry.

Sheikh Jaber also toured art galleries and per formances by popular bands including one from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The premier extended his congratulations to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al -Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim.

His Highness the Prime Minister also toured Fine Art Exhibition held in the Art Workshop where he was briefed on artwork by a number of Kuwaiti artists, which varied between painting and sculpture on the occasion of national holidays.

He concluded his tour visiting the Mubarakia market where he was briefed on the events held here and marking the occasion. —KUNA

Kuwait plans step by step reduction of subsidies National budget could slip into deficit KUWAIT: The government in Kuwait is weighing-up measures to rein in spending on subsidies and welfare programs, responding to concerns that the national budget could slip into deficit by the end of the decade. Subsidies account for around 20% of government spending, with payments amounting to roughly $16 billion a year. Fuel and utilities are sold at below-market rates, while many Kuwaitis are provided with additional subsidies for housing and food, as well as free health care and education. The state is also by far the largest source of employment in the country, with public servants given attractive wage and benefits packages, which combined with subsidies, represent the bulk of budgetary outlays.

The IMF and other international agencies have said Kuwait’s budget could fall into deficit by 2018 unless the country is able to turn around the upward trend in spending. The government itself has forecast an end to fiscal surpluses by 2021.

Govt reviews expenditures In mid-January, newly appointed Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh said the

government was continuing a review of its subsidies programme, acknowledging that there was a need to reduce spending on support, at least to some degree.

“There should be a decrease in general but they will not be eliminated,” he told reporters on Jan 14. Though saying reductions were necessary, the minister stressed that subsidies would not be phased out completely, and that any review would only serve to recommend measures to ensure those in need received state support.

Among the changes being considered is an increase in charges for utilities, passing on more of the cost to consumers, Al-Saleh said.

“The thought is there and it has to be step by step, and to make sure that there are not sudden actions - it has to be well-planned,” he said.

That planning started last November, when the government announced it was establishing a committee to review the subsidies system. This followed a warning from Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah that existing welfare payment and price support schemes were in need of an overhaul.

KUWAIT: Sixty-year-old Kuwaiti Ali Al-Eidan climbing the stairs of the 372-meter-high Liberation Tower yesterday. — KUNA

Sixty-year-old Kuwaiti climbs Liberation Tower KUWAIT: Sixty-year-old Ali Al-Eidan, a Kuwaiti athlete, climbed the stairs of the 372 meters high Liberation Tower in downtown Kuwait City yesterday in seven minutes and 22 seconds. Afterwards, he told reporters that this was his annual way of honoring the occasions of the national and liberations days, noting that he

wished to steer people’s attention to the importance of exercise in one’s life and the imperative to keep healthy and physically fit.

Up next on his exercise agenda, he said, was to climb the stairs of the Petronas towers in Kuala Lampur in Malaysia, which stand at a height of 452 meters. —KUNA

“ The current welfare state that Kuwaitis are used to is unsustainable,” he said in late October. “It is necessary for Kuwaiti society to transform from a consumer of the nation’s resources to a producer.”

The need to boost revenue or reduce spending was underscored by data released by the Finance Ministry on Feb 9 that showed the budget surplus had shrunk by 11% in the first nine months of the Kuwaiti fiscal year, which begins in April. The surplus for the three quarters ending December was a still healthy $50.7 billion, but down from the $57 billion for the same period in 2012. The dip was a result both of lower income, with state revenue falling from $86 billion to $84.8 billion, and higher spending, which rose 18% year-on-year to $34.1 billion. According to the 2014/15 draft budget, approved by the cabinet at the end of January but yet to be voted on by parliament, expenditures are set to rise by 3.2% in the next financial year.

While an increase, this represents a modest uptick compared to the doubledigit annual growth in spending that was typical of the past decade.

Re-focused spending If the state is able to redirect some of the funds it saves towards growth-generating investments in the economy, as it has said it intends, this would offset some of the impact of its cost cutting measures. However, the government has in the past been slow to implement its economic stimulus and capital works programmes, at times resulting in under-budget spending and delays in project development.

The biggest challenge in curbing welfare and social support spending may come from the parliament. In January legislators proposed a motion to provide subsidies of $100,000 for materials for families building their own homes, on top of inexpensive loans and other support for which they are already eligible.

While Kuwait’s fiscal reserves are massive, with its sovereign wealth fund estimated to hold assets worth more than $400bn, these funds will be needed to establish a future less dependent on oil. Given the wide gap between those who accept the need to reduce subsidies and those who do not, the first task the government may face in any move to scale back social spending is to build consensus.

—Oxford Business Group

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

LOCAL

Kuwait celebrates National, Liberation days

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s national flag was waved at every junction in Kuwait.

KUWAIT: Gulf street sees kids spraying water at each other with water pistols.

Vehicles in Kuwait were covered in the colours of Kuwait’s national flag.

Family get-togethers near the Kuwait Towers were the highlight of the celebrations.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra, Yasser Al-Zayyat, Sherif Ismail and Fouad Al-Shaikh

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

LOCAL KUWAIT: The celebrations this year took a whole new turn with people wearing masks and celebrating on the streets.

KUWAIT: Family time by the seaside during the celebrations.

Traffic on Gulf road came to a standstill yesterday.

Families went out to celebrate the holidays.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

LOCAL

Kuwaiti embassies continue celebration of national days Broad attendance at reception CAPITALS: Kuwaiti embassies and diplomatic missions in Arab and foreign countries have continued celebrating Kuwait’s 53rd National Day, the 23rd anniversary of Liberation Day and the 8th anniversary of His Highness the Amir’s ascending to the top leadership post.

In Dubai, the General Consul, Thiab Farhan Al-Rashidi, held a broad reception, late on Tuesday, grouping a large number of eminent and leading personalities, including the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, and other senior UAE officials, in addition to UAE and Kuwaiti citizens.

The General Consul expressed deep satisfaction for the UAE citizens’ participation in the Kuwaiti national celebrations, voiced satisfaction at the current level of bilateral ties and expressed gratitude to the UAE leaders for installing a large picture of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at one of the country’s landmark sites.

The reception got underway with the Kuwaiti and UAE national anthems and included a show by folkloric troupes. Kuwait Airways, Al-Jazeera airlines, Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait and the Kuwaiti Cultural Office took part in the ceremony.

In Riyadh, participants in Al-Janadriyah traditional festival shared the Kuwaitis’ celebrations. Nasser Al-Dihani, the general supervisor of the Kuwaiti pavilion at the festival site, expressed gratitude to the Saudi visitors who manifested solidarity with Kuwait on the happy occasions.

The Kuwaiti pavilion has drawn a large number of Saudi nationals desiring to examine the displayed Kuwaiti products and items and express congratulations on the independence and liberation days, Al-Dihani added.

In Cairo, the Kuwaiti embassy and diplomatic mission at the Arab League held a reception to mark the national occasions. Ambassador Salem Ghesab Al-Zamanan expressed congratulations to His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince and other Kuwaiti leaders on the occasions.

Broad attendance of the reception depicts the solid ties between Kuwait and Egypt, he said. The Arab League Deputy Secretary General, Ahmad Bin Hilli, who was present at the gathering, expressed warm sentiments to Kuwait on the independence and liberation days.

“Kuwait under leadership of His Highness the Amir, the leader of humanity, as he was called by the United Nations Secretary General, has enabled Kuwait to gain particular significance at the Arab, international and regional levels, “ he said.

In Cairo, Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Zamanan said Kuwaiti-Egyptian relations are deep-rooted and a model for fraternity, solidarity and cooperation.

Speaking following a meeting with an Egyptian presidential representative, the ambassador said KuwaitiEgyptian relations are getting stronger day after day and will even witness more cooperation in the coming period.

The representative was sent by Egyptian President Adly Mansour to the Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo in order to congratulate the Kuwaiti ambassador on his country’s National Day and Liberation Day. Wishing Kuwait everlasting security, stability and pros-

perity, the ambassador said his country is looking forward to a planned visit by the Egyptian president to Kuwait next month to attend an Arab summit due on March 2526.

In Rabat, an identical activity was held by the diplomatic mission there. The ambassador, Shamlan Abdul-Aziz Al-Roumi, organized the reception, drawing a large number of officials and notables, namely Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, who expressed sincere good wishes to Kuwait affirming the close and warm ties between the two countries.

Moroccan government spokesman Mustapha Khalfi praised process of modernization in Kuwait, led by His Highness the Amir and the Kuwaiti leaders. Other attending Moroccan officials praised the Kuwaiti democratic experience, namely the effective role of the National Assembly.

In Islamabad, the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Abdulaziz Al-Enezi hosted a delightful ceremony on the occasion of the 53rd National Day and 23rd Liberation Day of the State of Kuwait.

Pakistani ministers, senators, ambassadors of different countries and other high officials got together in an atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood. The venue hall of the ceremony was beautifully decorated expressing the Kuwait traditions.

Perfect model Ambassador Al-Enezi in his message on the occasion said, “I would like to avail this opportunity to extend my sincere felicitation and benediction to His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah - God bless and protect him and to His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber AlSabah God bless him and to the government and people of State of Kuwait, asking Allah Almighty to perpetuate the blessings of peace and stability in my country.”

He said “The existing relations between the State of Kuwait and Islamic Republic of Pakistan are perfect model, which can be followed by other countries,: adding that these relations have strong historical roots and are based on mutual respect and cooperation in all fields and areas.

Recalling the visit of His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait to Pakistan in 2006 and the recent visit of His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait, to Pakistan last year, the ambassador said that the mutual continued delegations visits at various levels have contributed a lot in further cementing the ties between our two friendly countries.

He noted Pakistan’s role in the 1991 liberation of Kuwait and re-affirmed commitment to support the nation.

In Kuala Lumpur, the minister at the prime minister’s bureau, Haja Nancy Shukri, praised the Kuwaiti-Malaysian relations and expressed congratulations to the Kuwaiti people on the national occasions. Speaking on sidelines of a reception held by the Kuwaiti ambassador to Malaysia, Saad Al-Asousi, Haja Shukri voiced satisfaction at the ties at the political, economic, commercial, cultural and educational levels. She also noted Kuwait’s business contributions to the Malaysian market.

Ambassador Al-Asousi expressed congratulations to His Highness the Amir and the Kuwaiti leaders and people on the independence and liberation occasions.

An identical reception was organized by the Kuwaiti diplomatic mission in Turkey. The Kuwaiti ambassador and the dean of the diplomatic corps, Abdullah Al-Thuwaikh, led the activities and extended good wishes to the top Kuwaiti leaders, noting on the occasion Turkey’s support for Kuwait in the face of the 1990 Iraqi aggression.

Among the attending dignitaries was the top legislator, Cemil Cicek, who addressed a statement at the reception, expressing hope that the bilateral ties would be enhanced further in diverse sectors.

In Stockholm, the ambassador, Ali Ibrahim AlNukhailan, and the mission staff, hosted prominent figures at a reception marking the happy occasions. He also expressed similar sentiments on the occasion to the Kuwaiti leaders and people.

Meanwhile in Brussels, Kuwait’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, Dharar Abdulrazzaq Razzooqi, Tuesday lauded the strengthening of relations between Kuwait and the EU and also with Belgium and Luxembourg .

“First of all I would like to congratulate HH the Amir, the Crown Prince, the Prime Minister and the people of Kuwait on this happy occasion,” he said, at the reception commemorating Kuwait’s 53rd National Day and 23rd Liberation Day held here Tuesday night.

“Although this is a day of celebration we do not forget our prisoners of war whom we lost, we do not forget our martyrs, we don’t forget a lot of Kuwaitis and nonKuwaitis who lost their lives,” he said.”We have to build a new future in order to be like HH the Amir has aspired over time to be , an economic centre for the region like Kuwait used to be before. We hope that with the determination of the Kuwaiti people we are able to achieve that,” he stated.

“We have very good relations with the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg. It is my first year here but in my contacts with them all of them appreciate Kuwait’s role in the region and in the world,” stressed Razzooqi.

“We have a very distinguished relationship with Belgium. We are now going to celebrate fifty years of our ties. Also we are extending at fast space our relations with the EU in order to be a major player in the region,” he said.

As a sign of strengthening ties between Kuwait and the EU, he pointed out to the visit of the speaker of the Kuwaiti Parliament, Marzouq Al Ghanim, to Brussels recently and that of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton to Kuwait.

“There are plenty of opportunities for cooperation with Belgium and Luxembourg, “ he said and added that the international branch of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation , Q8, has a strong presence in the Benelux countries, Belgium , Holland and Luxembourg.

The reception was attended by a huge number of EU , NATO, European officials, businessmen, and foreign and Arab heads of diplomatic missions , journalists, as well as representatives of international organisations based in Belgium. —KUNA

Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo celebrating the National Day.

Kuwaiti embassy in Amman celebrating the National Day.

Kuwait National Day celebrations in Algeria.

‘Drive Zain’ safety campaign targets social media users KUWAIT: Zain Group, a pioneer in mobile telecommunications across the Middle East and Africa, is targeting social media users in the latest phase of its highly impactful ‘Drive Zain’ campaign, which is aimed at promoting the responsible use of mobile phones while driving. The ultimate intention of the overall campaign is to improve driver safety and combat the high incidence of fatal and serious automobile accidents on public roads.

The campaign was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and shared with industry executives from the global telecom community that attend the annual event, supporting the industry’s combined efforts in raising awareness of this serious social issue. A ceremony was also held at the Zain booth in Barcelona that was attended

by Zain Chairman Asaad Al-Banwan, Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer and over 100 industry dignitaries and guests who were shown three different television commercials that will be aired on satellite and social media channels, as well as the print advertisements that will be circulated across the region.

Since the launch of ‘Drive Zain’ in June 2011, Zain has played an active role in raising awareness through countless multimedia campaigns and on-the-ground initiatives.

This latest campaign places an emphasis on social media platforms, drawing a focus on young people across Zain Group’s international footprint, who are significant consumers of social media and networking applications on mobile phones and tablets.

Important role Zain recognizes the important role social media plays in the lives of young audiences and specifically for this reason the latest campaign was developed using social media language, accompanied with hard-hitting taglines such as ‘Pull the brakes on social media. Don’t text and drive.’

The campaign also delivers a strong message highlighting the very serious and somber consequence of the improper use of mobile devices while driving. References to ‘number of views’, ‘number of followers’ and ‘profile picture updated’ have been incorporated into the creative campaign, which are common phrases in the online and social media world, but are deliberately given a more tragic tone in the advertisements in reference to the people who are left behind following losses of life from traffic accidents.

Commenting on the new ‘Drive Zain’ campaign, Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer said: “Our mission is to highlight the dangers and consequences of irresponsible use of mobile phones, aiming to get people to adjust their behavior. The Middle East as a region is the second highest one in the world to suffer from the most traffic accident related deaths per capita and as such, it is important that businesses like ours make the effort to address and reduce this tragedy.”

Eye-catching slogans Gegenheimer added, “With the exponential rise of people using social media apps in recent years, the sad reality is that many of them are not acting in their personal or the public’s best interest when using their mobile devices while driving. We hope this campaign raises sufficient awareness to help reduce accidents and save more lives.”

Over the years the ‘Zain Drive’ multimedia campaigns have included eye-catching slogans such as ‘Ignore your best friend’, ‘Reject your mom’s call’ and ‘Hang up on your wife’, in a bid to emphasize the point of not allowing oneself to become distracted by communications while driving. Additionally, Zain operations in coordination with government bodies undertook road shows and visited private and government schools and universities, establishing open panel sessions to encourage dialog and raise awareness. A diversity of TV, print, billboard and radio media outlets, talk shows and interviews; and social media channels have also been utilized to promote the endeavor.

Zain Group is rolling out this campaign across its footprint of eight markets as part of its corporate social responsibility agenda, and is proud to be assisting in safeguarding the lives of people in the communities in which it serves.

Kuwait welcomes UN resolution NEW YORK: Kuwait has welcomed the UNSC resolution 2139 concerning the humanitarian situation in Syria, calling on the international community to carry out its responsibility in protecting Syrian civilians. Kuwait’s endorsement of the resolution, which came about last Saturday, was reflected in a speech by Kuwaiti permanent envoy to the UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi to the General Assembly, late on Tuesday.

Ambassador Al-Otaibi lauded the resolution and stressed that it was the first step in protecting Syrian civilians from the ongoing onslaught. He called on all involved parties, especially the Syrian regime, to implement the resolution.

With over 130,000 dead and millions displaced or seeking refuge, the Syrian people are in need for resolutions to end their suffering, said the Kuwaiti official.

Kuwait has contributed around $900

million to relief aid efforts since the crisis in Syria began in March 2013, said Ambassador Al-Otaibi, adding that the donors’ conferences for Syria which were held in Kuwait had mustered over $4 billion. Ambassador Al-Otaibi thanked the UN and countries neighboring Syria for their efforts in helping the Syrian refugees, hoping that the process to end the Syrian conflict would succeed in finding a political solution. —KUNA

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Francis kisses ‘mini-me’ pope as Carnival starts

S Sudan fighters destroy hospitals, slay patients Page 9

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KIEV: An old man stands with an Ukrainian flag yesterday. — AFP

Rival groups protest in divided Crimea Russian navy takes ‘security measures’ SIMFEROPOL: Police struggled to keep apart rival groups holding competing rallies yesterday in Ukraine’s largely proRussian Crimea region where the regional parliament was to hold a crisis session on the turmoil that has gripped the country. Over 10,000 Muslim Crimean Tatars rallied in support of Ukraine’s interim leaders, waving Ukrainian flags and chanting “Ukraine is not Russia” and “Allahu Akbar,” while a smaller proRussian rally nearby called for stronger ties with Russia and waving Russian flags.

Police and leaders from both sides were struggling to keep the two groups apart, as protesters shouted and punched each other in ongoing scuffles.

The tensions in Crimea - a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea that is strategically critical region because it is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet - highlight the divisions that run through this country of 46 million after months of protests that ultimately forced the pro-Russia President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the capital. It also underscores fears that the country’s mainly Russian-speaking east will not recognized the interim authorities’ legitimacy.

Crimean Tatars took an active part in the protest movement against Yanukovych and harbor deep resentment against the Kremlin, having been deported en masse on the orders of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin during the World War II. “We will not let the fate of our land to be decided without us,” said Nuridin Seytablaev, 54, an engineer. “We are ready to fight for Ukraine and our European future.”

Nearby, separated by police lines, Anton Lyakhov, 52, waved a Russian flag.

“Only Russian can defend us from fascists in Kiev and from Islamic radicals in Crimea.” On Tuesday, a Russian lawmaker visiting Crimea said Moscow would protect the region’s Russian-speaking residents, raising concern that Russia could be trying to justify military action.

Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, yesterday dismissed claims that Russia could conduct

a military operation in Ukraine. “That scenario is impossible,” she said. “Russia has been stating and reiterating its stance that we have no right and cannot interfere in domestic affairs of a sovereign state,” said Matvienko, a close Putin ally who was born in western Ukraine. “We are for Ukraine as a united state, and there should be no basis for separatist sentiments.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s acting interior minister yesterday ordered the disbandment of a feared riot police force that many accuse of attacks on protesters during the country’s three-month political turmoil. Arsen Avakov wrote on his Facebook page that he has signed a decree to disband the force known as Berkut and said more detail would be announced later.

Anti-government protesters have blamed Berkut for violent attacks against peaceful demonstrators protesting authorities’ decision to ditch closer ties with the European Union and turn to Moscow instead. Those attacks galvanized long-brewing anger against police and the protests quickly grew into a massive movement, attracting crowds exceeding 100,000 and establishing an extensive tent camp in the capital’s main downtown square.

The force, whose name means “golden eagle,” consisted of about 5,000 officers.

It was unclear yesterday if its members would be dismissed or if they would be reassigned to other units. Yanukovych and protest leaders signed an agreement last week to end the conflict that left more than 80 people dead in just a few days in Kiev. Shortly after, Yanukovych fled the capital for his powerbase in eastern Ukraine but his exact whereabouts are unknown. Yesterday, Yanukovych’s three predecessors as Ukraine’s president issued a statement accusing Russia of “direct inter ference in the political life of Crimea.” The turmoil has raised concern that Ukraine is facing a split bet ween Russian-speak ing regions, which include Yanukovych’s home area in the east, and the Ukrainian-speaking west.—AFP

US couple hits $10m gold-coin bonanza LOS ANGELES: A California couple out walking their dog on their property stumbled across a modern-day bonanza: $10 million in rare, mint-condition gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree. Nearly all of the 1,427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition, said David Hall, cofounder of Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana, which recently authenticated them. Although the face value of the gold pieces only adds up to about $27,000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece.

“I don’t like to say once-in-a-lifetime for anything, but you don’t get an opportunity to handle this kind of material, a treasure like this, ever,” said veteran numismatist Don Kagin, who is representing the finders. “It’s like they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” Kagin, whose family has been in the rare-coin business for 81 years, would say little about the couple other than that they are husband and wife, are middle-aged and have lived for several years on the rural property where the coins were found. They have no idea who put them there, Kagin said.

The pair are choosing to remain anonymous, Kagin said, in part to avoid a renewed gold rush to their property by modern-day prospectors armed with metal detectors. They also don’t want to be treated any differently, said David McCarthy, chief numismatist for Kagin Inc. of Tiburon.

“Their concern was this would change the way everyone else would look at them, and they’re pretty happy with the lifestyle they have today,” he said. They plan to put most of the coins up for sale through Amazon while holding onto a few keepsakes. They’ll use the money to pay off bills and quietly donate to local charities, Kagin said.

Before they sell them, they are loaning some to the American Numismatic Association for its National Money Show, which opens Thursday in Atlanta. What makes their find particularly valuable, McCarthy said, is that almost all of the coins are in near-perfect condition. That means that whoever put

SANTA ANA: Some of 1,427 Gold-Rush era US gold coins are displayed at Professional Coin Grading Service in Santa Ana, Calif. — AP them into the ground likely socked them is known. The coins were found along a path away as soon as they were put into circula- the couple had walked for years. On the day tion. Because paper money was illegal in they found them last spring, the woman had California until the 1870s, he added, it ’s bent over to examine an old rusty can that extremely rare to find any coins from before erosion had caused to pop slightly out of the that of such high quality. “It wasn’t really until ground. “Don’t be above bending over to the 1880s that you start seeing coins struck in check on a rusty can,” he said she told him.

California that were kept in real high grades of They are located on a section of the property preservation,” he said. The coins, in $5, $10 the couple nicknamed Saddle Ridge, and and $20 denominations, were stored more or Kagin is calling the find the Saddle Ridge less in chronological order, McCarthy said, Hoard. He believes it could be the largest such with the 1840s and 1850s pieces going into discovery in US history. one canister until it was filed, then new coins One of the largest previous finds of gold going into the next one and the next one coins was $1 million worth uncovered by conafter that. The dates and the method indicat- struction workers in Jackson, Tennessee, in ed that whoever put them there was using 1985. More than 400,000 silver dollars were the ground as their personal bank and that found in the home of a Reno, Nevada, man they weren’t swooped up all at once in a rob- who died in 1974 and were later sold intact bery. Although most of the coins were minted for $7.3 million. Gold coins and ingots said to in San Francisco, one $5 gold piece came from be worth as much as $130 million were recovas far away as Georgia. Kagin and McCarthy ered in the 1980s from the wreck of the SS would say little about the couple’s property or Central America. But historians knew roughly its ownership history, other than it’s in a where that gold was because the ship went sprawling hilly area of Gold Country, as the down off the coast of North Carolina during a region that was the site of the 1849 Gold Rush hurricane in 1857. — AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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

Brunei sultan hits back at rare criticism over sharia

Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Brunei’s all-powerful sultan, stung by rare criticism, has ordered social media users to stop attacking his plans to introduce harsh Islamic criminal punishments in the placid oil-rich kingdom. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah-one of the world’s wealthiest menannounced last October that Brunei would phase in sharia law punishments such as flogging, severing limbs and death by stoning beginning April 1.

The move has sparked a growing outcry on social media, the only outlet for public criticism of authorities in the Muslim country where questioning the 67-year-old sultan is taboo. In a weekend speech, the sultan issued a clear threat to the critics. “They cannot be allowed to continue committing these insults, but if there are elements which allow them to be brought to court, then the first phase of implementing the Syariah Penal Code Order in April will be very relevant to them,” he said, according to a copy of his speech published by state media.

He did not specify how social media users could be prosecuted under Islamic law. The sultan remains a

revered figure in the tiny realm of 400,000 — which enjoys some of the highest living standards in Asia-and his word is unquestioned. But in recent weeks a heated online debate has erupted in the easy-going country between sharia’s supporters and those fearful of it.

“It is truly frightening to think that we might potentially be stoned to death for being lovers, that we may be fined for being of a different sexual orientation, and that what we wear will be regulated,” one recent posting said.

Brunei has some of Asia’s highest rates of Internet penetration and social media use.

Sharia punishments can include stoning to death for adultery, severing of limbs for theft, and flogging for violations ranging from abortion to alcohol consumption to homosexuality. The country already practices a more conservative form of Islam compared to its Muslim neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia, banning the sale and public consumption of alcohol and closely restricting other religions.

Its dual-track legal system combines civil courts with

sharia courts that have typically handled mainly marital, inheritance and other low-key issues. But Hassanal has increasingly advocated strengthening Islam in the face of potentially harmful outside influences, including the Internet, and has warned of rising crime. In his speech, he called his Islamic monarchy a “firewall” against globalization. Officials have previously said sharia cases would require an extremely high burden of proof and judges would have wide discretion applying it.

Overseas human right groups have denounced the move. The sultan’s wealth-estimated at $20 billion by Forbes magazine in 2011 has become legendary with reports of a vast collection of luxury vehicles and goldbedecked palaces. The monarchy was deeply embarrassed by a sensational family feud between the sultan and his younger brother Jefri who allegedly embezzled $15 billion in the 1990s. Court battles and exposes revealed salacious details of Jefri’s un-Islamic jet-set lifestyle, including allegations of a high-priced harem of Western paramours and a luxury yacht. — AFP

43 students killed in Nigeria Boko Haram targets only male students

MAMUDO: This picture shows an employee inspecting a blown up students hostel in the Government Secondary School of Mamudo. — AFP

Ugandans protest anti-indecent dress laws KAMPALA: Ugandans protested yesterday tough new laws against homosexuality and indecent clothing, with women gathering in tight skirts warning that mobs had already harassed them for their dress. On Monday, President Yoweri Museveni signed a bill into law which holds that repeat homosexuals should be jailed for life, outlaws the promotion of homosexuality and requires people to denounce gays. Earlier this month Museveni also signed into law antipornography and dress code legislation which outlaws “provocative” clothing, bans scantily clad per formers from Ugandan television and closely monitors what individuals watch on the Internet.

“Women are being undressed simply because they are putting on little skirts, tight trousers or leggings,” said Isabella Akitang, one of the women participating in the protest about dress outside the National Theatre in the capital Kampala.

“There is no justification for any violence against women, for rape.” Mobs have stripped at least 10 people for alleged “indecent” clothes, including women in miniskirts and men in low-slung trousers, Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper reported yesterday.

Those opposed to the anti-gay law did not openly take to the streets, with fear sparked by the listing of people accused of being gay by the Red Pepper newspaper for a second day yesterday, alongside lurid stories of alleged homosexual actions. “More media witch hunt exposure, this time with lots of photos,” gay-rights activist Kasha Jacqueline tweeted in response.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called on Uganda to repeal the tough new law on homosexuals, warning it could fan violence and impede responses to HIV and AIDS. However, Uganda’s health minister Ruhakana Rugunda has said that all people are “at complete liberty to get full treatment” and healthcare, with medical workers bound by confidentially rules not reveal a patient’s sexuality, he told the BBC.

Diverting domestic attention?

The passing of the bills have been largely popularly received in Uganda, where Museveni-in power for 28 yearsfaces reelection in 2016. However, protestors in Kampala said the laws were a way of diverting attention from other issues in Uganda. “These laws are just a way for Museveni to hide what is really happening: this country in failing,” said protestor Patience Akuma.

“I have myself been stopped and harassed by a police officer because I was wearing a miniskirt. He slapped me when I tried to take his picture. At the post office, I was told to come back when I would be properly dressed.”

Some women wore shorts, carrying signs that read “thou shalt not touch my mini-skirt.”

“This violence is escalating, this is just the beginning,” said Nargis Shirazi, another protestor. “Unless we stand out and talk about it, we are going to get into worse situations... our laws should stop focusing on the way women are dressed, and start getting on with the real issues.” The signing of the anti-gay law came despite fierce criticism from Western nations and key donors, including US President Barack Obama, who has warned that ties between Kampala and Washington would be damaged.

Some donors were quick to punish Kampala by freezing or redirecting aid money, while Sweden’s Finance Minister Anders Borg, who visited Uganda on Tuesday, said it “presents an economic risk for Uganda”. But protestors in Kampala said they were more concerned about a more immediate and physical impact to themselves. “One of the dangers (of the anti-pornography law) is what you are seeing already, women being undressed-but it is also a threat to us and our security as women,” Akitang added. “There is no definition of indecency in this bill. If you decide that in my trousers and my big bum I am being indecent, you would have all the right to put me into jail. For a mini-skirt, for an indecent outfit that has no definition?” — AFP

KAMPALA: A Ugandan reads a copy of the “Red Pepper” tabloid newspaper. — AP

KANO: Suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed 43 people on Tuesday in an attack on secondary school students as they slept in the latest school massacre to hit Nigeria’s troubled northeast. Nigeria meanwhile issued an appeal to France and Abuja’s Francophone neighbors, especially Cameroon, to help it in the battle against Islamists, two days before a planned visit from French President Francois Hollande.

The raid at 2:00 am (0100 GMT) targeted the Federal Government College in the town of Buni Yadi in Yobe state and bore the hallmarks of a similar attack last September in which 40 died. The attackers reportedly hurled explosives into student residential buildings, sprayed gunfire into rooms and hacked a number of students to death. A senior medical source at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Yobe’s capital Damaturu said the gunmen only targeted male students and that female students were “spared”.

“So far, 43 bodies have been brought (from the college) and are lying at the morgue,” said the source, who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss death tolls. A statement released by President Goodluck Jonathan’s office described the killing by people it called “deranged terrorists and fanatics”, as “callous and senseless”. Yobe has been one of the hardest-hit areas in Boko Haram’s four-and-a-half year Islamist uprising, which has killed thousands of people.

The name Boko Haram means “Western Education is forbidden”. The group has been blamed for waves of school attacks, especially in Yobe, where scores of students have been slaughtered in the last year. The state’s police chief, Sanusi Rufai, who confirmed the attack and had given an earlier death toll of 29, went to Buni Yadiroughly 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Damaturu-with Governor Ibrahim Geidam to assess the damage.

Convoy of ambulances Damaturu resident Babagoni Musa told AFP that four ambulances carrying dead bodies drove past his shop, which is on the road from Buni Yadi. “They had tree branches on them which is a sign used here to signify a corpse is in a vehicle,” he said. People whose relatives were studying at the college had surrounded the morgue and were desperately seeking information about those killed, forcing the military to take control of the building to restore calm, the hospital source said.

Yobe is one of three northeastern states which was placed under emergency rule in May last year when the military launched a massive operation to crush the Boko Haram uprising. At least 40 students were killed in September at an agriculture training college in Yobe after Boko Haram gunmen stormed a series of dorms in the middle of the night and sprayed gunfire on sleeping students. More than 1,000 people have been killed in the northeast since the emergency measures were imposed, despite the enhanced military presence.

Boko Haram, declared a terrorist organization by Nigeria and the United States, has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north.

Geidam and the governor of neighboring Borno state, Kashim Shettima, have fiercely criticized the military’s record in fighting Boko Haram, insisting that more resources were needed to defeat the emboldened and increasingly well-armed insurgents.

Pressure mounts on Jonathan In a video sent to AFP last week, Boko Haram’s purported leader, Abubakar Shekau, said he would continue his relentless campaign of violence on anyone who supports democracy or so-called Western values.

Shekau, deemed a global terrorist by the United States, also threatened to widen the insurgency outside the group’s northeastern stronghold with attacks in the oilproducing, southern Niger Delta region.

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and an Islamist attack in the country’s key economic region would pile further pressure on Jonathan, who has faced scathing criticism over his handling of the Boko Haram crisis.

Jonathan on Monday defended his government’s record in tackling the militants, telling reporters that “no effort will be spared” to protect civilians and their property.

He renewed his call to Boko Haram to lay down their arms and engage in talks to address their grievances.

And the country’s information minister Labaran Maku called for more help from France and French-speaking neighbors in the battle against Islamists. “I think what we need is international cooperation from the French, from the French-speaking west African countries to work together to deal with this problem before it becomes a major problem for France, for western interests operating in west Africa,” Maku told local television.

“It will devastate French interests if we allow this terror to go on,” he said. The comments came ahead of a planned visit by Hollande today and tomorrow to attend an international conference on security, peace and development in Africa and to celebrate the centenary of Nigerian unification. Maku said much of the problem stemmed from its border with Cameroon and called for “increased partnership” with its northern neighbor. — AFP

GHOTA: A handout picture shows the corpses of dozens of rebel fighters. — AFP

Syria army ambush ‘kills 175’ rebels DAMASCUS: More than 170 Islamist rebel fighters, including Saudis, Qataris and Chechens, were killed yesterday in a Syrian army ambush near Damascus, state news agency SANA reported. The attack, apparently the deadliest against the rebels for months, took place in Eastern Ghouta, a key rebel stronghold targeted in a chemical attack in August 2013 that killed hundreds of people.

SANA said an army unit “spotted Al-Nusra Front (jihadist) and Liwa Al-Islam (Islamist) terrorists” near Damascus, and “killed 175 of them and wounded several others.” Saudis, Qataris and Chechens were among the dead, it said. State television had earlier reported “dozens” killed, mostly non-Syrians, in a “wellorganized ambush” following a tip-off.

The army also seized the rebels’ weapons, the broadcaster said, following the regime’s practice of using the term “terrorists” to refer to the armed opposition. Al-Nusra Front is AlQaeda’s official affiliate in Syria and is committed to the overthrow of President Bashar

Al-Assad and the establishment of an Islamic state.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group with a network of contacts inside Syria, confirmed that dozens were killed in the ambush. “Dozens of Islamist fighters were killed and wounded in an ambush by loyalist troops, with the help of (Lebanese Shiite group) Hezbollah, near Otaybeh village in the Eastern Ghouta area,” it said.

A government security source said most of the fighters were Jordanians or Saudis, and that they had crossed over into Syria from Jordan earlier the same day. The source said the ambush took place at around 5:00 am (0300 GMT) and killed 156 rebels. Another 10 were taken prisoner, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Otaybeh area has seen several army ambushes in past months. Syria’s war has since March 2011 killed more than 140,000 people and forced millions more to flee. — AFP

France pushed to expand Africa security role PARIS: French President Francois Hollande heads to Nigeria today under pressure to extend his country’s security role in Africa after launching military operations in Central African Republic and Mali. Hollande is the only Western head of state due to attend celebrations to mark the centenary of Nigeria’s unification and will also take part in a summit on security, peace and development during his two-day visit.

French officials have been keen to talk up the Socialist leader’s status as guest of honor at the centenary celebrations as a positive sign as France seeks to expand its investment and trade footprint in a country increasingly seen as the continent’s emerging economic powerhouse. But Hollande, who hosted more than 40 African leaders for a summit on the continent’s security in December, also faces calls for France to do more to help Nigeria and other countries in the region address the threat posed by the growing strength and influence of Islamist groups.

The issue was placed in sharp focus on Tuesday, when 43 students sleeping at a government boarding school in northeastern Nigeria were burned, shot or hacked to death in an attack thought to have been the work of militants from the Boko Haram Islamist group that operates in the area.

Nigerian officials believe Boko Haram benefit from the porous nature of the country’s borders with Cameroon, Chad and Niger, which means militants can easily move out of reach of their security forces. They would like France to help and encourage its former colonies to do more to seal their frontiers.

“I think what we need is international cooperation from the French, from the French-speaking west African countries to work together to deal with this problem before it becomes a major problem for France, for western interests operating in west Africa,” Information Minister Labaran Maku said on Tuesday. “It will devastate French interests if we allow this terror to go on,” the minister told AIT television.

More intelligence cooperation The instability of Nigeria’s north and bordering regions has had a direct impact on France in the form of the recent kidnappings in Cameroon of a French family and a Catholic priest. The victims were all released

unharmed after intervention by Nigeria.

“What France has done with Operation Serval in Mali and what Nigeria is doing against Boko Haram are complementary,” a French official said. “France fully intends to continue and deepen its intelligence dialogue with Nigeria.” France sent troops into Mali last year to combat Al-Qaeda-linked radicals who had seized control of much of the vast desert north of the country.

That operation won plaudits internationally and broad support at home. But French voters have been less enthusiastic about this year’s deployment of troops to the Central African Republic to quell sectarian strife there. Increasingly, Hollande’s domestic opponents are questioning the scale of France’s commitment in Africa and the reluctance of other western powers to provide military or financial backing for operations the president has portrayed as being driven by compelling security or humanitarian concerns.

After Jacques Chirac in 1999, Hollande is the second French president to have made an official visit to Africa’s most populous country, which formally became a unified British colony and protectorate in 1914. The only other western leader due to attend the summit is European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso.

On the economic front, Hollande has set French companies a target of doubling trade with Africa in the next five years-a goal that, if met, could generate 200,000 jobs, according to the French finance ministry. Although the value of France’s business links to the continent has continued to increase in absolute terms since its retreat from empire in the 1960s, it has been steadily losing market share and that trend has accelerated as African economies have boomed in recent years.

French interests in Nigeria are largely confined to the oil sector and both countries are keen to see French companies get more involved in the development of transport and other infrastructure. Under an accord due to be signed during Hollande’s visit, the French Development Agency (AFD) is to provide 650 million euros (895,000 dollars) in loans to help facilitate the development of the electricity network in the Abuja region in cooperation with French company Vergnet. — AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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

South Africa’s Malema in hot water over road rage JOHANNESBURG: South African opposition politician Julius Malema is under investigation for assault and for breaking a fellow driver’s car window in an alleged road rage incident, a police spokesman said yesterday. Malema had an altercation late on Tuesday with a man who complained about the driving of the fire-

brand leader’s S-Class Mercedes Benz in the northern city of Polokwane, Hangwani Mulaudzi told AFP. “Three guys came out of (Malema’s) car, grabbed him, and then he claims that Mr Malema joined the other three guys, slapped him in the face, and also damaged his vehicle,” said Mulaudzi. The

alleged victim opened a case of assault and damage to property. “We are still investigating,” said Mulaudzi. The expelled youth leader of the ruling African National Congress, now a prominent opposition leader, was arrested last year for driving 215 kilometers (134 miles) an hour in an area with a speed

limit of 120 kilometers per hour.

He also faces charges of corruption, money laundering and racketeering for allegedly arranging lucrative government contracts for cronies in return for kickbacks. A court declared him provisionally insolvent earlier this month after he failed to submit tax returns between

2006 and 2010. A one-time staunch supporter of President Jacob Zuma, Malema has maintained that his prosecution is a political ploy to silence his relentless criticism of Zuma’s leadership. His new leftleaning party the Economic Freedom Fighters will contest their first national elections on May 7. — AFP

S Sudan fighters destroy hospitals, slay patients Brutality aimed at healthcare: MSF

ANKARA: A protestor is detained during a protest yesterday. —AFP

Turkey PM vows action against ‘fake’ recordings ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday condemned leaked recordings of him and his son allegedly discussing how to hide large sums of money as a “vile attack” by rivals, as calls mounted for his beleaguered government to resign. “What was done is a vile... and a treacherous attack against the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey. It will not go unpunished,” Erdogan told his ruling party lawmakers in parliament.

Later Tuesday police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters denouncing corruption during a protest in Kadikoy Square in the commercial hub Istanbul, an opposition stronghold, Dogan news agency and other media reported. The phone conversations, posted on YouTube, allegedly reveal Erdogan asking his son Bilal to turn millions of euros in cash stashed at several houses into “zero”.

Bilal at one point can be heard saying: “There is 30 million euros ($41 million) more.” The leaked discussions, which could not be independently verified, were said to have taken place on December 17, the same day key Erdogan allies were caught up in police raids linked to a corruption investigation that has rocked the government. In one conversation, Erdogan can supposedly be heard briefing Bilal about the raids, which saw top businessmen and the sons of former cabinet ministers detained on allegations of bribery, gold smuggling and illicit dealings with sanctions-hit Iran.

The premier ’s office said the wire tapped conversations were fabricated and vowed to take legal action against those behind “this dirty setup”. “The recordings... are the product of an immoral montage and completely untrue,” Erdogan’s office said in a statement late on Monday after the material was leaked online. Erdogan has come under intense pressure since the corruption scandal erupted, throwing up the biggest challenge yet to his 11 years in power ahead of key local elec-

tions in March.

He has blamed his ally-turned-rival, USbased Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, for instigating the graft probe, accusing him of seeking to create “a parallel state” in Turkey.

The leaked recordings appear to be the latest fallout from their feud, after the Turkish government on Monday said thousands of influential people-including the premier, cabinet ministers and journalists-had been wiretapped by Gulen supporters in the police and the judiciary.

Local media said the widespread surveillance was discovered by prosecutors who were appointed following a mass purge of the police and prosecution service in response to the corruption probe.

Erdogan, whose speech in parliament was repeatedly interrupted by party loyalists chanting “Turkey is proud of you!”, said his government would not fall into traps set by rivals. “We are not scared of anyone, any country... We are not scared of any traitor,” he said.

‘Government must resign’ But the controversy prompted fresh calls from the opposition for the government’s resignation. “The government has lost its legitimacy... and must resign immediately,” Haluk Koc, a spokesman for the main opposition Republican People’s Party, told a news conference late Monday. Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said the alleged recordings were “dazzling”, and demanded that the prime minister be brought to justice.

The political tensions of the past months have battered Turkey’s financial markets, with the lira and stocks tumbling.

The lira stood at 2.1983 to the dollar and 3.0229 to the euro on Tuesday. The Istanbul stock exchange BIST 100 declined by 2.54 percent to reach 62,556.03 points. Last month, Erdogan rejected allegations that his son was involved in the corruption scandal. —AFP

GIGLIO PORT: A view of the wreck of Italy’s Costa Concordia cruise ship. —AFP

Islanders shrug as Italy’s shipwreck captain returns GIGLIO ISLAND: Residents of Italy’s Giglio Island reacted with mixed emotions yesterday to the first return visit by captain Francesco Schettino since a tragedy in which 32 people on his Costa Concordia cruise ship died. Schettino, who is on trial for manslaughter, arrived on Giglio on Tuesday and was expected to board the stricken ship on Thursday with experts from the court after being granted special dispensation by a judge. “We are hoping he and his ship will go away soon,” said Franco Caverno, 68, a ferry crewman, expressing the frustration of many islanders with ongoing work more than two years after the January 13, 2012 tragedy.

But there was also sympathy for the infamous captain in this seafaring community of just a few hundred souls where some feel he could be a scapegoat for wider blame. “Mistakes were made. It wasn’t just him, there was a responsibility for other people,” Caverno said. Schettino watched his ship from the deck of the ferry that took him to Giglio from the mainland late on Tuesday in images shown on Rai2 public television in which the much-maligned captain appeared visibly moved.

“I always said I would come personally. I

always said I wanted to return dignity to the living, honor the dead and establish the truth for the honor of all Italian captains,” Schettino told a Rai2 journalist on the boat. “I never abandoned the ship!” he insisted, responding to one of the charges in the trial against him which has earned him the tabloid nickname “Captain Coward”.

With 4,229 people from 70 countries on board, the luxury liner crashed into a group of rocks just off Giglio as it was attempting a risky “salute” manoeuvre. The vessel then veered wildly and keeled over. Some of the victims drowned as they jumped into the sea to swim ashore, others perished in flooded elevators.

The ship was righted last year in the biggestever salvage operation of a passenger ship ever attempted and is due to be re-floated and towed away in June.

Schettino is on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and leaving the ship before all the passengers had been evacuated-all of which he denies. He has accused the ship’s Indonesian helmsman, Jacob Rusli Bin, of causing the accident because he misunderstood his steering order and has said he preferred to supervise the evacuation from dry land. —AFP

JUBA: Warring fighters in South Sudan have looted hospitals and murdered patients in their beds, cutting life-saving healthcare to hundreds of thousands of people, Doctors Without Borders said yesterday. Warning of an “alarming pattern of lootings and attacks on patients” and health facilities, Doctors without Borders (MSF, Medecins sans Frontieres) said their crucial work was being strangled by a “climate of utter disrespect and fear.”

Thousands have been killed and almost 900,000 forced from their homes by over two months of battles between rebel and government forces, backed by troops from neighboring Uganda.

Medical care has “come under fire, with patients shot in their beds, wards burned to the ground, medical equipment looted, and, in one case, an entire hospital destroyed,” MSF said in a statement. “Assaults on medical facilities and patients are part of a broader backdrop of brutal attacks on towns, markets and public facilities,” said Raphael Gorgeu, MSF head of mission in the war-torn nation. “These attacks show a complete lack of respect for medical care and deprive the most vulnerable of life-saving assistance just when they need it most.”

Atrocities have been committed by both sides, whether in the initial clashes that marked the start of the conflict in the capital Juba on

December 15, or during repeated battles for strategic towns across the impoverished but oilrich nation. Tens of thousands are still crammed into UN bases in fear of revenge attacks by either President Salva Kiir’s Dinka people or the Nuer tribe of his former vice-president turned arch-rival Riek Machar.

Recent heavy battles between rebels and government troops have been over the key northern oil hub of Malakal, which has exchanged hands several times between rebels and government.

“Malakal is deserted, with houses burned throughout and countless dead bodies strewn in the streets... I can find no words to describe the brutality,” said Carlos Francisco, MSF’s emergency coordinator in the town.

Diplomatic push for peace In the flashpoint region of Leer in the south of the key oil producing Unity state, hometown of rebel chief Machar, MSF’s hospital was razed to the ground. MSF’s 240 South Sudanese staff fled into the surrounding bush a month ago when the hospital was ransacked, carrying several dozen of the most sick patients with them.

“They are struggling to treat them with dwindling supplies,” MSF project coordinator Sarah Maynard said, describing how they are now fear-

ing they will have to carry out amputations because of infected wounds, with staff forced to reuse dressings. “People are becoming ill from drinking dirty river water and from eating water lilies for lack of food,” she added.

Fighters even torched and looted the section of the hospital used to feed severely malnourished children. “The destruction from fire was unbelievable... the fridges where we used to keep the vaccines cold were just melted white blobs,” Maynard said, after briefly returning to Leer to assess the damage. “Now nearly 300,000 people have no access to a hospital, nor any general healthcare... there’s nothing left in the hospital that is useable.”

Kenya’s top security body warned on Tuesday that violence in South Sudan is worsening, condemning “escalating military activities... in total disregard and violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement” that Nairobi helped broker last month. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta visited Juba yesterday in the latest effort by neighboring nations to try to implement the ceasefire and bring the two sides back to negotiations. It follows a visit Tuesday by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom to Juba to push for talks to resume in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. —AFP

Francis kisses ‘mini-me’ pope as Carnival starts Benedict denies he was pressured to resign VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis has a mini-me. Francis kissed a child dressed up as a pope as the new must-have Carnival costume made its debut at the pope’s general audience yesterday. The child, who was crying, was hoisted up to Francis as he drove by in his opentopped jeep. Another child dressed in a similar white cassock and white skullcap was also on hand, as were kids dressed as Swiss Guards.

During Carnival in Italy, children often go to school and spend their weekends dressed up in pirate, princess - and now pope - costumes. Carnival, also known as mardi gras, marks the period before the church’s solemn Lenten season begins. Pope Francis appealed yesterday for reconciliation in Venezuela to end three weeks of deadly anti-government protests in the oil-rich but deeply divided country.

“I sincerely hope that violence and hostility will cease as soon as possible, and that the whole Venezuelan people, beginning with political leaders and institutions, will endeavor to promote reconciliation,” he said during his weekly audience at the Vatican. The Argentinian pope called for “mutual forgiveness and a sincere dialogue, respectful of truth and justice” to restore calm to the largely Catholic country. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sought yesterday to hold a “peace conference” to end a movement that has left at least 14 dead, but the main opposition leader has refused to attend.

Maduro says the protests are a USinspired assault on his democratic rule, less than a year since he was elected to succeed the late leftist icon Hugo Chavez, whose policies he has continued.

Meanwhile, Retired Pope Benedict XVI has denied speculation that he was pressured to leave

office, saying his decision was freely made and his alone.

Benedict wrote to the Vatican correspondent for La Stampa newspaper, Andrea Tornielli, amid a new round of speculation about his reasons ahead of tomorrow ’s first anniversary of the first resignation by a pope in 600 years.

“There isn’t the slightest doubt

that there were no other clothes available. Media are again speculating about what drove Benedict from office. Italian journalist Antonio Socci suggested last week in the conservative daily Libero that the resignation may have been invalid, claiming Benedict was pressured by a group of cardinals opposed to him.

stances, also an obligation to resign.” Benedict made a surprise cameo at this weekend’s ceremony to formally install 19 new cardinals.

It was the first time he and Pope Francis had appeared together at a public liturgical ceremony and immediately raised questions about whether Benedict might occasionally be reintegrated back

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis kisses a boy dressed as a pope as he arrives for his general audience in St Peter’s Square yesterday. —AP about the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministr y,” La Stampa quoted Benedict as writing.

“The only condition for the validity is the full freedom of the decision.

Speculation about its invalidity is simply absurd.”

Benedict, 86, also defended his decision to continue wearing the white cassock of the papacy, saying

Benedict, however, had made clear from the start of his papacy that it might not end in his death.

In the 2010 book “Light of the World,” Benedict wrote: “If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circum-

into the life of the church.

British Cardinal Vincent Nichols, one of the new cardinals, said Benedict’s presence didn’t represent a change. “He says his vocation now is to pray for the church and to live that life of prayerful seclusion, and he would appear to be very peaceful doing that,” Nichols told reporters. —Agencies

For US, China, Dalai Lama dance becomes a routine WASHINGTON: When the Dalai Lama came to Washington in 2009 on one of his frequent lecture tours, Barack Obama didn’t invite him to the White House as the new president sought to start on the right foot with China. More than four years later, Obama went ahead last week with his third meeting as president with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

China called in a US diplomat to protest but the encounter appeared almost routine, with no stronger repercussions immediately by Beijing.

The episode represents a subtle shift in the complex relationship between the world’s two largest economies as both sides cut through the veneer of hope for broad cooperation and prioritize key interests. Obama, who came under domestic criticism for not seeing the Dalai Lama in 2009, has been increasingly unabashed about taking actions that irk China.

The Obama administration has challenged China over maritime disputes with neighbors, earlier this month questioning the legal basis for Beijing’s claims in the tense South China Sea.

“President Obama refrained in his first year from meeting the Dalai Lama and from doing other things in the hope that he was going to build a stable foundation and more trust in the US-China relationship,” said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I ultimately think that didn’t pan out and I think President Obama learned from that experience,” she said. Obama voiced support for protection of human rights of Tibetans living under Chinese rule.

But the White House also took pains to show that the meeting was private, with Obama meeting the Dalai Lama in the mansion’s residence and press barred.

Despite demanding that Obama call off the Dalai Lama meeting, China went ahead with talks Friday with the visiting US army chief of staff, General Ray Odierno, as the two powers work to improve military communication. The Dalai Lama, who fled his homeland for India amid an abortive uprising in 1959, already enjoys a worldwide following and it is

doubtful that a single meeting would move the needle on Tibet. But Glaser argued that the reverseObama not seeing the Dalai Lama-would have had “profound” consequences. “A failure to have this meeting, or going through Obama’s second term without a meeting, would have made other countries’ leaders far less willing to stick their necks out to see the Dalai Lama,” she said.

An eventual shift on Tibet?

China has taken much stronger action against other countries in its efforts to sideline the Dalai Lama. In 2008, China canceled an EU summit over then French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to meet the Nobel Peace laureate. Matteo Mecacci, a former Italian lawmaker who is now president of the International Campaign for Tibet advocacy group, said that the lack of retaliation over Obama’s Dalai Lama meeting showed that China valued relations with Washington and understood that Tibet was a “consistent US interest.” —AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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

Vigilantes target Mexico mines AGUILILLA: Dozens of trucks carry iron ore out of a mine in western Mexico, spinning dust into the air as they barrel past a guard booth peppered with scores of bullet holes. The pockmarks are the scars of darker days, when the mine in the town of Aguililla, Michoacan state, was under the yoke of the Knights Templar drug cartel, which extorted the business. The gang was chased out of town, but the mine still has to pay outsiders.

The mine now forks out “compensation” to a vigilante movement which celebrated on Monday the first anniversary of a revolt that has driven the gang out of Aguililla and around 20 other towns in Michoacan. The civilian militias say the mines are helping to finance their cause against the cult-like car tel which was deeply entrenched in Michoacan’s economy and terrorized the community through extortion, kidnappings and murder.

Farmers and ranchers are also making donations to the militias that have liberated their towns. An executive for a foreign mining company who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons told AFP that payments of “$3 or $4” per

ton of iron ore are made to the vigilante movement. Vigilante leaders, who describe the payments as “support” or “compensation,” said $2 per ton of iron ore goes into the coffers of the movement’s Self-Defense Council, a sum that could total $4 million this year.

Pay to ‘survive’ “They don’t give us money to kill people, or steal, or extor t people -none of that,” former Aguililla mayor Adalberto Fructuoso, who leads the town’s militia, told AFP. The money is used to “survive and get them (Knights Templar) out of here.” The main spokesman for the movement, Estanislao Beltran, said a deal was made for the mines to give up only a “tiny part” of their profits.

Some are not thrilled about the payments, voicing doubts that they can be considered “aid.” “It is not aid because we are not contributing whatever we want,” said the owner of a mine in Michoacan’s Sierra Costa region. Federal authorities are investigating cartel extortion claims, a Michoacan government security official told AFP on condition of

anonymity. But the federal intelligence service is also looking into whether “the companies finance the self-defenses in order to reduce the illegal extraction of minerals by organized crime,” the official said.

Exporting to China The government deployed more than 9,000 troops and federal police in Michoacan’s Tierra Caliente (Hot Land) region last month after new gunfights erupted between the cartel and vigilantes. Michoacan is known as Mexico’s lime-andavocado heartland, but it is also the country’s top producer of iron ore, extracting four million tons in 2012, or 27 percent of national output, according to the economy ministry. The Knights Templar gang snatched the underground riches to diversify its business, which includes the production of crystal meth and extortion rackets against fruit growers, tortilla makers and municipal officials.

The gang has illegally extracted iron ore, using the Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas to export the mineral to China, officials say. At the same time,

the gang imports chemical precursors from Asia to make crystal meth in makeshift mountain labs. The mafia was not content with just extracting the mineral or demanding protection money from the mines-it also took cash from truck companies that carry the product to the port.

Business executives estimate that the racket earned the cartel up to $6 per ton of iron ore. “The Knights Templar had the whole process under control. The companies were like a front,” said the Aguililla mine executive.

“The companies were like a front because it was them who handled the business,” the executive said. In an attempt to cut off this enormous source of revenue, the federal government deployed troops to Lazaro Cardenas in November to replace the municipal police. A representative of the businesses linked to the port, who requested anonymity, said the cartel is still charging protection taxes despite the deployment. “But there is a lot of progress,” the source said, estimating that the port’s illegal iron ore business has fallen by 60 percent. — AFP

NYC mayor’s message gets sidelined by ‘sideshows’ Giuliani says ‘give de Blasio a break’

SAN FRANCISCO: In this aerial file photo, the wreckage of Asiana Flight 214 lies on the ground after it crashed at the San Francisco International Airport. — AP

Days after Asiana plane crash, families neglected LOS ANGELES: When anguished family members first called for information about their loved ones aboard a wrecked Asiana Airlines plane, instead of getting answers they had to navigate an automated reservation system. Even once Asiana finally set up a proper hotline, it would be five days before the South Korean airline connected with the families of all 291 passengers.

Asiana’s response to the deadly crash last summer near San Francisco earned quick criticism for its disarray. On Tuesday, it also earned a $500,000 penalty from the US Department of Transportation.

It’s the first time federal officials have concluded that an airline broke laws requiring prompt and generous assistance for the loved ones of crash victims. Three people died and dozens were injured July 6 when Asiana Flight 214 clipped a seawall while landing at San Francisco International Airport. One of the victims, a 16-year-old Chinese girl, apparently survived being ejected onto the tarmac, only to be run over by a fire truck.

Many of the families live in South Korea or China, meaning the airline was their main source of information on the crash half a world away. “The last thing families and passengers should have to worry about at such a stressful time is how to get information from their carrier,” US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a prepared statement.

Under a consent order the airline signed with the department, Asiana will pay a $400,000 fine and get a $100,000 credit for sponsoring conferences and training sessions through 2015 to discuss lessons learned from the situation. In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, Asiana spokeswoman Hyomin Lee said the airline “provided extensive support to the passengers and their families following the accident and will continue to do so.”

Asiana said in the consent order that its response was slowed because the crash occurred on a holiday weekend when staffing was short. The airline said it was not alone among foreign airlines with “few

trained employees to attend to post-accident responsibilities.” Asiana argued that it recovered quickly, noting that within a few days of the crash it had assigned a special representative to each passenger and family, flown in family members from overseas and provided professional crisis counseling.

The consent order also laid out findings from the Department of Transportation’s investigation. Among them: Asiana generally “failed to commit sufficient resources” to help families; it wasn’t until five days after the crash that its employees were meeting all responsibilities under U.S. law.

The airline lacked translators and personnel trained in crash response.

It took Asiana more than 18 hours to staff a reliable toll-free hotline. The law requires family notification as soon as practical, but Asiana had contacted just threequarters of families within two days. It would take five days to contact every family. Congress required carriers to dedicate significant resources to families of passengers in the late 1990s, after airlines were roundly criticized for ignoring desperate requests for information after crashes.

Last fall, the AP reviewed plans filed by two dozen foreign airlines and found cases in which carriers had not updated their family assistance plans as required. Since AP’s story, several airlines have updated their plans with the Department of Transportation. Among them is Asiana’s bigger rival, Korean Air. Many airlines invest in crash preparedness and family assistance planning, but a minority are “using lip ser vice and euphemisms in their plans,” said Robert A. Jensen, whose company has contracts with hundreds of airlines to help after an accident. “It’s time that some of the airlines that have been flying under the radar be held accountable,” said Jensen, CEO of Kenyon International Emergency Ser vices.

“Somebody finally got caught.” The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the crash. Family members of some passengers have sued the airline in federal court. — AP

Missouri executes man in ’89 rape, killing of teen BONNE TERRE: A Missouri inmate was executed early yesterday for abducting, raping and killing a Kansas City teenager as she waited for her school bus in 1989, marking the state’s fourth lethal injection in as many months. Michael Taylor, 47, was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.

Federal courts and the governor had refused last-minute appeals from his attorneys, who argued that the execution drug purchased from a compounding pharmacy could have caused Taylor inhuman pain and suffering.

Taylor offered no final statement. He mouthed silent words to his parents, two clergymen and two other relatives who witnessed his death. As the process began, he took two deep breaths before closing his eyes for the last time. There were no obvious signs of distress. His victim, 15-year-old Ann Harrison, was in her driveway - carrying her school books, flute and purse when she was abducted by Taylor and Roderick Nunley. The men pulled her into their stolen car, took her to a home, then raped and fatally stabbed the girl as she pleaded for her life.

Nunley also was sentenced to death and is awaiting execution. In their appeals, Taylor’s attorneys questioned Missouri’s use

of an unnamed compounding pharmacy to provide the execution drug, pentobarbital.

They also cited concerns about the state executing inmates before appeals were complete and argued that Taylor’s original trial attorney was so overworked that she encouraged him to plead guilty.

After using a three-drug execution method for years, Missouri switched late last year to pentobarbital. The same drug was used in three previous Missouri executions, and state officials said none of the inmates showed outward signs of distress.

Still, attorneys for Taylor said using a drug from a compounding pharmacy, which unlike large pharmaceutical companies are not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration, runs the risk of causing pain and suffering during the execution process. The Oklahoma-based compounding pharmacy Apothecary Shoppe agreed last week that it wouldn’t supply the pentobarbital for Taylor’s execution, which left Missouri to find a new supplier. But Attorney General Chris Koster’s office disclosed that a new provider had been found.

Koster refused to name the pharmacy, citing the state’s execution protocol that allows for the manufacturer to remain anonymous. —AP

NEW YORK: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ambitious agenda to fight income inequality - a campaign he famously titled “The Tale of Two Cities” - has taken a backseat in recent weeks to a series of political stumbles that have become tabloid fodder and shaken his everyman image.

First, there was his late-night call to police on behalf of a political ally who was arrested but didn’t spend a night in jail. (“BAIL OF TWO CITIES: Blaz’s call to cops springs pal,” the Daily News blared.)

Then came widespread second-guessing - led

by TV weatherman Al Roker - over inconsistent snowplowing of the tony Upper East Side in one heavy storm and the decision to keep schools open in another (“LET THEM EAT SNOW!: Rage as Bill keeps schools open,” the New York Post chided.) And most recently, a TV news video caught de Blasio’s motorcade speeding through stop signs, two days after he introduced a sweeping traffic safety program. (“It’s another tale of two cities,” the Daily News wrote, “one set of traffic rules for Mayor de Blasio, and one for the rest of us.”) The mayor has often responded by being defensive and snippy when dealing with the media, and then chastising reporters for focusing on the blunders.

“There has to be a different examination about what matters and what doesn’t matter,” de Blasio, a Democrat, said in a news conference this week. “Too much of the time the debates veers into sideshows and I’m not shocked by that.” Some political observers say the controversies - all small, but seemingly one after the other - could add up.

“You might think it’s nonsense but it does have an effect,” said Bill Cunningham, former communications director for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “They likely won’t impact the longterm prospects of success of administration, but it kinds of clouds over your message you’re trying to get out from City Hall.”

Ironically, the strength behind de Blasio’s mayoral campaign may have produced some weakness in his first two months in office. The campaign’s hallmarks were remarkable discipline and focus: Even when he trailed badly in the polls, he honed his message of battling income inequality and largely ignored the dayto-day distractions on the trail, including the rise and collapse of Anthony Weiner’s bid.

But as mayor, it is far more difficult to just stay on a preconceived message without reacting to

NEW YORK: In this photo, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio delivers his State of the City address at LaGuardia Community College in the Queens borough of New York. — AP the daily dramas inherent to the job, not sufficiently plowed and appeared on “Today” Cunningham said. “He has a young staff - the to make nice with Roker.

“We live in a town and a culture where things schedulers, the advance team, the press shop and they are all coming out of the campaign can become distractions,” said mayoral environment,” Cunningham said. “Government is spokesman Phil Walkzak. “But I will say I do not different. They have had trouble taking a story think these hiccups have distracted from our larger policy agenda.” Some political observers and keeping it a one-day story.”

Some believe that the mayor has prolonged agree, believing that de Blasio’s agenda - fueled the bad headlines on a few occasions by refus- by the mandate he captured with his landslide ing to initially answer questions about what win - will not be seriously impacted.

“These are minor bumps. He is settling in and happened. And as the media has devoted resources to de Blasio’s blunders, the mayor’s there’s a natural adjustment period,” said Bob staff feels it has neglected to focus on the Liff, a longtime Democratic consultant.

“The press can be self-serving at times: in administration’s agenda, including the traffic safety plan and his push to have Albany author- actuality, the most important things he’s done ize a tax hike on the wealthy to fund universal so far aren’t these scandals, but his appointments, and they have been topnotch and reasprekindergarten.

De Blasio has not deployed a uniform strate- suring. This is a man who wants to do a good job gy to address the incidents. With the driving running the city.” Even Rudolph Giuliani, the footage, he deferred to his NYPD drivers and Republican former mayor who frequently trades refused to question whether they had driven barbs with de Blasio, came to the current mayrecklessly. He downplayed his call to the police or’s aid during the flap over the call to the NYPD. on his friend’s behalf, insisting he was simply try- “I don’t see that it’s a big deal,” Giuliani told The ing to learn more about what happened. But he New York Times. “He’s a new mayor. Give him a did acknowledge that the Upper East Side was break.” — AP

Podesta redux: Guiding a second-term president WASHINGTON: Longtime Washington insider John Podesta is developing a bit of a specialty for the presidents he’s served - second-term problem solver.

Podesta was the last chief of staff in the Clinton White House and has been helping shake President Barack Obama’s West Wing out of its doldrums after a bruising 2013. “We’re in a big game, the clock is ticking on the game, and I want as many great players with us on the field as we can muster,” said White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, who persuaded Podesta to come on board as senior counselor in the waning days of a discouraging 2013.

Just a year after triumphantly winning re-election, Obama had been hammered by the disastrous rollout of the health care website, a partial government shutdown and an inability to get any major legislative priority passed by Congress. Podesta’s one-year assignment gives him enough time to try to turn things around before the November midterm elections.

Podesta has an open door to the Oval Office to take his opinions directly to Obama, a privilege reserved for a small circle of senior advisers. The two men share Chicago roots, and Obama chose Podesta to handle his transition to the presidency after his 2008 election.

Podesta’s return to Obama’s fold comes after a brain drain in which some of the president’s most trusted longtime strategists left in the year following his reelection.

Podesta initially was described as specializing in implementation of the troubled health care law, along with White House organization and climate change.

But his hand is being felt more broadly in a quickened pace in the West Wing, a push for presidential executive action and a focus on the big picture, including a long-range outlook on where politics may interfere with Obama’s goals.

Podesta’s other duties include overseeing a review of data privacy and running interference for Democratic members of Congress up for re-election this year. He organized a meeting Obama had with Western governors on Monday to talk about the extreme weather they’ve been experiencing, with the goal of building support for the president’s climate change plan. Obama announced a sweeping plan to

address global warming last summer, but prospects for legislation are nil given congressional opposition.

Yet Podesta is creating new urgency on the issue among Obama’s staff. Podesta, known to joke that Friday is only two working days until Monday, summoned about two dozen White House advisers to the office one Saturday this month to develop a yearlong “battle plan” to approach climate politics.

Tackling climate change Podesta pushed the team, including environmental policy experts and senior presidential aides overseeing politics and communications, to discuss preparations for regulations on greenhouse gases coming this summer and the impact the current weather extremes could have on the climate debate. A week

later Obama visited a California farm, where melons couldn’t grow in a field that had dried up from drought. Obama, standing on the fallow ground, gravely predicted, “A changing climate means that weather-related disasters like droughts, wildfires, storms, floods are potentially going to be costlier, and they’re going to be harsher.”

Podesta has a passion for tackling climate change going back to his Clinton days and made it a major policy focus at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank he founded in 2003. Podesta has fought the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to bring oil from Canada across the United States, so the White House said he won’t advise the president on whether to approve the project. The White House declined to make Podesta available for an interview. —AP

LOUISVILLE: Former US President Bill Clinton (left) speaks while campaigning for Kentucky Democratic Senate Candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes at the Galt House Hotel. — AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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

Lanka steps up repression ahead of UN meet COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has instilled a “climate of fear” as it intensifies its repression of critics in the build-up to Colombo’s expected censure by the UN’s Human Rights Council, Amnesty International said yesterday. In a new report, the London-based advocacy group documented the cases of several human rights defenders who had been targeted for harassment and surveillance by the Sri Lankan regime, including death threats.

“The pattern of harassment, surveillance and attacks against those opposing the Sri Lankan authorities is deeply disturbing and shows no sign of letting up,” said Polly Truscott, Amnesty deputy director for the Asia-Pacific region.

“Repression usually intensifies whenever Sri Lanka’s human rights situation is in focus internationally, something we are already seeing ahead of the UN Human Rights Council next month.”

In its 16-page repor t, Amnesty

detailed the intimidation against the prominent rights activist Nimalk a Fernando, including a state radio broadcast that called for her “elimination”. I t added that Colombo had deported several foreign visitors for allegedly participating in human rightsrelated meetings. The United States has said it will move a third censure motion in as many years against Sri Lanka at next month’s UNHRC meeting The UN rights chief Navi Pillay has

already asked member states to order an international investigation into allegations that Sri Lankan forces killed up to 40,000 civilians in the final stages of their battle with Tamil separatist rebels in May 2009. Sri Lanka has denounced Pillay for her “unwarranted interference” and denied its troops were responsible for any civilian deaths during the bloody finale to an ethnic war that lasted 37 years. Amnesty said it continued to receive credible reports of activists

facing surveillance and harassment.

“The climate of fear is very real in Sri Lanka. Many people are too afraid to speak out. But Sri Lanka also has some very brave activists, who continue to be vocal despite facing retaliation,” Truscott said. “Some even dare to attend international meetings that could actually lead to an improved human rights situation. The UN should make every effort to ensure that they are protected.” -—AFP

Obama warns Afghan prez of full troop withdrawal US military deaths in Afghanistan at 2,174

KEBUMEN: A man walks near a lifeboat which is stranded on Karangjambe beach in Kebumen. —AP

Australia sends 2 dozen migrants back on lifeboat JAKARTA: Two dozen asylum seekers stranded in Indonesia say Australian authorities blew up the boat that carried them toward Australia’s Christmas Island then sent them back in a lifeboat, Indonesian officials said Tuesday. The Indonesia Search and Rescue Agency evacuated 26 migrants after the local navy found the lifeboat stranded Monday near Agropeni beach in Kebumen district of Central Java. Australia’s new policy of using lifeboats to send back asylum seekers found in unseaworthy vessels has angered Indonesia, which sees it as a breach of sovereignty.

The migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Iran are being held at the local immigration office in the nearby district of Cilacap, said Imam Prawira, the office’s head of investigation and enforcement.

Prawira said, according a Pakistani migrant, they were rejected near the maritime border by Australia, which transferred them into the lifeboat.

Kebumen police Capt Warsidi said two of three Indonesian crewmen were being questioned while another escaped. The crewmen claimed to have received just 10 million rupiah ($860) out of 30 million ($2,585) promised by the migrants once

they arrived in Australia, Warsidi said.

According to Kebumen police, the migrants left for the Australian territory of Christmas Island from West Java last Wednesday. Three days later, they arrived near the border but were intercepted by an Australian warship which blew up their wooden boat. Australia bought unsinkable lifeboats as part of its policy to deter such boat journeys, but it has refused to confirm the boats’ use in sending asylum seekers back to Indonesia.

The orange lifeboat was equipped with television, navigation equipment, batteries and foods, police said. It was the second lifeboat with turned-back asylum seekers stranded in Java’s southern coast this month. Australian Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison’s office on Tuesday refused to comment on the latest lifeboat arrival. A statement cited a policy of keeping border protection activities secret.

Indonesia’s vast chain of islands is a popular transit point for people fleeing war-torn countries to reach Australia. But Australia’s new government has instituted new policies and refuses to resettle even genuine refugees who arrive by boat, instead sending them to Papua New Guinea or Nauru in the South Pacific. — AP

Pakistan announces first ever counter-terror policy ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday unveiled its first ever counter-terrorism policy after battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, announcing that every act of militant violence would be met with retaliation on their bases. Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced the “national security policy” before parliament a day after it was formally approved by the cabinet, ending years of waiting for a set of unified rules of engagement for terrorism.

The move comes as talks between the government and the Taliban that began earlier this month have stalled following the killing of 23 soldiers being held by the militants. Pakistan has responded by carrying out a series of deadly air strikes in the northwest that have left over 100 militants dead. Khan said the shelling was in line with the government’s new policy and that strikes would continue alongside efforts to negotiate with the Taliban.

“We have made a significant shift in our policy, now we will react to each and every act of terrorism in the country with an attack on the headquarters of the militants along the Afghan border,” he said.

“Whenever there is a strike anywhere, we will the target headquarters of the militants and it’s because of this new policy that we have been carrying out precise strikes in

the tribal areas.” Commenting on the status of the dialogue between the government and Taliban representatives, Khan said talks have been put on hold but would “resume anytime soon and both negotiations and targeted strikes will go hand in hand”. The policy document is 100 pages long and is split into three parts, one of which would remain secret, said the minister.

The document designates the National Counter Terrorism Authority as the body that will deal with nationwide intelligence reports. “ We are establishing a rapid response force, which will be fully equipped with helicopters and latest technology to carry out counter terrorism operations,” Khan added. Security experts have long called for rapid response teams to deal with terror incidents in crowded urban environments and track down militants.

Since 2007 the Pakistani Taliban have been waging a bloody campaign against the Pakistani state which has claimed thousands of lives. The umbrella militant group was founded in response to a raid on a radical mosque in Islamabad, but Islamist violence in the country began surging after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

Attempts by previous governments at formulating a national security policy have floundered over a lack of consensus and political will. —AFP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama told Hamid Karzai on Tuesday that he is now planning for a full US troop withdrawal because of the Afghan leader’s repeated refusal to sign a security pact. But in a rare telephone call with President Karzai, Obama also held out the possibility of agreeing a post-2014 training and antiterror mission with the next government in Kabul. The US threat was the latest twist in a long political struggle with Karzai, who appears intent on infuriating Washington until the day he leaves office, sometime after elections in April. The Obama administration said its preferred option is to leave behind a residual US force when its combat teams depart Afghanistan after America’s longest war at the end of this year.

But it will not do so without legal protections enshrined in the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) agreed between the two governments, which Karzai will not endorse. “President Obama told President Karzai that because he has demonstrated that it is unlikely that he will sign the BSA, the United States is moving forward with additional contingency planning,” a White House statement said, detailing the call.

“Specifically, President Obama has asked the Pentagon to ensure that it has adequate plans in place to accomplish an orderly withdrawal by the end of the year should the United States not keep any troops in Afghanistan after 2014.”

‘Zero option’ The White House had previously warned that Karzai’s intransigence on a deal painstakingly negotiated last year meant it had no choice but to mull the “zero option.” The statement said Obama was reserving the possibility of concluding a BSA with Afghanistan later this year should the new government be willing. It was the most concrete sign yet that Washington could wait out the Afghan electoral process before making a final decision on a future role in Afghanistan.

Though Karzai has refused to sign the pact, some candidates to replace him have indicated they would do so. The deal has also been endorsed by a council of tribal elders. White House spokesman Jay Carney however said Washington was not certain a future government would be on board.

“I don’t think we would, given the experience we’ve had, predict with any great certainty what might happen,” he said, betraying US impatience with the situation. “The longer we go without a signed BSA, the more likely a zero option becomes and even if a BSA is signed, the smaller the mission will have to be, by necessity, in scale and ambition.” Although Afghanistan votes on April 5, a run-off and prolonged horsetrading could mean a government is not seated until

KABUL: Afghan activists chant slogans condemning the killing of 21 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers during a demonstration yesterday. — AFP August-further reducing US planning time.

‘Friendly’ conversation In Kabul, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP the conversation lasted 40 minutes and was friendly. He said Karzai told Obama that Afghans wanted the BSA signed-but restated his condition that Washington must first bring the Taleban into peace talks. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel backed Obama’s move, and confirmed for the first time the Pentagon was actively planning a full withdrawal.

Hagel said that Pentagon brass would simultaneously plan options for a prolonged mission in Afghanistan, likely to include at least several thousand US troops. The call between Karzai and Obama came hours before Hagel left for talks with NATO defense ministers in Brussels, at which he will share US planning on its future Afghan role. The row over the BSA is the latest lurch in the deteriorating relationship between Washington and the mercurial Karzai, who was once seen as a savior after the toppling of the Taleban but is now viewed as unreliable.

Recently, Karzai’s release of 65 alleged Taleban fighters and warning to Washington to stop “harassing” his judicial authorities further alienated US officials. Obama’s political opponents have warned that leaving Afghanistan without Western troops would strain fledgling national forces stood up by NATO and could lead

India navy chief resigns MUMBAI: India’s navy chief resigned yesterday, taking “moral responsibility” for a spate of recent maritime accidents including one off Mumbai’s coast earlier in the day that saw two sailors missing and seven others injured. Smoke was detected aboard a Russian-built submarine in the latest accident, which came after 18 naval crew were killed last August when another fully-armed submarine exploded in flames and sank in a military shipyard in Mumbai.

“Taking moral responsibility for the accidents and incidents which have taken place during the past few months, the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi today resigned,” a defence ministry statement said. “The Government has accepted the resignation of Admiral Joshi with immediate effect.” Seven sailors suffered breathing problems after trying to contain smoke which filled the living quarters of the INS Sindhuratna during a training exercise yesterday, according to the navy.

They were airlifted from the submarine to hospital for treatment and navy ships were dispatched to help the vessel, said Narendra Kumar Vispute, a spokesman for the defense ministry.

“The incident took place between 6am and 7am.

The crew contained the smoke but seven of them had to be airlifted by naval helicopters.

They are all stable,” Vispute told AFP, without elaborating on the cause of the incident.

Two crew members are still missing from the Russian-built Sindhuratna, which was still seaworthy after the incident and was returning to port in Mumbai, the navy said. “Two personnel have not yet been located and all efforts are in progress to locate them,” a statement said. “All other crew of the submarine are on board and safe. Submarine is also safe and does not have any weapons on board.”

Smoke filled compartment number three, triggering the emergency closure of hatches which isolate sections of the submarine, accord-

Alleged Singapore military camp dog abuse sparks row SINGAPORE: Singapore’s militar y has sparked an online storm after punishing a whistle-blowing soldier for leaking video footage of a dog allegedly being abused inside an army camp. The controversy was triggered after a soldier filmed a cowering stray dog suspended by a taut white rope around its neck in a military camp bathroom, preventing it from lying down or moving around.

He released it to an animal rights activist, a member of local group Animal Lovers League, who subsequently shared the video on Facebook on January 14. The 21-second clip displaying the restrained jet-black dog went viral and triggered widespread condemnation from Singapore’s animal-lovers.

The soldier, whose name has not been revealed, had also alleged that stray dogs venturing into the suburban military camp

were being beaten. Singapore maintains a conscript-based military. Every able-bodied male citizen and permanent resident over 18 years must undergo two years of military training.

In a Facebook post late Tuesday the military denied any abuse of stray dogs by the camp’s commanders and said the soldier had been punished for violating rules against unauthorized photography inside the camp and disclosure of information to persons outside the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

It did not specify the punishment for the soldier but the Straits Times newspaper said he was ordered to be confined in camp for 21 days. The army also said stray dogs entering the camp “were a persistent danger to personnel”, with six incidents of attacks in December.—AFP

to a return by the Taleban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Some have compared such a scenario to Washington’s loss of focus after helping rebels oust Soviet occupiers in the 1980s, leaving a power vacuum exploited by the Taleban, which eventually harbored AlQaeda as it planned the September 11 attacks in 2001. Republican Senator John McCain said Obama should deal with a new Afghan government. “The consequences of us completely pulling out would be the same as we just saw in Iraq: black flags of Al-Qaeda flying over the city of Fallujah.” As of Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014, at least 2,174 members of the US military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,795 military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers. Outside of Afghanistan, the department reports at least 132 more members of the US military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, 11 were the result of hostile action. The AP count of total OEF casualties outside of Afghanistan is three more than the department’s tally. The Defense Department also counts three military civilian deaths. Since the start of US military operations in Afghanistan, 19,656 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department. —Agencies

NEW DELHI: Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (center) poses for a photograph with Indian Vice-President Hamed Ansari (right) as Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed (left) looks on at the airport yesterday. Abdulaziz Al-Saud is in India on a three-day official visit. — AFP

ing to the Press Trust of India (PTI). The missing pair “might have been left in the cabin or at some other place as various cabins and compartments are isolated as part of the emergency measures”, PTI quoted an unnamed navy officer as saying.

‘Ageing fleet’ An inquiry was underway into the cause of yesterday’s accident, which a navy spokesman blamed on sparks in the accommodation cabin.

The deadly accident in August, on the INS Sindhurakshak, was thought to be the Indian Navy’s worst disaster since the sinking of a frigate by a Pakistani submarine during a war with its neighbor in 1971. Last month a third submarine, INS Sindhughosh, ran aground while returning to Mumbai harbor. No loss of life or damage was reported. Following Joshi’s resignation, his deputy Vice Admiral RK Dhowan will take charge pending a new appointment, the defense ministry statement said.

The Indian navy has 14 submarines, but only between seven and nine are operational at any one time because of regular repair and refitting.

Gateway House, a Mumbai-based foreign policy think-tank, called the latest naval accident “unfortunate” and urged policy makers to pay closer attention to the Indian naval fleet.

“Delays in the acquisition of new submarines coupled with a deficient and ageing fleet of submarines are taking its toll on the operational capabilities of the Indian navy,” said security expert Sameer Patil of Gateway House. INS Sindhuratna is a kilo-class submarine which normally operates with a crew of 53 and can sail on its own for 45 days, the Indian navy website says.

The submarine had only been handed back to the navy in December after undergoing a major refit, according to local reports. It had been undergoing exercises off the Mumbai coast as part of a clearance process for full operations when the incident occurred. In February 2010 the Sindhurakshak suffered a fire while docked in Visakhapatnam city in southern India, killing a 24-year-old sailor. Russia is still the biggest military supplier to India, but relations have been strained by major delays and cost overruns with a refurbished aircraft carrier, the INS Vikramaditya. — AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

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

China backs lawsuit over forced labor by Japanese BEIJING: China’s government accused Japan of failing to conclusively address allegations of forced labor during World War II and voiced support yesterday for Chinese plaintiffs seeking to sue to Japanese companies in a Beijing court. The lawsuit brought by 37 former workers and their descendants, 69 years after the end of the war, comes as China-Japan tensions rise over territorial claims and their troubled history. While aggressively pursuing claims over disputed islands, Beijing has also sought to play up Japan’s wartime guilt for which it says Tokyo has never shown proper contrition.

Tokyo insists that postwar agreements settled cases of forced wartime labor, and the Japanese government spokesman said yesterday that the

plaintiffs had “no case.” But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the issue remained unresolved. “Forced labor is a grave crime which Japanese militarists committed during their World War II aggression. It is an issue which has yet to be properly solved,” Hua said.

The lawsuit names Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and Mitsui Mining and Smelting as defendants and asks for compensation of 1 million yuan ($163,000) for each defendant as well as apologies in the Chinese and Japanese languages to be placed with the country’s major media outlets. Beijing lawyer Kang Jian, who is representing the 37 plaintiffs, said they filed their paperwork with the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court, but did

not yet know whether they would get a hearing.

Japan’s wartime government systematically abducted nearly 40,000 Chinese citizens and forced them to work for Japanese companies for little or no pay to make up for a labor shortage at home. They were sent to mines, construction sites and factories operated by 135 Japanese companies, many of them among Japan’s corporate giants today.

About 7,000 people died of malnutrition and mistreatment by their employers. Dozens of similar lawsuits brought in Japan were dismissed, although some were settled outside court. The lawsuit filed yesterday is believed to be the first such action brought before a Chinese court.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga, speaking to reporters at his routine morning briefing, reiterated Tokyo’s position that all such claims were settled by agreements between the two governments.

“This is a matter between China and companies with China-related business, so it is a civil issue, Suga said. “However, I can say that since such problems were included in the Japan-China communique, there is no case,” he said. “The individual rights for seeking (compensation) were included in the communique.” Renewed frictions between Beijing and Tokyo arose in 2012 after Japan nationalized a group of tiny uninhabited islands controlled by Japan but claimed by China. — AP

Dogs rip kids to pieces in North Korean camp 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners in N Korea

BANGKOK: Anti-government protesters hold posters of victims of a recent bomb blast as they march in a rally outside the national police headquarters yesterday. — AFP

Gunshots rattle Thai capital as PM flies out BANGKOK: Gunmen opened fire near several opposition protest sites in Bangkok yesterday, stoking tensions in the capital as Thailand’s embattled prime minister flew to her political stronghold in the north. A dangerous new chapter appears to have been opened in a nearly four-month political crisis that has left 22 people dead and hundreds wounded, with almost daily reports of gunshots and grenade blasts in the capital recently-often targeting protesters.

Police said unknown gunmen fired sporadically early yesterday for around an hour in three areas of Bangkok where demonstrators are camped out alongside upscale shopping malls and luxury hotels. Nobody was wounded.

“We don’t know which side fired the shots, but the aim of the gunmen is to intimidate,” deputy national police spokesman Anucha Romyanan told AFP. The spike in violence has been largely confined to areas close to the opposition rallies, which tourists have been urged to avoid, particularly after dark. But foreigners can still be seen wandering around several protest sites, which often resemble street markets and sit next to major hotels, shopping malls and Lumpini Park.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is under intense pressure to step down, with the protesters calling for an unelected “people’s council” to tackle what they see as corruption and a culture of money politics. Her supporters say they will not accept the removal of an elected government by the protesters, military or the courts, raising fears of a protracted standoff. Yingluck has been summoned by an anti-graft panel on Thursday to hear charges of neglect of duty in connection with a rice subsidy scheme that the opposition says is rife with corruption. If found guilty she could be removed from office and face a five-year ban from politics. Yingluck flew to the northern city of Chiang Rai yesterday to inspect government-backed projects, saying she might not attend the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) hearing. “I have not yet

made up my mind,” she told reporters when asked if she would face the panel.

NACC commissioner Vicha Mahakhun said Yingluck’s lawyer had informed the panel that he would represent her at the hearing. “If she doesn’t show up we can send the documents by registered mail,” Vicha said. Officials denied the premier was on the run from protesters, who have vowed to pursue her wherever she goes and have besieged state buildings where she has held cabinet meetings since the occupation of her headquarters in December. “She is not avoiding the political situation in Bangkok,” said Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt.

Children among victims More than 700 people have been wounded in street violence since demonstrators took to the streets in late October seeking to curb the political dominance of Yingluck’s billionaire family. The opposition blames Yingluck’s followers for the violence, while government supporters accuse the demonstrators of trying to incite the military to step in. Four children were among those killed in two separate grenade and gun attacks on opposition rallies in Bangkok and eastern Thailand over the weekend, drawing widespread condemnation. Protesters have occupied several key intersections in the Thai capital, with guards-many wearing body armorsearching cars and pedestrians at roadblocks made from tires and sandbags. It is the country’s deadliest political unrest since 2010, prompting warnings from the army chief that Thailand risks sinking into civil war unless the two sides pull back.

Thailand has been scored by deep divisions since a bloodless coup by the military in 2006 ousted Yingluck’s elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, as prime minister. The latest political violence is the worst since more than 90 people died during protests by pro-Thaksin “Red Shirts” in 2010 that sparked street clashes and a bloody military crackdown. —AFP

Uighur groups slam China charge against academic BEIJING: Rights groups condemned China yesterday for charging a prominent Uighur critic of government policy towards the mostly-Muslim minority with separatismwhich can carry the death penalty. Ilham Tohti, an economics lecturer at a university in Beijing, has been formally accused of the offence, his wife Guzaili Nu’er told AFP. Tohti has been one of the most prominent critics of Chinese policy in Xinjiang, the vast western region where most Uighurs live and which is periodically hit by violent clashes between locals and China’s security forces. China maintains that unrest in the region is caused by terrorist groups seeking an independent state, an account denied by Uighur rights groups who complain of widespread religious repression and economic discrimination.

Rights group Amnesty International urged people to send letters to Chinese leaders demanding Tohti’s immediate release. “He is a prisoner of conscience, detained and arrested solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression,” the group said on its website.

Dilshat Rexit, a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, an exile group, said that “China’s accusations of separatism are merely an excuse for suppression of those with different political opinions”.

“We call on the international community to monitor China and free this Uighur scholar,” he added in a statement. The US-based Uyghur Human Rights Project said in a statement that the charge against Tohti

“reflects not only a zero tolerance policy to Uighur dissent, but also the growing intractability of China towards international criticism of its ethnic policies”.

The group also called on China to account for the whereabouts of Tohti, who has not been allowed to contact his family or see a lawyer since his arrest last month. Li Fangping, a lawyer appointed by Tohti’s family, told AFP the scholar was being held at a facility in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, adding he had lodged a formal request to meet his client and was awaiting a response. Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters: “China’s judicial authorities will deal with the relevant case in accordance with law since China is a country under the rule of law.” Tensions in Xinjiang, a strategically important region which abuts central Asia, have risen in the past year with a series of deadly clashes. Police also blamed suspects from the region for apparently deliberately crashing a car in Beijing’s central Tiananmen Square in October, killing two tourists and the three people in the vehicle.

The incident led President Xi Jinping to call for a security push in Xinjiang. Tohti had challenged the government’s account of the crash. The United States and the European Union have both condemned Tohti’s arrest. China’s courts are tightly controlled by the ruling Communist party, and have previously handed down lengthy jail sentences to intellectuals who have spoken out against the authorities. — AFP

GENEVA: Ahn Myong-Chol witnessed many horrors as a North Korean prison camp guard, but few haunt him like the image of guard dogs attacking school children and tearing them to pieces. Ahn, who worked as a prison camp guard for eight years until he fled the country in 1994, recalls the day he saw three dogs get away from their handler and attack children coming back from the camp school.

“There were three dogs and they killed five children,” the 45-year-old told AFP through a translator. “They killed three of the children right away. The two other children were barely breathing and the guards buried them alive,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of a Geneva conference for human rights activists. The next day, instead of putting down the murderous dogs, the guards pet them and fed them special food “as some kind of award,” he added with disgust.

“People in the camps are not treated as human beings... They are like flies that can be crushed,” said Ahn, his sad eyes framed by steelrimmed glasses. The former guard is one of many defectors who provided harrowing testimony to a UN-mandated enquiry that last week issued a searing, 400-page indictment of gross human rights abuses in North Korea.

After fleeing the country two decades ago, Ahn worked for years at a bank in South Korea but gradually got involved in work denouncing the expansive prison camp system in the isolated nation. Three years ago, he quit his bank job to dedicate all his time to his non-governmental organization, Free NK Gulag.

“It’s my life’s mission to spread awareness

about what is happening in the camps,” he said.

There are an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners in North Korea, a nation of 24 million people. Ahn, who today is married with two daughters, knows all too well the brutal mentality of the camp guards. When he, as the son of a high-ranking official, was ushered onto the prestigious path of becoming a guard in 1987, he says he was heavily brainwashed to see all prisoners as “evil”.

‘Horrors still happening’ At his first posting at camp 14, north of Pyongyang, he was encouraged to practice his Tae Kwon Do skills on prisoners. And he recalls how guards were urged to shoot any prisoner who might try to escape. “We were allowed to kill them, and if we brought back their body, they would award us by letting us go study at college,” he said. Some guards would send prisoners outside the camp and kill them as escapees to gain access to a college education, he added.

Ahn said he had beaten many prisoners but said that, to his knowledge, he had never killed any of them. Although he witnessed numerous executions, starving children, and the effects of extreme torture, it was not until he was promoted to be a driver, transporting soldiers back and forth between camps, that he began to question the system. During his travels he sometimes struck up conversations with prisoners and was astonished to find that “more than 90 percent” of them said they had no idea why they were in the camp.

Ahn had stumbled across North Korea’s system of throwing generations of the same family into prison camps under guilt-by-association rules. He got a taste of that rule himself. On leave in 1994, he returned home to find that his father had committed suicide after making some drunken, negative remarks about the country’s leadership.

Ahn’s mother, sister and brother were detained and likely sent into camps, although he is not sure what became of them. Though Ahn returned to work, he feared he too would be dragged off. So he drove his truck to the shores of the Du Man River and swam across to China, having to dump the heavy weapons he was carrying to avoid drowning.

Once he got involved in the NGO work in South Korea, he was uneasy about meeting former prisoners who had also managed to defect, like Chol Hwan Kang. Kang was sent to Camp 15 — where Ahn once served-with his whole family when he was nine and spent 10 years there to repent for the suspected disloyalties of his grandfather. Ahn remembered him from his time as a guard there.

But Kang, like most survivors, understood he had not chosen his job and had accepted his plea for forgiveness. “He met me with a gentle handshake,” Ahn said. Last week’s UN report was vital to spreading awareness about the reality of the camps, Ahn said, comparing what is happening there to the Soviet-era Gulags. “The difference is that in North Korea we are still talking in the present tense. These horrors are still happening,” he said. — AFP

HK editor in press freedom row attacked with cleaver HONG KONG: The former editor of a Hong Kong newspaper whose ouster triggered protests over media freedom was hacked with a cleaver yesterday in an attack that drew condemnation from the United States and press groups. Kevin Lau, former editor of the liberal Ming Pao newspaper, was hacked at in broad daylight by two men who escaped on a motorbike in the Chai Wan district where the newspaper’s headquarters is located, police said.

Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying described the attack as a “savage act” after visiting Lau in hospital where he underwent multiple operations. The US consulate said it was “deeply concerned about this vicious crime” and joined calls from media groups for the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The attack comes at a time of growing unease over freedom of the press in the southern Chinese city, with mounting concerns that Beijing is seeking to tighten control over the semi-autonomous region. Health officials said Lau underwent surgery for wounds including a 16 centimeter-long (six-inch) gash that cut through all his back muscles, and was in a serious condition but that his life was not in danger.

Tang Chung Ngai, chief of surgery at Eastern Hospital where he was being treated, said Lau was also cut on his shoulder and in four places on his legs. Lau, who was known for hard-hitting political investigations before being reassigned as chief editor in January, was confronted by two assailants when he got out of his car.

“One of them alighted from the motorcycle and used a chopper to attack the victim,” police spokesman Simon Kwan said.

Investigative pedigree Ming Pao said on its website that it was offering a reward of HK$1 million ($129,00) for information leading to the capture of those responsible for what its current chief editor Cheung Kin-por denounced as “cold-blooded” acts. “We don’t want journalists in the city to work under fear in the future,” Ming Pao Staff Concern Group spokeswoman Phyllis Tsang said.

“If this situation happened, it would have a really serious impact on press freedom in Hong Kong,” she told AFP. Plans to replace Lau with an editor from Malaysia seen as pro-Beijing prompted protests from staff who feared an attempt to stifle the paper ’s investigative reporting. Among Ming Pao’s reports have been a probe into the death of prominent Chinese dissident Li Wangyang, who was found hanged in a mainland hospital room. The official verdict was suicide but supporters believe he was murdered. The attack on Lau is the latest in a series against journalists in the territory. In June last year there were multiple attacks against employees of Apple Daily, a popular tabloid critical of Beijing, and Chen Ping, a publisher of a magazine known for its outspoken coverage of mainland issues, was also beaten up.

“We strongly condemn violence and urge the police to take action,” Hong Kong Journalists Association chairman Sham Yee-lan told AFP.

HONG KONG: This photo shows Kevin Lau, former editor of the Ming Pao newspaper, being wheeled in on a stretcher after he was attacked in broad daylight by an unknown number of assailants on Hong Kong island. — AFP The Foreign Correspondents’ Club voiced shock at the incident. “Hong Kong’s reputation as a free and international city will suffer if such crimes go unsolved and unpunished,” it said in a statement.

Media freedom ‘at low point’ Critics said Lau’s sidelining was politically motivated as the city takes part in a debate about its future political system, almost 17 years after the handover from British rule, and as concerns mount that Beijing is seeking to tighten control. Under a deal between London and Beijing, Hong Kong is guaranteed freedom of

speech among other liberties that China’s mainland residents are denied.

But earlier this month two reports from international media watchdogs said self-censorship was becoming commonplace, with the Committee to Protect Journalists saying that media freedom was “at a low point”. It cited selfcensorship among reporters, financial and physical threats against the media and legislative steps that could hinder investigative reporting.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders also said Hong Kong’s media independence was “now in jeopardy” as China flexed its muscles to stifle critical coverage. — AFP

2 held in Philippines in online child abuse raid MANILA: Four minors have been rescued and two suspects detained in the Philippines following a raid on an apartment where children were made to disrobe for Internet cameras, the judicial officials said yesterday. The Manila raid followed a tip-off from the United States Department of Homeland Security, said Dante Bonoan, anti-human trafficking division chief of the justice department’s National Bureau of Investigation. “ The exploited minors were asked to show their sex parts to their clients,” he told reporters, adding that the website’s paid subscribers were mostly from the United States, Canada and European countries.

Police say the Philippines is a key centre of the fast-growing global industry that streams live images of children forced to commit sex

acts for paedophiles abroad, with thousands of children in the impoverished nation abused. Police in Britain, Australia and the Philippines announced last month that they had jointly dismantled a paedophile ring that streamed live sexual abuse of Filipino children as young as six over the web. In some cases, the victims’ parents were involved.

The international operation rescued 15 victims aged between six and 15, while 29 people were arrested. More than 700 other suspects were being investigated, according to Britain’s National Crime Agency. Bonoan said two persons suspected of running the Manila apartment operation were detained, but no details about them were given. The authorities also seized laptops, desktop computers, cameras, and other gadgets, he added. — AFP

NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Quotas mulled for expatriates Continued from Page 1 Licenses of fake companies are used to issue work visas, which are then sold to labor forces looking for a chance to work in the oil-rich Gulf region, or those who are already living in Kuwait, albeit illegally. The practice is known locally as ‘visa trafficking’, and the workers brought in illegally are internationally recognized as human trafficking victims.

The road to demographic balance The recent efforts - in which hundreds of fake companies were referred to the Public Prosecution or Criminal Investigations Department at the Interior Ministry - were announced as part of a ‘reformist bid’ and steps that add to Kuwait’s efforts to improve its human rights record. In addition to that, the efforts can also be ranked as an attempt to adjust the state’s demographic structure by targeting the approximate 120,000 illegal expatriates. Kuwait is home to 2.7 million expatriates who account for around 68 percent of the country’s nearly 4 million population.

The widening gap between the growth rate of the Kuwaiti and expatriate populations is seen as a major cause of concern for the country’s demographical structure and cultural identity as well as efforts to address lingering issues impacting the Gulf state such as increasing pressure on public services and unemployment. Many proposals have been made in recent years on the political, economic and social scenes to address this issue.

Last year, then Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rashidi announced a plan to deport 100,000 foreigners every year as part of a scheme to cut the country’s expatriate population by one million within a decade. No further details or actual procedures were made, but police crackdowns that launched simultaneously and saw thousands of illegals being arrested and deported were seen as an unannounced step in that direction.

Nevertheless, several proposals were made in the parliament since then to address the demographic imbalance, including one announced by MP Khalil Abdullah last week that calls for reducing expatriates by 1,100,000 within five years, which means deporting an average of 280,000 expatriates every year, so that the number of foreigners can drop below that of Kuwaitis.

The action In what can be considered as the clearest statement from a government official on plans to address the demographic imbalance since Rashidi announced her plan in March 2013, Subaih announced that a committee will be formed in order to provide statistics of the expatriate labor forces in Kuwait, with the main objective being “organizing entry through a system that sets quotas for each nationality”. “The maximum quota will be subjected to the labor market’s need, workers’ academic qualifications and culture, in addition to their qualification to work in Kuwait,” Subaih said in statements published by Al-Jarida daily on Tuesday. “The goal is to avoid crowding the market with unqualified marginal labor forces,” she added, “who are considered a main target for visa traffickers.”

And while confirming that “readjusting the demographic structure in Kuwait” would be the committee’s main objective, Subaih said that the panel members will be selected from several state departments, including the Supreme Council for Planning and Development and the Central Statistical Bureau in addition to the labor and interior ministries.

Time and effect Currently, there is no clear date for when the ministry will start adopting the quota system, or how it will impact the entry procedures for citizens of countries with large communities in Kuwait such as India and Egypt. These two countries have over 706,000 and 493,000 residents in the state respectively, according to the latest official Interior Ministry statistics as of June 30, 2012.

Social affairs and labor ministry officials are also scrambling to finalize readjustments to the labor department’s database system before opening recruitment in the private sector. Hiring and transferring visit visas to work permits was closed over a month ago in order to introduce better procedures to ensure that the employer adheres to labor regulations. Subaih also noted last week that work continues to prepare the Public Labor Authority for an official launch sometime this summer. Once established, the state-run body will replace the flawed sponsorship or ‘kafala’ system in handling the affairs of Kuwait’s expatriate population.

Spy fears drive mobile security Continued from Page 1

Kuwaiti air force Apache helicopters (top) and Turkish army fighter jets fly past the Kuwait Towers during celebrations to mark the state’s 53rd National Day and the 23rd Liberation Day. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Hezb vows response to ‘Israel air strike’ Continued from Page 1 Hezbollah, which brands itself a resistance movement against Israel, was formed in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and was the principal actor in ending Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah is Lebanon’s only movement that has not disarmed since the small Mediterranean country’s brutal 15-year civil war ended in 1990. It has bases in the south of Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley in the east and in its southern Beirut bastion.

The group denied earlier reports that Israel’s raids had hit “artillery positions or missiles”. On Monday night, a Lebanese security source told AFP two raids had hit a Hezbollah target at the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel had denied any raid had hit Lebanese territory.

On Tuesday, Israeli officials refrained from commenting specifically on Monday night’s raid, although they confirmed a policy of interdiction of suspected arms deliveries from Syria to Hezbollah. “We are doing everything that is necessary in order to defend the security of Israel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “We will not say what we’re doing or what we’re not doing.”

It was the first Israeli attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon since the 2006 war that killed more than 1,200

Lebanese, mostly civilians, and some 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Residents said they saw flares light up the sky ahead of the raids which shook their houses, and that the strike had pounded Hezbollah positions on the hills overlooking the Lebanese border town of Nabi Sheet.

Hezbollah acknowledged last spring that it is sending fighters into neighbouring Syria to support President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces as they battle a nearly three-year uprising.

According to Waddah Charara, a sociology professor and author of “The State of Hezbollah”, the raids could mark an important turning point. Now “Israel can attack Lebanon because it knows there will be no reaction at the national level,” Charara said. The movement enjoyed widespread support in Lebanon during the 2006 conflict with Israel, but its popularity has diminished in recent years, and its decision to intervene in the Syrian conflict is controversial. Syria has long provided arms and other aid to Hezbollah, and also served as a conduit for Iranian military aid to the movement. In May, Israel launched two raids targeting what it said were arms convoys near Damascus destined for Hezbollah. And on Nov 1 last year, there were reports of an Israeli strike against a Syrian air base where missiles to be supplied to Hezbollah were located. — AFP

measures such as using passwords or security software.

With concerns reawakened by the debate around Snowden’s revelations of US government spying, Californiabased online security specialists Silent Circle and Spanish smartphone company Geeksphone launched this week a privacy-protected device, Blackphone. The smartphone, which sells for $629, has a 4.7 inch, high-definition screen, and uses Silent Circle’s Private OS version of Android, offering anonymous search, anonymous remote data wiping and private calls, texting, and file exchange.

“The Snowden disclosures have certainly raised awareness about some of these issues,” said Silent Circle president Phil Zimmermann. “I think what we have seen is that there is a heightened sensitivity to the implications of what a loss of privacy can mean,” he told a news conference at the mobile fair. “Just to be clear, we have never claimed that we are offering an NSA-proof device and we will not make such a claim.

It would be, perhaps, foolhardy,” he added. “But we are offering a tool that makes a huge difference to somebody who is currently using no privacy tools at all.”

As smartphone sales grow and the personal computer declines, hackers are on the lookout for the growing oppor-

tunity offered by smartphones, industry players say. A decade ago, mobile viruses caused problems such as making your device send a premium-rate SMS. But with the boom in smartphones, their owners’ exposure has grown because the devices have access to the Internet, a camera, sound and even payment systems. “For attackers, it is a business. With the decline of PC, they are looking at how they can make money with smartphones and tablets,” said Con Mallon, head of mobile products at security software group Symantec. “The threats that are moving from the desktop to mobile are not new, but the context is new,” he said.

The universe of Android applications provides an open doorway to pirates, who can simply copy the most popular applications and wait for users to click on them and provide their personal information, analysts say. Symantec estimates that the number of viruses detected quadrupled in a year to 273,000 in June 2013 on the Android platform.

Finnish network services group Nokia Solutions and Networks offers carriers the possibility of directly protecting smartphone users on their clients’ networks. Its “mobile guard” system detects abnormal traffic generated when a virus is active on the network, allowing the operator to send a fix directly to the affected smartphone. — AFP

Joy and street revelry as Kuwait celebrates Continued from Page 1 Also on the national occasions, HH Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad remembered with pride Kuwait’s martyrs, the POWs and the missing who sacrificed their noble souls and pure blood in defense of the soil of the precious homeland, beseeching His Almighty to bestow His mercy and forgiveness on their souls and embrace them among the martyrs in paradise.

Sheikh Sabah expressed greetings to brotherly Arab states and friendly states for their honorable stand with Kuwait and its people when the country was under the flagrant occupation. He also praised their support for Kuwait’s just causes, their effective contributions with their forces in the battle for liberation where blood of their citizens mingled with that of the natives of Kuwait

till victory and liberation were achieved.

The Amir called for expressing gratitude to His Almighty’s bounties, namely the bounty of liberation, liberating the dear homeland and restoring its pride, security and safety. Such heavenly endowments must be met with gratification, obedience to His Almighty, sincere loyalty to the dear homeland and placing all resources at the disposal of developing Kuwait, he said.

Sheikh Sabah expressed deep pleasure on the national celebrations and the passionate sentiments expressed by citizens and residents of the dear land of Kuwait, lauding the effective participation in these activities by state departments and NGOs, thus contributing to their success. In conclusion, HH the Amir implored His Almighty to safeguard the dear homeland, grace it with ever-lasting security, safety, development and prosperity.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

ANALYSIS

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Issues

Facing collapse, Ukraine costly prize for West

By Steven R Hurst

U

kraine may well be the geopolitical prize nobody can afford to win. As the country begins the delicate climb out of the chaos that saw yet another political turnover, the US and the European Union have had a look at the Ukrainian government’s books. It’s a grim picture that is testing the political will and financial wherewithal of potential Western benefactors. “The real question now is how much of the burden of dealing with Ukraine is going to be European and how much the Europeans are going to be able to slough off onto the American taxpayer,” said Wayne Merry, a scholar at the American Foreign Policy Council. Right now, he said, Ukraine is fairly low on Washington’s list of priorities amid bigger problems in Syria, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Ukraine’s acting finance minister, Yuri Kobolov, says the country needs $35 billion to cover this year and next. He is looking to Europe or the United States for help, hopefully within the next two weeks. Jonathan Adelman, professor of international relations at the University of Denver, said he sees little chance of the Washington coming through at a time of budgetary difficulties, highlighted this week when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposed to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest size since the 1940s. “There’s going to be no enthusiasm here for the tens of billions of dollars it would take to bail Ukraine out,” Adelman said.

Ukraine has major debt repayments coming up in June but analysts indicate it will have difficulty making it that far without help. A rescue with outside lenders can’t be agreed until there’s a government, and the Ukrainian Parliament has postponed the formation of one until Thursday. The crisis in Ukraine blew up when President Viktor Yanukovych, at the last minute late last year, backed out of an association deal with the European Union in favor of a promised $15 billion bailout from Russia. That angered Ukrainians from proEuropean central and western regions.

Bailout on hold Russia’s bailout is now on hold after the Ukrainian parliament voted Saturday to remove Yanukovych, who fled the capital and went into hiding after months of protests against his government. The country has only gotten $3 billion of the money. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Tuesday that the EU and its member nations are ready to help bridge Ukraine’s short-term financing needs until a new government can negotiate a full-fledged assistance package with the International Monetary Fund. She said it was important that Russia also help out. But James Collins, former US ambassador to Moscow and diplomat in residence at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to stand back and let the situation in Ukraine play out for the time being.

Ukraine, a country of 46 million, is torn between its pro-European western regions and its Russian-speaking east and south. The tensions date back to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukraine’s unexpected independence in 1991. In the Crimean Peninsula, protesters rallied this week against the new authorities in Kiev and pleaded for protection from Moscow. “A continuation of past policies pressing Ukraine to choose between East and West will almost certainly make this process more difficult and fraught,” Collins said. “An approach providing Ukraine with breathing room and time is more likely to create a favorable environment for a positive outcome from Ukraine’s next stage. Such a policy would serve the interests of Russia, the EU and the United States.”

Merry said the Europeans may not have understood what they had unleashed by courting Ukraine. “A lot of people in a lot of those capitals really - Berlin and Paris to name two - think that the European Union got too far out in front of itself, didn’t think through what it was doing, got involved in what was a zero-sum position with Russia,” Merry said. —AP

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.

Civil strife stalks tropical Thailand

By Amy Sawitta Lefevre

T

hailand is hurtling towards a dark and unfamiliar place. After almost four months of round-the-clock anti-government protests, institutions that provided a buffer in past conflicts have not stepped in, making the country look increasingly ungovernable. That raises the chances of low-intensity civil strife wiping the grin off the “Land of Smiles” as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s grip on power appears to slip away. Critics have branded Yingluck a prime minister on the run due to her absence from Bangkok after she was hounded by protesters last week, adding to the uncertainty after some of the deadliest attacks since the protests began.

Increasing lawlessness, which is certain to spook investors, has been made worse by the reluctance of security forces to make a move, having managed to clear only one of several protest sites. In its strongest signal since the crisis began, the military said on Monday it would not step in despite a weekend of violence that saw five people killed, four of them children, in separate attacks in Bangkok and eastern Thailand.

Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha distanced himself from the anti-government group saying troops “do not want to use force ... to unnecessarily fight with the Thai people” while the 86-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has stepped in to defuse previous crises, has remained silent.

In the absence of the usual safety nets, many are talking about the possibility of

civil war. “We are for the first time entering an era in which there is no neutral, bona fide third party above the political fray which can reset the dialogue and insist on reconciliation,” Christian Lewis, a Southeast Asia specialist at political risk consultants Eurasia Group, told Reuters.

The crisis pits the mainly middle-class and southern anti-government demonstrators, who are backed by the royalist establishment, against the largely rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Both sides have armed activists.

‘Powerful Forces’ Thaksin’s enemies say he is a corrupt, crony capitalist who manipulates the masses with populist handouts and is a threat to the monarchy, which he denies. Protesters blame his sister for policy failure including a botched rice subsidy scheme - losses are estimated at $6 billion annually since 2011 - that paid farmers above market price for their rice. Yingluck’s days appear numbered with protesters trying to drive a wedge between the premier and her support base in the mostly poor, agrarian north and northeast of Thailand. “There is no conceivable way that she can become prime minister again. Powerful forces in this country won’t allow it,” said Kan Yuenyong, of the Siam Intelligence Unity think-tank. “If she’s not going to resign, the idea is to slowly divide her from her base.”

Protesters have twinned their cause with thousands of angry farmers who have

traditionally formed the backbone of Yingluck’s support but descended on Bangkok last week threatening to storm her temporary headquarters. Yingluck is due to hear charges against her for negligence in the rice scheme on Thursday. If the case is sent to court and she is found guilty, she would be forced to resign and could be barred from politics for five years.

Paul Chambers, director of research at the Institute of South East Asia Affairs in northern Chiang Mai, thinks a violent confrontation looks increasingly likely. “There’s a growing rift between the armed forces and the police and a question of overlapping jurisdiction between the two. Add to that the fact that the protesters and progovernment forces could conceivably face off and you have a possibility of low-scale conflict in Bangkok,” said Chambers. The conflict has killed 21 people and left more than 700 wounded since Nov 30. Tough rhetoric from leaders of the pro-government “red shirt” movement at a recent rally attended by several thousand in the northeast set off more alarm bells.

‘Judicial Coup’ Jatuporn Prompan, a leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship allied to Thaksin’s Puea Thai Party, told the “war drum” meeting that government supporters had two choices “to win or get killed”. Some pro-government leaders have called for the country to be divided in two, along north-south political lines. The crisis is a long way from the

running gun battles of April and May 2010 when more than 90 people died, but the situation could quickly deteriorate. “If we start seeing intense fighting like in 2010 then the central bank, which has been using rate cuts to manage the economy, will struggle to avert a crisis,” said Boonyakiat Karavekphan, a political analyst at Ramkamhaeng University.

Without decisive intervention by the army, the anti-government protesters will struggle to remove Yingluck and replace her with their planned “people’s council” of unelected good and worthy. Their most likely source of help looks to be the judiciary, which government supporters say is biased against Thaksin’s political machine.

Evidence of that, they complain, was a recent court order banning the government from using force against the protesters under a state of emergency imposed last month.

Apart from negligence in the rice scheme, Yingluck faces other abuse of power cases which could force her from office.

The idea of a coup by the military, which has staged many, including one against Thaksin in 2006, is no longer so palatable.

“A military coup is too apparent,” said Puea Thai’s legal adviser, Bhokin Bhalakula.

“That’s why her enemies are trying to use judicial coups.” But Yingluck’s removal would not restore order. On the contrary, the Shinawatras’ passionate supporters say they will retaliate against the unfair dismissal of the government they voted in to office in 2011. —Reuters

Sunni anger in Lebanon against army grows

By Diaa Hadid

F

rom radical preachers to irreverent taxi drivers, anger is spreading through Lebanon’s Sunni community toward the country’s military, adding a dangerous twist to Lebanon’s instability, already shaken by relentless bombings. Many Sunnis accuse the military of siding with their rivals, the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah, as sectarian tensions grow in Lebanon, stoked by the civil war in neighboring Syria. Since December, four attacks have killed five soldiers, with warnings of more to come.

The tensions add another trigger for potential conflict within Lebanon.

The sectarian divide is growing increasingly explosive, with Sunnis largely backing their brethren in Syria, while Shiites and Hezbollah support the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. That violence has ricocheted into Lebanon, with Sunni militants carrying out more than a dozen bombings against Shiite areas since July, killing dozens and terrifying the country.

As Lebanon’s military moves against the militants, they risk fueling further anger among the wider Sunni community - not because there’s much sympathy for extremists, but from the perception the army is punishing Sunnis for backing rebels while allowing Hezbollah to help Assad. “The army doesn’t act fairly. They crush Sunnis with their feet,” said grocer Umm Zaher, 56, in a Sunni neighborhood of the Lebanese capital Beirut. She and most Sunnis interviewed by The Associated Press declined to give their full names, fearing retaliation from the army or Hezbollah. “The army is theirs,” said taxi driver Khaled, 32, referring to Hezbollah. Blue flags fluttered from nearby street lights, the symbol of a Sunni-dominated political bloc once led by assassinated Sunni Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. “It’s everywhere in

Sunni areas that people feel this way,” said Sunni cleric Raed Hlayhel of Tripoli.

Unifying force Criticizing the army was once rare.

The institution is widely seen as a unifying force, drawing recruits across Lebanon’s patchwork of Christian and Muslim sects. On the street, people often address soldiers as “watan”, Arabic for “homeland”. The army is an important economic vehicle for Sunni advancement, and they compose at least one-third of its forces, said Aram Nerguizian, an expert on Lebanon’s military at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Nevertheless, that and the offer of $3 billion to the army from Saudi Arabia, an ally of Lebanese Sunnis, has not shaken the perception among Sunnis that the army is against them.

Lebanese army officials didn’t respond to requests for comment. Sunnis long have resented Hezbollah’s dominance

of Lebanon’s politics and the untouchable, state-within-a-state status it enjoys. Its guerrilla force also is stronger than the military. Sunnis began souring toward the army in May 2008, when Hezbollah-loyal gunmen rampaged through Sunni areas of Beirut, after years of political disputes, and soldiers did nothing to stop them.

Sunnis now accuse Lebanon’s army of targeting their brethren funneling weapons, helping and harboring Syrian rebels, while ignoring Hezbollah’s actions. In June, clashes erupted between Lebanese soldiers and followers of fiery Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Asir, a prominent opponent of Hezbollah. Hezbollah supporters briefly joined the fighting alongside soldiers, reviving Sunni grievances. The army is being pushed into an “awkward position”, said Riad Kahwaji, chief executive of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

“It is perceived to be confronting Sunni

In this May 21, 2012, file photo, Sunni gunmen hold up their weapons as they shout slogans during the funeral procession of anti-Syrian regime Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed AbdulWahid, who was shot at a Lebanese army checkpoint, in his hometown village of Beireh in Akkar, north Lebanon. —AP

extremists, while at the same time, it seems to be collaborating with the Shiite Hezbollah group,” Kahwaji said.

Recent events underscore those tensions. On Jan 24, soldiers seized 24year-old Sunni cleric Omar Atrash, suspecting he recruited suicide bombers, smuggled explosives and planned attacks. Fellow clerics claim he was tortured into making false confessions.

The day before Atrash was arrested, soldiers shot Ibrahim Abu Meilek, 22, who they suspected of harboring extremist Syrian rebels, local media reported. Outraged Sunnis asked why Abu Meilek was punished while Hezbollah fighters around move freely.

On Jan 15, soldiers killed a man during a raid in the eastern town of Kamed al-Lawz, with local media claiming he harbored Lebanon’s most wanted militant. Sunni clerics said he supported anti-Assad Syrian rebels.

Thousands of men marched in his funeral, enraged by a video showing his blood pooling around a pair of abandoned shoes. “When the law is only applied to one side, it creates grievances,” Sunni politician Mustafa Alloush said. “What the Sunni street feels is that there’s winking toward Hezbollah, and severity toward the other side.”

Soldiers targeted Reflecting that anger, a series of attacks have targeted Lebanese soldiers. In January, gunmen in Tripoli killed two soldiers by firing a rocket at their vehicle. In mid-December, a man hurled a grenade at an army checkpoint near the southern city of Sidon.

Hours later, another attacker blew himself up with a hand grenade, killing a soldier. On Saturday, a suicide attacker driving an SUV blew himself up at an army checkpoint in the northeastern town of Hermel, killing two soldiers. A shadowy Lebanese group inspired by the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in neighboring Syria accused the “brutal

Lebanese army” of allowing Hezbollah fighters to cross through military checkpoints. “They do not stop here.

They (Hezbollah) have handed over protection of their dens to the Lebanese army, so they can devote themselves to waging war against the Sunni Syrian people, placing the (Lebanese) army in the confrontation,” it said in a statement released Tuesday.

Growing anger has been made more dangerous because of a yearslong drift by the Sunni community away from its traditional moderate leaders, in some cases to fiery preachers. In an online recording uploaded in January, a shadowy Tripoli militant called on Sunnis to desert the army.

“Don’t be a sword that Christians and Shiites carry to stab you,” said the militant, who called himself Abu Sayyaf AlAnsari. Retired army general Amin Hoteit dismissed accusations of discrimination. “When Hezbollah fighters go to Syria, they cross checkpoints as civilians. They aren’t taking their weapons to Syria. They have no reason to be halted,” he said. Sunnis, on the other hand, try to move around Lebanon with their weapons. “So if they aren’t stopped, it would be a problem,” he said.

The army tiptoes around Hezbollah in part because forcing Shiite soldiers to battle the group could splinter the military. The army cleaved between Muslims and Christians during Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990. Hezbollah officials also have worked closely with Lebanon’s military intelligence, Nerguizian said.

Some wonder how long the uneasy peace will last. In Beirut, taxi driver Khaled sat with his friend Mohammed, 42, joking about nightclubs and cursing Shiites. Both were army conscripts; despite their growing frustration, they supported the military - with a caveat.

“Nobody has the intention to harm the army,” Mohammed said. “As long as they don’t attack us.” —AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

S P ORTS

Russian skier paralysed

Stevens cleared of charges

Khan snatches early lead

SOCHI: Russian freestyle skier Maria Komissarova says she is paralysed from the waist down after breaking her back in a training crash at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The 23-year-old underwent two operations after suffering a fracture and dislocation of the spine and has been rehabilitating at a German clinic.

“I don’t know where to start, but I don’t want to shrink into myself because everyone has supported me so much,” she said on her Instagram page yesterday.

“Thank you! It’s been 10 days since my spine surgeries. I don’t feel the body below the navel. But I’m strong and I know that sometime I will definitely recover feet!”

Komissarova sustained the injury while training at the Olympic skicross venue at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. She had a metal implant inserted during a six-hour operation at a hospital specially built for the Games, after which she was flown to Germany for further treatment inMunich.—Reuters

LONDON: Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens has been cleared of corruption charges in Bangladesh, he said yesterday. In August, the Englishman was charged with failing to report a corrupt approach to participate in match-fixing while playing for the Dhaka Gladiators in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 competition. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a five-year suspension from cricket and had Stevens been found guilty, it would have almost certainly ended the 37-year-old’s professional career. However, Stevens again insisted on Wednesday he had never been party to any corruption, telling English county Kent’s website: “I would officially like to thank the tribunal for their verdict today and in particular their determination of non-guilty findings in charges brought against me by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

“I can assure all of the fans of the Dhaka Gladiators, the people of Bangladesh and all cricket followers, that I have always played the game of cricket honestly, with integrity and to the best of my ability. “I have loved playing cricket in Bangladesh, as well as everywhere else in the world and I hope that I will be allowed to continue to play cricket globally.”

Kent chief executive Jamie Clifford added: “I speak for all at Kent when I say that I am delighted for Darren that this verdict was reached.

“All Kent supporters will wish him well of course and we all look forward to his return to Kent colours at the start of the 2014 season.”—AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s Rashid Khan shot a dramatic 11-under-par 61 to take a five-shot lead in the first round of the season-opening SAIL-SBI Open at the Delhi Golf Club yesterday. The 23-year-old, runner-up last year, scored nine birdies and one eagle for the lowest round of his career-one shot shy of the course record. Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera and Akinori Tani of Japan shot 66s, while Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman and Australia’s Scott Barr finished with 67s in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event. “This is my best round,” said Khan, in comments supplied by the organisers. “It was really important for me. “I’ve been trying to shoot double digits and I’ve been close in the past. I’ve managed it now, I’m really happy.” Perera started strongly with an easy birdie on 10 and finished off his round in style, shooting two birdies and an eagle over his last three holes. “Six under in my first event of the Asian Tour season, I’m happy,” he said. “Rashid is a good player and he’s started with such a deep round. Hopefully I can give him a fight.”—Reuters

Sabres stop Hurricanes BUFFALO: The NHL resumed from its Olympic break on Tuesday, with lowly Buffalo winning 3-2 at home against Carolina.

Christian Ehrhoff scored twice for the Sabres, including the go-ahead goal with 44 seconds left.

Ryan Miller played a key role in stopping the first 20 shots he faced and 36 overall in what might be the star goalie’s final game in Buffalo before the trade deadline on March 5. Miller also assisted on both of Ehrhoff’s goals, while Drew Stafford also had two assists.

Tyler Ennis also scored for Buffalo, which had lost its last three games before the 17day break. Eric Staal and Alexander Semin scored for the Hurricanes.

Meanwhile, the Sochi Olympics are over and the NHL is back after freezing its schedule so that the world’s best hockey players could compete for gold - perhaps for the last time.

Sidney Crosby won another Olympic championship with Canada. Now, Sid the Kid wants to help the Pittsburgh Penguins hoist the Stanley Cup again.

Crosby and the Penguins host Montreal on Thursday, the third day of league games after the Olympic break, just four days after helping the Canadians beat Sweden in the gold-medal game in Russia.

“In some ways, it will help, playing at this speed in one-game elimination with desperation,” Crosby said Sunday after the final competition of the Sochi Games. “I haven’t really had this transition midseason with Olympic ice, going back to regular size, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

In the East, Boston holds a seven-point lead over Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division coming out of the Olympic break.

Pittsburgh holds a 16-point lead over the Rangers in the Metropolitan.

It’s much tighter in the West, where St. Louis and defending champion Chicago are tied atop the Central Division, just five points in front of Colorado. The Ducks have the conference’s top mark and a sevenpoint lead on San Jose.

The NHL is going to have its fifth and sixth outdoor games of the season on Saturday, when the Chicago Blackhawks play Pittsburgh at Soldier field, and the next day in a Vancouver-Ottawa matchup at BC Place. Despite seemingly having success with the expansion of the concept beyond an annual Winter Classic, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman isn’t ready to say there will be more than one game

exposed to the elements next season.

“We haven’t made any decisions about how many games next year (will be outdoors), but the games this year so far have been nothing short of spectacular,” Bettman said in an interview with The Associated Press during the Olympics. “The Winter Classic had over 100,000 people in Michigan, played in the snow, and at two games in Yankee Stadium and the game in Los Angeles, fans couldn’t have been more engaged.

“When you think about the impact of these regular season games have had, it shows you how excited our fans get about the outdoor games.”

The Detroit Red Wings lost to Toronto in a shootout at the Big House on New Year’s Day, giving the Maple Leafs an extra point that could prove to be pivotal when the regular season ends April 13. The storied franchises are likely competing for one of the two wild-card bids in the Eastern Conference.

If the playoffs began today, the Red Wings would extend their postseason streak to 23. Detroit made it last year by only one point and the race might be as tight again with Columbus, Ottawa, Washington, Carolina and New Jersey within a win or two of moving into a wild-card spot.

“When we play teams like Montreal and Toronto, those are really like four-point games,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said.

In the Western Conference, which appears to be filled with better teams, it looks like Dallas, Phoenix, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Nashville may be vying for the eighth and final spot in the playoffs.

The Buffalo Sabres, meanwhile, have an NHL-low 38 points - nine fewer than the last place team, Edmonton, in the Western Conference.

That gives Buffalo plenty of incentive to shop goaltender Ryan Miller and his expiring contract. Miller was primarily used as a backup for the United States in the Olympics.

The Sabres are running out of time to get something in return for the face of their franchise. The NHL’s trade deadline is March 5. Some teams that were hit by injuries during the Olympics may make moves to replace the players they lost.

Others, such as Buffalo, might decide to trade talented or expensive players if it appears they have no shot to be a part of the postseason. —Agencies

DENVER: Nuggets guard Aaron Brooks (center) chases down a loose ball as Portland Trail Blazers forward Dorell Wright (left) and guard Damian Lillard cover in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game. —AP

Blazers pound Nuggets DENVER: Damian Lillard made up for the absence of fellow All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge by scoring 31 points in the Portland Trail Blazers’ 100-95 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.

Lillard scored 12 in the third quarter when it looked as if the Blazers were headed for a blowout win, but he saved his biggest shots for late in the four th after the Nuggets had trimmed an 18-point deficit to two. Lillard helped Portland overcome a terrific performance by Denver’s J.J. Hickson, who pulled down a career-high 25 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive side. Hickson led the Nuggets to a 64-41 advantage on the glass.

Aldridge missed his fourth straight game with a strained left groin. But the Blazers had six players score in double figures, including Nicolas Batum’s 16 points. Randy Foye led Denver with 17 points. Denver again was without Ty Lawson, who leads the Nuggets with averages of 18 points and 8.8 assists. He’s missed seven straight games with a broken rib.

ROCKETS 129, KINGS 103 James Harden scored a season-high 43 points before resting for all of the fourth quarter, and the Rockets routed the Kings.

Harden helped Houston go ahead by 25 points in the first quarter, 31 in the second and 33 in the third. He shot 11 of 20 from the floor, made 15 of 16 free throws and added eight assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Dwight Howard left briefly after banging his right knee but returned to finish with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Chandler Parsons had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who have won 10 of their last 11 games.

DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points and six rebounds for the Kings before getting ejected for vehemently arguing with an official in the third quarter. He picked up his NBA-leading 14th and 15th technical fouls.

Christian Ehrhoff

NHL result/standings Buffalo 3, Carolina 2.

Western Conference Pacific Division W L OTL GF Anaheim 41 14 5 196 San Jose 37 16 6 175 Los Angeles 31 22 6 139 Phoenix 27 21 10 163 Vancouver 27 24 9 146 Calgary 22 29 7 137 Edmonton 20 33 7 153 Central Division St. Louis 39 12 6 196 Chicago 35 11 14 207 Colorado 37 16 5 174 Minnesota 31 21 7 145 Dallas 27 21 10 164 Winnipeg 28 26 6 168 Nashville 25 24 10 146

GA PTS 147 87 142 80 128 68 169 64 160 63 179 51 199 47 135 163 153 147 164 175 180

84 84 79 69 64 62 60

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Boston 37 16 4 176 125 78 Tampa Bay 33 20 5 168 145 71 Montreal 32 21 6 148 142 70 Toronto 32 22 6 178 182 70 Detroit 26 20 12 151 163 64 Ottawa 26 22 11 169 191 63 Florida 22 29 7 139 183 51 Buffalo 16 34 8 113 174 40 Metropolitan Division Pittsburgh 40 15 3 186 138 83 NY Rangers 32 24 3 155 146 67 Philadelphia 30 23 6 162 167 66 Columbus 29 24 5 170 161 63 Washington 27 23 9 171 175 63 Carolina 26 23 9 146 161 61 New Jersey 24 22 13 135 146 61 NY Islanders 22 30 8 164 200 52 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

PACERS 118, LAKERS 98 Paul George scored 12 of his 20 points in the third quarter, Evan Turner had 13 points in his Pacers debut, and Indiana improved its league-leading record to 43-13.

Kent Bazemore finished with a career-high 23 points and Jodie Meeks added 15 for the Lakers (19-38), who have the worst record in the West. The loss also ended Los Angeles’ three-game winning streak at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Lakers stayed closer than expected through the first 21/2 quarters and trailed just 59-58 early in the third. But George then scored 10 points in a decisive 14-5 spurt that gave Indiana an 80-68 lead with 2:58 to go in the period.

George had seven rebounds and six assists despite spending the entire fourth quarter on the bench with most of Indiana’s starters.

BULLS 107, HAWKS 103 Mike Dunleavy scored 22 points and Joakim

Noah had 20 points and 12 rebounds, helping the Bulls hold on for the road win.

Carlos Boozer had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago, and Kirk Hinrich scored 14 points, including six free throws in the final 44 seconds. The Bulls have won six of seven.

Jeff Teague had 26 points but made two costly turnovers late in the game for the Hawks, who have lost nine of 10. Shelvin Mack had 17 points. The Bulls led most of the second half but never pushed the advantage to double figures. With 43.2 seconds remaining, officials reviewed and confirmed a questionable foul called on DeMarre Carroll on Hinrich’s 3-point attempt. Hinrich made the three free throws to give Chicago a 104-103 lead.

in the fourth quarter, and the Raptors won for the sixth time in seven games. DeRozan dunked on a baseline drive and added two free throws to give the Raptors a 94-91 lead with 1:23 remaining. The All-Star hit three more free throws in the final 27 seconds to put away the game.

Kyrie Irving, who played 45 minutes and the entire second half because of Cleveland’s depleted roster, had 25 points and nine assists. Cleveland has lost three straight after winning six in a row and fell 51/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers again played without center Anderson Varejao (sore back) and guards Dion Waiters (hyperextended left knee) and C.J. Miles (sprained left ankle).

TIMBERWOLVES 110, SUNS 101 Kevin Love had 33 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, powering Minnesota to the win.

The Timberwolves trailed by eight with 7:57 to play, and then outscored the Suns 24-6.

Love, who got his first career triple-double at Utah on Saturday, was 10 for 22 from the field.

Rookie Shabazz Muhammad had a careerhigh 20 points and Corey Brewer added 18 for Minnesota. Markieff Morris scored 24 and Gerald Green had 19 for Phoenix. Goran Dragic scored 16 but fouled out with 3:46 to play, the third time he’s fouled out in his career and first this season. The Suns’ P.J. Tucker grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds.

WIZARDS 115, MAGIC 106 John Wall scored 27 points, and the Wizards survived their first game after Nene’s latest injury. Trevor Ariza added 22 points and Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who made 10 of 16 3-pointers and have won a season-high four in a row to move one game above .500. They also improved to 2-6 this season without Nene, who sprained the MCL in his left knee Sunday in a 96-83 win at Cleveland.

Victor Oladipo scored 26 points for the Magic, who tied a single-season franchise record by losing their 16th consecutive road game. They remain without leading scorer Arron Afflalo, who missed his second game with a sprained right ankle. —AP

RAPTORS 99, CAVALIERS 93 DeMar DeRozan scored 16 of his 33 points

NBA results/standings Toronto 99, Cleveland 93; Indiana 118, LA Lakers 98; Washington 115, Orlando 106; Chicago 107, Atlanta 103; Portland 100, Denver 95; Minnesota 110, Phoenix 101; Houston 129, Sacramento 103.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Toronto 32 25 .561 Brooklyn 26 28 .481 NY Knicks 21 36 .368 Boston 19 39 .328 Philadelphia 15 42 .263 Central Division Indiana 43 13 .768 Chicago 30 26 .536 Detroit 23 34 .404 Cleveland 22 36 .379 Milwaukee 11 45 .196 Southeast Division Miami 40 14 .741 Washington 29 28 .509 Charlotte 27 30 .474 Atlanta 26 30 .464 Orlando 17 42 .288

GB 4.5 11 13.5 17 13 20.5 22 32 12.5 14.5 15 25.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City43 14 .754 Portland 39 18 .684 Minnesota 28 29 .491 Denver 25 31 .446 Utah 20 36 .357 Pacific Division LA Clippers 39 20 .661 Golden State 35 22 .614 Phoenix 33 23 .589 Sacramento 20 37 .351 LA Lakers 19 38 .333 Southwest Division San Antonio 40 16 .714 Houston 39 18 .684 Dallas 35 23 .603 Memphis 31 24 .564 New Orleans 23 33 .411

4 15 17.5 22.5 3 4.5 18 19 1.5 6 8.5 17

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

S P ORTS

Federer pushed to the limit by Stepanek

Tiger Woods

Tiger tees off near home but thinking of Masters PALM BEACH GARDENS: World number one Tiger Woods makes his third start of the year today at the US PGA Tour Honda Classic near his home but his thoughts are already on the Masters.

Woods, a 14-time major champion chasing the record 18 major wins of Jack Nicklaus, will be tested by an all-star lineup in the $6 million event at PGA National.

Reigning Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia, reigning British Opwn champion Phil Mickelson and Northern Ireland stars Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell are also in the field at the first of four consecutive Florida stops on the US tour ahead of the year’s first major, the Masters, in early April at Augusta National.

“Once we get to Florida, we’re all thinking about it, on our way to Augusta,” Woods said. “For most of the guys, this is like their prep to Augusta this week. The quality and the depth of the field has gotten so much better in recent years.”

Woods is already pondering how the 17th hole at Augusta National will play now that the huge century-old pine nicknamed the Eisenhower Tree has been removed from the left side of the fairway following damage from an ice storm.

“I’ve hit it a few times. It’s an iconic landmark,” Woods said. “I can’t say some of the guys are going to miss it, but there will be a difference, no doubt about it.

“You don’t really see the trees on the left because Eisenhower blocks them out.

Before you could only see the tops of the trees. With Eisenhower gone, now you will be seeing the line you are hitting a little bit better.” Woods, who tees off from the 10th

tee on Thursday in round one alongside 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson and 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley, lives near enough to be able to sleep in his own bed every night.

“I’m going home to my own home, my own remote (TV command), my own bed — those are things we don’t get to do very often,” Woods said. “Most golfers spend pretty much their entire career on the road.”

ADJUSTMENTS Woods will be making only his third start at the event, staged on a 7,241-yard layout that has had the toughest scoring in relation to par outside the majors, but one drenched by rain.

“The fairways are a little bit spotty with all the rain we’ve had,” Woods said. “I didn’t expect the greens to be this slow. They have kept them slower than they normally are. We’re going to have to make a few adjustments there.”

Woods shared 80th at Torrey Pines and 41st at Dubai in his two prior 2014 starts.

In 16 of his 17 pro seasons, Woods has finished in the top six or better at least once in his first three starts to a year. But he does like the state of his swing.

“It feels good,” Woods said after a Wednesday practice round. “I was pleasantly surprised with how well I was hitting it.”

And while the Masters is on his mind, Woods is more concerned about victory this week than how well he is hitting the ball. “If i hit it great and win, if I slap it all over the place and win, I win,” he said.

“That’s the intent.”—AFP

Rooney yearns for more Champions League glory PIRAEUS: Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has admitted that he will not be satisfied if he finishes his career without lifting the Champions League trophy again.

Rooney, who signed a new five-and-ahalf-year contract earlier this week, tasted glory in the competition with United in 2008, before finishing on the losing side in the final against Barcelona in 2009 and 2011. United have not looked like potential European champions this season, falling 15 points off the pace in the Premier League and crashing out of both domestic cup competitions, but Rooney says that their objectives remain the same.

“You always want to win it,” he said on Monday, on the eve of the first leg of United’s last 16 tie away to Greek champions Olympiakos in Piraeus.

“To win one is never enough, especially at this club. You need to keep trying to get into finals. “The feeling you get when you actually win the trophy is incredible, so there’s no way you want to stop at one. You

want to win every year.

“Obviously that’s impossible, but if we can go to the final, it’d be great for us. It’s an opportunity to win another trophy, so hopefully we can do that.”

Barcelona and defending champions Bayern Munich have already produced shows of strength in the tournament with 2-0 first-leg wins over Manchester City and Arsenal in their respective last 16 ties.

However, rather than being daunted by the sight of United’s domestic rivals coming unstuck, Rooney says it has only whetted his appetite for the competition. “ They ’ve been brilliant (games) to watch,” he told a press conference. “You see Barcelona against Manchester City.

Barcelona were incredible and keep the ball really well. “Then you watch Bayern Munich and it’s almost the perfect performance at Arsenal. I know both teams (City and Arsenal) were down to 10 men, but the way they keep the ball and open teams up is great to watch.—AFP

DUBAI: Former men’s world number one Roger Federer had to dig deep to progress to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Open yesterday eventually beating fellow veteran Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 in their second round clash.

The 32-year-old Grand Slam record-holderwho has won the Dubai title a record five timesstruggled for long periods against a 35-year-old who is barely a full-timer on the ATP Tour these days.

Federer was four times within a point of going 0-3 down in the final set, any one of which could have inspired the talented and unpredictable Czech to close out the game.

Once Federer had held on in that game, and broken back, he created some momentum of his own, and the ace which took him to 4-2 signalled he had turned the tide.

“It was a difficult match and a bit typical of a second round at Dubai, and I found it difficult to get rhythm,” admitted Federer.

“Radek is talented and agile, and it didn’t look good for a while in the third set. “It was a bit frustrating. I didn’t take advantage after the first set when you hope to keep it going.

“At the start of the second he stuck in a quick break and I was under pressure for the rest of that set. “I had to figure out how to deal with it. I am glad I made it.”

Stepanek-who has played only four games on the Tour this year-also showed a remarkable ability to raise his game as it became evident he had a chance of pulling off a big result, and he mixed up his tactics with unorthodox brilliance.

When Federer broke back from 5-3 down in the second set he seemed to be out of danger.

However the opening point of the tie-break had to be played three times - Federer winning a Hawkeye appeal and the umpire over-ruling the next line decision - and that appeared to have an effect on the Swiss.

When Federer double faulted it left him trailing 6-2, and although he saved two set points, Stepanek was soon performing one of his notoriously extravagant celebrations and hop-skipping his way into a deciding set.

Federer turned it round by reining in his ambitions, and mixing in a little containment with his forcefulness and will take note of that

DUBAI: Tomas Berdych of Czech returns the ball to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine during the third day of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. —AP when he takes on Lukas Rosol, conqueror of Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon two years ago, in Wednesday’s quarter-finals.

The last match of the day saw Novak Djokovic, who will equal Federer’s record of five titles if he succeeds again, also reach the quarter-finals, beating Roberto Bautista Agut, the world number 51 from Spain, 6-1, 6-3.

Although it was only Djokovic’s second match in more than five weeks, the top-seeded Serb was untroubled, and earned a meeting with Mikhail Youzhny, the Russian who has reached the Dubai final twice. If Djokovic beats Youzhny he should have a semi-final with Federer. Earlier Stepanek’s compatriot Tomas Berdych cruised into the quarter-finals and looks in the type of form that could see him

reach the final for a second successive year.

The world number six was the only top ten player not to have won a title last year, though an overwhelming 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky now hinted how his chances of remedying that are improving.

Berdych has lost only ten games in four sets of tennis here, his steep serve and fierce forehands proving formidable weapons, and the win was his 13th in 14 matches.

He next plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifthseeded Frenchman, who rushed here from contesting the final in Marseille on Sunday, and who was pleased to get a day ’s rest when Nikolay Davydenko, the former world number three from Russia, withdrew with an injured rib. —AFP

Sherwood looks to Spurs to show mettle against Dnipro PARIS: Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood has called on his players to show character after two successive 1-0 defeats going into today’s Europa League Last 32 second leg clash at home to Ukrainian side Dnipro. Spurs went down 1-0 to Dnipro, coached by their former manager Juande Ramos, in last week’s first leg. and while qualifying for next season’s Champions League remains the priority, Sherwood wants a marked improvement in their performance.

Sherwood, who was surprisingly given the Spurs job full-time after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked earlier in the season, will be mindful that for some English clubs the Europa League has proved an unnecessary distraction, coming at the expense of their domestic form.

However, Spurs have a far larger squadbought at greater expense — than most of those sides who have found that competing in the Europa League has left them fighting for survival in the far more lucrative Premier League.

“We’re going to need to be spirited to bounce back,” Sherwood said after the 1-0 defeat to his old club Norwich, which significantly dented Spurs’ Champions League ambitions.

“We have to tighten up our entire per-

formance. We have to show the character that we can bounce back.” While Sherwood is looking to a general improvement to see off Dnipro, some of his players are seeking to set the record straight with Ramos.

While he delivered them the League Cup in the 2007/08 campaign, Ramos was sacked the following season after Spurs garnered only two points from their opening eight league games.

And Ramos, who had a good record in the predecessor to the Europa League, winning the UEFA Cup twice as coach of Sevilla, has angered several of the players who remain at the club from that time with remarks that when he took over there they were fat and the staff canteen was like a wedding buffet.

“We trained not far from a McDonald’s and we’d (the coaching staff ) see them (the players) in there eating hamburgers, drinking Coke,” said the 59-year-old Spaniard, who is in the last year of his four year contract where he earns a reported $3-4million.

However, central defender Michael Dawson cast doubt on the Dnipro coach’s anecdote. “It was interesting reading there was a McDonald’s around the corner in Chigwell (where the training ground is). I live not far from Chigwell and I am not sure where that McDonald’s was!,” said the 30-

year-old.

Spurs fellow-Premier League side Swansea are a case in point IN finding a domestic campaign and a prolonged Europa League run debilitating both in playing resources and results.

The Welsh side, who made the Europa League on the back of their success in the League Cup, will travel to Italy to take on Serie A side Napoli all square after the 0-0 draw in the first leg.

They followed that a few days later with a thrilling 4-3 defeat away at Liverpool, which left them just four points above the relegation places.

However, their captain Ashley Williams said they would not sacrifice their game against Napoli in order to focus solely on survival.

“We know it’s going to be a different game in Napoli to the one we played the other day (the first leg) and it will be tough for obvious reasons,” he told the South Wales Evening Post.

“We feel like we need to go there and enjoy it. To play in an atmosphere like that is something that maybe we’re not used to. “But we want to progress in this competition and we feel that we’ve got enough quality in the team to do that.” —AFP

Bulgaria wins volleyball tournament KUWAIT: The volleyball team of the Bulgarian community in Kuwait won the annual volleyball tournament held between the various foreign communities in the country.

Ten teams participated in the tournament which was held on February 21 in the British School of Kuwait. The tournament was organized

by BSK jointly with foreign ambassadors. The Kuwait Volleyball Federation awarded the trophy to the winning team. The team from the Philippines got the second place in the tournament.

The rest of the teams in the tournament were from the communities of France, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Philippines, Romania, Russia and Zimbabwe.

—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

S P ORTS

Hackers target Brazil’s World Cup SAO PAULO: Brazilian hackers are threatening to disrupt the World Cup with attacks ranging from jamming websites to data theft, adding cyber warfare to the list of challenges for a competition already marred by protests, delays and overspending.

In a country with rampant online crime, a challenging telecommunications infrastructure and little experience with cyber attacks, authorities are rushing to protect government websites and those of FIFA, soccer’s governing body.

Furious about the 33 billion reais ($14 billion) in federal funds being spent on World Cup preparations, more than a million Brazilians took to the streets last June in a wave of mass demonstrations, calling for better public services, greater transparency, and a crackdown on corruption. Now, hackers say they will join the fray.

“We are already making plans,” said an alleged hacker who goes by the nom de guerre of Eduarda Dioratto. “I don’t think there is much they can do to stop us.”

Reuters contacted Dioratto and other self-proclaimed members of the international hacker network known as Anonymous by finding them online. Though unable to confirm their true identities, Reuters spoke with them in the interest of understanding their threats and what impact they might have on the World Cup. They said the event offers an unprecedented global audience and an opportune moment to target sites operated by FIFA, the government, other organizers or corporate sponsors. “ The attacks will be directed against official websites and those of companies sponsoring the Cup,” a hacker known as Che Commodore said in a late-nightSkype conversation.

While most of the fretting ahead of the tournament is focused on the completion of stadiums by kickoff on June 1, experts agree that little attention is being paid toBrazil’s telecommunications infrastructure.

Problems include overstrained networks, widespread use of pirated software and low investment in online security. To make matters worse, Brazil is home to one of the world’s most sophisticated cyber-criminal communities, which is already disrupting ticket sales and other World Cup commerce.

“It’s not a question of whether the Cup will be targeted, but when,” said William Beer, a cybersecurity expert with the consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal. “So resilience and response become extremely important.” Brazil says it is ready, or as ready as it can be.

“It would be reckless for any nation to say it’s 100 percent prepared for a threat,” said General JosÈ Carlos dos Santos, the head of the cyber command for Brazil’s army. “But Brazil is prepared to respond to the most likely cyber threats.” A FIFA spokesperson declined to comment on online security.

FAST, DAMAGING AND SIMPLE Known internationally for their high-profile attacks against the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Sony and even the Vatican, Anonymous flexed its muscle inBrazil in 2012 when it disabled the websites of some of the country’s biggest banks, including Banco do Brasil, Ita˙ Unibanco and Bradesco. During that attack, dubbed #OpWeekPayment by the hackers, they launched denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, in which thousands of computers simultaneously access target websites, jamming them. The method would be their preferred weapon this time, too.

“It’s fast, damaging and relatively simple to carry out,” explained Che Commodore. With that in mind the

army created a Cyber Defense Center, which leads a multi-agency task force for the Cup. Besides DDoS attacks, they may also face website defacement and data theft.

The worst-case scenario would be an attack sophisticated enough to crippleBrazil’s power grid, communications or air-traffic control systems.

But General dos Santos said in a recent interview that authorities aren’t expecting anything that bad.

“The probability for that is much lower,” he said. For their part, the Anonymous members said they would not do anything to target the Brazilian people. The government and event organizers, however, are another matter.

And despite the government’s preparations, the hackers say they are fully up to speed, and not terribly impressed by what they see as meager defenses.

“It’s nothing out of this world”, said an activist called Bile Day. “Security remains very low.” Indeed, security experts said Brazil could be caught illprepared. The country, with no geopolitical enemies, is not used to being on guard and, as such, may not even be aware of the extent of its vulnerabilities.

“Brazil is a big target, it’s neutral and has a challenging infrastructure,” said Marcos Oliveira, an executive with US network security firm Blue Coat.

“It’s the perfect storm.”

Aside from the banks, which now invest heavily in online security, Brazilian companies pay little attention to the problem. And more than half of Brazil’s computers run pirate software, which makes them more vulnerable to a denial-of-service attack.

GROWING BREACHES Brazil is not entirely untested. The government grew far more sensitive to cybersecurity issues last year after reports that the US National Security Agency spied on President Dilma Rousseffand millions of ordinar y Brazilians.

Officials have also tracked a growing number of online security breaches during other big events in recent years. In 2012, during a United Nations conference on climate change in Rio de Janeiro, the cyber command detected 140 attempted security breaches. Attacks climbed to more than 300 for last year’s Confederations Cup, a dress rehearsal for the World Cup. “We expect that number to be much higher for the Cup,” said General Dos Santos. And they will likely increase once again when Rio hosts the 2016 Olympics.

ATOS, a French company in charge of information technology networks for the Rio Olympics, said it detected around 255 million security events during London 2010. “It’s huge,” said Michele Hyron, who heads the ATOS team for the Rio games. “And it had absolutely no impact on the Games.”

Problems can occur ahead of the events, though, especially in a country with fast-growing Internet access and booming online banking services, but little regulation for either.

Seeking to capitalize on the massive demand for World Cup tickets, criminals are already finding ways to steal from would-be buyers online.

Most of the attacks are so called “phishing,” where users are redirected to fake sites of banks and firms and tricked into entering their credit card data. Online security firm Kaspersky said it is blocking between 40 and 50 fraudulent sites using the theme of the Cup daily.

“The World Cup is the theme of the moment,” said Fabio Assolini, a security analyst with Kaspersky in S„o Paulo, “and cyber criminals are taking full advantage of that.” —Reuters

LONDON: Hull City’s Robert Koren scores his side’s second goal from a free kick during the FA Cup Fifth Round replay at the KC Stadium. —AP

Hull, Charlton advance into FA Cup quarters LONDON: Hull City booked an FA Cup quarterfinal with Premier League rivals Sunderland after seeing off second-tier Brighton 2-1 in a fifth round replay on Monday.

Also through to the last eight were Charlton, who spoilt fellow Championship side Sheffield Wednesday’s dream of a derby with Sheffield United after a 2-1 win at Hillsborough in their fifth round clash. Curtis Davies’s header and Robert Koren’s deflected free-kick put Hull 2-0 up at the KC Stadium inside 35 minutes but south coast club Brighton, losing FA Cup finalists in 1983, were given hope when Leonardo Ulloa, who scored in the first meeting between the clubs, headed home from close range in the 69th minute.

Hull then survived some nervous moments to set up a meeting with manager Steve Bruce’s former club and prevent Brighton coming face to face with their old boss Gus Poyet, who is now in charge of Sunderland and left his job at the second tier side under acrimonious circumstances last year.

“Particularly playing Sunderland with this gaffer (Bruce), it’s going to be a big game,” Davies told ITV4. “Obviously Sunderland are going into the (League) Cup final next week (March 2 against Manchester City) as well so they’ll be trying to do well in both cups and stay in the league so it will be an interesting game but hopefully we will come out on top.”

In Sheffield, Callum Harriott opened the

scoring for visitors Charlton before Leon Best’s second-half goal drew Wednesday level.

But Wales international Simon Church swung the tie back the way of the south London club by heading in Charlton captain Johnnie Jackson’s second-half free-kick.

However, it took a stunning stoppage-time save from Charlton goalkeeper Ben Hamer, who hurled himself at Chris Maguire’s deflected shot, to prevent Wednesday securing a replay.

It all meant Championship relegation candidates Charlton denied Sheffield football fans a first ‘Steel City ’ derby in the FA Cup since Wednesday beat United in a Wembley semifinal in 1993. —AFP

Diamanti sparkles in Guangzhou comeback BEIJING: New signing Alessandro Diamanti starred with two magical strikes as AFC Champions League title-holders Guangzhou Evergrande fought back from two goals down to beat Melbourne Victory 4-2 yesterday. In a dream debut, the 30-year-old Italian international inspired a rousing second-half comeback as the Marcello Lippi-led Chinese champions opened their trophy defence in style.

The departure of influential midfielder Dario Conca had raised questions about Guangzhou but his replacement, Diamanti, quickly settled those doubts with a memorable performance at a packed Tianhe stadium.

First-half goals from Pablo Contreras and Leigh Broxham threatened a huge upset in Group G but after the break, Guangzhou scored four sparkling goals in 26 minutes through Huang Bowen, Elkeson and Diamanti. Both sides had early chances with Victory’s Mark Milligan and Guangzhou Evergrande forcing top-drawer saves at opposite ends of the pitch around the quarter-hour mark.

Victory got their opener on 36 minutes, when a Jesse Makarounas free-kick from the left was poorly dealt with, Kosta Barbarouses fired in a shot and Contreras tapped in the rebound.

The goal stunned Guangzhou and their massed ranks of red-clad fans, but there was worse to come just five minutes later-and again from the delivery of Makarounas, also from the left but this time from a corner.

Again the high ball was not cleared and Broxham was perfectly placed to lash home a superbly controlled volley from the edge of the box and give the visitors a shock 2-0 lead at halftime.

However, Lippi’s men returned from the break fired up and a dipping Diamanti free-kick drew a diving header off the line from Contreras.

Diamanti had a hand in Guangzhou’s first goal when he fed Luo Jiacheng for a cross which was emphatically volleyed into the net by Huang, a goal which was every bit the equal of Broxham’s strike earlier. And the Italian made it 2-2 when, after timid defensive work from Victory’s Adama Traore, he turned and hammered a fierce shot on his favoured left foot past

TABRIZ: Iranian footballer of Tractor Sazi Karim Ansarifard (left) celebrates scoring with a teammate while Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad player Mukhtar Fallatah (right) looks on during their AFC Champions League Group C football match. The Iranian team won 1-0. —AFP static goalkeeper Nathan Coe. Brazilian striker Elkeson put the champions 32 ahead when he brilliantly controlled a long, high ball from the halfway line on his chest and squirmed a low shot through the legs of Nicholas Ansell. Victory looked a beaten team but Diamanti made sure of the win when he effortlessly shimmied past Contreras and prodded a pin-point strike inside the far post with the toe of his left boot.

Earlier Australian debutants Western Sydney Wanderers had a harsh welcome to the competition when they threw away an early lead to lose 3-1 at home to 2012 champions Ulsan Hyundai.

The Wanderers scored after just 42 seconds at home through Brendon Santalab, but the South

Koreans punished defensive mistakes to score through Kim Shin-Wook, Ko Chang-Hyun and Kang Min-Soo. “Three mistakes and we got punished for three goals,” Wanderers coach Tony Popovic said.

“We learned out of tonight that at this level you’ll be punished for any mistakes, and we were punished tonight.” Also in Group H, Brazilian midfielder scored from a first-half freekick as Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale kick-started their campaign with a 1-0 home win over Guizhou Renhe of China.

And in yesterday’s other Group G game, 2006 winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors scored three times in 10 second-half minutes as they beat Japan’s Yokohama F. Marinos 3-0. —AFP

Germans fret over ‘boring’ Bundesliga

TRIPOLI: German football legend and chairman of the Bayern Munich advisory board, Franz Beckenbauer gives a speech during a ceremony for the laying of a foundation stone of a stadium to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. —AP

GERMANY: When Borussia Dortmund became the fifth different team to win the Bundesliga in eight seasons back in 2011, the league was widely proclaimed as the most open and competitive in Europe.

Three years on, many German fans are stifling the yawns as Bayern Munich run away with the title for the second year in a row with the other 17 teams floundering in their wake.

Last year, the Bavarians clinched the championship with a record six games to spare as part of an unprecedented treble which also included the German Cup and Champions League.

This time, they are threatening to improve on even that performance. Bayern have dropped only four points all season, have won their last 14 league games and have a 19-point lead.

Even more worryingly for the other teams, Bayern are set to get stronger at the expense of bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund.

In less than a year, Bayern have lured Dortmund’s prize assets Mario Goetze andRobert Lewandowski, with the Poland striker joining from next season, to Munich,

leaving their rivals demoralised and disorientated. “ They want to destroy us,” Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said in January. Everything has been achieved without the help of tax breaks from a friendly government or huge cash injections from an ambitious owner.

Over the years, Bayern have been a model of good management and UEFA’s financial fair play policy, which is being introduced to force clubs to live within their means, looks set to make them stronger rather than weaker.

“The current situation does not do the Bundesliga any good,” Watzke told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week.

“In Germany, no club has managed to build a similar platform to Bayern Munich in the last 30 or 40 years. “What Bayern have done is definitely not reprehensible,” he added. “It’s just what every business in Germany tries to do to their rivals. “We can all see in the Bundesliga that the gap between them and the rest of us is extreme.”

BARREN RUN Watzke, however, is a rare voice of dis-

sent. The general view is that Bayern’s dominance will not last forever and that such cycles are part of the game.

“There is no reason for envy, we can just congratulate them. As long as we play against Bayern twice a year, the world is in order for us,” Freiburg chairman Fritz Keller told Kicker magazine.

“Naturally, their domination this season is extreme but I don’t see any danger that it will stay like this,” added Klaus Allofs, sporting director of VfL Wolfsburg.

“The Bundesliga is still exciting and Bayern have always been among the teams that everyone else are chasing.” It is certainly not the first time the Bundesliga has become predictable. Between 1969 and 1977 only Borussia Moenchengladbach (five times) and Bayern (four) won the title.

The second half of the 1980s saw Bayern crowned champions five times in six seasons while the Munich side and Borussia Dortmund shared the title spoils between 1994 and 2003, apart from Kaiserslautern’s surprise triumph in 1998.

The period between 2004 and 2011 was something of an exception as Werder

Bremen, Bayern, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg and Dortmund all won the title.

But, as German football league chief executive Christian Seifert pointed out, that period also coincided with a barren run in the Champions League with no German triumphs between Bayern’s titles in 2001 and 2013. “In the Bundesliga, any team can beat any other team, it’s only for the time being can nobody beat Bayern,” he said on Sky. “We should not underestimate the supporters. The Bundesliga lives off lots of sporting decisions, ranging from surprising defeats, to surprising wins, each with its own story. “It’s not just about who will win the championship. I don’t think any Moenchengladbach fans have torn up their season tickets or cancelled their Sky subscriptions this season.

“At the moment, Bayern are running away. Sometimes it happens but it will not carry on like this in the coming years.”

“For my first eight years in this role, I was asked why German teams didn’t win theChampions League,” he added. “Now we’ve won it and some people are still not happy.” —Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

S P ORTS

Captain Kohli steers India past Bangladesh

SCOREBOARD FATULLAH, Bangladesh: Full scoreboard of the Asia Cup opening match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Fatullah yesterday: Sri Lanka: K. Perera c Akmal b Gul 14 L. Thirimanne b Ajmal 102 K. Sangakkara c Shehzad b Gul 67 M. Jayawardene b Afridi 13 A. Mathews not out 55 T. Perera c Shehzad b Afridi 6 C. de Silva run out 2 D. Chandimal not out 19 Extras: (b4, lb6, w8) 18 Total (for six wickets, 50 overs) 296 Fall of wickets: 1-28 (K. Perera), 2-189 (Sangakkara), 3-204 ( Thirimanne), 4-224 (Jayawardene), 5-245 (T. Perera), 6-251 (de Silva) Bowling: Hafeez 9-0-54-0, Gul 8-0-38-2 (w3), Junaid 9-0-61-0 (w2), Bhatti 4-0-27-0, Ajmal 10-050-1, Afridi 10-0-56-2 (w3) Pakistan: Sharjeel Khan c Mathews b Lakmal

26

Ahmed Shehzad b de Silva 28 Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Mathews 18 Sohaib Maqsood c de Silva b Senanayake 17 Misbah-ul-Haq c Senanayake b Malinga 73 Umar Akmal c Sangakkara b Lakmal 74 Shahid Afridi c Chandimal b Malinga 4 Bilawal Bhatti b Malinga 18 Umar Gul c de Silva b Malinga 2 Saeed Ajmal lbw b Malinga 10 Junaid Khan not out 1 Extras: (lb3, w10) 13 Total (all out, 48.5 overs) 284 Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Sharjeel), 2-77 (Shehzad), 383 (Hafeez), 4-121 (Maqsood), 5-242 (Akmal), 6252 (Afridi), 7-254 (Misbah), 8-262 (Gul), 9-281 (Ajmal), 10-284 (Bhatti) Bowling: Malinga 9.5-0-52-5 (w1), Lakmal 9-1-652, Senanayake 9-0-47-1, de Silva 10-1-56-1 (w8), T. Perera 6-0-36-0, Mathews 5-1-25-1 (w1) Sri Lanka won by 12 runs.

Malinga stuns Pakistan FATULLAH: Sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga grabbed five wickets in a devastating final spell to lead Sri Lanka to a 12run win over defending champions Pakistan in the opening match of the Asia Cup in Fatullah on Tuesday.

Pakistan, chasing Sri Lanka’s competitive 296-6, seemed to be cruising at 242-4 in the 43rd over following a fifth-wicket stand of 121 between skipper Misbah-ulHaq and Umar Akmal.

But Malinga turned the tables, finishing with five for 52, as Pakistan lost their last six batsmen for 42 runs to be bowled out for 284 in the penultimate over of the daynight match.

Akmal hit 74 off 72 balls with seven boundaries and three sixes, and Misbah made 73, but Pakistan were unable to apply the finishing touches as pressure mounted on the lower order batsmen.

Sri Lanka’s innings revolved around opener Lahiru Thirimanne’s 102 off 110, his second one-day hundred, and useful contributions from Kumar Sangakkara (67) and skipper Angelo Mathews (55 not out off 50 balls). Sri Lanka were at 204-2 in the 36th over when Pakistan slowed the pace by grabbing four wickets in the space of nine overs.

Thirimanne and Sangakkara compiled Sri Lanka’s highest second-wicket stand against Pakistan, adding 161 after Kusal Perera fell in the eighth over for 14.

Thirimanne, promoted to open the innings in the absence of the injured Tillakaratne Dilshan, hit 11 fours and a six before he was bowled by Saeed Ajmal in the 36th over.

Sangakkara continued the awesome batting form he showed during the preceding bilateral tour of Bangladesh, where he scored 319 and 105 in the second Test in Chittagong, and 128 in the second one-

dayer in Dhaka.

The left-hander hit eight boundaries for his 84th one-day half-century when he gifted away his wicket, pulling a short ball from Gul to Ahmed Shehzad at mid-wicket. Mathews said he owed the dramatic win to the top order batsmen and Malinga. “I still think we were 20 runs short considering the start Thirimanne and Sangakkara gave us,” the Sri Lankan captain said. “But in the past we’ve won close games and it was good to come out on top again.

“Malinga has been our best bowler for the past few years. He is our go-to man whenever we are under pressure and he did it again.”

Sharjeel Khan gave Pakistan a flying start, scoring 26 of the 28-run stand for the first wicket with Shehzad. Shehzad was bowled by debutant left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva for 28, and Mohammad Hafeez was leg-before to Mathews for 18 as Pakistan slipped to 83-3 in the 14th over.

I t soon became 121-4 as Sohaib Maqsood (17) pulled a short ball from Sachithra Senanayake to de Silva on the mid-wicket fence.

But Misbah and Akmal launched a brilliant fightback to raise Pakisan’s hopes, before Malinga stepped in to steer Sri Lanka to victory.

Misbah said he was disappointed by the loss considering his team was in a sound position during his stand with Akmal. “We had six wickets in hand and we s h o u l d h ave wo n t h i s g a m e,” h e said. “There was nothing in the wicket for the bowlers and this total should have been chased.” Afghanistan is the fifth team in the tournament, which decides the regional champion in oneday cricket. —AFP

FATULLAH: Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, celebrates taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhatti during the opening match of the Asia Cup one-day international cricket tournament. —AP

FATULLAH: Virat Kohli won the battle of the captains as reigning World Cup champions India defeated host Bangladesh by six wickets in the second match of the Asia Cup in Fatullah yesterday.

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim hit 117 off 113 balls, sharing a third-wicket stand of 133 with Anamul Haque (77), to lift the hosts to 279-7 after India elected to field.

Kohli, standing in for the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, then smashed 136 off 122 balls to steer India past the challenging target in 49 overs.

The prolific 25-year-old hit 16 boundaries and two sixes in his 19th one-day century, 17 of which have been in winning causes.

Ajinkya Rahane (73) provided valuable support to his captain, adding 213 for the third wicket with Kohli after India were reduced to 54-2 by the 13th over of the daynight game.

Kohli, later named the man of the match, preferred to dwell on the team’s performance rather than his own stand-out batting. “I am very happy with the way the team performed,” he said. “It was good to see everyone step up in the absence of Dhoni.

“And it was very important for someone like Ajinkya to bat through the innings. He played beautifully. He is a very positive guy and works very hard. It was a good stand with him.”

Bangladesh spinner Abdur Razzak, who attended the presentation ceremony instead of his captain, blamed the evening dew for the defeat.

“We had enough runs on the board, but the dew caused problems. It made it difficult to grip the ball and we had not anticipated that. But we will need to push more for runs if we bat first again.”

Earlier, Rahim hit seven fours and two sixes in his second one-day century, before he was dismissed in the final over attempting a big hit.

Anamul and Rahim came together after opener Shamsur Rahman and Mominul Haque were removed by the 13th over with the score at 49.

Anamul smashed fast bowler Varun Aaron for two sixes to long-on, then reached his half-century with another six off Ravichandran Ashwin over the bowler’s head.

Aaron, who conceded 56 runs in 6.5 overs, finally found success when he bowled Anamul with the last ball of his seventh over, the 37th of the innings.

Rahim slammed two boundaries and a six when Aaron bowled next, but the batsman was hit on the chest by a full toss delivery later in the same over and needed medical attention on the field. Aaron, who had also sent down a full toss earlier in the match, was not allowed to bowl by the umpires for the rest of the innings and finished with expensive figures of one for 74 from 7.5 overs. Seamer Mohammad Shami was the most impressive Indian bowler with four for 50 from his 10 overs. India are without Dhoni for the entire five-nation tournament due to a side strain suffered during the recent tour of New Zealand.

Bangladesh were missing injured opener Tamim Iqbal and premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is serving a three-match ban on disciplinary grounds.

Shakib will also miss the home team’s second match against Afghanistan on Saturday. Defending champions Pakistan, who were beaten by Sri Lanka in Tuesday’s tournament opener, take on minnows Afghanistan today. —AFP

FATULLAH: India’s Dinesh Karthik (right) successfully dislodges the bails to dismiss Bangladeshi Mominul Haque during the Asia Cup one-day international cricket tournament. —AP

SCOREBOARD FATULLAH, Bangladesh: Full scoreboard of the Asia Cup one-day international between Bangladesh and India in Fatullah yesterday.

Bangladesh: Anamul Haque b Aaron 77 Shamsur Rahman c and b Shami 7 Mominul Haque st Karthik b Ashwin 23 Mushfiqur Rahim c Sharma b Shami 117 Naeem Islam c Ashwin b Shami 14 Nasir Hossain c Karthik b Shami 1 Ziaur Rahman c Aaron b Kumar 18 Sohag Gazi not out 3 Mashrafe Mortaza not out 1 Extras: (b1, lb3, w12, nb2) 18 Total (for seven wickets, 50 overs) 279 Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Shamsur), 2-49 (Mominul), 3182 (Anamul), 4-231 (Naeem), 5-241 (Nasir), 6-270 (Ziaur), 7-276 (Rahim).

Bowling: Kumar 8-1-41-1, Shami 10-1-50-4, Aaron 7.5-0-74-1 (nb2, w7), Ashwin 10-1-50-1 (w5), Jadeja 10-0-37-0, Rayadu 3-0-17-0, Kohli 1.1-0-6-0

(Note: Aaron was taken off after bowling five balls of his eighth over. Kohli completed the over).

India: R. Sharma b Ziaur 21 S. Dhawan lbw b Razzak 28 V. Kohli b Rubel 136 A. Rahane c sub (Kayes) b Gazi 73 A. Rayudu not out 9 D. Karthik not out 2 Extras: (lb1, w9, nb1) 11 Total (for four wickets, 49 overs) 280 Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Dhawan), 2-54 (Sharma), 3267 (Kohli), 4-272 (Rahane).

Bowling: Mortaza 9-1-44-0, Rubel 10-1-63-1 (w1, nb1), Razzak 10-0-55-1, Ziaur 5-0-20-1, Gazi 8-049-1 (w4), Mominul 2-0-13-0, Naeem 1-0-15-0 (w3), Nasir 4-0-20-0 (w1) India won by six wickets.

England prepare for life without Pietersen LONDON: England will play their first major match since the controversial decision to call time on Kevin Pietersen’s international career when they face West Indies in the first of three one-day internationals in Antigua tomorrow.

English cricket is still coming to terms with the decision to dispense with the services of the national side’s all-time leading run scorer across all formats. There is a sense that former England wicket-keeper Paul Downton, now the England and Wales Cricket Board’s managing director and Test captain Alastair Cook, rested from the Caribbean series, know they will be judged on the team’s results and so would not be as perverse to ‘cut off their nose to spite their face’ by prematurely ditching a world-class player.

It is significant that England have not cited form or fitness as a reason for axing Pietersen but rather a harder to pin down need to “rebuild the team ethic” following a 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia.

England will also play three Twenty20 internationals against the West Indies, the reigning global champions in cricket’s shortest international format, in Barbados on this trip ahead of next month’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.

It was in the Caribbean four years ago that England won their lone global limited overs title when, with Pietersen man of the tournament, they took the World Twenty20 title.

Their captain back then was Paul Collingwood, still the skipper of county champions Durham and also a temporary member of England’s coaching staff this trip.

‘X-FACTOR PLAYERS’ “Today you need your X-factor players, your mavericks and different personalities, because people express themselves at a whole new level,” Collingwood told Tuesday’s Guardian newspaper.

“You don’t need robots. In fact you cannot have robots any more. If you’re going to win things you’re going to have to give these mavericks a leash and allow them to perform,” he added.

Having given what seems a textbook definition of the player England have lost in Pietersen, how does Collingwood explain the departure of his former team-mate?

“It’s disappointing as an England fan that relationships have broken down,” Collingwood said.

“I’m not blaming either side, but that’s the disappointing thing-you’ve got such an amazing player and he’s not going to be involved with England again. “There were times when I played with KP when he frustrated the living hell out of you-in a way people on the outside wouldn’t know-but I always knew he could win player of the tournament or a World Cup. “But you have to trust the guys in the know.

These aren’t easy decisions and they (the ECB) obviously think this is for the best over a long period.” England, captained by Stuart Broad, started their tour with a 29-run win over a University of the

ANTIGUA: England’s Joe Root bats during a tour match against Vice Chancellor XI at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground. —AP West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI that featured a hundred from rising star Joe Root and a century for the home side from the little known Kyle Corbin.

The tourists will look to the likes of Root and wicket-keeper/batsman Jos Buttler to turn promise into performance against a West Indies side where Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard and Kemar Roach all have injuries of

varying severity. Indeed the big-hitting Gayle, just as much of an ‘entertainer’ as Pietersen when in form, has played no cricket since November when he tore a hamstring in a one-day international against India in Kochi. A series without Gayle and Pietersen would be missing two top of the bill performers but for the ‘understudies’ on both sides this could be their chance to shine. —AFP

Trott on course for cricket return LONDON: Jonathan Trott is set to make his comeback for county side Warwickshire in April and wants to play international cricket again, former England batsman Dennis Amiss said yesterday.

Trott, 32, left England’s Ashes tour of Australia with a stress-related illness after twice falling cheaply to fast bowler Mitchell Johnson in a crushing 381-run loss in the first Test at Brisbane.

That prompted concerns the South Africa-born batsman, who made a hundred on Test debut against Australia at The Oval in 2009, might struggle to return to the international arena.

But Amiss, chairman of Trott’s benefit committee, said he expected the top-order batsman to face Gloucestershire in a pre-season friendly in April. “He’s still very hungry,” Amiss told the BBC. “He wants to continue succeeding both for Warwickshire and for England.”

Trott, who has scored 3,763 runs, including nine hundreds, in 49 Tests for England at an aver-

age of 46.95, has been granted time for a family holiday while Warwickshire are on their pre-season tour in Barbados. But he will join up with the squad on their return and is in line to play against Gloucestershire at Warwickshire’s Edgbaston headquarters in Birmingham, central England, on April 1-2. He will also be considered for the first-class match against Oxford University from April 7 and the County Championship opener against Sussex from April 13. Amiss, who was Warwickshire chief executive when Trott arrived at Edgbaston from South Africa in 2002, said he had been encouraged by the player’s state of mind during their recent meetings.

“He’s doing very well,” Amiss said. “He’s had a great rest, which is very important, and he is raring to go again. “Cricket is his passion and I believe he has qualities, as we’ve seen, to be able to score a mass of runs for Warwickshire to get himself back into the England side and regain his position.”—AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

S P ORTS

Football and samba, a match made in Brazilian heaven RIO DE JANEIRO: Football and samba.

Two passions which dominate the Brazilian soul, entwined as in a marriage.

In just over three months’ time it will be Brazil’s footballing artists who take the stage for a first home World Cup since 1950.

But first, Rio de Janeiro and much of the rest of the country will sway this weekend to a samba rhythm as the nonstop beat of Carnival affords the populace a pre-Cup chance to have a ball.

The link between samba and football represents a fundamental pillar of Brazil’s cultural identity. Samba has its roots in the African slave trade going back much further in time than football.

MASS APPEAL But both became mass phenomena in the 1930s as Brazil’s main southeastern cities of Rio and Sao Paulo underwent industrialization.

Both became a magnet for black former slaves from the plantations and

their descendants seeking paid work. It was during this period that Rio’s black working class founded the samba schools which today organize Carnival in its current form.

Football, meanwhile, started out as the amateur preserve of well-off white people and only slowly did the sport open its doors .

“Football, samba and Malandro (a rascal or scoundrel) made up the cultural basis of Brazil’s popular classes,” says academic Antonio Jorge Soares, co-author of “The Invention of Football Countries.” “ The prestige of popular music and Brazil’s World Cup victories acted as a kind of counterweight to the deep discredit into which political institutions had fallen,” adds historian Bernardo Borges Buarque de Hollanda.

BREAD AND CIRCUSES The political class was not slow to pick up on both popular passions as a way of offering the masses a distraction,

like the “bread and circuses” of a Roman emperor.

The populist regime of Getulio Vargas accelerated the professionalization of football during the 1930s. That was “a means of attracting the support of athletes and the popular classes” by having them “believe there existed a kind of racial democracy in Brazil,” Marcos Guterman wrote in his book “Football Explains Brazil.”

The Vargas regime, inspired by the Italian model of fascism, also decreed that “samba enredos,” or song form samba for Carnival parades, should exalt Brazil’s history and national values.

The state deployed such “glory to Brazil” battle cries as a means of repudiating Communism. The military dictatorship which ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985 maintained the tradition, with samba schools closely monitored.

Each victory of the Pele-inspired Selecao national soccer side at the 1970 World Cup was similarly hailed as Brazil

sought to prove to itself the giant nation’s potential.

AFRO-BRAZILIAN SAMBA The English may have invented football and the prototype dribble. Yet legends abound, most emanating from Brazil’s black community, on how the Selecao elevated the skill to a fine art, using all kinds of tricks and feints to glide past the most dogged opponent.

“In football, as in politics, a feature of the Brazilian racial blend is a taste for bending the rules, an element of surprise or frills calling to mind dance steps and Capoeira,” the martial art which borrows from dancing, Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre suggested as early as the 1940s. Mario Filho, author of “The Black In Brazilian Football,” explains that in the 1920s and 1930s referees would not call fouls by white players on black rivals but did if the fouling boot was on the other foot.

Black players therefore had to devel-

op the skill of avoiding contact. “Son, I was afraid of playing football because I had often seen a black player get struck on the pitch for committing a foul,” recalled Domingos da Guia, a 1930s international.

“But I was a very good dancer and that helped me on the pitch. I invented the short dribble by imitating the Muidinho, a form of samba.”

MUSICAL INSPIRATION From Elza Soares, via Jorge Ben Jor to Wilson Simonal, countless Brazilian artists have paid lyrical homage to football-samba.

Perhaps the most famous example was composed after Brazil won their maiden world title in Sweden in 1958.

“The World Cup is ours; nobody can do anything to stop the Brazilian... “ The Brazilian has shown off true football abroad; he has won the World Cup dancing the samba with the ball at his feet.” —AFP

Olympiakos bring listless Man United to their knees

ITALY: Napoli’s Dries Mertens (left) and Genoa’s Andrea Bertolacci vie for the ball during a Serie A soccer match. —AP

Napoli drop points after late Genoa equaliser MILAN: A late Emanuele Calaio freekick earned battling Genoa a shock 1-1 draw away to Napoli on Monday, when Fiorentina also snatched a late share of the points in a 2-2 draw away to Parma.

Napoli looked to have done enough to claim all three points at the San Paolo after Gonzalo Higuain ran on to Marek Hamsik’s through ball to beat Mattia Perin in the 18th minute.

But Rafael Benitez’s men failed to build on their lead and paid the price less than 10 minutes from the end when Genoa won a freekick after a foul by Dries Mertens which earned the Belgian a yellow card. Calaio was handed the honours and from nearly 30 metres out stepped up to curl the ball over the wall and in off Pepe Reina’s post as the Spanish ‘keeper looked on in shock.

Despite being mobbed by teammates, Calaio did his best not to celebrate-the striker is effectively still a Napoli player having been loaned to Genoa last season.

“I’ve scored in the only stadium I didn’t want to score in, but it was a beautiful goal,” Calaio told Sky Sport Italia. “I’m sorry to have scored at the San Paolo because I spent a long time here, but when the coach gave me the chance I had to step up and honour this shirt. “It’s the third freekick I’ve scored in my career, but this one was special.” Instead of reducing the gap to second-placed Roma to four points, Napoli are now six behind Rudi Garcia’s men, who themselves are nine behind leaders Juventus albeit with a game in hand. Napoli’s setback comes only days after being held to a draw away to Europa League last 32 opponents Swansea, and four days ahead of the return leg in Italy.

Benitez suggested his side had underestimated the visitors: “We should have settled the game much earlier but we were just missing the final touch. We need to learn the importance of these kinds of games.”

Defender Federico Fernandez believes Napoli

can still reach their target of second spot, but said the focus is now on Swansea.

“It’s still our objective,” he said when asked about the growing gap to Garcia’s title challengers. “But we have to work on the little details that can help you win games. We can climb back up (the table).”

He added: “Swansea is a crucial game for us. We have to get focused on this straight away and start working in the coming days to do better than we did tonight.”

Fiorentina remain fourth, six points behind Napoli, although La Viola had to thank Mati Fernandez for helping grab a share of the spoils five minutes from the final whistle.

The hosts broke the deadlock through striker Antonio Cassano six minutes from the interval although only two minutes later Juan Cuadrado got on the end of Alessandro Matri’s delivery to beat goalkeeper Antonio Mirante to level.

Former Fiorentina flop Amauri restored Parma’s lead, in the 51st minute, from the penalty spot after Nenad Tomovic fouled Jonathan Biabiany just as the Frenchman was getting his head to a cross.

The visitors suffered another blow two minutes later when Modibo Diakite, who had been booked just before the half hour for a foul from behind on Cassano, saw red after another foul on the former Inter and AC Milan striker.

Despite being a man down Fiorentina pressed forward looking for an equaliser and when the visitors won a late free kick Fernandez spoiled the Parma party with a superbly-struck curling effort which had Mirante scrambling back into his own net.

Parma brought Raffaele Palladino off the bench and he flashed a header wide of the goal within a minute of coming on. The match finished level, but on a sour note after a scuffle between Borja Valero and Gianni Munari led to both players being sent off in the fourth minute of added-on time. —AFP

HK hairdresser who went from scissors to soccer HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s Carson Yeung went from humble hairdresser to owning a top-tier English football club, but his ragsto-riches tale raised questions that eventually landed him in court.

Too poor to attend games as a child, the dapper Yeung, now 53, became the proud owner of Birmingham City in 2009 and watched from the stands wearing an expensive fur-trimmed coat.

However, the dream soured both on and off the pitch after just two years as Birmingham were relegated from the English Premier League and Yeung was arrested on money-laundering charges in 2011. On Friday, at the culmination of his high-profile trial, Yeung could be confirmed as another of Hong Kong’s entrepreneurial success stories, or besmirched as involved in the city’s notorious organised crime.

Either way, the outcome has been poor for Birmingham City, whose fans have protested against Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL), the Cayman Islands-registered company whose acquisition of the club was spearheaded by Yeung.

Yeung says he is innocent of the five money-laundering charges totalling $93 million between 2001 and 2007, and has tried to have the proceedings halted, complaining of irregularities.

PIRAEUS: Manchester United were shunted towards an unscheduled exit in the Champions League after crashing to a shock 2-0 defeat at Olympiakos in their last 16 first-leg match on Tuesday. Goals from Alejandro Dominguez and Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell gave Olympiakos victory at an ecstatic Karaiskakis Stadium, to leave the Greek champions on the brink of the last eight for the first time since 1999.

It was the first time United had ever lost to a Greek team, but their error-prone display was fully in keeping with a season in which the selfbelief of the Alex Ferguson era has thoroughly abandoned them.

Previously unbeaten in the group phase, David Moyes’s side conceded defeat with a whimper on a chastening night in the Athenian port of Piraeus, failing to muster a single shot on target.

Eleven points off fourth-place Liverpool in the Premier League, their hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League were already fading, and they now face a fight to stay alive in this season’s competition in the return leg on March 19.

“It’s the worst we’ve played in Europe, that’s for sure,” said Moyes. “It was a really poor performance. We never really got going from the start and we didn’t deserve anything because of the way we played.

“I take responsibility. It’s my team. We didn’t play well tonight and we have to play better, but we know that we can do.

“The one good thing is that there’s still a second game to come.” Olympiakos coach Michel said: “Today’s match shows we’ve done a very good job. I’m obviously very happy with this match, but most of all, I’m proud of my players.

“But if somebody says that 2-0 is enough to qualify, he’s probably wrong. We have a 2-0 lead against Manchester United, which means nothing.”

Michel had wondered in his pre-match press conference whether United’s players would feel “burdened” by expectation, and in the opening stages his side were happy to let the visitors make problems for themselves.

SLOPPY START A sloppy pass from Rio Ferdinand gave Hernan Perez a free run down the left flank and although that came to nought, moments later

PIRAEUS: Olympiakos’ Jose Holebas (right) fights for the ball with Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney during their Champions League, round of 16, first leg soccer match at Georgios Karaiskak’s stadium, on Tuesday. —AP Nemanja Vidic had to launch himself into a last- working De Gea from 20 yards. Despite United’s ditch block after an untimely slip by Chris need, the English champions were unable to Smalling enabled Dominguez to drive into the establish a foothold in the opposition’s half and in the 55th minute they found themselves 2-0 United box.

Perez then slammed a shot into the side-net- down.

It was a goal that shone with the invention ting after leaving Smalling in his wake, and with a wayward Tom Cleverley shot the best United that United had been missing, as Campbell could muster in reply, the hosts’ 38th-minute picked up the ball on the right, insouciantly nutmegged Michael Carrick, and arced a 25-yard opener came as little surprise.

Campbell’s cross from the right was only par- shot into the bottom-left corner with his left tially cleared and although Giannis Maniatis’s foot.

The goal drew a disbelieving roar from the low shot appeared to be heading straight at United goalkeeper David de Gea, Dominguez’s home support and within moments Moyes had opportunistic flick sent the ball skidding into the reacted by introducing Shinji Kagawa and Danny Welbeck in place of Cleverley and Antonio opposite corner.

It was the first time United had gone behind Valencia.

But still Olympiakos came, with Michael in this season’s competition, and there was worse to come. Kostas Manolas headed a Wayne Olaitan lashing a snapshot narrowly over, and Rooney free-kick narrowly over his own bar when a presentable chance finally fell to United’s before half-time, but Olympiakos were the first Robin van Persie in the 82nd minute, he hoisted side to threaten in the second half, with Perez a wasteful shot into the stands. —AFP

Dortmund run riot as Zenit are routed SAINT PETERSBURG: Borussia Dortmund are poised for the Champions League’s quarter-finals after Robert Lewandowski scored twice in Tuesday’s 4-2 win at Zenit St Petersburg in their last 16, firstleg clash. Dortmund raced into a 20 lead after only five minutes at Zenit’s Petrovsky Stadium as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, then Marco Reus scored to leave the Russians reeling.

The hosts pulled two goals back after the break as central midfielder Oleg Shatov scored, then Brazil’s Hulk converted a penalty.

On both occasions Dortmund gave the perfect response, with

Lewandowski scoring just seconds later, as the Germans take a commanding lead home for the second leg on March 19. “We steered the game in the right direction with the early goals,” said Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl. “We dominated well after that.

“It was clear Zenit would come back at us.” Zenit got off to a nightmare start as both of Reus’ first two touches led to goals.

With barely four minutes gone, the Germany winger muscled through the Zenit defence and on to a Lewandowski pass. When he went to ground, central midfielder Mkhitaryan fired home to put last

season’s Champions League finalists ahead.

Only 70 seconds later, Mkhitaryan crossed from the right for left winger Kevin Grosskreutz to lay off to Reus, who fired a rightfooted shot past Zenit goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin. Zenit leaked nine goals in the group stages and their back four were woeful for both goals.

The hosts’ coach Luciano Spalletti responded by replacing former Russian captain Andrei Arshavin, who looked to have injured a hamstring, with ex-Bayern Munich midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.

As the long-running case neared a verdict, Yeung stepped down as a BIHL executive director and chairman this month.

Yeung, whose Cantonese name is Yeung Ka-sing, was an unknown when he emerged in 2007 with a bid for Birmingham. The takeover attempt failed when he missed the deadline to hand over money. He quietly acquired a 29.9 percent stake and in 2009, Yeung’s Grandtop International Holdings-which later became BIHL-bought the club for 81 million pounds ($135 million) from David Sullivan and David Gold, now owners of West Ham. Despite his new public role, Yeung and his glamorous wife maintained a low profile, an approach which did little to douse speculation about his business dealings.

HAIRDRESSING ROOTS Much of Yeung’s story-details of which are disputed by the prosecution has emerged as his oft-delayed trial slowly unfolded at the Hong Kong District Court.

According to Yeung, he first made money with a chain of upmarket hair salons in Hong Kong which catered to rich businessmen and movie stars such as Jackie Chan. After taking a hit in the 1998 Asian market crash, Yeung said he built up a portfolio worth tens of millions of dollars trading penny stocks in dozens of margin accounts.—AFP

ST. PETERSBURG: Borussia’s Marco Reus (left) covers the ball from Zenit’s Anatoliy Tymoshchuk during the Champions League soccer match against Zenit St.Petersburg on Tuesday. —AP

Dortmund struggled to maintain the lightning tempo after the initial goals, while Zenit were left subdued. It finished 2-0 at the break, but the hosts pulled one back on 57 minutes after a goalmouth scramble. New signing Jose Rondon’s shot was cleared by Dortmund’s Marcel Schmelzer, but the Venezuelan hit the post with the rebound before Shatov rifled his shot home.

The goal sparked Dortmund’s attack as Lewandowski scored twice to maintain their two-goal advantage.

Lewandowski exchanged passes with Poland team-mate Lukasz Piszczek then slotted the ball past Zenit goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin on 61 minutes.

Piszczek then conceded a penalty when he blocked Viktor Fayzulin’s run into the area and Brazilian right winger Hulk stepped up and smashed home the 69thminute penalty.

It took Dortmund just 90 seconds to reply when Lewandowski snapped up Reus’ pass and fired his 71st-minute shot past Lodygin for his second of the game.

Spalletti’s Zenit looked rusty, having played their last competitive game in December, and face an uphill task in Germany in three weeks.

In contrast, Dortmund can start planning for the last eight in Europe having given the perfect response to Saturday’s shock 3-0 at relegation-threatened Hamburg in the Bundesliga. “It was clear to me that my team would produce a reaction,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.

“My team can never be accused of going about their business without showing some character, but we still have work to do in the second leg.” —AFP

Blazers pound Nuggets

Captain Kohli steers India past Bangladesh

18

15

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Football and samba, a match made in Brazilian heaven Page 19

GERMANY: Real’s Gareth Bale (right) prepares to shoot past Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann to score during a Champions League round of sixteen, first leg soccer match. — AP

Real demolish Schalke on German soil GELSENKIRCHEN: Real Madrid cruised to a rare victory on German soil as they romped to a 6-1 win at Schalke 04 in yesterday’s Champions League’s last 16, first-leg clash.

Real are now all but guaranteed a quarter-final place regardless of the return leg in Madrid on March 18 after Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale both netted twice in the rout.

Real’s Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo also scored twice to see him take over from Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the competition’s top-scorer with 11 European goals this season.

Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a 91stminute consolation goal for Schalke, but the Royal Blues still suffered their heaviest defeat in European competition.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Real are now unbeaten in their last 27

games dating back to October.

The huge victory went some way to correcting Real’s terrible away record in Germany as they made the Royal Blues of Schalke look anything but regal.

This was only Real’s second win in 26 visits to Germany after 18 defeats, including their 4-1 drubbing at Borussia Dortmund in last season’s Champions League’s semi-final.

Real needed just 13 minutes to take the lead at the Veltins Arena as their star-studded attack clicked into gear.

Wales winger Bale cut in from the right, Ronaldo flicked his pass into space and Benzema beat the Welshman to the loose ball and fired past Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann.

Schalke almost immediately equalised as teenage midfielder Max Meyer fired over the bar with the goal at his

mercy after Ilker Casillas had blocked Julian Draxler’s shot.

Schalke were punished for wasting their rare opportunity and with 21 minutes gone, Bale held off two Schalke defenders to make it 2-0 with La Liga leaders in full control.

Schalke’s situation was not helped by Ronaldo effortlessly switching with Bale from the left to the right wing midway through the first half, only to revert back after the break.

Schalke came out all guns blazing for the second-half as Kevin-Prince Boateng forced Casillas into a rare save. But Ronaldo finally got on the scoresheet at the fourth attempt to claim his 10th European goal of the season in his sixth Champions League match.

He effortlessly turned Cameroon centre-back Joel Matip inside, then out before tucking the ball just inside the far

post with 52 minutes gone.

Just five minutes later, his deft backheel fell into Benzema’s path for the Frenchman to drill home his second of the night and Real’s fourth past the despairing Faehrmann.

It was one-way traffic by now and Bale scored his second and Real’s fifth when Sergio Ramos’s through ball was driven low into the bottom left-hand corner on 69 minutes.

Ronaldo then grabbed his second on 89 minutes to leave him with 36 goals in 33 games for Real before Huntelaar finally put Schalke on the board just before the final whistle.

The Royal Blues face another tough challenge ahead of the return trip to Spain as they face European champions Bayern Munich away in the Bundesliga on Saturday. — AFP

Chelsea in pole position after Galatasaray draw

ISTANBUL: Burak Yilmaz of Galatasaray (right) and Gary Cahill of Chelsea fight for the ball during their Champions League round of 16, first leg soccer match. — AP

ISTANBUL: Chelsea have the upper hand in their Champions League last-16 tie with Galatasaray after coming away from a testing environment in Istanbul with a 1-1 first-leg draw yesterday.

The visitors led at half-time thanks to an early goal from Fernando Torres, but Galatasaray improved in the second half and restored parity after the hour mark when Cameroon defender Aurelien Chedjou found the net.

A draw was a fair reflection of the way the game went, but Chelsea will now hope to finish the job in the return at Stamford Bridge on March 18.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho opted to select Torres in attack ahead of Samuel Eto’o in one of three changes to the team that beat Everton at the weekend, with Ramires and Andre Schuerrle also coming in. It proved to be an excellent decision as it was Torres who finished off a clinical breakaway to put the Blues in front with just nine minutes played, giving Chelsea the lead they deserved as their hosts paid for a poor start.

Former Arsenal man Emmanuel Eboue lost possession high up the field, and Chelsea pounced down the left flank, Schuerrle releasing Cesar Azpilicueta, who advanced into the box and drew goalkeeper Fernando Muslera before squaring for his fellow Spaniard to apply an easy finish.

It was a sixth goal in his last five Champions League starts for Torres, and it briefly silenced the boisterous Turkish fans

inside the impressive Turk Telecom Arena.

Chelsea could possibly have put the tie to bed in the minutes that followed, with Galatasaray utterly disorganised and poor in possession.

Willian had an effort comfortably stopped by the Uruguayan Muslera before Schuerrle’s low ball from the right - with the home defence at sixes and sevens was met first time by Ramires at the edge of the box, but his shot flew high over the bar.

TACTICAL SWITCH There was little by means of a response from Roberto Mancini’s men, with Didier Drogba unable to wriggle free from the marking of John Terry and Wesley Sneijder incapable of influencing proceedings from the left flank.

Winger Izet Hajrovic saw his snap-shot from 20 yards saved by Petr Cech, but the recent signing from Swiss side Grasshoppers was then the victim of a tactical switch by Mancini, who sent on central midfielder Yekta Kurtulus in his place and changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Gala improved after that and an Alex Telles cross-cum-shot had Petr Cech panicked before Burak Yilmaz put the ball in the net after a quickly-taken throw, but with an extra ball on the pitch at the time, the Spanish referee disallowed the goal, and booked Chelsea skipper John Terry for throwing one ball away.

A lively Torres almost made it 2-0 for Chelsea in the 52nd minute, bursting

ISTANBUL: Hakan Balta of Galatasaray (left) and Fernando Torres of Chelsea fight for the ball during their Champions League round of 16, first leg soccer match. — AP through the middle of the home back line before seeing his shot turned behind for a corner by Muslera.

However, Galatasaray finally started to grow into the contest in the second half, the raucous crowd receiving a lift when Gary Cahill nearly turned the ball into his own net after intercepting a Burak Yilmaz pass intended for Drogba.

The Ivorian striker almost created an equaliser against his old club in the 62nd minute, heading down a left-wing cross

for Selcuk Inan, but the home captain somehow contrived to stab the ball against the post from a yard out.

The Turkish champions were not to be denied a leveller three minutes later, though, Chedjou wriggling free of his marker to convert a Sneijder corner from point-blank range.

Galatasaray finished strongly, although the closest they came to winning the game was from a fierce Telles shot that Cech tipped over. — AFP

Business

Airbus reports profit jump, record activity Page 23 Shares sluggish as China keeps investors on edge Page 24

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Syrian exporters try to revive businesses

Gazans turn to solar as fuel crisis bites Page 22

Page 26

TOKYO: Bitcoin trader Kolin Burges (center) from London is surrounded by reporters as he protests against Tokyo-based Bitcoin changer MtGox in front of the company’s office in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP

Bitcoin world in turmoil; exchange goes dark Collapse of exchange spells trouble for bitcoin TOKYO: The sudden disappearance of one of the largest bitcoin exchanges only adds to the mystery and mistrust surrounding the virtual currency, which was just beginning to gain legitimacy beyond the technology enthusiasts and adventurous investors who created it.

Prominent bitcoin supporters said the apparent collapse of the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange was an isolated case of mismanagement that will weed out “bad actors.” But the setback raised serious questions about bitcoin’s tenuous status and even more tenuous future. At least one supporter said the blow could be fatal to bitcoin’s quest for acceptance by the public.

Catastrophic losses A coalition of virtual currency companies said Mt Gox went under after secretly racking up catastrophic losses. The exchange had imposed a ban on withdrawals earlier this month. By Tuesday, its website returned only a blank page. Yesterday it displayed a notice to customers that said all transactions were closed “for the time being” to protect the site and customers. The collapse followed the resignation Sunday of CEO Mark Karpeles from the board of the Bitcoin Foundation, a group seeking wider use of the exotic currency.

Mt Gox’s origins are rooted in fantasy instead of finance. The service originally specialized in trading colorful cards featuring mythical wizards and derives its name from a game. The initials stand for, “Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange.” San Franciscobased wallet service Coinbase and Chinese exchange BTC China sought to shore up confidence in the currency by saying the Mt. Gox’s situation was isolated and the result of abusing users’ trust. They offered no details. “As with any new industry, there are certain bad actors that need to be weeded out, and that is what we are seeing today,” the statement said.

Since its creation in 2009, bitcoin has become popular among tech enthusiasts, libertarians and risk-seeking investors because it allows people to make one-to-one transactions, buy goods and services and exchange money across borders without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties.

Criminals like bitcoin for the same reasons. For various technical reasons, it’s hard to know just how many people worldwide own bitcoins, but the currency attracted outsize media attention and the fascination of millions as an increasing number of large retailers such as Overstock.com began to accept it.

Speculative investors have jumped into the bitcoin fray, too, sending the currency’s value fluctuating wildly in recent months. In December, the value of a single bitcoin hit an all-time high of $1,200. In the aftermath of the

Mt Gox collapse Tuesday, one bitcoin stood at around $470. Central banks across the globe have been hesitant to recognize bitcoin as a form of money, and Tuesday’s vanishing act isn’t helping. Japanese officials appeared reluctant to react, with the Finance Ministry and Financial Services Agency both saying Wednesday a virtual currency like bitcoin was not under their jurisdiction. Tokyo police declined comment. Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said the financial regulators are gathering information and “if necessary, I believe they will act on this.”

Mt Gox “reminds us of the downside of decentralized, unregulated currencies,” said Campbell Harvey, a professor at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business who specializes in financial markets and global risk management. “There is no Federal Reserve or IMF to come to the rescue. There is no deposit insurance.” However, Campbell said, Mt Gox’s disappearance “doesn’t mean the end of the road” for bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The collapse “might represent the end of the ‘wild west,’ where anyone can set up shop and deal in crypto-currencies,” he said. But “increasingly sophisti-

cated investors” are funding serious ventures that will “raise both quality and confidence.”

Peter Leeds, a publisher of newsletter focused on risky investments, doubts bitcoin will recover from the Mt Gox collapse. He expects the currency to plunge below $300.

“It’s more likely that someone getting involved in bitcoin at this point of the game is going to lose,” Leed said. “There are all sorts of problems inherent with bitcoin that are just now coming to light.” Documents purportedly leaked from Mt Gox lay out the scale of the problem. An 11page “crisis strategy draft” published on the

What is bitcoin and how does it work?

SAN FRANCISCO: Mt Gox, once the world’s biggest bitcoin exchange, abruptly stopped trading on Tuesday, shaking investor confidence in the digital currency that is struggling for legitimacy.

WHAT IS BITCOIN? A form of electronic money independent of traditional banking, bitcoins started circulating in 2009 and have become the most prominent of several fledgling digital currencies. The virtual currency relies on a network of computers that solve complex mathematical problems as part of a process that verifies and permanently records the details of every bitcoin transaction that is made. Unlike traditional currencies, where a central bank

Tuesday. Compounding the issue, its price can vary greatly depending on the exchange.

Where can i use it?

Proponents say bitcoins could one day become widely used by consumers for online shopping and other electronic transactions. Certain online retailers such as Overstock.com and physical stores, mostly smaller operations, already accept the digital currency, but its adoption is not widespread. Critics say bitcoin is too volatile to be widely adopted and warn of its lack of regulation and its use to pay for illegal drugs and other nefarious transactions.

Store, trade, spend Bitcoins are held in virtual wallets with unique keys. Transactions are made by sending bitcoins from one wallet to a unique key associated with another wallet in a cryptographic process that is verified by computers across the bitcoin network. Bitcoin wallets can be stored offline or online at exchanges like Bitstamp and BTC-E. How it was created The system was designed to reward computers that do the crucial work of verifying transactions with the occasional payoff of new bitcoins in a process known as bitcoin mining. The growth in the virtual currency’s value has created a market for souped-up computers and chips especially designed for the cryptographic calculations used in bitcoin. About 12.4 million bitcoins, worth $6.2 billion at recent prices, have been minted since the currency began circulating, according to Blockchain.info.

BERLIN: In this file photo, attendees of the Inside Bitcoins conference in Berlin examine Bitcoin buttons. — AP decides how much money to print based on goals like controlling inflation, no central authority governs the supply of bitcoins. Like other commodities and currencies, its value depends on people’s confidence in it.

How volatile is it?

The dollar price of bitcoins quoted on online exchange Bitstamp spiked from around $30 a year ago to more than $1,100 in December as more people became aware of the currency and speculators jumped into the highly volatile market. But growing attention from regulators and concerns that bitcoins could be more susceptible to fraud than previously thought have sparked a steady decline in prices, to around $530 on

What about Mt Gox? The Tokyo-based bourse halted withdrawals earlier this month after detecting “unusual activity”, and on Tuesday it abruptly stopped trading. An unverified document circulating on the Internet purporting to be a crisis plan for Mt Gox said more than 744,000 bitcoins were “missing due to malleability-related theft.” Mt Gox began as a website for exchanging trading cards before turning to bitcoin.

What’s the future?

Bitcoin critics say Mt. Gox’s apparent failure proves the unregulated currency is far from ready for widespread use. They also point to hacking attacks at other exchanges. But proponents say it’s early days for virtual currencies and note that newer bitcoin exchanges and other startups aiming to make bitcoin mainstream are supervised by seasoned venture capitalists and financial experts. Many bitcoin advocates still hold out the hope of creating a digital currency system free of government intervention or control. — Reuters

blog of entrepreneur and bitcoin enthusiast Ryan Selkis said that 740,000 bitcoins were missing from Mt Gox. That represents roughly 6 percent of the estimated 12 million bitcoins that have been created so far, translating into hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of losses, although figures are fuzzy given the currency’s extreme volatility. “At the risk of appearing hyperbolic, this could be the end of bitcoin, at least for most of the public,” the draft said. In a post to his blog, Selkis said that the document was handed to him by a “reliable source” and that several people close to the company had confirmed the figures. Reached by phone, he declined to comment further. The Japanese government has not announced any formal investigation.

Scandal and customers At the Tokyo office building housing Mt Gox, bitcoin trader Kolin Burges said he had picketed outside since Feb 14 after traveling from London in an effort to get back $320,000 he has tied up in bitcoins with Mt Gox. “I may have lost all of my money,” said Burgess, next to placards asking if Mt Gox is bankrupt. “It hasn’t shaken my trust in bitcoin, but it has shaken my trust in bitcoin exchanges.” Mt Gox CEO Karpeles did not immediately return several messages seeking comment. A security officer at the office building said no one from Mt Gox was inside.

Tibbane, an Internet company that Karpeles is CEO of, still has its name listed on the building’s directory. “I have no idea” where they are, said Burges, the trader. “I’m both annoyed and worried.” Bitcoin’s boosters say the currency’s design makes it impossible to counterfeit and difficult to manipulate. But it has struggled to shake off its associations with criminality, particularly its role in powering the now-defunct online drug marketplace Silk Road. Only last month, another member of the Bitcoin Foundation, Vice Chairman Charlie Shrem, was arrested at New York’s Kennedy Airport on charges of money laundering.

Authorities have been taking an increasingly hard look at bitcoin and related virtual currencies, including Litecoin, Namecoin, Ripple and countless others. Some countries, including Russia, have effectively banned the currency. In other jurisdictions, authorities are weighing whether to try to tame the marketplace through licenses or other mechanisms. Even if Mt Gox doesn’t drag bitcoin down with it, there’s fear that the exchange’s demise will push financial regulators to take an even more skeptical stance. “I think this is disastrous from a (regulatory) standpoint,” Selkis said in a message posted to Twitter. “The hammer will now come down hard.” Satter reported from London. — AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

BUSINESS

Gazans turn to solar as fuel crisis bites The worst fuel shortage in its history GAZA: On the roof of Gaza City’s children’s hospital, a pristine row of solar panels gleams in the sunlight, an out-of-place symbol of modern, clean energy in the impoverished Strip. As the coastal Palestinian territory lives through the worst fuel shortage in its history, many of Gaza’s 1.6 million inhabitants are beginning to see solar power not just as a viable alternative, but perhaps as the only solution to the energy crisis. “We were forced to consider relying on solar power alone after the energy crisis that events in Egypt brought about,” said hospital director Nabil AlBurqani, referring to the closure of cross-border tunnels which halted the fuel supply into Gaza. “ We need solar energy in order to keep up care for babies in the maternity ward,” he said. “If there’s just a minute-long cut to the electricity that runs the baby incubators, a child could die.”

Gazans have learned to live with daily power outages of up to 12 hours that have affected private homes, schools, hospitals, businesses and water and sanitation plants. The ruling Hamas movement has blamed the crisis on Egypt’s destruction of cross-border tunnels which had been used for importing fuel, a decision implemented after the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

The tunnels had played a key role in Gaza’s economy since 2006, when Israel imposed a blockade after the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian mili-

tants in a cross-border raid. The restrictions were tightened the following year when Hamas seized power. Although the Israeli restrictions have since been eased, the tunnels continued to be the main conduit for fuel.

Safer than generators By harnessing the energy of the intense sunlight that beats down on the coastal enclave

most of the year, Gazans are optimistic they can overcome the crisis in the long term. And initial setup costs-which include buying and installing panels and converters, and the batteries needed to run them-are potentially outweighed by the benefits. The project at the children’s hospital, which was partly funded by British relief charity Sawaed, was set up in January 2013 at a cost of $100,000 (74,000 euros) and is

safer alternative than generators.

After the fuel crisis kicked in, mobile back-up generators quickly became commonplace, but were often unsafe, causing a string of deaths through explosions, fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. Shadi Jawwad bought solar panels for his home in the central Gaza Strip after getting a bank loan. “There’s no electricity or fuel to run the generators or the power station in Gaza, but we

GAZA: A Palestinian man stands next to solar panels installed on the roof of Gaza City's children's hospital al-Nasir, on February 24, 2014. As the coastal Palestinian territory lives through the worst fuel shortage in its history, many of Gaza's 1.6 million inhabitants are beginning to see solar power not just as a viable alternative, but perhaps as the only solution to the energy crisis. —AFP

Bank of America sees higher litigation costs

Car insurer Direct Line aims to shore up profit margins LONDON: Direct Line Insurance Group, Britain’s largest car insurer, will pursue “value over volume” in 2014 to safeguard its profit margins after more than a year of heavy discounting across the sector.

Direct Line Chief Executive Paul Geddes said he would make profitability his priority this year, in a market where competition has intensified due to the popularity of price comparison websites and market reforms introduced last April. “We will price according to the value that we want to get and according to the claims trends we see,” Geddes told Reuters in an interview after Direct Line reported its 2013 results.

The Automobile Association (AA), which has tracked car and home insurance in Britain since 1994, said the downward trend in motor premiums could be about to end. The association said it expected premiums to rebound by up to 12 percent this year as car insurers come under increasing pressure from their directors to stop writing higher volumes at unprofitable rates. “They won’t be able to cut prices any more. They’ll have to start putting prices up,” Simon Douglas, director of the AA, told Reuters on Tuesday. He said it would take a “bigger player” - a company such as Direct Line, Aviva or newly listed esure Group - to make the first move and trigger a rise in premiums.

Geddes declined to comment on whether Direct Line would raise its premiums in 2014. “The market is set by some players that are prepared to set low prices,” he said. “Profit will stay down while there are enough people prepared to write at those prices.” Geddes said that Direct Line cut its motor premiums by 3-4 percent over the last year, versus a drop of 6-8 percent in the wider market.

Over 8.2 million Direct Line shares had changed hands by 1136 GMT yesterday. The London-listed

now providing 20 kilowatts of electricity per day. Elsewhere, a Kuwaiti donation of $6 million is paying for the construction of five new schools, all of which will be equipped with solar panels, the education ministry said.

But the solar drive is not limited only to large-scale foreignfunded projects. Individual families, if they can afford the initial outlay, are also switching to solar, which promises to be a much

stock rose as much as 4 percent to 271.5 pence in early trade. The intrinsic value of Direct Line’s stock is 497.4 pence, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine’s model of how much a stock should be worth when considering expected growth rates over the next 15 years.

Rising claims In a bid to reduce the number of personal injury claims made annually in Britain, the government in April banned the payment of referral fees to solicitors, insurers and claims management firms, driving premiums down. Despite this, claims rose last year, the AA’s Douglas said, adding that many insurers would not have enough income to compensate for this increase. British motor insurers are expected to report a combined ratio, a measure of profitability, of about 114 percent in 2014, compared with 109.4 percent last year, according to a report by Ernst & Young. A ratio above 100 percent means an insurer pays out more in claims than it earns in premiums.

The insurer, spun out of Royal Bank of Scotland in the wake of the financial crisis, said it aimed to achieve a combined ratio of between 95 percent and 97 percent in 2014. Direct Line, which also offers home, travel and pet cover, posted a 70 percent rise in full-year pretax profit, helped by fewer home insurance claims. Net earned premiums fell 5 percent to 3.52 billion pounds ($5.87 billion). It said it would pay a total dividend of 20.6 pence per share and that it was on track to meet its 1 billion pound cost target for 2014. “2013 earnings and adverse weather losses so far in 2014 are better than our expectations,” RBC Europe analyst Gordon Aitken said, maintaining his “outperform” rating on the stock. —Reuters

NEW YORK: Bank of America Tuesday raised its estimate of potential payouts to settle litigation and disclosed it has been queried by regulators over its foreign exchange trading practices. In its annual securities filing for 2013 the US banking giant raised its estimate of outstanding costs it could pay for litigation and regulatory problems to $6.1 billion; the estimate a year earlier was $4.2 billion. Bank of America has faced major government and private lawsuits over its sale of mortgage-backed securities ahead of the financial crisis.

Bank of America said it adjusts the estimate once it concludes a payment is “probable”.

A US judge in New York earlier this month approved an $8.5 billion settlement between the bank and private investors on mortgage backed securities. The bank also disclosed that it has been questioned by regulators in North America, Europe and Asia “regarding conduct and practices in certain (foreign exchange) markets over multiple years.”

Bank of America said it is cooperating with the inquiries.

Several other banks have also been queried in the wide-ranging foreign exchange probe. Other banks, including Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, have also either suspended or fired currency traders in light of the probe.

Meanwhile, the bank is facing new probes into its mortgage practices as well as its foreign exchange business. The bank said in a regulatory filing late Tuesday that it was cooperating with government authorities in North America, Europe and Asia. The authorities are investigating a “significant” number of participants in the foreign exchange markets for their conduct over a number of years. Bank of America also said that the US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York is conducting an investigation concerning its compliance with the requirements of the Federal Housing Administration’s Direct Endorsement Program and the quality of mortgages it passed along to the governmentbacked mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bank also increased its estimate of possible losses from legal actions against it by $1 billion to $6.1 billion from $5.1 billion for the end of the third quarter. —Agencies

can use the sun,” the 44-year-old government worker said.

“My own solar set-up cost 5,000 shekels ($1,400/1,000 euros), and with it I can get enough electricity to light my home and keep the television on for several hours, even during the regular power cuts to the main supply,” Jawwad said. “This is a safe way of keeping my home running... And I only make one down-payment to set up the solar power system, rather than having to buy more petrol every day for my generator at fluctuating and often extortionate prices.” Figures released by the UN humanitarian agency OCHA show that in November, Gaza received less than 20,000 litres of fuel per week, down from nearly a million litres a day when the tunnels were operating.

Gaza’s sole power station ground to a halt on November 1 after diesel stocks ran out. It only went back online 50 days later after a delivery of Israeli fuel which was paid for by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. But the need to seek alternatives to carbon-based fuels appears to be sinking in. On its website, Gaza’s energy authority says it is looking to introduce “a strategy to encourage solar energy use,” in the hope that by 2020, solar power will account for 20 percent of the territory’s energy consumption. For now, it is relying on a stock of solar equipment which was brought through the tunnels before Egypt shut them. —AFP

Malaysia state in $2.94 billion deal to take over water firms KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s government signed a pact yesterday with the country’s richest state of Selangor to restructure the water industry as a lengthy spell of dry weather forced an end to a five-year feud over control of water resources. Media reports said opposition-run Selangor won approval from the federal government to take over four water firms in exchange for compensation of 9.65 billion ringgit, or $2.94 billion, to their owners.

The owners include builder Gamuda, whose shares dropped 0.7 percent, and water services company Puncak Niaga , which initially jumped 3.3 percent, in a stock market that was down 0.4 percent. Both firms have strong ties to the ruling National Front coalition. In exchange, the federal government got the state’s approval to build a 3.8-billion ringgit ($1.2-billion) water treatment plant that opposition leaders had argued would prompt a steep hike in water tariffs.

A government spokesman told Reuters the deal had been signed but could not immediately confirm the details. Selangor Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim signed the agreement with Prime Minister Najib Razak as a witness, state news agency Bernama said.

The deal comes after a month-

long dr y spell forced Selangor, which accounts for a fifth of Malaysia’s economy and is a base for multinationals such as Western Digital and Panasonic Corp, to begin limited water rationing as levels in its dams plunged to critical lows. Selangor has become a crucial political battleground. Ahead of elections last May, its leaders accused the ruling coalition of using water supplier Syabas to manufacture a water crisis and sow doubts in voters’ minds over the opposition’s competence.

The federal government said the state had jeopardized its water supply by blocking construction of the new plant. Yesterday’s deal comes as Najib promotes a “National Reconciliation Plan”, an effort to dampen an upsurge in racial and religious tension in the multiethnic country since the contested May election narrowly returned his coalition to power. Defacto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is contesting a seat in Selangor next month in a duel that may pave the way for him to become the state’s next chief minister, giving him a potentially crucial power base ahead of the next election.

Yesterday’s price is nearly double the first offer of 5.7 billion ringgit that Selangor state made to the firms in 2010. —Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal transfer Irani Riyal cash Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.784 4.566 2.691 2.153 2.855 225.090 36.457 3.629 6.328 86.995 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 75.300 77.680 734.410 750.900 76.992

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 39.200 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.160 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.319 Tunisian Dinar 179.770 Jordanian Dinar 399.240 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.897 Syrian Lira 2.015 Morocco Dirham 35.547 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 282.600 Euro 391.540 Sterling Pound 473.360 Canadian dollar 256.910 Turkish lira 128.450 Swiss Franc 321.140 Australian Dollar 256.880 US Dollar Buying 281.400 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

GOLD 240.000 121.000 62.500

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 Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL DRAFT 259.95 261.74 321.50 390.89 282.05 475.96 2.81 3.630 4.540 2.157 2.847 2.696 76.86 750.70 40.51 401.43 733.51 77.89 75.34

SELL CASH 256.95 262.74 319.50 391.89 285.05 478.96 2.83 3.900 4.840 2.592 3.382 2.790 77.32 752.77 41.11 407.08 740.81 78.44 75.74

2.965 3.835 86.505 46.745 9.665 129.810

Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

0.006425 0.000069 0.219494 0.019726 0.001869 0.009185 0.008353

0.006706 0.000075 0.225494 0.028226 0.002449 0.009365 0.008903

Bahrain Exchange Company

Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar Turkish Lira UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

Arab 0.743146 0.036834 0.000078 0.000183 0.394368 1.0000000 0.000138 0.024374 0.001195 0.727993 0.076913 0.074723 0.002165 0.174841 0.126221 0.075960 0.001283

0.751146 0.039934 0.000079 0.000243 0.401868 1.0000000 0.000238 0.048374 0.001830 0.733673 0.078126 0.075423 0.002385 0.182841 0.133221 0.077109 0.001363

Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi Thai Bhat Turkish Lira

COUNTRY Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 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

Selling Rate 282.350 256.905 471.410 389.890 318.650 745.540 76.850 78.400 76.160 397.915 40.505 2.153 4.545 2.687 3.627 6.317 693.510 1.275

Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar

SELL CASH Europe 0.007345 0.463194 0.006145 0.047893 0.382274 0.042417 0.085820 0.008087 0.039142 0.311670 0.126221 Australasia 0.244892 0.227498

SELLDRAFT 0.008345 0.472194 0.018145 0.052893 0.389774 0.047617 0.85820 0.018087 0.0444141 0.321870 0.133221 0.256392 0.236998

Al Mulla Exchange Canadian Dollar US Dollars US Dollars Mint

America 0.248621 0.278500 0.279000

0.257121 0.282850 0.282850

Bangladesh Taka Chinese Yuan Hong Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Korean Won Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee

Asia 0.003320 0.045211 0.034347 0.004309 0.000019 0.002677 0.003268 0.000252 0.081945 0.003069 0.002392

0.003920 0.048711 0.037097 0.004710 0.000025 0.002857 0.003268 0.000267 0.087945 0.003239 0.002672

Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar 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) 282.000 390.000 472.550 256.450 4.555 40.155 2.151 3.628 6.325 2.688 751.000 76.850 75.300

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

BUSINESS

News

in brief

Dubai’s passenger numbers up 15.1% DUBAI: Passenger traffic through Dubai International airport rose 15.1 percent from a year earlier to a record 6.40 million people in January, airport authorities said yesterday. The traffic was boosted by a seasonal rush of holiday makers into Dubai, as the emirate held the annual Dubai Shopping Festival. Cargo volumes in January totaled 197,021 tons, an increase of 4.5 percent.

HSBC extends global retreat LONDON: HSBC has sold its bank in Kazakhstan to the country’s second biggest lender, Halyk Bank, for $176 million in cash, continuing a retreat from countries that are unprofitable or where it lacks scale. HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver has sold or closed 63 businesses in the last three years as he tries to cut complexity in an effort to reduce risk and boost profitability at Europe’s biggest bank. Halyk is the second largest and most profitable lender among the 38 banks in Kazakhstan, a vast country in central Asia with a population of 17 million. It is the biggest economy of the former Soviet Union republics after Russia, largely thanks to its oil production.

HSBC Bank Kazakhstan has about 600 employees and six branches and mainly focuses on mass affluent retail customers and corporate clients. It made a profit of about $27 million last year and is one of the country’s top 20 banks, with 1.3 percent of the assets of Kazakh banks.

The sale price was based on a net asset value of $160 million. Halyk CEO Umut Shayakhmetova said the deal would consolidate her bank’s position and allow it to attract new clients in retail banking and among large national and foreign companies, and help it develop its private banking and internet banking. Halyk’s largest single shareholder is a company owned by President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s middle daughter, Dinara, and her entrepreneur husband Timur Kulibayev. The bank has subsidiaries in Russia, Georgia and Kyrgzstan. The deal is expected to complete in the fourth quarter.

Ominvest won’t proceed with Oman Arab Bank IPO LONDON: Oman International Development and Investment Co (Ominvest) has decided not to go ahead with the proposed initial public offer of subsidiary Oman Arab Bank, just two weeks after announcing it was looking into the feasibility of the transaction. “Based on thorough studies carried out by international financial institutions specialized in this field engaged by Ominvest for this purpose, Ominvest Board is of the view that is not in the best interest of Ominvest’s shareholders to proceed with this proposal at the present time,” the company said.

Current valuations on the Muscat Securities Exchange put the company off the idea, a source said. “If you look at where (Omani) blue chips are trading, it is pretty cheap, so it was decided an IPO is not the best option for shareholders,” he said. He did not rule out reviving the transaction at a future date. At the time the company said: “(Ominvest) shall make its best endeavors to inform the capital markets authority, within six months hereof, on its full plan regarding the (IPO) project.”

Anglo Irish liquidators offload 7.3 b euro loan DUBLIN: The Liquidators appointed to the collapsed Anglo Irish Bank have sold a second loan portfolio with a par value of 7.3 billion euros ($10 billion) above an initial valuation, Ireland’s finance minister said yesterday. Anglo Irish, renamed the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) in its final years, was put into liquidation last year.

The liquidators, KPMG, must either complete the sale of its assets by early this year or transfer them to the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), the stateowned “bad bank”. “The sale of this entire portfolio on top of the success of the Project Evergreen sale late last year will considerably reduce the amount of assets that are now expected to transfer to NAMA and bodes well for the ultimate success of the liquidation,” Michael Noonan said in a statement.

N Zealand to sell stake in 3rd power company WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s government yesterday announced plans to sell a slice of a third state-owned power company as the final step in a contentious program of asset sales. Finance Minister Bill English said in a speech the government planned to list Genesis Energy on the stock market in mid-April. He said the government would sell between 30 and 49 percent of the company depending on demand. Over the past year, the conservative government has raised about 4 billion New Zealand dollars ($3.3 billion) by selling 49 percent stakes in energy companies Mighty River Power and Meridian Energy. It also sold a 20 percent stake in national carrier Air New Zealand, which was already partially privately owned. The government says the program has helped it reduce foreign debt and allowed it to invest in hospitals, schools and roads. But opponents say the program is ideologically driven and unnecessary. More than twothirds of New Zealanders who voted in a referendum last year said they opposed the sales. Genesis Energy is the smallest of the three power companies. An independent 2011 assessment valued the company at NZ$1.8 billion, suggesting the government could expect to reap between NZ$540 million and NZ$900 million from the sale. English said it will offer bonus shares as a loyalty incentive to eligible mom-and-pop investors. Unlike the previous energy company sales, he said, the share price will be announced at the start of the offer period rather than the end.

Panasonic plans battery mega factory with Tesla TOKYO: Japan’s Panasonic and California-based electricvehicle venture Tesla Motors are in talks to build a $1 billion automotive battery plant in the United States, a report said yesterday. The electronic giant is inviting several other Japanese materials makers to join the project, with the aim of lowering manufacturing costs of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, the respected Nikkei daily said, without citing sources.

Batteries currently represent a big chunk of the final cost of an electric car, and slashing prices is key to making the technology more acceptable to consumers. The new facility, expected to handle everything from processing raw materials to assembly, is intended to go onstream in 2017 and to produce small, lightweight batteries for Tesla and possibly for Toyota Motor and other automakers, the Nikkei said. Tesla wants to bring electric vehicles down into the same price range as their gasoline-burning cousins, while also planning to make home-use batteries for grid storage, it said. Panasonic has worked with Tesla on developing next-generation auto batteries and last year expanded the contract to supply lithium-ion units to the firm to about two billion cells until 2017.

Co-op unveils sell-offs Worst loss in its 170-year history LONDON: Britain’s embattled Co-operative Group said yesterday it was selling its farming business and looking at offloading its pharmacies as the BBC reported the group was about to report the worst loss in its 170-year history. The sales are part of a restructuring at the member-owned group rocked in the past year by the discovery of a 1.5 billion pound ($2.5 billion) capital hole in its banking arm and a drugs scandal involving ex-chairman, Methodist minister Paul Flowers.

The BBC reported the Co-op, a well-known high street presence with banks, supermarkets and funeral homes, is about to post a loss of over 2 billion pounds when its 2013 results come out on March 26. Citing sources, it said the losses stemmed mainly from its banking unit together with a reduction in the value of the stores and goodwill it acquired in a 1.6 billion pound deal in 2009 to take over the Somerfield grocery chain. A Co-op spokeswoman declined to comment on the BBC report or give any guidance on the 2013 results.

A loss for full 2013 was expected after the group reported a pre-tax loss of 559 million pounds for the first half including a loss of 709 million pounds from its bank. It reported a full year loss for 2012 of 599 million pounds. The Co-op, owned by nearly 8 million members and operating nearly 4,500 retail outlets, admitted this month that it had lost touch with its customers and members and launched a national survey on its future strategy. In a bid to revitalize its operations, the group has embarked on a strategic review and yesterday said this concluded its farming business, described as the largest in the UK, was “non-core”.

The Co-op runs 15 mostly arable farms, three in Scotland and the rest in England, that cover 50,000 acres in total. The division also owns three packing sites. “(The group) has started a process that is expected to lead to a sale of the business,” the company said in a statement. “In addition, it is exploring options for the future of the pharmacy business; this could

include the sale in whole or part of the business.” A source familiar with the situation told Reuters the process of selling its 750 pharmacies that employ over 6,500 people was at an earlier stage than its farm sale.

The Co-op described itself as one of the top three pharmacy businesses in the UK. The group had planned to sell its general insurance business but scrapped that plan in January this year, saying it didn’t need to raise as much capital as originally envisaged to support its bank. The Co-op was forced to cede control of its banking business to hedge funds involved in a refinancing plan last year after the scale of its capital shortfall became known, leaving the group with a 30 percent stake in that division. Its rescue by bondholders became one of Britain’s biggest financial scandals of the past year, subject to a number of inquiries and with questions raised about how Flowers, with no banking qualifications, was appointed chairman.— Reuters

Indonesian capital seeks to revive crumbling old town

BLAGNAC: Airbus CEO Tom Enders (2nd left) next to DRH Thierry Baril (left), director for strategy Marwan Lahoud (2nd right) and Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm, gives a press conference to announce annual results 2013, in Blagnac southwestern France. — AFP

Airbus reports profit jump, record activity Rolls-Royce unveils future plane engine designs TOULOUSE: European aerospace giant Airbus Group reported yesterday record performances last year and a jump in net profit despite unexpected costs for a new airliner and its defense arm. As air traffic enters a new phase of growth, and airlines queue up to re-equip their fleets with new and more efficient aircraft, the baseline figures are huge. Airbus took orders worth 218.7 billion euros ($300.6 billion) last year and the order book is now worth a record 686.7 billion euros.

Net profit rose by 22.0 percent from the 2012 figure to 1.5 billion euros, and operating profit rose by 21.0 percent to 3.6 billion euros. The company, the main competitor to US aircraft maker Boeing, is based on making airliners but has other big aerospace activities. It said that orders placed with the Space division last year were also strong.

Demand for its medium-range A320 plane was so strong that it had decided to increase production from 42 a month now to 46 in the second quarter of 2016. The group has outstanding orders for more than 4,200 single-aisle airliners.

Chief executive Tom Enders said in a results statement that in 2013 “we again increased revenues and profits, achieved record aircraft deliveries, the A350 XWB’s first flight and initial A400M deliveries.” “Order intake was particularly strong for our Airbus commercial aircraft and provides a solid platform for the future growth of our group.” Group sales in 2013 rose by 5.0 percent to 59.3 billion euros, driven by the high level of deliveries of commercial airliners and by delivery of the first versions of the A400M military transport plane.

The group said it expected to raise sales and profitability by the end of next year. Last year the group, a vital contributor to the French trade balance, delivered a record number of airliners. Last month Airbus announced that it took a record 1,503 net orders in 2013, beating Boeing which had 1,355 orders. But it trailed behind Boeing in terms of finished airliners delivered. Airbus said it raised its operating margin from 5.2 percent of sales in 2012 to 6.0 percent, said it expected a reasonable margin next year, rising to 7.0-8.0 percent in 2015, including costs for the new long-haul A350 aircraft.

25% dividend increase Excluding those costs, it was aiming for a margin of 10.0 percent in 2015. The net profit for 2013 was achieved despite a charge of 434 million euros for unexpected costs for the first examples of the A350 which is due to enter service at the end of this year. Airbus also took a provision of 292 million euros for the costs of restructuring the Defense and Space division which comprises the former Astrium space activities, the Cassidian defense arm and the Airbus Military branch. At the beginning of 2014, Airbus Group changed its names from EADS to reflect the dominant role played by the

Airbus airliner brand. The board recommended raising the dividend payout by 25.0 percent to 0.75 euros per share. The figures gave a lift to Airbus shares which were showing a gain of 1.43 percent to 53.87 euros in morning trading. The overall French market was down 0.28 percent. The other divisions also turned in good performances. Orders taken by the Defense and Space activities rose by 28.0 percent and sales by 7.0 percent to 14.4 billion euros. Operating profit before non-recurrent items rose by 31.0 percent to 942 million euros. Airbus Helicopters was set back by a temporary suspension of use of the EC225 helicopter, popular for work on oil rigs. This unit raised sales by 1.0 percent, but operating profit rose by 28.0 percent.

Future plane engine Rolls-Royce unveiled yesterday its next generation of fuel-efficient plane engines to power civilian aircraft of the future. Two weeks after announcing a shock profit warning with government cutbacks on defense spending impacting its military engines business, Rolls revealed plans to build on its successful Trent XWB engine used to power Airbus A350 passenger planes. “These new designs are the result of implementing our ongoing technology programs,” said Colin Smith, Rolls-Royce Director, Engineering and Technology.

“They are designed to deliver ... even better fuel efficiency, reliability and environmental performance,” he said in a statement delivered alongside a media presentation event in Derby, central England, where the Trent XWB is assembled. Rolls said that Advance, the development name for one of its future engines, will burn at least 20 percent less fuel and CO2 emissions compared with the first generation of Trent engines that entered service in 1995. The Advance could be ready by the end of the decade, it added.

An even more fuel-efficient model, UltraFan, could be ready for service from 2025. “Both engine designs are the result of the ongoing research and development investment, of approximately £1.0 billion ($1.7 billion, 1.2 billion euros) a year, which Rolls-Royce makes across its aerospace and non-aerospace businesses,” the company added. Rolls is the sole engine provider for the Airbus A350 XWB, a longrange, wide-body plane which is slated to come into service at the end of the year. European plane maker Airbus Group announced yesterday a 22 percent year-on-year rise in net profit for 2013, despite one-off charges related to its new A350 wide-body aircraft. Earlier this month, Rolls said that its profit and revenue would flatten in 2014, as government cutbacks on defense spending ends the company’s decade of rampant growth. News also of a 41-percent slump in annual profits had sent Rolls-Royce shares diving earlier in February.— Agencies

JAKARTA: Once resplendent facades sagging in the tropical heat and empty shells of colonial-era buildings are depressing signs that the old town of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, once considered the “Jewel of Asia”, has suffered decades of neglect.

Palm trees grow through crumbling windows in what was once the centre of power for Indonesia’s Dutch colonial rulers, and many buildings that are still intact lie empty, stained grey by fumes from hordes of passing traffic.

But Jakarta’s popular governor Joko Widodo, who has energetically taken on the task of transforming one of the world’s most chaotic metropolises, has a new plan to overhaul the old town and attract more tourists. “It has to be done, otherwise it is going to deteriorate,” said Goenawan Mohamad, a wellknown Indonesian writer and member of the group set up to regenerate the old town. “It’s about time.” Nevertheless, there is much skepticism. Other plans have failed and some fear that even if the latest makes progress, developers might transform the area into a “Disneyland” full of garish malls rather than a well-preserved heritage area.

Restoring colonial splendor The old town, in modern-day north Jakarta, was once a global trading centre, where merchants would arrive to buy and sell goods from across the Indonesian archipelago, particularly spices sought after in Europe. With its whitewashed buildings and cobbled streets, the area for centuries made up almost the whole of Jakarta, then known as Batavia, and was called the “Jewel of Asia” by European sailors arriving after long sea voyages. Jakarta has expanded to become a city with a population of some 10 million, better known now for its traffic jams than historic buildings, and the old town has fallen into disrepair, out of favor with the city’s well-heeled residents.

Some small sections have been preserved. Cobbled “Fatahillah” square, the heart of the old town and the most visited part, is in good condition and is packed out with vendors selling trinkets to the small number of passing tourists. On the square, and also well-preserved, are the former city hall and a museum showcasing Indonesian puppets. But outside this small area most of the buildings are in a state of serious decay.

Widodo-who was elected last year-and his supporters hope their initiative might at last return some colonial splendor to Jakarta. They believe their plan stands a better chance of success than previous ones as they have created an umbrella organization with what they believe is the right mix of people to oversee the regeneration. The consortium includes private firms, a former government minister and a heritage group.

Crucially they have the strong backing of the Jakarta authorities, who have pledged a 150 billion rupiah ($12.5 million) budget for the regeneration. Previous attempts suffered either from a lack of coordination between numerous different players, or the opposite-just one group but a lack of resources, said Lin Che Wei, chairman of the consortium’s board of advisors. —AFP

JAKARTA: A sidewalk store is set up next to run down Dutch colonial-era building in the old town of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, locally known as ‘Kota Tua.’ — AFP

Food, drink industry makes progress on development BERLIN: Many of the world’s top food and drink companies are taking steps to improve their social and environmental impact on poor countries, although there is still much more to do, development group Oxfam said yesterday. Oxfam launched its “Behind the Brands” campaign a year ago to try to assess the real impact of food and drink companies on the countries where they source raw materials, especially given a proliferation of public commitments to sustainability.

Oxfam said the companies it ranked as most responsible - Nestle, Unilever and Coca-Cola - had extended their lead over the others, while General Mills had replaced Associated British Foods in last place. Big food and beverage companies have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years over their sourcing of raw materials, courting criticism on issues ranging from child labor on cocoa farms to the impact of palm oil plantations on rain forests.

Oxfam said its campaign had been helped by thousands of consumers bombarding brands with messages calling MOSCOW: Employees of a fast food chain prepare to serve free pancakes for action as well as a joint statement from 31 investment during their action to mark Maslenitsa, or Shrovetide, in central Moscow funds representing nearly $1.5 trillion of assets reiterating the Oxfam demands. yesterday. Maslenitsa is a week long traditional carnival of saying good“Those that are not moving fast enough will pay a bye to the already passed winter in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. — AFP price with the public, investors and communities in the

field,” Chris Jochnick, director of Oxfam’s private sector work said. “Those companies that move first should see benefits in long-term access to sustainable supply chains which should be reflected in their share price.” Oxfam said the biggest 10 food and beverage companies it studied had huge impact given that their annual revenues of more than $450 billion are equivalent to the national income of all the world’s low-income countries combined.

Oxfam ranked the firms on their policies in areas it sees as critical to sustainable agriculture: women, small-scale farmers, farm workers, water, land, climate change and transparency.

Nestle came first, Unilever second, Coca-Cola third, Mondelez International and PepsiCo joint fourth, Mars and Danone joint sixth, Kellogg Co eighth, AB Foods ninth and General Mills in 10th place. (www.oxfam.org/behindthebrands) Jochnick said General Mills had lost ground due to a lower score for transparency as it was not publishing as much information as before on its water policies. General Mills said it had a strong focus on sustainability and believed its efforts merited a better score, noting the Oxfam score was based only on publicly available information. — Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

BUSINESS

World shares sluggish; concerns mount China keeps investors on edge LONDON: World shares struggled to stay above water yesterday as concerns over opaque policy moves in China kept investors on edge amid a scarcity of major economic data. Chinese share markets and the yuan had stabilized overnight after sharp falls on Tuesday as the central bank continued its gradual squeeze on the yuan. Dealers suspect the People’s Bank of China has engineered the recent decline in its currency to inject more two-way volatility into the market and wrong-foot speculators who had amassed huge positions wagering on its continued rise.

The government said yesterday in comments published on the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) website the drop in the yuan was, “due to an adjustment of trading strategy by main market participants.” It added: “Fluctuations are normal compared to volatility in developed and emerging market currencies. Don’t read too much into them.” (www.safe.gov.cn) The more relaxed mood saw a largely quiet start for European markets. The main share bourses in London, Frankfurt and Paris opened down 0.4, 0.2 and 0.3 percent respectively,

ATHENS: Dockworkers shout slogans during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament against the privatization of Greek ports yesterday. The Greek government plans to privatize Greek ports as part of economic austerity measures. —AFP

weighed down by falls in major Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS. Sterling was steady as updated but unrevised UK fourth-quarter GDP data hit the wires, while there was little movement from euro or from benchmark eurozone bonds. In Asia earlier, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan crept ahead by 0.28 percent as the China nerves cooled, with South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines all fractionally firmer. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 pared early losses to be off 0.2 percent, following a 1.4 percent gain on Tuesday.

Economic data from the United States was too mixed to offer a lead. A closely watched housing survey showed home prices rose slightly more than expected in December, though February consumer confidence fell short of expectations.

Gold glisters In Europe there were more signs of recovery gradually putting down roots. Germany’s GfK sentiment survey showed consumer morale rose to its highest level in seven years, a counter to the previous day’s Q4 GDP data which showed marked weakness in domestic demand. “The market is just spinning its wheels today and worrying itself about China,” said National Australia Bank strategist Gavin Friend. “What we are really thinking about is (euro-zone) inflation data (on Friday) and the PMI’s, the ECB meeting and the nonfarm payrolls next week.” The cautious tone in markets was also warranted ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen due Thursday, where she is bound to draw questions on the recent spate of soft US economic news and what it might mean for policy.

Futures prices pointed to Wall Street nudging back to this week’s all-time high when trading resumes later, but yields on 10-year US Treasury notes were steady at 2.705 percent after dipping about 5 basis points. Both the record level on Wall Street and the drift lower in Treasuries has come as the recent soft US data has raised suspicions that the Federal Reserve

China debt hit record levels; drives mergers $12 trillion corporate debt pushes up refunding costs BEIJING: China’s corporate debt has hit record levels and is likely to accelerate a wave of domestic restructuring and trigger more defaults, as credit repayment problems rise. Chinese non-financial companies held total outstanding bank borrowing and bond debt of about $12 trillion at the end of last year - equal to over 120 percent of GDP - according to Standard & Poor’s estimates. Growth in Chinese company debt has been unprece-

dented. A Thomson Reuters analysis of 945 listed medium and large non-financial firms showed total debt soared by more than 260 percent, from 1.82 trillion yuan ($298.4 billion) to 4.74 trillion yuan ($777.3 billion), between December 2008 and September 2013.

While a credit crisis isn’t expected anytime soon, analysts say companies in China’s most leveraged sectors, such as machinery, shipping, construction and steel, are

selling assets and undertaking mergers to avoid defaulting on their borrowings. More defaults are expected, said Christopher Lee, managing director for Greater China corporates at Standard and Poor’s Rating Services in Hong Kong.

“Borrowing costs already are going up due to tightened liquidity,” he said. “There will be a greater differentiation and discrimination of risk and lending going forward.” China rarely allows corporate failures, par-

BEIJING: A woman wears a mask in haze-covered Temple of Heaven in Beijing. —AFP ticularly of state-backed companies, partly out of fear that widespread layoffs could lead to social unrest. In cases where firms have effectively gone bankrupt, domestic bondholders tend to be paid off ahead of other debtors.

HONG KONG: A demonstrator holding a cut-out shaped as a golden coin wears a mask depicting Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang outside the government offices in Hong Kong yesterday before unveiling of the annual budget. Hong Kong announced it would spend HKD 20 billion for relief measures and expects the economy to grow by a moderate amount this year compared growth in 2013. —AFP

Higher borrowing costs China Erzhong Group (Deyang) Heavy Industries Co, a loss-making manufacturer of equipment for the steel and power industries, faces higher borrowing costs after a wholesale restructuring, said Huang Guozhan, an executive at the company’s board secretary’s office. The Sichuan-based firm, which expects to report a 2013 loss of 3.15 billion yuan ($516.5 million) and may see its shares suspended, held debt of 11.4 billion yuan in September, according to stock market filings.

In July, China’s State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission ordered China Erzhong, together with its parent company, to merge with China National Machinery Industry Corp, another Beijing-controlled enterprise group. A management reshuffle followed, while a proposed 1.9 billion yuan asset sale was cancelled. Accumulated losses may drive up the cost of the company’s loans, Huang said, should banks cut the company’s ratings. “Tight credit growth and higher borrowing costs will make it a tough year,” said

Stephen Green, head of China research at Standard Chartered Bank.

Asset sales China’s massive holding companies, power producers and construction materials firms are among the most highly levered in the world’s second-largest economy, with each sector reporting twice as much debt as equity at endSeptember, Thomson Reuters data show.

Leverage in freight and logistics services reached 85 percent in September, forcing a wave of asset sales. Changjiang Shipping Group Phoenix Co, one of five listed companies under Sinotrans & CSC Holdings Ltd, another central government company, has been selling ships and borrowing money from its parent after its 4.9 billion yuan investment in new vessels turned sour.

The dr y bulk goods shipper, which is in bankruptcy restructuring, has been sued for loan repayment by five banks, including China Merchants Bank Co and China Minsheng Banking Corp. It also faces lawsuits by the leasing arm of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp for unpaid bills.

Other state-backed firms, including China Cosco Holdings and Angang Steel , have returned to nominal profitability by turning to their corporate parents to sell assets.

Over-invested?

Exacerbating China’s corporate troubles has been the questionable use of 4 trillion yuan in stimulus that Beijing pumped into the economy following the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, explained Lee of Standard & Poor’s.

“Many companies invested heavily into competitive and low-return projects because funding was readily available,” he said. “These investments aren’t doing well and are making little contribution to profitability.”

Although leverage at China’s mid-sized and large companies started to decline in the second half of last year, building down debt positions will be difficult, said Merrill Lynch analyst David Cui. “The beast grew so fast you can’t control it easily now. A sense of urgency will develop only if there is significant disturbance to the financial system.” China’s bonds, which in the past behaved more like pure interest rate products, have started to price in credit risk , with the coupon gap between AA and AAA-rated companies for 5-year bonds doubling in recent weeks. Last month, AArated Ningxia Baota Petrochemical raised 800 million yuan, offering to pay 242 basis points more than a coupon paid by AAA-rated Beijing State Owned Asset when it raised 3.5 billion yuan. The gap between two similarly rated 5year bonds in December was 132 basis points. —Reuters

will now be extra cautious as it looks to scale back its stimulus program. Gold, which has been one of the major winners from the shift in sentiment as well as the uncertainty coming from China, pushed to fourmonth top at $1,343.40 an ounce.

China puzzles Ukraine’s political uncertainty and fears it is fast running out of reserves saw the hryvnia hit record lows of 10 per dollar on Tuesday while Ukraine’s 2017 dollar bond <ua080875819= fell> fell further.

Russia’s rouble also continued to drop as its weakened to 42 against a dollar-euro basket for the first time.

After falling sharply on Tuesday, China’s yuan was looking more stable so far on Wednesday. It was quoted at 6.1283 per dollar, little changed from Tuesday’s close.

The Chinese currency has been a favourite among emerging market currencies in 2013, gaining nearly 3 percent even as most of its peers depreciated against the dollar. Most analysts expect it to appreciate another 2-3 percent this year, but the change in direction has rattled confidence. Some analysts believe the PBOC may be preparing the markets for more reforms.

“Putting such a warning shot over the bows of the FX community could also be seen as a sensible move ahead of any possible widening of the CNY’s trading band,” said Patrick Perret-Green, an analysts at Australia New Zealand Bank.

ANZ believes the band will be widened to 2 percent from 1 percent within the next couple of months, a move toward liberalization that should be seen as a positive step. Among major currencies, dealers reported scant activity ahead of the month end and a slate of major global data next week. The dollar inched up on the yen to 102.33, but could make no headway on the euro at $1.3748. The single currency has been corralled in a $1.3685-$1.3773 range for the past six sessions as traders debate whether the ECB will ease its policy next week. —Reuters

The implications of China currency move poorly understood

By Steen Jakobsen

T

he market seems to be very sluggish in picking up on the implications of China’s recent move to weaken its currency, with the Yuan now suddenly trading at its lowest level in months versus the US dollar. My conclusion is this: China will slow down to 5 percent growth over the next two to three years; China will start devaluing its currency in response to Abenomics and China’s weaker terms of trade; China will no longer be the world’s biggest investor and importer of investment goods.

This will have huge implications outside of China and in 2014, these developments will likely mean the following: Germany growth will turn negative (quarter-on-quarter) in the fourth quarter relative to the third quarter; World growth will come down from its recent 3.7 percent to less than 3 percent; The recovery projections will once again be postponed and the out-of-synch monetary policies of the major central banks will be questioned, leading to all-time new lows in interest rates; Deflation will take hold in Europe and become a major risk in the US; Equity markets need to be sold off.

This comes after commodities sold off after the US banking and housing crisis, followed by fixed income during the late stage European debt crisis. Now I see a 30 percent correction in the second half of 2014 after a high is registered between current levels of 1,850 and 1,890 in the S&P 500. China leads the world economy. It took the burden of supporting world growth in its hands during the peak of the crisis in 2008/09, with the largest fiscal expansion ever seen (nearly USD 600 billion). China also increased its investment-to-GDP ratios, which brought export orders for major European and US exporters until late 2013. But since the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in November 2013, the main objectives for the political elite in China have changed from growth for its own sake to rebalancing, fighting graft, reducing pollution and hoping that they can engineer a transition of their economic growth model with a smaller crisis now rather than a bigger one later.

I have already spent some effort explaining why China is proactively seeking a small crisis rather than a big one and how China can no longer afford to keep its investmentto-GDP levels at excessive levels. Now, China seems to have embarked on a fundamental change to its currency policy with its move to weaken the renminbi. It’s worth noting that China has been a strong critic of Abenomics and the resulting JPY devaluation as Japan and Korea remains its key export competitor. But until last week, China allowed its currency to continue higher in recent months - a side effect of a relatively tight monetary policy that was aimed at reining in bubbly credit markets.

But now the focus has shifted back to the risks from a strong yuan and China’s shift to weaken the currency is a pivotal new development: With the present tensions between China and Japan, this chart is cause for concern for all of us: it now appears that China will no longer “play nice” and we have to wonder what this will mean for the USChina relationship. President Barack

Obama’s provocative decision to receive, once again, the Dalai Lama in the White House is not helping the situation. That the rally in USDCNY kicked off almost to the day Obama hosted the Dalai Lama is, of course, a pure coincidence (they met on Friday, February 20)!

China is not happy these days: the domestic economy needs rebalancing, with the risk that doing so upsets the population and those in the public sector who have benefited so handsomely from the status quo of the past several years. Overseas, Japan’s Abe is insisting on a stronger Japan, the US is “misbehaving” by talking to the Dalai Lama and the recent G20 meeting had the developed world blaming the recent slowdown on emerging markets. It’s certainly not been a good month for monetary policy coordination or friendly summits. The growing potential for a political crisis comes ironically at a time when stock markets across the world are reaching 7-, 14- or even all-time highs, as was the recent case of the US S&P 500 Index.

Old economic theory The Bermuda Triangle of Economics remains in place. We’ve still got slow growth, high unemployment and high stock market valuations - all driven by a policy that only benefits the 20 percent of the economy that comprises large, listed companies and banks, who get 95 percent of all credit and access to policy subsidies.

Meanwhile, the 80 percent of the economy that is the SMEs, who historically create 100 percent of all jobs, get less than 5 percent of credit and less than 1 percent of the political capital.

Monetary policy It’s the weather! The reason for the disappointing start to 2014 in the US is now all about the weather - well partly. I think most investors/pundits forget that the data for December and January was actually “born” three, six and nine months before due to impulses in interest rates and the overall cycle. As I have covered in the past, the slowdown in housing was “expected” in our models owing to the spike in mortgage rates between May and August 2013.

Elsewhere, the US consumer must have known the weather would be bad as far back as last summer judging by this retail sales (Mom) chart: US consumers remain two thirds of the economy, but they are still conservative: spending rose 2 percent in 2013 after 2.2 percent in 2012 and 3.4 percent in 2011.

This is mainly due to low wage growth.

Since 2010, the average after-tax income growth, adjusted for inflation, has only been +1.6 percent - to reach the magic 3 percent growth level, we will need wages to grow at least 3 percent on their own! This is not likely to happen in world of excess capacity, but nevertheless the pundits started the year with a 2.9 percent average expected growth for 2014.

Now, one month into the year, the revisions are pouring in: the first quarter has already been reduced from 2.3 percent to 2 percent and the blockbuster Q4 growth of +3.2 percent is now expected to be revised lower to only +2.4 percent! Again, one has to laugh at how imprecise these measures are - we watch them, take decisions on them but ultimately their reliability is really only valid six months past the first announcement. Talk about looking in the rear-view mirror!

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

BUSINESS

News

in brief

Ex-Barclays traders appear in UK court LONDON: Three former Barclays bank employees have appeared at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on charges related to the rigging of a key market interest rate. Peter Charles Johnson, Jonathan James Mathew and Stylianos Contogoulas are accused of conspiracy in the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, known as LIBOR, between June 1, 2005 and Aug. 31, 2007. They spoke briefly only to confirm their names and addresses. Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot granted bail. At least six people have been implicated the scandal to fix the rate, which is used by banks to borrow from each other and indirectly affects the cost of loans in the wider economy. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Rabobank have been fined a total of $3.6 billion by US and British regulators for manipulating LIBOR. Jobless protesters torch police station in Tunisia METLAOUI: Jobless Tunisian protesters have torched a police post in the impoverished central region of Gafsa, where social discontent is rife over high unemployment despite the strategic importance of its phosphate mines. The demonstrators set fire to the building in the town of Metlaoui late on Tuesday and confronted policemen, an AFP journalist reported. Local authorities said no one was hurt in the unrest, which saw one of the town’s main roads blocked. Police eventually managed to restore order with the help of reinforcements sent from Gafsa, the regional capital. The riot was triggered by the announcement of the results of a recruitment process by a public company operating in the environmental sector. Such announcements frequently lead to clashes between unlucky candidates and the police, prompting the authorities in January not to publish the list of people recruited by a company in Gafsa.

Tunisia remains prey to sometimes violent social unrest, especially in the neglected centre of the country, more than three years after a street vendor set himself on fire in a desperate act of protest that launched the first Arab Spring uprising. Gafsa is economically important because of its phosphate mines, but remains among the poorest areas in Tunisia despite its natural wealth. It saw anti-government protests in 2008 that were savagely repressed by the regime of former autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Unemployment was a driving factor behind the revolution that toppled Ben Ali and continues to affect some 15 percent of the economically active population, with the figure rising to more than 30 percent among school leavers.

Russia’s ruble falls to new record low MOSCOW: The Russian ruble fell to a new record low against the euro yesterday amid fears of a Ukrainian default and a slowdown in the Russian economy. The euro surged to 49.42 rubles at around 0940 GMT, with the ruble dropping below the record set last week of 49.35 rubles. The dollar has risen to 35.94 rubles, its highest rate since 2009. The ruble has lost more than eight percent against the euro since the start of the year, as investors are reluctant to put money into emerging economies and Russia’s economic activity has slowed. Analysts at VTB Capital said that “tensions over Ukraine once again star ted weighing on the ruble.” Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak had said on Tuesday that Russia had “no legal obligations” to pay out the full $15 billion (10.9billion-euro) loan secured last year by Ukraine’s ousted president Viktor Yanukovych.

Fears are growing that Ukraine will default on its obligations and Russian banks are greatly exposed to the crisis-hit ex-Soviet country.

Fitch ratings agency warned on Tuesday that Russian state-owned banks are holding the bulk of Russian banks’ total exposure to Ukraine of an estimated $28 billion. Growth of the Russian economy slowed down sharply to 1.3 percent in 2013 from 3.4 percent in 2012 and 4.3 percent in 2011. Figures published this year show this slowdown growing more marked.

Soybeans prices rise NEW YORK: Soybean prices rose to the highest in five months Tuesday as demand for the crop increased. The US Depar tment of Agriculture announced a sale of 568,000 metric tons of soybeans Tuesday. Soybean prices have rallied this year amid signs of strong demand from China. “Soybean supplies are tight and we are seeing the major players bidding up prices,” said Todd Hultman, a grains analyst at DTN. The price of soybeans for delivery in May rose 12.25 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $13.87 a bushel. That’s the highest level since September 2013. Corn for May rose 3.5 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $4.61 a bushel and wheat for the same month gained 1 cent, or 0.2 percent, to $6.18 a bushel. Metal prices were mixed. Gold for April delivery climbed $4.70, or 0.4 percent, to $1,342.70 an ounce. Platinum for the same month rose $1.20, or 0.1 percent, to $1,442.60 an ounce.

Silver for March fell 8.8 cents, 0.4 percent, to $21.96 an ounce. Palladium for the same month fell $6.95, or 0.9 percent, to $736.10.

Copper for March fell 1.2 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $3.26 a pound. In energy trading, the price of oil fell 99 cents, or 1 percent, to $101.83 a barrel as weather forecasters backed off previous predictions for unusually cold temperatures next month.

Poor left behind, jobs scarce as Philippines takes off MANILA: The Philippines should create more investment opportunities in agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and mining to escape the curse of jobless economic growth, experts and businessmen said yesterday. Economic growth in the Philippines has been among the highest in Asia in recent years. But the benefits have escaped the vast majority, particularly farm workers, they told an economic forum.

“If you want a major increase in employment, you have to broaden your basis of growth,” Julian Payne, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, told the forum sponsored by foreign chambers of commerce. He said there must be more opportunities in “sectors that really have huge potential in longterm employment generation” such as agribusiness, manufacturing, mining and tourism-with only the latter currently enjoying some success.

The economy grew 7.2 percent last year, the fastest since President Benigno Aquino came to power in 2010. However the foreign chambers of commerce said 22.3 percent of families still lived in poverty, barely changed from the figure in 2009. The rate of unem-

ployment and underemployment as of October last year was 24.4 percent, down only slightly from the previous year, government statistics showed. While they gave Aquino credit, the heads of the country’s foreign chambers of commerce said his reforms did not go far enough or were too slow.

While foreign direct investment in the Philippines had picked up, it was still lagging far behind its peers in Southeast Asia, they added. “Competitiveness in the country is getting better but it is not enough,” said Takashi Ishigami, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. He and other foreign businessmen said the Philippines should scrap restrictions on foreign investment, keep the minimum wage from rising and further cut bureaucracy to bring the the country to the same level as the rest of the region.

World Bank economist Rogier van den Brink said the Philippines needed to create 14.6 million more jobs for those already unemployed and underemployed, on top of those who join the labour force each year. He said entrenched groups in the country were resisting competition and preventing the economy from opening up. —AFP

MANILA: Former Philippines Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo gives a speech during the Arangkada Philippines Forum in Manila yesterday.

“Growth has not made a dent on poverty,” De Ocampo told foreign and local businessmen. —AFP

Britain’s banana price wars come at a cost to growers LONDON: When a banana flown half-way round the world costs half the price of a locally-grown apple, many in Britain wonder whether Latin American banana producers are getting a fair deal. The British love eating bananas. Like milk or bread, it is considered a shopping essential, a reason why consumers choose one shop over another and a battleground in the supermarket price wars. Britain’s Fairtrade Foundation charity, which promotes fair wages for developing world producers, kicked off a campaign in London this week to declare a truce in the battle that ends up with growers, mostly in Latin America, selling their bananas at below the cost of production. Britain is the only country among the bigger European states where bananas are now cheaper than they were a decade ago. In Germany, France and Italy, prices have risen.

A banana that cost 18 pence ($0.30, 22 euro cents) in Britain in 2002 now costs 11 pence-around half the price of a locally-grown apple, according to the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development.

Fairtrade Foundation chief executive Michael Gidney said: “Small farmers and plantation workers are the collateral damage in supermarket price wars. “The poorest people are bearing the cost of our cheap bananas and they have to work harder as what they earn is worth less and less in their communities,” he told a London press conference.

“As a result, a product that is worth

LONDON: Picture shows bananas on sale at a market in London. According to the British Fairtrade organization, the UK consumes over five billion bananas each year. —AFP billions of pounds in global trade relies on poverty-level income for the people who grow it.”

Alfonso Cantillo, a Colombian banana producer from the north coast Magdalena area who sells to Britain, was invited to London by Fairtrade to highlight the issue. He said he receives $8.15 (5.95 euros) per 18-kilogramme box-when his production costs are $9. “We get no real benefit for what we invest. It’s very frustrating,” Cantillo said.

“When banana prices fall, we suffer from the impact. Our living conditions go down. We need price sta-

bility.” Britons eat 100 bananas per year -Not even the supermarkets are making money on bananas.

Fairtrade said retailer representatives estimate the big chains may be losing hundreds of thousands of pounds (dollars, euros) a week as a result of banana price competition.

Each Briton eats around 100 bananas per year. Most are from Latin America: 28 percent from Colombia; 24 percent from the Dominican Republic; 16 percent from Ecuador and the remaining 32 percent from other countries.

The British reliance on bananas is a fairly new phenomenon, all thanks to refrigerated transport allowing them to be imported from across the Atlantic in huge volumes. The nearest place where they grow is Spain’s Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa. The British government instigated a national banana day in 1946, in which each child received a ration of one banana when imports resumed again.

It was a joyous way to lift the national mood after the hardships of World War II-but not for Auberon

Brent holds above $109 LONDON: Brent oil held above $109 a barrel yesterday after a steep fall in stockpiles at the Cushing delivery point for US crude, with prices constrained by weak economic data in the world’s top oil consumer. Investors are also assessing the prospects for oil demand after the

American Petroleum Institute (API) showed, even though overall domestic stockpiles rose by 822,000 barrels.

Brent crude had slipped 7 cents to $109.44 a barrel by 1014 GMT. US oil rose 35 cents to $102.18. “We’re not looking at an overly bullish set of numbers from API.

Ships sit idle along the banks of the Mississippi River north of the Grammercy bridge after a barge collision near Vacherie, La, Saturday closed river traffic. The Coast Guard reopened a normally bustling stretch of the lower Mississippi River to ships and boaters on Monday, two days after an oil spill closed the major inland waterway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. —AP United States and Europe emerge from severe cold and refiners take plants down for maintenance after meeting peak winter consumption.US crude inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub fell by 1.1 million barrels last week, data from industry group the

The question is really whether the numbers are going to be confirmed by the Department of Energy,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodities strategy at BNP Paribas. Prices may draw support from prolonged unrest in North African exporter Libya, he said. “On Brent,

you’re looking at more international issues - Libya is having a very difficult time and there is increasing geopolitical tension in Sudan,” said Tchilinguirian.

More than 100 rockets fired in clashes between rival government-paid militia have knocked out a power plant in southern Libya, in yet another indication of the struggle the government faces in controlling the unrest. The gain in overall US crude oil stockpiles was, meanwhile, lower than analyst expectations for an increase of 1.2 million barrels. Gasoline stocks fell by 314,000 barrels, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1-million-barrel decline. Distillate fuel stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 693,000 barrels, compared with expectations for a 1.2-million-barrel drop, the API data showed.

Investors now await data from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) later to get a clearer picture. US home price gains slowed in December, underscoring a loss of momentum in the housing recovery, while consumer confidence drifted lower this month. But the weakness in the housing sector may have been in part due to the bitter cold and severe snowstorms. Oil markets are also watching the outlook for demand in China. The world No 2 oil consumer’s corporate debt has hit record levels and is likely to accelerate a wave of domestic restructuring and trigger more defaults as credit repayment problems rise. —Reuters

Gold hits 4-month high LONDON: Gold prices rose above $1,340 yesterday, holding onto four-month highs on uncertainty over China’s economic policy moves and with weaker data raising questions about the strength of the US recovery. Investors have poured back into the metal, which has risen 11 percent since the beginning of the year, on worries about economic conditions in the United States and in China, which is now dealing with unprecedented growth in corporate debt. Spot gold touched its highest since Oct 30 at$1,345.35 an ounce and was down 0.1 percent at $1,339.23 by 1146 GMT. US gold futures for April delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,339.40 an ounce, having earlier hit a four-month high of $1,345.60. “At the moment the market is reacting to weaker data from China

and the US on the assumption that if economic slowdown is confirmed then there may be some scaling back of Fed tapering,” Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said. “But it is not really a runaway, we are just grinding higher and you could argue that the latest entrants to the market are looking for additional gains and if they don’t get that they might be quick to pull the trigger again to get out,” he said.

“It looks like most people are not seeing the upside going much above $1,350/1,400.” US data on Tuesday showed that home price gains slowed in December, underscoring a loss of momentum in the housing recovery, while February consumer confidence fell short of expectations. European equities fell yesterday, tracking Asia. —Reuters

Waugh and his sisters, whose father, the novelist Evelyn Waugh, ate theirs. “It would be absurd to say that I never forgave him, but he was permanently marked down in my estimation from that moment,” a traumatized Auberon Waugh wrote in his memoirs. Fairtrade has focused on bananas rather than other produce because “what has happened on the price of bananas is quite extraordinary”, said Barbara Crowther, their director of policy and public affairs. Unlike bananas, says Fairtrade, the price of eggs, bread and sugar-to name three basic foodstuffs-have increased by between 40 percent and 120 percent since 2002.

The organization blames a structural problem: competition laws prevent supermarkets from agreeing a minimum price, while the European Union has opened up its markets to ever more growers. Fairtrade has written to Britain’s business minister Vince Cable pushing for a probe. “We are calling on you to urgently investigate retailer price wars on bananas, evaluate the impact on the longterm interests of banana producers and UK consumers and take action on the findings,” says the letter from Gidney. Of several major British supermarket chains contacted by AFP, only Sainsbury’s would comment. “Not all supermarkets are the same, and everyone who buys a banana from Sainsbury’s knows the grower is getting a fair price, as set by Fairtrade,” said Judith Batchelar, director of Sainsbury’s Brand. —AFP

UK recovery broadens LONDON: Britain’s economic recovery broadened in the last three months of 2013, driven by a pick-up in business investment and trade that will hearten the Bank of England and the government. Consumer spending and a turnaround in the housing market have been the main drivers behind Britain’s surprisingly rapid upturn, which started last year.

But yesterday’s data suggested a more balanced recovery may be building, little more than a year before a general election. Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter, the Office for National Statistics said, unrevised from an earlier estimate and in line with forecasts.

That capped off the fastest rate of full-year growth since the financial crisis. “This provides some hope that the recovery is gaining breadth even if, as we expect, overall growth slows during the course of this year,” Deutsche Bank economist George Buckley said. Sterling rose against the dollar to a session high above $1.67 after the data. Business investment rose 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, the fastest upturn since the first quarter of 2012.

Household spending rose 0.4 percent on the quarter. Net trade also contributed strongly to growth. Britain’s Treasury highlighted the growth in business investment, saying it was a sign that the government’s economic plan was working.

More to do But a spokesman said more needed to be done and next month’s budget would seek to support investment and exports. Revisions to the data showed business investment grew for four consecutive quarters for the first time since 2007. BoE Governor Mark Carney has previously questioned the reliability of the ONS’s business investment data, saying other surveys had suggested stronger growth in spending by companies. The central bank has said it expects a pick-up in business investment in 2014, something it sees as essential to secure longawaited growth in productivity. The BoE has linked its record low interest rates to the amount of spare capacity in the economy.

Policymakers have stressed the economy will not be weaned off the stimulus of ultra-low borrowing costs quickly. Monetary Policy Committee member David Miles said yesterday rates will not rise, despite what appears to be the brightest economic outlook in five years. Another BoE policymaker Ian McCafferty, said in a Reuters interview published on Tuesday that expectations the BoE will start to raise interest rates in the spring of 2015 are “not unreasonable”. Yesterday’s data took Britain’s full-year growth for 2013 up to 1.8 percent, from just 0.3 percent the year before.

This is the highest since 2007, although total output is still 1.4 percent below the pre-financial crisis peak reached in the first three months of 2008 - a weaker situation than in almost all other big advanced economies. —Reuters

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

BUSINESS

Panel faults US govt over offshore tax evasion Americans exploiting Swiss bank accounts WASHINGTON: Billions of dollars in US taxes are going unpaid because Americans are exploiting Swiss bank accounts, and the US government has failed to aggressively pursue Switzerland’s second-largest bank, a Senate investigation has found. The bank, Credit Suisse, has provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 US clients totaling $10 billion to $12 billion, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The US government has received only 238 names of US citizens with secret accounts at Credit Suisse, or just 1 percent of the estimated total, the investigation concluded. Credit Suisse recruited US clients to open Swiss accounts from 2001 through 2008, helped them conceal the accounts from the Internal Revenue Service and enabled misconduct by bank employees,

the subcommittee asserted. For five years, the Senate panel has been examining Swiss banks’ use of secrecy laws to enable tax evasion by Americans. The main focus of its latest report was Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse had no immediate comment on the Senate report. Responding to the report in a statement, the Justice Department said it is investigating up to 14 Swiss financial institutions, “and we won’t hesitate to indict if and when circumstances merit.” It did not name the banks. The Senate subcommittee asserted that the Swiss government, with its famous banking secrecy, has continued to obstruct US authorities’ ability to learn the names of US bank customers and former customers. The report detailed cloak-and-dagger tactics used by Credit Suisse bankers who were said to travel to the United States to secretly service

accounts and recruit customers - including at golf tournaments in Florida and the annual “Swiss Ball” in New York.

Over breakfast at a hotel, one banker handed a US customer bank statements hidden in a Sports Illustrated magazine, the report said. The bank filed visa applications for employees that falsely portrayed them as tourists and maintained a New York office with lists of middlemen who set up offshore shell companies for some US customers, the committee asserted. Credit Suisse “aided and abetted US tax evasion, not only from behind a veil of secrecy in Switzerland, but also on US soil by sending Swiss bankers here to open hidden accounts,” Sen Carl Levin, the subcommittee’s Democratic chairman, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Levin said the Justice Department has failed to use the US legal tools with Credit Suisse that were used earlier to pry the names of US account holders from No 1 Swiss bank UBS. The Justice Department has instead used treaty requests for the names, relying on Swiss courts and getting stymied, he said. “It’s time to ramp up the collection of taxes due from tax evaders on the billions of dollars hidden offshore,” Levin urged.

Justice officials are scheduled to testify and explain the government’s actions at a hearing Wednesday by the subcommittee. Also expected to testify are four executives of Credit Suisse, including CEO Brady Dougan. In its statement Tuesday, the Justice Department said that since 2009, it has charged 73 account holders, and 35 bankers and advisers with violations related to offshore tax evasion.- AP

Syrian exporters try to revive businesses About 80 percent of factories damaged

Zain publishes latest study BARCELONA: Zain Group, a pioneer in mobile telecommunications across the Middle East and North Africa announces the publication of its latest study titled, “The Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Telecommunication in the MENA Region”. A launch ceremony promoting the publication was held yesterday in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress, attended by senior Zain and PwC Partners and dignitaries that included Zain Group Chairman Asaad Al Banwan, Zain Group CEO Scott Gegenheimer, Dr. Anil Khurana, PwC Partner and Middle East Consumer and Industrial

Products and Services (CIPS) Leader and Mohamed Kande Partner, Global Telecom Information, Communication and Entertainment (TICE) Advisory Leader.

The study was developed in collaboration with PwC Middle East, underlying the role Zain takes as thought-leader and regional innovator, and it’s eagerness to not only share its experience and insights with the wider community but most importantly to be an agent for change and development.

Coinciding with the celebration of Zain Group’s 30th anniversary of operation, the study illustrates that by tapping the potential of emerging mobile solutions in areas such as commerce, education and health, the mobile telecom sector can truly become a catalyst for growth and prosperity in the MENA region. The detailed study covers relevant topics including the key development challenges in Zain’s markets, and emerging business models in developing markets; through to the solutions

that Zain has put in place to overcome market and industry challenges, and demographic shifts, affordability and accessibility to healthcare through mobile solutions.

A few of the findings of the study include: Mobile communications have achieved in 2 decades what fixed line communications took 120 years to realize in contributing to economic development •

Nations are increasingly dependent on modern communication networks for effective participation in an increasingly global

economy.

•

Strong telecommunication networks attract more foreign direct investment.

•

How availability of reliable mobile coverage and solutions in several countries can provide women with better social and economic services and boost employment in this gender.

•

Privatization of incumbent state operators and shifting government responsibility from ownership and management, to policy and regulation leads to improved overall network performance.

Commenting on the release of the study, Zain Group Chairman, Asaad Al Banwan said: “As Zain celebrates its 30 years as a regional pioneer in the telecom sector, through this study we have shown that mobile telecommunications can result in tangible socioeconomic benefits to the MENA

region in areas such as increased employment opportunities, more efficient economies, and improved access to education.” The Chairman added, “Our commitment to sustainability motivates us to continue to expand our understanding of the numerous ways in which the core services that we offer create prospects for socio-economic growth and improved environmental performance.”

Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer said: “As leaders in the telecom sector we believe it is our responsibility to share our knowledge and experience with the wider world in order to shed light on the best ways to align activities in the mobile telecom sector with the larger socio-economic goals of our region. It is our expectation that this study will serve as a tool to inform and help policymakers leverage these insights in order to create an enabling environment for further growth and development, which will ultimately lead to more job creation, poverty alleviation and social equality. We do this in the belief that our ability to influence society in a positive way feeds directly into our own success as an organization.”

Gegenheimer added: “With over 46 million customers, the findings of this study is a step forward to better understand the communities we serve, and how we can further enrich their livelihoods.” On the collaboration, Dr Anil Khurana from PwC Middle East said: “The evolution of telecommunications continues to give rise to disruptive innovations, many of which have the potential to create a positive impact on economies and societies.

Telecommunications has proven to be one of the most cross cutting industries in terms of its market reach, and the boundaries of the ecosystem continue to widen. It has thus become a critical channel for connecting and enriching societies, ultimately creating value for consumers and providers.

Co-author Emily Manuel from PwC added: “Our joint study with Zain highlights the potential for the region to gain and develop through the industry and its services, due to attributes such as its ability to rapidly leapfrog infrastructure. The ecosystem will need the support and leadership of stakeholders and institutions in order to shape the best outcomes for the future.”

The study also includes a diverse range of topical issues including how mobile communications support agricultural systems; to withstand growing pressures from climate change; and optimizing resources and managing growing demand in the face of urbanization and Smart Grids. Furthermore the study highlights the need for governments to recognize the potential of mobile for development of its economy and lead the way through strong and proactive leadership as a catalyst in fast tracking the pace for mobile development. “The Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Telecommunication in the MENA Region” can be freely downloaded as a PDF from the Zain Group website at www.zain.com

DUBAI: Three years into Syria’s war, some exporters who moved to neighboring countries to escape the violence that has devastated many businesses now want to return home. While production in Syria is running at a small fraction of pre-conflict levels, advances by forces of President Bashar Al-Assad against rebels in the past year have improved security in some areas for entrepreneurs who largely lean towards the government side.

On top of this, bosses such as olive oil exporter Antoun Betinjaneh have found that shifting production across the border to Lebanon makes little financial sense.

Betinjaneh, a newly-appointed member of the Syrian Exporters Federation, said that for all the turmoil, the state offered cheaper utilities and land on attractive terms. “You don’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone,” Betinjaneh told Reuters on the sidelines of a food industry event in Dubai where he was marketing Syrian products.

“It is much more expensive to operate the businesses from abroad. In Lebanon where I went, power and water cost much more than what we were paying in Syria,” Betinjaneh said. “A square meter of land in an industrial complex in Syria is only $16 and is payable over a 10-year period for example, and you have access to all kinds of facilities and cheap energy,” he said.

More than 130,000 people have been killed in the conflict since 2011 and the United Nations says 9.3 million people nearly half the population - need help.

Malnutrition is a growing threat to civilians in Syria, where fighting and sieges have prevented residents in eastern provinces and towns near Damascus from getting food for weeks or even months.

But while marketing food exports as Syria struggles to feed its own population seems more like a dream than a reality, it reflects a strong desire by families who have invested their lives in their businesses to keep them going. Betinjaneh, who is involved in a range of food trade activities as well as olive oil exporting, rebased his offices to Lebanon but decided against setting up a processing plant there after investigating the possibility. He has travelled between Beirut and Damascus over a dozen times in the past month. Now he plans to go back permanently to run his business of growing olives in the Damascus region and refining them into oil at a plant in Tartous, a coastal city near the Lebanese border.

Tartous has escaped relatively unscathed from the fighting while Damascus and some government-held suburbs are functioning, although power supplies are patchy. Before the conflict,

the clothing and food industries generated the bulk of Syria’s export business. It was the world’s fourth largest exporter of olive oil producing 250,000 tons yearly and exporting around 50 percent of that.

“A lot of that was being exported as crude to Italy and then packaged there and reexported,” Betinjaneh said. Now exports have trickled down to negligible amounts.

Factories wiped out The conflict has demolished 80 percent of factories and completely wiped out Aleppo’s industrial city. Looting is also a common problem depleting stocks from storage sites. Olive oil and other food commodities are being shipped out by those looking to make a quick profit. “A lot of commodities, including olives, are now being smuggled across the border to countries like Turkey,” Betinjaneh said. The Syrian Olive Oil company’s booth at Dubai’s annual Gulfood exhibition this week stood next to several other Syrian companies looking to market their confectionary, nuts and lentils amongst other

exporters federation argues that for some, there is no choice but try to make things work in Syria. “These people have factories, you can’t just pick up your factory and go,” Mohammed Al-Sawah said.

“It is a different culture to the trading culture.”

Manufacturers say some areas of Syria have been kept intact and are safe to operate from, including even parts of Homs, whose rebel-held Old City has been devastated. “Damascus and some of its suburbs are functional and Homs and Tartous were not damaged at all but they had suffered logistical problems because of the difficulty in transport,” Sawah said.

“Now the roads are more secure and the highways are open and so the logistics are much better,” he said. Some of the factories that have re-started operations in the past few months have had to focus on supplying the local market rather than exports due to the shortages. The food business, according to Sawah, is now producing around 15 percent of its pre-war levels.

ALEPPO: A Syrian man pushes a cart past damaged buildings in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. — AFP goods. Sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States and other countries on Assad’s government do not apply to food, although a freeze on international financial transactions has greatly hindered Syria’s ability to seal import deals for vital goods such as flour, wheat, rice and sugar.

The agricultural sector has also suffered greatly, and Syria faced its worst wheat harvest in three years this season.

Estimates collated by Reuters from over a dozen grain officials and local traders in late July suggested the crop was under half the prewar norm. But even as financial and logistical problems continue to dominate, the head of the

Those who do manage to export are overcoming financing and logistical difficulties that might arise by depending on long-established business ties. “I am doing business now for example with someone who my grandfather used to do business with,” Sawah said. “These were not relationships built yesterday, some manufacturers are even doing business with their relatives in neighboring countries like Iraq,” he said. Still, no matter how strong the desire to go back to business as usual, security remains the paramount concern. “We don’t ask anything of the government, all that we want is for the industrial areas in Damascus, Homs and Aleppo to remain secure,” Betinjaneh said. — Reuters

Trolley-Free promotion at Lu&Lu Hypermarket KUWAIT: Lu &Lu Hypermarket, the largest retail and lifestyle shopping destination in Kuwait, has launched a unique fourday ‘Trolley-Free’ promotion that will run from the 25 to 28 February. The exciting promotion allows 200 lucky customers to win back the full cost of contents in their trolley. During the four days of this promotion, lucky winners will be picked at random by the point of sale (POS) system at all the check-out

points, and they will be able to walk away with the contents of their trolley fully free of cost. Following the successful launch of their largest outlet in Kuwait at Al-Dajeej area, and in continuation of Hala festival, as well as National and Liberation Day celebrations, Lu&Lu Hypermarket has initiated this four-day aggressive marketing campaign to further consolidate their position as Kuwait’s premier retailer.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

technology

NASA turns research to California drought FRESNO: NASA scientists have begun deploying satellites and other advanced technology to help California water officials assess the state’s record drought and better manage it, officials said Tuesday.

The California Department of Water Resources has partnered with NASA to use the space agency’s satellite data and other airborne technology to better measure the snowpack, groundwater levels and predict storms.

“It sounds like a cliche, but if they could put a man on the moon, why can’t we get better seasonal forecasting?”

Jeanine Jones of the state’s Department of Water Resources said in an interview following the Sacramento announcement of the partnership.

Now they will. NASA scientists said they are also embarking on projects that use satellite images to help more accurately measure the number of fields

farmers have chosen not to plant and where land is sinking because of excessive ground-water pumping.

Gov. Jerry Brown directed state officials to form such partnerships as part of his drought emergency declaration last month. California’s relationship with NASA began shortly after the dry year of 2009, when officials sought answers to problems exacerbated by the lack of rain and snow, such as the sinking land.

This year ’s drought has made that research all more important, Jones said, adding that the preliminary findings proved that there’s plenty more to learn.

NASA geologist Tom Farr said that bringing together all types of research and modern technology like pieces of a puzzle may help those in charge of managing the state’s water supply avoid deficit water years like this.

“We’re on the verge of being able to put all these measurements together and start looking at the concept of closing the water budget of California,” he said.

Lawrence Friedl, director of NASA’s Applied Sciences Program, said that 13 of the agency’s satellites are focused on water. Three more water research projects are scheduled by NASA, including a satellite to be launched Feb. 27 with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. —AP

New fingerprint security convenient, not flawless Beef up security, and it’s tough to use

BARCELONA: Women check the new Nokia Lumia 1520, right, and Nokia Lumia 1020, center, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. —AP

Pioneers search for lost glory BARCELONA: Once the mobile world’s pioneers, Nokia, Motorola and BlackBerry are now the industry’s sorry laggards, searching for lost glory.

As they struggle to get back in a game now lorded over by Samsung and Apple, however, analysts hold out little hope for them.

“All those historic handset makers like Nokia, Motorola and BlackBerry completely missed the boat when the smartphone arrived,” said Bengt Nordstrom, head of the Swedish consultancy Northstream.

“They missed the touch screen step.”

Finland’s Nokia, Canada’s BlackBerry and the United States’ Motorola; they all lost a lot of money in 2013.

Nokia’s handset business, in the process of being taken over by Microsoft, reported losses of 780 million euros ($1.07 billion) last year. Motorola posted a loss of $1.03 billion in the same period.

This month, Motorola’s owner, Google, shed the business, selling it to rising Chinese smartphone manufacturer Lenovo for $2.91 million. BlackBerry, bought by Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings, racked up a loss of $5.4 billion in just the nine months to November 30.

“We are definitely here to compete and to win back some lost ground before the end of the year,” BlackBerry’s recently appointed chief executive John Chen told reporters at the February 24-27 World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

BlackBerry’s budget Z2 BlackBerry showed off two devices-the Q20 with its trademark physical keyboard and the budget-priced Z2 with a touchscreen aimed at the Indonesian marketto help it try to claw back market share.

The two BlackBerry smartphones were the first to be produced under a five-year partnership with Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturer that is also a key supplier to a major rival, Apple.

BlackBerry aims to target corporate customers. “Our turnaround strategy is to focus on enterprise,” Chen said. “We are always known as the number one in security.” Analysts were pessimistic about his chances.

“BlackBerry; that is a lost cause, I think,” said Nordstrom. Lawrence Lundy, analyst at Frost & Sullivan, agreed. “They have tried so many things in past years and nothing has worked. I can’t see BlackBerry maintaining a device presence much longer,” Lundy added. “ They missed the touch input, they really believed in the keyboard even seeing the success of iPhone.”

Nokia remains the world’s secondlargest handset manufacturer with 13.9 percent of the market in 2013, but that share is dwindling and it relies largely on traditional mobiles.

In the smartphone market, Nokia did not even rank among the top five last year.

At the industry fair this week, Nokia showed off a new range of Nokia X smartphones powered by a version of Google’s Android operating system.

It was a surprise move because Android competes directly with Windows Phone, owned by Microsoft, which is wrapping up its Nokia takeover during this quarter.

Nokia France managing director Thierry Amarger said the manufacturer used the cheaper Android operating system because it aims to sell the devices for less than 150 euros, targeting a fastgrowing entry-level market for smartphones.

But Microsoft will determine the next move for Nokia’s handsets. “Nokia are in a fairly good position with Microsoft as their backer,” said Nordstrom.

Microsoft rebranding “For Microsoft, there will be a rebranding exercise and they will spend a lot of money on it but there is no evidence they will catch up with Apple and Samsung,” he cautioned.

“When Nokia was a dominant player, it was twice as big as the third player.

Today Samsung is eight-10 times bigger than the third player.” Nokia will be hampered, too, he said, by being tied to Microsoft’s Windows Phone system, which is dwarfed by Android and Apple’s iOS. Motorola, however, may have a slightly brighter outlook after its takeover by China’s Lenovo, said Julian Jest, analyst at research group Informa. “That will change the dynamics of how Motorola operates,” Jest said. However, Motorola could struggle to innovate, he said, because Google had retained most of its patents and creative staff.

Motorola was the only one of the three strugglers not to launch a new product during the world’s largest mobile fair.

Motorola is “pretty strong” in Latin America and in North America, where it remains the number-three manufacturer, said its product management director, Rick Osterloh.

Lenovo’s scale and position in the PC business would give Motorola unprecedented access to technology, he said in Barcelona. —AFP

Hong Kong metro seats may be scrapped for smartphone space HONG KONG: Hong Kong is pondering whether to rip out some seats from overcrowded metro trains to give the city’s smartphone-addicted population more room to interact with their devices.

The transport and housing bureau has suggested that the MTR Corporation, which operates the underground railway system, consider the move to relieve rushhour congestion.

“There are an increasing number of passengers reading newspapers or using mobile devices such as tablet computers or smartphones during their trips that require more personal space on trains,” it said in a paper to the legislature Tuesday.

It recommended the “removal of some seats in some train compartments, to increase carrying capacity” as well as incentives for passengers who travel outside peak hours.

Smartphone penetration stands at 87 percent of the city’s residents, according to government figures from September

2013. Authorities have been forced to plaster MTR stations with signs warning passengers to look up from their phones to avoid injury on escalators.

The train carriages were designed in the 1980s and 1990s to hold a maximum six people in one square metre (10.7 sq ft) of space. The bureau has proposed reducing this number to four to give passengers more space.

Commuters were “less willing to board a train that looks crowded even when there is still room available”, it said. “They prefer waiting for the next train.”

On a weekday, an average of 5.2 million passenger trips are made on the 218kilometre (135-mile) network. Kenneth Chan Chi-yuk, chairman of the Elderly Services Association of Hong Kong, criticised the plan.

“There are more elderly people now (in Hong Kong) and public facilities are not adequate,” he said. “Does it not contradict the original purpose of having seats?” —AFP

BARCELONA: Samsung’s smartphone will be at least the third to have a fingerprint sensor for security but it’s alone in letting you use that for general shopping, thanks to a partnership with PayPal. The sensor brings convenience for entering passcodes and could encourage more people to lock their phones. But fingerprint security isn’t foolproof. Here’s what to know as you consider whether to place your trust in it: How does it work?

The S5 has a sensor on the home button, just like Apple’s iPhone 5s. On the S5, you train the phone to recognize your finger by swiping on it seven times. You also enter a passcode as a backup, so you’re not locked out if the device doesn’t recognize your print. On the iPhone, that can happen if your hand is greasy or wet, for instance.

The phone then converts the fingerprint information into a mathematical representation, known as a hash, and stores that in a secured location on the device.

Samsung says that information stays on the device and is never shared.

When you want to unlock your phone, you simply swipe on the home button. A hash is again created and must match the one the phone already has. Otherwise, the phone stays locked. You can do this with up to three fingers on the S5, compared with five on the iPhone. On the S5, you must swipe down. On the iPhone, you simply hold your finger on the home button, and you can do that sideways or upside down as well.

The HTC One Max also has a fingerprint sensor, though tests by The Associated Press have shown it to be inconsistent in recognizing prints.

What can you do with the fingerprint?

All three devices let you skip the passcode and unlock the phone. You can also train the HTC phone to open a particular app automatically depending on the finger used. Apple lets you use the finger to authenticate purchases through its iTunes store, but it’s keeping the system off-limits to

outside parties. Samsung lets you make PayPal payments.

If you’re at a retail store that accepts mobile payments through PayPal’s app, for instance, you can use the fingerprint instead of your usual password. That’s also the case with online transactions using PayPal on the phone. The hash doesn’t get sent to PayPal. Rather, the phone verifies for PayPal that the fingerprint has been verified.

Anuj Nayar, senior director for

ing the iPhone 5s, a German hacking group said it managed to bypass the fingerprint system by using a household printer and some wood glue to create an artificial copy of a genuine fingerprint.

The group said the fingerprint ID system was easy to trick, though it’s not something easily pulled off in the real world. You need to have that specific phone and the fingerprint, for one thing.

And then you compromise only that one phone.

else, such as a passcode.

Should you use it?

PayPal officials point out that behind the scenes, it’s still performing the usual anti-fraud checks. If the account is used to buy a television in California just five minutes after you buy coffee in New York, it’ll suspect something is up.

If the phone is lost or stolen, or your fingerprint is somehow compromised, you can contact PayPal

BARCELONA: An LG’s flex advertising model is pictured in Barcelona on Tuesday, on the third day of the 2013 Mobile World Congress. The 2014 Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest mobile fair, is held from February 24 to 27 in Barcelona. —AFP global initiatives with eBay Inc.’s PayPal business, says there’s usually a trade-off between security and convenience. Beef up security, and it’s tough to use. Make it convenient, and open up windows for breaches. With fingerprint IDs, he says, you can have both.

Are you really getting security?

That depends. It’s more secure than not locking your phone with a passcode at all. It’s also more secure than using a four- digit passcode, as there’s a greater chance of guessing that than the particular hash used. But there’s never a guarantee.

Shortly after Apple started sell-

Security experts point out that once a finger’s compromised, you can’t replace it the way you can a passcode. That doesn’t mean someone can use an S5 breach to unlock an iPhone, though, as the hash formulas used are typically proprietary and kept secret.

But it ’s not a threat to take lightly, either. “Biometrics work very well for identifying something, but whether you can use it for authentication or not depends on the implementation,” says Jeremy Bennett, chief mobile architect for Intel Corp.’s security business, McAfee.

He prefers dual security - using the fingerprint with something

to de-register that device from future use.

Drew Blackard, director of US product planning at Samsung Electronics Co., says other forms of authentication have their flaws, too. Android phones let you swipe a pattern on the screen in lieu of a passcode, but Blackard points out it’s possible to guess the pattern by examining the screen for smudges.

It’s not bulletproof security, but it ’s more secure than existing methods, he says. Despite the risks, Bennett says he sees potential. “If it results in more people locking their phone,” he says, “it improves security.” —AP

Smartphones dissect lives of navel-gazing owners BARCELONA: Precisely how many steps have you taken today? Exactly how fast is your heart beating? Really, just how clean are your teeth?

Your smartphone and, apparently, you are fascinated to know the detailed answers to these questions and other minutiae of your life that would inevitably bore a wider audience.

Smartphone makers and application developers at the February 24-27 World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Spain, are targeting this booming interest in navel-gazing data.

“This is about the ‘augmented self’ or ‘quantified self’,” said Jean-Laurent Poitou, head of technology strategy at the Dublin-based consultancy Accenture.

“There is an expectation to be in better health, be more active, eat better,” he explained. “A combination of technological factors have made this simple and cheap,” Poitou said, as electronic sensors are miniaturised and component prices fall.

A string of major manufacturers announced new software and devices in Barcelona to satisfy the trend.

Track your every move For an industry confronting a slowdown in smartphone sales in the most developed, and most profitable, markets, it offers a welcome new source of revenues.

Research house Canalys predicts sales of connected bracelets and watches will surge to 17 million units this year, and 45 million in 2017. “Log your life,” exhorts the new slogan of Sony Mobile as it revealed its SmartBand SWR10, which connects by Bluetooth wireless technology to your smartphone.

The waterproof “life-logging device” keeps a record of your movements; the photographs you take; your communications and even the music you listen to. Press a Life Bookmark to capture all the data at a key moment, like lunch with friends. It will measure your sleep cycle, too, to decide the best moment to wake you.

At the end of the day, you can use the Lifelog application to replay your entire day on your Android-based smartphone or tablet.

You can watch a digital representation of yourself walking, cycling or driving, moving past icons representing data such as photographs you took or messages you received.

China’s Huawei showed off the smartphone-connected TalkBand B bracelet with a pedometer and pop-out earpiece for telephone calls.

Samsung’s Gear Fit bracelet wowed critics in Barcelona with a curved touch-screen display that wraps around the wrist. It will keep tight watch over your heart rate, and even give you tips when you run, prodding you to pick up the pace or ease up depending on your effort.

At the world’s biggest mobile industry fair in Barcelona, you can also find smart scales, for example to analyse your weight-loss progress, and even a smart toothbrush.

Brush teeth in an airport The growing desire to parse each detail of ourselves now stretches even to the smartphone itself: Samsung’s new flagship device, the Galaxy S5, has a sensor on the back which you can touch with your fingerprint to check your pulse.

“Today we can see the smartphone’s

potential to change people’s habits,” said Michael Cohen-Dumani, head of Procter & Gamble’s Oral-B brand. “It is really that trend towards the ‘quantified self’,” he told AFP. “But it’s true that nobody ever thought about the mouth,” he said, proudly unveiling the world’s first smart toothbrush, which divides your tooth cleaning in to four 30-second segments, checks the pressure you apply, and gives you feedback on your performance via your smartphone.

The number of steps you have taken, your weight, or how you brush your teeth: all these data are synchronised with an application on your smartphone, which tracks your activity as the months go by.

To motivate users, the applications give you a challenge such as walking 1,000 steps a day; a reward such as this message: “Congratulations, your teeth are shining” or a gentle reprimand: “Better next time”.

US manufacturer Fitbit, leader with 60 percent of the connected fitness device market, says its smart bracelet encourages owners to move more, eat better and sleep better. “You receive regular notifications like: ‘still 2,000 steps to go and you’ve finished your day’,” explained Fitbit’s marketing director for Europe, Benoit Raimbault.

“When you get to the 10,000 steps, the bracelet vibrates.” These connected objects can instil competition, too, he explained, allowing friends to share goals on social networks and compare how they fare in reaching them.

For the toothbrush, the goals have an unusual educational bent. You take challenges and proudly share them on line: Brushing your teeth in an airport, for example. —AFP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

FDA weighs unknowns of 3-person embryo technique WASHINGTON: Genetic experts cautioned that it could take decades to confirm the safety of an experimental technique, meant to prevent children from inheriting debilitating diseases, that would create babies from the DNA of three people.

The Food and Drug Administration heard from supporters and opponents of the provocative technique at a two-day meeting, as the agency considers whether to greenlight testing in women who have defective genes linked to blindness, organ failure and many other inheritable diseases.

Preliminary testing in animals suggests that combining the DNA of two parents with that of a third female donor could allow prospective mothers to give birth to healthy children. But even experts in the field warned that researchers would have to follow the offspring for many years to see if they are truly healthy.

“The end of the experiment will come decades later,” said Michigan State University’s Keith Latham, in a presentation Tuesday before the FDA and its advisory panel. “It’s going to take us that long to figure out the health of the progeny produced from these procedures.”

The FDA explicitly framed its public meeting as a

“technical” discussion on the feasibility of safely testing the artificial fertilization technique in humans. In a statement read at the outset, FDA staffers acknowledged the “ethical and social policy issues related to genetic modification of eggs and embryos,” but said such issues were “outside the scope of this meeting.”

Despite such disclaimers, more than a half-dozen public speakers urged the FDA to block any human testing of the DNA-swapping technique due to unknown medical, ethical and societal impacts.

Several argued that it could be a slippery slope toward “designer babies” - allowing parents to customize traits like eye color, height and intelligence.

Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society said that FDA-sanctioned testing would cross a “bright policy line” into altering genes that will be passed down to future generations.

Human genetic changes “It could well be the first time any jurisdiction in the world had authorized intentional genetic modification of children and their descendants. And it would be making this decision with little or no input from the public or elected officials,” said Darnovsky.

Her group points out that 40 countries - including Germany and France - have laws banning human genetic changes that are passed on to future offspring.

Darnovsky and other speakers questioned the FDA’s authority to authorize such testing, since the agency’s jurisdiction mainly covers drugs and medical devices - not fertility techniques.

The bulk of Tuesday’s discussion centered on the scientific aspects of gene replacement, with presentations by leading researchers in the field, including Shoukhrat Mitalipov’s of the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. Mitalipov and his staff have produced five healthy monkeys using his technique, which involves replacing defective DNA from a part of the cell called the mitochondria.

An estimated 1 in 4,000 US children inherit diseases due to mutations in their mitochondria, small energy-producing organs that float in the plasma around the cell. Unlike most DNA - located in the nucleus of the cell - mitochondrial DNA is only passed along by the mother, not the father.

Animal studies Mitalipov ’s experimental technique, if

approved for use, would involve removing the nucleus DNA from a healthy female donor’s eggs and replacing it with the nucleus DNA of the prospective mother. After fertilization, the resulting child would inherit the mother’s nucleus DNA - containing traits like hair color and height - but the donor’s healthy mitochondrial DNA. Discussions by FDA’s panel of genetic experts on Tuesday suggested more long-term animal studies may be needed before human trials begin. Panelists questioned whether existing studies in monkeys, mice and cattle are relevant to the effects on human mothers and their children.

“There are so many aspects of mitochondrial disease that change over time and that we don’t understand,” said Dr. Katharine Wenstrom of Brown University. “We have to be very careful that we develop techniques to test these animals throughout the course of their entire lifespan.”

The FDA is not required to follow the guidance of its experts, though it often does. Yesterday the group is scheduled to discuss the specifics of a potential human trial of mitochondrial replacement. — AP

Cut out junk food ads in schools, government says Very few schools choose to give up govt dollars

NEW YORK: In this Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014 file photo, Oumou Balde, 4, left, plays with her teacher Jacqualine Sanchez, right, and pretend food in a pre-kindergarten class at the Sheltering Arms Learning Center in New York in a program to educate children about nutrition and health. According to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that obesity among children ages 2 to 5 dropped - to 8 percent, from 14 percent a decade ago. — AP

Lessons on salt for dietitians HOUSTON: Snack and soda makers that often are blamed for fueling the nation’s obesity rates also play a role in educating the dietitians who advise Americans on healthy eating.

In fact, the food industry hosts several workshops at the annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, where thousands of dietitians can earn education credits to maintain their licenses.

Frito-Lay explains to dietitians how it removed trans fats from its Lay’s potato chips and other snacks. The makers of high fructose corn syrup encourage them to question a study that ties the prevalence of the sweetener derived from corn to higher rates of Type 2 diabetes. And the company famous for its Frosted Flakes cereal teaches about the benefits of fiber.

“Has anyone tried our new chickpea burgers?” asks an employee of Kellogg, which also makes Special K and Morningstar veggie burgers, at the convention in Houston. With two-thirds of Americans considered overweight or obese, the makers of processed foods have shouldered much of the blame for aggressively marketing sugary and salty products.

Now, the companies are teaching the teachers. They’re offering seminars, classes and cooking workshops that are usually free to the nation’s dietitians as part of their behind-the-scenes efforts to burnish the image of their snacks and drinks.

The practice has raised ethical concerns among some who say it gives the food industry too much influence over dietitians.

They argue that companies use the classes as a way to cast their products in a positive nutritional light. Not to mention that companies often collect the contact information of dietitians to mail them samples or coupons, in some cases to share with their patients.

“It’s not education. It’s PR,” says Andy Bellatti, a dietitian based in Las Vegas who helped found Dietitians for Professional Integrity, a group of about a dozen dietitians who are calling for an end to the practice.

Food companies as educators Of course, the matter of corporate influence isn’t limited to dietitians. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration issued guidance intended to address concerns regarding the role of drugmakers in continuing medical education for doctors. The guidance drew distinctions between ads and education, essentially stating that drug companies shouldn’t influence the latter.

Those barriers don’t exist between food companies and dietitians. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a professional group that’s based in Chicago and has more than 75,000 members, governs the path to becoming a registered dietitian and oversees the accreditation for continuing education providers.

For registered dietitians, continuing education is a requirement, not an option. After earning a bachelor’s degree in nutrition, completing an internship program and taking an exam, they must earn 75 credits of continuing education every five years. An hour-long class typically translates to one credit.

Education providers, which must pay a $250 application fee and a $300 annual maintenance fee thereafter, have to abide by certain standards. Classes must be based on relevant subjects, for example, and conducted by qualified personnel. But materials for individual classes are not prescreened.

A variety of organizations provide continuing education, including universities and professional groups. But the classes can be costly. Meanwhile, the classes offered by food companies are usually online and free.

Deborah Myers, chair of the nutrition and dietetics program at Bluffton University, a small school in Ohio, estimates she spends between $700 and $1,000 a year on continuing education when factoring in travel.

She is reimbursed for professional development costs by her employer. That’s not a luxury all dietitians have.

Old practice under scrutiny Teaching dietitians isn’t a practice that’s new to food makers. General Mills, which makes Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Yoplait yogurt, Pillsbury dough and Progresso soup, has been an education provider through its Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition for at least 15 years.

But the practice came under scrutiny after a report by public health lawyer Michele Simon last year that detailed the industry’s deep ties to the field. Shortly afterward, a small but vocal group formed Dietitians for Professional Integrity to call for changes.

A petition by the group on the subject got more than 25,000 supporters on Change.org; the academy provided an audit to the AP that said only 600 of those signatures were by its members.

Others also question the practice. Bill Dietz, a former director of the division of nutrition and physical activity at the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, notes that an online class by Coke entitled “Understanding Dietary Sugars and Health” was taught by instructors who both had industry ties. One listed ties to the Sugar Association and companies including candy bar maker Mars. The other disclosed ties to the Corn Growers Association on the subject of high fructose corn syrup.

At one point, one instructor says he doesn’t think there should be dietary guidelines regarding sugar intake; Dietz notes that viewpoint is in contrast to the positions held by many reputable groups, including the American Heart Association, which recommends women consume no more than 6 teaspoons daily and men consume no more than 9 teaspoons daily.

When classes are approved for continuing education, there’s an assumption that the content is essentially endorsed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietz noted. As such, he said the academy should be responsible for ensuring they provide balanced perspectives.

Still, he said that doesn’t mean companies should outright be banned from playing a role in the education of dietitians. “It’s hard to be black and white about this,” he said, noting there are experts on nutrition who work in the industry.—AP

WASHINGTON: It’s not just about what America’s kids are getting in the lunch line. The Obama administration is moving to phase out junk food advertising on football scoreboards and elsewhere on school grounds - part of a broad effort to combat child obesity and create what Michelle Obama calls “a new norm” for today’s schoolchildren and future generations.

“This new approach to eating and activity is not just a fad,” Mrs. Obama said Tuesday as she described the proposed rules at the White House.

Promotion of sugary drinks and junk foods around campuses during the school day would be phased out under the Agriculture Department rules, which are intended to ensure that marketing is brought in line with health standards that already apply to food served by public schools.

That means a scoreboard at a high school football or basketball game eventually wouldn’t be allowed to advertise Coca-Cola, for example, though it could advertise Diet Coke or Dasani water, also owned by Coca-Cola Co. Same with the front of a vending machine. Cups, posters and menu boards that promote foods that don’t meet federal standards would also be phased out.

Ninety-three percent of such marketing in schools is related to beverages. And many soda companies already have started to transition their sales and advertising in schools from sugary sodas and sports drinks to other products they produce.

Companies are spending $149 million a year on marketing to kids in schools, according to the Agriculture Department.

The announcement at the White House was part of a week of events marking the fourth anniversary of the first lady’s “Let’s Move” program.

Mrs. Obama also traveled to Miami Tuesday to announce that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the National Recreation and Park Association will serve more fruits and vegetables at afterschool programs and ensure kids get 30-60 minutes of physical activity a day. NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler introduced the first lady.

Separate rules The proposed school marketing rules come on the heels of federal regulations that now require food in school lunch lines to be more healthful than in the past.

Separate rules, which are to go into effect in September, will cover other food around school as well, including in vending machines and “a la carte” lines in the lunch room. Calorie, fat, sugar and sodium limits now will have to be met on almost every food and beverage sold during the school day, as mandated by a 2010 child nutrition law. Even though diet sodas would be allowed in high schools under the proposed rules announced Tuesday, the rules don’t address the question raised by some as to whether those drinks are actually healthful alternatives to sugary soda.

Some healthful-food rules have come under fire from conservatives who say the government shouldn’t dictate what kids eat - and from some students who don’t like the new alternatives. Mrs Obama defended herself against critics, saying that “I didn’t create this issue.” She said kids will eventually get used to the changes.

“That’s our job as parents, to hold steady through the whining,” she said. Aware of the backlash, the Agriculture Department is allowing schools to make some of their own decisions on what constitutes marketing and is asking for comments on some options. For example, the proposal asks for comments on initiatives like Pizza Hut’s “Book It” program, which coordinates with schools to reward kids with pizza for reading.

Rules for other school fundraisers, like bake sales and marketing for those events, would be left up to schools or states. Off-campus fundraisers, like an event at a local fast-food outlet that benefits a school, still would be permitted. But posters advertising the fast food may not be allowed in school hallways. An email to parents - with or without the advertising - would have to suffice. The idea is to market to the parents, not the kids.

Reimbursements The rules also make allowances for major infrastructure costs - that scoreboard advertising CocaCola, for example, wouldn’t have to be immediately torn down. But the school would have to get one with a different message or product the next time it was replaced.

Schools that don’t want to comply could leave the National School Lunch Program, which allows

schools to collect government reimbursements for free and low-cost lunches for needy students in exchange for following certain standards. Very few schools choose to give up those government dollars, though.

The beverage industry - led by Coca-Cola Co., Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo - is on board with the new rules. American Beverage Association President and CEO Susan Neely said in a statement that aligning signage with the more healthful drinks that will be offered in schools is the “logical next step.”

The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed rules, which also would allow more chil-

dren access to free lunches and ensure that schools have wellness policies in place.

The 2010 child nutrition law expanded food programs for hungry students. The rules being proposed Tuesday would increase that even further by allowing the highest-poverty schools to serve lunch and breakfast to all students for free, with the cost shared between the federal government and the schools. According to the Agriculture Department and the White House, that initiative would allow 9 million children in 22,000 schools to receive free lunches.

The department already has tested the program in 11 states. — AP

CLINTON: This Feb. 27, 2013 file photo shows first lady Michelle Obama and Food Network chef Rachel Ray discussing lunches with students from the Eastside and Northside Elementary Schools in Clinton, Miss. Moving beyond the lunch line, new rules expected to be proposed by the White House and the Agriculture Department Tuesday, would limit marketing of unhealthy foods in schools, phasing out the advertising of sugary drinks and junk foods around school campuses and ensuring that other promotions in schools are in line with health standards that apply to school foods. — AP

Child dies from infected rat, family sues Petco SAN DIEGO: A San Diego family is suing Petco after the death of their 10-year-old son from a bacterial infection they say he contracted from his pet rat.

Attorney John Gomez told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his firm filed the lawsuit Monday in San Diego County seeking an unspecified amount for the suffering endured by the Pankey family, whose son, Aidan, died June 12, 2013, hours after he was rushed to the hospital with severe stomach pains. The San Diego County medical examiner’s office ruled that the cause of death was streptobacillus moniliformis infection, commonly known as ratbite fever, after exposure to an infected rat.

The retailer in a statement expressed its condolences. “We are deeply saddened by the Pankey family’s tragic loss,” Petco said in a statement. “The health and safety of people and pets is always a top priority, and we take the family’s concerns very seriously.”

The boy’s grandmother purchased the male rat, which Aidan named Alex, because her only grandson wanted a mate for his female rat, Gomez said. The boy took the rat home May 27, 2013, and woke up the night of June 11 in severe pain with a fever and stomach problems.

He was pale, lethargic and could barely walk, according to the lawsuit. He died at 1:09 a.m. the next day.

“He was a bright, energetic, friendly, happy kid who actually had a prior rat, who was a female, and he had this idea in his young head of having his female rat get married,” Gomez said. The lawsuit was not filed until now because attorneys were awaiting the lab results from the federal Centers for Disease Control, which tested the rat to confirm it was infected, Gomez said.

The agency could not immediately confirm the results Tuesday.

Gomez said the Pankey family was not giving interviews, but they are devastated by the death of their only son and want to raise awareness

among parents. “It’s a means to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Gomez said of the lawsuit. “Apparently there was some breakdown in procedures. They want tighter controls.”

According to the lawsuit, the rat appeared safe. But the lawsuit says Petco should have known about the rodent’s health and did not adequately test for the disease. It also says that negligence led to the boy’s death, which has caused his parents, Andrew Pankey and Vanessa Sauer, emotional and economic hardship, and that the retailer did not post adequate warnings about the potential risks, especially for children.

Petco Animal Supplies Inc. said it is “in the process of investigating these claims and will respond appropriately when we have more information.” According to the CDC, people can contract rat-bite fever from bites or scratches from infected rodents, such as rats, mice and gerbils, or even just by handling an animal with the disease without a bite or scratch. It can also be contracted by consuming food or drink contaminated with the bacteria. It is not spread from person to person.

Antibiotics, such as penicillin, are highly effective at treating rat-bite fever, and it is rarely fatal, according to the CDC. The CDC says those at higher risk of contracting the illness are people with pet rats or who work with rats in laboratories or pet stores, or live in rat-infested buildings. The agency recommends that people who handle rats or clean their cages wear protective gloves, wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their mouths with their hands after being in contact with rodents.

Petco also mentions preventative measures for rat-bite fever in information it posts online and provides in stores. The company warns that all rats are potential carriers and that pregnant women, children under the age of five and people with weakened immune systems should contact their doctor before buying a rat and “should consider not having a rat as a pet.”—AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

China smog drives masks out of stock BEIJING: China’s biggest online facemask sellers were running out of stock yesterday as consumers rushed to protect themselves against smog that has shrouded large swaths of northern China for an entire week.

Beijing’s official reading for PM 2.5 — small airborne particles which easily penetrate the lungs and have been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths-stood at 486 micrograms per cubic metre on Wednesday morning. The World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit is 25.

An alternative measure by the US embassy in Beijing said PM 2.5 levels reached 557 in the city. In Xinji, in the neighbouring province of Hebei, official Chinese statistics put the figure at 761.The capital was on its sixth day of an “orange” smog alert-the second-highest on the scale-with the air tasting gritty and visibility down to a few hundred metres.

The choking smog has seen anti-pollution product sales boom and online facemask stores were struggling to meet demand.Of the 29 models of facemasks provided by US industrial and equipment supplier 3M’s flagship store on Tmall.com, a business-to-consumer shop-

ping platform, 26 were sold out or unavailable on Wednesday. The Tmall outlet of Totobobo, which makes transparent, reusable masks in Singapore, put up a notice saying new stocks would not be available until April 1.

Another seller, Vogmask, had only children’s models left on its Tmall store. “I’m looking for facemasks and an air purifier as the smog is getting worse. And then I found masks were sold out and the price of air purifiers is shooting up. Is everybody panicking?” complained a user with the online handle Simao’s Early Riser Mum on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter. Cities across China have been hit by intense air pollution in recent years, much of it caused by emissions from coalburning power stations. China’s pollution problems are blamed on rapid urbanisation, dramatic economic development, increasing car use and climatic factors.

Pollution tends to worsen in winter. The National Meteorological Centre has said the pollution is expected to continue until today. In China a pollution index reading above 300 is deemed “hazardous”, when everyone is advised to avoid outdoor activities. — AFP

BEIJING: A Chinese policeman wears a mask as he stands on a street beside Tiananmen Square in Beijing yesterday. Beijing’s official reading for PM 2.5 — small airborne particles which easily penetrate the lungs and have been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths — stood at 486 micrograms per cubic metre yesterday. The World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit is 25. — AFP

W H AT ’ S O N

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

AROUND KUWAIT Remal Sand Sculpting Festival The Remal International Festival is open at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds. 73 of the world’s best sand artists came to Kuwait and worked together to reimagine the stories of 1001 Nights and according to the organizers, the sand park will be the world’s largest. For a preview of what to expect, check out my previous post on this festival at Kuwait International Fairgrounds until April 26 from 12 noon.

Cinemagic: Beasts of the Southern Wild February 28th 2014 at 7:30 pm at CineMagic Kuwait. Beasts Of The Southern Wild Winner of the Camera d’Or at The 2012 Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, along with 65 other worldwide awards, Beasts of the Southern Wild covers the tragedy of a Louisiana bayou cut off from the world by a levee as seen through the eyes of 6-yearold Hushpuppy. Her life is about to change as she is faced with both her hot tempered father and mother.

TIES Center - Where cultures meet he TIES Center is glad to announce that its Winter 2 Arabic language courses continue till Wednesday March 5, 2014. We offer classes for all levels, from beginner to advanced. Our classes are specially tailored to meet the needs and requirements of expats living in Kuwait. You still have the chance to join if you are interested. The TIES Arabic classes are intended for all expats who wish to learn Arabic. Whether you want to Learn Arabic for business or basic communication or simply as a hobby, the TIES Center welcomes you. Throughout the course, the students will learn how to read, write and speak Arabic in a friendly, relaxed and welcoming environment.

TIES Arabic program highlights: Lessons are step by step - ranging from basic to advanced level; Lessons build confidence for speaking, reading, and writing Arabic; Lessons combine language learning with cultural insights; Lessons are specially tailored for expats living in Kuwait. It is an opportunity to interact with other Westerners, who are taking the courses. For more information, please e-mail: Hassan@tiescenter.net .”

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IPC Arabic Courses ake your opportunity to learn and improve your Arabic skills. The women section of Islam Presentation Committee will be conducting Arabic language course for non-Arab ladies commencing from March 2, 2014. Basic and advanced level classes are available on Fridays and Saturdays.

Islamic subjects and Quran classes are also presented in different languages. Classes are offered only once a week. Register now. For more information, call: Rawdah-22512257; Salmiya-25733263; Khaitan24730137; Mangaf-23720931; Jahra-24567714. IPC is offering Islamic courses in English for ladies only.

Muslims and non-Muslims are welcome. Email: ipc_sch@yahoo.com Tel: 22512257.

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NCCAL hosts Iranian blind art fair

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he National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters announced hosting an exhibition for blind Iranian female artists, starting from March 2, 2014. The event takes place at the Ahmad Al-Adwani Hall in Abdullah Al-Salem, and lasts through March 6, 2014. It is set to inaugurate at 7 pm, while visiting hours are announced on two periods, the first from 9 am to 12 pm, and the second from 5 pm to 9 pm. The exhibition, titled ‘Beauty in our Eyes’, is organized in cooperation with the cultural attaché in the Iranian embassy in Kuwait.

CRYcket 2014 tournament

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riends of CRY Club (FOCC) will hold 17th CRY (Child Rights & You) cricket tournament for children will be held at the GC grounds at Fahaheel Sports Club on Friday, 27th Mar 2014 from 6:30 am to 6 pm.

The one day “CRYcket” tournament participated by children under 14 (born on or after 01.01.2000), is a very popular annual family event. The children are grouped into teams in two age categories and play softball cricket while spectators, parents and well-wishers enjoy a carnival atmosphere.

12 teams each are set to participate in the Under-12 and Under-14 divisions initially in four groups in round robin fashion leading to 4 winners who will clash in the semifinals.

The 7-over matches will be played simultaneously on two playgrounds. Apart from the winners’ trophies, medals and certificates from CRY-India will be given to each player.

Experienced umpires will control the games assisted by official scorers. The teams will play in recognition of a much felt need among less fortunate children in the Indian subcontinent and will carry the message of compassion towards them. They will spread awareness of the work done by CRY, an international organization, that believes that every child is entitled to basic rights of survival, protection, development, education and participation.

For details & game rules, visit the FOCC website http://www.focckwt.org or contact: Kuwait City 22437684 Abu Halifa: 66204295 Hawalli: 99300257 Fahaheel: 99364073 Ahmadi: 23985216 / 99578073 Jleeb Shuyoukh 97226589 Salmiya: 66810338.

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

National and Liberation days celebration

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nder the auspices and in attendance of the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah and the head of the voluntary work committee, Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmed and Al-Farsi Kites team recently flew a variety of kites in celebration of the National and Liberation days anniversary. —Photos by Fouad Shaikh

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

W H AT ’ S O N

KOC holds special ceremony to mark National, Liberation days In collaboration with Ahmadi governorate, KOC held a special ceremony at Ahmadi stadium to commemorate the National and Liberation anniversary.

Najla Al-Naqqi honours Egyptian Lovers Association members

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he Najla Al-Naqqi Forum honored members of the Egyptian Lovers Association during a ceremony it hosted recently. Head of the Egyptian delegation, media figure Thanai AlBortuqali spoke in appreciation during the event for the “Kuwaiti women’s con-

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tributions in Egypt” which include establishing a cancer hospital, food bank and multiple charity organization.

Several Egyptian TV and media personalities were part of the delegation, including movie stars Lalya Tahir, Nadiya Mustafa and Madeline Tabar, in addition

to Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram newspaper, Ameen Mohammed Ameen.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti guests during the event included Sheikha Nawal AlHmoud Al-Sabah, media personality Amal Abdullah, and actor Jassem AlNabhan.

RF Kuwait members receiving renowned scholar and speaker Prof CM Mathew,Chanthiam (Rtd professor, MA College, Kothamangalam) at Kuwait International Airport on Tuesday. Prof CM Mathew delivered a special message on family peace and harmony at the United Indian School, Abbasiya on Feb 25 and he will be addressing a meeting today at Mangaf. Timing 6.15pm - 9.15pm. For details: 99274874, 97912400 and 67004565.

THURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

TV PROGRAMS

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

Doctors Stella Alan Carr Live: Spexy Beast One Foot In The Grave The Omid Djalili Show Silk The Weakest Link Mr Bloom’s Nursery Nuzzle & Scratch: Frock n Roll Boogie Beebies Bobinogs The Large Family Mr Bloom’s Nursery Nuzzle & Scratch: Frock n Roll Boogie Beebies Bobinogs The Large Family The Weakest Link One Foot In The Grave The Omid Djalili Show Eastenders Doctors Being Erica Stella The Weakest Link One Foot In The Grave The Omid Djalili Show Eastenders Doctors Being Erica Stella The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Being Erica My Hero Extras Silk Hustle Friday Night Dinner Last Man Standing The Weakest Link Eastenders

00:00 Homes Under The Hammer 00:50 Come Dine With Me 01:40 MasterChef Australia 03:15 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 04:05 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 04:45 Bargain Hunt 05:30 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 05:55 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 06:20 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 06:45 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 07:35 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 08:20 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 09:00 Homes Under The Hammer 09:55 Celebrity MasterChef 10:25 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 10:50 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 11:15 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 11:40 Come Dine With Me 12:30 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 13:20 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 14:05 Antiques Roadshow 15:00 Homes Under The Hammer 15:50 Homes Under The Hammer 16:45 Bargain Hunt 17:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:20 Antiques Roadshow 19:15 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent 20:10 Food Glorious Food 21:00 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 21:30 Come Dine With Me 22:20 Antiques Roadshow 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:30 01:30 02:30 03:30 04:30 05:30 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00

The Haunting Of The First 48 My Ghost Story My Ghost Story The Haunting Of Private Crimes Beyond Scared Straight The First 48 Homicide Hunter Homicide Hunter

10:00 Beyond Scared Straight 11:00 Frenemies 11:30 Frenemies 12:00 Beyond Scared Straight 13:00 Evil Up Close 14:00 Prenup To Murder 15:00 Frenemies 15:30 Frenemies 16:00 The Black Widow: A Web Of Suspicion 17:00 Curious & Unusual Deaths 17:30 Private Crimes 18:00 Homicide Hunter 19:00 The First 48 20:00 The Devil You Know 21:00 Beyond Scared Straight 22:00 Private Crimes 22:30 Evil Up Close 23:30 Killer Kids

00:30 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 01:20 The Big Brain Theory 02:10 Mythbusters 03:00 Car vs Wild 03:50 Border Security 04:15 Auction Kings 04:40 Dallas Car Sharks 05:05 How Do They Do It? 05:30 How It’s Made 06:00 Sons Of Guns 07:00 Car vs Wild 07:50 Finding Bigfoot 08:40 Fast N’ Loud 09:30 Border Security 09:55 Auction Kings 10:20 Dallas Car Sharks 10:45 How Do They Do It? 11:10 How It’s Made 11:35 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 12:25 The Big Brain Theory 13:15 Mythbusters 14:05 Border Security 14:30 Auction Kings 14:55 Dallas Car Sharks 15:20 Strip The City 16:10 Fast N’ Loud 17:00 Ultimate Survival 17:50 Dirty Jobs 18:40 Car vs Wild 19:30 Sons Of Guns 20:20 How Do They Do It? 20:45 How It’s Made 21:10 Auction Kings 21:35 Dallas Car Sharks 22:00 Shadow Ops 22:50 Outlaw Empires 23:40 The Devils Ride

00:15 Deadliest Space Weather 00:40 Weird Or What?

01:30 Weird Connections 02:00 The Gadget Show 02:25 Tech Toys 360 02:50 Alien Encounters 03:45 Deadliest Space Weather 04:10 Deadliest Space Weather 04:35 Da Vinci’s Machines 05:25 The Science Of Star Wars 06:15 The Gadget Show 06:40 Tech Toys 360 07:05 Building The Biggest 08:00 Punkin Chunkin 2010 08:50 Unchained Reaction 09:40 The Gadget Show 10:05 Tech Toys 360 10:30 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 11:25 Building The Biggest 12:20 Da Vinci’s Machines 13:10 The Science Of Star Wars 14:00 Deadliest Space Weather 14:25 Deadliest Space Weather 14:50 Weird Connections 15:20 The Gadget Show 15:45 Tech Toys 360 16:10 Alien Encounters 17:00 The Science Of Star Wars 17:55 Da Vinci’s Machines 18:45 Building The Biggest 19:35 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 20:30 How Tech Works 20:55 How Tech Works

21:20 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:25 23:50

Bang Goes The Theory The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 How Tech Works How Tech Works Bang Goes The Theory

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

Deadly Women Couples Who Kill Blood Relatives True Crime With Aphrodite

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 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:10 17:00 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:30 18:55 19:20 20:05 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40

The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Sonny With A Chance Sonny With A Chance Suite Life On Deck Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Austin & Ally Dog With A Blog A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm Wolfblood Gravity Falls My Babysitter’s A Vampire Jessie Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Dog With A Blog Suite Life On Deck My Babysitter’s A Vampire That’s So Raven Hannah Montana Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Austin & Ally A.N.T. Farm Jessie Dog With A Blog Wolfblood Gravity Falls Good Luck Charlie Violetta A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally Gravity Falls Jessie Good Luck Charlie Dog With A Blog Violetta Jessie Wolfblood Dog With A Blog Gravity Falls Shake It Up

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:15 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 PG15 17:00 18:45 PG15 21:00 23:00

The Haunted Deadly Women Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted I Almost Got Away With It Dates From Hell Dates From Hell Nightmare Next Door I Was Murdered Stalked: Someone’s Watching On The Case With Paula Zahn Forensic Detectives Dr G: Medical Examiner I Almost Got Away With It Deadly Affairs Nightmare Next Door Disappeared I Was Murdered Stalked: Someone’s Watching Couples Who Kill Forensic Detectives Dr G: Medical Examiner On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared I Almost Got Away With It Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Lucie Blackman Murder Deadly Devotion

SHADOW CONSPIRACY ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

BEETHOVEN ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:10 23:35

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

Austin And Ally A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place

Chelsea Lately The Spin Crowd The Spin Crowd Style Star Style Star E!ES Extreme Close-Up Extreme Close-Up THS THS THS Style Star E! News Scouted Married To Jonas Chasing The Saturdays Eric And Jessie: Game On Eric And Jessie: Game On E! News Extreme Close-Up THS Style Star Kourtney And Kim Take Kourtney And Kim Take Giuliana & Bill Married To Jonas E! News E!ES The Drama Queen Party On Fashion Police E! News Chelsea Lately

00:15 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 00:45 Street Food Around the World 01:10 Bondi Rescue 02:05 Street Food Around the World 02:35 Eat Street 03:00 Maverick Chef 03:30 Bondi Rescue 03:55 Street Food Around the World 04:25 Banged Up Abroad 05:20 George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces 06:15 Mega Food 07:10 Bondi Rescue 07:35 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 08:05 Street Food Around the World 08:30 Bondi Rescue 09:00 Bondi Rescue 09:25 Street Food Around the World 09:55 Eat Street 10:20 Maverick Chef 10:50 Bondi Rescue 11:15 Street Food Around the World 11:45 Banged Up Abroad 12:40 George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces 13:35 Mega Food 14:30 Bondi Rescue 14:55 David Rocco‚Äôs Dolce Vita 15:25 Street Food Around the World 15:50 Bondi Rescue 16:20 Bondi Rescue 16:45 Street Food Around the World 17:15 Eat Street 17:40 Maverick Chef 18:10 Bondi Rescue 18:35 Street Food Around the World 19:05 Banged Up Abroad 20:00 Eat Street 20:30 Maverick Chef 21:00 Bondi Rescue 21:30 Street Food Around the World

22:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 22:55 Deadly Arts 23:50 Street Food Around the World

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

Megacities Hunter Hunted Hunter Hunted World’s Toughest Fixes Racing To America Naked Science World’s Toughest Fixes My Brilliant Brain Megacities Hunter Hunted Hunter Hunted World’s Toughest Fixes Racing To America Naked Science World’s Toughest Fixes Breakout Megacities Hunter Hunted Hunter Hunted Mega Breakdown Ultimate Airport Dubai Diggers Brain Games Mega Breakdown Inside

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

Predator CSI Red Sea Jaws Shark Eden Swamp Men Caught In The Act Shark Gangs Shark Eden Swamp Men Caught In The Act Dead or Alive Deadly Super Cat Super Pride Jobs That Bite!

Hooked Lion Battle Zone Predator Battleground Warzone Gone Wild Dead or Alive World’s Deadliest Killers Killer Dragons Jobs That Bite!

Lion Battle Zone Predator Battleground Warzone Gone Wild Dead or Alive World’s Deadliest Killers Killer Dragons

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 03:00 The Cleveland Show 03:30 How To Live With Your Parents 04:00 Seinfeld 04:30 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Two And A Half Men 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 Seinfeld 09:00 The Simpsons 09:30 The Mindy Project 10:00 Hot In Cleveland 10:30 Friends 11:00 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 12:00 Two And A Half Men 12:30 Seinfeld 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Friends 14:00 How To Live With Your Parents 14:30 The Mindy Project

15:00 Hot In Cleveland 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Two And A Half Men 17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 18:30 New Girl 19:00 The Mindy Project 19:30 Hot In Cleveland 20:00 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers

02:00 Coven 03:00 04:00 05:00 09:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 19:00 20:00 23:00

American Horror Story: The Americans Scandal Twisted Scandal Twisted Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Carrie Diaries American Idol The Americans

00:00 The Task 02:00 Underworld: Awakening 04:00 Shadow 06:00 Vanishing On 7th Street 08:00 Ice Quake 10:00 Shadow Conspiracy 12:00 The Blood Bond 13:45 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 16:00 Shadow Conspiracy 17:45 The Tuxedo 19:45 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 22:00 Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark

00:00 Underworld: Awakening-18 02:00 Shadow-PG15 04:00 Vanishing On 7th StreetPG15 06:00 Ice Quake-PG15 08:00 Shadow Conspiracy-PG15 10:00 The Blood Bond-PG15 11:45 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol-PG15 14:00 Shadow Conspiracy-PG15 15:45 The Tuxedo-PG15 17:45 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol-PG15 20:00 Don’t Be Afraid Of The DarkPG15 22:00 Billy Bathgate-18

00:00 How To Make Love To A Woman-18 02:00 The Sitter-18 04:00 Hit List-PG15 06:00 Beethoven-FAM 08:00 Falling Star-PG15 10:00 Blame It On The BellboyPG15 12:00 Hit List-PG15 14:00 Norbit-PG15 16:00 Blame It On The BellboyPG15 18:00 Spy Hard-PG15 20:00 Midnight Run-PG15 22:15 Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo-18

Darling Companion-PG15 Shelter-PG15 Beneath Hill 60-PG15 Good Day For It-PG15 Darling Companion-PG15 My Own Love Song-PG15 The Chateau Meroux-PG15 The Music Never StoppedMatching Jack-PG15 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpySide Effects-18 Passion-18

01:30 03:45 05:30 07:45 09:45 11:30 13:45 15:50 17:15 19:00 21:00 23:00

Philadelphia-18 The Samaritan-18 Thorne: Sleepyhead-PG15 Thorne: Scaredy Cat-PG15 The Lucky One-PG15 The Rainmaker-PG15 Here-PG15 Carnage-PG15 Will-PG Gone-PG15 Color Of Night-18 A Dangerous Method-18

01:15 03:15 05:15 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 PG15 23:00

Sinister-18 Pitch Perfect-PG15 Pop Star-PG15 Steel Magnolias-PG15 The Big Year-PG Trouble With The Curve-PG15 Ring Of Deceit-PG15 Shadow Dancer-PG15 The Big Year-PG Argo-PG15 The Company You KeepThe Impossible-PG15

00:00 Fun Size-PG15 02:00 Love’s Kitchen-PG15 04:00 The Makeover-PG15 06:00 Asterix And Obelix-PG15 08:00 The Three Stooges-PG15 10:00 Surf’s Up-PG 12:00 Love’s Kitchen-PG15 14:00 Today’s Special-PG15 16:00 The Three Stooges-PG15 18:00 What To Expect When You’re Expecting-PG15 20:00 Hope Springs-PG15 22:00 Paranormal Activity 4-18

01:00 02:00 04:00 07:00 11:00 14:00 14:30 18:30 19:00 21:30 22:00

Trans World Sport World Club Challenge HSBC Sevens World Series Snooker The Welsh Open Live AFL Premeirship PGA European Tour Weekly Live PGA European Tour Total Rugby AFL Nab Challenge Inside The PGA Tour Live PGA Tour

01:30 PGA European Tour Weekly 02:00 Inside The PGA Tour 02:30 Futbol Mundial 03:00 Snooker 06:00 This Week in WWE 06:30 Live NHL 09:30 Super Rugby 11:30 Inside The PGA Tour 12:00 Total Rugby 12:30 LPGA Tour Highlights 13:30 HSBC Sevens World Series 16:30 Trans World Sport 17:30 Live Dubai World Cup Carnival 21:30 Total Rugby 22:00 Live Premier League Darts

Prize in honor of late US actor Hoffman

A

n annual prize will award $45,000 to a playwright in honor of Oscar-winning American actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died this month from a suspected heroin overdose. The prize is being funded by gossip magazine The National Enquirer and its publisher, American Media Inc, which falsely reported that Hoffman had a gay affair with a friend. The friend, David Katz, came up with the idea after settling a libel case over the article, his lawyer Judd Bernstein told AFP. The newly created American Playwriting Foundation is likely to award the first prize for an unproduced play this year, he said. The New York Times, which broke the story, said the prize would be called the Relentless Award, in Hoffman’s honor. The libelous article was published on February 5, three days after Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment after failing to meet his girlfriend and their children.

It claimed to quote Katz as saying he and Hoffman were lovers who took cocaine, and that Katz saw him using heroin many times. Katz denies ever speaking to the magazine and says Hoffman never used drugs in his presence, The New York Times reported. The Enquirer has since withdrawn the article. It will also buy a full-page advertisement in today’s edition of The New York Times to apologize.

“The money that’s being paid by the Enquirer will fund the $45,000-a-year prize for many years to come,” Bernstein told AFP. “Since Mr Katz didn’t want money we both agreed the answer was to force The Enquirer to pay money that could be used in a positive way and then the idea of the actual foundation was Mr Katz’s.” Katz, who is himself a playwright, told The New York Times he wanted a meaningful settlement. “We had talked so often that it’s a tragedy playwrights can’t survive being playwrights-about how nice it would be if you could make your rent and still have an occasional steak,” he said.

Forty-six-year-old Hoffman was hailed by many as the finest character actor of his generation. He won an Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of author Truman Capote in “Capote” and earned three further Academy Award nominations as best supporting actor in 2008, 2009 and 2013. — AFP

Classifieds THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-2 THE LEGO MOVIE (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG) ROBOCOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

SHARQIA-3 WER (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) WER (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) WER (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) WER (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-1 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) THE LEGO MOVIE (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) NO THU+FRI+MON BHIMAVARAM BULLODU (DIG) (Telugu) THU+FRI+MON KHOUTAT GIMI (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM

NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

10:00 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-5 POMPEII (DIG) CODE RED (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) THE MONUMENTS MEN (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 11:45 PM

MARINA-1 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) WER (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) WER (DIG) WER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

MARINA-2 ROBOCOP (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

5:15 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

MUHALAB-2 WER (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) WER (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) WER (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

MUHALAB-3 POMPEII (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) POMPEII (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM

FANAR-1 PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) WINTER’S TALE (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG)

12:45 PM 3:15 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

FANAR-2 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) KHOUTAT GIMI (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) KHOUTAT GIMI (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

FOR SALE

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (27/02/2014 TO 05/03/2014)

MARINA-3 POMPEII (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG) POMPEII (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-1 OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES: THE MOVIE (DIG) OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES: THE MOVIE (DIG) OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES: THE MOVIE (DIG) ROBOCOP (DIG) ROBOCOP (DIG) ROBOCOP (DIG) AVENUES-2 THE MONUMENTS MEN (DIG) AMERICAN HUSTLE (DIG) THE MONUMENTS MEN (DIG) THE MONUMENTS MEN (DIG) THE MONUMENTS MEN (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM

5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:30 PM 12:05 AM 2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

1:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 PM 8:45 PM 11:15 PM 1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

1:00 PM 3:15 PM 5:45 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

AVENUES-4 NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG)

FANAR-4 NON-STOP (DIG) THE LEGO MOVIE (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM

AVENUES-5 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG)

360º- 2 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

7:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM 2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

2:15 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

360º- 3 OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES: THE MOVIE (DIG) OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES: THE MOVIE (DIG) OGGY AND THE COCKROACHES: THE MOVIE (DIG) AMERICAN HUSTLE (DIG) AMERICAN HUSTLE (DIG) WER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM 1:15 AM

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM

Toyota Yaris, model 2013, mileage 3,500 white exterior, price KD 2,550. Phone: 99240654. (C 4649) 19-2-2014 Nissan Pathfinder 2003 model, good condition. Call 97277135.

Cooker with bottle and regulator, washing machine, tumble dryer condenser, microwave mirror four door wardrobe, queen size bed mattress as new, sofa and lounge chairs coffee tables, desk and office chair TV 42” LCD dining table and four chairs side board bookcase, chopping block mobile. Ph: 94400865.

(C 4647) 18-2-2014

LOST

AL-KOUT.1 POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:45 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

AL-KOUT.2 PATRICK (DIG) KHOUTAT GIMI (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) KHOUTAT GIMI (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.3 NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) THE MONUMENTS MEN (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.4 WER (DIG) WER (DIG) WER (DIG) CODE RED (DIG) WER (DIG) WER (DIG) WER (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:00 PM 7:00 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

3:00 PM

AVENUES-3 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG)

FANAR-3 WER (DIG) ROBOCOP (DIG) GUNDAY (DIG) (HINDI) WER (DIG) WER (DIG) WER (DIG)

POMPEII (DIG-3D) NO THU Special Show “3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG)” THU 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED 360º- 1 PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

Hyundai Azera 2008. Full options, sun roof, navigation, leather seats. KD. 2500/- negotiable. Call: 65860200

BAIRAQ-1 THE LEGO MOVIE (DIG-3D) POMPEII (DIG-3D) WER (DIG) POMPEII (DIG-3D)

It is notified for the information that my original qualifying examination certificate of main secondary examination of year 2010-

2012 and roll no. 8106150 issued by CBSE, India has been actually lost. Name of candidate: Mohamed Muzammil, Abu Halifa, Block-1, Street-1, Building 1, Flat 25, Kuwait. Mob: 66823168. (C 4651) 23-2-2014

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

04:57 06:16 12:01 15:18 17:46 19:03

No: 16089

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines JAI KLM JZR JZR THY QTR SAI GFA THY JZR UAE ETD JAI MSR THY MSR KAC JZR JZR QTR MSC FDB THY DHX QTR FDB BAW KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC IRA QTR FDB SVA UAE ABY ETD IRA FDB QTR FDB IZG GFA MSC MSC JZR MEA AXB GFA OMA TAR FDB MSR JAI KAC KAC KAC KAC

Arrival Flights on Thursday 27/2/2014 Flt Route 574 MUMBAI 411 AMSTERDAM 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 1084 DOHA 441 LAHORE 211 BAHRAIN 764 SABIHA 555 ALEXANDRIA 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 576 COCHIN 612 CAIRO 5462 ISTANBUL 5508 BEIRUT 412 MANILA 503 LUXOR 529 ASYUT 1076 DOHA 401 ALEXANDRIA 67 DUBAI 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 8650 DOHA 69 DUBAI 157 LONDON 206 ISLAMABAD 332 TRIVANDRUM 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 362 COLOMBO 284 DHAKA 617 AHWAZ 1086 DOHA 53 DUBAI 512 RIYADH 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 605 ISFAHAN 55 DUBAI 1070 DOHA 8057 DUBAI 4161 MASHAD 213 BAHRAIN 403 ASYUT 405 SOHAG 165 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 393 KOZHIKODE 217 BAHRAIN 647 MUSCAT 328 DUBAI 61 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 572 MUMBAI 546 ALEXANDRIA 382 DELHI 786 JEDDAH 788 JEDDAH

Time 00:10 00:30 00:40 00:40 00:45 00:55 01:30 02:10 02:15 02:25 02:35 02:45 02:50 03:10 04:30 04:40 06:45 05:50 06:20 03:45 03:45 04:20 05:35 05:40 05:45 05:50 06:40 07:40 08:15 07:55 08:10 08:45 08:50 07:50 07:50 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:00 09:20 09:30 09:40 09:55 10:25 10:35 10:40 11:15 11:20 11:30 11:55 19:15 19:30 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:05 20:10 14:05 13:05 18:45 15:10

KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR JZR SYR TBZ UAE MSR MSR FDB QTR SVA KNE GFA KNE KNE NIA OMA QTR UAE ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA UAL QTR FDB KAC KAC ABY KNE DLH ALK FDB MEA ETD UAE GFA QTR KLM AIC FDB JZR JZR JZR UAL PIA ETH

674 118 562 672 542 614 774 618 502 779 135 177 241 561 535 777 257 787 189 341 5483 871 610 579 57 1078 500 472 221 460 470 251 645 1072 857 303 640 510 127 216 982 1080 63 104 176 129 480 634 229 71 402 307 859 219 1074 417 981 59 181 239 185 981 205 3718

DUBAI NEW YORK AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DUBAI CAIRO BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA BEIRUT JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA SOHAG CAIRO JEDDAH BEIRUT RIYADH DUBAI DAMASCUS MASHAD DUBAI CAIRO SOHAG DUBAI DOHA JEDDAH JEDDAH BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA RIYADH SHARJAH BAHRAIN WASHINGTON DC DULLES DOHA DUBAI LONDON GENEVA SHARJAH TAIF FRANKFURT COLOMBO DUBAI BEIRUT ABU DHABI-INTL DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA AMSTERDAM CHENNAI DUBAI AL MAKTOUM INTERNATI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DUBAI BAHRAIN LAHORE LIEGE

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

Airlines AIC AXB JAI KLM DLH SAI THY KAC UAE ETD MSR QTR MSC FDB QTR THY JZR FDB JAI JZR THY QTR GFA KAC JZR THY FDB BAW IRA QTR JZR JZR SVA KAC KAC KAC ABY KAC UAE ETD IRA FDB JZR QTR KAC FDB GFA KAC IZG KAC MSC MSC JZR MEA KAC SYR JZR JZR TBZ MSR MSR

Departure Flights on Thursday 27/2/2014 Flt Route 976 GOA 490 MANGALORE 573 MUMBAI 411 AMSTERDAM 635 FRANKFURT 442 LAHORE 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 381 DELHI 854 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 1085 DOHA 406 SOHAG 68 DUBAI 1077 DOHA 5463 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 575 ABU DHABI 164 DUBAI 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 8650 BEIRUT 212 BAHRAIN 545 ALEXANDRIA 240 AMMAN 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 616 AHWAZ 1087 DOHA, QATAR 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 513 RIYADH 787 JEDDAH 561 AMMAN 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 101 LONDON 856 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 606 MASHHAD 56 DUBAI 778 JEDDAH 1071 DOHA 501 BEIRUT 8058 DUBAI 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 4162 MASHHAD 165 ROME 404 ASYUT 402 ALEXANDRIA 776 JEDDAH 405 BEIRUT 785 JEDDAH 342 DAMASCUS 786 RIYADH 176 DUBAI 5484 MASHHAD 580 SOHAG 611 CAIRO

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Time 00:05 00:15 01:10 01:45 02:10 02:30 02:55 03:50 03:50 04:00 04:10 04:15 04:45 05:00 05:15 05:30 06:20 06:30 06:45 06:55 07:05 07:15 07:15 07:15 07:20 07:30 08:30 08:45 08:50 08:50 08:55 09:00 09:15 09:25 09:25 09:30 09:40 09:50 09:55 10:05 10:20 10:20 10:35 10:55 11:10 11:10 11:25 11:30 11:35 11:50 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:55 13:00 13:30 13:35 13:45 13:50 13:50 14:00

UAE FDB QTR JZR KAC KAC KNE JZR GFA KNE SVA KAC KNE KAC NIA OMA JZR JZR ETD QTR MSR JZR UAE RJA ABY SVA GFA JZR JZR UAL JZR FDB QTR AXB GFA KAC FDB TAR OMA KAC ABY MSR JAI KAC KAC KNE KAC DHX FDB ALK MEA ETD GFA KAC UAE KAC JZR KLM FDB QTR JZR KAC KAC

872 58 1079 134 673 617 473 188 222 481 505 773 471 613 252 646 180 238 304 1073 5509 538 858 641 128 511 216 184 266 982 512 64 1081 394 218 283 62 328 648 331 120 619 571 351 343 461 543 171 72 230 403 308 220 301 860 205 552 417 60 1075 528 415 411

DUBAI DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI BAHRAIN TAIF JEDDAH RIYADH JEDDAH BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA MUSCAT AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL AMMAN ABU DHABI DOHA CAIRO CAIRO DUBAI AMMAN SHARJAH RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI DOHA KOZHIKODE BAHRAIN DHAKA DUBAI TUNIS MUSCAT TRIVANDRUM SHARJAH ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI KOCHI CHENNAI RIYADH CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI COLOMBO BEIRUT ABU DHABI BAHRAIN MUMBAI DUBAI ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA DAMMAM DUBAI DOHA ASYUT KUALA LUMPUR BANGKOK

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

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 471

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You may find yourself at odds with those around you or with your life situation regarding issues of great sensitivity—very personal. Difficulties, blocks and all manner of hot spots may be discovered today. You will be able to breeze through and find a solution to these problems quickly although they may slow your progress. Your natural charm and your artistic abilities may provide you with just what you need to enjoy financial success. This is an excellent time to start new projects or work on new ideas with your co-workers. An instinctive urge to get serious about taking care of you at many levels is emphasized. Diet, exercise and work somehow mean more at this time: you want to feel good about yourself and the way you do things.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You have not had a party in a very long time and at this time you might find that you spend a great deal of time thinking about what to do for the next party and who would appreciate such a party. At work, your preoccupation may leave you out of some important conversation, so write down a few notes regarding your thoughts on the party and then you will be able to pay attention to the work in your workplace. The noon break may provide the opportunity to shop and gain some more ideas about a party. You may decide to have a theme party—perhaps a masquerade party. If you can keep your patience intact, you will find things working out in your favor. You can be inspired to express your unique and unusual ideas—others appreciate your input.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. An emergency procedure consisting of external cardiac massage and artificial respiration.

4. Genus of American of east Asian perennial herbs with yellow to orange or red flower rays.

11. Little known Kamarupan languages.

15. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

16. Disgraceful gossip about the private lives of other people.

17. Being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time.

18. British dominion over India (1757-1947).

19. A fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving.

20. A republic on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean.

21. The eighth month of the civil year.

23. Expel, as of gases and odors.

25. Cry plaintively.

26. A clique that seeks power usually through intrigue.

29. A midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region.

30. A city in northern India.

31. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

32. An anxiety disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety and such symptoms as tension or sweating or trembling of light-headedness or irritability etc that has lasted for more than six months.

34. Fallow deer.

36. An assertion of a right (as to money or property).

39. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

41. (folklore) A corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living.

44. A bag used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women).

46. A large mass of ice floating at sea.

48. Either extremity of something that has length.

49. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neutralizing.

50. 1/10 gram.

53. A state in the eastern United States.

54. King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975 (1906-1975).

56. A man who serves as a sailor.

58. A tax on employees and employers that is used to fund the Social Security system.

59. The fatty flesh of eel.

61. A gonadotropic hormone that is secreted by the anterior pituitary.

62. The outermost (and toughest) of the 3 meninges.

63. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

66. A Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria and closely related to Hausa.

70. The wife or widow of a czar.

75. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

78. A graphical recording of the cardiac cycle produced by an electrocardiograph.

79. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

80. Not weaned.

82. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

83. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).

84. Rank in a military organization.

85. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

DOWN 1. Of or relating to or containing cerium especially with valence 4.

2. Colonial siphonophore of up to 130 ft long.

3. The seventh month of the Moslem calendar.

4. Standard time in the 8th time zone west of Greenwich, reckoned at the 120th meridian west.

5. A dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain.

6. 4-wheeled motor vehicle.

7. A small flat triangular bone in front of the knee that protects the knee joint.

8. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

9. (combining form) Indicating radiation or radioactivity.

10. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

11. A state in the southeastern United States on the Gulf of Mexico.

12. A field game played with a ball (especially baseball).

13. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

14. A long noosed rope used to catch animals.

22. Marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea.

24. A doctor's degree in theology.

27. The 11th letter of the Greek alphabet.

28. Highly excited.

33. The state of owing money.

35. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

37. An island of central Hawaii.

38. Ludicrously odd.

40. An emotional response that has been acquired by conditioning.

42. (trademark) An alloy of iron and nickel having a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

43. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

45. Metal or plastic sheath over the end of a shoelace or ribbon.

47. The 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

51. The clock time given by a clock carried on board a spacecraft.

52. A family of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken in southeastern Asia.

55. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

57. Type genus of the family Mustelidae.

60. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

64. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

65. At surface level.

67. Kamarupan languages spoken in northeastern India and western Burma.

68. A metric unit of weight equal to one thousandth of a kilogram.

69. Flesh of fish found in colder waters of northern Atlantic coast of the United States.

71. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

72. Advanced in years.

73. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

74. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

76. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

77. Call upon in supplication.

81. A state in the western United States.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

You may feel more expressive with others now and your abilities to share in open discussions can be a great deal of fun. Networking is the number one way to get your work noticed—as well as learning ways to update, improve, expand or advertise. Take advantage of the opportunities today to network on the computer or in the lunchroom. Do not try to change the workflow as you seem to be caught up in some rush of work. Your ingenuity and expertise can help to create positive results for almost any project. You will handle problems in a swift and smooth manner. Your intuition and compassion will come into play this afternoon as you help a young person with some temporary problem. Careful; you can occasionally get preachy.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your competitive nature will kick in today—you will find you can really accomplish quite a lot. Perhaps you are a freelance writer and can easily jump from one story to another. You are coming into a period of greater than usual emphasis on emotional security. Making your job in general count is an important matter for you now. You feel a love of order and law—an appreciation for responsibilities and duty. You value problems for the lessons they represent, not for how your solutions are perceived. Although you gain a great deal of satisfaction from your accomplishments in the work world, you tend to be puzzled over just where all the money you have earned has gone. Personal partnerships in business are beneficial and informative.

Leo (July 23-August 22) If you are short of money just now, know that it is a temporary situation. If you have any legal matters to attend to, these should go in your favor. You may discover a new philosophy and begin to see life from a different perspective at this time. You are in a good mood and will gain quite a lot from the work you do. If you go with your intuition this afternoon, you will be pleased with the results of your choice. There are many opportunities to learn about how business works and this includes politics. With your positive attitude and your sense of humor, you are able to help a young person with some serious problems this evening. Don’t sweat the small stuff—it’s all small stuff! A card game or a trip to the library is time well spent with a loved one tonight.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Take a little time each day to find the ways in which you can improve your power and you will find some exciting experiences. You are also thinking about future opportunities for growth and travel as well as financial gains. Take one thing at a time and create ways in which to secure or improve your job identity. Secure your mobility by taking care of your vehicle today. Do not wait too long to perform maintenance on your vehicle as an oil change would be beneficial. Check the belts, brakes and tires as well. This precaution is to save time and money to head off future delays and costs.

A social affair this evening gives you an opportunity to network. You instinctively know who to impress and can charm anyone.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Professionally speaking, you may want to retrain yourself today. Others need to catch up and could use your help in understanding some new method of working or using equipment. Today seems to be all about paying attention to the trends of change around you and your expectations. Be smart with finances while shopping this afternoon.

Whatever you may be wanting to purchase may have to wait a day or so. Universal conditions will change and so will your vision of what is unique or appropriate for your personal enjoyment. You might enjoy a drive in the country this evening or a good recorded book.

Books on tape and music played on your preference of player are enjoyable ways to pass time while exercising or driving a car or tending to chores.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This is one of those days that find you wishing you could just stay home. An attitude of gratitude will see you through the day with few repercussions. Everyone seems to be either in a state of change or focused on the business at hand. Make a concentrated effort to bring balance into your day. This means work, fun, nutritious meals; you know— all the things your mother taught you. After work, you could involve yourself with a bit of exercise, perhaps with a friend. This activity will help relieve an edgy feeling that may have occurred because of stress. If you become aware of some underlying negative from a member of your family, turn your attention to this person and lend an encouraging smile.

Remember, frowns and smiles don’t work at the same time.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may have to sort through several stories today to get to the truth of a matter. We all have our own way of viewing situations and co-workers have opinions that need attention. If you are management—listen. If you are a co-worker, write a synopsis on different views and possible results with which both management and employees could be comfortable. The peacemaker in you is in demand today. The law, religion or getting some work published are interest that currently occupies your mind.

Perhaps it is time to assess your goals and what you would like to accomplish. Could it be that by writing a page a day you will have a book by the end of the year you can do it!

Consider updating or revising your bank accounts soon.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You have a natural sense for communicating with others, especially those younger than you. You may find yourself taking a young newcomer into the business under your guiding wing today. Clear thoughts about the past may also be flowing in as you compare the ways in which your particular work was performed in the past.

You seem to enjoy the work set out in front of you now. Tending to mechanical things can fare well and you will feel better when sounds, smells or service is fine-tuned or corrected.

This is a good day to get things accomplished. Marital relations, public relations and legal interests are due to improve. Keep your positive attitude active by giving a smile away from time to time. See the glass as half full, instead of half empty.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Originality and invention imply an ability to break the barriers and you are not afraid to reach for the brass ring. There are significant opportunities to take advantage of or to become aware of today; you must be attentive. You may find the high energy from others is easily transferred to you and you enjoy the positive input you receive from all around you. Doing just about anything with friends or family this afternoon will bring you lots of joy. Having close personal ties to other people is an important point for your feelings—marriage and other partnerships could be a key arena for this. You may have insights into the inner workings of a loved one today. Your emotional role is partnership oriented—if you work or live alone it will not be for long!

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You may be very expressive in speaking or communicating. People will understand just what you mean. You may feel that you are in touch and in harmony with others; the lines of communication are open. Successful results can occur as you work with others. You may be asked to carry through on a particular job. If you are looking for support you will not have to look far—the support you need is there. You may find yourself looking for a little emotional release this afternoon and a little exercise should be considered. You can appreciate the results of good exercise and you may talk a friend into a bicycle ride later this afternoon. Tonight there is time to read a romantic book or take in a movie. Romance is promising this evening.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

lifestyle G o s s i p

Thicke cancels third tour date after marriage split

R

obin Thicke has cancelled a third tour date in the wake of his split from Paula Patton. The ‘Blurred Lines’ singer has now axed three consecutive concerts on his North American tour after announcing on Monday that he had parted ways from his wife of almost nine years. This news comes as Robin was a no-show at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in North Carolina last night. The venue issued a statement reading: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Robin Thicke will postpone his performance at Harrah’s Cherokee originally scheduled for Tuesday, February 25. This concert will be rescheduled and the new date announced as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience.” He previously scrapped gigs on Friday in Atlanta and Saturday in Orlando, blaming vocal issues, but instead was seen jetting to Vancouver, where actress Paula is currently filming, in a bid to save his marriage. The 36-year-old star said last week: “I never want to let down my fans but I have unfortunately lost my voice and cannot perform tomorrow night.” Robin is

Marc Webb

expected to continue his tour this Thursday at the GMU Patriot Centre in Washington, DC. The split comes after Robin was seen dancing closely with a mystery woman after a performance at Club 79 in Paris in January. In September last year another woman, Lana Scolaro, claimed Robin had kissed her at a party in New York. She said: “I went to the bathroom, and when I came out he was standing there ... He turned off the lights so no one could see us, and he started making out with me. The ‘Give it 2 U’ star was also photographed with his hand on Lana’s bottom, reflected in a mirror. Paula previously said she and Robin argued, but remained committed to each other. She said: “Listen, we have fun, but like every couple, we have our ups and downs.

Nothing is perfect, but we’re very happy. He’s my best friend.”

Coldplay unveil surprise

confirmed for Amazing Spider-Man 3

single and video

C

oldplay shocked fans by unveiling a new single and video yesterday. The ‘Paradise’ hitmakers posted the video for the new track ‘Midnight’ on their VEVO site, after teasing fans on Twitter there was “something new” to come. The monochrome video, directed by Mary Wigmore, shows frontman Chris Martin and band mates Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, Will Champion, walking through a woodland, as the scene flashes different colors and a fox moves among the grass. The atmospheric track is a big departure from the band’s usual melodies and catchy riffs, swapping guitar and piano for synthesizers and taking inspiration from electronic music. Fans have compared their new sound to American indie folk band Bon Iver

M

arc Webb has been confirmed to direct ‘ The Amazing Spider-Man 3’. The filmmaker will return to helm Andrew Garfield in the third installment of the superhero franchise, “securing his spot in helming all three films in the trilogy” according to a new report about Sony Pictures by Variety. The movie is due for release in May 2016 in the UK and June 2016 in the US. The studio also confirmed that a new ‘Spider-Man’ film would be released every year in future, thanks to plans to make spinoff movies centred around villains The Sinister Six and Venom. Amy Pascal, Sony’s co-chairman, said: “We are expanding the ‘Spider-Man’ universe into The Sinister Six and Venom, so that we have ‘Spider-Man’ movies every year.” Alex Kurtzman is set to direct ‘Venom’ and is currently writing a script with his longtime collaborator Roberto Orci and Ed Solomon, while Drew Goddard will write ‘The Sinister Six’ and potentially direct the feature. Neither film has yet been given a release date. Orci recently said: “I think [the audience is] ready to have things shaken up. I think we’ve all seen everything. You’ve seen everything ...They can see it all coming. So we have to shake it up. You can’t just keep telling the same stories every day.”

and the band are believed to be working on their sixth studio album, the follow-up to ‘Mylo Xyloto’ in 2011, which sold over eight million copies worldwide. Chris, 36, revealed they had started work on the record back in 2012 and said he was “so fired up about the band’s future”, adding: ‘I’m fortunate to do what I do and no way do I want to stop.” Last year, the group revealed their track ‘Atlas’, which was taken from the soundtrack for ‘ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’, and they played an intimate show at a pub in Somerset in December where they treated punters to a number of hits.

Bradley Cooper to star in American Blood

B

radley Cooper is set to star in ‘American Blood’. The A-list actor has signed on to star in and produce Warner Bros.’ crime drama based on the upcoming book by Ben Sanders. The rights to the novel were in hot demand, with at least one other studio bidding on the project as well as several TV companies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Cooper will play Marshall Grade, an NYPD officer turned mob informant, who become involved in a dangerous investigation about a missing woman while living in the witness protection program in New Mexico.

‘American Blood’ is planned as the first of a potential series of novels, so there is the possibility to turn it into a film franchise. Andrew Sodroski is on board to adapt the script, with John Lesher and Adam Kassanwill producing the pic. Cooper will also be producing via his 22 & Indiana banner alongside Brendan Deneen of Macmillan Entertainment and Pouya Shabazian of New Leaf Literary & Media. The Hollywood hunk - who scored an Oscar nomination for ‘American Hustle’ - will next be seen in ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ and ‘Serena’.

Reid took ‘Sharknado’ job as a joke

Jeffries denies dating Bieber

T

ara Reid accepted the leading role in ‘Sharknado’ as a joke. The 38-year-old actress stars alongside former ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ actor Ian Ziering in the film, which sees a freak hurricane swamp Los Angeles with hundreds of deadly sharks terrorizing its residents, and admits she never expected the madefor-TV movie to be so successful. She said: “I’m just as stunned as everyone else. Come on, I did it as a joke! I didn’t even think anyone was going to see it. “And then what happened has never happened before on any movie. Even now, you thought the buzz was going to stop about ‘Sharknado’, but it just keeps going.” Following on from its success, Asylum Films who also made ‘Snakes on a Plane’ - are now working on a sequel which will also star Tara Reid and she says it will be even more “ridiculous” than the first installment. Speaking to HLNtv, she said: “In the scene in the first film, where I ended up in the stomach of the shark, which was so ridiculous that you think, ‘How are you going to top that?’ Well, we’re actually pretty close to topping it.” “I can’t tell too much. I’m not allowed to, to be honest with you. But you can definitely expect it to be as entertaining - if not more, believe it or not - as the first one.” The ‘American Pie’ star was spotted filming scenes for ‘Sharknado 2: The Second One’ in New York last week and the movie is set to be released in select cinemas in July.

C

hantel Jeffries has broken her silence about her relationship with Justin Bieber. The 21-year-old model has spoken for the first time since the ‘All That Matters’ singer’s DUI arrest in Miami on January 23, and was quick to shut down rumors they are dating after she was spotted on numerous outings with the star including a romantic getaway to Panama.

During the brief interview with E! News host Terrence J, Chantel insisted: “I didn’t date Justin.” The blonde beauty - who strikes an uncanny resemblance to Kim Kardashian - addressed accusations she is a gold-digger who befriended the 19-year-

Katy Perry and John Mayer break up

T

he ‘Roar’ hitmaker- who was seen with a ring on her engagement finger earlier this month, sparking speculation she was set to wed again - reportedly called off her romance with the 36-year-old singer “within the last few days”, sources told E! News. It is unclear why the couple have separated, and neither of them have commented on the reports as yet. Katy - who was previously married to Russell Brand - began dating John in summer 2012 and they split briefly last March before reconciling. The pair recently recorded a duet, ‘Who You Love’, for John’s latest

album ‘Paradise Valley’ and Katy, 29, previously said she was thrilled to work with him because she was a fan of his even before they began dating. She said: “I’ve been a fan of John’s for years before I got to actually kiss him. “I’ve been such a fan, I think he’s so incredibly talented and gifted and a genius songwriter. So to be a part of anything he was doing was just natural.”

old singer for his fame and wealth. She laughed: “Oh my gosh. If anything, you could say I’m a ‘goal’ digger. I have my own goals and I’m focused on those.” And despite claims no one in Justin’ entourage is willing to say no to him, she insisted that wasn’t the case, but then claimed it wasn’t her “place” to comment on his antics.

Chantel added: “That’s not true... I’m not around all the time. In the past, I don’t know what’s happened with him, and it’s not my place to say anything.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

lifestyle M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

File photo shows police booking mugs made available by the Miami Dade County Corrections Department show pop star Justin Bieber.

Bieber bodyguard and driver arrested in Atlanta A

File photo shows Justin Bieber appearing in court via video feed in Miami. — AP photos

security guard and driver for pop singer Justin Bieber have been arrested near Atlanta and charged with stealing a photographer’s camera. Sandy Springs, Georgia, Police Capt Steve Rose said in a statement that Bieber was at an entertainment complex north of the Georgia capital Tuesday evening when 32-year-old bodyguard Hugo Hesny got into a confrontation with a photographer who he said had gotten too close to the singer.

Rose said Hesny and 49-year-old driver Terrance Johnson followed the photographer to a parking lot and took his camera. Rose said the two were caught as they were pulling up to a house Bieber is renting in the area. Rose said Bieber was not involved and the camera has been recovered. It was not known if Hesny and Johnson had attorneys. — AP

Could DiCaprio finally win coveted Oscar?

C

ould this finally be Leonardo DiCaprio’s year? Twenty years after his first Oscar nomination, the 39-year-old actor is hoping that he may at last win one of Hollywood’s most prized statuettes come Sunday night.

Matthew McConaughey has long been the frontrunner for the best actor Oscar for his turn in “Dallas Buyers Club”-but DiCaprio is increasingly cited as a possible come-from-behind winner. Critics have lavished praise on the actor for his portrayal of financial crook Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” fueling speculation that Oscar voters could finally give him the Academy Award. DiCaprio portrays the debauched and drug-fueled New York trader from his early days through his relentless rise to the top of Wall Street in the 1990s, and then his disgrace at the hands of FBI investigators.

The hilarious scene where DiCaprio struggles across the floor to get to his car, his limbs paralyzed by an overdose of Quaaludes, risks becoming one of his defining screen moments, along with the prow-of-the-ship “Titanic” scene with Kate Winslet. “Look, there’s a lot of disgusting behavior in this movie,” the 39-year-old who took home a Golden Globe for the roleacknowledged at a recent lunch for this year’s Oscar nominees.

“We wanted this to be a cautionary tale, and we wanted to accurately portray this darker nature of our culture.” While DiCaprio has never won an Oscar, he was first nominated at the age of 19, for 1993’s “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” and then again for 2004’s “The Aviator” and 2006’s “Blood Diamond.”

But his work in films including “Romeo and Juliet” (1996), “Gangs of New York” (2002), “The Departed” (2006) and “Shutter

Island” (2010) was overlooked by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The bitterest pill to swallow was doubtless “Titanic” (1997), which won 11 of the 14 Oscar categories in which it was nominated-but DiCaprio did not even earn a best actor nod.

Competition “Now that DiCaprio is on the brink of the big 4-0, it’s time to do the right thing and honor one of the finest actors of our generation with an Oscar while he’s still in his prime instead of some paunchy supporting role a decade later,” said Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast. DiCaprio will be 40 on November 11.

“Leo is arguably the biggest movie star in the world giving the biggest performance of his career in the most talked-about film of the year. That looks like Oscar to me,” added Tom O’Neil of Gold Derby, a Hollywood prize forecast website.

Fans agree: the Internet is awash with videos condemning or making fun of the Academy’s perceived snubs of DiCaprio over the years. One of the latest: a clip showing the famous Quaaludes scene, but with DiCaprio dragging a golden statuette behind him. Joey Berlin, head of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), was more cautious about DiCaprio’s chances. “I believe Leo has been honored to receive Oscar nominations and I don’t believe he has been ‘snubbed’ by the Academy,” he told AFP. “Winning an Oscar is incredibly rare and difficult and many screen legends never won one. Leo is a great star and he may win this year, but just to be nominated again is very special.”

This film image released by Paramount Pictures shows Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in a scene from “The Wolf of Wall Street.’—AP photos

In a normal year, DiCaprio’s “Wolf” portrayal would have made him a near shoo-in for the best actor Oscar. But this year is not typical, with a bumper crop of films and performances vying for the votes of the Academy’s 6,000 voters. Two Hollywood legends, Robert Redford and Tom Hanks, failed to win best actor nods for shipwreck movie “All is Lost” and Somali pirate thriller “Captain Phillips” respectively. Hanks was also overlooked for his performance as Walt Disney in the making of Mary Poppins movie, “Saving Mr Banks.”

In the end, DiCaprio is up against McConaughey, as well as Chiwetel Ejiofor from “12 Years a Slave,” Christian Bale for “American Hustle” and Bruce Dern for black-and-white road movie “Nebraska.” DiCaprio took home the Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy in January, while McConaughey won the Globe for best drama actor.

McConaughey-who lost over 40 pounds to play AIDS sufferer and activist Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyers Club”-remains the favorite, having also won the best actor prize from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). — AFP

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Bruce Dern as Woody Grant, left, and Will Forte as David Grant in a scene from the film “Nebraska.”

Britain’s Hague, Jolie to chair summit on rape in war

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ritish Foreign Secretary William Hague and Hollywood screen idol Angelina Jolie are joining forces to co-host a high-profile summit this year focused on ending rape as a weapon of war. Hague pledged Tuesday that the four-day London gathering in June would “be a summit like no other” bringing together foreign ministers from 140 countries as he was awarded the 2014 Hillary Clinton prize for Women, Peace and Security.

It was Jolie’s film “In the Land of Blood and Honey” which first opened his eyes to the extent of sexual violence in conflict zones, he told the award ceremony at the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington. “Sexual violence is often one of the first things that happens as soon as conflict or instability take hold,” Hague said. “Yet it is usually the last thing to be taken into account by those ending wars or rebuilding nations,” he added, stressing that “women bear the worst of the burden of war.” “We must remove rape and sexual violence from the world’s arsenal of cruelty,” he insisted.

Picture shows Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam meeting with US actress and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in Beirut’s Govermental Palace. — AFP

This file picture shows US actor Leonardo DiCaprio arriving on the red carpet for the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London. — AFP

Meeting would be largest yet The June 10-13 meeting would be the largest gathering ever to focus on sexual violence in conflict, and would also bring together armed forces, police units and legal experts, Hague explained. It would ask countries “to write action against sexual violence into their military training and doctrine and their peace-keeping missions overseas,” as well as launch a new international protocol on investigating such crimes. “But we are going to be even more ambitious than that. We are setting out to change the whole global attitude to these crimes, as well changing bureaucracies,” Hague said.

The hope was to create “so much momentum that we begin to shatter the culture of impunity,” he added. “If women are still treated in this abhorrent way in times of war, they will never be treated as equals in times of peace, and that cannot be tolerated.” In presenting the award, former secretary of state Clinton said “women, peace and security... must be perceived as being integral” to all other global issues such as the conflict in Syria.

Also honored was Doctor Denis Mukwege, founder of the Panzi hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has treated tens of thousands of rape victims. “The bodies of women become the battleground of conflict,” he said, warning many assaults on women are carried out by child soldiers brainwashed by the adults who have kidnapped them.

“Rape is not only an attack on women and girls, but also an assault on our common humanity,” Mukwege said. Jolie’s 2011 film, which marked her directorial debut, is a love story told against the backdrop of the Bosnian war two decades ago, when according to Hague some 50,000 women were raped.

Virtually none of them have received justice, the British minister said. “By taking up this cause we are shouldering a responsibility that our world has shirked for too long; and having taken it up, now we must never set it down again,” Hague said. — AFP

This film image released by Sony - Columbia Pictures shows Tom Hanks, center, in ‘Captain Phillips.’

Flamenco guitar legend Paco de Lucia dies at 66

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aco de Lucia, the Spanish guitarist who brought flamenco to a world audience, has died in Mexico aged 66, officials in his Andalusian hometown said yesterday. Born Francisco Sanchez Gomez, he was credited with modernizing the Spanish gypsy tradition with jazz and bossa nova influences during a decades-long career. The mayor’s office in his southern hometown of Algeciras, deep in flamenco country, said de Lucia died in Mexico of a heart attack.

“Paco de Lucia’s death turns his genius into a legend,” said the mayor of Algeciras, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, in a statement. “Although he has gone, his music, his wonderful way of playing and his character will always be with us.” The town called three days of mourning and flew flags at half-mast for “the greatest guitarist of all time”.

Born into a humble family in the southern Spanish region on December 21, 1947, de Lucia grew into a musical giant who blended jazz, pop and classical influences with the folk tradition of flamenco. He credited his father, a singer of gypsy origin, with introducing him to music, encouraging him to practice for hours. “The gypsies are better since they listen to music from birth. If I had not been born in my father’s house I would be nobody. I don’t believe in spontaneous genius,” the guitarist once said.

‘Flamenco gives me strength’ From the age of just 12 de Lucia was out playing and earning at flamenco “tablaos”-the intimate, smoky bars that are home to the authentic form of the tragic gypsy lament and dancing. By 15 he had moved to Madrid and by 18 brought out a first album. It was there that he met another gifted teenage flamenco artist, the singer Camaron de la Isla, then just 15 and freshly arrived in Madrid.

The two young men formed a legendary flamenco partnership, touring and recording together until Camaron’s death from cancer in 1992. In 2004, de Lucia was awarded Spain’s prestigious Asturias Prize for Art as the “most universal of flamenco artists”. “His style has been a beacon for young generations and

his art has made him into one of the best ambassadors of Spanish culture in the world,” the jury said at the time.

He had lived elsewhere in Spain and in Mexico and toured widely, notably in the United States. In the 1980s de Lucia teamed up with guitarists John McLaughlin and Al di Meola to produce the classic album “Friday night in San Francisco”. He branched out into jazz and bossa nova, drawing the scorn of traditionalists. But he claimed to stay faithful to his origins, hunched over his guitar and grimacing with emotion as the flamenco “duende”, or spirit, possessed him. “Whatever I do my sound will always be flamenco-because I am what I am,” he said. “Being a flamenco player is what gives me strength.” — AFP

File photo shows Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia performs during the 35th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland. — AP

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

lifestyle F A S H I O N

Young designers kick off

Paris fashion

Autumn/Winter 2014/15 “escape to the mountains” collection was among the first of some 90 ready-to-wear shows that are being staged in Paris over nine days. Also featured on day one was another young designer, the London-based Corrie Nielsen who after three years of presenting her shows in London was making her Paris debut.

Nielsen made an impression from the start with a venue that alone was a visual feast-a hall of mirrors located in one of Paris’s most atmospheric 19th century arcades-Passage Jouffroy. And the clothes-ruffled and voluminous-were equally theatrical.

Soft golds and silvers were finished off with Duchess satin and French lace, while dark colors such as black, navy and plum evoked “the

of showmanship for the week, the highlight of which is expected to be former Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere’s first show for Louis Vuitton. The show-which will wrap up the nine-day fashion marathon on March 5 — follows the departure in October of Marc Jacobs after 16 years at the helm of the Parisian luxury brand.

Jacobs, 50, who left to concentrate on a stock exchange flotation of his own brand, has been credited with taking Vuitton from “stodgy luggage house” to one of the most soughtafter brands in the world, particularly in the lucrative Asian market. He was given an emotional send off in October when it emerged that his show during Paris fashion week was to be his last. — AFP

intensity and darkness of seduction and unapologetic sexual desire”, she said in a statement.

Known for her structured silhouettes and sculptural forms, Nielsen likes to emphasize movement and sensuality in her collections but is in large part unapologetically unwearable. Tops came with protruding shapes at the waist and hip and fronts that looked like breastplates. Skirts had bustles; necklines were adorned with giant bows. More wearable looks, however, included finely pleated gold- colored skirts and dark coats with cape-like backs.

The collection aimed to weave “passion, seduction, desire, theatricality and desperation,” the designer, who was born and brought up in the US, added. Her show set a high standard

Models present creations by Christine Phung during the 2014 Autumn/Winter ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris. — AP/AFP photos

Corrie Nielsen

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aris fashion made a crisp start Tuesday with young designer Christine Phung’s ski-themed collection getting a light covering of crystals to evoke starry skies and glistening mountain snows. In a winter palette of navy, grey and white, Phung conjured up rock, snow, ice and stars while cerise, plum and sky blue provided warmth. Accessorized with ski-goggles and skis, looks included burgundy pants teamed with an appliqued cashmere patchwork top and digitally printed pleated dresses that projected a sense of the heat from a roaring log fire.

Coats came in navy, tailored and sprinkled with crystals, and sky blue, loose with wide lapels and oversized pockets. Stylish and wearable, the young French designer ’s

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

lifestyle F A S H I O N

Corrie Nielsen

Spanish fashion brand DelPozo getting attention

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uxury fashion can sometimes look like a fast-food business, Josep Font says, with items that are mass-produced and mediocre quality despite high prices. The creative director of the Spanish fashion brand DelPozo works hard to avoid that: He takes pride in his attention to couture-level detail, delicate embroidery, craftsmanship, and in distancing himself from what he calls the made-in-China luxury brands found in cities around the world. “When you talk about luxury you can think about many brands. The world is changing; the world is looking for another kind of luxury. A non-logo luxury, a luxury of things well done, with quality textiles,” Font, 46, told The Associated Press.

Many have already noticed. When DelPozo showed collections at its first New York Fashion Weeks last year in February and September, it attracted an A-list crowd, which is unusual for a first-timer. Kiernan Shipka, who plays young Sally on “Mad Men,” wore a DelPozo design to the 2013 Emmys and landed on several best-dressed lists. And Sarah Jessica Parker posed in a DelPozo floral dress for February’s InStyle magazine.

Now Font is back for his third New York

Fashion Week, gearing up to show his autumn-winter 2014 collection. Inspired by Italian post-cubist painter Duilio Barnabe and the futuristic novel “Logan’s Run,” the collection will include floral embellishments made of crinoline. Geometric shapes will play an important role, along with light blue, brown and beige colors, and wool and organza fabric.

Font took over the brand after its founder, Spanish designer Jesus del Pozo, died in 2011.

“They called me because they knew I could get close to del Pozo*s essence. I knew his legacy, his work, very well,” said Font, who presented his first DelPozo collection at El Capricho Park in Madrid in August 2012.

But while Font follows del Pozo’s philosophy of using traditional dress forms for his designs, he also says he has “applied new forms, new colors, new volume.” “We are talking about fashion,” he added. “One has to be very open and has to evolve.” Font’s look is modern and extravagant, playing with volume and architectural shapes. Raffia jackets with inserted braiding, pants with pleats in relief, silk tops with bias-cut sleeves and strapless dresses with floral prints are elements of his collections. DelPozo has a store in Madrid and

(Above) File photo shows Josep Font, creative director of DelPozo, center, works with his casting director Esther Garcia during a model casting in New York. (Left) File photo shows Kiernan Shipka wearing a DelPozo dress at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. of Catalonia and traveling afterward to China, recently opened another in Miami. The where he designed bridal and party collecdesigns are sold in 17 cities, including Hong tions. Now he is back in full swing, designing Kong and Dubai. shoes and bridal gowns for DelPozo too. Every Font was born near Barcelona and studied day, he says, represents a new challenge. “The architecture and fashion. He created a fashion day I don*t learn something new I will get brand that bears his name but had to leave it bored and I will leave,” he says. — AP in 2009, after a legal battle. The designer took a break then, relaxing in the Ampurdan region

Bieber bodyguard and driver arrested in Atlanta

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Visitors walk through the exhibition ‘Steve McCurry Retrospective’ of US photographer Steve McCurry. The retrospective shows 120 photographs taken between 1980 and 2012 in countries such as Afghanistan, the United States, Pakistan, India, Tibet, Kashmir, Cambodia, Indonesia, Burma and Kuwait. The exhibition lasts until April 22, 2014. —AP photos

‘Steve McCurry Retrospective’ Exhibition

A visitor walks behind the photo ‘Woman shoppers dressed in the traditional burqa’ (Afghanistan, 1992).

In this picture taken with a long time exposure shows people walk in front of the photo ‘Afghan Girl’ (Pakistan, 1984) during the exhibition ‘Steve McCurry Retrospective’ of US photographer Steve McCurry in the Kunsthalle (Art Hall) in Erfurt, Germany, yesterday.

Visitors stand in front of the photo ëKashmiri Man with Henna Beardí (Kashmir, 1995).

16th-century Korean paintings found in Honolulu

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he Honolulu Museum of Art has discovered two paintings from late 16th-century Korea in its collection. One of the paintings has been called an “earth-shattering” find. The museum’s Asian art curator told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser it’s like discovering lost work by the Dutch master Johannes Vermeer.

Museum officials expect to receive grant money to send the painting to South Korea for conservation. Curator Shawn Eichman says he expects it will have a grand unveiling there

Visitors stand in front of the photo ‘Streets of Calcutta’ (India, 1996).

before it’s returned to Hawaii.

The painting depicts scholars meeting in a pavilion, small boats on a calm lake and rocky, pillar-like mountains. An inscription dates the work to 1586. The paintings are from the collection of the late Richard Lane, an art collector and dealer who lived in Japan for about 50 years. — AP

Shawn Eichmann, curator of Asian art for the Honolulu Museum of Art, poses next to a 16th century Korean painting. —AP

A visitor stands in front of the photo ‘Woman huddled to protect themselves during a dust storm’ (India, 1983).

Smithsonian eyes influences of Indian-Americans

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ndian-Americans are doctors, engineers, motel owners, taxi drivers and spelling bee champs just a few takeaways from a new exhibition at the Smithsonian. Looking closer, though, curators are probing the history behind certain cultural stereotypes of this population of 3.3 million Americans in a new exhibit opening Thursday.

The influx of Indian doctors, for example, began in the 1960s as the US needed more physicians for its new Medicare system and immigration law opened the door to those with medical training. Later, the American inventors of Hotmail, the Pentium chip and fiber optics were all of Indian origin, perhaps because H-1B visas for engineers were a US effort to remain competitive with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. “Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation” is the Smithsonian’s first major exhibit to examine the history of Indian immigration to the United States and the influence of IndianAmericans. It’s a story that dates to the first Indians arriving in 1790, those who helped build the nation’s railroads and farms, and those who fought for citizenship when immigration from Asia was discouraged. There are also plenty of more recent contributions of leading IndianAmerican writers, entertainers, athletes and a fashion designer favored by first lady Michelle Obama.

Curator Masum Momaya said her team used Indian-American stereotypes as an entry point for visitors to learn more. “We want to take people beyond some of the things they know and have seen in popular culture to the deeper and more nuanced history,” she said. “I think one of the things that museums can do is add history and add context to contemporary conversations about race and immigration.”

So in a subtle way, curators show the current debate over immigration has been debated

before. The Smithsonian borrowed and collected objects from many Indian-Americans, from family photos and shoes that evoke a family home to the NFL helmet worn by the first Indian-American to win the Super Bowl, Brandon Chillar with the Green Bay Packers.

For more than a year, curators worked to borrow a dress made by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan for Mrs Obama. Khan draws on a line of Indian embroidery techniques in his design for an American silhouette. The rarely seen gown joins items from other Indian-American ground breakers. There’s the NCAA basketball jersey from the first player wear a turban in competition as a symbol of his Sikh faith, a silver Olympic medal won by gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj in Athens, and the first US spelling bee trophy won by an Indian-American in 1985.

Coincidentally, Indian-American students have been on a spelling bee winning streak for most of the past decade. “It’s novel, but at the same time, it does speak to that experience of becoming American,” said Konrad Ng, director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

“Spelling bees have this symbolic value of being American, being literate in the language of the country and excelling in it.”

The yearlong exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History is part of a $2 million ongoing heritage project at the center. It will also help bring new items into the Smithsonian’s collection to represent Indian-Americans.

Newly acquired artifacts include campaign materials from former US Rep Dalip Singh Saund of California, who was the first Asian-American elected to Congress in 1957. — AP This handout photo provided by the Smithsonian shows a dress designed by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan for first lady Michelle Obama. — AP